The Alpha Wants Everything Book 1 The King's Queen

With all of them back in the office, Kenneth was telling everyone what they learned in the morgue.

“He wants to cut her ear off and put on someone else’s?” Damon asked, covering his own ear.

“That was pretty much my reaction as well” Kenneth agreed,

“Lo terrà? Tipo metterlo in una scatola? Come ha fatto con gli altri, metti l’orecchio nella scatola e tienilo in una scatola e non seppellirlo? (Will he keep it? Like putting it in a box? As it did with the others, put the ear in the box and keep it in a box and don’t bury it?)” Marco asked wide eyed, covering both his ears mumbling in Italian under his breath.

“He’s having a hard time with the ears in the box” Johnny commented,

“That would be his neurotic little brain and Alejandro’s need to bury things. He’s not grasping why he kept it and didn’t bury it.” Kenneth explained.

“So if he put them in a box and then buried them?” Damon asked,

“That would make sense to him,” Kenneth answered,

“What’s wrong with Carter?” Damon asked, as he watched Carter. He would shake his head and then grab his ear and shake his head again.

“The triplets used him for show and tell. They showed us where he would have to cut, how he would have to shape the ear and why it wouldn’t work, using Carter’s ear.” Kenneth explained, Damon just nodded.

Johnny told them about the 16 missing persons reports, they all turned up dead, all missing their right ear.

“But there were 17 ears in the box.” Kenneth said,

“I had Marco go back farther, but nothing turned up” Johnny shrugged,

“Maybe they’re not missing because they’re not dead.” Carter finally spoke, still pulling on his right ear.

“What do you mean? And stop pulling on your ear” Damon asked. Johnny fought back a snicker when he saw the look on Carter’s face, but the boy did listen to him.

“Brandon likes watching criminal shows, true crime stuff. Serial killers start with torturing animals, then move up to killing them, didn’t his mom say he was burying stuff in the backyard? Most of the time, not always, they don’t kill their first human victim. Maybe he just cut the ear off and let them go.” Carter explained,

“Why wouldn’t they tell somebody?” Johnny asked,

“Fear is a powerful motivator to keep your mouth shut, maybe he threatened them, or their family.” Damon guessed,

“Wait he had 6 sexual assault allegations, are any of the missing persons one of them.?” Kenneth asked,

“No! But Marco did get into the files. Two were ex girlfriends and were mad at him, three of the women couldn’t pick his photo out of a line up and the sixth just changed her mind with no reason given.” Johnny answered,

“Maybe White tried to set him up?” Damon suggested,

“That’s the conclusion we came to as well,” Johnny replied.

Kane sat in his office chair listening to the others talk but what they were saying wasn’t really sinking in. He had a million thoughts running through his mind, but only two were fighting for his attention. The psychotic nut job who wants to cut her ear off and make her his, and the fact that she might not be fully human. There might be a whole side to her that he has yet to see. What if he never sees it, just knowing she might have it and him never getting to see it upset him a little. He wouldn’t love her any less if he never got to see it, but he wants to know all of her, he would want to see all of her. Whether she had a wolf or not would not change the way he felt about her, it wouldn’t make him love her any more. She wouldn’t be more perfect with a wolf. But he still couldn’t help but wonder what her wolf would look like. Red to match her fiery temperament! Ky guessed. White to match her hair maybe! Too boring and uninspiring she has white hair as a human to make her special she can’t have white fur as a wolf! She would be a unique colour to match her eyes. Her amethyst eyes that sit on the surface! Why do her eyes sit on the surface? Because she’s ours, and ours is special! She would be a sexy little wolf! Yes she would be, I would get to chase her! Then he remembered the conversation they had last week. She didn’t want to be a werewolf, how was he going to tell her she might be one? What if she thinks he did this to her? What if she thinks he thought she wasn’t good enough as a human? He needed to run, he needed to clear his head, too many thoughts. Kane stood up from his desk and walked out of the room without a word.

“Where the fuck are you going? Where the fuck is he going?” Johnny asked, as they all watched him walk out the door.

“To clear his head I think, he got a huge bomb dropped on him a few hours ago.” Damon said as he turned back to the group. Kenneth looked at them expectantly waiting for someone to fill him in.

