Caine snarled, “LET HER GO!” I grabbed him to explain. I linked him, “Calm down. She’s yours and that’s her dad.” Matt spoke, “Ted.” Ted snorted, “No. No! There will be no saying of Ted in that tone! Do we even like this guy?!”
Caine growled, “She's mine! I would never hurt her.” Judy whispered, “Daddy Ted, please.” I said, “Former Beta male Ted, Caine is a good man who is not like his father. He’s always wanted his mate. He just never went looking because he didn’t want her to be subjected to Edward. Caine was waiting until he challenged his dad and was the Alpha of his pack.”
Ted frowned, “It’s just Ted and you are relatively new to the group.” I looked away and willed my tears away because I shouldn’t have been. Elise spoke, “She's not new and Alpha Caine just fought for Yellow Hills. If Ladybug says Caine is a good man, then he is.”
Cayden offered, “He is a good man.” They’d listen to him but not me…I was totally ok with that. I only protected them ALL the time. Freya said, “That will change soon. Ted is just being protective.” I knew that, but if I’d been around like Cayden he would’ve trusted me too.
Ted looked at his daughter and Judy smiled at him. Ted sighed, “You will call us every damn day. If you miss just one, I’ll run my happy ass down to Nashville.” Judy hugged Ted then ran to Caine. I let him go and he met her halfway.
Dax relaxed in his stance. I knew he'd been ready to fight for his Alpha and future Luna. Xander grabbed me around the waist. I looked over at my family. Grandpa Ben looked like he had A LOT to say. Freya said, “He does. Forrest is linking a LOT of snarls and questions.” My grandpa’s wolf was usually very even tempered so him snarling told me my Grandpa Ben’s mindset.
Haley snapped all the bodies away. I noticed Abigail was in Gage’s arms and that made me smile. Sierra linked me, “That would've been useful. SO MANY times.” I replied, “Burning bodies works too. Our Demons make quick work of the bodies we pile up.” Sierra nodded her head in acknowledgement.
Paige came running out of the pack house. I smiled at her a second before Dalton collided with her. Dalton grabbed her saying, “You scared me so damn bad.” Paige frowned replying, “Umm ok. I’m not sure how I did that, but I have a lot questions. The first one being, how did I get into the pack house?”
Dalton gasped, “You don’t know?” I offered, “When Paige zones in on a spell, she basically has a connection with the spell itself. She doesn’t know what’s going on unless she breaks the connection.” Paigehuffed, “Well, that one was like super serious. That dome was no joke. A whole Coven had to put it up. What happened?”
I shrugged, “Nothing I couldn’t handle.” Dax snorted, “You almost got shot in the head, Paige. Guess who dove in front of you.” I glared at Dax. Paige gasped, “MELANIE!” I rolled my eyes, “Bullet proof vest people. Bullet proof. I made this one… so it’s not bullet RESISTANT like the other ones around… this one is field tested and everything. Can we talk about something else?”
Grandpa Ben asked, “You made that bullet proof vest? Because I do notice that came from Alpha Emmett’s supply in his armory. Which means you sold them to all of us.” I reasoned, “Well… I wanted you to be safe… and having you use bullet PROOF instead of bullet RESISTANT vests is a good start.”
Cayden said, “We bought those too.” I hummed, “Ok… so… I hired… someone to pretend to be the CEO of the company I started…to sell said vests to you guys… and he made the pitch to the allies at the Summit… where Cayden was.”
“It’s not that big of a deal. He’s an actor who memorized the script…and the possible follow up questions…that I quizzed him on… some said extensively and I paid him overtime for…because apparently I was overzealous…but he’s paid and happy with his job…so really…it’s all good.” Several people snorted.
Alpha Emmett commented, “Sure. That’s interesting. Let’s talk about how you can see my parents’ house and how you can run through a spell that was keeping my men and your friends out. Would you care to explain either of those things?”
I frowned not understanding his first question. I explained slowly, “I can see the house because it’s there. I really don’t know what else there is to say about it. It’s a house... so I can see it. There is literally nothing special about that. As far as the barrier... I don’t know what to say other than I’m a….”
