Kathy, Celia's and Hank's daughter, above

Celia POV

We are safe for now; at least, that's what I think.

Their Luna Hannah makes me trust her. She's a human, and from what I heard about werewolves' mating, they rarely mate with humans, and Human Luna is rather a curiosity than a daily occurrence. Her Alpha must love her very much.

At least till now, those who surround us look at us with pity, not hate, so that's good news. Kathy seems calm but stays as close to me as possible. Danny's face is empty, as if he's just accepted that nothing he does changes anything. I dare not ask about uncle David.

After we finish eating, Hannah says that we will be sleeping somewhere else. She and Hayden, I think, take us to a different place which looked like and separate apartment in this big house. Kathy is eager and happy to watch the TV, as the rest of us are sitting in silence. Soon it is too much, and Hayden invites his two sons and their little sister Rosie to sit with us. Kathy immediately takes a liking, and they spend the next two hours playing on the carpet; even Danny, after some time, gets close enough to hear at least what they are talking about.

And I? I just sit, tense as always and scared, well, maybe not that scared, at least not until HE enters the room. I jump immediately from my seat; Kathy snarls and, in a matter of seconds, is in front of me, her eyes shifting again.

He stops and looks around, surprised; neither Hannah nor Hayden move but observes us very intensively. He bends his knees so he is on Kathy's level and smiles at her.

"My name is Hank, and you are?"

"Kathy"

"Nice to meet you, Kathy, I know it was a long day, but I won't hurt you or your mommy, I promise. I see you've made new friends. Do you like them?" he says slowly.

"Yes, they are nice, and they are like me."

"That's good. Kathy, I need to talk to your mommy alone. Will you let me?"

I flinch hearing his voice; Kathy is absolutely confused; she probably wants to trust him but is unhappy with my reaction. I take a deep breath. I'm a mother here; I should protect her, not the other way around.

"Kathy, please go back to play, ok?" I say, and HE looks at me; well, actually, everybody in the room looks at me. I gulp and limp after him to another room and try not to jump again when he closes the door.

"Would you like to sit?" he says and points towards the bed.

"No, what are going to do to us?" I ask, wrapping my arms around my waist; it helps me to calm down.

"Nothing, you all are safe here. I promise I won't let anybody hurt you or our daughter..."

"My daughter, how do you even know she's yours!"

I don't know how I got the guts to say that to him.

"My wolf recognized her scent, don't try to lie to me, Celia. I know you have every reason not to trust me, but I promise I will keep you safe."

I could swear I hear tears in his voice, but still, I know I can't bend, I can't trust, and I can't do anything to stop him from doing whatever he wants to do. I know I start shaking. How am I supposed to stay calm in the presence of this big man who can kill me any time he wants, who once hurt me, who...

"Celia," his voice makes me flinch, but he chooses to ignore my reaction" I've questioned Jeff; he told me that their orders were to bring Kathy to someone called Terry. Do you know him?"

I close my eyes. I don't want to talk about Terry. I don't want to think about Terry. I don't want to remember Terry.

"Terry was my brother; he doesn't consider himself as such anymore; I haven't seen him in years. Did Jeff tell you why they wanted Kathy?"

"To sell her. He followed David after his escape and later reported to Terry about him and apparently you. After they lost, they had nowhere to go, no money, and the werewolf's child on the black market is worth a lot. But Jeff told me that Terry had ordered him to bring you too."

I raise my head to look at him finally.

"Why, what does he want with me?"

"Jeff didn't know, but I doubt he will be able to track you here, wherever he is right now. And that's why you all will stay with me."

"What do you mean?" I ask, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably.

"Alpha can't allow you to walk freely around, you are not prisoners, but you can't be fully trusted yet. The three of you will stay here with me. I'm responsible for you. If you need something or want to go somewhere, you first need to ask me, do you understand? And you will be sleeping here in this room with me."

My breathing gets faster as I take a couple of steps back.

"Don't do this, please, not again..."

"Celia, no, that's not what I mean. You and Kathy will be sleeping here on the bed; I will be on the floor. But my wolf is livid, and he needs both of you as close as possible. I promise I will never hurt you again"

"I don't believe you," I say.

He doesn't respond; his eyes are void of any emotions.

Hank POV

I tossed and turned around on the floor the whole night, but not because it was difficult to find a comfortable position. I'm sure Celia also didn't get much sleep. She was avoiding looking at me all evening, and I didn't comment. She seems so fragile that I have a feeling that one wrong word will crush her into pieces.

At least Kathy was fast asleep, and Greyson, my wolf, seemed finally calmer being so close to them. Hannah is right; even though my bond with Celia was shattered many years ago, Greyson sees her as the mother of his pup, so his protective instincts are on high alert, well, mine too.

Celia... after so many years, I finally know her name. It feels strange. During the months that followed the rejection, I kind of hoped that she moved on. I've known she was alive because, rejection or not; you will always feel the death of your mate. Greyson and I buried the memories of her as deeply as possible, but we didn't get to forget. And all this time, she was so close, alone, bringing up my child.

That is the one question I'm afraid to ask the most, why she decided to have Kathy, especially if, because of it, she was forced to leave her home and family and she was barely 15?

Crap, I was 18 when I raped her; it happened in the middle of the battle, and with the mating bond active, many would say that I couldn't control myself, but still, it doesn't make it any less fucked-up.

