Chapter 419
Cane realized something new about Iris now.
Whenever she was very hurt, she numbed herself and turned very cold, aloof to her surroundings. It almost looked like she could see someone bleed to death and not even give a damn about it, while her normal self would have cried her heart out looking for help.
She turned herself into that emotionless and callous person, as she tuned out the world completely.
Iris’ statement earlier not only surprised Cane, but the small crowd as well, since they didn’t think the timid and soft spoken luna could say such a thing.
In the back of their minds, seeing how Iris was not an insensitive person, they thought she would help Kaz and the others when they begged her for help.
Probably, what she had done for them had backfired until these people thought she was a pushover. They always thought she was ready to help them, because she felt guilty for what her father had done to them and would swallow everything that was thrown at her if they showed her a little bit of kindness back.
“Take care of the people here,” Cane said darkly to Jace, as he followed Iris out of the kitchen. He ignored Kaz and the others’ plea to show some mercy on themselves. They apologized for their behavior, but it was a little too late for them to do so.
More so, the apology should be directed to the Luna, not the Alpha. They still had their remorse misplaced.
“Yes, Alpha.” Jace nodded solemnly, too afraid to look at Cane right now, because he really took the role as an alpha now, the Beta was too afraid to even call him by his name.
Kaz, Jill and the others wailed, struggling to fight Stone, Avid and the other warriors, who dragged them toward the dungeon. It was less than a year since they were finally free from that place, but now they had to go straight back there.
“Alpha! Alpha! Have mercy on us! Alpha!”
The pleading soon disappeared as Cane walked a distance away from them, following Iris closely, but he didn’t approach her. He maintained ten steps distance from her, enough for his mate to know he was there, but also gave her the space she needed right now.
All the people that she met along this hallway, would give her a small nod out of politeness, or straight up ignore her, as if she was invisible, but then, Iris didn’t seem to care about their attitude at all. She simply walked ahead aimlessly.
Meanwhile, the people who saw Cane would stop and bow their heads solemnly and even greet him warmly.
This was a stark difference that Cane could see. Now he finally saw how bad the situation with his pack members was. The old traumas and wounds had prevented them from seeing Iris for who she was and with her of often being away from the pack, they didn’t really bond with her well.
This was a flaw on his part, as he overlooked what was happening among his people. He was too occupied with looking at the bigger picture, laying traps and scheming his way to get what he wanted, and he failed to notice his surroundings.
It was Iris who had been dealing with his flaws, by stepping up and taking care of his people.
Amidst his schemes, Cane tended to categorize people as a bunch of valuable and invaluable things, based on whether he could use them or not. He couldn’t help it. When you were in his position, constantly thinking to make the best out of everything, you would eventually harden your heart.
Cane thought Iris could handle it. That it was a lesson she needed to learn in order to come out of her shell. She was too caring and kind for her own good.
And now the lesson was learned. Iris stood up for herself and talked firmly without a trace of timidity. But Cane was uncomfortable with this version of her. He was not familiar with her callousness.
Iris walked around the garden and down a few hallways, then went to the back yard, where she sat down under a huge tree, taking shelter under its shade from the harsh sunlight.
She pulled her legs close to her chest and rested her chin on top of her knees as she hugged herself, while staring into the distance.
Cane approached her slowly and sat down next to her when he didn’t see any reaction from her.
They sat down there in silence, while wind blew on their faces, playing with their hair, fluttering her dress.
It was not clear how long they sat there in silence, but when the sun was about to touch the horizon and the sky had turned a few shades of red, Cane caressed her head.
“Let’s go back,” Cane said, but because Iris wasn’t looking his way, he changed his position and sat down in front of her, blocking her view of the vast land before their eyes. He made sure she looked at him when he spoke again. “It will be dark soon, let’s go back.”
“Where?” Iris asked. Her coldness and callousness had faded away, but she looked so exhausted, as if she had lost all of her energy.
“Go back home.”
“That’s not my home. It will never be. I don’t belong to this pack.”
Now another realization struck Cane that he didn’t realize before. He was usually surrounded by people, who would die for him, believe him almost blindly and follow him everywhere, showing him the affection of a family, as he thought of them as the same.
Cane lost all of his family, he was the only survivor and these people filled the gaps in his heart by not letting him feel alone, as he had them to rely on.
But, it was a different case for Iris. She had no one. Aside from Hanna, she literally had no one.
The family she had, couldn’t be considered as family, as they left deep scars on her. Both mentally and physically.
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