“Luna non è del tutto umana, potrebbe essere una gatta, o un’aliena. (Luna is not entirely human, she could be a cat, or an alien,)” Marco said without hesitation. Kenneth looked at Marco then back at the others, further explanation was required.

“Marco read the book and came across some information. Fated souls can’t be human, something about their bodies not being able to handle the fire that burns in them. If she were human she would burn from the inside out. Since she hasn’t, she can’t be fully human.” Johnny explained. “And she’s not a cat” he turned to look at Marco.

“In quale altro modo spieghi perché lei così piccola? Gatta! (How else do you explain why she is so small? Cat!)” Marco fired back at him.

“How‘s that possible? Wouldn’t she know? Wouldn’t it know? Wouldn’t we know?” Kenneth asked,

“I talked to the doctor, he thinks because she was raised around humans, it doesn’t know what it is and thinks it’s a part of her, like a voice in her head.” Damon replied,

“Maybe he’s right, I’ve seen her talk to herself, she seems to have quite the conversation sometimes, like she is actually talking to someone in her head, like the way I talk to Diego.” Johnny inputted,

“Milo doesn’t say a lot, he mostly grunts,” Carter said,

“That’s because you don’t say a lot and mostly grunt.” Damon remarked, grinning,

“That’s because you’re too busy yapping and no one else can get a word in.” Carter shot back, Johnny cracked up laughing, while Damon just stared at him shaking his head.

“Alejandro è un bastardo yappy! Mi parla sempre. A volte vorrei che ci fosse un pulsante muto, non sta mai zitto. (Alejandro is a yappy bastard! He always talking at me. Sometime I wish there a mute button, he never shut up)” Marco said, shaking his head.

“What about her first shift? She couldn’t avoid that could she?” Kenneth said,

“He thinks she was either too young, or she did shift but her mind blocked the memory thinking it was more abuse, let’s face it your first shift hurts like hell, or the abuse she sustained through her life made her too weak to shift and she hasn’t yet.” Damon answered.

Feeling the wind wash over his fur, and listening to the thunder of his paws as they hit the ground Kane ran. Letting his mind clear so he could focus on one thought at a time. What are we going to do about the nutcase! We are going to hunt him! He’ll go back to the warehouse, he lost his….memorabilia and will want to replace it! Does he know who White is? Maybe! Maybe he’ll lead us to White! Perhaps he will, it will make hunting White that much easier! Carl pitted them against each other! He did us a favour by doing that! Burning down his warehouse will have him thinking White retaliated….if they know each other! The emails would hold more clues to that answer! We have some reading to do! What about the woman’s journal? We have a lot of reading to do! He ran faster and faster, zipping through the forest. They needed to get to her warehouse, to see if he’s been there recently, his scent would be there. Carter has a good nose! That he does, one of the best in fact, he would be able to sniff him out! I like Carter, he’s quiet! He’s also terrified of us! Means he won’t let us down! Mate likes Carter too! He’s good at protecting her! Was one of her first friends! Made her feel welcome! Doesn’t let her cause trouble all by herself! Where she goes he goes! He’ll keep her safe, when we can’t! Formulating a plan as he continued his run, he would send Carter to the warehouse to track Magnus’s scent, he would send Marco as well to look through her system and get names of her customers. Magnus’s warehouse was full of her work, his name or some variation of it would show up in her system. His address would if he had the work shipped! Yes it would!

