Maura

Everything about this pack is strange but also wonderful. The atmosphere is unlike anything I ever experienced in Godrick’s pack. Everyone seems to like and care for the others, no one is cowering in a corner… It’s like I’ve stepped into an alternate world.

I turned my back to Beck and Alejo a few minutes ago, but I swear I can still feel their eyes on me. It sends shivers down my spine, but weirdly enough, not the kind I got when I knew Godrick or his men were watching me. Their gazes made my skin crawl as if bugs were under it, burrowing into me. Beck and Alejo’s stares and energy make my entire body warm and fuzzy.

“Two Alphas?” I finally ask in awe as I bring my eyes to meet Beth’s.

She smiles, but it’s filled with pain. “Yes. The last of each of their bloodlines. Most of us are the last of our respective packs, in fact.”

“I’m so sorry,” I say, knowing how much they must all be hurting.

“Godrick’s been destroying packs and harvesting their females for years, cutting off any and all resources the survivors could use to rebuild or even keep going. Beck and Alejo are the only reason any of us are still here. They brought us together, built something new.”

My jaw drops open a little as I look around at the people milling about and talking. “They created their own pack? Together?”

Beth nods with a happier grin. “Yes. They gave everyone a place to belong, somewhere safe to heal.” She glances at my hands for a second before grabbing them in hers and holding them tightly, her fingers resting against my wrist as her eyes close a little.

Shit. She’s probably the healer. What if she realizes everything I’ve been through and tells Beck and Alejo? They’re going to think I’m nothing, lower than nothing…just like Godrick. I brace myself for her to confront me, but instead, she sighs and pats the back of my hand.

“You’ve been through hell, haven’t you, child?” Her hands are comforting on my skin. “I have just the thing. Nothing a cup of my tea can’t help.”

As the old woman gets up and takes my hand, pulling me into the big house, my entire body tenses, going almost rigid. The moment we’re inside the living room, she lets go of my hand and moves to the kitchen through a door at the back of the room.

“I-I don’t want tea,” I say, unable to keep the panic from my voice as I slowly follow her.

By the time I enter the kitchen, she’s already got water on the stove in a kettle and is preparing loose herbs in a cup. “Don’t worry, dear. Nothing here will hurt you.”

I can’t help the visions that flash through my mind. Godrick had a healer who swore she meant me no harm…

Godrick grabs the nape of my neck, squeezing painfully, but I’m too groggy and out of it to respond to the pain. He’s furious. My head hurts, and I think I’m going to pass out and vomit, though I hope like hell not in that order. Everything is blurry and spins. I can’t get my bearings.

Where are my clothes? Oh god, help me. Don’t let this happen to me now!

“I told you I wanted her calm, not fucking unconscious!” Godrick growls at the healer who’s been with me for the past half hour or so.

She cowers, her arms coming up some like she’s prepared to shield her face.

“I’m sorry, Alpha,” she pleads. “The girl is strong. I had to double the dose.”

Godrick grumbles. “There’s no fun in this if she can’t fight me a little. Take her back. I’ll try again another night.”

Shaking my head, I try to rid myself of the memory as Beth sits a steaming cup of tea in front of me. I don’t mean to be rude, but I push it away and bring my arms in against my chest, almost caving in on myself as a cold fear spreads through my body.

“No, thank you. Really, I’m fine.”

Beth sighs and tilts her head as she comes over and takes one of my hands, gently prying it away from my chest as she sits down in front of me, something I think is sympathy in her eyes. “It’s okay now, child. My boys are good, honorable men. They’d never take something that wasn’t freely offered to them. You’ve got nothing to fear here.”

I can’t help but scoff. Despite my attraction to them, I know better. “Yeah, right. They’re Alphas, aren’t they? Plus, I’m only here for the night.”

Beth lets go of my hand and sits back, picking up the teacup as she goes and sipping it. “And where will you go from here? Where do you think you can run and be safe?”

“I haven’t really thought that far ahead,” I say softly, looking down at my lap as I pick at the fabric. “As far away as I can get, I guess.”

“Sometimes,” Beth says in a tone that makes my eyes lift to meet her gaze, “no matter how far we run, it’s never far enough. Maybe you’ve already found exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

I open my mouth to deny it, but Alejo walks in and raps his knuckles on the doorframe, making me jump.

“Pack meeting,” he says in a stern, hard tone. “Let’s go.”

Beth stands and nods toward the door, inviting me to come with her. Once in the living room, everyone from outside files in, finding places to sit around the edges of the room, all of them facing Alejo in the center. I don’t want to get in the way, so I move myself to the corner of the room.

“Where are you going, Red?” Beck steps next to me, and I startle again, my heart beating like a drum as he smiles down at me.

“Just moving out of the way,” I say, barely above a whisper as my eyes drop to the floor.

Slowly, he shakes his head. “Everyone is part of the pack here.”

“When will the rest of them join us?”

Beck’s eyes saddened. “This is it, Maura.”

I scan the crowd, my mouth hanging open as a different kind of pain settles in my chest. It isn’t pain for me; it’s for them. Aside from Alejo, Beck, and Beth, there’s a little girl who someone calls Amber, and a little over a handful of men, all different ages. My eyes finally meet Beck’s, and he shrugs a little before moving to join Alejo in the center of the room.

The power between them is even and settles over the room, one not dominating the other. If I didn’t already know what little I did, I’d think they were raised to rule together the way they perfectly hold each other at the same level. It’s captivating as they start talking about what they found around Godrick’s territory.

My eyes dart around the room as they talk, but they always come back to the guys in the center. After a few minutes, I realize what’s missing from this pack meeting, and I can’t seem to bring myself to understand how they rule like this.

There’s no fear.

Not a single pack member is cowering or even shying away from the two Alphas. I’ve never been to a pack meeting that wasn’t rife with fear clinging to the air.

I’m snapped out of my thoughts as a man on the other side of the room interrupts Beck and Alejo.

“Who’s the damn girl?” he snarls, his eyes wide and full of anger.

I flinch, preparing for the type of punishment that only an Alpha dishes out. I’m surprised when a moment passes, and nothing happens. Instead, Beck moves to stand in front of the man and puts his hand on the guy’s shoulder. Not in a forceful manner, but gently, like he’s trying to soothe him.

“We know you deserve answers,” he says with confidence. “Alejo?”

Bringing my gaze up, it locks on Alejo’s fully for only the second time since I slammed into him in the forest. A chill sweeps through me, and I can’t stop the way my body trembles under his gaze. The intensity in his eyes as he steps toward me, the power hitting me from everyone else in the room staring at me…it’s overwhelming, and my feet move backward, fear and panic taking over everything as tears sting my eyes, my back hitting the wall behind me.

“Easy,” Alejo says in the softest voice I’ve heard him use as he takes a step toward me. “Each of us has our own story. It’s the thread that laces each member of this pack together. If you want our protection tonight, we need to know yours.”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I urge myself not to break down. Tears won’t help here. The logical part of me understands. I need to prove that I’m worthy of their help and that I deserve their trust.

But what happens if I speak my truth and Godrick finds me?

He’ll kill me if he gets his hands on me again, especially if he knows I told anyone what he’s done to me.