by Anna G Berry
“Carson, did you hear me?” she asked me, bringing me back to earth.
“Um, I’m sorry. What did you say?” I asked shaking my head and kissing her on the top of her head.
“I said that you can wash your hair now.” She told me as she moved away from the water.
“Thank you. I love you, you know, that right?” I asked as I rinsed the soap out of my hair.
“Yes, I do. I love you as well.” She leaned in and kissed me on the lips before walking out.
“Did you wash your hair already?” I asked a bit puzzled as to why she was getting out so soon.
“I did it while you were in Carson land.” She giggled as she wrapped a towel over her streaming wet hair.
“Carson land?” I asked as I began to shave my face.
“Yes, you were off in your own little world.” She wrapped a towel around her body before she walked out of the bathroom.
I finished shaving and turned the water off. I opened the door and stepped out. I grabbed the only towel left on the rack and did a quick dry off before wrapping it around myself and walked into the bedroom. I saw that Claudia was trying to decide between two pairs of underwear and bras. I walked up to her and saw that one was a dark green, emerald all lace. The second one was a light sky blue with little bits of lace here and there. I grabbed the emerald one, all lace was my favorite and that color was stunning on her.
“Wear this one, it will look beautiful on you.” I whispered in her ear as I handed it to her.
“Thank you, I couldn’t decide.” She smiled as she took the green panties and bra from me and put them on.
I walked over to the dresser and grabbed a pair of boxers and let the towel hit the floor as I put the boxers on. Then, I walked over to the closet and grabbed a pair of dark denim jeans. I pulled them on and turned around and went back to the dresser to grab a shirt only to find Claudia stuck on which clothes to wear.
I shook my head and walked over, she had two outfits laid out on the bed. The first was a crop top with some crazy writing on it and it was paired with shorts. The second one was a bit laid back, a pair of her comfy sweatpants and a baggy shirt.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“I don’t know what to wear today.” She told me as she took a deep breath and took a seat on the bed.
“How about I pick an outfit for you to wear?” I asked trying to help.
“Really? Would you?” she asked me as her eyes lit up.
“Yes, really. I’d be happy to.” I told her as I grabbed the two outfits from her and put them away.
I walked into the closet and grabbed a cute long sleeve shirt that had flowers on it, a pair of light gray pants and her favorite sneakers. I walked out with the outfit and I could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t sure.
“Try it on at least.” I told her before she could protest.
She nodded her head and got dressed in the outfit that I had grabbed. I saw a smile forming on her lips. I knew that I had grabbed the right pieces to make her feel comfortable but still feel cute. She walked over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you, but are you sure you think I’m beautiful in this?” she asked me, looking down at her feet.
“Of course, you are beautiful in anything. I also want you to feel comfortable.” I told her grabbing her chin and making her look at me.
“How did you know I haven’t been feeling comfortable in my clothes?” she said still not looking me in the eyes.
“Pisoi, look at me. I can tell because of our mate bond. Would you like to go shopping with the girls to get more clothes after the meeting?” I asked her, using my Alpha voice for the first time since we meet.
“Yes, I would if you don’t mind. I’ll bring Max or Emmett with us.” She told me looking me in the eyes this time.
“Bring both, it will make me feel better.” I said as I wrapped her up in my arms.
She nodded her head and fell into me like ice melting in the hot sun. I loved just holding her letting her drift off in thoughts of us. Letting our hearts beat as one was just as satisfying. Just then, I got interrupted by Harper trying to get through.
“Yes, did you find it?” I asked him as I still held Claudia.
“I did. Do you want me to hold on to it or bring it to you?” he asked me.
“Bring it to me, I don’t want your mate to get the wrong idea. You have grandmother’s ring for that.” I told him as I unwrapped myself from Claudia.
“Okay, I’m outside your door.”
