From Here to Ecstasy

A/N: Dedicated to: Nicollet, N.Y.O.B. and PneumbraMine. Y'all make my heart glad. Thank you for all your comments and questions. I hope I'm doing y'all proud.

Recap:

“I’m free. Thank you, Goddess and Alpha Kaiden. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could have taken him,” she exclaimed as she jumped up and down in excitement, running down her face.

I nodded and started to walk off. My grandmother grabbed my arm, stopping me in my tracks. “You need to know what I’m going to tell you, but need you to promise not to be mad at her.”

“Mad at who?” I asked, not understanding what she was talking about.

“Me,” Laci told me as she looked at the ground, scuffing her shoes in the dirt, her shoulders sagging.

My heart started pounding. I couldn't think about what happened to her and why she thought I would blame her. I felt as if I was going to pass out, but I took calming breaths as I walked over to her. “I don’t think I could be mad at you, Laci. What’s going on and why is it important I need to know?” I questioned as I lifted my mates head.

She had tears in her eyes. “I wanted to tell you Kaiden, but I was afraid you would think it was my fault.” She started crying her heart out.

I rubbed her back, kissing her head. I was scared at what she wanted to tell me. Did someone hurt her? Did someone try to do something to my pup? I had too many things going through my mind, all of them bad.

Laci hiccupped and wiped her eyes. “That man.” She pointed to the dead wolf. “H-he tried to rape me, but I fought him off. He wouldn’t keep his hands to himself when I was around. He thought you would never know if he raped me, I mean, he couldn’t get me pregnant, so how would you know,” she explained, sobbing and holding me tight.

“I would never think this was your fault, Laci. I love you and trust you. Plus, you do know that I would have known through the mate bond.” I leaned back and looked into her eyes. “I believe you, but you should have let me know what was going on. Please don’t keep these things from me.”

Night whispered to her. “We don’t read your mind. We want you to have your thoughts to yourself.”

I was surprised my wolf could talk to my mate. She was a witch and didn’t have a wolf. How in the hell did he speak to her?

Night snickered. “That’s what you think.” He laughed harder. “She’s a wolf, too. She doesn’t know one of her grandparents was a wolf. She thought they were witches. But, she needs to know before she changes. I’ve kept her wolf calm, for now.”

“Let’s go to the pack house to talk about this if you want. But, I have nothing else to say about the topic. I trust you. I love you. But, you should have come to me and let me know what was going on. I know you, plus, I could have read the idiot’s mind,” I told her, ending in a laugh.

I turned around to look for my grandma, but she was nowhere to be seen. She loved to disappear, especially with my mom. I knew she was only a call away. I knew she used a lot of energy today, but she would be sending cards to me. She loved to tease my siblings and I. It was a game we played. If we had a question to ask her we would get our answers on a card before we even asked our questions.

As soon as we walked into the pack house my mate was pulling on my arm, leading me to the dining room. I decided to go with it and get something to eat. I had used a lot of energy today. I hadn’t been eating properly. I knew it wasn’t good for me, but I had so much stuff to catch up on. Stuff like, money, bills, resources, and junk. Craig and Hugh had syphoned off so much money from the pack. It wasn’t theirs to begin with, it was the whole packs.

I shook my head and noticed I had pulled a mom. Laci, my mate, had filled my plate and was nudging my elbow. I quickly took a bite of my food, signaling for the others to eat. I knew mom hated for the pack to wait on her to eat and I was right there with her. It was fucking inconvenient I wanted my pack to eat when they were hungry, not when I took a bite.

“Are you okay, Kaiden?” Laci asked as she laid a palm on my face.

I cupped her handed on my face. “I’m okay. I was thinking about all the work I still need to do. I don’t know how my parents ever had sixteen children.” We laughed at the mention of all my siblings.

“You do know I can help you with your workload? I used to help the Alpha of my pack. He needed a lot of help, so point me to what you need help with, okay?”

I nodded my head and stole a kiss. “I would love to have you help us. I don’t want you to overdo things. Tell me when you need a break and we will stop, okay?” Laci nodded her head, looking relieved to have something to do.

I was an idiot. She was looking for something to do. I never noticed that she was bored. I thought she was doing things with the ladies. She was my mate and I didn’t see it until today. I was mad at myself. I felt guilty. I felt as if I was the worst mate possible. It felt all kinds of wrong that I didn’t ask what she was doing that day, or any other day. I would make sure I asked her daily what she was doing that day. I wanted to be the best mate ever, like my dads are to my mom.

We finished eating and talking with a few members of our pack, easing their fears and answering any questions. We took our time with our pack members. We wanted our pack to come to us with any problems, and not try to fix them themselves. They would only cause more trouble for me if they tried to fix any problems they had. I had been there already. Good thing I learned from my mom and dads. They were awesome with their pack members. I wanted to strive to be as good as they are. It was a lofty thing to try and do.

We finally made our way out of the dining room. We walked up the steps. I was making sure Laci didn’t fall backwards down the stairs. I couldn’t help it. She was my everything. She was my world, my universe. I was so happy to have found her as early as I did. Now she was pregnant with my pup and I made sure she was spelled to the gills. No one could hurt her or my pup.

We were almost to my office door when I hit the ground, feeling as if my heart was going to explode. Laci was screaming my name, begging me to tell where I was hurt. I couldn’t talk for a minute.

“What the hell!” I yelled, scaring my mate.

“What’s wrong, Kaiden. Are you okay?” Laci was asking as she tugged on my arm, her body shaking in fear.

I went through my siblings’ minds, wanting to find out what was going on and didn't feel anything, it was as if I was being blocked. I stood up quickly, surprising Laci. I hugged her to me as I called my Beta to my office. I walked into my office, pulling Laci in after me. “Can you work on the paperwork? Our Beta will be here in a second. Somethings wrong. I've never been blocked from any of my siblings minds, but today it's as if a wall of white noise is keeping me from seeing or feeling anything.I have to go see what happened, but I want you here and safe, okay?”

“Go! You need to find out what’s going on-”

“-you called me, Kaiden?” My Beta asked me as he looked between a crying Laci and my ashen face.

“I’ve got to go and check on my . Somethings wrong with him. Can you help Laci with the paperwork? I’ll be back soon,” I explained as I was getting ready to teleport.

“Go on. I’ll keep a hold of the pack and help Laci,” he remarked as he sat down beside Laci.

I leaned in and kissed, letting her know I would keep her updated. I disappeared and reappeared next to my sister’s.