Chapter 23 Don't Say Anything
— Eveline —
“Hey there,” I said to my brother.
“Hi,” he said, his eyes locked on his computer.
“I heard things might be getting heated?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard Ylva found something bad?”
“You heard a lot of things,” he said.
“The grapevines aren’t thick enough to stop the rumour mill.”
He gave me a small smile, looking briefly up from his screen
“Anything I can do?” I asked concerned.
“Nah. I know Darren is here. You might want to spend more time with him.”
“Appreciated,” I said. “But I’m serious. If there’s anything I can do—?”
He looked up again. This time with his eyebrows knitting. “Things might get rough for a little while. I might leave for a while too. I’m not sure how things will go.” He paused. “There are a lot of packs we are coordinating with. Some are a little unwilling to cooperate. I could take some help from the team to smooth things out with them.”
“Okay.”
“I thought you would’ve stayed a little longer in Stonewillow,” he said, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, before returning to his typing.
I went to sit in the chair in front of his desk.
“I thought so too,” I thought out loud.
He stopped typing. “Did something bad happen?”
“I know Darren sent you a text about his father.”
“Yeah,” he answered carefully, his full attention on me now.
“Well, Darren was getting worried about his father trying to get something out of his relationship with me, but when he heard his father had contacted you directly, he blew a fuse. They got into an argument, and things stayed tense for a while there. They mostly stayed away from one another, but eventually his Dad said a comment that Darren didn’t digest well. So he decided to leave now. And here we are.”
“Is everything okay?”
“The relationship between Darren and his father is pretty tense at the moment. His mother said to me that he’s not handling his position as well as he used to. That the previous generation messed up, and he stayed afraid of doing the same thing, so he put title above everything else. And apparently, it gets rough on his sons.”
Kaden laid back a bit in his chair thinking.
“I suppose being Alpha has its rough sides,” I said.
“Sure,” he admitted.
“Was there a time you’ve regretted being one?”
“I never really took the time to think about it. I was the only child for a long time, and by the time it changed, I was already it. I always knew what was to come, and I’ve kept myself busy enough not to dwell on it much.”
“I don’t think Darren’s father dwells on it that hard either. It’s those around him that does it the most.”
My brother gave me a wry smile. “I suppose that’s how it is,” he said, rubbing at his chest.
“If you ever have kids,” I said. “Don’t just put all your effort on an heir and neglect the others, please.” I didn’t want to see one more generation of this.
Kaden nodded distracted, and rubbed at his chest again.
“Are you okay?” I asked concerned.
He nodded. “You should go,” he said closing his laptop.
Something was off.
Was he dismissing me?
“Go Eva. You’re probably late for dinner,” he said quickly.
Dinner!
I’d forgotten to invite him over.
“Mom asked—,” I began.
“Go, Eva!” he said a little roughly, he turned his chair aside, and bent a little, holding his chest.
Something was wrong.
My heartbeat tripled its speed in a few seconds.
I rushed to him.
“Eva,” he complained, his voice rough.
“You’re having an attack?”
He said nothing. Clearly frustrated with me.
“I’m not leaving. What do you need?” I asked. “Do I call the doctor?”
“No.”
“What if you have a heart attack?”
He was breathing harder now.
“It’s not the heart,” he said breathlessly, half bent down.
“What do you need?” I asked again.
“The can,” he finally admitted.
I turned to see his metal garbage can. I picked it up and brought it. He was retching. So I took the garbage bag out of the can and knotted it shut, then put the can in between his legs. He raised it and began vomiting violently.
There wasn’t much that I could do, so I moved his hair out of his face a little. It was long enough to cover part of his face, but not long enough to be able to tie it back properly. I moved my hand softly on his shoulders and back.
The smell hit me.
He looked terrible. Sweat was now pearling on his forehead.
I got up and moved to his adjoining bathroom. I looked around for a little while until I found a washcloth. I soaked it in warm water, then returned to Kaden and began cleaning his face. I moved to his mouth in between vomiting fit, then went to rinse it thoroughly, and came back.
“Go,” he said while heaving.
“No, it’s fine.”
He growled at me, but his heart was not into it.
At this point Darren got in.
“Is everything O—,” he started to ask, but stopped.
