: Xander

To say that Emlyn’s 18th birthday was a shitshow would be the understatement of the millennium. I had come home from school to see my brother finally announce that he found his mate, Emlyn. Only he didn’t. He called some Beta his mate.

Now, no one knows what the fuck is going on, but this is a huge problem. Our three families, the leaders of the Shadow Falls Pack, the Canyon Ridge Pack and the Safe Haven Pack have been in the strongest alliance ever created in the history of the werewolves. That is because each of those packs has been run by an Alpha mated to a Guardian. The three Guardians, of which my mother is one, created a friendship so strong, that nothing could break it.

At least, I thought nothing could break it. My brother Rich, the Alpha of Shadow Falls pack, not recognizing Emlyn, the oldest Alpha female and Guardian in the Safe Haven pack as his mate, is going to put a serious strain on our packs’ alliance. My Aunt Grace is Emlyn's mother. She's not really my aunt, but we all call each other by familial names. She and I had taken control of the situation, but there was no resolution. I have to give Emlyn credit though, like the Alpha and Guardian that she is, she raised her head and got through her party, even though those of us who know her, knew she was hurting.

Gwen, the Beta Rich called his mate, stayed glued to Rich, clinging to him. He hates clingy women, and the scent of this Beta is burning my nose. I don’t know how he can stand being around her, much less say that she’s his mate. Thankfully, he agreed to put off completing their mate bond until we figure things out.

My brother Cayd approached me during the party. My parents had seven children, three of us are boys, Rich is the oldest, then me, then Cayden. My sister Leana is actually the second child in birth order and there wasn’t another girl until my mother had my twin sisters Malin and Quinn, after Cayd. Then there is the baby of the family, my sister Reagan.

Cayd and I will take over our father’s business, me as CEO and Cayd as CFO one day. It’s a good plan. Rich gets the pack, we get the business and it all stays in the family.

“What the fuck is going on, Xander?” Cayd asks, coming up to me and snarling at what happened to Emlyn, his usual easy-going nature gone, the Alpha showing in full force. Our friendships with the other children of the original Guardians are mostly based on age. Lily and Leana, me and Emerson, and Cayd and Emlyn. Their friendship group also includes Cohen and Clint, the Alphas from Canyon Ridge, but Cayd and Emlyn have always been very close. I was actually shocked when Rich told me that Emlyn was his mate. I had always assumed that she and Cayd would be mates. So, I’m not surprised that Cayd is feeling angry and extremely protective of Emlyn right now.

“I don’t know Cayd, but I’ll figure it out.”

He snorts. “Aren’t you going back to school soon?” He asks me.

I look at him. “Not unless I figure this out. This could impact our alliances, Cayd.”

“Fuck the alliances. This IS impacting Emlyn, my best friend.”

“I know, and we’ll be here for her. We’ll support her in whatever way she needs.”

When Rich leaves the next day, I hope that will give me some time to figure things out. However, it doesn’t even take a day before he’s being intimate with his ‘mate’ and I’m having to clean up his fucking mess.

Thankfully, Cayd and Leana help me get Emlyn away from the pack before anyone notices that something is wrong. Once we have Emlyn settled, Leana drops another bomb. Apparently, Rich is in some serious shit. The council thinks that he lied about his mate bond to Emlyn to try and take a Guardian as a mate. It’s ridiculous, we all know it, but the council doesn’t. And the council takes that sort of thing very seriously.

“I don’t know, Xander. Something was off with the council. It was like the assumed that Rich was guilty without even having the facts.” Leana says. She is scheduled to take my mother’s place on the council, so I believe her when she says this isn’t usual. She’s been sitting in on council meetings for the last couple of years preparing for her role.

When Emlyn finally falls asleep, Cayd and I leave Leana to stay with her.

“He better have a good fucking excuse for hurting Emlyn like this.” Cayd says to me.

“It’s possible that he doesn’t know.” I say, trying to give Rich every possible benefit of doubt.