He slowed down to a trot, following the bank of the river till he came to a clearing and shallower waters, he flopped down and rested his head on his paws. Does she have a wolf? I don’t know, if she did we should have sensed it! Maybe it’s sleeping! You mean dormant? Yeah or maybe it doesn’t know it’s a wolf! Do you think she talks to it? She talks to something in her head! Do you hear it? I hear something sometimes, but I didn’t think it was her. Maybe you could talk to it! And say what? Hey strange voice in mate’s head are you wolf? Maybe not that! I wonder what its name is? I wonder what she looks like! Maybe she’s blue, like me! How am I going to tell her, without her thinking I did this to her? Start with it’s not my fault and I can explain! But I can’t explain, it’s not my fault. She was born this way, but something happened that stopped her counterpart from being present. Say that to her! I’m going to get something thrown at my head! As long as she doesn’t leave, then let her throw stuff at you! Easy for you to say, it’s not hitting you! Toughen up, you’re a big guy you can take it! Fuck you asshole, let her throw stuff at you! Do I look crazy to you? No, just slightly homicidal! Who’s an asshole now! Still you! Asshole! We should go see what Johnny found. And who says she’s a wolf.... Maybe Marco’s right and she’s a cat. Or a very tiny bear! Can call her baby bear! You can call her baby bear! No, she’ll throw stuff at me! Getting up he headed back to the pack house, more clear headed.

Johnny met up with Kane outside at the tree line as he was putting his shirt back on.

“Feel better?” Johnny asked,

“My thoughts are a little less crowded.” Kane replied,

“What’s the plan so far?” Johnny asked as they moved towards the house.

“Send Carter and Marco to the warehouse. If Magnus has been there, Carter will know and Marco can look through her files and find out who she sent art to. She would have their names and addresses and if any of them appear more than once it gives us a place to start looking. We know Magnus has purchased from her, his loft was full of her art, but I am wondering if White has as well. I also want to reread all the emails, to see if maybe Magnus knows who White might be. Carl might have given him a clue. Crazy doesn’t mean stupid. The journal Dax found might also give us something on D and the mystery woman from the photo.” Kane explained what he had so far.

“Do you really think she’s a shifter?” Johnny asked, this stopped Kane in place.

“I don’t know, it would explain a few things, but makes many more questions like how did we not know. We would have sensed it on her, smelled it.” Kane ran his hands through his hair. I wanna see mate! We will soon!

“Not unless it was dormant or it doesn’t know what it is. Damon talked to the doc, he thinks that because she was raised by humans it doesn’t know what it is and thinks it’s a part of her. Just a voice in her head. We’ve all seen her talk to herself.” Johnny said,

“Ky said he sometimes hears something, but never thought it was coming from her.” Kane replied,

“Before you ask about the first shift, the doc thinks she was either too young, which coincides with what the book says. She did shift but her memory blocked it thinking it was more abuse, or her body was too weak from the abuse she went through to shift.” Johnny continued repeating what Damon told them in the office after Kane left.

“What did the book say?” Kane asked,

“If the two souls exist at the same time the first one to shift would trigger the shift in the second, unless they were of a young age. You shifted at 10 she would have been 6 or 7, she might have been too young, then years of abuse made her too weak.” Kane nodded, that made sense, but so did her memory blocking the shift, thinking it was more abuse.

“So how do we make it not dormant?” Kane asked,

“This is the part you’re not gonna like. The bite from a pure Alpha, can wake up a dormant wolf or turn someone into one.” Johnny answered,

“A pure Alpha? One born with Alpha blood. That’s why it didn’t work for Alpha Steven, and his mate died. He wasn’t born with Alpha blood, he stepped into the role as a Beta.” Johnny just nodded,

“But all this hinges on whether or not she is a shifter and not an alien” Johnny added,

“She’s not an alien!” Kane scowled at him, Johnny just grinned.

“Oh come on, she could be!” Johnny argued,

“She’s not an alien!” Kane repeated,

“How do you know? Seen any other white haired pocket sized people walking around with two colours in their eyes.” Kane couldn’t argue with that though, she was the only one he saw like that.

“She’s not an alien” Kane repeated, Johnny started laughing.

“Asshole” Kane added, then started laughing, the more he thought about it the more he laughed. That explained a lot of things as well.

“My mate, the alien! I can just see me introducing her to people can’t you ‘Oh your mate has Gamma blood that’s fantastic, mines a fucking alien’” Johnny just laughed harder.

“I bet she’s from Mercury you don’t get that fiery of a temperament coming from a cold planet like Jupiter or Pluto.” Kane added. “Or wait, maybe she has that fiery of a temperament because she comes from Pluto, something has to keep her warm.” Kane added, shaking his head.

“Now do you feel better?” Johnny asked when the laughter died down.

