Julie

by Foster, Sherry

  Caught up in her silent hell Julie had time to think about things. She listened to the other girls in the prison while they were there. She hoped after the rescue, when people were talking and the number came floating into her memory, the number would lead to her mate. Maybe if she had a mate he could help her break the silence her body had imposed on her tongue. She realized though the men from the picture couldn’t be her mate. According to the others a mate can find you no matter where you are in the world. She was okay with not having a mate. She was still too young anyway. She had no idea how old she was but she didn’t feel old enough and they said her scent would change when she matured.

  She wished she could remember more. The last few days had caused a battery of images to filter through her mind. Sometimes she knew if she could call the number the man on the other end would save her. Other times she knew it was the giant of a man in the picture who would save her. One picture, two men, both would protect her, but she couldn’t remember why or how she knew this to be true.

  She had no idea what Allison and Willow were outside talking about but she wished she could ask them to stop hiding things from her. She wanted to know what was going on. She needed to find someone who could free her from the silence imposed by that voice in her mind. She wanted to tell them she wasn’t a child to be protected. She wanted to scream at them that she was not mentally challenged. Except she couldn’t because she was challenged. There was nothing wrong with her intellect though. She knew she had a mental block on talking but she couldn’t break it. Not being able to talk or stand up for herself or do things without freezing up did cause her to be more fragile than the others. Her mind would blank out on her and cause her to forget how to do the simplest of tasks while the voice in her head told her how important it was to be quiet.

  The voice, she hated the voice and loved the voice. After a few months she had figured out the voice must have belonged to someone important in her life. Someone who cared deeply for her and knew keeping quiet would keep her safe. But she had not been able to keep quiet. She remembered the blood, she remembered screaming, but she could not remember who the blood belonged to or why she screamed.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Trevor, good to see you again. Where are your, good god, it can’t be.” William stared at the two men who had gotten off the plane behind Trevor. Actually he stared at one of them. The other he did not know. He could never have forgotten the face staring back at him from the massive male. It had been centuries since he had seen the male. He believed the male had died, everyone believed the male had died.

  “William. From your expression either you already know Edward, or you are as surprised as most to be confronted by such a large male.” Trevor shifted his attention from Edward to William. Clearly the massive size of Edward was not the cause of the startled statement from William. Which meant they must know each other somehow. He could have saved himself a trip if he had known.

  William was staring at Edward as though he was looking at a ghost. Edward, for his part seemed as surprised to see William as William was to see him. With what he knew of the male staring back at him William suddenly knew beyond any doubt Gammon would let the male into his territory. What he couldn’t figure out, with all his experience and all his centuries of diplomacy, was how was he going to tell Gammon who had stepped off the plane with Trevor.

  “Edward? So this must be Dennis and, I thought you were bringing your son?” The last was directed at the male standing slightly behind and to the side of Edward.

  At the question Dennis took a slight half step to the side. His half step caused the small boy behind him to step to the side in order to stay directly behind. William nodded. Looking again at the trio of men in front of him he started trying to plan. First things first though, “Gentlemen, shall we collect your luggage and figure out our next step?”

  “Next step? I thought our steps were already planned out.” Trevor narrowed his eyes while looking from William to Edward.

  “They were, right up until I saw Edward. He changes everything. I apologize in advance but we have to make new plans. But not here and not now.” With that comment William turned and headed in the direction of baggage claim. At least the men had already been through customs at the last airport. The original plan had been to take the men to Marcus and let them meet Kate who would then fill them in on everything she knew about Julie. Now he wasn’t sure if it would be better to call Marcus first and have him warn his pack to keep their mouths closed or whether he should call Gammon and warn him. Either way things were about to get interesting. He wondered how much the other two men knew about the one they called Edward. He wondered if they knew he was born with another name. He wondered if they knew where the man came from before he settled in Australia. Most of all, William wondered how Edward was going to react to the information he now had to tell him.

  While the men collected their luggage William called Marcus to inform him of the change in plans. He was careful not to go into any details as to why the plans had to change. Initially this caused some small problem with Marcus. Finally William had convinced him the change was necessary based on information he had found out as soon as the three men had arrived. He took time to arrange a hotel suite for the men and himself after he got off the phone with Marcus.

  Once they arrived at the hotel and checked in William requested a one-on-one conversation with Edward. He had no problems getting it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  When Mia answered the phone she wasn’t surprised to hear William on the other end. What did surprise her was what he asked. “Is your mate around and in a good mood, a very good mood?”

  “You know he isn’t in a good mood William. You are part of the reason he is in such a bad mood.”

  “Yes, I am aware of that Mia. I need to speak with him and his Beta’s immediately, and Mia, please be prepared. I do not know how he will receive the information I have for him concerning the Alpha I went to meet at the airport. I will give you thirty minutes to get them all around a speaker phone and Mia? Make sure you furnish them with a hefty dose of alcohol even if our metabolism does wipe it from our system before we can enjoy the effects.”

