Chapter 208: Liar, liar... pants on fire

Willow woke up with a jolt.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she stared into the darkness of the room.

It had been a dream...just a dream.

Willow swallowed hard and slowly pushed herself up against the headboard.

In the dream, Alistair had died.

She had been holding him in her arms, his body cold and unmoving against hers as she cried until there were no tears left to cry.

Willow shuddered.

She turned to the other side of the bed where Alistair should be sleeping and found it empty.

Her brows furrowed.

Maybe he had gone to the washroom, she thought, looking toward the closed door.

"Alistair?" she called out.

There was no response.

Willow waited for a few seconds before calling out his name again, louder this time.

There was still nothing.

A small knot of unease began forming in her stomach as she pushed the covers aside and rose to her feet.

The floor was cold beneath her bare feet as she made her way toward the washroom.

She pushed the door open and her heart skipped when she realized it was empty.

She checked the small adjoining room, then the other side of the chamber, though she already knew she would not find him there.

The whole chamber was empty.

Willow stood in the middle of the room, staring around her.

Where had he gone?

It was the middle of the night.

She reached for the candle sitting on the small table beside the bed and lit it.

The tiny flame flickered to life, throwing weak shadows across the walls.

Willow stepped out of their chamber to begin her search for him.

If there was anywhere Alistair would be at this hour, it would be the study working as always.

She had told him countless times that he worked too much but she understood why he did.

Lucius had ruined more than just the pack’s reputation. He had destroyed the trust between the people and their Alpha.

Earning the trust of people who had been betrayed by the very person who was supposed to protect them was not an easy feat and it did not help that he looked exactly like the man they distrusted.

Perhaps he had gone to the study without wanting to wake her.

That had to be it.

Willow reached the study door and knocked.

"Alistair, are you in there?" she called out.

There was nothing but pressing silence.

Willow slowly pushed the door open and stepped into the dark room. She raised the candle, allowing its light to spread across the study.

The desk was empty. There were several papers scattered across the surface, but there was no sign of Alistair.

Willow’s stomach dropped.

"Alistair?"

Her dream came rushing back. The one where his lifeless body had been in her arms and that horrible feeling of helplessness as she wailed for him.

"No." Willow shook her head.

She was trying so hard not to panic but she was already panicking as she turned and hurried out of the study.

"Alistair?" Her voice echoed through the corridor.

She moved faster, the candle shook in her hand, causing the flame to dance wildly.

"Alistair!"

She reached the bend that turned to their chambers when something caught her attention.

She stopped and stared at the door leading into Lucius’ chamber. It had been sealed shut because of her.

She had refused to live there after everything that had happened. She had too many bad memories of that place with Lucius and what he had done to her.

And the fact that Lucius remained buried there with his daughter only made the room feel worse.

So she had definitely imagined the light she had seen dance underneath the door.

Maybe it was the glow from her own candlelight, nothing more.

She took a step forward to leave when she heard a muffled voice coming from inside the room.

Willow froze.

What the...

The voice came again.

She could not make out the words but someone was definitely inside.

Willow’s fingers tightened around the candle.

She took a hesitant step forward and reached for the door’s handle, pushing it forward.

She expected resistance because it was supposed to be sealed but instead, the door swung open.

Willow’s breath caught in her throat.

The room was dimly lit by a single candle.

Alistair turned from the bookshelf with his hand still flat on the wood.

"Hey." he smiled.

Willow stood in the doorway, staring at him.

"What are you doing?" She asked. "Who were you talking to?"

"No one. I could not sleep." He said. "I know it is strange, coming in here but I feel closer to him in this room. I was talking to myself, I suppose...to him, in a way."

"Oh." Willow muttered. "Alistair, I am sorry..."

"No." Alistair stepped closer. "You don’t have to apologize. I should have said something but the truth is, I come here once in a while just to talk to him. I know he is gone and I know what he did but he was still my brother."

There was something in his voice that made Willow’s chest ache.

She understood or at least, she thought she did.

"I understand." Willow nodded.

Alistair’s shoulders relaxed slightly.

"I should have told you about it."

"I understand." Willow said. "I was just scared when I woke up and you were nowhere in sight."

"Don’t be scared." Alistair pulled her into his arms, one hand sliding to the small of her back, the other coming up to cup her head. "I am going nowhere."

Willow’s gaze drifted around the room.

Nothing seemed out of place but the bookshelf... it looked like it had been shocked back against the wall in a hurry and the proof of that lay on the floor where two books had fallen.

Willow frowned.

"Come." Alistair muttered, releasing her. "We should return to our chambers. You are cold."

She let him steer her out of the room and pull the door close behind them.

"Did you go into the garden?" Willow blurted.

Alistair stopped, turning to look at her.

"The garden? Of course not."

"Oh." she muttered

Alistair continued walking and Willow followed but she was no longer thinking about the dream.

Because she knew Alistair and she knew him well enough to recognize when something was wrong.

And he had just lied to her.