The Traitor's Daughter

by Mary Goldberger

  Susan and Ashley laughed at this statement as Amy said from the doorway, “I guess that they were disappointed when you failed to meet that expectation.”

  “Probably,” Grace said closing her eyes.

  “I know, Grace, because I was surprised when I realized it,” Amy said in a soft voice, and Grace opened her eyes bringing her head down to look at her.

  “You could have turned out worse causing trouble for the pack, but you chose not to,” Amy revealed.

  Grace smiled as she told Amy, “Why would I smear my parents’ memory by doing something like that? They worked hard to make sure that I had the things I did, and believe me it crossed my mind a time or two to make things difficult for the pack, but then I remembered how my father put up with the constant searching looks, or how my mother was sometimes looked at strangely when went out. If they could put up with all that for my sake, then the least I could do was make them of proud of the woman I could become.”

  “Not everyone thinks like that Grace,” Susan informed her.

  “No, I suppose they do not,” Grace said with a laugh. “I am sure many would do just as Amy suggested and made the pack suffer for their treatment.” She shrugged her shoulders as she remarked, “I guess I just do not have that cruel instinct.”

  The other women laughed as Amy settled down on the floor with them, and Ashley commented, “Oh, I think you do. We all do, but we curb it unless we absolutely have to use it then our targets better watch out.”

  Grace started laughing as Ashley’s voice dissolved into giggles, and soon they were all rolling with laughter on the floor.

  Artur opened the door a short time later to reveal all four women asleep on the floor with Grace in the middle.

  They all shook their heads as each went to pick up their mate leaving Artur and Grace alone, but Steve turned at the door.

  “Artur, the pack will back Grace at that meeting on Friday,” he told him with a confident look.

  Artur nodded his head as he smiled and said, “Thank you, and I am sure Grace will appreciate the backup.”

  Steve nodded his head as he shifted Amy in his arms before heading to their own room.

  Artur closed the door before he said softly, “Grace, they are gone.”

  He watched as violet eyes blinked open before she sat up stretching her body as she said, “Artur, your pack does not have to back me up at the meeting. I chose to do what I did knowing full well the consequences of my actions.”

  Artur shook his head as he walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, and Grace scooted back against the bed resting her head against his leg.

  “The pack wants to back you up, Grace,” Artur admitted.

  Grace sighed before she asked softly, “Artur, would you rather have Sandy as your mate?”

  Artur jerked her by the arms spinning the both around before pinning her to the bed and Grace looked up startled into blue-gold eyes hard with anger.

  “I do never want to hear that from you again,” he told her harshly hands biting into her upper arms. “You are my mate, and no one will take your place. Remember, I had someone that I thought was my mate before and unfortunately for Sandy, Lana was just like her. I knew where Sandy was coming from at the very beginning, but you kept me on my toes. After our brief meeting at their pack house that day, I never saw you again except for brief sightings at Ted’s restaurant until that day Stan showed up needing aid. My wolf and I were going crazy with all the emotions that were bombarding us, and we could not even act on them because you stayed away.”

  “I thought it was best,” Grace told him. “You and your wolf were so confused that I thought by staying away then you would not be so confused.”

  Artur shook his head as his hands eased up on their hard grip and settled more firmly against her, “No, Grace, your absence only made it worse.”

  Grace sighed as Artur leaned down and kissed her, and she responded back letting him feel everything she was feeling.

  “I do not want Sandy never did,” Artur told her while later as they curled up on the bed. “And you will have back up at the pack house on Friday whether you want it or not.”

  Grace only chuckled as she relaxed against him rubbing a hand lightly across his chest as he combed through her hair, and they just laid there in comfortable silence.

  That Friday, Grace stood in their bedroom on shaky legs as Artur came into the room from the bathroom.

  “Grace,” he said frowning as he noticed the paleness of her face causing her eyes to look wider than they really were.

