Golden: A Paranormal Romance

by Ellis Marie

  “Cole?” I try but he’s zoned out, the tension only growing in his body. I realise that something is happening—someone in the pack is talking to him. “Cole, what’s—”

  The door slams open. I jump out my seat, my palms already sweating and a feeling of dread beginning to creep over me. Whatever is happening, I’m not going to like it.

  Scarlette stands at the door, her chest heaving up and down as she pants. Her eyes are wild as they find mine. Before she speaks, the voice in my head begins to howl.

  “Elle, you need to come now,” she orders, and I’m already running towards her as Cole’s footsteps follow me closely.

  “What’s going on?”

  She takes my hand in hers and begins to pull me beside her, my feet struggling to keep up. I’m suddenly grateful for her strong grip keeping me moving and Cole’s presence behind me pushing me forward.

  “It’s Cam.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Visions of his death flood my mind.

  I can see his broken body. I can already hear my screams of anguish and pain like they’ve been pre-recorded for viewing pleasure.

  I can’t do it. Not again.

  If Cam is dead, could I even go on? Could I survive the heartbreak of losing my only family and one of my best friends in such a short time?

  When I see his slumped figure being carried between two people, I thank the gods that I don’t have to know the answer.

  “Oh my god,” I breathe, running towards him on their own accord. I push past the people trying to hold me back.

  I can hear Scarlette and Cole telling them to get out the way. I can hear the mumbles of anger rippling through the crowd, but I don’t care.

  I only care about reaching Cam.

  When my fingers finally brush him, I only get a second before I’m yanked back, my feet stumbling as I try to steady myself.

  “Hey!” I hear Cole shout as he catches me with his tone full of anger. “What do you think you’re doing!”

  I push myself up straight using Cole as support as I turn to look at the man who pushed me. His body acts as a wall between me and my unmoving friend. I don’t recognise him. He isn’t someone who lives in the packhouse for sure, he’s much older than any of the guys I’ve met. The two men holding Cam also seem to be at least middle-aged.

  “No one is to get near the prisoner, Alpha’s orders,” he growls. I flinch back at the dark look in his eyes and the venom that he spits at Cam. This man is mean, someone that I definitely don’t want to be looking after him.

  “What do you mean prisoner?” I shriek, stepping up to him. My height is pretty much dwarfed by his tall stature. “Let him go, right now.”

  The fact that Cam has yet to even lift his head worries me. I had been too overwhelmed to notice before, but now, I can see the rips and tears in his clothes and the blood drying along the edges of them.

  “He was found trespassing and tried to run. The punishment for that is severe. Sorry, sweetheart.” The man smirks, rolling his eyes at me. “I don’t listen to you and those are the rules.”

  Who does this guy think he is?

  “We’ve been looking for him!” I yell. “Are you stupid? He’s my friend. Let him go—”

  “I really don’t care,” the man shouts over me, making me step back in shock at the aggressive tone. “I ain’t doing anything for you.”

  Fury builds as he stares down at me, his dark eyes unyielding and vicious and a small smirk on his lips. I ready myself to argue, to try and make him see how wrong he is, but before I can speak, there’s a murmur through the crowd behind me.

  “What about for me?”

  The man in front of me freezes, his confidence and smarmy expression getting wiped off in under a second. Suddenly, his body doesn’t seem so large anymore.

  I turn to follow his gaze as I watch the huge crowd of people separate in total silence and awe. I haven’t noticed how many people I have actually pushed through until now. There are faces of all different ages, and it occurs to me that this is most likely the people that I’m yet to meet.

  Or well at least some of them.

  I know that they’re definitely part of the pack because as Trent walks between them and coming straight towards me, their heads stay low.

  He’s right when he said some of them are scared of him.

  “A-Alpha, I was just following protocol. I didn’t—”

  Trent stops his words with one hand as he halts beside me, his eyes looking over me quickly before turning to the situation at hand. When he recognises Cam, I see his arms harden. He closes his eyes, his anger coming out in a puff of air.

