by Anna G Berry
“No, how can I forget the night our parents got murdered by the man we all trusted? It’s something I will never forget.” I said, refilling my teacup.
No one said a word for about ten minutes, not till Lavender broke the silence.
“Can you tell us what you remember from that night? It may help us decide how to best deal with Waylon.” She said as she walked over and took a seat next to me.
“Sure.” I paused, thinking back. “I asked my mom if I could go over to your house, Lavender. She told me no. I couldn’t understand why. She said that her and dad were going to a ball and that they would be getting home late, that they wanted me to stay home. I didn’t like it, so I waited until they had been gone for about an hour and then snuck out. Wait, I thought that you found them,” I said looking at Lavender and then at Paul.
“No, I had gotten a phone call that I needed to go to the hotel from the police. So, I went and saw what was in the report. I thought that if I told you that I found them it would be easier for you so that you would know that someone they loved was there for them. I’m sorry that I lied to you, Lillie.” He said as he placed his hands on my shoulders.
“It’s okay, I think you did the right thing. I wasn’t in my right mind when I found out they died…I would have been upset if I had known you didn’t find them and weren’t there for them.” I leaned back and gave Paul a smile.
It was true, I didn’t know how I would have handled the news if Paul had told me he hadn’t found them. It was strange, but knowing that he found them and that he was there for them even if it was too late comforted me….even if it was a lie. If I had known how gruesome their murder was and that they hadn’t been found by a loved one at the time, I don’t know what I would have done. I may have locked myself away in my room for days or weeks… or I may even have considered hurting myself. The death of my mom and dad had changed my life. That night, everything I knew was flipped upside down. Where I was once considered the nice one, now I was extremely short tempered. I had a very short fuse and I would blow up in someone’s face with little provocation. Where I was once the quiet little girl, now I was much more vocal. I talked a lot more and I didn’t really care what anyone thought about me.
I looked around the room. Carson was flipping through a book about torture. The title was 1,000 Types of Torture and more. I shook my head and giggled.
“Do you think that book will help with what we will have to do?” I asked in a teasing tone.
“Maybe, it might come in handy. It’s worth a read, though, so I’m gonna study it for a bit.” Carson said shrugging his shoulders and flashing me his charming smile.
I shook my head and stood up. I needed to get food in me before I started killing people.
“I’ll be in kitchen if anyone needs me, the baby and I need food.” I said as I walked to the door.
As I walked down the hall towards the kitchen, I heard loud talking. I walked towards the voices to see Marco and Max arguing about something. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it sounded heated. I walked in to put an end to it before it got any worse. I didn’t want my best men fighting each other when they should be focused on fighting Waylon.
You’re not an Alpha so get over it. Also, stop trying to challenge Paul. You won’t win that fight.” I heard Max saying as I opened the door and walked in.
“I’m not trying to be Alpha, but I think she is going about things the wrong way. Also, I’m not stupid enough to go against Paul. I lost the last time I tried that.” Marco said as he sat down in the chair in the den.
The den was located off the stairs to the left. It was beautiful, it had a good size window to the right of the door. There was a bookcase on the wall facing the door, as you walked in. To the left of the door is the sofa and to the right were a few big comfy chairs. In the middle was a coffee table with some magazines and two drink cups.
“What’s going on here?” I asked as I walked in to see Max was about to shift.
“I was just telling Max that I think you may be going about the whole Waylon thing the wrong way.” Marco said as he looked from Max to me.
“Okay, what do you suggest? I could use the help from my pack.” I said as I took a seat in one of the chairs.
“Okay, so you know that Marisol was a part of Waylon’s pack before she became my mate. Well, she was telling me some things that might be of importance to you.” Marco said to me as I looked at Max for a reaction.
“Whatever she can tell us will help us a whole lot.” I said giving them both a small smile.
“Okay, I will go and let her know right now.” Marco told me as he got up and headed out the door.
I turned and saw Max looking out the window. I let out a small cough as Marco closed the door. I couldn’t help but feel that there was more to the story than Marco was telling me. Max always told me the truth about the fights he got into with any of the other wolves, even if it involved someone in our own pack. Max turned around and walked to the chair next to mine and sat down. I look at him and saw the worry on his face as he looked at me and took a deep breath.
“What’s going on Max? I can tell something else is bothering you.” I said as I reached out and squeezed his hand.
“This whole Waylon issue has everyone going crazy. Lavender has been so busy that she won’t even talk to me. I can feel the stress pouring off her. I just want her to take a break from it for a day, that’s all.” Max said as he took another deep breath.
I gave him a smile and leaned over in my chair, “That might be my fault, but how about this? Tomorrow, schedule a spa day for her. I will let her know that she has the day off and that she is to spend the whole day with you. Go for a run after, it’ll be good for both of you.”
“I can do that. She does need some spoiling and we haven’t gone on a run in a while.” Max said as he started thinking about what I had said.
“Great, I will let her know. Your fun starts tomorrow.” I gave him another squeeze and stood up.