  “My worst nightmare comes true,” she whispered, and Artur clenched his fist before he walked over and brushed a piece of hair back.

  “Let’s just get this over with,” Artur told her. “Then you can come home and have a good cry in the privacy of our room.”

  Grace had to laugh at that before she admitted, “I probably will.”

  Artur nodded his head as Grace headed out so he could get dressed although he suggested she stayed, but she only laughed telling him that if she stayed neither one would be leaving anytime soon.

  Downstairs the others were waiting as Grace stepped into the living room, and Steve was the first to ask, “Are you nervous, Grace?”

  “Doesn’t it show?” She remarked only to have everyone smile at her.

  “No, actually it doesn’t,” Kale commented indicating the flushed cheeks and violet eyes flashing with laughter.

  Grace grinned sheepishly as she admitted, “Artur and I were joking around.”

  “Hmm…I am sure you were,” Susan commented with a leering look causing everyone to laugh.

  Grace only shook her head as Artur came down the stairs, and asked, “So are we ready to go?”

  “Yes,” came the chorus of voices, and they all headed out to the vehicles. As Grace climbed into Artur’s car, she noted that the entire pack was not coming with them and Artur noticing her thoughtful look, said, “They send you their thoughts.”

  Grace nodded her head as they pulled away heading up to the pack house and she muttered, “We should have walked.”

  Artur only chuckled as the pulled up to the house, and Grace sat there for a few seconds staring at it before she climbed out of the car.

  She noted that there was a strange car in the driveway and Steve commented as they headed for the front door, “It seems they have a visitor.”

  Bryan was the one who opened the door at their knock, and he smiled smugly as he allowed them to enter.

  “I guess you will finally get what you deserve,” he told her as she passed him.

  Grace did not look at him as she commented, “Too bad we cannot say the same thing for you, now, can we, Bryan?”

  Artur hid his laughter as Bryan’s mouth dropped open at her comeback, but Grace barely glanced at him as the others came in behind her and Artur.

  “Alpha Tomas is with someone at the moment, and he will be with you in a moment,” Bryan remarked in a cold voice.

  “It will just have to wait a little longer for your punishment,” Sandy retorted as she stepped forward in a very revealing outfit. She flicked blue eyes to Artur as Bryan wrapped his arm around her waist and she leaned her ample body against him.

  Artur did not even glance her way as his hand clasped Grace’s and they turned to the others with a look of resignation.

  It was only five minutes later that they heard footsteps approaching them, and Grace felt her wolf smile as if she knew who was coming.

  When Grace turned around, her eyes widened in surprise before they smiled, and she gave a bow of her head as she said, “It is a pleasure to see you again, Alpha Roberts.”

  Trace smiled as he said, “I do believe that I owe that to you and your father, former Alpha of the Fire Blood Pack.”

  Chapter 23

  There was silence at his words, and then Bryan started laughing as Sandy giggled. “I think you must be mistaken in your information, Alpha Trace.”

  Trace looked at him squarely before he said, “
No, I am not. Her father would have been the Alpha of the Fire Blood Pack if they had not been destroyed by the men who attacked your pack six years back.” He turned to Grace as Bryan’s face paled and Sandy stiffened next to him.

  “Alistair knew that Troy would not allow the pack to be destroyed because of a vendetta against him,” Trace told her.

  Grace nodded her head as she responded back, “My father was loyal even though they never could see that.”

  Trace smiled, but there was a touch of sadness in his eyes as he revealed next, “Your father was fighting me and winning I will admit when suddenly he stopped in mid attack. To this day, I do not know why he stopped but he just stared at me as if he had seen a ghost.”

  “It is the eyes,” Grace admitted. “Even when I first saw you, the eyes looked familiar to me and I realized why. They are the same color as my father’s eyes although his was a shade darker, and I remembered my father mentioning once that for some reason hazel eyes were dominated where he came from although he did not mention anything else.”

