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  ‘Are you okay?’ I heard Trent in my head. He must have felt the anguish I felt at the fact that my best friend was going through all of this.

  ‘I’m fine. I’ll meet you in the room in a bit.’

  I walked over to her as I would have any other day, trying to act if all was as it should be. She was lying on her side in bed with Jazzy asleep in front of her, cradled in her arms. Tears were silently streaming down her face as she just stroked her daughter’s hair.

  “Alright angel,” I said crooned to Jazzy as I picked her up from her mother’s arms, even though she was asleep. I was saying it more for Becca. “Daddy’s gonna watch you for a while.”

  Jazzy never woke as I passed her to Billy with a look telling him to take her somewhere else for a while. Becca jumped up from the bed and was about to take her from Billy’s arms, but I grabbed her and hugged her around her middle and just whispered calmly in her ear.

  “Come on Becca, you know Billy will never allow anyone to hurt her. He’s just spending some time with her while me and you have some girl time together. We haven’t had that in a while and I know you need it as much as I do.”

  She turned in my arms and sobbed into my shoulder. She was saying something but I couldn’t understand what. I looked up and Billy’s eyes were glistening. He wanted to comfort his mate, but nothing he had said or done so far had worked.

  I just motioned with my eyes for him to go and he left, shutting the door softly behind him, Ryan peeking in from the hallway before he did to make sure I was alright. I led Becca to the en suit so I could run her a bath. Sitting her down on the closed toilet seat, I turned and ran the water very warm, bordering on hot to be able to relax her a little, and added some bath oils.

  “Jazzy is alright, Becca. Nothing happened to her, she didn’t get hurt.” I reminded her softly, and then started helping her out of her clothes. She had dark circles under her eyes and I could tell she was about to fall out as soon as I got her to let go of whatever baggage she was carrying around with her.

  She just stared into space, in her own world as I helped her into the tub. I gave her the sponge with her favorite Sweet Pea scented shower gel on it. She washed herself as if on autopilot. Every movement was robotic. I just changed the subject and spoke of random things, trying to get her to open up. Through-out the bath, Becca slowly relaxed and actually began to respond to some of the things I was saying.

  “Don’t you dare say I told you so…but you were right.” I said to her as she was getting dressed and I was perched on the end of her bed, already having the stuff to do her hair and nails ready for her.

  “I usually am, but what about this time?” She answered, sounding more like her old self.

  I looked down at my hands, not really knowing how to express everything I was feeling. “About me telling Trent.” I looked back at her with a smile on my face. “I don’t know why I thought I was doing the right thing, but it was a big mistake. We lost so much time, but he sure is making up for it now.”

  She laughed and sat down at the vanity mirror so I could brush and style her hair. “What about Nikki?” She asked. No one knew any of the details except for Me, Trent, and Nikki, who of course I spoke with.

  “It’s not really my story to tell, but I can say they were never really together like that.” I kept brushing her hair in long soothing strokes, but was spacing into my own Trent filled world. “He waited for me, Becca.”

  “What do you mean? How could he wait for you?”

  “Not me specifically, but he waited for his mate. He was a virgin just like me, so the last two days have been so special; in a million more ways than just one.”

  Becca turned to me and looked at my neck. She shot out of her chair, grabbing me in a bear hug, and squealing. “I’m so sorry I didn’t notice that you mated!!! I’m so happy for you, Crystie. Of anyone in this world, you deserve more happiness than you can get in one lifetime.”

  “I have all of the happiness I’ll ever need right now, Becs.” I told her, hugging her back. “I have a mate that truly loves me for me and not just what I am. I have a best friend and other friends that love me too; I even have an angel here on earth to be able to spoil for life. To me, life could get no better.” I sat her back down in the chair and started with the flat iron to straighten her hair out.

  “I know how it can get better for you.” She said in a sing-song voice.

  “How?”

  “Having babies with that mate that loves you so much.” She had a knowing grin on her face.

  A huge grin spread across my face. She saw it in the mirror and nodded at my realization. I had lost all hope of ever having children, resigning myself to not being with my mate or anyone else. I had faded so far from myself that it didn’t seem like a possibility, so I never allowed myself to think of it, but now…

  “It’s my fault.” I barely heard Becca’s confession; she had said it so softly. I looked in the mirror to see her near tears again, so I put the flat iron down and went to squat in front of her, looking up into her face. I knew what she was referring to.

  “It is not your fault, Becca. Nobody blames you.”

  “I gave my baby to that woman. I gave her to someone who had been killing off Omegas and running with both ferals and rogues.” She hiccupped on a sob. “I almost lost my baby to a monster I willingly handed her over to.”

  “Becs, look at me.” I said calmly, but tears were welling in my eyes. “If anyone besides Bethany is to be blamed then let it be me. I am the one who never caught on that she was anything but normal. Shoot Becca, I thought she was the best of that lot, and told all of you as much. You trusted her because I had. It’s my fault.” Tears were streaming down my face by that point. “I will make it up to you. I can never take this experience away from your memory, but I can make damn sure it never happens again.”

