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
Liam’s POV I have been on edge all morning and I know it’s not helping my mate any. I need to calm down. I am so lost in my own emotion when I almost run right over my own mother. “Whoa there trigger, slow down”. I shake my head, “mom, I’m sorry. Another thing, why would grandpa bring a guest to a fucking sex trafficking trial?”. I still can’t place that woman. She’s so familiar and yet I’ve never met her. And she called me child? “What guest?”. Grace starts looking around the courthouse, trying to eye anyone who stands out. Suddenly the prisoner entrance door is swung open and they’re brought in… one by one. It’s deathly quiet. You could hear a pin drop if one happened to. The only noise are their silver shackles. Suddenly I feel a steady hand on my shoulder. “Remember your strength my son. Remember what we discussed”. I didn’t need to turn to see who was speaking, I could place grandpa’s voice even if I were blindfolded. I take a deep breath. “Thank you grand
Ian’s POV It’s Ruth’s turn to receive “50 questions” and my nerves are on fire. My internal guilt is already mounting but watching her make her way up to the stand, my nerve endings are aching. Luckily her situation was not as cumbersome so hopefully she won’t have to be as interrogated. They question her for maybe 30 minutes and then release her. As she’s making her way back to me, I’m extending my arms to receive her when I hear my name called to stand. What? Me? I’m not supposed to testify. Am I? I look at Liam. He links me, “did you know about this?”. It’s the defense attorney who has called me so I’m not surprised he learned my link to this whole shit show. I stand slowly, unfolding my hand from Ruth’s. She has an apprehensive look. Kissing her cheek, I whisper that it will be alright. And boy, they don’t waste any time. “Ian, what is your relationship to the Hardbrook family?”. I look at him like he has 100 eyes. “Ruth Hardbrook is my mate, Alpha Liam’s sis
Emma’s POV Everyone is too tired for a family dinner, so we all opt for dinner in our rooms and early bed. There’s extra security I notice around the packhouse. When I make it back up to the apartment, the lights are dimmed. “Liam?”. It’s so quiet. Setting my cocoa down, I walk towards our room where there are no lights on. I smell him before I see him. He snakes his arms around me, ever so gently. “I am so incredibly proud of you, my love. You are amazing, you know that?”. Turning around to face him, I lean up and wrap my arms around his broad neck and shoulders. “Not as amazing as a mate I know”. Soft lips graze mine. His tongue gently caresses my mouth. As our kiss progresses, his hands squeeze my ass and he picks me up. I wrap my legs around his toned torso as he carries me towards the bathroom. The bathtub is surrounded by candles and a bubble bath drawn. “Your cauldron milady”, making me giggle. Liam slowly peels off my clothes, layer by layer. When h
Michelle’s POV Leo did not sleep all night which kept me on high alert too. He was tossing all night. I just want to get today over with. Savannah, Dana and I all testify today. Leo keeps fussing over me as we’re getting ready. “Baby, please… I need you to calm down a little bit. You’re making me nervous”. I’m not trying to hurt his feelings but he needs a Xanax or something. Maybe someone has some pot? Something. Geez. Maybe Grace can tranquilize him? We get to the courthouse and I’m determined. Emma meets me at the front, “are you ready?”. “Ready as I’m going to be”, I reply. I mean how does one ‘prepare’ other than reliving these damn memories. I’ve been trying to kill them. So close. “Okay hun, let’s do this”. As we enter, we take our seats in the front row bench to ready ourselves for when the prisoners enter. Leo has his hand on my thigh for comfort. The prisoner door opens and the sound of shackles clank. Suddenly I see a face that is so familiar to me yet I d
Liam’s POV I carry Emma to the privy quarters. “Emma, why did you strike Erik? What’s gotten into you?”. She’s uncontrollably crying. “How do you know him?”. She’s pacing around the room when suddenly she stops and stares at the door… oh my goddess… “Mi mi is Michelle. Michelle… Erik is E. Liam…”. She isn’t making any sense. “My dream! Liam!”. She bolts from the room before I can stop her. She races to the courtroom and finds a still shocked Michelle. Sitting next to her is that unknown ‘guest’. Emma approaches cautiously. “Grace, I need you to take mine and Michelle’s blood and do a DNA match”. We all look at her like she’s crazy. There’s a few moments’ pause. “There’s no need, Luna”. The ‘guest’ speaks. “Michelle is in fact, your sister”. Emma looks at Selena. “How do you know and why do you look exactly like me, who are you?”. The woman looks at all of us. “Let’s get some air shall we?”. She nonchalantly walks outside and expects us all to follow. Leo lo