Kaden growled.
“Door,” he ordered. “Out.”
“Close the door,” I told Darren. “He already saw,” I told Kaden
Darren closed the door. Kaden growled again. Darren stayed immobile by the door, looking at us.
“Don’t tell anyone about this, okay?” I asked him.
Darren’s eyes grew wider in realization. I think he understood a lot more than I told him.
“Mark is still at his desk,” he said.
I nodded. “Tell him to go home.”
Darren peaked his head out the door. “Boss says to go home. You can close shop.”
“Cool,” I heard Mark say, as Darren closed the door again.
— Darren —
I heard the distant buzzing of a cellphone notification. I figured who was trying to communicate with Eva, but she was concentrated on her brother. So I went to her, and picked up her phone from her jean’s pocket.
I unlocked it and opened the text app.
Her mother was asking if Kaden was coming.
I texted back.
No, sorry Mom. Kaden is pretty busy at the moment and won’t be able to make it.
Then I showed the screen to Eva.
She nodded and I sent it, before putting the phone back in her pocket.
The smell of vomit was strong, but regardless, I smelled the blood instantly.
I saw Eva stiffened a second or two after I noticed, to look into the bucket.
Her eyes got wide.
He was throwing up blood now.
That’s not good.
She took her phone and gave it to me.
“Go in my contacts, the doctor—,” she began.
“No,” her brother interjected.
“Kade, you’re puking blood,” she chastised.
“It’ll pass,” he said.
She looked torn.
“You sure?” I asked him.
“Yeah,” he said. Then picked a washcloth from his desk and wiped at his mouth. There was a red streak on it now, but his stomach seemed to have settled a little, as he didn’t have his head deep in the can anymore.
“You’ve had this before,” I said, putting Eva’s phone back inside her pocket again.
He didn’t answer, but he got up slowly.
Eva tried to help, but he was moving on his own, and went to the bathroom.
His face was still ashen though.
“I’ll help you clean up,” Eva said, getting up.
“I’m fine,” her brother said as he closed the door of the bathroom.
Eva looked like she wanted to argue.
I put my hand on her shoulder and gave her a look to drop it.
She bit her lip, but eventually let go.
“You call me every fifteen minutes for the next couple of hours or I’m gonna send in the doc,” she told him through the door, while he was probably washing his mouth as I heard the water in the sink and him spit a few times.
He growled at her half-heartedly, in frustration mostly.
“I mean it, Kade,” she said.
Eventually, he grunted in conciliation.
And we moved out of his office. No one was on the other side.
Eva stopped at a washroom to wash away the smell of barf off of her hands.
Then we walked out.
Eva was upset.
“I get this has happened before?” I asked her.
“Maybe, I don’t know.” She stopped and turned to me. “Don’t tell anyone, please. Even at home. Don’t say anything, okay?”
I frowned.
I get that weakness is not really advertised for someone in her brother’s position, but keeping it from his own family was different. And the blood too. This was more than an indigestion. He was used to it. And he kept it secret. Eva was not exactly surprised by the turn of events, but doesn’t know that much either, I analyzed.
“He’s sick,” I told her. “That’s why you were crying before you left, that first time. You had just heard about his health.” I wasn’t sure how I worked out all the details, but when I said it, I knew it was right. “It’s bad too. That’s why you want him to call you every fifteen minutes. To make sure it doesn’t get worse. You’re thinking life threatening worse,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “How do you know?”
“It’s not too hard to figure it out. Plus we’re mate. I don’t think we’d be good at keeping secrets from one another,” I said. “Is it deadly?”
Eva’s eyes filled with water. “I can’t tell. I promised not to tell anyone,” she said meekly.
I wrapped my arms around her, and the moment her face got into contact with my shoulder, she began crying in earnest.
I heard again the vibration of her cellphone. So I took it out of her pocket and checked it. Her mother was asking her when she was coming in. So I wrote.
I’m sorry Mom. I think I’m a little queasy. Darren is taking me on a walk to see if it’ll pass. I might eat later. Don’t wait for me and eat. I’m sorry, I’ll take a rain check.
I send it. Eva’s head perked up and I showed her the texts.
She nodded.
“How did you unlock it?”
