Chapter Ninety-Seven

“Oh,” my mother laughed, waving her hand. “I think all parents want their kids to have high standards for the one they mate with. Don’t you, Alpha Vince?” My mom wrapped her arm around me. “As parents, we just want the absolute best for our pups.” She looked over at Brandon. “Take your son, for example. You want him to mate with the best female he can find, don’t you?”

Vince seemed to settle, and he nodded. “Yes. Yes, I do.” Vince stared at me, but I turned to Carl.

“Sorry, Carl, I wanted to help, but I do not know how to check someone out.” I smiled and waved my hands over the register.

“I told you to lock up.” Carl walked over and sniffed. “Did you drop a descenting spray bottle?” He pointed to the mop bucket next to the counter.

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention and bumped into the shelf when I went to lock the door. I was cleaning the mess when the Alpha knocked to come in.” I grabbed the mop. “I’m sorry for not listening.”

“No, it wasn’t her fault. It was our fault. We should have waited outside for you guys to return.” Brandon jumped in, trying to save me, but I knew it was just his act. He pretended to care at first.

In our first life, he was the perfect mate until the actual mating ceremony. Once I was bonded to him, he switched the act off. His mask dropped, you could say. He became aggressive, abusive even. He took my strong, amazing wolf and turned her into a submissive creature.

His wolf chipped away at me and Megan. He turned our love for him into something perverse. Nix’s voice whispered in my mind.

What’s wrong? I sent strength to my two wolves.

Megan is struggling. Thorn has been talking to us, or trying to anyway. She is having a hard time not accepting him as her mate. It’s chipping away at our resolve. Nix called back to me, and I felt my face tighten. I turned back to Brandon.

“Excuse me, Brandon. Could you please speak with your wolf?”

“What do you mean?” He played dumb, and I think that irked me even more.

“Nix told me he has been trying to speak with her. She doesn’t like it. She asks that you keep him in line.”

Brandon almost staggered back. “She doesn’t even want to speak with him?”

“No.” I turned and left it at that. “I’m going to clean this up. Can you call me when we are ready to go, Mom?” I could feel Vince’s and Brandon’s eyes on me, but I pushed the mop bucket towards the back.

“Of course, baby.” She had turned back to the store and started grabbing things she wanted.

“That will be fifty-four sixty-two, Alpha Vince.” Carl’s voice snapped them back to him, and I entered the back room. My eyes snapped to the little girl on the floor, eyes wide and clouded as drool slipped down her cheek. I felt panic crawling up my spine, but I pushed the door closed behind me.

I dropped the mop as quietly as I could and rushed over to Carly. Her little body was icy from the floor, and I picked her up and cradled her. I bit my lip, hard, to keep from screaming for help, and I looked around to see if there was anything I could cover her with.

She convulsed, and a soft whine made it out of her mouth, but I covered it with a cough. She was shaking, and her little body was slipping out of my hands until I tucked one arm under her legs and held her shoulders to my chest. I made my way to the sink and turned the water on full blast before I walked to the very back of the room, behind the boxes of stock, and slipped down to the floor. I held Carly close until her little body calmed down. Her breathing grew even, but her eyes remained clouded.

I was not equipped to help this little girl in any way, not when I had no idea what was going on. I heard the back door open and Carl’s voice was deep. “You are not allowed in my back room.” The door slammed shut with a loud bang, and voices raised.

But after a few minutes, everything became quiet, and the door opened up again. I looked around to see if there was anywhere I could hide, or put Carly down, but there was nowhere. I tried to push some boxes to the side to fit her on a shelf, but then I heard two sets of footsteps heading towards us, and I froze. They were moving quietly, suspiciously quietly. If it was my mother, or Carl, they would call out, wouldn’t they?