I acknowledged, “I’m good.” Stephanie smirked smarmily saying, “We will see.” Well, I had just gotten the best of her when injured so she knew I was at least decent. She added, “You’ll be fighting with a special group called the Undergrounds.”
I snorted, “That sounds illegal. They should’ve come up with a less obvious name… plus you said special group… be more obvious it’s illegal… especially if you’re forcing pups to fight… so… be better.” Stephanie laughed hollowly, “Welcome to Nashville little girl. We get away with the obvious.” Then the Supernatural Council was in a lot of trouble.
I studied Stephanie conceding we might be related, but I could see why my mom hated her. I studied her profile. The only common trait her and my mom had was their hair color. Which wasn’t surprising since Stephanie was supposedly adopted.
Why would Jase send me here with strangers? When we got out of the car, I heard people whispering. Stephanie loudly said, “Don’t be shy. People know who Melanie the family killer is.” My eyes filled with tears, but I refused to give her the satisfaction of actually crying.
I didn’t kill them like she was saying. I’d never hurt them! I got mad and they came home. Slade killed them. I wanted to scream that at her. Instead I just glared at her letting her know with eyes I could easily kill her.
A woman walked over admonishing her, “Stephanie McCann, how dare you! That was a horrible thing to say, and I heard what happened to this poor pup! A Hunter killed her family. Have some empathy, you horrid shrew!” I liked her a lot better than Stephanie.
Stephanie turned red with anger. The woman turned to me and knelt down. She cooed, “Sweetie, I’m Luna Elena Davis. This is my daughter, Addison.” She waved a man over. She added,“And my son Caine, he’s the future Alpha. I’m so sorry we aren’t prepared for your arrival. We would’ve baked you cookies, but the pack doctor didn’t think you would be released until later this week.”
That didn’t explain why I wasn’t here in the first place. Why did they let me go the human hospital first? I explained, “She signed me out.” The Luna looked at Stephanie. She sighed, “Honestly Stephanie, I cannot understand you. Why don’t you let her stay with us? You don’t know anything about pups, and they annoy you. She’s not ready to be out of the hospital. To the pack hospital you go, little miss.”
Stephanie angrily retorted, “The Alpha was fine with it.” She was really saying that to the Alpha’s Luna? Peter would have someone by the throat if they spoke to Chelsea like that. I knew my eyes were wide as I looked between them.
I glanced around noting there were several Warriors, but they weren’t doing anything. What was wrong with them? No one should disrespect their Luna like this. They seemed confused by my confusion which made it weirder.
Luna Elena said, “But I am NOT. She’s going to the pack doctor. She has been traumatized by the loss of her family. She’s in a new place. Then you show up with your abrasiveness. When did she wake up?” Stephanie didn’t answer.
The Luna demanded, “ANSWER ME STEPHANIE!” Someone said, “Lighten up, Elena.” I actually gasped and waited for that person to get dressed down, but instead everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Stephanie sighed answering, “About an hour and a half ago.”
Luna Elena said, “Get out of my sight before I slap you. Honestly. Taking a pup out of the hospital against medical advice.” The Alpha walked up with the Beta. I didn’t need an introduction to know who they were.
The Alpha said, “Elena, she's not our charge.” Luna Elena looked at him snarking, “Did I ask you? No, I did not. She is a pup, and you agreed long ago pups were under my care. Well, I have decided that she needs care.” I gaped at them. I’d never heard Chelsea speak to Peter that way. Luna Elena clearly didn’t like her husband. The Beta and Alpha turned away without saying anything.
I called, “Alpha, wait please.” He turned around. I said, “Umm a bunch of people were just disrespecting your Luna.” He stared at me. He asked, “And?” Caine growled. I said, “Umm… that’s… you’re supposed to… well… be mad.”
“No one is supposed to talk to a Luna like that… it’s a bylaw in every single pack. Section Three code B. Treating a Luna disrespectfully has never been allowed since the beginning of Werewolf society. So much so, they literally had it be in one of the first five sections… so… umm… what is going on here?”
Stephanie snorted, “You don’t know our pack bylaws.” I agreed, “No, I don’t…obviously…. since I just got here… but I know that is one because as I said, it’s in every pack bylaw. It’s a literally a law. So…”
Luna Elena interrupted asking, “It is?” I answered, “Yes.” She whirled and stared at her mate and Beta. The Beta said, “I’ll look into it.” I said, “Ok… it’s Section Three Code B… like I said… Wait… you don’t know your own pack bylaws? As a Beta blood? Wait… just… what?” Stephanie growled, “Shut up, pup.” I stared at everyone here who was now interested in me. I was used to that look though.
Luna Elena held out her hand saying, “Come with me dear. Caine, get her things please.” I had never been so confused in my entire life. What was wrong with this pack? The Alpha still didn’t say anything about the disrespectful way his mate was treated, but he watched her every move.
I saw that Caine had gotten my purple backpack out of Stephanie’s car. At least, my Xander wolf was in there. We walked into the pack hospital. The doctor was visibly nervous upon our arrival. A nurse shoved him out of the way, clearly annoyed.
She glanced at me saying, “You need more fluids. You were shot in the lung. You can’t do anything too jarring. Your healing rate is fast, so you won’t be out of commission too long. I’m Cecila by the way.” I asked, “What’s the pack doctor’s name?” He scurried away and I frowned.
Ceclia snorted, “He’s not going to treat you because the Alpha didn’t give him express permission.” I blinked, “Umm what? That’s not legal either. He has an oath… just… what is going on here? I’m so confused.” Addison and Caine exchanged glances that said they were the ones that were confused.
Luna Elena sighed, “I’m sorry for the way things are around here, Melanie.” The Alpha stormed in, and I was certain I was the only one who noticed his longing glance at his mate. Why was he being so weird with her when he clearly cared about her? What did he do to make her so mad? Other than not doing his job. Which he clearly did not. I guess that made sense she was so mad.
He asked me, “What name did you pick?” Luna Elena said, “Honestly Edward, she’s just gotten here. Let her breathe.” I would prefer not to, since breathing hurt quite a lot right now. Alpha Edward retorted, “I’m not starting a fight with Red Run. That would bring Blue Moon and Black Mountain against us. I’m not doing that for their cast away.” That hurt more than the bullet had.
My eyes filled with tears and the Luna slapped him on the arm. She growled, “Edward, be the man I first met for five seconds. She’s our daughter's age. If, god forbid, something happened to us would you want her treated this way?”
Based on his actions, he would not care…but this was definitely one of those moments Tristan would tell me not to say that. My eyes filled with tears again as I thought of my big brother. Honestly, Luna Elena should be worried about how he’d treat his daughter if she was gone.
Luna Elena continued, “By that horrible Stephanie woman then by a bullying Alpha?” She called her own mate a bully?! I rubbed my temples. She begged, “Please just have some compassion.” The Alpha’s jaw ticked. It looked like he considered it.
Then his eyes turned pitch black. His wolf whispered, “I can’t fight him long, mate. I love you.” Fight him? Why would his wolf fight him? His wolf should be more powerful than he was given his actions. He shook his head and looked at me. I noted his eyes were no longer black.
He’d taken back over from his wolf that easily when his wolf didn’t want to give it? Something was very wrong here. He asked me, “What is your new name?” I thought about it quickly since he clearly wasn’t going to leave without an answer.
I wanted Jason to know any news he heard, even hearing the new name, was me. If I was staying here, I’d become their Female Lead Warrior the second I shifted. Then he’d be proud of me and let me come home.
