What could Digger be doing or hiding?? I will only have one chapter the next few nights as my day job is being a bit demanding. Thank you for reading!
~Corinne’s Point of View~ “Go away,” I huffed at the guardian who was watching me hang clothes. “I have orders to bring you to the Alpha’s cabin,” he said, licking his lips. I had on a dress that was probably two sizes too big for my frame, but it was how much I should actually weigh. It was a cold day and my nipples were on display, drawing unwanted attention. “Good for you,” I said, snatching up the basket and turning to walk away. Ashley was inside trying to get some infants to nap and the other two ladies and the older pups went foraging for wild food. We never trusted Ashley to do that, she’d poison us all. “Come on darlin’ don’t make me take you by force,” he whined, putting his hands on hips. The male wasn’t all that big, I’d like to see him try. “What does he want,” I snapped, huffing. “Like it matters? He’s your Alpha,” he said, annoyed. He’s not my Alpha, I’ll never fall to my knees for that asshole. I was extremely tempted to say if he wants me, he could damn wel
~Drake’s Point of View~ *Allow him through, and let everyone know he’s to be treated as a friend of the pack. A personal guest of mine,* I said, grinning. It had only been a day since Duncan called in a favor to his friend, and the male was coming to give us the dirt he’d uncovered. He claimed it wasn’t advisable to share by telephone and I had to agree. But there was also something about looking another in the face when you got serious news. You needed to be able to trust their word and looking them in the eye was the only way to do that. I mind-linked Duncan that his friend was being driven to the center by ATV and should be here in a few minutes. I’d have gone to his cabin but he and Kasie didn’t exactly try to hide the fact that they fucked like rabbits. Lucky son of a bitch. *We need to find those four females,* Gage whined. I rubbed my face, agreeing. Everyday they were left over there with their pups was a chance for Digger to lose his shit. For someone to lose their cool. F
~Corinne’s Point of View~ “What the hell do you mean Ashley is gone,” I snapped, looking all over. Like if I looked hard enough she’d somehow appear with the babies. She’d be safe. Yeah we joked behind her back sometimes that she was a ditz and certainly not as strong as us … but she was one of us. We cared for her and those babies deeply. Vivian held a crying baby, trying to calm her down but the tension in the air was obvious to everyone. I wasn’t helping, but I was simply too frantic to keep my voice down. “She took the pups out for a walk and didn’t come back. We’re freaking out,” Allison said, pacing. What the hell was she thinking going out alone with everything going on?! Did it have something to do with the dead Beta? Did they retaliate somehow? No. They couldn’t have made it out here that fast. Unless they already had guardians nearby. But we rarely saw anyone patrolling around here. My mind raced, and I fell on the bed, close to hyperventilating. I wasn’t even sure Dig
~Drake’s Point of View~ Gage paced, not liking the situation. Being on Venom’s packlands even for combats always gave me an awful feeling. But now, Tristian and I were straight up trespassing.and quite a ways from home. I was furious to find out just how far he’d been coming onto their property to meet this female. He was convinced that she’d come to see him tonight, come looking for something at their meeting spot if there was unrest and uncertainty going on. Dane had wanted to come, actually had begged but I couldn’t allow myself to send a mated wolf out here. If something happened to him again Alice would have my head. Not to mention Venom knew him now, knew his scent. They wouldn’t be dumb enough to let him get away a second time. The three Alphas voted unanimously on taking action sooner, rather than later. Everything that had been uncovered about what Digger was up to had been too much to ignore. We couldn’t let it continue. But to not really have a mission outside of rescuing
~Corinne’s Point of View~ “Just do what they want, until it gets to a certain point. If it gets there,” I whispered to Vivian. Whispering amongst werewolves was stupid and I knew it but what’s done is done. They don’t know we have weapons and poison. I had been so nervous for Allison to leave, so concerned as to whether or not she’d be okay that I hadn’t bothered to think about us. Though if she’d been with us she’d have just been taken as well. Now I at least had some hope that Allison might be able to do something, that the male who is helping her may be able to do something for us … well it may have been a bit of a stretch but that's all I got. That and three vials of poison along with a couple knives. After Venom took me and slaughtered my family I began to realize hope was good, but too much of it only lets you down. Hoping for something better, for someone to come along and wipe out this horrendous pack was all that kept me from ending it all. Then I got pregnant and coul
~Drake’s Point of View~ As our little trio roamed the woods, Tristian and I began to get flooded with mind-links. And that meant our pack was here, within range. Jett, Sawyer and Dane gave the go ahead to invade. In the absence of any Alpha for a vote Dane was the next to step in. Their reasoning was that over two dozen had been killed easily in the south and they needed to go in further, keep the momentum. The drones had caught several cars leaving the property and that could mean Digger was gone. My bones told it was so … the fucking coward. They were banking on him fleeing anyhow. If he was gone and they didn’t currently have a Beta according to Allison, it would be chaos if we invaded: a perfect storm. No one to give them direction and I had to hope that meant a lot would surrender. But if they didn’t, oh well. I wouldn’t feel bad about killing any male from Venom. They allowed all this shit to go on and participated. Any that lived could potentially go off and try to start a
