Page 27

Chapter Twenty-Six

Talia

F orrester nudges Penn across my lap, motioning to his phone as one of Helen’s friends tells a story about some sort of knitting party she’s planning.

My eyes are dry as I force them to stay open despite the boring conversation.

I’m honestly just happy the attention is off of me for the moment.

Boring conversation beats the bombardment of questions and inquiries about myself any day.

Both Forrester and Penn tried to save me multiple times, but these older wolves are absolutely relentless in finding out everything.

They also don’t seem to understand when something is uncomfortable to talk about.

Forrester leans into me, his lips brushing the shell of my ear and sending shivers down my spine.

“Drayton needs us back at the house for something. Penn is going to let his mom know that we need to leave.”

I nod in response, my brain practically shutting down with how close he is.

My most distant and confusing mate is whispering in my ear.

Ho boy, I shouldn’t be turned on right now, in this room of random wolves after just sleeping with Penn, but here we are.

“Mom, we need to head out. The alpha needs us back at the house.” Penn stands up and takes my hand to pull me up beside him.

“It was nice meeting all of you,” I say with a polite wave.

The four older wolves all stand up, but I stay firmly planted between Penn and Forrester.

They both keep a hand on me, blocking anyone from touching me as we make our way to the door.

When we get out of the living room and to the front door, the guys move out of the way so I can say goodbye to Helen.

She immediately pulls me into a tight hug.

“Helen, that lasagna was absolutely amazing. I’m going to be dreaming about it. Thank you so much for having us,” I murmur to her as she hugs me tightly against her.

“Oh darling, I will make it for you whenever you want. You just let me know when and I’ll have a fresh one whipped up for you in a jiffy,” Helen assures me, rubbing my arms as she pulls away.

“It was so good to have you over again. I know the others also loved getting to know what an amazing woman you are.”

Heat creeps up my face, turning my normally pale skin pink with embarrassment.

It was really good meeting more of the pack tonight, but the way they fawned over me made me feel like such an outsider.

It was very unlike meeting Alaric’s team who went in with jokes like we were old friends.

Penn and Forrester said that it was more of a generational difference in the wolves.

The wolves with Alaric were all younger and tend to be more friendly in a subtle, comforting way.

However, when it comes to the older wolves, like Helen’s friends, they tend to be more aggressive with getting to know you.

I didn’t want to be rude, but all the questions and intense staring as I answered have me feeling extremely flustered even now as we’re leaving.

Thank god Drayton asked us to come back to the house early, I don’t think I could handle any more of the interrogation in there.

Note to myself, kiss Drayton for the interruption in the night.

“Bunch of old crazy bats interrogated our poor mate,” Penn grumbles as he pulls me into his side.

Forrester stands against the door with his arms crossed over his chest, looking like he would rather be anywhere but here.

“Oh, Penn. They didn’t mean anything by it. They just wanted to get to know Talia,” Helen explains, but when her eyes land on me, her smile turns downwards.

“Oh. I am so sorry, Talia. I didn’t realize how much they were imposing on you. I’ll have a talk with them.”

“That’s okay,” I mumble, ducking my head in embarrassment.

“I do understand the curiosity. It’s just a little, um, uncomfortable after a while.”

“I’m so sorry, again. I will speak with them, you run off to the alpha now before he comes barging in here looking for the three of you,” Helen says with a wink, steering us out the door.

We wave our goodbyes and start the walk back to the house.

We’re all quiet for the first couple minutes, lost in our own thoughts and the calmness of the night air.

The trees sway softly in the cool breeze and I lift my head to feel it brush against my face.

Despite being attacked in this very forest just days ago, there’s a feeling of peace and security within the trees.

The land and pack were so resilient and are already healing and growing stronger than they were before.

The magic of it touches my soul, calling to my own magic in a beautiful song of strength.

Forrester’s voice draws me out of my thoughts.

“Did Drayton give you any details about this meeting?”

“Not much,” Penn replies with a shrug.