“You’re still an asshole” Kane uttered but nodded his head.

“Yeah! I’m ok with that, I’m not mated to an alien” Johnny laughed again. No, just a raging bitch! Ky grumbled.

“She’s not an alien,” Kane smiled. Even if she was, he’d still love his sexy little alien. He needed to get back to her the sedative the doctor gave her should be wearing off soon. He’d head back to the office then back to the medical ward.

Walking back into the office in a much better mood, he and Johnny were still laughing about her being a potential alien.

“I bet she’s from Neptune! If she’s an alien, $20 says it’s Neptune.” Johnny said jokingly,

“She’s not an alien!” Kane repeated,

“I take it your run cleared your head” Kenneth asked, a bit relieved when Kane came back laughing.

“It was good. Where’s Carter and Marco?” Kane asked, looking around the room.

“Carter is standing guard in front of feisty pants room, he didn’t want to leave her unprotected in the medical ward.” Damon answered, he was trying to read the book Marco had retrieved, but half of it wasn’t even in English and he could only understand the parts that were written in Latin.

“I sent Marco for a walk. He was going cross eyed but he should be back soon.” Kenneth spoke just as Marco was walking back in the room.

“Cosa? What….I do?” Marco froze at the door staring back at everyone staring at him.

“Sit down Marco!” Kane ordered, he waited for Marco to take a seat. “Listen to me very carefully” Marco nodded,

“You need to go to Dax’s warehouse and look through all her files in the cabinet and on her computer, find every address that has had more than one delivery to it since she opened the warehouse, take note of all of the ones that have had multiple deliveries, can you do that?” Marco nodded again

“Good, go wait for Carter in the garage” Marco got to his feet and walked back out of the room.

“Carter, I sent two guards to stand in front of Dax’s room. I have a job for you.” Kane called Carter through the link.

“Oh….Damon said don’t let anyone near the room that wasn’t us or the doctor.” he could hear the guilt in Carter’s voice as he spoke back to him.

“Did you hit them Carter?” While Carter sounded guilty, Kane couldn’t help but find amusement in what had happened, he takes his protection duty over her very seriously.

“Yes sir!”

“Are they standing?” Trying to hide his laughter at that

“No sir! I hit them really hard”

“I’m sending two more, don’t hit them. When they get there, you are to go to Dax’s warehouse, see if Magnus has been back and if you can track him. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir, but I don’t know what Magnus smells like.”

“He will be an unfamiliar scent that would be him. She hasn’t been there since last Wednesday!”

“Yes sir!”

“Good! Marco is waiting in the garage for you, don’t hit him either.”

“Yes sir!”

Again Kenneth sat there waiting for an explanation.

“Magnus’s warehouse was full of her artwork, it was everywhere, every wall and every surface had something she created.” Kane began.

“And you think White might have done the same thing?” Kenneth finished for him. “But PO Boxes can’t hold big packages, only small ones so whatever artwork White purchased would have to be small, unless they had it shipped to their physical address” Kane just nodded.

“I also sent Carter to the warehouse, he’s our best tracker, if Magnus went back, Carter would be able to pick up his scent, it would be unfamiliar to him and he could track it.” Kane went on.

“Carter won’t like leaving her unprotected, don’t get me wrong he won’t defy you, but he won’t like it.” Damon interjected.

“I sent two guards to relieve him.” Kane replied. “I also want to go back over the emails very closely, I think Magnus knows who White is or at least has a very good idea, and I wonder if the journal can offer any clues to the identity of the other woman and child in that photo.” He added, heading back towards the door.

“Where are you going now?” Johnny asked.

“To be with my mate. She’ll be awake soon and I don’t need her hitting the doctor either. I suggest you all do the same. We’ll meet back here in a few hours.” Kane replied and left the room.

Walking into her medical room, he saw her lying in the bed, he wondered what demons she was seeing behind her eyes. He pressed his lips to her forehead.

“Tough day baby” he sat in the chair beside her with his hand covering hers. Mulling over the events of the day and everything they have uncovered he was lost in deep thought, when he heard a soft murmuring.

“I want to dance under the Eiffel Tower as they turn the lights on.” His head snapped in her direction, he could see her starting to stir.

