“His name is Cortez and what he wants is me.”
It was silent for a moment. Everyone stared at me. For a moment, just one moment, they were completely stunned into silence. But that moment couldn’t last forever.
They all exploded at the same time. A million questions being thrown out at me, but my eyes never left Axton’s. We both just sat there, looking into each other’s eyes as the three guys were going off about the danger and Cortez and the rogues.
I just watched Axton’s expression, knowing that he was putting two and two together. Everything I told him about my past, all the pain I went through. He asked me his silent question. I knew I had to answer for it all, so I gave him a small nod.
He stood up while slamming his hand onto the table, silencing all of them, “Let her talk.”
I nodded my head in a silent thanks before starting a story I thought I would never have to fully tell, the worst story of all, “I had already told Axton this, but when I first left, I accidently crossed into a rogue’s territory and was taken prisoner. While there, I was tortured into trying to reveal which pack I came from, in order to use me as leverage. The name of the rogue who controlled the territory was Cortez.”
“This is the same Cortez that attacked tonight?” Walker asked.
“Yes,” I answered him, “Seven years ago, he had started a war with his neighboring packs and he was winning. He wanted all packs to die, and would kill a pack with any means necessary. When he saw my mark, and knew I was a Luna, he started kidnapping pack members from various north American packs to try and find one who recognized me. Those who didn’t were tortured and murdered right in front of me,” I let out a shaky breath before continuing, “About three months of the torture, he brought a little girl to me. He had just beat and killed her mother in front of that little girl. He asked her if she knew who I was and when she shook her head no, he took a knife and slit her throat. She bled out in my arms.”
“How could he do that to a child?” Reid spoke, barely above a whisper as Axton walked across the room. He took my arms in his hands as he guided me to his chair behind his desk.
“We will get him, alright,” he tells me before turning to Walker, “You and Rolfe look through those old reports, maybe we can try to find him through his history and backtrack-”
I cut him as I gripped the forearm that was pressing against the table, “No, you don’t understand. I wasn’t telling you about the little girl because you didn’t fully understand who Cortez was. I told you about her because of what happened next.”
Axton gave me a weird look before Reid finally asked the question, “What happened next?”
“She came back. I brought her back.”
“You what?” Rolfe asked.
“I placed my hands over her wound, trying to stop the bleeding, when I did. It was like I was pushing my energy into her and I healed her wound.”
“Ellie, you’re a healer, a gifted wolf?” Walker asked, shocked at the news.
“Sort of,” I told them.
“But-”
“I’m not finished,” I cut him off, “When Cortez saw that the little girl was healed, he took a knife and slashed it across my stomach. It healed itself. It turns out that I was much more valuable to him than just being an Alpha’s mate, I was a healer.”
“Why did Cortez need a healer?” Reid asked.
“Because he’s dying,” I stated, “He was cursed by a witch years ago. It’s a slow curse that weeds into every part of his soul, killing him slowly and painfully. He thought I could cure him, but I said no. I didn’t know how to heal him, I knew nothing about it. So, he took the little girl and ripped her heart out from her chest. He told me that for every day I said no, another child would die. He kept his promise.”
Axton placed his hand on my shoulder as he squatted down to face me, placing his forehead against mine, “I’m so sorry.”
“She would have been fourteen by now. She had her whole life ahead of her and instead she’s dead because I couldn’t heal him,” I pulled away, drawing in my emotions, “That’s why Cortez is here. He still needs a healer or he will die.”
“So, he’ll keep coming.”
“He was the one behind the attack at Blue Moon. He’s who I was running from when Reid found me. He has been chasing me for seven years. So, yes, he will keep coming,” I told them, “He will keep coming until I heal him or I’m dead.”
Chapter 21
Axton POV
After the meeting, I dismissed the room and put the entire pack on high alert.
All that was left was me and Ellie. I stood in front of my desk as she sat in a seat across from me with her head hanging, lost in thought. She refused to look at me. No matter what I did, or what I said, after she said that Cortez would kill her for not healing him, Ellie just refused to make eye contact with me.
My wolf kept yelling at me to comfort her and to kill Cortez; and although I did agree with him, it also felt like she was keeping something else from me.
“Ellie,” my voice barely broke above a whisper.