I got up and walked to the door, I opened it to find Harper standing there with a small box in his hand. I took it from him and mouthed a thank you then closed the door, I slipped the box in my pants pocket, grabbed a shirt from the dresser and pulled it over my head. I walked over to Claudia and gave her a squeeze on the shoulder.
Chapter Eleven
Carson
We made our way to the back yard where everyone patiently waited for us. All the Alphas; Felix, Cole, Reese, Elliot and Wen were present along with their respective packs in the yard. Alphas Sam, Ashton and James with their respective packs were also present and spread out across the yard. Thank god the yard was big, or we would have had a problem accommodating all the packs.
Claudia stood in front of me as we began the meeting. There was a hush of whispers among all the packs. No one dared to speak louder than a whisper while we were both standing in front of them.
I tapped Claudia on the shoulder and whispered, “Let me speak first.”
She nodded and took a step back allowing me to step forward, “To everyone who doesn’t know, Claudia called this meeting because we found new information on the matter at hand. Anyone who thinks this is not necessary needs to be reminded that there is a killer on the loose and we intend to stop him at any cost.” I said in a loud voice so everyone could hear.
The whole back yard fell silent and everyone looked around not sure what to do at that moment.
“Thank you, Carson. So, as Carson just mentioned, we have some new information on Waylon. We have discovered that he has a witch or a voodoo priestess helping him. Also, he is using the Gala each year to kill Alphas and their pack members. What he doesn’t realize is that I have a former member of his pack, Marisol, who has joined my pack and is now mated to Marco. She has information about Waylon that no one else has. If any one of you used to be in his pack and would like to feed us information about him, please do so.” Claudia said as she looked around the yard, wondering if anyone else would come forward.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and she relaxed right away. Just when she was about to lose all hope, eight people stepped forward to share what they knew. I walked over to Marisol and she stepped forward to share what she had on Waylon.
“Hello, my name is Marisol Green White. Waylon is someone you don’t want to underestimate. He puts up this good guy persona but it’s just a mask. He is cold hearted and once he sees something he wants, he will aggressively pursue it. I saw firsthand what he can do when someone or something is in his way. He killed my father when my father tried to hide my mother and myself from him. My mother and I fled and asked to join Claudia’s pack. Claudia’s dad took us in, and I am still very happy about it. When I was younger, before Waylon killed my father, I heard him say that he wanted the next Queen. That he would do anything to get her, and that with her, he would be extremely powerful. When he found out that there was another royal family here, he was furious. He said that he would destroy them, at all costs to keep the two heirs from ever meeting. He was unaware that they already had.” Marisol’s voice was shaking at the end, I put my hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She let out a deep breath and started to relax as I walked to Claudia.
“Who will be next?” Claudia asks as she looks at the eight faces that stepped up to tell their story.
A man around my age turned and began, “Hello, my name is Brodey Law. I belong to Alpha Felix’s pack. My parents and I fled Waylon’s pack when I was seven years
old. The whole pack was at war with one another. My parents didn’t want anything to do with the war, so we approached Alpha Felix and asked to join his pack. He was happy to accept us, and we have been very grateful for it. The war broke families apart and many were killed. I heard that there’s still a war going on inside the pack.” Brodey said as he looked around, taking in everyone’s expressions.
A young woman stepped up next, “Hello, my name is Carly Tomas Young. I belong to Alpha Wen’s pack. I was sixteen when I ran away from Waylon’s pack. Alpha Wen found me just on the edge of his property. I was all scraped up and covered with bruises…I was Waylon’s sex toy. When I didn’t want to do something, he would hit me and force me to do it anyway. I was kept hidden away from everyone so no one even knew that I existed. He kidnapped me when I was five and since then, he would repeatedly force himself on me. I ran away the night of one of the Galas, that was my best chance to get away. The night that Alpha Wen found me was the night I found out that the Alpha was my mate.” Carly was looking down at the grass then back to Wen and I could tell this was hard for her to talk about.
