Liam’s POV It’s well after midnight now and we’re finally done sorting through the first grouping. “Dude, I’m dying. Let’s work on this later today”. Ian eyes me, also exhausted. “Don’t have to ask me twice”. We stack everything neatly in a pile. “Ian?”. He nods in my direction, “Hmm?”. “Thank you. For everything you’ve done for me and my family. You’re a good man. You’re going to be an excellent father. And I’m impressed you can put up with Ruth so well”. We both chuckle. “Well, it’s different when she’s your fated mate, but thank you for trusting me Liam. It means the world to me after everything my family has done”. We lock up the room extra tight and head home. “Ruth said Emma’s sleeping on our couch”. Walking quietly into their dark apartment, “night Ian”. He disappears. I see my tiny mate curled into a small ball, wrapped around our babies in their middle. The sight makes Kalen and I swoon. I very gently scoop her up but luckily she does sleep like t
Zak’s POV I wake up earlier than I want to. What the hell is going on? My eyes feel heavy from lack of sleep. I feel my mate, I smell her scent. There are no threats I can sense. “Beteo, what the fuck man?”. He grunts at me, “don’t worry about it, go back to sleep Zak”. Why the hell is he moving my body, in my skin? Forcing my eyes open, I realize he’s scenting Dana. “You fucking creep, what are you doing? She’s going to wake up and scream at you”. He chuckles at me, “she actually rather likes it. She’s been moaning in her sleep for the last half hour”. I nearly choke on his admission, “excuse me what? How long have you been hovering over her like a serial killer Beteo?”. He grunts again, “not creepy asswipe, mate is with pup. She needs rest and to smell like us. You have done your part. Go away”. “Well now I’m awake fuckwad so what exactly is it that you are doing?”. He stops for a second, “I won’t block you out Zak if you promise not to interfere and keep aski
Emma’s POV Savannah and Grace were already downstairs eating when Liam and I finally made it down. I assumed more people would already be down but it was just those two. “Where is everyone?”, I ask Grace. She just chuckles, “mating season must be upon us”. Savannah’s crimson face doesn’t go unnoticed. Suddenly I hear Ruth and Ian’s voices coming, reminding me that we never did discuss paternal wolf licking the other day. The boys become distracted quickly over logistics with their evidence. “We need to finalize that today, trials start tomorrow. We also need to figure out who is willing to give testimony”. I discreetly drop a list in front of them. I have been collecting names of any she wolf who is willing to stand trial against their abusers. Ruth and I intend to start off as the primary witnesses. “Whoa.. babe, there are dozens…”... “83 names to be exact”, I cut him off. Savannah interrupts, “84. Add me”. I didn’t hear Dan come in but his clearing voice
Liam’s POV We spent hours rummaging through boxes of disgusting, and I mean, revolting evidence of trafficked and abused wolves. Not only did Ian’s family black mail a lot of their clients but some of the clients straight up made pornography with their victims and sold it apparently. By lunchtime, we are all in terrible spirits. “If I have to see one more video or photo of this shit I’m going to break something”. We all drop what we’re doing and take a breath. “Good spot for a break I’d say”, Lee chimes. “Has anyone found anything involving Regan?”. Everyone solemnly shakes their heads no. “No, just a lot of fucked up other shit”, as Leo closes his box. Suddenly, as I stare at the men around me, I realize… every one of these mens’ mates have been violated by these traffickers. Mine included. “Guys, I want to talk to you all about something and it’s okay if you don’t think you can but I need you to be honest. We, all of us, all of our mates have been horribly
Emma’s POV Seeing Liam’s weary face, I knew something was off. He’s concerned about the trial I know, about me testifying and everything else going on. So the girls and I figured, why not make today special for everyone? What better way to lighten up spirits than through food! “I’ve got your favorite baby… ribs a la Emma!”. Liam giggles… “you mean ribs on top of macaroni salad?”. He practically sprints to close the distance, picking me up in a giant bear hug, nearly squeezing me to death. “Uhhh… Liam… I can’t brea….”. Taking a much needed breath, “I saw you like 3 hours ago, you ok?”. His death grip still hasn’t lessened by much. “I just need to be near you for a few, my love”. He nuzzles my neck. “I’m definitely okay with that but you’ll have to multitask and come with me, I need to take some cookies out of the oven or they’ll burn”. Taking the hot mit from me, “I’ll do one better and get them for you”. Ahh, such a gentleman. Liam blows me a kiss as he roun
Danny’s POV I feel more determined than ever to put this all behind us and start afresh. Savannah said she’d let me hold her tonight which will help me get through all of this. I start rifling through the boxes with newfound determination. I run into a metal tin box. Opening the lid, photos spill out. My lunch exits my body with force. “Oh god Danny…'' Zak shrieks. Leo jumps back as the vomit narrowly misses his shoes, “oh shit man, fuckin… oh fuck…”... he hurls in the corner after seeing the same photos. The room is in full on exorcist mode. I am too busy trying to keep what bile I have left inside me to notice who has or hasn’t seen them. Lee picks them up, “these must be his handy work”. Liam is pacing, holding his nose and trying very hard not to puke. “How do we know definitively they’re his?”. Lee holds up one in particular. “Well besides him posing with the body, he’s carved his initials into her skin”. Liam loses his lunch too. Zak makes a b
Emma’s POV I’m running through some tall brush. The wind is whipping, rain drops pelting me in the face. “Emma… slow down… I can’t keep up!”. My heart is racing, “Run faster mi mi, dad is on his way home… we gotta show him what we made”. I slow down slightly to let her shorter legs catch up with mine. “Emma.. the rope! It’s stuck!”. I look back and our kite is stuck in the thicket. I go back to help her untangle it when we hear a voice… “girls, dinner’s almost ready!”. Getting the kite untangled, we race back to the house to get cleaned up. “Papa!”. He grabs me and sissy up at the same time as if we weigh nothing. “My best girls! You behave for your mother today?”, as he kisses each of our dirty cheeks. “Course papa” we smile back. “Go get washed up loves”. We watch him give mama a smooch as we head to the sink. I help Mi mi up onto the step stool so she can reach the soap. There’s a sudden knock at the door. “Hey E, come in. We weren’t expecting you u
Leo’s POV I’ve been lying wide awake since about 4am. Michelle has been tossing and turning. I can feel the anxiety coming through our bond. I am desperately trying to not show my fear or any other emotion other than strength but after what alpha told me yesterday and the day before about Michelle’s “sacrifices”... I can’t stop thinking about that. Suddenly I hear her whimper and it pulls my attention to her suddenly. Her breath draws in sharply and she exhales, almost like she had stopped breathing. I watch her closely for another minute or two until I can’t witness it anymore. “Michelle, love… baby”. She stirs softly. “You’re not breathing normally, are you okay?”. She just shakes her head no and blinks. “What do you mean?”. She gulps, “night terrors… I get them sometimes”. My heart tears a hole. “What? What do you mean? Like… what kinds of night terrors?”. A few tears escape her beautiful eyelashes but her sleepy eyes don’t bat them away so I wipe them. “M