Branches of the Willow 3

by Christine M. Butler

  “I’m trying to get Eileen over here. She’s spent a lot of time with the women. I think her input on this is necessary.” He explained to all of us. “I also asked Debbie to bring us some food. I think we’re going to be here a little while, catching Jess up on current events.”

  “Speaking of current events…” All three men turned their attention to me. “No one has bothered to tell me what exactly happened here when I was taken. I’d really like one of you to fill me in on that, and what’s been done since to those involved.”

  “My family is in the wind, Jess. I told you that.”

  “Yeah, I know, but how exactly did that happen? One minute I was there to see Annabelle, who supposedly had some new information she wanted to share, and then something was blown into my face before the lights went out completely. All I remember after that was waking up in a cage, again.” I shivered, and every man in the room wore a pained expression.

  “When the food was delivered here that night, and you never came back, I called your mom. She told us you went to have a chat with Annabelle.” My father started the story.

  “I went to go check on you, but the door was wide open and no one was there.” Mikael added.

  “We’re still not sure how they managed to slip past the guards we had stationed everywhere. Everyone has been vetted.” My father’s frustration showed as he spoke.

  “I was thinking maybe they had help from Sophia in that regard.” Mikael stated simply. “We had Serena locked up, and decided to keep her where she was until we got to the bottom of things. I figured, wrongly, that she was involved somehow. I mean her timing for showing up here couldn’t have been worse.”

  “I get that.” A weak smile spread across my lips. “She told me how she spent those days trying to convince you guys that she could help.”

  “I wish we had listened sooner.” My father said as the door to the meeting hall opened to reveal my mother and Debbie with trays of food in their hands. Evan was closest to them, and jumped up to help.

  We ate in silence for a little while, and Debbie came back in to take all of our mess away. Once she was gone, I looked at my mom. “Tell me about the women. What do they need most right now?”

  “Tatianna is around seven months pregnant. She needs to have someone bond with her a bit before she goes into labor. She’ll need someone she can trust advocating for her. I thought…” My mom was cut off by the ringing of a cell phone. Dad got up and walked over toward the corner to take the call.

  “You thought what?” I prompted her to continue.

  “I thought, maybe, this is where Sierra could be useful.”

  “You think having a woman who had the ability to have babies taken from her would be the person we should ask to help a pregnant woman?” I know everyone there must have seen the disbelief in my eyes, but I pressed on further. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. I remember Sierra when she found out. She was devastated.”

  “I know, Jess. I just think, this will give her something to focus on for a while. Sierra has a lot of compassion for people, and those girls can use that. With Jack gone, it might give her a new purpose.”

  “I guess, we can try. I think I’d really like to go meet these women as soon as possible, myself.”

  “We can arrange for you to do that in just a bit, Jess.” Mikael smiled at me when he spoke. I’m pretty sure he was hoping visiting with the women would take my mind off the fact that his evil family had slipped through our grasps once again. Nothing could be further from the truth, but it didn’t really matter at the moment. I had to jump in with both feet, and get busy helping someone else, or I was going to lose my mind dwelling in my own memories.

  “Why don’t we head on over to the meeting hall so you can see them for yourself. I’m sure that will help clear up some of your questions, and give you a better idea of what needs to happen with them.” My father stood, and stretched out his muscles.

  “Where are they being kept? I can’t imagine we have a place large enough to accommodate seventeen new people in the pack.”

  “We don’t. They are being housed in the meeting hall. We brought in cots, and have tried to make them as comfortable as possible, but as you know, space is short. Another reason to go ahead and get you over there, so we can discuss their options.” My father lead the way, out of his home office, and the rest of us trailed out behind him.