Dax cut me off, “She’s special.” Freya chimed in, “He gets it.” I snorted at her, but she puffed up in my head. I raised an eyebrow at my friend. Dax linked me, “I don’t think you want to say you’re a freak out here. Several people seem angry enough as it is, particularly your golden eyed Xander.”
Alpha Emmett snorted, “Ok, what does that mean?” Caine spoke in a hard tone, “It means she’s special. That’s all it means. It’s fairly self-explanatory.” Addison winced, “Oh god.” Alpha Emmett nodded, “I know what the words mean. I’m asking how she can do it. Does her watch have something to do with it?”
Freya snorted, “No.” I told her, “I already knew that.” Freya took over, “Alpha Emmett, now is not the time for that conversation. That time will come, but it is not today.” My wolf slammed me back to the front. I asked hopefully, “Can you do that without slamming me forward?” Freya laughed, “It’s a work in progress.” I’d take that.
Alpha Emmett’s eyes narrowed, and he surmised, “So your wolf knows, but you’re not going to tell us?” I admitted, “I don’t know the answer. I can just do some weird stuff sometimes… it’s always been that way… and she didn’t tell me the answer either… so….”
Emmett raised an eyebrow asking, “You expect us to believe that?” Freya felt angry and so did I. I glared at him saying, “Well, you should because everyone, and I do mean literally everyone… says I’m a bad liar… and I told you directly I don’t know… and honestly I don’t care what you believe.”
“You’re welcome by the way. You might want to work on how you thank you people for helping you. You suck at it. You went from thank you isn’t enough to suspicious REAL fast. You’re acting like I did something wrong….and I didn’t.”
“I don’t know why I can do weird things. I just can. I know how I can see a house though… and it’s BECAUSE IT’S A HOUSE! They don’t really hide. It’s not even a small cottage… it’s a full on house with a wraparound porch… it’s very pretty. Still, that’s not something only I can do. Everyone here is capable of seeing a house. I see several around me.”
I asked, “How about you, Ads? Si? Do you see those houses over there?” Both nodded. I snorted, “You’d better watch out then, Yellow Hills Alpha doesn’t understand how you could possibly see them. We have better eyesight than most, but hey… let’s focus on how we all see large houses.” Everly snorted and I shot her the first genuine smile I had for her…. since I’d actually met her.
Xander gripped my waist. Emmett raised an eyebrow saying, “This is my territory.” I snorted, “I know that… also it’s thanks to me that you don’t have to take it back… negotiate for your sister’s release… or a Warrior’s pup… who they would’ve made you choose between.”
“Which I do know that wouldn’t have happened…. Because you have the Hood and the allies on your side… but your wolf still would’ve agonized over being forced to choose… so would you. Which I stopped…and…”
Alpha Emmett pointed out, “That’s all true. So is the fact that they came for you.” I shot back, “And how did they know where I was? This was a planned attack. Which means they should’ve attacked Black Mountain. That’s where people think I am, is it not?” Alpha Emmett opened and closed his mouth several times.
I titled my head, “So, here’s a tip free of charge… You have a mole. Again, you’re welcome.” Haley started laughing. Everyone looked at her. Haley shrugged, “What? She’s right. You’re not being very fucking grateful, Emmett.”
“I’ve just never seen someone who isn’t me get annoyed enough to point these things out to Alpha wolves. She’s not even backing down from your glare. You should look past my daughter in law though, Emmett.”
Huh? I linked Caine, “Is it you?” Caine said, “I’m looking at my mate. Consider that you have one and he’s literally behind you.” I turned to look at Xander and he was glaring daggers at Emmett. I winced because I knew they were friends, and I could handle this myself.
Alpha Emmett looked at Xander saying, “We do actually need these answers, and I’m not inclined to avoid the questions like the rest of you are.” Freya snickered. Sierra linked, “SNAPPPPP! He called them out.” I replied, “That’s not shocking… since he’s right. They do let me get away with not answering them, but Alpha Emmett has no reason to follow their lead on that.”