“No more boxes with ears” She spoke again, her voice soft and quiet.

“Baby!” He was on his feet by her side the second he saw her move. He will admit he was afraid she wouldn’t come back from this, the doctor’s warning in his head about nothing strenuous on any level running on a loop, opening a box of severed ears was something he would consider strenuous.

“No more boxes of ears” she repeated her voice dropping off at the end.

“No baby, no more boxes of ears, no more boxes for you. Can you open your eyes? Please can you open your eyes for me?” He could see her fighting to open her eyes, fighting the sedative that was still in her system, but she seemed to be losing the battle as her strength was waning.

“I will take you anywhere you want to go. If you want to dance under the Eiffel Tower then I will take you and we’ll dance all night under it. I will take you anywhere, but you have to open your eyes. Please, just please open your eyes for me.” He watched as her eyelids fluttered and moved as she continued to fight to open them. The doctor came in in time to see her eyes open, he was perplexed she wasn’t supposed to be awake yet. Kane helped her sit up and she clung to him, there would be no leaving her in a room alone anytime soon. The fear he saw in her eyes when she looked at him, said the box of ears was running on a loop in her head and she had pieced it all together. He held her tight, rubbing small circles on her lower back. The doctor did a quick exam of her then left saying she was free to go and she was to take it extremely easy for the next little bit, she would also be tired and would sleep off and on throughout the rest of the day.

The doctor wasn’t kidding when he said off and on, they were lying in their bed with her cuddled up against him and she would fall asleep only to wake back up shaking or yelling about not opening the box. He knew the others would be in his office soon though he didn’t want her coming with him, she needed rest, but there was no way she was staying in that room alone. She had called Lydia, but her, Seraphine, and Jackie had gone to Hillcrest to gather her things. She would be back in a few hours. She did offer to do it another time but Dax told her that was ok she should get her things and she would call Lacey. She tried several times but Lacey wasn’t picking up the phone for her or for Kane when he tried to call.

“Ok baby, we are going to the office, when Carter gets back from his assignment you will come back to the room with him.” Kane said after another attempt to get a hold of Lacey. He was going to have to talk to Johnny about this. He tried through the link as well, but she wasn’t answering that either. He was going to use an Alpha command on her, but Ky stopped him, telling him that wasn’t a good idea, she would try something against their mate. Dax didn’t know how to use the link yet she wouldn’t be able to contact him for help. Ky didn’t want Lacey near their mate anyway so he was happy with her going to the office with them, she would be nice and close for him to protect. He gathered her a blanket, a pillow, his tablet and her head phones and she grabbed Kai to hug onto. He didn’t want her hearing anything that would upset her, she has been through enough for one day. A quick trip to the kitchen to get her a snack and they were in his office. He got her situated curled up under his desk, watching Scooby-Doo. Lydia introduced her to it. Said it was the only thing Damon didn’t talk through and it made her laugh. She could use laughter right now, hopefully it would chase her nightmares away or it was going to be a long night for them, maybe she would sleep some more while she was under there.

While she was tucked away feeling safe he quietly moved around the office. He grabbed a whiteboard from the board room and was in the process of writing down everything they knew and what they still had questions about, when the others started to show up.

“How is she?” Kenneth asked as he walked into the office.

“Scared, tired and under the desk watching Scooby-Doo.” he couldn’t help the smile when he heard her giggling.

“She’s watching Scooby-Doo under the desk?” He asked,

“Makes her laugh, considering she just opened a box of ears, she could use it” Kane replied, Kenneth just nodded his heart broke for her, she was the strongest little thing he has ever seen, but hell just kept chasing her.

“What do you need help with?” Kenneth asked as he stood next to him at the whiteboard, both of them fighting to control their laughter when they would hear giggling coming from under the desk.

“We need to reread all the emails, maybe Magnus knows who White is, maybe Carl told him, or gave him a clue. Maria’s journal, maybe there’s a clue about the woman and the boy in the photo.” Kane replied as he continued to write.

“As we answer questions, more just seem to pop up, if Carl was talking to Magnus, then wouldn’t he be talking to White. When Marco gets back maybe he can get into White’s account, or Carl’s.” Kenneth suggested.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try.” Kane commented.