“Bull fucking shit. He’s an Alpha. He knows.” Cayd says.

He’s right. Of everyone in the pack, Rich should have realized that Emlyn, feeling a mate bond, would know if he was cheating on her.

“I’m going to kill him.” Cayd snarls.

Beta Trevor POV

What the fuck has my daughter gotten herself into now? Usually, I just get the damn witch to cast a spell or make a potion and I give it to my Alpha and it all goes away. Now, however, she’s messed with the Guardians. And I know exactly who helped her.

I arrive at the store and the windows are dark. I begin banging on the door.

“Maeve, get down here!” I shout at her.

I hear whispers upstairs but no footsteps.

“Maeve, I fucking know you’re in there. Don’t make me break this door down.” I shout at her.

I hear her footsteps coming down the back stairs before the lights flip on and I see her walking toward me, a bathrobe wrapped tightly around her, as if she thinks I’d touch her. As if I’d ever touch a human, much less a human that’s a witch.

“Beta Trevor, what can I do for you?” She asks without opening the door.

I lean in. “Open this fucking door now. If I have to break in, I’ll kill your brother and sister.” I say quietly, knowing the threat will work. It’s not like I don’t mean it. These witchy brats should all die, and they would have if I didn’t need them.

I hear the lock flip and a moment later, Maeve opens the door a crack. I slam my fist on the door, opening it wider, pushing her back and letting myself in.

“What the fuck did you do?” I snarl at her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She says. She lifts her chin, facing me head on.

I lean over, getting into her face. “My fucking daughter. What did you do?”

“I did what she asked of me. Oh wait, let me rephrase, I did what she demanded of me.” She growls right back at me. The girl’s got balls, that’s for damn sure.

“And why didn’t you come to me. You know she’s not supposed to be using your services.” I say the word exactly as I mean it, contemptuously. Their ‘services’ are vile, but necessary.

She scoffs at me. “Beta Trevor, your daughter learned from the best. She threatened my family, so I gave her what she wanted. I warned her several times that she was making a mistake and she shouldn’t go against the Guardians, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She wants to be a Luna.”

I scrub my hands over my face. “Is there a way to counteract what she’s done?” I ask, knowing witches sometimes do that.

“No, your daughter was very clear. In fact, I had to set the spell so that it could possibly work in two different ways, making the Alpha think that she’s his mate. She made sure that if he didn’t accept her or if she died, that he’d never find another mate.” She tells me.

“FUCK!” I yell, swiping my hand over one of their counters, sending their products flying across the room.

She stands there, watching me, not saying anything.

“Is there anything you can do?” I ask her.

“I’m sorry, Beta. There is nothing.”

I wrap my hand around her throat. “What if I threaten your sister and brother? Is there anything you can do then?”

“As I said, Beta. You’ve trained your daughter well. She made sure there were no loopholes in the spell. You can kill me, but I still can’t change it now that it is set into motion.”

“FUCK!” I say, releasing her and stomping out of the store, slamming the door behind me.

: Maeve

I watch as Beta Trevor leaves the shop. My heart is beating so fast I think I might have a heart attack. Meadow and Tate come rushing up to me, wrapping their arms around me.

“Are you okay?” Meadow asks.

“Did he hurt you?” Tate asks.

“Yes, I’m okay. No, he didn’t hurt me.” I say, pulling away.

My throat is sore and I’ll have to cover what I know will be fingerprint bruises tomorrow, but I’m alive and so are they.

I look at the mess in the store. “You two go back to bed, I’ll clean this up.” I say.

“We don’t have school tomorrow, Maeve. We can help you.” Meadow says.

“Yeah. We can help. Worst case scenario, I’ll sleep in tomorrow morning.” Tate says.

Meadow and I both snort. Tate sleeps in every day he can.

I see Tate’s lips twitch and I know he said it to make us laugh, and it did.

It’s early in the morning before we get everything cleaned up. “Okay, let’s get to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day and then you have to go to school the next day.