  ~*~

  The meeting hall was heavily guarded. While I understood the precaution, I also couldn’t help but wonder what the girls inside must think. They went from being captives elsewhere, to prisoners here. Maybe no one was trying to force them into sex here, but they still had to feel caged. I knew from my own experience that it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

  When we walked inside the other problem immediately hit me. Body odor was a thing. “I know there aren’t any showers in here, but please tell me these women haven’t been denied shower privileges somewhere else?” My nose wrinkled up against my will. I didn’t want the first impression the women got from me to be that of a higher than thou attitude. I just couldn’t help my reaction to the strong, pungent odor.

  “We haven’t been able to convince some of them to leave long enough to shower, and yesterday the air conditioner broke. It took a few hours to fix it, so it was a bit stifling in here.” Evan explained without a hint that the scent was bothering him at all.

  I suppose I could totally blame my pregnancy hormones, and over active olfactory sense for my reaction if anyone else knew I was pregnant, but that was something I still hadn’t even shared with Mikael yet. Truth be told, I was waiting for my body to give up its fight to keep the baby alive. Surely, after everything I’d been through, the stress would be too much. I refused to get attached just yet, and telling someone about it, was the first step in attachment. Maybe that was a selfish way to think, but my heart just couldn’t handle the disappointment right now.

  “We have to do better than this. These women have gone from being held captive as sex slaves to being held prisoner here. It’s no wonder they are afraid to leave to take a shower.” My father’s hand snaked out quickly, and grabbed a hold of my upper arm.

  “We are not holding them prisoner, Jessica.” His angered tone held an undercurrent of disbelief.

  I stopped walking, and looked into my father’s eyes. “I know you mean well. I know the guards are there to keep the women safe, and to make sure they aren’t traitors like Annabelle and Leanna. I know these things, dad. Those women, in there,” I pointed beyond the meeting room door, where the cots had been set up for them. “They have been kept prisoner, watched as friends were raped, and saw some of their own fade away and die while waiting for someone to rescue them. They were brought to a foreign land, put up in sub-par conditions, and have been placed under the guard and watch of more men. Put yourself in their position, and tell me how you’d feel.” I looked away momentarily, willing the tears that pooled in my eyes not to spill over. “I know how they feel.” My father’s hand dropped from my arm, and he pulled me quickly into his embrace, whispering my name into my hair.

  “Now, isn’t the time for this.” I told everyone, as I quickly wiped at my face. “Let’s go figure out what to do to make this better.” I knocked on the closed door before me. When it opened, a waif of a woman stood there, her golden hair hanging in ringlets over her right shoulder, while large blue eyes took me in. I smiled at her then, trying to ease the wariness I saw there. “Hello. I’m Jessica St. Marks De’ Lune.”

  My name registered with her immediately. She bowed, and kept the pose. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder to get her attention. “No, please, that isn’t necessary. May we come in and visit with you?”

  “This is your domain, you have no need to ask.” She had the same Eastern European accent that I came to identify with Mikael and Evan, only hers was much thicker. The girl was no longer looking at me. Her eyes were locked on someone over my shoulder, and they were shining. I turned to see Evan directly behind me, on
my right. His eyes were locked on the woman too.

  “You are the guests of this pack, and guests of mine. This is not your prison. We must take certain safety precautions, for our pack, as well as for you ladies. We are not barbarians though, and will not barge into your space without invitation.” The lovely woman’s blue eyes snapped back from Evan to me in a heartbeat. A small smile appeared on her face then.

  “Please, come in.” She stepped to the side demurely, and waited for each of us to pass. Evan was the last person through the door, and as he came through he lingered beside the blond.

  I turned towards her then, “What is your name?”

  “Natalia Andros.” Her voice was whisper soft, and yet obvious pride lingered in her tone as she spoke.

  “Natalia,” Evan answered for her at the same time. I smiled at them both, before Mikael put his arm around my waist to guide me over to another woman. My mother was sitting in front of her, rubbing her chubby fingers.