  “Let him go.”

  Without a word, the two men drop the red-haired boy. In a breath, I’m with him. My hands dust over his body as I roll him onto his back and tears fill my eyes when I see his bruised and battered figure.

  “Oh my god, Cam,” I whisper, pressing my hand to him as I try to see where he’s hurt. “Please be alive, please be—”

  “I’m alive,” a voice like gravel mumbles back. I stop looking at his body to look at his face, seeing his eyes open slightly as his lip twitches up at one corner. “Can’t get rid of me that easy.”

  Happiness fills me as I rest my forehead on his chest, the awful images of another funeral drifting away the longer I listen to his painful breaths.

  “Would you like to explain this, Nathan?” Trent’s voice is hard like he’s trying to contain his anger. Honestly, I feel the same when I notice Cam’s blood on my palms.

  “You said full protocol, Alpha,” Nathan defends, his voice now much shakier than it has been previously. “He was trying to sneak in the border and then he tried to run. We were only following orders.”

  “I asked you to catch and contain, not beat up and maim intruders,” Trent growls. I now turn around to look at the exchange, noticing how everyone behind them is holding their breath.

  When I see Trent’s shaking back and the colour that’s making it’s way up his neck, I realise why. It, of course, is too much to ask for the idiot to keep his mouth shut and not anger him further.

  “We didn’t do that. We—”

  I jump just like everyone else as Trent’s fingers cut off his words, their grip circling his neck as the low vibrations of his growl shake the ground.

  “Don’t lie to me.”

  It’s clear that this is only going to go one way if I don’t intervene, so I leave Cam to move over to Trent, my feet cautious as I step up beside him. The choking man looks at me with wide eyes, whimpers leaving his lips as he hangs in the grasp of his alpha.

  Trent could kill him.

  I can feel the stares of everyone around us. I can taste their judgement and their expectancy. They all think Trent is a monster, that he could just do it with no remorse. They’re all terrified that they might be next.

  That isn’t the man I love, and it shouldn’t be the man they see.

  “Trent,” I say softly, like the gentle wave of an ocean, coaxing him back to land and begging him not to drown in the darkness. “Let him go.”

  I watch how his body changes, how his wolf takes a step back and allows him to think with his head. I notice how the people around us watch in awe, their mouths dropping open as the body drops to the ground.

  Nathan scrambles back from us with his eyes wide, but I ignore him. Instead, I smile gently at Trent as he takes a shuddered breath and presses our foreheads together. I wrap my fingers around his.

  Safe.

  “We really didn’t do that to him.”

  I look over at the man still on the ground, rubbing his neck. Could he just shut up?

  “We might have injured him a little in trying to restrain him, but someone had already gotten there before us.”

  I look to Trent with panicked eyes, fear seeping into me.

  They’ve already gotten to Cam. They’re targeting people I care about.

  It’s as if Trent is reading my thoughts because he quickly holds me still and sha
kes his head, trying to comfort me in any way he can.

  “It could still just be a coincidence,” he whispers. “He’s a rogue, they might just be hunting wolves.”

  “And what if they’re not?”

  He stops his rambling words and trying to defuse the situation. Instead, he just stares at me with his jaw gritted and his mind working a mile a minute. He knows what I’m asking. I can feel him weighing the options in his head as he looks at me. I pray that he knows that, for me, there is only one option despite what the pack might think.

  I don’t know why I feel so tense. It’s not as if I would ever think that Trent would do anything to hurt me, but his pack? They don’t seem so keen on Cam.

  I beg him internally, hoping that my eyes convey how much I need him to save my friend. Rogue or not. The silence feels like it drags out for hours.

  “Get him to the medical room,” Trent finally decides, a power behind his voice that I’ve only heard a few times. “See that he’s treated.”