After I get Meadow and Tate back into their beds, I go to my room and look at my neck. Just as expected, I have black and blue marks surrounding my throat. It wasn’t long after my parents death that I realized that I would need things to cover the bruises that Beta Trevor leaves on me. He never comes to visit without hurting me. He threatens to hurt Meadow and Tate, but I won’t let him near them. I take whatever he gives me, knowing that I’m keeping them safe from him. Soon, someday very soon, I’ll take them and leave this place. Run as far from here as I can. And if I'm dead, then Meadow can take Tate and they can get away from this hell.

It's a dream of mine. Run to someplace new, open a new shop where I don’t flinch every the time bell rings above the door worrying that it’s Beta Trevor or Gwen. Then, maybe, I can get Meadow and Tate through school, and possibly find myself someone special to settle down with, maybe have a couple of kids together.

I snort in my head. Yeah, I’ll have a white picket fence and dog barking happily in the yard too. Those dreams aren’t meant for me. They never were.

I wrap a scarf around my neck. I’ve purchased ones that are thin and look decorative so that during warmer months, like right now, it doesn’t seem odd that I’m wearing one. I also only buy long sleeved shirts now, so the marks on my arms don’t show. I can’t afford to raise any red flags to my customers. While they might have good intentions, any focus on me and my family could mean Meadow and Tate ending up in foster care.

I get through the day and when Meadow wakes up, she makes breakfast bringing me some. We work well together. She’s learned many of the spells and potions that I knew at her age and at night, we practice together. She’s made many of the ones that we need for the real witches. Those are in the back, only available if you know to ask for them.

Sunday is the best day. It’s the day that we stay open the shortest amount of time. It’s the one day a week that I get to sleep in. Then Meadow and I make a huge breakfast and when we close the shop at 5pm, the three of us go to the park and enjoy the fresh air. It gives Tate a chance to run around and get rid of his pent-up energy. I get to sit on the park bench and enjoy the fresh air, letting all the stress of the past week and the upcoming week wash away for a short time.

Today, however, I get a call in the middle of the afternoon. Beta Gwen.

“You have to do something. The Guardian is pregnant, he won’t reject her, and he won’t let her leave the pack.”

I warned not to mess with the Guardians, but she’s so arrogant, she thought it would be a piece of cake to get her Alpha.

“There’s nothing more I can do. They either have to reject each other, or the Guardian has to reject both bonds, the mate bond and the Guardian bond.”

“What if he marks me?” She asks.

I know I told Beta Trevor that there wasn’t a loophole, but I put the very few that I could sneak in, into the spell. It was dangerous to lie to him, but over the years, I’ve realized he knows nothing of magic and neither does his daughter. So, I made sure that that even if she convinced the Alpha to mark her, that it wouldn’t last until the other mate bond was broken.

“Their bond must be broken before yours can be made.” She growls low at my response.

“Do you have any spells to get rid of a pregnancy?”

I know my mouth drops to the floor. It’s one thing to ask someone to make a spell to have someone forget something or to not recognize a mate bond. It’s quite another to ask someone to create a spell that will kill another human being. That’s one of the reasons my parents left their coven. Those witches were dabbling in dark magic. No matter the consequences, I refuse to become that kind of witch.

“I am not a killer.” I snap before slamming the phone down.

I lean over the desk in the back where I took the call. Meadow, hearing my raised voice rushes in.

“What happened?” She asks.

I fall into the chair, putting my head in my hands. This just got so much worse. There is no way the Guardians will let me live if they ever find out I had a role in this.

I look up at Meadow. “Is your bag packed? Do you have the bag for Tate as well?”

“Maeve, what happened?” She asks and I see real fear in her eyes. There’s no since in lying to her. It will only make her question things later, or keep her from understanding the real danger that I’m in.

“The Guardian that I had to create the spell for? The one for Beta Gwen to break their mate bond?”

“Yes?”

“The Guardian is pregnant with the Alpha’s child.”

