Chapter 8
"What just like that?" Alistair asked in confusion. "Surely if there was a Rogue attack at the Packhouse, we would have known about it. There's been no Rogue attacks on any Pack in the last three years!" "Hmm. You have a point," Jonas replied looking thoughtful. "Even if the Eclipse Pack didn't need our help, we would have heard about the attack through the mindlink. News of Rogue attacks spread like wildfire!" "Or unless the Pack quickly contained the attack," Marii shrugged. "If it was over in a matter of minutes, then there would have been no time for the news to spread. It would have been over and dealt with." "Or maybe there wasn't an attack in the first place!" one of the warriors interrupted. "What if it was just a lie of this Julianne's and she killed him? Libby's Dad that is!"
"No, there was definitely a Rogue attack," I replied sadly. "Alpha Alec confirmed it to me when I went and asked what happened to my father. But the attack wasn't contained. A great deal of Rogues died and so did our warriors. On the defeat, the remaining rogues stole a number of our warriors bodies apparently. We later found out that the bodies may have been sold to the black witches for their magic or spells."
"And there you have it!" laughed Jonas loudly while clapping ecstatically. "It was a shame thing. Alpha Alec was always a shameful man. If nothing went his way or didn't work out for him, he would hide away in shame."
"So, because he lost the Rogue attack and lost his fallen warriors bodies in the process, he kept the attack quiet?" the red headed daughter, who I found out was called Annie, asked slowly. "Don't talk about it and no one will know sort of thing?"
"That's right," I nodded. "We was all told to keep our mouths shut about the attack and move on from it, which is what we did. Not like we had much choice to do otherwise!"
"Hmmm. Well, your old Alpha doesn't seem too fussed that you're no longer part of his Pack," replied Charlie. "No one has come looking for you. I wonder why that is?"
"Probably because of Julianne," I shrugged casually. "She was always particularly good at making up lies and stories about me. She has probably made up some story about why she had to chase me out of the territory." "Well anyway," butted in Marii loudly. "Let's carry on, shall we? What happened after your Dad died?"
"Umm, well Julianne never seemed bothered about my Dad's death to be quite honest," I continued. "It wasn't long after his death that she met James. And boy, was she infatuated with him. Everything was about James, and it wasn't long before she had him moved in."
"What did Louisa think of all this?" asked Jonas quickly. "I mean, you said she wasn't happy about your Dad being there, so she must have had some sort of problem with James."
"Nah not really," I admitted. "She had gone past the point of caring what her Mum did, I think. She spent most of her days out with her friends or her boyfriend. Or bossing me about and making me do stuff around the house." "Which brings me to my next question," Marii chimed loudly. "When was it that Julianne made you into a personal slave and what jobs did you have to do?"
"It was shortly after my Dad died and I had left school," I sighed. "I wanted to go to college, but she refused to sign the necessary paperwork and as a result, I missed the deadline and lost my place. She said I had a job back at the house caring for her every need. And I had to do everything from cooking, cleaning to gardening, doing the shopping and paying the bills."
"You said they punished you?" Blake finally asked gently, making me jump.
I'd forgotten he was beside me as I was telling my story. Turning my head slowly, I rested my gaze on his face, to see him staring back at me sadly. Gently he took my hands in his and rubbed his thumbs over my skin lovingly. "You're doing really well," he whispered. "But we need to know what they did to you. Do you understand?"
Nodding, I turned back around and continued with my story. "So yeah, if I made a mistake or didn't do the jobs properly then Julianne would punish me," I began. "Sometimes it would be a beating, or kicking and punching, or a slap. A few times I've had my hair pulled and had my head slammed up against walls, doors, and floors. And sometimes, she went to the extremes of actually chaining me up with silver chains."
"Didn't you ever think to use your wolf?" Charlies wife, Jenoa, asked gently. "That's what she is there for?"
"Yes, I did. Many a times actually!" I fired back quickly. "She threatened to beat me and chain me up if I ever transformed into my wolf. I did it once and she stuck by her word. She told me that even though I was a werewolf, I wasn't going to be one while living under her roof!"
"Poor you!" soothed Marii sadly. "Sounds like you've had a rough time of it with her. Now though, we need to know about James. Take your time okay!"
"James was the worst actually," I laughed sadly. "I could take Julianne's beatings and punishments and her chains but what he did to me, I'll never forget. Sometimes, Julianne would get him to punish me for being rude to her or cheeky and I would find myself being beaten and slapped by James. It depended on James's mood or how much he had drunk on how many times he hit me and with what. Sometimes it would be his hand, sometimes a belt or even a whip. He had this thin little stick that he would also use sometimes too. And no matter how many times he would hit or smack me, he would always finish the punishment with using his fingers to grope me, before shoving me to the floor!"
A small gasp echoed in the room as everyone held their hands to their mouths in shock at what I had just revealed, but I was in my stride now. They wanted to hear the truth, so the truth was what they was getting. Without batting an eyelid, I continued on with my story, knowing the best bit was now coming.
"He wanted me to be his special girl and he would call himself daddy!" I continued in disgust. "He told me he would save me and take me away from Julianne's abuse, but he was only abusing me more. The day I was chased out of my territory was the worst!"
"What happened?" a voice called out loudly, only I couldn't see who it had come from due to the tears welling up in my eyes.
"I was in the garden shed, trying to get the lawnmower out," I sniffed loudly, beginning to feel myself tear apart. "James came in and raped me! So, there you have it. That's my story and that's how I ended up here."