She just shook her head and continued to look at the floor.
“Ellie,” I say again, this time moving in front of her and placing my hands against her cheeks to lift her face, “Please look at me.”
“Axton,” her voice cracks as if she is on the verge of tears.
I rubbed my thumbs in circles to calm her before speaking, “Ellie, why didn’t you tell me any of this or that you were a healer?”
“Because I’m not,” she cracked.
“But you healed that girl.”
“No, I didn’t,” she argued, “I can’t heal anyone.”
I shook my head before kissing her lightly, “Ellie, why didn’t you tell me you were a gifted wolf?” I asked.
“Because I’m not!” she screamed, standing up abruptly before throwing her hands up.
“Ellie-”
“No Axton!” she screamed at me, “I’m trying to tell you, but you aren’t listening.”
“What are you trying to tell me then?” I ask, trying to understand but coming up completely blank.
“It’s-”
“Mommy!” Zea came charging into the room, carrying a small teddy bear that Sawyer had gotten her. Both our attentions were immediately on her as our conversation drifted to the back of my mind.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Ellie asked as she bent down and picked Zea up into her arms.
“I had a bad dream.”
“What about?” I asked as Zea rested her head on Ellie’s shoulder.
“A mean man who wanted to hurt mommy,” she cracked.
“Shh, sweetheart. No one is going to hurt me. I’m fine,” Ellie soothed her.
I gave my daughter a soft smile, “I promise Zea, no one is going to hurt her. I won’t allow it.”
“Are you sure?” she whispered.
“Absolutely,” She nodded her head before clutching onto to Ellie’s neck harder, “Why don’t I take her to bed?”
Ellie nodded her head as she handed our daughter to me, “I think we could all use some sleep.”
Looking her over, I could see the exhaustion coming off her in waves. She’s been up for over twenty hours now, “Come on.”
Pulling Zea closer to my chest, we headed for the door and moved up the stairs. Every movement screamed silence as we walked. A pin could be dropped and still heard.
Carefully carrying Zea into her room, I gently laid her down into her bed before drawing the covers up to her chin and giving her a light kiss on the top of her head.
“Goodnight,” I whisper to her as I draw back and lead Ellie out of the room.
“She’ll be alright,” Ellie said quietly to me as she shuts the door behind us.
“I’m worried about both of you,” I tell her honestly, no more secrets. I put my hand against her cheek as she leans into my palm, “I can’t lose either one of you.”
She closes her eyes for a moment as she just breathes, a light smile on
her lips as she looks up at me, “You won’t, not again.”
I didn’t spare a moment as I lifted her into my arms, connecting in a heated kiss. Passion screamed between us as I carried her into our room, not breaking apart for even a second. I kissed every each of her neck as I moved to my mark, causing a moan to come from her.
I pull back for a moment, taking in the feeling of finally having my mate, “I love you.”
Her face lit up in a bright smile as she grabbed my collar and pulled me back to her as I moved to the bed, “I love you too.”
I wake up to gentle touch of an angel.
Looking down, I watch as Ellie traces a few of the scars on my chest. Pain and concern were clear as she gently touched each line permanently placed into my skin.
“They don’t hurt,” I whisper to her, causing her to stop tracing the lines as she picks up her head from my chest to look me in the eyes, “Not anymore.”
“How?” it was all she asked, but I knew what she wanted to know. When and why.
I placed my hand against her cheek as my other arm rested on her back, “When I got to the pack house that day, the place was destroyed. Everything was ripped to shreds, and I could smell the rogue scent. So, we went after the rogues. All of them. We killed many of their cells looking for you. I got the scars during those attacks,” I slowly guided my hand down her face and arm until I reached her hand, bringing it up to my chest, to the deepest of my scars. The one that had cut through my heart, “Well almost all of them. This one was from an attack on the pack.”
“When did that happen? I don’t remember hearing anything from the other packs.”
“About three years ago,” I told her, “It was one of the largest attacks any rogue has ever planned on this territory.”
“So much has happened these past seven years,” she whispered as she placed her head back onto my chest, “We’ve lost so much.”
“There’s beauty in things that are lost,” I tell her. She gives me a wondering look before I continued, “When you find what was lost, you get to fall in love with it all over again.”