  “William, what are you about to do? You have never once made any request remotely resembling the request you made now. I have to admit if I am honest, you have me concerned.”

  “I am myself concerned Mia. For all our problems I have the utmost respect for Gammon. I watched that boy grow up for the first twenty years of his life. Now I have to break some news to him and I frankly have no idea if the news will be welcome or how he will react. I would prefer to break the news to him myself so please, though I would love to let you carry some of the burden because as his mate you would be able to cushion the news, I think he should hear it first from me. I am the one who gave consent for these men to travel here and meet with him. Please just tell him it is of the utmost importance I speak with him and his Betas, without telling them anything more. I don’t want him to spend his time in idle speculation about something and a rage build up about imaginary scenarios.”

  Thirty minutes later, the men had speculated plenty when the phone finally rang. Gammon answered and placed the call on speaker phone. For anyone else this would not have been necessary, but William was an expert at pitching his voice to be unheard by others on a phone call.

  “So what is so important this time William. I am still not letting you bring two feuding Alphas into my territory so don’t think you can get my Betas on your side. You know better. Furthermore you can not advance an argument to get me to change my mind.”

  “Gammon, so good of you to take my call. I have some disturbing news to relay about our visitors. Frankly I will be honest, I haven’t a clue how to tell you this so I will just come out and tell you straight since neither of us are ones for beating around the bush. I met the three at the airport. I found out I knew the Alpha named Edward. Gammon, you know Edward. The three of you know him by a different name than Edward.
Edward was born Mikhail in a little village near Mangazeya on the Taz River in the early fifteen hundreds.”

  Gammon, who had just raised his beer to him mouth carefully replaced it on the table in front of him. Without saying a word he got up and left the room. Moments later the three left in the room heard the front door close. William had not spoken another word after dropping his bomb. Dimitri and Nikita turned their attention from the direction of the front door to Mia and then toward the phone. Both men looked as shell shocked as Gammon had looked when he left the room. The expressionless look only a real shock can put on a person’s face. Mia tried reaching out to Gammon through the mate bond but silence was her only answer.

  “What just happened? Who is this Mikhail and why did Gammon leave and why isn’t he answering me through our bond?” The questions, directed toward the two Betas remained unanswered.

  Finally William spoke again. “I am sorry. He had to know. Please, when he returns I need to know his answer.”

  Mia heard the click as William severed the connection. She turned to look at the two men left in the room. Neither had spoken and both seemed to be lost in a world of their own. She watched them as they both replaced their beers on the table and when they stood to leave she jumped up and headed for the door. Turning around she looked at the two men.

  “Oh no, Gammon isn’t answering. William said he was sorry for telling him. You both know what is going on and neither one of you are leaving until someone tells me something. Who is Mikhail and why did his name cause such a reaction from the three of you?”

  Dimitri reached out and carefully picked Mia up and moved her to the side. Having done so both men then proceeded to leave the room still without saying a word.

  Mia had rapidly gone from concerned to terrified. Whatever bombshell William had just dropped had caused more of a negative reaction than she had anticipated. She thought whatever he had to tell the men would make Gammon angry. Angry she could handle. But the men’s faces, all three had lost all expression and now Gammon had left without a word to her and his Betas were doing the same.

  “Please, Nikita, Dimitri, I can’t help him if I don’t know what is going on. He is my heart and soul. Who is Mikhail? Why isn’t Gammon answering me? Where did he go? Where are the two of you going? Tell me something, please.”

  The men stopped but neither one turned around to face Mia. Finally, when Mia thought they would not answer, Nikita said “Mikhail is dead.” Mia stared at the back of the men, or where the men had been. Before she could collect her thoughts or ask another question she heard the front door close again as the two men left the house.

  Sitting back down on the couch she muttered, “Well obviously he isn’t dead. But who is he?”

  ***

  Hours later the three men were standing in front of the mausoleum where Jutoh had been laid to rest. The two men had known without asking where Gammon would go. They had not been far behind him. When they had reached the hallway, and seen the clothing, they had known Gammon had taken to wolf form. They didn’t need to ask him where he had gone. Some instinct had sent the men after their Alpha. Gut wrenching horror had filled their souls as they realized what William was telling them, and what must have happened all those centuries ago.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “It has been hours William. What exactly are we waiting on now? Are we heading to Alaska or Marcus’ territory or what?” Trevor had known William for a few decades. In those decades he had never seen the man at a loss for words or actions. He had known the man to be decisive and diplomatic. Whatever was going on between William and Edward seemed to have caused some kind of problem.

  “We are waiting on Gammon to call back.”

  “Look mate, I didn’t travel around the world to play nursemaid to Edward. Obviously you didn’t need an introduction, nor does it appear you needed me to vouch for him and I think after I dropped everything to come here to vouch for man you clearly already know the least you can do is tell me what is going on.