~Corinne’s Point of View~ “Sa… Sawyer?” The word left my mouth, my heart raced but my mind… My mind tried to convince me I was hallucinating. Vivian took my hand, knowing his name. As many times as I’d told stories of how we grew up. How I’d had to lose everything to the same male who now held me captive. The babies were all scared and restless, having been woken twice in the night now. But this gruff voice in the dark, it was like a beacon of light and hope … more than I’d ever felt. The Goddess was shining her light on me, in my darkest hour. I handed my pup to Viv and took a step forward. She put her free hand on the small of my back as I began to shake uncontrollably. The last time I’d seen my brother’s face he was a contorted mess of anger, rage and half wolf. It was torture to have that as the last memory of my best friend. “Corrie! I’m here, I’m here. I’m real honey,” I heard. His voice was nothing like I remembered, it was so rough and he sounded so pained. Honey … that
~Alice’s Point of View~ “Ohh right there yeah, Ohh Jett, you’re so deep, right in the middle ohh you know my spot,” I moaned. “It’s only the beginning, good thing you have four strong hands to take care of you,” Jett said, licking his lips. Damn, why does he have to be so impossibly good looking? Even just sitting there it’s nearly impossible not to shove him down and-- *There’s noise outside,* Maura shouted. Jett’s wolf must have sensed it at the same moment because he dropped my foot and leapt to the window. There were two guardians on patrol outside the house and I immediately realized that wasn’t enough. An awful kind of dread fell over me, and Maura was begging to shift. We had planned to stay holed up in Dane’s old cabin while everyone was gone, but I was too curious to see the infamous beach house and didn’t think it should sit empty. So we passed the cabin on to Belle and her pups, with Duncan going along. It would be tight for all but it was far enough in the south. T
~Sawyer’s Point of View~ “That’s it, that’s it Jess, come on baby girl,” I said, cooing at my daughter. She looked at me with her bright green eyes and smiled. She put one chubby little foot in front of the other as she took her first steps … like she’s been waiting forever. Like she visualized it and had a plan. I held my arms out to her as she finally collapsed into me. “Ohh!!! Ohh god, I got it! I got it on video,” Lola screamed. My sexy mate was pregnant again, but she didn’t know it yet. I just picked up the scent yesterday. It was likely her wolf would figure it out today or tomorrow so I’d wait and let that happen. I was surprised it took this long to happen again but it was good we had some time between pups. It was damn hard for Lola to wrap her head around the fact that shifters have varying times for pregnancy. For wolf shifters it is usually 20-25 weeks. We had Jess at 21 and she was absolutely perfect. “Did I miss it,” I heard, and looked up to see Lola’s father. She
~Three Months Later~ ~Drake’s Point of View~ *That’s it baby! You got him,* Gage shouted at Helena through mind-link. Gage sat back on his hind legs and proudly stared at the beauty in the snow, who was devouring a large gopher who had given her quite a chase. Corinne was two and a half months pregnant and already growing quite tired from shifting, so this may likely be the last time she does it until after our twins are born. We’d had to start from scratch when her wolf came. It was as if Helena was a brand new wolf coming into her own, and we had to teach her everything. I couldn’t be happier to see her hunting skills were this good already. *That’s my girl,* Remy cooed, over mind-link, open to us both. I rolled my eyes. It was bad enough that Sawyer and I damn near came to blows over Lola, but now we were destined to fight over another female’s attention for all our days. Gage and I were desperate to be the ones to show Helena everything. To grow her abilities and be there for
~Corinne’s Point of View~ Despite Drake marking me, the full moon proved to be too much for his wolf. I caved and just told everyone to leave us be, leave us alone. But Sawyer refused. He saw right through me, and made them take Drake away. I had no clue what they did with him, but I wasn’t sure tonight would be any better. The pull of a full moon can last a couple of days at minimum. I didn’t sleep a wink, my body was crippled with spasms and pain that seemed not to stop. Why couldn’t I just sleep with him? Why hadn’t I just done it? *No,* I heard, making me pop out of bed. “Helena,” I said, barely in a whisper. *It needs to be special, not rushed,* she said. I fell back against the bed, my arms and legs splayed out in all directions. *Goddess I’ve missed you terribly. I’m so damn sorry. I’m so so sorry,* I said, tears streaming down my face. *I’m still so weak. But I think the next full moon, I’ll have it together. Go to mate now, the closeness to his wolf will help me,* sh