“What did you do this time?” Damon was laughing when he walked into the office with Johnny.

“How the hell do I know? Suggested maybe she shouldn’t ignore her brother’s phone calls after her phone rang like 8 times.” Johnny huffed. This caught Kane’s attention, he kept most of his attention on the whiteboard but he was listening to their conversation as well.

“What did she say to that?” Damon asked,

“Nothing, she threw a plate at me, muttering something about how I never take her side.” Johnny said,

“She threw a plate at you?” Damon howled,

“Actually she threw a plate at the other side of the room, and then got mad because I wasn’t standing over there. Then told me I had to clean it up.” Johnny shook his head.

“Did you clean it up?” Damon asked,

“What do you think? Less chance of her throwing and breaking something else.” this time Damon shook his head.

“How’s feisty pants?” He asked when he saw Kane,

“Not throwing plates at me” Kane replied,

“Probably a good thing, she’d hit you” Johnny said,

“She’s watching Scooby-Doo under the desk” Damon and Johnny looked towards the desk when they heard her laughing.

“Why didn’t she call Lacey? She isn’t doing anything, she could have stayed with her,” Johnny asked, he was curious.

“She did….a few times. Then I tried calling a few times and tried through the link, Lacey never picked up or answered” Kane replied, keeping his back to him. He didn’t want Johnny to see how pissed it made him, that Lacey was still acting like a child. The fight between him and his sister he was trying to keep between him and his sister. No one else needed to be involved.

Before anymore on the matter could be said, Carter and Marco walked in. Kane immediately had Marco trying to get into Whites email; he wanted to know if White and Carl were communicating.

“Carter what happened at the warehouse?” Kane asked, not wanting to waste any time.

“He was there, but not recently, maybe two days ago, Tuesday for sure. I lost his scent at the property edge to the east. Judging by the tire tracks he’s driving an older model Ford truck.” Kenneth just looked at him.

“Carter has the nose of a bloodhound, he’s our best tracker” Damon said, Kenneth just nodded and added the information to the board.

“Marco talk to me about her files.” Kane said.

“Several clienti abituali, most are….sparpagliato…. Tre tra qui e quello….fuck hole.” Damon snorted as he fought back a laugh over what Marco just called the town they came back from.

“Magnus….give….nome, ma compare il suo indirizzo….più volte….lots per la consegna negli ultimi tre anni. Un PO Scatola, per due anni. Ora sto trovando il terzo Anche la stampa e-mail di White. (For delivery over the last three years. A P.O. Box, for two years. I am finding the third now. White’s email printing as well.)” Marco never once looked up from his computer as he spoke, he just kept working, before anyone else could speak he released a deep growl. “FANCULO!! Questa è Luna!” Kenneth had him out the door as another growl released from him.

“Troverò White, gli strapperò le dita e le seppellirò in una scatola! (I’m gonna find white and rip his fingers off and bury them in a box)” Marco roared from the hallway.

When they looked at the screen there was a photo that White emailed to Carl of her bleeding out on the floor of her loft after the attack that happened to her.

“IT’S DONE!”

“SEND PROOF!” Was the communication between them before the photo was sent? They could hear Kenneth and Marco moving further down the hall and away from the office.

“I think he said something about burying White in a box” Damon remarked, Johnny just nodded.

“He said he’s going to rip his fingers off and bury them in a box” Johnny and Damon turned to Carter,

“How the fuck do you know that?” Damon asked,

“Marco put an app on my phone that translates everytime he speaks Italian, he put one on Luna’s phone as well,” Carter said, holding up his phone.

“And you’re just telling us now?” Damon asked,

“No one asked!” Carter replied.

“He never sent this to Magnus” Kane said more to himself, but they were all listening. “Which means Magnus either knows who he is, or White thinks he does. He wouldn’t taunt the psycho with this, if it put his life in danger.”

“You want to send it to Magnus!” Johnny stated more than asked.

“I want to draw him out. If he thinks she’s seriously injured, and White is to blame he’ll go after White. But this all hinges on Magnus not knowing, Carter was he in the loft?” Kane responded.

