Page 30 of Branches of the Willow

“I get that.” A weak smile spread across my lips. “She told me how she spent those days trying to convince you guys that she could help.”

“I wish we had listened sooner.” My father said as the door to the meeting hall opened to reveal my mother and Debbie with trays of food in their hands. Evan was closest to them and jumped up to help.

We ate in silence for a little while, and Debbie came back in to take all our mess away. Once she was gone, I looked at my mom. “Tell me about the women. What do they need most right now?”

“Tatianna is around seven, maybe eight months pregnant. She needs to have someone bond with her a bit before she goes into labor. She will need someone she can trust advocating for her. I thought…” My mom was cut off by the ringing of a cell phone. Dad got up and walked over toward the corner of the room to take the call.

“You thought what?” I prompted her to continue.

“I thought, maybe, this is where Sierra could be useful.”

“She had the ability to have her own children taken from her. How could you think it would be a good idea to have her aid in the birth of someone else’s?” I know everyone there must have seen the disbelief in my eyes, but I pressed on further. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. I remember Sierra when she found out. She was devastated.”

“I know, Jess. I just think, this will give her something to focus on for a while. Sierra has a lot of compassion for people, and those girls can use that. With Jack gone, it might give her a new purpose.”

“I suppose, we can try. I think I’d really like to go meet these women as soon as possible, myself. Let me do that and decide about them before we send Sierra in there.”

“We can arrange for you to do that in just a bit.” Mikael smiled at me when he spoke. I was pretty sure he was hoping visiting with the women would take my mind off the fact that his evil family had slipped through our grasps once again. Nothing could be further from the truth, but it didn’t really matter at the moment. I had to jump in with both feet, and get busy helping someone else, or I was going to lose my mind dwelling in my own memories.

“Why don’t we head on over so you can see them for yourself? I’m sure that will help clear up some of your questions and give you a better idea of what needs to happen with them.” My father had hung up from his call and headed towards where we had all been congregating again.

“Where are they being kept? I can’t imagine we have a place large enough to accommodate seventeen new people in the pack.”

“We don’t. They are being housed in the meeting hall. We brought in cots and have tried to make them as comfortable as possible, but as you know, space is a precious commodity that we are falling short on right now. Another reason to go ahead and get you over there, so we can discuss their options.” My father led the way, out of his home office, and the rest of us trailed out behind him.

The first thing I noticed as we approached the meeting hall was that it was now heavily guarded. While I understood the precaution, I also couldn’t help but wonder what the girls inside must think. They went from being captives elsewhere, to prisoners here. Maybe no one was trying to force them into sex here, but they still had to feel caged. I knew from my own experience that it was not a pleasant feeling.

When we walked inside, the other problem immediately hit me. Body odor was a thing. “I know there aren’t any showers in here, but please tell me these women haven’t been denied shower privileges somewhere else?” My nose wrinkled up against my will. I didn’t want the first impression the women got from me to be that of a higher than thou attitude. I just couldn’t help my reaction to the strong, pungent odor.

“We haven’t been able to convince some of them to leave long enough to shower, and yesterday the fan on the heat and air system broke. It took a few hours to fix it, so it was a bit stifling in here.” Evan explained without a hint that the scent was bothering him at all.

I suppose I could totally blame my pregnancy hormones, and overactive olfactory sense for my reaction if anyone else knew I was pregnant, but that was something I still hadn’t even shared with Mikael yet. Truth be told, I had been waiting for my body to give up its fight to keep the baby alive. Surely, after everything I’d been through, the stress would be too much, if the magical drugs I’d been pumped full of hadn’t already done the damage. I refused to get attached just yet, and telling someone about it, was the first step in attachment. Maybe that was a selfish way to think, but my heart just couldn’t handle the disappointment right now.

“We have to do better than this. These women have gone from being held captive as sex slaves to being held prisoner here. It’s no wonder they are afraid to leave to take a shower.” My father’s hand snaked out quickly and grabbed a hold of my upper arm.

“We are not holding them prisoner, Jessica.” His angered tone held an undercurrent of disbelief that I would accuse them of doing so.

I stopped walking and peered into my father’s eyes. “I know you mean well. I know the guards are there to keep the women safe, and to make sure they aren’t traitors like Annabelle and Leanna. I know these things, Dad, because I know you and I know your heart. Those women, in there,” I pointed beyond the meeting room door, where the cots had been set up for them. “They have been kept prisoner, watched as friends were raped, and saw some of their own fade away and die while waiting for anyone to rescue them.

“They were then brought to a foreign land, put up in subpar conditions, and have been placed under guard, which happens to be the watchful eyes off more strange men. Put yourself in their shoes and tell me how you’d feel.” I looked away momentarily, willing the tears that pooled in my eyes not to spill over. “I know how they feel.” My father’s hand dropped from my arm, and he quickly pulled me into his embrace, whispering my name into my hair.

“Now isn’t the time for this,” I told everyone, as I hastily wiped at my face. “Let’s go figure out what to do to make this better.” I knocked on the closed door before me. When it opened, a waif of a woman stood there, her golden hair hung in ringlets over her right shoulder, while large blue eyes took me in. I smiled at her then, trying to ease the wariness I saw there. “Hello. I’m Jessica St. Marks De’ Lune.”

My name registered with her immediately. She bowed and kept the pose. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder to get her attention. “No, please, that is not necessary. May we come in and visit with you?”

“This is your domain; you have no need to ask.” She had the same Eastern European accent that I came to identify with Mikael and Evan, only hers was much thicker. The girl was no longer looking at me. Her eyes were locked on someone over my shoulder, and they were shining brightly. I turned to see Evan directly behind me, on my right. His eyes were locked on the woman too. Interesting.

“You are the guests of my father’s pack, and guests of mine. This is not your prison. We must take certain safety precautions, for our pack, as well as for you ladies. We are not barbarians though and will not barge into your space without invitation.” The lovely woman’s blue eyes snapped back from Evan to me in a heartbeat. A small smile appeared on her face then.

“Please, come in.” She stepped to the side demurely and waited for each of us to pass. Evan was the last person through the door, and it didn’t escape my notice that he lingered beside the blond after he entered.

I turned towards her then, “What is your name?”

“Natalia Andros.” Her voice was whisper soft, and yet obvious pride lingered in her tone as she spoke.

“Natalia,” Evan answered for her at the same time. I smiled at them both, before Mikael put his arm around my waist to guide me over to another woman. My mother was sitting in front of her, rubbing her swollen fingers in a comforting gesture.

Her threadbare dress hung off her body in all places except for the area around her protruding belly. My stomach did this weird little flutter thing when I saw the woman. Hope sneaked up on me, that my own pregnancy wouldn’t be doomed because of what happened to me. This woman had, after all, suffered through weeks of barely any food, and miserable conditions, and there she was with a healthy glow about her.

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