I made my way into the kitchen to look for some food, like I was going to before I got distracted. I got to the kitchen and saw Chinese takeout on the island. The smell was making my mouth water. I found a takeout container that had “Claudia” written on it. I knew only two people who loved Chinese takeout more than me and they were Mikayla and Abby. I opened the container and found my favorite, General Tso’s Chicken. The only one that knew my favorite was Abby. She always asked for them to make it extra spicy for me. I took the rice and dumped it in the General Tso’s Chicken container, then grabbed my chopsticks and mixed it all together before getting a little bit of everything between my chopsticks. I stood in the kitchen, enjoying my first bite of food. I made my way to the sofa and curled up with the blanket to watch some TV.
I took my seat on the sofa and pulled the blanket over me and I turned the tv to a channel that was showing reruns of Cold Case. I loved that show, too bad it only showed the reruns. It was the best show on TV besides Law and Order, those were my top favorites. As I sat there watching TV and eating my food, I couldn’t help but think that maybe I was going about the whole Waylon situation the wrong way.
Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep on the sofa and hours had passed. I got up and saw Carson standing out on the deck. I noticed that the TV was turned off and my food had been picked up. I wondered why he was outside. I walked to the door and slipped out behind him. He didn’t even realize that I was standing beside him until I touched his shoulder. He turned around and gave me a warm smile.
“Is everything okay?” I asked as I rubbed his shoulder.
“Yes, and no. It feels like we’re missing something. I’ve been going through the files that the boys found, and they feel incomplete. I just think we need to get more information before we do anything.” He said as he wrapped his arms around me.
“Marco was telling me that Marisol has some information on him. She used to be in his pack before Marco and her became mated. I was thinking that maybe we are going about this whole thing
in the wrong way, too.” I couldn’t help but look out over the deck as I said it.
“Let’s hear what she has to say in the morning. You should go back inside and get some rest.” He told me as he lit a cigarette.
“Fine, just don’t be long. You need your sleep as well and I hate that you don’t sleep very much.” I told him as I gave him a kiss.
Chapter Nine
Claudia
In my bedroom, I heard voices coming from the next room. I wanted to ignore them, but the room that the voices were coming from belonged to Harper and Mikayla. As tired as I was, I needed to go and see what was going on.
I opened the door to my room and walked out into the hallway and as I neared their room, their voices got louder. I walked to the door and knocked on it.
“Who is it?” said a voice from behind the door.
“It’s Claudia, may I come in?” I asked as I took a step back.
“Yes, come in.” Said the voice again.
I opened the door to find Harper, Mikayla, and Emmett standing in the middle of the room. I looked around at each of them and wondered what it was that they couldn’t agree on.
“What’s going on?” I growled.
I couldn’t stand when my pack fought with one another and they knew it, too.
“All this about trying to fight Waylon, Alpha. We don’t have all the information on the situation and with your condition, I don’t want to be out an Alpha.” Emmett told me, lowering his head.
“Don’t worry, we won’t be attacking him yet. I’ve done some thinking myself and you are right, we don’t have enough information on the situation. We will be gathering everything we can on it beforehand. In fact, tomorrow morning we will be having a meeting on the matter. So, tonight I want everyone to get some sleep.” I said looking at them.
They nodded and lowered their heads in submission. I needed to tell Carson about the meeting I had just called. I walked out of their room and into ours, he was already in our room.
“We are having a meeting tomorrow morning. Can you tell everyone at your place to be here at eight in the morning?” I asked him as I got into bed.
“Yes, I can tell them. Where were you?” he asked me as he moved away from the window and over to our bed.
“Oh, I was in Harper and Mikayla’s room. I heard arguing and wanted to see what all the commotion was about.” I looked up at him knowing that he was worried about me.
“Oh ok, is everything okay with them?” he said as he looked towards the door.
“Yes. I fixed everything so don’t worry about it. Come to bed, it’ll do you some good.” I told him as I reached for his arm.
He looked at me and let out a small chuckle. He finally grabbed my hand and I pulled him down into the bed with me. He shook his head, then he grabbed the covers and pulled them up over us. I fell asleep soon after that.
I got pulled into another dream. I was about fifteen and I was sitting by the water while mom and dad cooked dinner on the grill. Paul and Abby were doing their own thing. Back then, I always felt like a part of me was missing and seeing Paul and Abby together made me feel more alone than ever. I kept looking out over the water when my dad called my name.
“Claudia, come get some food.” My father said as he waved his hand for me to come over.
“Coming, father.” I told him as I got up from the ground and wiped the dirt off.
I walked over, but seeing my parents and brother with Abby looking so in love really bothered me, so I just grabbed my food and walked in the house and went right to my room. At that time seeing them all so happy and in love hurt me in ways that I couldn’t understand. I didn’t know who to turn to because even my best friend had a mate. I felt so alone and broken…
I woke up crying, my face was wet with the tears streaming down my face. I don’t know why I was crying or why I’d had that memory. It really shook me up. I decided to go the bathroom and tried to splash some cold water on my face to see if that would help. As I got up, I tried not to wake Carson from his peaceful slumber. I tiptoed to the bathroom and opened the door as quietly as I could. I stepped through the door and I heard Carson grunt, so I paused and waited a few seconds. He let out another grunt and then began to snore. I let out the breath I must have been holding in. I closed the door and walked to the sink and turned it on as I splashed some water on my face. As I was sitting on the toilet, I got pulled into another memory, but this time it was one from right before I met Carson.