  From behind us, the objections come from the crowd. First low mumbles, but then some stronger shouts and angry voices that are refusing to open their homes to someone they don’t know. It escalates quickly, and before I know it, it seems like everyone is shouting at the two of us.

  “But he’s a rogue!”

  “He doesn’t belong here!”

  “He’s dangerous! Rogues are murderers!”

  “What if he’s planning to hurt us?”

  “He’ll kill us all!”

  I watch as Trent tries to handle it, to calm the crowd down as Scarlette moves to get Cam with Cole. I feel the resistance of the people to let them pass. Whether they see it or not, Cole and Scarlette are receiving death stares for merely following the order of their alpha . . . for doing the right thing.

  I can see it fracturing.

  Trent is going against his rules for me; he’s standing up to a pack that—he has already admitted—doesn’t fully support him. He’s risking everything to help a person I love even though he has previously insulted and attacked him. His pack could turn against him for this. He isn’t going down for this.

  Something builds inside me as I watch from the sidelines with voices passing over me and forgetting that I even exist. They all join together in a cloud of resentment that hangs on my shoulders and that deep fire grows in me again.

  “Hey!” I shout, a voice coming out of me that I’ve never heard before. It halts all movements. It crushes all whispers and demands that they all look at me. That they all listen to me.

  Luna.

  “I haven’t met a lot of you yet.” I swallow my nerves, forcing myself to look into the eyes of the audience. “And I wish it was under different circumstances, but . . .”

  I glance at Trent whose face is stoic and emotionless, but his eyes are glowing a bright gold that makes the strength in me burn brighter.

  “My name is Elle Williams, and I am your luna.”

  The gasps echo around us, and I notice some people’s faces light up with grins—the most prominent being Cole’s, but I choose to not look at him in fear that I’ll lose my confidence.

  Am I doing the right thing?

  Something curls around my pinky, barely moving my hand. As the rush of support floods through me, I squeeze it back. My feet suddenly feel ten times more grounded than before.

  Yes, this is the right thing.

  “I know that rogues have hurt this pack in ways that can never be forgiven.” I look to the man next to me whose eyes are filled with sorrow. “I know that some of you still think about it every day.”

  Turning back to the crowd, I raise my voice as I actually notice how far back the people go and how much attention they are now all paying to me.

  “I’m not asking you to forget that, and I’m not asking you to welcome them in with open arms because I can’t speak for them. I can’t promise you that they won’t hurt you again.”

  Cam lies still as Scarlette tries to tend, fluttering her hands over the wounds while two men carefully pick him up, their hands now a lot softer than they had been when restraining him.

  He looks so at peace and so young. His body might be in agony, but to me, he just looks like the same little boy that would bring me daisies from bushes on his walk to school and protected me over and over again.

  Now, it’s my turn to protect him.

  “But I can speak for this rogue, and I can promise you that he would never hurt any of you. He is my best friend and has saved my life over and over again. I’m just asking that this once you do the same for him.”

  There’s silence around us. Eyes unmoving. Unwavering. Unforgiving.

  “Please. That’s all I ask.”

  I wait for the shouts to continue, for my words to be ignored, for them to know that I’m not good enough to listen to or strong enough to follow, but then, it happens.

  Like a ripple in a pond, the first person moves back, making space for Cam to be brought through, then it continues.

  I watch as one by one they all step back, bowing their heads with respect as the pathway is cleared. People nudge each other and scold those who haven’t moved, their grumbles being lost in the sea of obedience. Before long, I can see the house on the other side.

  Scarlette leads the men holding Cam, his body hanging between them like a shirt on a clothesline. I watch the trail his feet make as they drag along the dirt.

  It’s as though he’s leaving a trail for me to follow.

  My heart only stops racing when I see him get taken through the front doors and my lungs let me breathe again, safe in the knowledge that he’s being looked after.

  “Thank you,” I say softly, knowing that no matter how quiet it was, all of them hear me.