I shuffled through the reports on my desk. Walker had brought me all of the reports of missing pack members from seven years ago, and based on the size of this pile, there were over a hundred.
“How did I miss all of these?” I almost scream as I slap the latest file onto my desk.
“You were distracted. Losing your mate can do that to you,” Walker commented as he looked up from the file he was on.
I rubbed my hands across my face as I thought about how much I let slip, “If I had just been more focused or if I had just read these back then, I might have found Ellie sooner.”
“You can’t beat yourself up about what ifs and what could have been,” Walker told me, “You just have to focus on the here and now. You have Ellie back and you have Zea. Try not to spend too much time looking back.”
I nodded as I took in his words, “You’re right. I need to focus on killing Cortez here, in the present,” I growled out.
“Sounds like a good idea,” I look up to see Ellie standing in the doorway. She stands hesitantly in the doorway, “I don’t want to interrupt anything, but Axton, do you have a moment to talk?” she asks me.
“Of course,” I answer immediately, standing up and walking over to her. I was about to leave when I looked back to Walker, “You can take a break for a while. You’ve been here longer than I have.”
He smiles at me, “I haven’t been here for you, Axton. I’ve been here for me.”
Ellie laughs at that, “Are you hiding from Sawyer again?”
“Yes!” he exclaims, standing up, “She wants to redecorate our room again. This will be the fourth time in two months. I love her but she is driving me crazy with all of it.”
I laughed at this, “Admittedly it’s weird, but it’s Sawyer. You know how she likes to change things.”
“But not this much,” Walker all but whined.
“That’s because she’s-” Ellie stopped herself midsentence for a second, “She’s under a lot of stress. You should be there for her,” she scolded him, “You ready Axton?”
I nodded at her, “Yeah I’m good. Let’s go.”
We walked out of the office and straight out of the house. She grabbed my hand as she pulled me onto the forest path that runs through the territory. Mostly made from patrol running back and forth from the border.
“What did you want to talk about?” I ask, curious to the topic.
“Not yet,” she says as she pulls us to a stop to stand in front of me, “First, I have to do this.”
She slides her arms around my neck as I pull her into a kiss. I pull her closer to me as my hands wrap around her waist, deepening the kiss even more. When we both are breathless, she pulls away with her amazing smile on her lips.
I smile at her as I sneak another kiss, “I think that should be how we start all of our conversations.”
“I think I agree,” she laughs as she steps back slightly to start walking on the trail again. It was a few moments before her demeanor shifts to more hesitant, “I wanted to finish the conversation we were having last night.”
“Alright,” I tell her, “You were telling me that you weren’t a gifted wolf.”
“Because I’m not,” she says.
I pull her forward so I could look at her, “Then how was that little girl healed?” I ask her, “The light coming from your hands and the way you describe how you healed her are the same from reports of other healers, of other gifted wolves. So why don’t you believe it?”
“It’s not about belief,” she tells me as she starts walking again, “I know for a fact that I’m not the healer that saved that little girl that day.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused on why she kept denying it.
“When I asked earlier, you said that you didn’t know a lot about gifted wolves,” she started, keeping her eyes on the trees and the sky as we walked instead of me.
“I know the basics and what I’ve read in reports,” I tell her honestly.
“What do you know about pregnant she-wolves?” she asks.
“What?” I ask confused, “What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about a gifted wolf when it’s still young, when it hasn’t even been born yet,” she says, her voice quiet among the silent forest.
I stop walking for a second, slowly trying to understand. I was about to ask her to explain, for I had a feeling I knew what she was going to tell me, but I didn’t get a chance.
It happened in a split second. I didn’t even register what was happening until they were already on top of us.
A rogue snarled as the rest attacked us. There was six of them, all in wolf form, ready to kill us.
Pulling Ellie behind me, I shifted and cut the first one off. I grabbed onto the fur of his neck, twisting to snap his neck as two more jumped on top of my back.
Looking over to Ellie, I saw as she defended herself from one of the rogues as a different one snuck behind and rammed into her legs, knocking her down. Growling out, I twisted my head to the rogue on the top of my back, biting into his side as I shook the other one off me and throwing him into a tree.
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