Just like my lust doesn't make it any less fucked-up. The moment I smelt her and then saw her, the first thing I wanted to do was to press her to the wall and fuck her into oblivion. That was the first instinct; the second when I managed to distinguish Kathy's smell from hers was to protect them no matter what.

And that's what bothers me; our mating bond is gone. I shouldn't feel so attracted to her. Protectiveness because she is my pup's mother is normal; being unable to sleep the whole night because of her scent filling my nostrils isn't.

I hear the sound of moving quite rapidly and stand up; Celia and Kathy seem to be asleep. I leave the room and go in the direction of a spare bedroom where I locked this Danny boy last night. I open the door very silently, not wanting him to notice me.

To my surprise, I see him on his knees on the bed; his shirt is off because he's using it to clean something on his bed desperately. His movements are rapid, and I can see he's crying.

"Kid, what's wrong?" I enter the room.

He instantly jumps from the bed and presses himself to the wall as far away from me as possible.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry...I'll clean...I...didn't mean to... I'm sorry..." he keeps whispering, but I see that he starts having problems with breathing.

Tears go down his face, and he keeps trembling. I slowly get closer to the bed when I smell it. Piss, he peed himself. I turn around to him.

"Kid, it's just a wet bed; you are not in any trouble, okay?" I say.

He slowly nods but doesn't stop trembling.

"Go into the bathroom to clean yourself; I'll mindlink Kyle to bring more of his clothes"

When he passes me to go to the bathroom, I have time to study his back and torso. Many scars, too many for a kid this age, plus some not-so-old wounds. Someone was practicing throwing punches at this boy.

Kyle brings not only more clothes but also breakfast. I don't get to miss a hateful look on the omega's face who came with him when she looks around, probably trying to spot Celia and Kathy. I guess the rumor is already around.

When omega leaves, Kyle asks:

"How are you?"

I smile; I will always have a soft spot for Kyle in my heart. After all, he saved my life, and I owe him.

"Good, or more like as good as you can be in my situation, and how are you, little guy?" I ask as I go closer to see the baby Kyle is holding in his arms properly.

"He didn't let me sleep the whole night; he had to be in my arms all night," says Kyle.

I look at him; he doesn't look well. He is pale, has dark bags under his eyes, and seems exhausted. It shouldn't be so surprising, taking into consideration all he has recently gone through, but I know Kyle is strong; it can take some time, but he will get better.

"Dalton recently suggested that you should become one of the trackers," I say, and Kyle nods.

"He keeps insisting that I have a really good sense of smell and I'm fast. Mikkeli agreed, and I was supposed to start my tracker's training at 17, but first Hannah was brought here, and it distracted Mikkeli, and later my pregnancy happened."

"I know, but maybe you can find someone to look after your son for five hours a day and start your training; I don't think that postponing it any longer has any point unless you are not interested any longer," I say.

"I am," he says eagerly. "I want to contribute more to the pack, especially now. I'm Alpha's brother I can't be a nuisance any longer."

"You are not a nuisance, Kyle; your wolf may not be very strong, but that doesn't mean that you are not; you survived I lot and still manage to keep going."

He turns his eyes away; I know that he isn't used to hearing that he is good at something. Before Mikkeli came into power, omegas here were treated the same as in my pack. Under my previous Alpha's rule as a Beta, I always made sure that there was no abuse, but that didn't mean that there was any respect. Omegas were meant to be only servants; they were taught that they are beneath stronger werewolves, and quick sex during the heat was treated as something normal. I didn't like how things were, and neither did my father and grandfather as previous betas, but since our alphas had no problem with that, we just accepted.

I was surprised when I was told that omegas rooms here in the packhouse are specially modernized to block the smell of the heat and to make it impossible for warriors to enter, that scent suppressants are provided and any sort of physical violence is forbidden. It took Mikkeli 7 years, but he managed to make his pack accept these rules. When omegas from my pack moved here, I saw the contrast.

Kyle, as an omega, may not believe in himself, but he for sure believes that no one from his pack will ever lay a hand on him, and that means a lot; my pack's omegas don't believe that.

"I had a confrontation with Rob Tratter," Kyle's voice brings me back to reality.

His words make me worried and I encourage him to continue.

"He said I'm a slut who had killed his brother."

"Rob adored Renan, and because Rob is my friend, I avoided talking with him about that. I didn't want to hurt him more. I know that he is in pain because of Renan's death and hasn't yet accepted what Renan had done. But if you want,  I can talk with him, tell him exactly what happened."

"No, I don't want him to get hurt more. In situations like that, there is a victim and criminal, but we keep forgetting that there are also families of the victim and the criminal."

"I'm so sorry, Kyle; Rob may behave that way also because my previous Alpha suggested that Mikkeli killed them only because you were his brother, and only because of that, it was such a big deal."

"So he may think that his brother and the others' death happened because of my hysteria or, worse, my lie," he looks at me sadly.

"It wasn't your fault, Kyle, and they got what they deserved," I say sternly. "Rob is the only one from their family members who are now so close to you; the rest stayed at the previous territory of my pack, so don't worry, you are safe. I doubt Rob would hurt you, but if you have any problems with him, tell me, and I'll do something."

For a long moment, there is just silence as Kyle hugs his son stronger.

I wonder if he is hiding something about Rob from me.

Another two chapters are out :)

Vote and comment if you like :)