  Now, I can feel every pair of eyes, all the judgement of them but also the hope that perhaps I am good for them and know what I’m doing. As my nerves begin to grow, I realise that I may not be completely ready to take the lead quite yet.

  “Go check if he’s alright,” Trent says gently to me in my ear. I’m grateful for the free escape he’s offering. “I’ll come and find you in a bit.”

  “Thank you,” I mouth as I rise on my tiptoes and kiss him, his hand like vices on my hips that steady me in my moment of unease.

  He’s helping me grow into my own strength, but he still knows when I need him to help me.

  I break away from him with reluctance, my nerves escalating as I step into the crowd of people and following the same path that Cam has just been carried through. I walk quickly, trying not to let my gaze linger on anyone in the crowd in fear of seeing disapproving looks or unsupportive eyes, but that doesn’t happen.

  Instead, people bow their heads, and I see it. Even if it is only the slight tilt of recognition, I see it.

  I stride past them with more confidence, my heart lurching at the thought of Cam and the pain he’s enduring, pushing me to move past them. Their eyes trail after me as I go.

  I’ve never stood and spoken in front of that many people before. I never thought of myself as a leader.

  As I get to the door of the house, I turn and glance back at Trent who is standing in front of the audience speaking to them, their attention now entirely focused on him and no longer me.

  He looks so powerful, so calm, and confident in the face of unrest. Even from here, I can feel the warmth flooding my body at the thought of his arms wrapped around me.

  Maybe I’m not a leader, but with Trent beside me, nothing feels impossible.

  ***

  “How is he?”

  Scarlette turns to look at me with an easy smile and tired eyes. Behind her shoulder, I can see Cam lying on the bed with his eyes closed but his breath coming out evenly.

  At least that’s a good sign.

  “He’s going to be fine,” she tells me as she finishes wrapping up one of his wrists. “I’ve just knocked him out for a couple hours to help with the healing process.”

  Relief is immediate. I suppose I should have been less worried,
considering he is in fact a supernatural being and can survive much more than I ever could but seeing him hurt still hits me just as hard as if he was human.

  “I’m still getting used to all of this,” I mumble, stepping up beside her as I take his hand in mine. “Did he say anything?”

  Scarlette bites her lip as she tucks in the last of the bandage, skimming her hands over his bare chest as she sorts the blanket over him.

  “He mumbled something about a protection spell no longer being on his house.” Her eyes turn soft as she hesitates to move back from him. “I guess Mrs. Grenway was protecting him from the hunters too.”

  I nod and sit down in the chair across from her, watching how her fingers trail down his almost absentmindedly, her mind distracted.

  Whatever it is, it seems to worry her, but she doesn’t look like she wants to tell me, so I decide to leave it for now. She must have a good reason.

  “He said that she had put some on his house,” I say quietly, angry at myself for being so oblivious. “I just didn’t connect the dots to realise that he would be defenceless now.”

  “He obviously did.” Scarlette smiles as she clears her throat, stepping back from him and dropping his hand. “Some of the boys went to his house to see if they could get any leads. They said the house was empty and had been for a couple days, no new scents at all.”

  He hasn’t been living at home? Where has he been living?

  “What about his mother?” I gasp, thinking of her warm and inviting nature. “She could be in trouble, she—”

  The shaking of Scarlette’s head lets me know I’m wrong. At seeing my confusion, she picks something up from the side table and holds it out to me. It looks like a crumpled piece of paper that has been folded a bunch of times. I try not to think of the flecks of blood that are on the outer corners.

  “This was in his pocket,” she explains. “The date on it is for a couple weeks ago, he thought ahead.”

  As I unfold the paper, I realise what she means. It’s a flight confirmation and a receipt of a boarding pass for a cruise ship with his mother’s name on it.

  Only his mother’s.

  “This cruise is a couple of months long,” I frown, seeing the information below. “How could he have afforded this?”