  Her threadbare dress hung off of here everywhere except for the area around her protruding belly. My stomach did this weird little flutter thing when I saw the woman. Hope sneaked up on me that my own pregnancy wouldn’t be doomed because of what happened to me. This woman had, after all, suffered a week of barely any food, and miserable conditions, and there she was with a healthy glow about her.

  “Are you okay?” Mikael spoke softly to me, and it was only then that I realized I had stopped walking to take in the sight of this woman, and what her belly meant.

  I shook my head. “I’m ok. It’s just a little overwhelming.” Mikael rubbed his fingers across my back to comfort me, before I finally pulled away, and walked closer to the woman.. “Hi, I’m Jessica.”

  “Allo.” The woman didn’t look up.

  “You are Tatianna?” Upon hearing her name she looked up, finally.”

  “You are,” she thought a moment, then shook her head and added, “lupul alb?”

  “She’s asking if you are the white wolf.” Mikael offered the translation from behind me.

  “Yes, I am.” I shook my head to indicate the affirmative, since I wasn’t sure how much English this woman spoke.

  “Nu vreau să păstreze copilul.” The woman’s eyes filled with tears, and I turned to look at Mikael, waiting for a translation. He looked taken aback by her statement, whatever it was.

  “What did she say?” I had to ask, because he still hadn’t offered up a translation for me.

  “She said she doesn’t want to keep the baby.”

  When I turned back to Tatianna, shame colored her cheeks red, and she took my hands. “Please,” her accent was even thicker than Natalia’s had been. “It remembers me…” She was struggling to put her thoughts into English, but then continued. “Aceasta îmi amintește de ceea ce a avut loc.”

  “It reminds me of what took place.” Mikael translated without being asked this time. He was trying to remain calm and neutral, but it was not a natural thing for our kind to abandon our young. Tatianna asking to give up her baby had a lot of stigma attached to the request. I understood how she felt though. If Zach had managed to have his way with me while I was still drugged, and possibly in heat, I’m not sure how I would feel about my pregnancy. The best thing I could do for Tatianna though, would be to honor her request.

  “We will honor your decision, but maybe you should wait until you have the baby to make a final decision.” I looked back at Mikael, and he offered up a translation to make certain Tatianna understood what I was saying.

  “Thank you.” She managed, again with a thick accent that made it hard to understand. I turned to my mother then, who was still there beside the pregnant woman.

  “Did you know?” My mother shook her head indicating that she did not. “I think Sierra will be needed after all. I will talk to her as soon as we are done here.”

  I spent the next few hours getting to know most of the women, at least a little, and learning their stories. A few of them were added to my mental list of people to deal with sooner, rather than later. They were the ones that seemed to have developed Stockholm Syndrome, and were in love with their previous captors.

  Ashley had come by to bring fresh clothing, blankets, and food with some of the other women from the pack. I had seen Asi come in with her, but now that I was ready to go, I looked around and noticed that the men were all absent. Well, all of them except Evan, who was off in a corner talking to Natalia.

  “Where are the guys?” I asked Ashley.

  “I sent them outside a while ago. Some of the women in here were starting to get that hungry look in their eyes, and I thought it best if those two were gone. Evan can fend for himself.” She was laughing as she nodded in his direction. Another woman had walked up to talk to him, and Natalia was’ not having it as she shooed the other woman away. “That’s the reason I thought it was best to send our men out. I’m not sure I’d care what they’ve been through if they tried to get their grubby little paws in my man, I might punch one of them.” Ashley eyes me for a moment. “Hell, you might punch somebody, yourself.”

  I laughed. “Well, let’s just be thankful you had the foresight to send them away then, and call it good. Ashley and I made our way over to the door, and I called to Evan. “Hey, Ev, we’re heading out, are you coming?” He held up a finger, and continued talking to the golden blond. The last time I’d seen that look on Evan’s face, it had been aimed at me, in a club on the first night we met. It was strange how things had a way of working themselves out, and not always how you imagined it would go.