Another young woman stepped up, “Hello, my name is Delanie Woods Walker. I belong to Alpha James’s pack. I am his mate. I didn’t run, instead I got saved from that vile pack. He would look at any female like we were his belonging and he would touch us in areas that no Alpha should be touching anyone who wasn’t their mate. He would force young females to accompany him to gatherings, just the two of them. It was awful. He refused to acknowledge the words stop or no. He does what he wants because he is the Alpha and we had no choice but to submit to him. The day I was saved was during one of Waylon’s parties. Alpha James walked in and saw what Waylon was doing to me. I am very grateful that Alpha James saved me the way he did.” Delanie said with her head held high and a spark of fire in her eyes.
“Hello, my name is Carter Hall,” another man stepped forward. “I belong to Alpha Cole’s pack. It all began when I was about seven years old. My parents both passed away and Waylon thought that having a broken boy would be a good thing. He thought that the grief of my loss would make me shift faster, but it didn’t. So, he made me train harder than he would the rest of the pack. When I was about fifteen, I had had enough. We were fight training, and I took it to a whole new level. I got mad and attacked him. I almost killed him, so he got mad and threw me out of the pack. I was happy that I got kicked out, but I had nowhere to go. I was walking along the highway when I came across Alpha Cole and his Beta. He offered me the opportunity to join him and his pack. I’m very happy that I did.” Carter said as he looked at everyone. He was about eighteen and very strongly built.
“Hello, my name is Ivy Shore Rivers. I belong to Alpha Sam’s pack. I am also his mate. I was lucky enough not to be touched by Waylo. He didn’t like the olived skinned females. I had help from my cousin and her friend to break me out of that hell. My cousin Lavender had put a hex on Waylon for him to have poor eyesight. The following night she came to break me out along with the Alpha. At the time, I didn’t know that the Alpha would be my mate and would protect me from that vile man.” Ivy told us as she gave Lavender a smile.
The next person to step up was Eben, “Hello, my name is Eben Banks. I belong to Alpha Reese’s pack and my story is a bit unusual. My mother was raped by Waylon and then ran away from him. She found Alpha Reese and told him her story and he allowed her join his pack. He really didn’t know how bad Waylon was until he attacked you guys. Anyway, my mom didn’t know that she was pregnant until she was about four months into the pregnancy. I was… I am Waylon’s son, but he doesn’t know and to be honest, I don’t want him to know until I tell him, if I ever choose to do so.” Eben looked around the room at all the shocked faces, including mine.
“Hello, my name is Toby Saul. I belong to Alpha Elliot’s pack and I left Waylon’s pack in the dead of night four weeks ago. Alpha Elliot saw me leaving and told me that I could join his pack and I gladly took the opportunity. Waylon wanted me to have sex with a fourteen-year-old and I couldn’t do that to her. Waylon was always trying to make me do things I didn’t want to do. I had had enough of it, so I packed up and left.” He said still trying to fight the anger back.
“Hello, my name is Sara Waters. I belong to Alpha Ashton’s pack and I left Waylon’s pack because I couldn’t stand all the nasty things that were going on within the pack. There were unmated males having sex with much younger females, and there was physical abuse within the pack as well. I was heading to the Midwest in hopes that one of those packs would allow me to join. I got kicked out by doing everything opposite of what I was told to do. When Alpha’s mate, Millie, saw me she knew something was wrong and brought me to Alpha Ashton. He said I could join him and stay if I wanted to.” Sara told us as her voice started to shake at the end.
Claudia was about to go on with the meeting when I thought about Cecelia and how it was odd for her to show up out of nowhere. I tapped Claudia on the shoulder and said, “We have one more left, Cecelia.” She rolled her eyes and nodded her head.
I motioned for Nikko, “Please go get Cecelia and bring her out here.” I told him as he got closer.
He nodded his head and disappeared to the cells. He came back with a tattered looking Cecelia.
“Please, tell everyone what it’s like to live in Waylon’s pack.” I said looking at her.