The room remained silent for what seemed an eternity. It was so quiet in the room, you could have heard a pin drop or the gentle flutter of a butterflies wings. Shocked, angry faces glared back at me which pretty quickly soon turned to looks of sadness and sympathy. Marii stood up and silently walked towards me before enveloping me into a big hug.
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"I'm sorry that we had to get you to tell the Pack like this," began Marii tearfully, looking at me sorrowfully with large, sodden eyes, "But they needed to know what had happened to you. We will punish them. I promise! I personally will not rest until I find them. I lost a daughter in childbirth before I had Blake, so I feel a sudden motherly urge to protect you!"
Before I could answer her, the room suddenly erupted into a wall of noise. Loud growls and harsh whispers echoed out as the Pack members voiced their disdain over the shocking revelations. The wolves all suddenly chorused 'We can't allow this to go unpunished!" over and over until tempers finally boiled over and everyone had begun arguing.
"It's an outrage!" seethed Charlie loudly. "Is it true, these words you say?"
"Yes!" I growled defensively. "Of course, it's true! Why would I lie or even need to lie about something like this!"
"They shouldn't be allowed to live!" snarled Alistair. "They need punishing! They are monsters! It is a monstrosity what they have done!"
"How could they treat a pup like this!" growled Annie angrily. "Don't they know the laws. How can they find this behaviour acceptable? It's an abomination!"
"I will find them and rip them limb from limb!" barked Jenson, angrily. "How dare they! They may not have committed these crimes on our land, but they did so within our world. They bring shame to us all!"
"No! You will not kill them," growled Alistair in warning. "They shall be punished properly. We have real enemies that we will fight with!"
"And you don't think that being ripped to shreds is punishment enough?" Jenson retorted angrily. "I'd like to hear what you suggest!"
"They need finding and locking up!" Jenoa growled. "Killing them is the easy way out. Make them suffer like our Luna did!"
"ENOUGH!" roared Blake angrily beside me, making me jump in shock. "I am Alpha now and I say what goes! We won't be killing no one! My Mate had to suffer at their hands and now they shall suffer at ours!" "Alpha, we are ready to follow your orders!" the wolves all chorused loudly. "Let's go and get them! There is no time to waste!"
"Now?" Jonas whispered, stepping forward and placing one hand on Blake's arm gently. "But son, are you ready for the fallout this may cause? This may cause a Pack war with the Eclipse Pack if we imprison two of their members!" "Then let it cause a war!" growled Blake threateningly. "I am ready to fight whoever tries to stop me from getting the justice Libby deserves!"
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"And with any luck, it won't come to a fight," Marii murmured. "Alpha Alec isn't one for fighting with a Pack that is large and strong enough to wipe his own Pack out. Alec might not care about his Pack members, but he isn't stupid!" "She has a point," Jonas shrugged. "Alpha Alec hasn't seemed that bothered about Libby not reporting to the Pack in a while. Maybe he doesn't care that she is with us!"
"Or maybe, he thinks Libby is dead like Libby said!" sneered Jenson gleefully. "Not being funny but how many Rogue wolves do we normally let run wild in our territory without killing them?"
"Yes, thank you Jenson," Blake growled in warning. "Don't remind me at how close to death my Mate was please, at your very own hands. We go tonight! And that's an order!"
"Why do we have to get involved anyway?" a voice piped up loudly. "She was a weak wolf anyway! She was bullied at school, her family are dead, so something like was this bound to happen to her. She was easy pickings!"
I glanced up to see everyone gasping in shock at a tall, tanned Warrior, who had just entered the kitchen and was leaning casually against the wall, looking bored. He had his jet-black hair gelled up into a spiky hair do and his bare muscles flexed proudly, as he crossed his arms across his chiselled, bare chest, displaying an array of tribal tattoos.
"Ease up Jared!" muttered Jenson before looking at me apologetically. "That entire Pack was the problem, not Libby! She is our Luna now and our protection applies to her!"
Before Jared could respond, a loud growl echoed across the room as a large black object came hurtling across the room towards him. In an instant, Jared had swiftly changed to his own auburn shaped wolf as Blake stood menacingly in front of him, fangs bared and snarling furiously.
"You will prepare yourself and fight with the Pack if it comes to a fight!" snarled Blake angrily. "Do you hear me?"
Blake continued to snarl threateningly, causing not only me, but the rest of the wolves in the room to bow their heads in submission. Blake's Alpha voice vibrated off the walls and through my body, causing my blood to run cold and the little hairs on my arms stand up in terror. I had never seen someone sound so angry like Blake was right now. I glanced up to see Blake slowly advancing towards Jared who was now lying low to the floor and shaking with fright. You could see that Jared was trying his hardest not to submit but as Blake began to tower over his body, his head finally bowed before a soft voice echoed out.
"Yes Alpha. I will fight!"
"Good!" snarled Blake angrily. "Don't you ever question my authority again Jared!"
Blake changed back into his human form before coming beside me and grabbing my hand. Gently, he lifted my hand and kissed it gently, while connecting his eyes lovingly with me. Smiling gently, he peeled his eyes away from mine and glanced back over the remaining submitting Pack members.
"We will go to the Eclipse Pack tonight to find these monsters. Get yourselves ready for what may be an ugly fight. But first, I want to spend some time with my girl!"
Feeling myself being pulled towards the hallway, I silently followed Blake, my mind whizzing with worry. What was going to happen tonight? What if the two Packs did end up fighting? I didn't ask for this! My heart suddenly stopped as a dark thought entered my brain, which caused my wolf to howl in horror.
What if the Eclipse Pack killed my Mate?