“How?” I ask, my voice sounded strangled and breathless.
“We have always known, at least all of the original Pack members.When you joined this Pack, I saw your mother feed you a few times.The Alpha had sworn us to secrecy,” he stated.
I looked at him.His eyebrow had a cut on it, but it was almost completely healed beside his clothes being a bit of a mess.You wouldn’t think he just got into a fight with a werewolf, let alone an Alpha.
“I don’t care that you’re a Hybrid, you’re still one of us.Everyone else thinks the same, but Ari, you need to get out of here,” he stated.
“Tell me something I don’t already know, but I can’t.He won’t let me take Lily, and he would find her straight away, being that the dick is technically her father!” I replied dryly.
His eyes darted up to the door nervously before falling back on me.“Get her to reject the Pack when she steps over the border.You do the same, then leave the city.Ari, we can’t go against him, but we are all sick of his shit and watching him abuse you,” he whispered.I could see the sadness in his eyes; he truly did care for Lily and me.
I nodded, not really knowing what to say.
“But her wolf isn’t awake yet.How can she reject the Pack when she hasn’t awoken yet?” I asked.
“You don’t need a wolf to reject the Pack, Ari.You should know this seeing as you haven’t got one either.You can also reject the Pack at any time.It’s wolf genes, not the wolf itself!”
Nodding my head, I lifted up my shirt.There are 5 deep gashes across my ribs.The blood running down my stomach and thighs was pooling on the floor.Beta Michael grabbed a cloth and put pressure on it until it stopped bleeding before placing a waterproof dressing over it.It was going to take a good few days before it healed.I can’t heal like a wolf but still faster than a human even without blood.
“Thanks,” I croaked out.
“I would give you my blood, but the Alpha will notice straight away when your scent changes, and then we will both be dead and no one to look after Lily.”
“You don’t have to explain, I understand.” Gripping the shelf, I pulled myself up before leaning back, regaining feeling in my legs.Michael passed me a jar.It had syringes filled with a gold liquid and two water bottles of wolfsbane.
“Just in case you need more, show Lily the syringes in case she ever needs to use them on you.They are concentrated levels of wolfsbane.I know wolfsbane can’t kill you, but they,” he said, pointing at the syringes of gold liquid “will even put you on your arse for a while, okay?And tell Lily not to drink from the bottles,” he said.
I looked at him questionably.“It’s fine.I noticed every time you got injured, my wolfsbane supply went down or completely went missing.I figured out it was you.Also, I could smell it on you.”
He pushed me towards the stairs, and I climbed up them.Every step hurts.Even breathing hurts.I could feel my wound stretching with every movement I made.Once to the top step, Michael’s mate Elizabeth was standing in the kitchen.She hugged me carefully before speaking.
“There is hot stew in your room.The Alpha is passed out drunk, so eat then have a shower,,” she said before placing a box of painkillers in my hand.She walked me to my room and watched me and Lily eat the stew.It was delicious.I didn’t realise how hungry I was until I walked in and smelt it, my stomach instantly started growling.I polished off the whole bowl and even soaked up all the juices with a piece of bread.Elizabeth handed me a glass of water and pushed the pills into my hand again.I quickly swallowed two of the little pills before getting up and placing the jar and bottles of water in the duffle bag after explaining to Lily what they were.
“Remember Lily, you can’t drink these.They will kill you and only use these on me if you have to,” I said, making sure I spoke clearly so she understood what I was telling her.
Elizabeth took the bowls and bread plates out before bringing in towels.Getting up, I pulled Lily up with me, and we walked down the hall towards the bathroom, which was in the middle of the house.Stepping in, I flicked the light on.The bathroom was huge, bigger than our bedroom and had a large clawfoot bathtub and a huge shower with multiple showerheads.The room had grey tiles on the walls and black tiles on the floor.The fixtures were a gold colour, it was beautiful.
I turned the shower on letting it heat up the room before I slipped my clothes off.Lily pulled hers off as well and stepped under the water.My dressing was already drenched in blood from the wound reopening with movement.Climbing in behind her, I adjusted my shower head temperature, making it hotter.My muscles started to relax, not realising how tense I was.Looking down, I watched as blood and dirt went down the drain.We showered quickly, washing Lily’s hair before getting out.
The pain killers were starting to kick in, and everything felt like it was going dull.I felt no pain, but my body felt heavy.I turned the water off and wrapped a towel around Lily.Grabbing our toothbrushes, we quickly brushed our teeth.I looked at my reflection in the mirror.I had a huge black bruise on my jaw, and on the other side, a black eye.Great, now I need to borrow makeup from someone before work tomorrow.
Once back in our room, Lily put on her pyjamas, and I slipped on a shirt and panties before climbing into bed.It did not take long before the pills knocked me out, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 4
Reid’s POV
Leaving home early, Idecided to head straight to Joe’s Diner, not bothering to send Zane today.Besides, I also had a meeting at 9:00 with Alpha David.Seeing as we have cleared his rogues, he wants my men off his territory now.
I was extremely tired.My wolf kept me up most of the night.Even now Ryder was starting to become agitated and restless, and I had been struggling to keep him contained.All night he kept telling me something was wrong but did not know what.Getting in my car, I drove quickly, ignoring the speed limit, not taking me long to arrive at the small diner.Parking the car on the curb out the front, I got out and went in.I was greeted by the owner, Zoe.She was a nice lady.I sat at the counter, looking around, trying to see if she was in.Zoe came over, placing a mug of coffee in front of me.Reaching for it, I took a sip.After about an hour, she still wasn’t in.
I looked at the time and saw it was 8 o’clock already.Zoe looked worried too.She kept glancing at the clock a few times, and she even stuck her head out the door looking towards the bus stop, but no Aria or Lily.
“I knew something was wrong.It’s been nagging me all night,” Ryder growled angrily in my mind.
“Shut up, you can’t know that,” I replied, annoyed, shoving him into the back of my mind.Feeling him still growling at me I got up and walked to the window looking out but no sign of her, so I walked back to the counter to speak to Zoe.
“Is Aria not working today?” I asked nervously.