I held her in my arms’ noting Alexander was already here holding Peter. I snapped Chelsea into clothes. I asked, “What happened?” Her eyes were wide and unfocused. She answered, “Peter got a text to get out. They just…” She gasped for air, “There are Hunters everywhere! One, god, was waiting out the back. The first shot…” She trailed off.
She whispered, “His head just exploded. Goddess above, we just kept running.” Peter hugged her, “It’s ok. We got out.” Chelsea cried, “It’s our place, Peter and they took it from us. It’s supposed to be safe.” The shooting had stopped.
Cayden announced, “I’m going to go checking the area. Do not fight anyone while I’m gone, My Duchess.” I stuck my tongue out at him. He replied, “I’m serious.” I said, “Well, I don’t sense anyone else out there. I don’t have any bad intuitive feelings so I think we are good.” Rain purred when Cayden shot us a look and sent us all his lust. Yup, we were going to have a sexathon for the books.
My mom popped in with my dad. My dad and Alexander followed Cayden. My mom said, “Let’s pop to the Kyle’s house. Their kids are worried since mine cursed and popped out. It was a rather proud fucking moment for me, but your kids are quite unsettled.”
Chelsea nodded, “Are they ok?” I frowned, “There was a rogue attack on your pack and a massive Hunter attack on you two specifically? That’s weird, right?” Chelsea’s shrieked, “Rogue attack?” I nodded, “A massive rogue attack. Everyone is fine, I’m pretty sure.” My mom nodded, “T got hurt, but I fixed him right the fuck up. All is well.”
We popped them back to the yard. Dalton and Dakota ran to them first with Cooper a few steps behind them. Nick Kyle came up running up from the other side. He frowned asking, “What happened? Those two with their super hearing just popped away. Did you two get attacked too?”
Peter answered, “Hunters overwhelmed the cabin.” The pack growled in anger. He rubbed his face, “If I didn’t get a warning we’d be done for. The Resistance was there, and our sniper is no fan of mine.” I argued, “But you said she warned you. What do you mean she’s no fan of yours?”It was an assumption Bravo one had texted him.
Cayden, my dad, and Alexander popped back in. Alexander blinked rapidly four times. Rain told me, “Oden is very sad.” I knew from Alexander blinking they hadn’t found anyone. He held out his hands and showed us the shell casings.
Alexander announced, “We found the blue circle and a line through it at the base of the tree that was used.” I raised an eyebrow commenting, “You found that hide fast.” Alexander nodded, “I’m noticing the places our sniper likes.” That didn’t make any sense because they were all random. How the heck did he find a pattern?
Peter said, “She called me a jerk.” He showed the group the text. My mom frowned, “That doesn’t make sense. This is someone who is personally pissed the fuck off at you, but also cares fairly deeply about you. There’s an anger in this, a betrayal even, but still love.”
Peter snorted, “I’ll believe you and your therapist degree. I just see pissed and angry.” My mom backed her logic up. “She saved you, but she didn’t have to. It’s what they do, but they could’ve got you out without texting you. This group doesn’t do anything they don’t want to. That tells us she wanted to contact you. She wanted you to know she had your six, and that she is angry with you. She might even want you to know her identity. She must think this text tells you exactly who she is.”
Jason asked, “Who the fuck is it then? This is a clue, right? That’s what you're saying.” My mom nodded, “I’d say it’s a direct answer and not a clue. If it is a clue, it’s a giant ass one. Go through your records. Someone’s going to jump out.”
My dad disagreed, “I don’t think so, Angel. There’s no one who should be this upset with him.” My mom raised an eyebrow, “Someone has to fucking be, and there has to be a record on it. Did you kick anyone out of the pack, Peter?” Peter shook his head, “No.”
I asked, “Where’s Robert?” Cayden stiffened. Tory linked, “He’s not smart enough to do this. He’s just a pissed off dude.” I reasoned, “But what if he told them the location of the cabin.” She said, “That I could see, but it’s also crazy. Getting your former Alpha killed by Hunters is a death sentence.” Yeah, but he was dumb enough to do it.
Jason snorted, “He’s a dude and he’s not mad. He can’t be the sniper.” That’s not why I asked though. Tristan answered me, “He’s at your pack with his girlfriend.” God, those two were still together? That was odd.
I linked Tory, “They are still together? Or is this a new girlfriend?” She sighed, “Yeah, they are still together. She argues with anyone who talks poorly of him.” Damn it. I needed to talk to her again.Rain snorted, “Robert happened to not be here when there was an attack? That’s fishy.” I agreed.