  William looked at Edward who just shrugged. Edward still had the same stunned look on his face he had gotten when finding out about Gammon. Dennis had put his son to bed and returned to the room. From the sympathetic looks he kept giving his Alpha, combined with looks of worry and concern, Edward had filled him in on the situation. Turning to Trevor William started his story.

  “I was born in a little village near Mangazeya on the Taz River a few centuries ago. I stayed there until I mated. In that time I watched Edward here grow up in that village and take a mate. A few decades later I watched his brother grow up. I left before Gammon mated, but everyone knew from the time the female child was born who he would mate. I think Jutoh knew before the child was even born. Everything else I am about to tell you is here-say. I wasn’t there to see what happened and back then news traveled slowly and sometimes not at all.

  A few years after mating the Alpha’s daughter, Gammon, along with most of the males of the pack left the village to go on a hunt. Not so unusual back then. Edward here was one of those men. While they were gone human hunters attacked the village. Everyone in the village was killed. The men were too far from the village to make it back in time to help. The one’s who were true-mated, well, most of them did not survive.

  Twenty males left that day but only twelve returned. Eight mated males died that day far from their village. The Alpha and his son-by-mating were the only two mated males to survive the loss. The details of the following weeks are a bit light on details but let’s just say the males were not in the best of shape mentally for some time. Gammon became the Alpha of the pack and slowly began to build the pack again.

  Until today when I saw Edward I believed the story of the eight males who never made it back, the ones who died far from their village of mate-loss. Until I called Gammon he believed the eight males had been lost. Edward here is proof at least one of the mated males survived.”

  “I see. So you told another Alpha he basically left a pack member to fend for himself after losing his mate. Now he has to be wondering how many of those other seven men could have lived. Now he will be trying to come to terms with leaving pack members behind and not even knowing how many he could have left, how many may have survived if they had help. I understand why we are still sitting here waiting on a phone call.”

  “I have only ever known two other males to reach the size of Edward here, his father and his brother. His father was one of the males left in the village that day. They found his body trying to shield his mate.”

  Trevor had nothing to say after William delivered his news. He did not know Gammon personally but he had heard tales. Gammon was said to be fiercely protective of his pack. Trevor would not want to be in either man’s shoes this day. He had wondered about the strange expressions on Edwards face throughout the day since William and he had their talk, but he didn’t know the man enough to understand what the expressions meant. He knew the man to be fiercely protective of the ones under him. He knew him to be highly territorial, more so than most Alphas. He understood a bit better why now. A man who had lost everything would be doubly careful of who intruded upon his territory.

  “If that is the news you delivered to the man today, I don’t mind waiting for that phone call. With the kind of news you dumped on the man I don’t expect we will even get a phone call today. The trip here took over twenty-seven hours so I am going to call it a night, even though it is still early.” With that comment Trevor turned and walked into the bedroom he had picked out. Closing the door behind him he regretted once again agreeing to come. Especially since he wasn’t even needed in the end. He agreed because of the female. He did not know her, had never heard of her, but if a female needed help he would always agree to help. This time had been no different. Who knew, maybe his mate was living in that fancy school Gammon had up there in Alaska. They did not send their females to Gammon to protect, at least he didn’t know of any. But females were scarce in Australia also.

  As Trevor settled down on the
bed he thought about the story William had told. In all truthfulness he wasn’t needed anymore. He wouldn’t mind stopping off and meeting the Alpha of the little terror he had recently hosted with some of his pack. But if he requested to go to Marcus’ he could lose the chance to visit Gammon’s pack. The chances of him finding a mate were slim, but they had to be better at Gammon’s than at Marcus’. Decision made he closed his eyes. He could not imagine what the two men were going through and intruding upon the grief, sorrow, and guilt they must be working through was not in the best interest of the future Trevor was trying to build. Tomorrow he would talk with William about continuing on to Marcus’ to try to forge another deal.

  Seems he spent half his life lately trying to forge deals with other packs to let males and females visit. He had no idea how Marcus would take to his idea but for the sake of the two unmated mature females, the one baby born recently in his pack and the dozens of unmated males he had to try. The longer the females stayed unmated the greater the chance a rogue would find them and take them. He knew the females had no mates in his pack, not even the baby had a male come forth to claim the right of protection so he had to find another way. The possibility existed one would be born soon for the baby, though in his memory no male was ever younger than the female, but he had to cover all his basis. If one of the small male children in his pack was a mate for the baby the boy would have already started camping outside the house trying to protect the house even if he had no understanding of what was going one.

  One pack at a time. He would try one vetted pack at a time. He had William vetting the packs for him and from his understanding Gammon vetted them for William. Most of the time the Alphas he had spoken with did not want to allow his males to visit. If they refused his males he never even offered to send his females.