Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 144

Carter

When Briar’s eyes found the porch, she went from Badass to absolutely terrified in a matter of a heartbeat. The next thing I knew she was grabbing her bag and taking off towards her bike. All I could think was that she was running and as I jumped in my truck with Lana and Mazzie trying to convince me to stop as they yelled after me but all I could think about was losing the one thing that meant any and everything to me. She was going too fast, I slowed in the cloud of dusk. She kicked up not wanting to hit or run her over if she wiped out. Instead I heard her gun it down the road opening the throttle. I followed her as the dust cleared at a distance. That's when she did something surprising; she made a left down my drive. 

I slowed the truck, the panic that had been washing over me in waves now clung to me waiting for whatever storm Briar was about to unleash. For her I’d weather it, withstand whatever anguish, anger, or other turmoil she needed to throw at me. Safety had allowed her to start to heal. That was now gone.

Her bike was parked and she was nowhere in sight. My legs carried me around the back of the house on instinct, and when I saw her staring down at the valley on the edge of the yard the sun in front of her bathing her silhouette with the harsh late morning sun. I slowed to a stop several feet away. Her arms were wrapped around her, her bag discarded several yards away.

“I thought you were running away from me,” I said tentatively.

“I couldn’t be there another second, I haven’t decided yet, but it wouldn’t be you I’d be running from if I did.” She held out a sealed envelope.

“I need to know what it says Carter, I can’t bring myself to open it, could you read it to me?” she asked. Her voice was solid, but this close to her I could feel the undertones of her anxiety like prickly knives of doubt and unknown threatening to cut off her resolve.

“Of course,” I said and as I took the letter I began to feel shards of her uncertainty as if they were my own, maybe it was. Jake had hidden everything from me too. Whatever lay within the contents could change us both. I looked down at the envelope. “Dragonfly” was written across the white surface in Jake's handwriting; I’d ask her about that later, in the top right corner was Briar's given name. Adelaide Briar Anderson. I untucked the flap before pausing and taking a steading breath. My hands shook a little, these words could have so many ramifications. I pulled the letter out of the envelope tucking the envelope behind the papers as I unfolded them.

My dearest Adelaide.

If you are reading this I am no longer in the physical world with you, but rest assured I will always be by your side. Chances are I will not get to explain the things I need to in my lifetime as my time is running out. This letter is to set right all the coverups and lies you have been fed since a child. I have been a part of weaving those lies in attempts to protect you. Alice was your mother, you remind me so much of her, wild, spirited, and with a heart so over pouring with love and rebellion. It was hard for Evie to see so much of her sister in you. I ask that you forgive her for the way she often got with you and the overprotectiveness as she tried and failed at sheltering you from the world you were hellbent on being a part of. She was Alice’s twin sister and the loss of her was a wound that not even your presence in her life or mine could heal, however she let her identity die so that she could become your mother. I know this is a shock, but Evie loved you like a daughter even before you were born and her love for you and my love for her is how our makeshift family came to be.

Your mother was kidnapped, and suffered torture, along with many other unspeakable acts at the hands of your father’s enemies. She was meant to be a bait for your father, however your father only ever saw Alice as one of many conquests; she wasn’t worth the trouble to protect for him. As I’m writing this he still is unaware of your existence, however if you have taken your inheritance, I doubt that lack of knowledge will last for long. Perhaps you already know the truth if you have already found yourself in Divide before reading this.

Another lie, Briar, you are not entirely human, your mother was at least as far as I know, that side of your parentage leaves many possibilities I cannot speak of. Your father, however, is like I am and the rest of this town. As you grew up I monitored you, though you never took our form I could sense it lurking in the depths of who you are, saw the shadow of your wolf in your eyes when your emotions raged. I’m sorry I won’t be there to see you through this as my fate is inevitable. You need to be around people like you. If you haven’t already, it's time to come home to your people. I have friends and allies in Divide that can take my place as your guildes, nobody knows about you yet, but the fact that I am leaving my assets with you, will speak volumes to your worth in my grumpy asshole heart. Yes, Briar werewolves are real and you are one and I expect you will be extraordinary where our kind is concerned. Accepting this and what you are is something that you cannot run from for more reasons than one.

Your father is my half brother, my mother Martha Anderson can explain the relations there. She will adore you, as she did Alice and Evie when they spent that summer in Divide that brought us all to this point. I never stopped loving Evie, her loss is a grave wound, but where I fell in love with the woman who raised you, your father coerced your mother’s open heart, I didn’t know the monster he was until it was too late, your mother’s demise is on my hands for that, I will never shed the guilt that the man I looked up too allowed those horrific things to happen to Alice. I didn’t know she was in trouble  until it was far too late. Beware of Clyde, you may share his blood but you are nothing like him and he will use you, do not fall for his lies.

If that wasn’t hard enough now comes the hardest part.

I stopped reading out loud and let my eyes take in the rest. Briar just stood there her gaze on the valley, eerily still, the silence could be cut with a knife. When she realized I was no longer speaking the words, she glanced back at me. I handed her the letter. She took it and began reading what I had just read. Her building wrath was a sharp chill down our bond that ran like icy water over me.