Page 34 of Hidden Pain

“We didn’t want you to get upset, so we didn’t tell you,” Kingsley started.

Hunter continued, “I found the circus where you grew up.”

Lily went to say something, but then the words Hunter had spoken sank into her head. He’d found the place where she’d grown up. The people who’d killed her parents. She stumbled backward but was caught by both the men who sandwiched her between them, giving her warmth and comfort.

“You’re going to destroy them?” She looked up at Hunter.

“We’re going to free the shifters and take them to the Council for rehabilitation. The majority of the humans from the circus will be sent to the Council for imprisonment, but I can’t guarantee the leaders won’t die. I don’t normally condone our kind of justice, but in this case, I think it’s different.”

Lily nodded. The words were slowly penetrating her brain. It felt like she was in a dream.

Everything suddenly snapped into complete clarity. “I want to come with you,” she announced. She wanted to see if the man who’d abused her as a child and killed her parents was still there. The ringmaster, Frederick. She wanted revenge and blood on her hands just as he had.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Kingsley responded while rubbing her back. “You’re safer here.”

“No.” Lily stamped her foot. “I want to see. I’ll stay back and let you deal with it, but I want to know for certain they can never hurt me or anyone else again.”

Kingsley looked over her head toward Hunter who shrugged.

“Ok,” both men replied in unison.

The three of them held onto each other, and Hunter called out to Jessica.

The next thing Lily knew, she was in the middle of a field where motorhomes and tents littered the horizon along with piles of rubbish. The sight and especially the smell were familiar…her childhood home. Old memories returned to her, and she became lost in her thoughts:

She recalled being shuffled from one place to another in a cage on the back of one of the large trucks. When they put down for a show, all the shifters were hidden away in a tent, so they could shift between their natural and human states in secret. At night, they were brought out and paraded around for the crowd’s amusement.

Nowadays, people liked to think this type of display was not only immoral but illegal whether or not the animals involved were real or shifters. But in fact, these spectacles still occurred. The authorities couldn’t stop them, because by the time they showed up the circus had moved on. She knew now that humans had a natural curiosity for the macabre and unusual—it was their only fault in all of this. They were terrified of the unknown, but at the same time, they stared at it in amazement with wide eyes. Even Kingsley had stared at her open mouthed in disbelief when she changed until he understood her abilities.

“You ok?” Kingsley wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Yes, being here’s brought back memories.” She looked out over the field to the tent which she knew would contain the animal shifters.

“I’m here,” Kingsley reassured her. “The others are going in first. I’ve been told to stay back. The combination of shifters and me, being a human, might not mix very well.”

“Good idea. They probably won’t trust you, at first. But eventually they’ll see you’re only here to help when they look into your heart.”

“I hope so.” Kingsley kissed the top of her head.

“You two stay here. Lily, look after Kingsley if any of the shifters get out,” Hunter ordered. He had his game face on, and they both knew it would be futile to argue with him when he was in that frame of mind. “Brayden, Tyler, go left. Teagan, Scott, right. The rest of you with me. We’re going straight through the middle. Jessica, give me a distraction.”

The witch shut her eyes, and Lily watched as the clouds above knitted together and turned gray. The wind around them increased, and the piles of rubbish circled up into the air before flying in all directions. Several of the men ran out of the tents and looked up at the sky just as a bolt of lightning flashed from it and crashed into the center pole of the main tent. It immediately caught fire.

“Go!” Hunter shouted, and the pack ran into the compound. Screams and shouts went up as they shifted into their natural state. Jessica floated after them in a serene mist of green and white. Her hands flicking out and sending magical bindings around everyone. She removed a gun from the clutches of one of the circus men. It lifted into the air and disintegrated.

“Fucking hell this is amazing!” Kingsley exclaimed. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Lily watched as Hunter, Zain, Emma, and Katia reached the main accommodation area for the circus organizers. They pounced on the men and pinned them to the floor. A few women ran screaming from the tents, but Jessica lifted her hands, and a cage immediately appeared around them before they could escape.

“The children!” Lily shouted. Her feet took off running toward the tents. Some of the circus people had children. No matter what their parents had done, they were innocent. Kingsley caught up with her.

“What are you doing?” he asked her urgently.

“Get back,” Hunter, now in human form, shouted at them both.

Lily reluctantly ground to a halt.

“There are children in there. They’re innocent,” Lily pleaded with Hunter. The wolf alpha nodded.

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