  Becca gasped when I cursed. I never used curse words, but I was feeling…I was angry. I didn’t think I had ever gotten angry before, but I was so angry at Bethany. She had duped me, which was very hard to do to someone who can feel your emotions, and she had betrayed a trust I had put in her for myself and my pack.

  Harry at least showed his true colors, well his true colors slipped through sometimes, and it was enough to make me wary of him; but I had not picked up that feeling with Bethany once in all that time.

  “I would never blame you Crys. You, whether you know it or not, hold this pack together and help us be the family we are; that has made us the most powerful pack in the country. Your heart and mind are so pure.”

  “Well if you’re not going to blame me, then there is no one to blame except the rogues.” I told her in all seriousness. “We will get them, and they will never do anything to anyone else again.”

  We talked for a while and I told her of our plans of ambushing the rogues. She didn’t like my part in it, but knew there was no changing my mind once it was set on something.

  I could tell she felt a lot better, and when Billy came back in with Jazzy a little while later, Becca grabbed Jazzy, kissed her, handed her to me, and jumped in Billy’s arms kissing him like there was no tomorrow for them.

  “I’ll just take Jazzy with me.” I said rather loudly and laughed when they didn’t even acknowledge me.

  When I stepped out into the hallway, Ryan had Eddie up in his arms and was listening to all of his rambling about his day so far. The smile on his face, listening to his son, was so sweet and special. Not many got to see that side of Ryan.

  “Hey, Eddie!” I said as I brushed his bushy locks from his forehead.

  “Hi Miss Crystie! I was just telling Dad how I found a moth in Lissa’s room and caught it to let it go. It was sleeping, so it was easy.” He said all excited.

  “That’s wonderful, Eddie. I bet Lissa was real thankful you did that for her.”

  “Yep. She shared her brownies with me and everything.”

  I laughed at his enthusiasm and remembered back to when I was that small. It was so nice not to hav
e the weight of worry on your shoulders at that age that you would get as you get closer to adulthood.

  “How would you like for Daddy to spend the rest of the day with you today? Just you and him?”

  Eddie looked up at his dad with a hopeful expression on his face. “Can we Dad?”

  Ryan looked at me with concern on his face, not sure he should leave me.

  “Go, Ryan, spend the day with him. You know what’s about to happen, so today needs to be spent with loved ones, and you’ve just gotten home to him. I know he has missed you.”

  Ryan smiled and nodded, heading off in the direction of their suite rooms to play with his son.

  I was on my way down to eat some lunch and spend some time with both my mate and Jazzy when Nikki stopped me in the second floor hallway.

  “Can I speak with you for a minute?” She asked. I could feel her nervousness in something. That wasn’t like her; she was always so confident.

  “Sure, let’s go to your room.”

  When we got there, I handed Jazzy a set of keys that had been in my pocket, after rinsing them in the sink, set her down on the bed, and let her play with them as Nikki and I talked. She loved keys at the moment. She was teething, so chewing on them felt good on her gums, and the jingle of them made her giggle.

  “I don’t really know how to say this, but…I feel like Zeke would make a great addition to our pack.” Nikki started off slowly.

  I nodded in agreement. I felt as if I knew what her concerns were going to be, but waited for her to continue.

  “Well, I’ll be coming in with the others for the ambush, but I worry that the rogues may turn on him before we get there.” She finally said. “Especially if he has to reveal his status before planned.”

  “You are afraid something will happen to him; that he’ll get hurt?” I asked just to verify. When she nodded, I thought about it for a moment. “I’m not really sure what I will be able to do to protect him, but you know I’ll do anything in my power. He will have the power to stop any of them with a single command, though.”

  “I know. I just…” She looked down, obviously at a loss for words.

  “You feel something for him, don’t you?”

  She looked back up to me with tears in her eyes. “I can’t tell exactly what I feel. I never even entertained the thought of another man besides Travis. I loved him with my whole heart; I don’t know if I can set myself up to lose someone else.”

  “Well, with that kind of thinking, then yeah; anything will fail.” I told her, grabbing her hand and squeezing. “But what if this is your second chance from the Goddess? Are you willing to let it pass you by?”

  Nikki looked off toward the wall of her room, lost in thought. I got up, picked up Jazzy, and headed to the door. Before walking out, I turned back to her.

  “You need to decide first, though. It will only cause you and him both more heartache if you start something your heart can’t commit to.”

  I went down to the kitchen and ate lunch and played with my angel for a while before Trent found me. One look at him and I knew I needed to be with him. We walked Jazzy back up to Becca and Billy’s room. Luckily they had had time to finish their ‘alone time’ and took her so I could have some ‘alone time’ of my own with Trent.

  He made love to me for the rest of the afternoon. We only left the room long enough to join the pack for dinner before heading back. After talking for a while and a little bit more loving, I fell asleep secure in his arms. I would be leaving with Zeke and Bolton in the morning, but I was able to block that from my mind and dreamed of babies with my red hair and Trent’s amazing eyes.

  *Chapter 22

  I was following Zeke in the woods somewhere on the border of North and South Dakota where we would be meeting the rogues. He had contacted them that morning not long after we left and told them the cover story.