“No, he never went up there. That might send him up there though.” Carter replied.

“Good! I want this done without White knowing” Kane said.

“Posso farlo!” They turned to see Marco a lot calmer, roughed up, a bit dirty and a little bloody but calmer. Kenneth entered the room shortly after brushing some dirt from his coat.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Damon asked.

“I let him bury the box of ears” Kenneth answered, Kane looked at Kenneth wide eyed, he just shook his head and put his finger to his lips.

“Appartengono a terra, in una scatola in terra va bene, non in una scatola, in una scatola, in un armadio. (They belong in the ground, in a box in the ground is fine, not in a box, in a box, in a closet.)” Marco sat back down at the computer and started working again.

“Did you kick his ass first?” Johnny asked, looking at Marco.

“I cooled him off!” Kenneth responded,

“Explain!” Kane ordered. Lowering his voice to a hushed tone so Marco couldn’t hear.

“In his condition right now, the ears in the box, the picture of Luna and everything that has and is happening to her set Alejandro off. Marco generally has way better control over him but they are both upset by this. He had an overwhelming need to kill and bury something. He took a few swings at me and I put him down then gave him the box. Until he is completely calm, I wouldn’t expect to hear any English out of him either” Kenneth explained.

“There is a box of decaying ears buried somewhere on the property” this upset Johnny,

“No! There is a box of rocks buried somewhere on the property, what he found to kill I don’t know, but that’s probably buried somewhere on the property as well.” Damon was trying hard to contain himself, but the horrified look on Johnny’s face was making it harder, even Kane had to look away.

“Did you ask him what he killed?” Damon asked, still trying not to break.

“No! And it’s probably for the best” Kenneth replied,

“So there’s a buried something on the property? If it’s in the middle of the yard I’m gonna lose my shit” Johnny said and walked away.

“Ok ho finito. Tutte le e-mail che si inviano l’un l’altro vengono prima da noi. Possiamo anche inviare loro e-mail l’uno dall’altro. (Ok, I’m done. Any emails they send to each other come to us first. We can also send them emails from each other)” Marco interjected, he looked at them all confused. “Cosa ho fatto adesso? (What did I do now?)” He asked, Carter handed his phone to his Alpha so he could read the translation.

“Good, send that photo to Magnus from White” Kane ordered,

“Cosa vuoi che dica? (What do you want it to say?)” Marco asked, looking at him.

“What do you want it to say?” Kenneth translated,

“I know!” Damon walked over to the computer and typed out a message.

“Guarda cosa succede quando hai cani non addestrati a guardia di qualcosa che vuoi proteggere. Posso arrivare anche a lei! (See what happens when you have untrained dogs guarding something you want protected. I can get to her too!)” Marco read out loud, then he attached the photo and hit send. Kane furrowed his brows after he read the translation then looked at Damon,

“I am not untrained!”

“You break the house!” Damon remarked,

“I am not untrained!” Kane growled, Damon just laughed,

“Now what?” Kenneth asked,

“We send sentries back to the warehouse, Magnus will show up there to check, he will want to make sure that White isn’t lying. The loft hasn’t been cleaned up since the attack.” Kane replied,

“With the amount of blood in that photo, it looks like White killed her.” Johnny said “But that’s the idea isn’t it? If Magnus thinks she’s dead, she’ll be safe for now and he’ll go after White.”

“We just need to keep her hidden, while he makes his move on White.” Kenneth added. Damon stood there listening to all this, then started laughing, they seemed to be forgetting something.

“What’s so funny?” Johnny asked, looking at him.

“You all seem to be forgetting something….feisty pants.” He continued after the looks of confusion crossed their faces.

“Sure she’s cooperative now, scared and hiding under the desk watching Scooby-Doo, what happens when she gets brave again? Do you honestly believe she’s going to sit and stay?” Damon asked, looking at all of them.

“No she won’t, but it’s what we have for now, until we come up with something else. Don’t think for one second I don’t know who she is.” Kane glowered.

“Carter take Luna to our room and stay with her.” Kane ordered, he walked over to the desk to retrieve her from under it. Kenneth and Damon turned the whiteboard away so she wouldn’t see anything.