~Drake’s Point of View~ *Skin … creamy soft…* Gage purred. He demanded I touch her sandy blonde hair, it was damp and we wanted to run our fingers through it. I couldn’t possibly help myself despite knowing I had to tread carefully. Even touching Corinne before she was ready could be disastrous. I had no idea when the last time was that a male touched her, maybe the last time she had a pup but I just didn’t know. I’d already spent a lot of time speaking with the doctors about PTSD. It was hardly something I dared to ask her about, the female seemed to resent me and try to run away every chance she got. Gage liked at first, cat and mouse. But after a few days it just became depressing. I didn’t have the heart to just come out and tell her we were mates. Not to mention Sawyer told me to let it run its course. See if her wolf comes out just by being around me. Being around other strong wolves. If her wolf came, she would do wonders for calming Corinne, giving her reassurance. Judgin
~Corinne’s Point of View~ “Mama, I love your cuddles,” I heard, making me stir. I squeezed the warmth in my arms, it was my son Jakob. Oh, and Helena apparently. I really didn’t know what it was to sleep alone but it wasn’t as though I was able to give the kids all their own beds. I couldn’t even believe that I had slept, basically only because my body was THAT tired. That exhausted. I still couldn’t even believe it. Venom was no more. There would be no more cave, no more hole in the earth we called home for so long. But above all … no more males coming in the night and invading our bodies. In a weird way, I’d miss our little bunker. The only home my babies had known. We were now in a large cabin with tons of rooms. Tons of light and colors. Real furniture. A deep breath already told me someone was cooking and my stomach practically lurched me out of bed. I couldn’t believe how nice everyone was, maybe being the Alpha’s sister will have perks. Maybe they’re just actually n
~Drake’s Point of View~ *Fuck this is a long run, we need a drink,* Gage whined. We were exhausted but this was hardly the time to stop. He wasn’t wrong though. *There should be a few cabins coming up, we’ll stop there,* I promised him. I was getting mind-links from all over. Digger had attacked Belle and Lola, now he was on the loose. There were easily a hundred guardians already there on site but our lands were so damn big finding him wouldn’t be as easy as you’d think. They all believed he was heading toward the beach though, and everyone said Jett took Alice there. I knew he would take her to the ship, there’d be no chance in hell anyone could find them hidden away in the cove. It was a perfect hiding spot and likely how the ship ended up there in the first place. Then went to hide their treasure then couldn’t get back out. Everyone had theories. The first cabin we stopped at had a family in it, thankfully they had a bunch of chicken and rice left from dinner which Gage ate
~Lola’s Point of View~ Should have never agreed to go with Belle, all these damn kids in such a small space! But seeing Alice and Jett make eyes at each other constantly made me just feel awkward. I needed a distraction and I wasn’t getting it watching those two practically fucking with their eyes. It took some serious effort but Duncan was actually a massive help getting all the babies to bed. We’d had to make beds out of dresser drawers for the tiny ones, there was so little space. Belle and I were going to be sharing a cot as it was. I didn’t think Sawyer would want me snuggling up to a male. We’d gotten a mind-link earlier that our guardians had defeated Venom and everyone was on their way back. But it could be dawn before they’d be back. I’d gotten some weird feelings and sensations through my mate bond for the last couple of hours and I didn’t know what to make of it all. Sawyer was sad, but yet happy and relieved. I hated waiting to find out why but he was okay and that’s al
~Alice’s Point of View~ “Ohh right there yeah, Ohh Jett, you’re so deep, right in the middle ohh you know my spot,” I moaned. “It’s only the beginning, good thing you have four strong hands to take care of you,” Jett said, licking his lips. Damn, why does he have to be so impossibly good looking? Even just sitting there it’s nearly impossible not to shove him down and-- *There’s noise outside,* Maura shouted. Jett’s wolf must have sensed it at the same moment because he dropped my foot and leapt to the window. There were two guardians on patrol outside the house and I immediately realized that wasn’t enough. An awful kind of dread fell over me, and Maura was begging to shift. We had planned to stay holed up in Dane’s old cabin while everyone was gone, but I was too curious to see the infamous beach house and didn’t think it should sit empty. So we passed the cabin on to Belle and her pups, with Duncan going along. It would be tight for all but it was far enough in the south. T
~Corinne’s Point of View~ “Sa… Sawyer?” The word left my mouth, my heart raced but my mind… My mind tried to convince me I was hallucinating. Vivian took my hand, knowing his name. As many times as I’d told stories of how we grew up. How I’d had to lose everything to the same male who now held me captive. The babies were all scared and restless, having been woken twice in the night now. But this gruff voice in the dark, it was like a beacon of light and hope … more than I’d ever felt. The Goddess was shining her light on me, in my darkest hour. I handed my pup to Viv and took a step forward. She put her free hand on the small of my back as I began to shake uncontrollably. The last time I’d seen my brother’s face he was a contorted mess of anger, rage and half wolf. It was torture to have that as the last memory of my best friend. “Corrie! I’m here, I’m here. I’m real honey,” I heard. His voice was nothing like I remembered, it was so rough and he sounded so pained. Honey … that