Meadow’s eyes go wide and she sucks air through her teeth. I watch as her mouth moves but nothing comes out.

“So, I need to know that you are ready. I need to know that if, or most likely when, things go badly, that you will take Tate and you will run. Run as far away from here as you can.”

She nods.

That night, after I get Tate into bed, I go over all of the financials with Meadow. I make sure she knows how to access all our funds, all the passwords, everything.

My life is forfeit, I know that. But I’ve done everything I can to ensure that they will have a good life after I’m gone.

: Xander

I’m so pissed off at Rich. I can’t believe he won’t just reject Emlyn. What is he trying to do? Keep his mate and a mistress on the side?

And now, Emlyn drops the bomb that she’s pregnant. I thought for sure she was going to kill Gwen when she called her child a bastard.

I know Emlyn wouldn't want me to, but Emerson and I are close friends. If the roles were reversed, I'd want him to tell me.

So, I call him and tell him that his sister is pregnant with my brother's child.

"This is a fucking mess, Xander."

"I know, Em. It's why I'm calling you. I don't know how much longer Emlyn can stay here."

"She'll always have a place in my pack." He says, as I knew he would.

Now, all of us can smell Rich and Emlyn’s baby. Well, everyone except Rich. He seems to be the only one that is oblivious to it, his own child.

I know something underhanded is going on, I just have no idea what it is and it’s making me crazy. I’m a problem solver, it’s what I do. I have to be good at it if I want to be an effective CEO. And, I learned from the best, my father. The man is incredible at coming up with solutions to problems. He makes it look so effortless. I’d go talk to him if he were here. But, unlike most Alphas, he couldn’t wait to pass over the Alpha title to Rich, so now, he’s rarely here. He’s usually off somewhere, handing the world to my mother on a silver platter and dragging my youngest sisters with them.

And now, things are escalating in the pack. Gwen and Emlyn almost can’t be in the same room together without an argument starting and Gwen is awful. She is mean and cruel to the pack members, something Rich would never have allowed in his pack before. He seems to always be taking Gwen’s side which means he’s now in direct opposition to Emlyn as well.

I love my brother, but he’s wrong in this. I never thought I’d think this, especially in this family where my mother made sure that we all knew how important family is to one another, but if he doesn’t get his shit together, I may have to challenge him to be Alpha of this pack. I never wanted the position, I’ve always wanted to run the business, to be able to get away from the pack politics when I wanted to. But now, without my father here, I’m next in line to challenge him.

My mind is made up two weeks later when I find Emlyn lying on the floor of her bathroom. I knew something was wrong when she wasn’t downstairs for breakfast. I immediately mind link Cayd to come help me, worried that the stress of everything has gotten to her and maybe the baby as well.

When I go to put her in the shower, I think she’s being modest, not wanting me to see her naked. I don’t listen, nudity is common in the packs, but as soon as I pull her top off, I understand why she didn’t want me to see her and it has nothing to do with modesty.

Her body is covered in bruises. She’s so black and blue that it looks like she’s been hit by a car. I snarl knowing exactly who has done this to her and that she’s been hiding it from me. Cayd’s snarl comes almost immediately behind mine when he sees her and I know she’s been hiding this from everyone.

“What the fuck, Emlyn?” I growl at her. She should not have kept this from me. I can’t help her, I can’t protect her, if I don’t know what’s going on.

Cayd doesn’t understand, so he’s shocked and understandably infuriated when she tells him that the bruises are because Rich has been cheating on their mate bond.

“How often?” I ask her through gritted teeth.

She doesn’t want to answer me. She’s obviously still trying to protect Rich, but I’m not having it, not anymore.

When she tells me it’s been every night, she begins to sob. She looks at me and something passes between us. She knows she has to reject him now. If she doesn’t it could kill her, or maybe even her child.

Cayd goes to get Leana while I help Emlyn get dressed.

“You should have told me.” I say to her quietly.

“He’s your brother, Xander.”

