My thoughts wandered and I caught Malachi looking at me again. “It’s Friday.”“That makes no sense. From Epworth to Seward is approximately three thousand five hundred and thirty-two miles. Depending on Kiran’s speed…” My voice faltered as they all looked at me.“Kiran drove an average of a hundred and twenty miles,” Malachi said and I did the calculation in my head.“You’d have to stop for gas, so a quick estimation would be twenty-nine to thirty-three hours,” I said.“I stopped a few times, but yeah, you’re not far off, almost thirty-four hours,” Kiran said with a smile.“I need a phone.” I looked at Kiran. He was ultimately the one in charge here. The Alpha wolf.“Everyone thinks you’re dead,” Kiran said. The emotion in his eyes was fleeting but it was there. He picked up the tablet next to his plate and slid it over the table toward me. I caught it and looked at the newspaper article online about my death.‘Local man and woman dead in Epworth’...‘Blake Cannon’...‘Charlotte McAllis
I woke up to brilliant sunlight flooding into the room and it felt like deja vu all over again. I had woken up like this in Bo’s house. This time though there were no beeping machines and I touched my chest and abdomen. There was nothing there, no bandages, no bullet wounds. It was as if I had never gotten shot.The man from the car, Kiran Sinclair, my brain assessed and reminded me. He was half lying on a chair with his feet on the bottom of the bed. His eyes were closed and I looked around the room. I turned my head back to him and his eyes were open. I sat upright in the bed. I knew everything about him, it was his memories that had flashed through my mind as we drove.“Morning,” he said to me as he sat up straight in the chair.“Where am I?” I asked him.“I brought you home. We’re in Seward,” he said to me. Alaska. Alaska? For an average driver it would be a sixty-hour drive here. That’s five days. Charlotte must be out of her mind. “I brought you home.” Home. Charlotte. That was
Malachi arrived home mid-afternoon while Jessica was still at work and he sent her a text that he was home. Half an hour later Jessica pulled into the garage and jumped in his arms where he waited for her in the living room.“Did you miss me?” Malachi asked her when she finally stopped kissing him.“A little bit,” she said and hugged him again.“Do you want to know everything that happened or just the weird parts?”“Dude, obviously I want to know everything!” They sat side-by-side on the couch and Malachi started at the beginning and told her about Bryan, the meeting with the other Alphas, the ceremony and finally the things that happened after the ceremony.“Like strippers?” Jessica asked and Malachi chuckled.“More like prostitutes. Some were half-naked, some were naked and they were just everywhere,” Malachi said.“And where were you?” she asked him and narrowed her eyes.“Outside with Bryan and Quintin.”“Uh huh,” she said and Malachi laughed.“Would I have told you about them oth
They booked into a hotel with adjoining rooms and Malachi told Quintin to go and rest. He wasn’t in any danger and Quintin had been up for two days traveling to escort him to New York. Bryan sat awake in the living room and Malachi dialed Jessica’s number, knowing she would be sleeping, but he needed to hear her voice.“Ugh hello,” Jessica answered sleepily and yawned. “What time is it?”“My time or yours?”“Your time,” she said and he heard the rustle of bedcovers.“It’s ten p.m. I just finished up at the Council and booked into a hotel.”“And John?” Jessica asked.“He didn’t make it,” Malachi said.“Who do you answer to now?” she asked and he smiled.“To me.”“You Sinclair’s always have to be the best at everything,” she said and Malachi chuckled.“Why even bother if you’re not?”“When are you coming home?” she asked.“The day after tomorrow,” he said. “I have to be inducted first.”“Oh great, more weird ceremonies,” she said and Malachi laughed.“We’ll dance naked around a bonfire
“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Malachi,” Joseph said as they shook hands.“How did this happen and why is Bryan locked up?” he asked.“I don’t know much more than you. It’s standard procedure for the Zeta to await questioning when things like this happen. He was shot outside his house with a rifle,” Joseph said.“An assassination?” Joseph nodded his head in affirmation.“Believe me when I say, we’ll put all our resources behind this investigation,” he said.“I want to see Bryan now!” Malachi said angrily. Quintin led Malachi to an empty office and left him there. Half an hour later, Quintin opened the door and led Bryan inside. He was handcuffed and Malachi looked at the two Zetas escorting him.“Take those cuffs off him!” Malachi ordered. Zetas had different ranks within the Council depending on whose Zeta they were and both Quintin and Bryan held higher ranks than the two Zetas in front of Malachi.“You can leave us,” Malachi said to the two Zetas.“We were told not to
Inside the kitchen, I put the backpack on the table. I looked around and whistled once, but the dogs didn’t come barking from anywhere. I stood in the open door and looked across the fields when I saw the glint. I was on my stomach crawling on the kitchen floor as bullets ripped through the windows and into the walls around me.I pulled the backpack down to the floor and made it to the living room unscathed. I took out the two Jericho’s and strapped them to my thighs. The other two Jericho’s were in shoulder holsters and I took out the Karambit. I strapped the knife onto my right leg next to the gun and stood up. I took out the Jericho’s from the shoulder holsters and closed my eyes.The gunfire had stopped and I knew that they, whoever they were, would now breach the house. I heard their footsteps on the porch and then they were inside the house. I counted ten different footsteps and they were quiet as they entered. These were trained men. Footsteps went upstairs as they started clea