  He said that he had followed us home to our pack land and waited for me to be alone. The story was that I had been in the clearing with some kids, and he came up as a wolf and threatened the children. I sent them running and he took me; I went willingly to save the children. It was believable for both sides, and they took the explanation, telling him where to meet them. The rogues had already made their way to the area, so it worked out well for them.

  I had talked Zeke into tying my hands with rope and leading me through the woods. It would be more believable of something he would have done, and he knew I was right. I just walked along behind him at a fast pace as he held the end of the rope. He said that had been the way he had traveled when in human form before. Now if they had anyone watching, everything would be more believable.

  Bolton was about a half a mile back from us, following at the same steady pace we had set. If he scented anything or noticed anything happening that wasn’t supposed to, he was supposed to create a distraction and divide the attention of whoever it was. He was just at the edge of my senses, but enough for me to feel better with him being there.

  Trent was with me. We weren’t communicating, but I could feel him with me. He had a really hard time letting me go that morning. When I woke he was lying beside me, propped on his elbow just watching me.

  He bent down to kiss me softly on the lips. “You are so beautiful.” He whispered, his lips feathering against mine, as the kiss ended. “I want us to be here, like this, always. Promise me that you will never leave me.”

  I knew what he was really saying, and I also knew I couldn’t make that promise. “I love you so much, Trent. I am so happy to have been blessed with you as a mate.” I told him, running my fingers down his stubbly cheek. “Just know that no matter what life has planned for us, our destination will always be the same place. We were always, and always will be destined to be together.”

  He rested his forehead against mine, his eyes welling with the tears he refused to let fall. I knew I was seeing a side to Trent that nobody had gotten to see before; the vulnerable, unsure side that needed the assurances of his mate that they would be alright.

  “I need to hear you say it.”

  I kissed him, and I put everything I felt for him that kiss. When we finally parted I was honest with him.

  “I am not the Goddess to be able to say what will or will not happen. What I can say is that we both have done everything in our power to make sure that we will be together again. If that doesn’t happen; if something goes wrong…”

  “No. Nothing is going to go wrong. We can’t let it, baby. I can’t go on if you’re not here with me. I won’t.” He said vehemently.

  “Yes, Trent, you will.” I told him. I sat up and he followed, not moving his arms from around me. “I know you love me, so no matter what happens, you will go on to lead this pack and be the best Alpha you can be. You will find love again and live the life that we couldn’t. You will do it for me because it’s what I want.”

  He nodded, the tears finally escaping the corners of his eyes.

  “I want to hear you say it.” I said, repeating his words back to him.

  “I will go on.” He looked back into my eyes that were now also leaking tears. “I’ll do it for you.”

  I slid my arms around his neck and pulled him to me. “Let’s believe, Trent. Let us both go into this and believe that we’ll both be safe when it is over.”

  I kissed him now with all of the passion and love I could put into one kiss. Though it was already time to go, we didn’t care. Trent made love to me again, neither one of us speaking or breaking the spell we were weaving for each other.

  An hour later we headed down to the rest of the pack. My parents and friends all gave me a hug one by one; none saying goodbye. When I finally got back to Trent, I whispered in his ear so no one else could hear, “Whenever you start to worry or doubt, just close your eyes, think of me, and feel me there with you. I’ll be there. I’ll always be with you.” His arms tightened around me for a second before he kissed me fiercely.

  Walking through the woods, almost to our destination, I could feel Trent doin
g just as I said; he was thinking of me and feeling me. We were one and we always would be.

  “They’re straight ahead.” Zeke breathed out in a whisper only I could hear alerting me out of my daydreams and musings.

  We walked about a hundred more yards before coming to a clearing. There stood Harry and Bethany along with the Diamondbacks and a few rogues. Some wolves were around, snarling and drooling, that could only be the ferals. I looked them all over, keeping myself calm and trying to project that and the feeling of serenity to those around me and immediately the snarls died down; the wolves all looking at me curiously.

  This was good. This part of the plan seemed to be going better than we thought it would.

  ‘We are here in a clearing. I seemed to have managed to calm the ferals.’ I told Trent through our link. I had been telling him each move we made; where we were and such. I felt his love and assurance, telling me they were on their way, through our bond, and it helped me to keep my calm.

  “I’m so glad you joined us, Crystie. I’ve missed you.” Bethany said as if we were here for a casual meeting. “I can see that Will was right about you. You have already tamed my wolves. I need you in my pack, Crystie. I admit though, that I thought we would have a fight on our hands to get you.”

  “I will always do whatever I have to do to keep my pack safe.” I told her. It was actually hard for me to stay calm while hearing her talk. I felt the unfamiliar anger coming back to me, and I didn’t know how to deal with it, but I just tried to push it back and do as planned. “I will do as you ask and join your pack as long as you guarantee me there will be no kind of attack, harm, or even a threat of any type made against the MoonBeam Pack by you, the rogues, the Diamondbacks, or even the ferals.”

  “My my. You do cover all of your bases don’t you?” She said mockingly. I felt like I was missing something, but couldn’t figure out what it was. Had I forgotten something?