She turned to face everyone, “Life in his pack is an everyday battle with the men. I had to fight them off all the time, and when Alpha Waylon wants you, you might as well submit to him. I have been wanting to run for a while, when he gave me the chance to spy on all of you, I knew I had my chance to leave for good. So, I took it. Making it into a different pack would be a better life than living in his.” She said as a few tears escaped her eyes.
I looked at Nikko who grabbed her by the arm and lead her away, back to the cells. I wanted to make sure she wouldn’t turn or do anything to get us killed. I still couldn’t trust her.
Chapter Twelve
Claudia
I watched as Nikko took Cecelia away, back to the cells. I turned my attention back to the wolves in my backyard. I looked around to see looks of shock, pity, anger, and most of all confusion. I didn’t want to continue, but Carson’s touch was pushing me to go on. So, I coughed to clear my throat before I said any more.
“Everyone, may I have your attention. I wanted you all to hear what those ten people had to say about the vilest shifter on this earth. What he is doing and what he is allowing to happen is revolting and frankly I want to end all of this myself. But knowing that things might not end well, I need help from everyone to protect this house and Carson’s house. Carson and I will be attending this coming year’s Gala and I need all of you to be on high alert.” I said trying not to fall over from how dizzy I was feeling.
I saw everyone nodding their heads and heard everyone say that they would help us, then everything went black and I felt myself falling into someone’s arms. I could feel something under me and I could feel myself being moved, but I knew that I had blacked out. I felt strong hard arms carrying me, but I didn’t know to where.
I got pulled into another dream, some far off memory. All I saw was blood and death. I tried to wake to see where I was, but I keep getting pulled back to the memory. I tried to see who or what was holding me in place and what kept pulling me back, but I all I saw was red. I tried to scream, but nothing was coming out. I tried to talk but the only thing that came out of my mouth was a strange strangled sound. I tried to wake up, but I couldn’t. I started to freak out and started trying to move around the room that I was trapped in, in my mind. I had no success in trying to find a door, in fact the room had no door or windows. It was a white room, splashed all over with deep red blood. I looked up to see someone looking at me. I tried to walk over to them and tried to call out, but nothing would come out of my mouth.
I started to feel panic setting in as I tried to hold it back. Who is this person? What are they doing here and why aren’t
they helping me? I couldn’t seem to find the strength to fight anymore. I fell to the floor, covered with blood. In the memory, my eyes began to close, and I felt like I was dying.
Chapter Thirteen
Claudia
After what felt like months, I finally woke up and looked around. I was in my room and I could tell by how quiet the house was that it was nighttime. I looked over and found that the bed was empty. I sat up and realized that I had a splitting headache. I looked over to the bedside table and found some Tylenol and a glass of water on my bedside table. I reached over, popped the Tylenol in my mouth and took a sip of the water to help the medicine go down.
I grabbed my robe and slid my feet into my slippers. I needed to find Carson, and to find out what had happened. I walked to the door and began to open it when I heard Carson’s voice.
“You can’t keep her locked up forever, she’s mated and carrying our pup, I might add.” Carson said to someone.
I opened the door more and heard Paul’s voice, “She needs to be watched. He wants her because she is so powerful. More powerful than anyone knows.” Paul said to Carson out in the hallway.
I began to make my way into the hallway when Carson said, “What are you talking about?” Carson was confused by what Paul had just said. I had come to the conclusion that it was the right time. I had to tell him the truth about me.
I walked out of the room and down the hall to where they stood and I placed my hand on Carson’s back. He relaxed and I could see that Paul had begun to relax as well.
“Carson let’s go to bed and I will explain everything in the room.” I said to him as I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the bedroom.
Paul gave us a nod and turned around to go back into his room. I walked Carson back to our room and closed the door. I let go of his hand and made my way to the window. I let him sit down on the bed before I began to explain to him exactly what my brother were talking about.