“I’m guessing he’s keeping the details as vague as possible in case someone else saw the text come in. That makes me think it’s an internal pack matter or something he isn’t ready for the pack to know yet.”

Forr nods his head, his dark hair falling across his forehead and ruffling in the wind.

A slight caress touches my left hand, the same side Forrester is walking on.

My eyes glance down at his pinky, brushing lightly against my own as we walk.

Without warning, he hooks his pinky around mine and stays there.

Penn grabs my hand on the other side and we walk the rest of the way to the house in silence.

Walking between the two of them makes my whole body feel warm and fuzzy.

Forrester has been slowly closing the distance between us since our fight and heart to heart.

Considering he could barely look at me once upon a time, the fact he is holding pinky fingers with me feels monumental.

The house has all the lights on when we approach.

Drayton and Alaric stand on the porch talking quietly to one another.

Drayton looks up at me as we get close, a soft smile playing on his lips.

It's the kind of smile he only ever has for me and it makes my heart beat a million miles a minute when I see it.

“There's my girl,” Alaric calls out before Drayton can say anything.

“Our girl,” Penn throws back with a playful scowl. His hand tightens on mine, making me laugh and squeeze his hand back.

“Same shit, different pile.” Alaric waves a hand in the air then jumps over the side of the porch and scoops me into his arms. Forrester let's go of my one hand with a silent scowl, but Penn keeps my right hand firmly in his. My arm is suspended between the three of us which makes moving up the stairs uncomfortable at best. Neither one of them is willing to budge so we manage it.

Drayton is shaking his head in exasperation when we make it up the stairs.

“Both of you let our mate go. We need to talk and you're both dragging her along like a prized toy.

Enough,” he commands.

When they both let go of me, Drayton pulls me under his arm and kisses the top of my head.

“Hello, gorgeous.”

“Hi. I missed you.”

“And I missed you,” Dray whispers and brushes his nose against my cheek.

“You look beautiful tonight.”

A blush stains my cheeks as I murmur my appreciation.

The others file into the house in front of us, teasing and taunting one another over some game they want to beat each other at.

We walk into the house behind them and head straight for the living room where Wes is typing away on what looks like three different laptops.

His hair is pulled back into a super messy bun that has stray hairs scattered around his face.

“Woah, Wes. You okay, man?” Penn asks as we enter the room.

“What's going on?”

Drayton steps away from me and claps his hands to get everyone's attention. “This is why we called you guys back here.

Wes has uncovered information about the attack on the packlands.

They had help from the inside.

”

“What?!” I shout, my voice mixed in with similar sentiments from Forrester and Penn.

“Let’s have a seat,” Drayton motions to the couches with one hand.

“Wes is pulling up the proof he found and his sources right now just in case there’s any questions.”

Drayton and Alaric both glance at Forrester with that and I follow their gaze.

Forrester looks on edge, but he doesn’t look angry or ready to fight which is good.

Whoever the inside help is, Forrester is not going to like it.

Surprising all of us, Forrester speaks up before anyone else can.

“It’s Marcus, isn’t it?”

Drayton confirms with a simple nod, then turns to Wes with a solemn face.

“Do you want to explain what you found?”

Wes holds up one finger as he puts one laptop off to the side and continues typing on the other two.

I watch him work, fascinated with how quickly he seems to read and type on these things.

He’s been teaching me to use a laptop and phone recently, but I don’t think I’ll ever hit the level of mastery that he has on these things.

Technology is amazing, but so overwhelming at the same time.

“Okay,” Wes says after a few silent and tense minutes.

“Drayton, Alaric, myself, and Alaric’s team have all been trying to track down how the Croises were able to not only find us, but take us by surprise the way they did. We had a hunch that they were working off of insider information because they hit when our guards were changing shifts. The schedule changes weekly to try and prevent this exact thing from happening.”

“How would Marcus have gotten a hold of that schedule? Isn't it kept under lock and key unless you are on the schedule or need to know it for another reason?” Penn looks around the room as he asks, his arms crossed tightly across his chest.

