Chapter Four
Evelyn left as soonas she saw her more composed.Keeping her distance, she managed to make Freya feel at home.Even her granddaughter, Tara, was making her feel more comfortable, with all that nonstop blabbering.Nothing could shut the teenager’s mouth.She went on and on, speaking about everything and everyone in the small, coastal town.
By the time they left, Freya felt like she knew everyone around, from the grocery store owner to the richest people in the city.
Freya was both relieved and in awe that someone like Evelyn had witnessed a full-blown panic attack and still managed to keep her calm.Either Freya was very good at lying ...or Evelyn pretended not to see and didn’t mention it.And for her own peace of mind, Freya chose to believe that she was getting better at lying.
They had, however, cut the pie into several slices, eating it with a strong, sweet cup of tea.Freya only nibbled at her food, but Evelyn pretended not to see and chatted the afternoon away.
Alone at last, Freya went through the entire house, making sure the windows and doors were locked tightly.She slid down the wall, her gaze fixed on the void, her mind having checked out.
Loneliness brought her back to the time before, when all around her was dark, damp, scary, painful...
She slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor, slowly bringing her hands to her knees and hugging herself.The blows would come.They always did.
****
With pursed lips anda grim expression, Evelyn kneaded the bread dough as if her life depended on it.More than once, she feared Tara would let her mouth run wild with questions the new neighbor clearly wasn’t comfortable with, but for once, the teenager was silent.
Her wolf was silent too, but she felt the same tug inside that she felt before opening the doors of her house for Tara, the twins, and Tanya.
Leaving the dough to rest, she cleaned her hands and dialed a number.Connor Olcan was more than the Alpha of their pack, he was also her son, and presently, he had some explaining to do.
“Matháir.Is everything all right?”
Good question.She never called.And once she did, it was to give him a piece of her mind.Like now.
“You tell me.Why is there a lamb living next door?And why is she scared shitless?”
Connor sighed.Evelyn knew that being her eldest meant not only that his father had passed on his pack to him, but also that he was left to deal with her.No love was lost between the former Alpha and Evelyn, as he considered her wolf to be too weak to produce strong enough offspring to one day replace him.Unfortunately for Connall, Connor was his only son and was forced to assume the pack leadership when his father died in a rogue attack.
The majority of wolves considered their mating bond a blessing; Evelyn thought of it as a course.She was mated to Alpha Connall because the Moon Goddess paired the two, but their mating was far from happy.
After Connall’s death, Evelyn moved out of the pack house, took her daughter with her, and left Connor to deal with his new pack.Blessedly, his mating was a happy one, and so was Áine’s, who had left the pack when she was mated to the Beta of the neighboring pack.
Her four grandchildren always stayed at her home when visiting, as the twins and Faolan, Connor’s son, tended to attract a lot of trouble when together.
Unfortunately for Connor, Evelyn might no longer be Luna of the pack, but she had not ceased to possess an iron will that he frequently had to deal with.“The High King ordered it.”
“I see,” she said, after a brief pause.“Who is she?”