“And you’re my friend. I don’t care that he’s my brother, no one treats you like this. He should be ashamed of himself.”

“Well, it won’t matter after today. I’ll reject him and then he can reject me and I’ll go on with my life.”

She looks at me. “I have to leave.”

“Of course you do. I would never expect you to stay here. Shit, I want to leave. I almost can’t stand being here any longer.”

“Will you do me a favor, Xander?” She asks me as I put her shoes on her feet.

“Anything, you know you only have to ask.”

“Find out what’s going on. Something definitely is. It isn’t like Rich to allow his pack mates to be abused. And Gwen is abusive. The sprites told me that it happens all the time and that Rich knows about it.” She looks at me sadly.

“Something is going on, and it has to do with Gwen. I don’t know what it is, and I can’t stay to help you figure it out. I have to protect my son.” She says.

“I know. And you know that Cayd will want to go with you, right?” I say, standing up and smiling at her.

She gives me a soft smile. “I hope he does. It would be good to have a friend with me.”

“Let’s do this and I promise you, if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll figure out what is going on.”

“Thanks Xander.” She says, as Leana and Cayd come back into the room.

The three of us surround Emlyn as she rejects my brother. I watch, dispassionately, as he drops to the floor, in obvious pain, but my concern is for Emlyn. She didn’t deserve any of this and it’s about time he got a taste of the pain he’s been giving her.

How’s that for a non-existent mate bond, brother?

I watch as Gwen immediately drops beside him, telling him to accept Emlyn’s rejection. She knows something, something the rest of us do not. That thought is reinforced when even Rich yells at her that he can't reject a bond that isn't there. I don't know what's going on yet, but I have every intention of finding out what it is.

Cayd picks Emlyn up and carries her to a car, taking her back to Safe Haven. She not only rejected Rich as her mate, but also her Alpha. She needs to get home and have Emerson reinstate her in their pack so she doesn’t feel and smell like a rogue.

Rich passes out on the floor and Gwen begins patting his face, trying to wake him.

“Step aside.” I snarl at her. I don’t trust her for an instant.

I reach down, picking up my brother and carrying him to his room. “I’ll stay with him.” Gwen says.

I turn and look at her. “Get. Out.” It’s a snarl, an Alpha command, and she yips before complying.

Maybe I’m used to be around Guardians, all of my sisters are Guardians, my mother is a Guardian, and our neighboring packs have Guardians that I’ve grown up with. So seeing a female so impacted by my Alpha aura, one who is supposed to be a Luna, just confirms to me, yet again, that something is definitely wrong.

I put Rich on the couch, wanting to change his sheets that reek of sex. Once it’s done, I carry him to the bed, removing his shoes and pulling up a chair to wait for him to wake up.

It’s hours later when he finally opens his eyes. His first question is about Emlyn, as it should be. As it always should have been.

I tell him that she’s gone home to her family. He tells me that Finley, his wolf, identified Emlyn and her wolf Morrigan as their mates, but he’s also saying that Gwen is his mate.

“I don’t know what’s going on, Xander.”

I stand. Now that he’s awake, I need to start putting timelines and pieces of this puzzle together. It’s time to figure out what Gwen has been up to.

“Neither do I, Rich, but you better figure it out.”

I nearly walk out of the room without telling him. She asked me, practically begged me not to say anything, but he needs to know.

“She didn’t want us to tell you, but she could feel it. Every time you’ve been with Gwen, Emlyn could feel it. This morning, I found her unconscious on her bathroom floor. She’s covered in bruises, Rich. Bruises you gave her by cheating on the mate bond you say you can’t feel.”

He sits up and looks at me, shock evident on his face.

“You could have killed her and your son. So, whatever you do, if you care about her and your son at all, stay the fuck away from Gwen and stay the fuck away from Emlyn until you get this figured out.”

I walk out, closing the door behind me. I will figure out what is going on, and when I find out who did this to Emlyn, to my brother, they will pay with their life.