Chapter 10

Anna

Emerys had gotten what he needed from Caleb’s computer and had already left. Most of what he had been doing on Caleb’s computer had been completely over my head, but I had realized that he was searching for activity on there.

I could tell that the twins were on edge from having the lamia in their house and James wasn’t much happier. I did have a moment with Emerys where I asked him if he really had to have access to Caleb’s computer for this.

He had grinned at me in respect. “Nope. But I really wanted to get my hands on his system.” He had told me. “Plus, I wanted to meet his pack. He’s changed a lot since he’s come here.”

“You’ve known him long?” I had asked him curiously.

“Since he was a kid. He hacked into some of my data and I tracked him down years ago. At first we made it a game to hack into each other’s stuff, but once we realized what the other was we started working together.” Emerys had told me with an affectionate grin.

I had been disappointed that Emerys couldn’t give me much information on my mother or the rest of my family, but I really liked him. He clearly cared about Caleb and was a good friend to him, despite the fact that wolves and lamia didn’t seem to like each other that much.

James had escorted all of the lamia out of the house and had not returned yet. I was waiting at the front foyer for him to come back while the twins were in the kitchen. James had recognized that I was an arctic wolf and seemed to know more than he was telling. He wasn’t going to escape me until we had a conversation.

Jason wandered out of the kitchen and stood in the doorway. “C’mon, Anna. I made bacon.”

“I know.” I told him, not taking my eyes off the door. The smell of bacon had been drifting out of the kitchen for some time now, trying to tempt me into leaving my post.

“He’s not going to tell you anything if he thinks it’s in your best interest not to.” Mason told me quietly, joining Jason in the doorway.

I sighed sadly. “Am I being selfish right now?”

They both gave me identical frowns.

“Because I’m thinking about myself instead of Caleb.” I told them.

Mason gave me a small smile. “You have wondered all your life about your family, and you finally got a small hint. Of course, you are going to want to ask questions.”

I gave him a smile in return. “It’s just… he made it sound like my mom wanted me.” I whispered, tears gathering in my eyes.

I had tried to hold back my emotions for as long as I could, but they were starting to come to the surface now that we were talking about it. The twins both came to me and wrapped me in their arms.

Mason was in front of me and I squeezed him tightly. As a child, I had daydreamed about my real parents coming to rescue me from the hell I lived in. As I got older, I became more disillusioned and thought that no one could ever love me. I became resigned to my fate and accepted that no one was coming for me and that my real parents had most likely just thrown me in the trash because I was worthless.

Now, I was hearing that there was a chance that someone had loved me once. What if my mom had hidden me with a loving family, thinking I would be safe there? What if she never knew that my adopted parents had died, and that I had ended up with my uncle? Was my mom out there somewhere, thinking that my life was better without her?

All of these emotions, on top of my worry for Caleb, were just too much for me to handle. Tears started to leak from my eyes and when the twins started murmuring encouragement to me, I just lost it. I sobbed as if my heart were broken.

Neither of them backed away in horror, the way that I was afraid they would. They both held me close and rubbed my back and my arms, giving me comfort. Eventually my sobs turned to hiccups and I started to pull away from them.

They both watched me with concerned eyes. I looked down in shame, unable to make eye contact.

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, trying to make it upstairs where I could hide in my embarrassment. I had just cried all over them like I was a baby.

“Don’t be sorry.” Mason told me, grabbing a hold of my hand and pulling me back to him. He wrapped me back in his arms and I didn’t fight it. I just relaxed and inhaled his scent.

Jason rubbed my back. “It’s okay to let stuff out with us.”

“We’re your pack.” Mason added. “You don’t have to hide anything from us.”

Jason chuckled. “I wondered if you did anything that normal girls do.” He teased me.

Mason tensed but I laughed and pulled away from him, wiping the tears from my face. “Normal girls randomly have crying fits in the middle of the foyer?”

Jason nodded solemnly but I saw a glint of humor in his eye. “They have crying fits all the time. Usually it’s over something stupid, but yours had a legit reason behind it.”

I smiled and reached down for one of the puppies. They were both watching us with concern, not sure what was going on. Tigger snuggled into me when I picked him up and licked the tears from my face.

Mason started to relax and rubbed the top of Tigger’s head. “We can talk to James for you. He can be kind of an ass sometimes.”

“Yeah, we will find out what’s going on.” Jason added.

I smiled at both of them. “I appreciate the thought, but I can handle this.” Tigger started to squirm, so I let him down to chase after his brother.

“I know you can.” Mason told me, “But you don’t have to handle anything alone ever again.”

For some reason, his words pulled at my heartstrings and I felt tears coming on again. I swallowed them back. “I’ve always wanted a family who loved me.” I told him seriously. “I wanted my real parents to come for me…” my voice cracked but I pressed on. “But now I already have a family, I don’t need anything more than you guys.”

My self-control slipped, and a tear slid free. I reached out one hand to each of them. “I just want to know for sure where I came from. Once I get closure I can move on to the next chapter in my life. If that means I find a family who cares about me, great.” I shrugged. “If not, that’s okay. I don’t need anyone else when I have you.”

“Damn, Anna.” When I met Mason’s eyes I swear they looked a little shiny.

Jason just grabbed me in a tight squeeze and lifted me off my feet.

Mason laughed when I squeaked, but he still made a grab for me when Jason set me down.

I backed away from both of them slowly. “That’s enough squeezing from both of you.” I told them sternly.

They both grinned and circled me. Luckily, the door opened before either one of them had the chance to snatch me up again.