  Trace shook his head as he muttered, “I did not even think about that.” He said louder, “I was too shocked at his action to think about why he stopped, but before I could do anything else Alistair attacked him. Your father was quick though, and was back on his feet when a small brown wolf joined the fight. Your father was ready for the next attack but Alistair decided to take out your mother first, and your father howled as he watched Alistair kill her. Alistair took that small lapse of your father’s to attack and after he was dead, he called the pack away.”

  He turned to Alpha Tomas whose face was pale with what he just learned, and said, “Although he would have continued to fight if you were a smaller back, he had achieved his goal and decided not to lose anymore than we had already. Besides, he had accomplished what he set out to do although it took a long time to find Troy.”

  “Why is that?” Artur asked his hand clasping Grace’s hand a little harder.

  Trace turned to him and noticing the clasped hands asked, “Your mate, Grace?” At the nod of her head, Trace smiled, “I learned once I returned back to the land where I was born that Troy had taken his mother’s maiden when he turned 18.”

  Grace had to smile at that as Amy muttered, “It figures.”

  “Alpha Tomas, I appreciate the support,” Trace said with a nod of his head. He turned back to Grace with a smile and Grace immediately said, “Alpha Trace, this is Alpha Steve Davison of the Moon Star Pack.”

  “Alpha,” Trace said holding out his hand, and Steve looked him over before he smiled and said, “Welcome, Alpha Trace” shaking his hand.

  “I need to get back as we still have a lot work to do,” Trace said. He frowned suddenly as he told Grace, “Do you know that the deed for the land suddenly appeared when we started to break ground for a new pack house?”

  “It did,” Grace said in surprise, but her eyes sparkled with laughter.

  Trace only shook his head as he waved ‘goodbye’ and headed for the door, and he stopped suddenly as he said, “Do you think I am a little old to be finding my mate, Grace?”

  Grace turned to him in surprise, but she started to smile and said, “No, Trace, I do not think you are too old.”

  “Good, because I found my mate,” Trace said with an answering smile. “She is going to lead me on merry chase, because she is as scarred as I am right now.”

  “But she will be worth it once you get past that,” Artur suddenly said looking at Grace, and Trace saw the love in his eyes.

  “Yeah, I believe she will,” Trace said as he walked out the door calling over his shoulder, “I will keep in touch to let you know what happens with both.”

  Grace called back, “You better, Alpha Roberts.”

  The closing of the door cut off his laughter, and Grace’s own laughter subsided as she turned to face Alpha Tomas.

  He cleared his throat unsure of how to proceed after everything that his visitor revealed, but he started as he had planned.

  “Miss Hawkins,” he began as violet eyes looked at him steadily. “You have been charged with attacking a Rain Cloud Pack member, and that is punishable by the pack’s code.”

  “No offense, sir,” Grace said without emotion, “but if I had attacked Sandy, she would not have been able to come to you so quickly with her story.”

  Tomas frowned as he said, “That is an admittance of guilt, young woman?”

  Grace sighed her hand tightening around Artur’s as she said, “If you want to take it like that, then yes, it is.”

  Tomas sighed himself as he said suddenly, “It seems that we wronged you and your family, Grace.”

  Bryan interjected here, “Sir, we cannot actually take what the man tells us as the truth.”

  “Of course not,” Amy sneered, “Because if it is true, then you threw away the chance to became an Alpha yourself.”

  Bryan ignored her as he continued, “I suggest we continue with what you originally planned.”

  Sandy shook with suppressed laughter and glee shined in her eyes as Tomas let out a cough before he said, “So be it. As from this day, Grace Hawkins, you are no longer a member of Rain Cloud Pack. You have a week to get off our land before you will be forcibly removed.”

  Artur’s eyes narrowed at the threat and he growled low in his throat as Grace said, “If that is all, sir?”

  “Yes,” Tomas said, and Grace nodded her head in understanding.

  “Grace,” he said. “I am sorry if what Alpha Trace said is true.”