“I saw you put your code in. 0000 is not a good code, you know. You should put in one a little harder to decipher.”
She gave me a doleful smile, and put the phone back in her pocket.
“Can anything be done about it?” I asked about her brother. She understood.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell,” she said again, tears streaming once more.
“Okay. It’s okay,” I murmured. I brushed a few tears off her cheeks and we resumed our walk, staying like that for a while, with my arm around her.
It was past midnight when we came in. Everyone was in bed. We grabbed a small bite then went to bed too.
I wasn’t sure what to think about what I’ve just witnessed.
My phone rang. I checked it. It was Kaden.
“Yeah,” I answered hesitantly.
“Is Eva sleeping?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but if she isn’t, she probably soon will.”
“You’re not with her?”
“No.”
“Huh!”
“I figured it might not be the best move to do, so early after meeting the family.”
“I thought you’d sneak in, anyways.”
“I thought about it. But I didn’t.”
He grunted noncommittally.
Why did he call? Probably not that.
“What do you know?” he asked me.
“About what?” I asked.
“Tonight.”
“I mostly figured it all out, other than the cause.”
He grunted again, this time in annoyance.
“Eva told me not to say anything, including to your family,” I paused. “I won’t. She wouldn’t tell me anything. She takes her promises seriously. She was quite shaken, so I know it’s serious. I’m not gonna judge, and involve myself where you don’t want me to. It’s none of my business, I guess.” I sat on my bed. “I figured it’s possibly deadly.” I continued.
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t deny it either.
“After you, Eva is the oldest. I know you don’t have a chosen heir. Which means if anything happens to you, everything falls on her shoulders.”
“She mentioned that?” he asked.
“No. I think this is still too early, and she’s thinking with her emotions right now, but soon enough, she’s gonna come to the same realization. And I don’t think she’s ready for that. She’s struggling with your situation, but soon she’s gonna start to struggle with hers too. I don’t know if you had a plan or something—.”
“Not really. I figured if anything happens, my father is gonna step in.”
“That’s probably the most logical option. But it’s only temporary.”
“Sure. But what does it have to do with you exactly?”
“It has to do that I’m in Eva’s life, and if she falls apart, I’m gonna be the one who’s gonna have to pick up the pieces,” I said. “Right now I don’t even know what’s going on, and I get that, it’s none of my business, but it is Eva’s. And she’s struggling with information she can’t communicate, and I don’t know how to approach that. I get the gag order. You probably don’t want to hurt your family, and any sign of weakness on an Alpha is an opening for a challenge. But she needs to talk to someone. If not me then someone else. So you’re gonna have to loosen up a little with her.
And let her help. I know why you don’t want to, but she feels helpless, and that’s never a good feeling. Give her an outlet. Even if you think it might not change anything, as long as she tries, there is hope in her mind. Let her have that. It can be just little things, but at least something.
She really cares about you. She talks a lot about you. She also told me how she feels that her and her sisters have treated you unfairly a lot. How you’ve been a parenting figure, but mostly dealing with the negative aspects of it, but not so much with the positive ones. That they gave you a hard time when you had a lot on your shoulders. She needs to pay you back. Let her.”
“She said that?”
“Not in so many words, but she’s quite a transparent person, and the mate bond does give me a lot of insight. I don’t know all the details, but I know I’m on the right track.”
“You say you don’t want to put your nose in what’s not your business, but you do quite a lot of that actually.”
“You’re not my business, she is.”
“Ah,” he said. “You’re probably not wrong. About any of this. It’s just that it’s complicated.”
“Isn’t it always.”
“Urgh. And I’m kinda hoping I might take care of this before it gets too bad.”
“Can you?”
“Who knows,” he answered frankly.
“You wanted to tell her something?”
“Just to check on her. But I didn’t want to wake her up.”
“Right. So you keep me awake instead,” I grinned.
“I care about her, not so much about you.” Maybe I should’ve felt insulted but I didn’t. I just laughed.
“Look after her,” he said more seriously.
“I will. I am”, I said.
“Mmh,” he said, then shut the conversation off.
I put my phone back in my pocket and grabbed some clothes. I guess that if I’m expected to sneak into Eva’s room, then I don’t see why hold back from it.