“James!” I headed toward him purposely.

He stopped me with a raised hand and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Anna, I know you are upset and have a lot of questions right now.”

He paused, and I eyed him warily. Of course I had a lot of questions right now!

He cleared his throat. “For right now, can we focus on Caleb? We are right in the middle of trying to get him free from the council and I don’t want to split our focus. I’m sure you don’t want anything critical slipping by us and Caleb paying the price.”

I let out my breath and felt some guilt creep back in. He was right. We did need to focus on Caleb right now. Caleb was in danger and I had lived without knowing anything about my family for this long. I could wait a little longer. That didn’t mean I wasn’t still upset with him for keeping secrets from me.

I marched over to James so that we were only inches away. “I’m willing to let it go for now. But when we get Caleb back, you and I are going to have a talk.”

James watched me without an expression on his face, but I caught a little flicker of guilt in his eyes. He might get away with keeping this a secret from me for now, but as soon as Caleb was back I was going to be on him. I marched into the kitchen to grab the plate of bacon. He had better not be expecting me to save any for him after this.

I turned the corner into the kitchen, but I still caught what Jason said to him.

“That was fucked up, even for you.”

I must be getting better at using my wolf senses without realizing it. That gave me a little bit of satisfaction, but I grabbed the entire plate of bacon and took it with me outside. The two pups happily followed me out.

I settled down at one of the tables outside with my bacon. There was no way I could eat all of this, but I was sure that the twins would not be far behind me. I was right, because they followed me outside after only a few minutes.

They both sat down at the table and watched the puppies with me. I saw Jason eyeing the plate of bacon out of the corner of his eye. I crunched into another piece, just to tease him. He licked his lips and I let out a giggle.

“You think that’s funny?” he asked me with a grin on his face.

I slid the plate of bacon over to him in apology. He started to reach for a piece but then dove for me instead.

I squealed in surprise as he started to tickle me. I had found out last week that I was extremely ticklish, and he had spent the time tormenting me to find my most ticklish spots. I did my best to squirm away from him while laughing hysterically.

Mason was no help. He just grinned at me and then swiped the plate of bacon from both of us. Jason finally let me up when he realized that Mason taking advantage of his distraction to chow down on the bacon.

I sat back and sighed when the moment passed, and thoughts of Caleb came back. He would be in the middle of his hearing now, waiting anxiously to see if Emerys would show up and be able to clear his name. Even if Emerys made it there in time, would the council listen to what he had to say? Would they believe him?

“Do you think this is going to work?” I asked the twins. “Do you think they will take Emerys word over whatever evidence they have?”

Mason looked thoughtful. “Austin thinks it will, and he knows the council better than any of us.”

I nodded. I would have to trust that Austin knew what he was doing.

“Do you guys want to go work out?” I asked them. “I really need some physical exercise to work through all of these emotions and I know Austin would not want us going for a run in the forest.”

“Yeah.” Jason said. He reached out and gave my bicep a squeeze. “We need to get you working on your upper body strength if you want to learn how to fight.”

I looked at him in surprise.

“We heard about that.” Mason added with a grin. “I really want to see you surprise James and take him down at least once.”

I rolled my eyes. “I really doubt that will ever happen.”

“We’ll see,” Jason said with a smile. “Go get changed and we’ll meet you in the gym”.

I bounced up out of my seat and headed for the door. The puppies started to run after me, but Jason called them back to him. I smiled as I walked inside. Jason was so good to them. Really, all of the guys have been good with them. I had expected them to be annoyed by having two little pups around, but it didn’t seem like any of the guys really minded. I think that Caleb and the twins actually enjoyed having them around.

My heart gave a twinge as I thought of Caleb, but I quickly changed and headed to the gym. A good workout would help me relax, and by the time we were done Caleb should be on his way home.

I was halfway down the hall when I heard Reagan. “Anna! There you are.”

I groaned but pasted a smile on my face by the time I turned to face her.

“Good morning, Reagan.” I said brightly.

She smiled at me. “I decided to stay until Austin cleaned up that mess with your pack.” She waved a hand to me. “After all, it’s clear that you need me here.”

My smiled slipped a little. While I was glad that I hadn’t hurt her feelings last night, I was a little disappointed that she had decided to stay. Her presence seemed to stress the guys out, and there was already enough for them to worry about.

“Austin should be back later today.” I told her.

“Oh, you never know with the boys and their council meetings.” She said airily. “Kaitlyn should be here soon, let one of your wolves know to bring her up here to your room.”

I blinked in confusion. Kaitlyn must be the stylist she mentioned yesterday. I thought that was off the table after she decided she wanted to leave?

“Umm” I said awkwardly. “I don’t have a pack bond with the other guys yet.”

It was her turn to look surprised. She tilted her head and got a glint in her eye. “I thought Austin was determined to keep you here?”

“Yes, but with everything going on-“

“That’s fine.” She interrupted. “Just call them then.”

I already had my phone on me so that I could listen to my music when working out so I texted Mason. He would be able to let the wolf on guard duty at the gate know to let Kaitlyn in. Mason just texted me back a sad face.

I followed Reagan back to my room sadly as she chattered about clothes. This was the last thing that I wanted to be doing right now. I really needed a good run to work through all of my thoughts and emotions. But I couldn’t complain, because she was helping me with something I needed to do.

I tried to keep a polite smile on my face while Reagan talked at me. Luckily, it didn’t look like she expected me to have much of an option on the clothing she was talking about.