  As soon as we got outside, we found Asi and Mikael talking to my father. “Well, what do you think?” My father asked me when I finally left the meeting hall later that evening. My stomach betrayed me, and growled out a loud protest about the fact that I hadn’t eaten since this morning.

  “I have a list of women who cannot stay here, and who need to be transported to another pack as soon as possible. Perhaps, they even need to be taken back to a pack overseas.”

  “That’s drastic, especially considering how the old capital is now on a steady influx over here.”

  “I know, but they have emotional connections to Antoine or Malachai, and I wouldn’t put it past any of the ones on that list to do something stupid in order to earn more favor with Malachai.”

  “Okay, we’ll start making arrangements right away.” My father leaned in, and kissed me on the top of my head. “Why don’t you guys head back to the house, and get some dinner.”

  “I still have to go see Sierra.”

  “I think she can wait. Unless of course, you want Sierra to think you’re there to eat her. Your stomach has already given you away, and if you wait much longer it’s going to grow a mind of its own, and make you eat the first thing you see.”

  I laughed at my dad. It’s the same thing he used to tell me when I was a little girl, and didn’t want to stop playing to come in to eat.

  “Seriously, your body’s been through enough, let’s get it taken care of today.”

  “Yes, sir.” I turned to see if Mikael was behind me still, but I didn’t see him. Evan came strolling up though. “Mikael is going to be coming along in just a minute. He’s doing something for me.”

  “Oh, okay.” I turned back around and started heading toward my parents’ house. “Are you hungry, we’re going to have dinner.”

  “Sure, I could eat. I thought I might take something over, and keep Natalia company though.”

  “Speaking of Natalia, I saw that look between the two of you earlier.”

  “What look?” Evan was laughing at me as I said it.

  “Mmm, you know what look. The one that said, given the right place and time, and you’d be marking her the same way you marked me on the dance floor of your club.”

  “Technically, it wasn’t my club yet.”

  “You still had that look.” I laughed at him for trying to change the subject.

  “She’s been through a lot. I don’t want to push myself on her.” A worried crease
in his brow told me exactly how much truth there was to his words.

  “I don’t think she’d mind at all, but maybe it’s wise to take your time.” I elbowed him in the stomach playfully. “I think she could use a bit of a good thing in her life.”

  “Oh, so now you think I’m a good thing!” Evan was teasing, but the words still stung a little too.

  “I’ve always thought so. You were just meant to be someone else’s good thing.” I smiled up at him then, and pulled me into a giant bear hug that reminded me of the ones Jack used to give me, which made me smile all the more.

  “I am so sorry for all the trouble I’ve brought into your life, Jess. First my family, and then I couldn’t even do right by you. You deserved far better than what I had to offer.”

  “Don’t you dare apologize. You brought me Mikael.” My face lit up as I said his name.

  “You’re glowing. Did you know?” He smiled down at me again. “I wonder, if my brother was smart enough to figure it out yet?”

  “Figure what out?” I watched as Evan scrutinized every fiber of my being with those cobalt blue eyes of his.

  “You’re pregnant. I can see it all over you.”

  Shock colored my cheeks, and painted my lips into the shape of a giant O. “How?” It was all I could manage to get out before he pulled me into another giant hug.

  “My brother is one lucky bastard!” He spun me around once, and then put me back down on my feet. “And if I have to tell you how, then maybe my brother wasn’t the best match for you. I’m pretty sure you should have known how it happened.” Evan quirked up an eyebrow in a highly amused gesture.

  “I know how it happened, idiot!” I smacked Evan’s chest playfully. “I meant, how did you know?”

  “I told you, you’re glowing.” He took everything about me in once again. “He doesn’t know yet, does he?”

  “No.” When disappointment flashed across Evan’s face I figured I had to finish telling him why. “I just found out, myself. I wanted to wait. My body has been through a lot and, well, to be honest, I’m worried that something’s going to happen and we’ll have had our hopes up for nothing.”