“That's what we had Wes looking into. We knew someone had used the schedule changes against us, but we couldn't figure out if the mole was deeper than we thought or if they were obtaining this information through a leak in our systems,” Drayton explains, rubbing a hand through his short, dark beard.

“Marcus used a login we didn't know existed to get into the system and take the schedule among other things,” Wes chimes in, his voice colder than I've ever heard it before. “It seems when we did our sweep and cleared out all prior accounts, we missed one of his alias accounts that he set up with the previous alpha. He's been using it periodically to learn confidential information and pass it on to our enemies. It’s most likely how the Croises knew how to block against our extra powers when they kidnapped Penn.”

“He’s been working with them for that long?” I ask in a panic.

Forrester tucks me in closer to his body as Wes answers.

“Yeah, it seems that way. We knew they had to have information on what we could do, but this is so much fucking worse than we anticipated. Now that I know the credentials, I can see exactly where he's been and what information he’s most likely passed on. Fuck , how could I have missed this?

“Don’t beat yourself up, man,” Alaric grumbles with a shake of his head. “I went over it after you and I missed it as well. They hid it in plain sight.”

“How did they do that?” Forr asks the question we’re all thinking.

“He used a variation of your name that we assumed was for you,” Drayton answers. “I refused to have your access revoked in the system. It was a risk, but I thought the risk was worth it. It seems when they set up the access ID they knew I wouldn’t shun you out so they used that to their advantage.”

Forrester’s face falls into a cold, hard mask that makes my heart beat faster with anxiety. The room stands still as we all wait to see how he’s going to react. A week ago, I would have thought he would fly off the handle at Drayton over this accusation. Today, I’d like to think his anger is directed at his Uncle and Father and not his brother any longer.

“Those fuckers,” he explodes in anger, jumping from his perch on the arm of the couch and starts pacing the room. “They knew exactly what they were doing using me. Every fucking step of the way, they’ve been using me. How the fuck didn’t I see this?”

“Abuse has a way of warping the mind,” I speak quietly, moving towards my mate in a slow and calm manner. “They abused you in a much more subtle way than they abused Drayton. Both types leave wounds and scars, but yours are hidden, even from you.”

Forrester stops pacing when I get close to him. He grabs my outstretched hand and pulls me into his arms, crushing me against his chest. I can feel his body shaking in anger. The vibrations from it draw on my magic, pulling it to the surface to soothe the pain behind the anger.

“Tomorrow morning I want to try healing you,” I whisper into his chest. “These wounds are causing you so much pain. I want to try taking them away.”

Before Forrester can answer, there’s a loud crash at the front door. Drayton, Penn, and Alaric immediately move to check it out, but Marcus walks in before they can even move out of the living room.

“Well, well,” Marcus mocks with a laugh. “Doesn’t this just look cozy as can be. Just one big, happy family. For now.”

Drayton walks a few feet away from him, growling out a warning. “What are you doing here, Marcus?”

Marcus just laughs and crosses his arms. “You know exactly why I’m here. I’m here to take what’s mine and bring this pack back out of the shit you dragged it into.” He turns to look at Forrester with a sneer. “I had thought you would stand at my side as my beta, but it seems like they brainwashed you with that slut. What a fucking let down you became Forrester. It just took one look at this fucking bitch and you folded like a lawn chair in a hurricane.”

Marcus makes a tsk tsk sound and I feel every hair on my neck stand on end with the palpable anger in the room.

Forrester growls loudly, the rest of my mates echoing the sound. “I’ll fucking kill you for speaking about my mate that way.”

Marcus laughs loudly, throwing his head back like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. When he looks back at my mates, his brown eyes are so dark they look almost black.

“No, you won’t. You see, I’m here to challenge you,” Marcus sneers at Drayton, a cruel glint in his eyes. “And when I kill you, I’ll be the alpha like I should have been all along. After that, I’ll kill the rest of you, but not before I make you watch me take your bitch as my own.”

Oh, no. This isn’t going to end well for him. He just made this ten times worse than it already was and that’s saying something.