  “No offense, sir,” Grace said her voice going cold, “but that does not make up for the deaths of my parents, or the last six years that I have lived without them.”

  She turned away and headed for the front door with Artur beside her when suddenly she was face to face with Sandy.

  “So I wonder how you pulled that a little trick off,” she taunted, and Grace’s eyes flashed before she moved pinning Sandy to the wall.

  Sandy widened her eyes before she said, "Bryan..." reaching a hand out to him.

  “Stay where you are,” Artur growled as Bryan moved toward them, and Sandy eyes widened larger at the iciness of that tone.

  “Sandy, my patience with you has run real thin,” Grace said lowly although all heard her. “Tricks are your expertise’s not mine, and even if I wanted to, I would not waste it on the Rain Cloud Pack. They lost my loyalty a long time ago when my parents died.”

  “Miss Hawkins, let her go know,” Tomas growled at her and Sandy tried to smirk, but it disappeared when Grace did not move at his command.

  Steve sighed, and said firmly, “Grace.”

  Grace’s eyes narrowed, but she stepped back and released her so suddenly that Sandy hit the ground hard.

  “Let’s get going,” ordered Steve his voice stern and daring anyone to say otherwise, but everyone just nodded their heads.

  Artur and Grace were the last ones to walk out and Sandy said waspishly, “It would have been better with me.”

  Artur turned to her and then he growled loudly, and Sandy shrieked at the noise pushing herself against the wall her eyes wide with fear.

  “From that reaction, I seriously doubt it,” Artur remarked with a smirk as they headed out.

  Grace waited until they were outside and heading home before she started laughing and Artur only smiled at the relief he could hear in her voice.

  Once at the house, Steve called Artur and a few other men into the office while Amy and the women headed for the kitchen with the exception of Grace.

  “Amy, can you tell Artur that I am going to my house for a little while,” she stated. “There are a few things I need to do at there.”

  Amy nodded her head as she frowned, “Grace, what are you going to do?”

  Grace shook her head as she said, “That is another reason why I am going because I need to think what I should do next.”

  “Okay, we will let Artur know, although you could tell him yourself,” Susan said making herself a sandwich.


  “He is busy at the moment,” Grace said not wanting to interrupt whatever reason Steve had for calling a sudden meeting with his higher ups.

  “Just let him know although I doubt I will be gone for too long,” Grace said as headed out. “Oh, can one of you call Uncle Ted, and tell him to meet me at my house? There is something I want to discuss with him.”

  “Sure,” Ashley said as Susan reached for the phone, and Grace waved goodbye as she left.

  Unfortunately, Grace realized she would have to go to her house in wolf form because she had not retrieved her motorcycle since she moved into the pack house. She sighed as she shifted allowing her wolf to have full reign, as they took off unaware of pair of eyes that watched her with a slight frown on their face.

  Once she reached her house, she shifted in the backyard as she always did and quickly headed into the house so that she could put some clothes on.

  She dressed quickly in pair of jeans and sweater as the house was a little on the chilly side and as she put on a pair of ankle boots she switched on the answering machine. She froze when she heard the voice on it and her blood cooled as each message was more disturbing than the one before it that she quickly cut off the machine in mid message unable to hear anymore.

  She shivered as she stood up and started to pull things out of her dresser, and she looked around the room with a soft sigh.

  “Well, I was planning to leave anyway after my 21st birthday,” she mumbled to herself as a door opened up downstairs.

  She called out thinking it was Ted, “That was fast, Uncle Ted. I am upstairs.”

  She was still putting things on the bed as the footsteps came closer to the room when suddenly the windows blew open hard and Grace’s wolf was going crazy.

  Grace, you need to get out of here now, her wolf snarled at her.

  The wind blew around the room angrily and whispering danger.

  The footsteps stopped outside the door, and Grace’s violet eyes slowly landed on the door as it opened and her visitor walked in.