Was it a coincidence? Or did he know it was coming? Someone had to tell the Hunters where the Kyle’s cabin was. Tory was right though, it was crazy. Robert knows what would happen if someone found out that he betrayed his former Alpha.
Peter said, “I punished Robert and his friends when they were pups and young wolves new shifted, but they all live here. I was never severe in my rulings. They had extra chores and laps. I was nicer than I should’ve been given what they were doing.”
My dad said, “We have eyes on Robert, so I know he hasn’t left our lands.” I nodded but it was still weird. Tory linked, “I’ll have some of ours keep a closer eye on him.” I agreed, “I think we should.” Gia had been though. I didn’t even care if he noticed anymore though. He deserved to sweat and think we were onto him if he’d done this.
Tristan cleared his throat, “What about Charline’s friends?” My mom gasped, “Exfuckingcuse me! Her name WAS Charlooney.” Tristan smiled, “Right, my bad. Charlooney’s friends.” Peter frowned, “I mean we could've killed them. Or I could’ve handed them over to Eric and Haley. They moved to different packs. They’ve moved on with their lives and their mates. They were grateful we didn’t kill them.” Tristan sighed, “I’ll check them out.” He left.
I linked Cayden, “What was the last word on Melanie?” Cayden answered, “She’s in New York. Why?” I asked, “Do we have eyes on her tonight?” Cayden replied, “No, but your dad's guy does. I’ll have Hendrix talk to him. Why would Melanie be pissed at Peter?”
I bit my lip. Rain linked, “You’re right. She has a reason to be upset.” Not this upset though. I explained, “Everyone's keeping pretty big secrets from her. What if she found out Jase got kidnapped a while back? I’d be fucking pissed off if I found out one of my brothers was hurt and no one told me. Maybe she’s mad at the current Alpha Kyle’s because she thinks T would have more time to see her if they didn’t have him so busy.”
Cayden pointed out, “The sniper keeps calling Jason the Beta. Melanie would know he’s not.” I nodded, “Ok then maybe she’s mad Jase didn’t get the title of Beta too. He’s technically the Male Lead Warrior and a Beta. He’s the Beta for Christopher’s pack. Maybe she’s saying he should be called the Beta.” It was loose, but it was a thread.
Cayden raised an eyebrow at me. Ok. it was out there, but still my point remained. Melanie McAlister could be mad. Although if she was that close to meeting Alexander tonight and he’d missed her by a shimmer of a goddamn Demon or a holoport I’d throw my hands in the air and scream. I’d curse the Moon Goddess too.
Rain growled, “Hey!” I snorted, “Come on, it’s just ridiculous at this point. ON SO MANY LEVELS! How have they not met yet? Why can’t Melanie EVER come home? There’s always something. It’s like the Goddesses are keeping them apart. It’s beginning to piss me off.” Rain countered, “What if it’s not Goddesses?” That brought me up short.
Cayden linked me, “What’s wrong?” Tory asked, “You good?” I answered her first, “I’m not sure. Maybe it’s a crazy thought.” She said, “I think we are on the crazy train tonight.” No joke. I linked my mate, “What did Hendrix say about Melanie?” Cayden frowned, “He doesn’t have anything yet.”
You know what was crazy? Us not telling mom about Alexander and Melanie. No one talked to mom about Melanie. Ever, really. Not just our pack. All of them. Granted, mom has long since thought she was a prank, but we never try to convince her otherwise. We smile or say she’s not one.
What if mom heard about the situation and got a bad feeling like I did? No one could ignore that. Granted mom usually got them before bad situations happened where she was, but maybe…” Rain cut in, “You’re the one who gets bad feelings about people, not your mom. You have people intuition. She usually gets them about situations”
I argued, “Preston has the intuition.” Rain countered, “While it’s true Preston’s is stronger than what we feel, you still have intuition. Something is wrong.” We needed to get home. I needed to talk to my dad because this didn’t make sense. Why hadn’t we told mom? She would fix it somehow. She would bring Melanie and Alexander together and give a fuck less about waiting one second longer.
I missed some of what was said around me. Before I knew it, it was time to go home. Jason yelled, “Thanks for having my back, Cass.” I laughed, “Always, Jase.” Tory linked, “He’s trying to get you even better D tonight.” I replied, “I assure you, it’s always good.” She laughed out loud.