The girls and I were out for a girl’s day. We had all decided to go shopping along the boardwalk. We were having a good time and laughing. We walked past a group of guys that were looking at something in a shop window. I couldn’t help but look at the one that was taller than the rest and looked a bit older. He looked like Carson, in fact come to think of it, it was Carson. He had the same scent as Carson. We looked at them and giggled as we walked past them.
I came out of the memory to see Carson looking at me. I shook my head still trying to piece together what I had just seen.
“Are you okay, Pisoi?” Carson asked me, as he looked at me, still a bit sleepy.
“I had a bad dream and woke up cause I had to go to the bathroom. I’m sorry if I woke you up.” I said shaking my head again and finishing up on the toilet.
“It’s okay. Do you want to talk about your dream?” he asked me as he helped me off the toilet.
I pulled my underwear and sleep pants up, “Yes, I think it may help.” I said giving him a teary-eyed smile.
We walked over to our bed and I took a seat. Carson sat on the chair next to the bed. I wanted to cry as I started to speak.
“I was about fifteen and this was right before my mom and dad got killed. We were all outside and Abby was there with Paul. I was sitting out by the water while my parents were cooking, and Paul and Abby were having fun. My dad called me to get dinner, but as I got closer… Just seeing my Parents and brother looking so happy and in love hurt me. I always felt like a part of me was missing from the time that I was about six or seven years old. Seeing couples madly in love broke me into pieces. That was what made me want to go hide in the bathroom.” I told him looking down at my hands as I played with our covers. I couldn’t bear to look at him.
“I’m sorry that you felt that way, but I’m here now and I won’t ever leave you.” He said to me as he got up from the chair and wrapped his arms around me.
Chapter Ten
Carson
I hated seeing her so broken. I never wanted to be the reason she felt that way. That shit hurt me. She was the woman I would do anything for, the woman that is tougher than any other Alpha I know. Here she sat in my arms crying all because her mom took her memories of me away. I let her cry and held her tighter than ever. I loved her more than I ever thought I could love anyone.
She finally fell back to sleep. I let her sleep in my arms and didn’t dare to move. I just laid there and thought back to the day on the boardwalk a few months back. I knew it had been Claudia when she walked by with her friends. I could tell she recognized my scent but couldn’t figure out why she knew it. I wanted to introduce myself and the boys, but I didn’t know what she would do. That was the day I called her brother and set up the meeting.
I was so happy to see her the day she walked into the restaurant, but what I didn’t know that day was that she had given up on finding a mate. I knew what I was going to do tomorrow after the meeting was over with. I was going to ask her to marry me. Most mated wolves didn’t marry, but I felt like it was the right thing to do. My parents had and so had hers, I just hoped I could find the ring.
I needed to ask Harper to help me find mom’s ring in the attic at our pack house.
“Harper wake up. I need your help with something.” I said through mind link.
“Uh, what?” he responded half asleep.
“I need help finding mom’s ring. I want to give it to Claudia.” I told him.
“Oh, okay. Sure… When do you it by?”
“Tom
orrow morning after the meeting.”
“Okay, I’ll get up and look for it.”
“Thank you.”
I knew that I would owe my brother for this, but it was worth it. I stayed in bed until the sun was coming up. I gently removed myself from Claudia and made my way to the bathroom. I walked in and turned on the water for the shower and let it warm up. I grabbed my razor and checked on Claudia before getting in the shower. She was still asleep and I smiled. I wanted her to get as much sleep as possible before I had to wake her up for the meeting.
I checked on the water and it was just the right temperature for me. I slid the door open and stepped inside. I let the water run down the front of my body. I closed my eyes and put my head down. The warm water felt amazing as I turned around and let the water cover my back side. I let the steam fill the whole room. I grabbed my body wash and soaped up my face and body and as the soap started to run off my body, I heard the door of the bathroom open and the smell of raspberries and rosewater hit my nose. Claudia. I opened the shower door a bit and stuck my head out.
“Did I wake you?” I asked her through the suds as the soap ran down my face and body.
“No, I woke up on my own. Move over and let me in.” she commanded me as she walked over to the shower door.
I moved over to let her in and shook my head.
“You know, you can be a bit bossy sometimes.” I told her as I chuckled.
“So I have been told. Can I get some of that water before it gets cold?” She asked as she elbowed me out from under the water. Thank god I got all the soap rinsed off before she got in.
I grabbed my shampoo and soaped up my hair while she was enjoying the water. She grabbed her body wash and soaped up her body. She had all the right curves in all the right places and holy hell she had the most perfect ass I had ever seen. Her breasts were from God as well, they had gotten a bit bigger from the pregnancy. Every part of her seemed to be glowing and I didn’t know if it was from the pregnancy or what.