When she crawled out she held Kai and her pillow tightly to her and looked at them all. Though she was small, she always acted bigger than what she was, but seeing her like this, it was the first time she looked small, and none of them liked it. Kane wrapped his arms around her telling her he would see her in a bit and to try and get some sleep.

“Come on Luna, we’ll go watch Scooby-Doo. I like Scooby-Doo, but Brandon never lets me watch it.” Carter urged her out the door.

“When Lydia gets back from Hillcrest she said she’ll come up to see you.” Damon commented, she just nodded and allowed Carter to escort her from the office.

“She’ll get over this, right? What did the doctor say?” Johnny asked, that was his Luna she went from throwing paper weights to hiding under a desk in a matter of weeks.

“She opened a box of ears, we all saw how you reacted when they hit the floor. He said her mind is still trying to process what happened and she would sleep off and on, he wasn’t kidding. The longest I think she has slept is an hour and woke up screaming not to open the box. Mostly it’s 20 minutes here or there, when she wakes up she checks to make sure her ears are still there. Right now she’s scared, let her be scared because when she’s done being scared she’ll get angry and then I’d hate to be Magnus or White or anyone that gets in her way.” Kane replied.

The hours ticked by and they continued working trying to piece together what they could. Magnus did email White back, saying he was a liar and the photo was a fake. They replied back telling him to go check for himself. The mangy mongrel couldn’t even be bothered to clean the mess.

“You’re getting a little too much enjoyment out of this,” Kane muttered to Damon.

“Have to make it authentic!” Damon replied, grinning. Shaking his head, they went back to work. When no more could be done for the night they called it quits. Tomorrow they would go to the warehouse she wanted to pick a few things up and maybe a trip into town and the diner would help take her mind off the ears in the box. Plus he had a town meeting to welcome Alpha Thomas to the council, it was supposed to be today but was pushed back to tomorrow, which was fine with him. Alpha Thomas also messaged Johnny saying he had found something on the security footage he wanted to show them. Tomorrow was shaping up to be a busy day.

Kane climbed the last few steps to their floor and he started down the hall only to stop when he saw Carter sitting on the floor with his head resting on his arms. He approached cautiously, but when he went to open the door Carter took his legs out from under him. They crashed around the floor until Kane pinned Carter to the ground on his stomach.

“Carter, it’s me!” He growled at him,

“Alpha! I….I….I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.” He apologized,

“What are you doing out here?” He asked, as he got off of him.

“Luna was scared that someone was going to take her ears. Lydia showed up and she said she would sit with her and I said I would guard the door. Then Jackie and Seraphine came, but Jackie had to leave because of the kids. The others are still in there, Luna came out a few times to make sure I was still here. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Carter had a terrified look on his face when he realized he attacked his Alpha.

“You protected your Luna, don’t be sorry, but I’m here now, you can go.” Kane reassured him, he bowed and walked down the hall quickly, before Kane could change his mind. Kane watched him walk away before he turned back to the door. When he opened it, what he saw on the other side surprised him. Lydia, Dax and Seraphine were all in the bed cuddled together sleeping soundly. The noise in the hall didn’t even seem to disturb them. He linked Damon and Kenneth to come and get their mates out of the bed. He waited in the hallway for them, he didn’t want to risk them waking his queen up when they knocked on the door.

“What happened here?” Damon asked as he took in the carnage of the hallway. They might have broken a few things when he and Carter scuffled on the floor.

“Carter was protecting his Luna!” Kane replied,

“That boy takes his duty seriously” Kenneth commented as he looked at the dent in the wall. Kane opened the door so they could retrieve their mates and leave him with his.

He walked into the room shaking his head at the events of the day, it was long and tiring. He just wanted to curl up in bed and hold her all night long. He finished up quickly in the bathroom and crawled into the bed beside her. Wrapping his arms around her, she clung to him, to the safety she felt in his arms. He was protection from the demons loose in her head, warmth from the cold that crept through her body, he was home. As long as he was near she was home.

“I love you” he whispered,

“I love you too” she murmured back and held tighter to him.