Page 136 of The Alpha and His Childhood Sweetheart

It was sad because she was such a bad ass, but this whole thing with her family really shaped her. She was only fourteen when they died, and everyone blamed her. That was formative for a teenage girl. She was good at everything she put her mind to, just like Mel.

That thought send a jolt of pain so hard Haley was worried instantly. She studied me then announced there was nothing physically wrong with me for her to heal. Not to disagree, but there was something wrong.

Rhea linked, “That’s not good Elise. As a Fairy healer, the strongest one ever, she should know we have a headache.” I asked, “What does it mean?” Rhea sighed, “I don’t know, but I know it's nothing good.”

Haley learned we all got them and was pissed, to put it mildly. I could see the gears working in her mind. She had an idea, but something about it was tripping her up. Her gazes at Alexander and EJ told me it was them getting headaches that didn’t make sense to her.

Aside from their families, Ashley and Melanie were like the same damn person. Something about this made me think harder. I felt like I was almost there when Phil ran in screaming about the phone. There was an attack on Alpha Nathan McDermont’s pack.

EJ didn’t wait, he popped us into the action. I saw Alpha Nathan clinging to his Luna’s dead body, sobbing. I actually gasped in shock. I’d met her multiple times and she was so kind. She’d brought me pie after my Luna ceremony and gave me her number if I ever needed some help.

Fury filled me and I shifted. I linked Rhea, “Rip these remaining rogues to shreds!” Rhea snarled, “I am ALL over that.” I fought with Alexander and EJ by my side. I gave full control to Rhea feeling like we were missing a piece of us. A piece I knew and just couldn’t get here. It was Melanie. She should be here fighting with us. By Alexander’s side. She would’ve turned them into minced meat for this.

Once we’d killed the remaining rogues, we shifted back. I couldn’t look at Alpha Nathan, so I looked at EJ. He was my whole world. I didn't want to imagine the kind of pain Alpha Nathan was in right now. Rhea snarled, “Never.” Hopefully not. I couldn’t lose him.

Theo popped in confused. He was usually in the Hackura realm when we did things with the McDermont’s. We weren’t close with them, just allies. I linked Alexander, “The Beta is trying to crawl to the forest, but his mate is over by Luna…” I trailed off.

Alexander squeezed my shoulder, “I know her name Elise, it’s ok.” My heart sank when the Beta announced both his daughter and Alpha McDermont’s were taken. Jane McDermont’s eighteenth birthday was a few weeks ago and I’d sent her a present. Both of them actually.

Alpha Nathan lost it. His son was barely keeping it together. His mother was dead, and his sister was missing along with his future Beta’s sister. He was weeks away from becoming the Alpha. This was the last thing he needed.

Popping to them didn’t work. I wanted to look at my mate who was thrown back, but I was looking at Theo. He looked off. He was sniffing the air and clearly talking to his wolf. My heart began to sink. Was one of the girls Theo’s mate? Rhea howled in despair.

I linked him, “Theo?” He didn’t answer, he just kept taking deep breaths. He began to fidget. Rhea whimpered in my head. We both knew our brother was about to be hurting. I turned out that Jane McDermont’s was his.

When he started trying to pop to her in desperation, I didn’t know what to do. I was frozen watching my little brother repeatedly appear and disappear. Rhea linked, “Barker won’t talk to me.” Theo’s wolf was even shutting them out. This wasn’t good.

Angela got him calmed down, but I was worried about her now too. This was not her fault. She didn’t always see everything. That’s not how sight worked. I linked her, “Please don’t feel bad. No one blames you, Ang.” She had tears in her eyes.

I wanted to tell her she was still training and learning about using her sight. She couldn’t stop everything, but it wouldn’t do any good. Rhea linked, “This was the reality of being a smaller pack that was far away from help when in danger. At least Brutus and our family could pop in. Otherwise, they’d have lost more.” It was harsh but true.

Holoports were mentioned and I knew Haley was going to go off. Witches and Warlocks weren’t her favorite people. Haley looked at Eric and crossed her arms. She whispered, “Everyone needs to stop arguing about my campaign about dark witch bitches belonging in FUCKING DITCHES! Now they’ve hurt our son! When I find these witches bitches and warlock warts,”

She vowed, “AND I WILL find their asses, they are FUCKING dead! They are so motherfucking dead their SOULS should be scared.” Eric squeezed her shoulders replying, “I won’t argue with you on that one, Angel.” She nodded, “Good. I’m GOING to get more people on my side about that too. Fucking Witch bitches and Warlock warts have NEEDED to die and have for years are now on NOTICE.”

We got their scent, but Angela proved to be right. Not that anyone doubted that. Rhea reasoned, “The Ring has no idea what a big mistake they’d just made.” I agreed, “It had to be them, and it was a massive miscalculation to attack our allies and take their pack members. Adding in that it’s Theo’s mate is worse.”

This was a taunt, but it was going to backfire. That thought pulled me up short. Where had our sniper been? Was she not watching out for the McDermont’s? Terror filled me. Was she hurt? Those questions swirled in my mind when we went home. I needed a distraction, so I emailed Ashley.

Ashley,

I planned to write to you earlier today, but now I find that I need to talk to you. I need to write down my feelings. Let’s start off with why I wanted to write to you in the first place. How the heck could you not tell me you’re in some famous supernatural band? You rebel, you!

Lexi Daniels is vexed she didn’t know about your band. I’m sure she’ll blow your email up wanting to get in touch. She’s determined to get you up here for one of her events even though Micah said he already tried but you said no. I hope you reconsider.

We could have lunch, dinner, even breakfast. Or coffee. Anything you’d like is fine by me. I’d just love to chat in person. I’m again in awe of all you’ve accomplished in your young life so far. Youngest Female Lead Warrior ever, and you’re in a popular band. You even teach the she wolves in your area how to fight. Seriously, do you have down time? Or is every minute of every day filled with activities?

Anyway, the other reason I’m writing is because there was an attack out here today. Our allies, the McDermont’s, were attacked. Their Alpha’s daughter, Jane, and the Beta’s daughter, Madeline, were kidnapped. We found out that Jane is Theo’s mate. He’s beside himself and I don’t know how to help him. I can’t imagine the fury and pain he feels. If anything happened to EJ, I can’t even imagine how I would feel.

Luna McDermont died today too. She was so kind. I just can’t process it all really. All I know is we need to find these women that are missing now. It constantly feels like I’m scratching the surface of something huge, only to come against walls. Anyway, I’ll talk to you soon.

Elise

I actually waited thirty minutes to see if she’d reply. Sometimes her replies were immediate, but this time she didn’t answer. I called Melanie, but she didn’t answer either. I senther a text. Fifteen minutes later she replied. I wanted to spill everything, but we were still keeping her in the dark.

Instead of doing what I wanted, I just asked how Julliard was going. She sent me a clip of her new routine. She was such a beautiful dancer. I asked her where she was practicing because it didn’t look like Julliard in the previous clips I’d seen. She quickly told me she’d found this little studio she liked that inspired her. I frowned and watched the clip again. I just didn’t reply.

Rhea linked me, “I have your memories, so I know that studio is wrong for her to choose because she never would.” I whispered, “I know.” Melanie always said that she felt stifled in a studio. She had to create her dances outside because that’s where she was inspired. She practiced in studios, but they didn’t inspire her; nature did. My head began to pound.

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