The Alpha Wants Everything Book 1 The King's Queen

Down in the medical ward, they saw Damon and Lydia talking to a doctor, his grin lighting up his whole face.

“Guess it’s confirmed,” Kane said as they walked past.

“Does he have a black eye?” Kenneth asked, laughing.

“He did say she’s been aggressive.” Johnny laughed. They located her room, and Kane relieved Carter from his post guarding her door but before he could walk in Johnny stopped him.

“Maybe we should knock?” He said,

“That is my mate, I don’t have to knock” Kane argued and opened the door. Seraphine and Jackie were immediately on their feet bowing to him as soon as he entered the room. Giving a nod of acknowledgment but not glancing in their direction he moved to her bedside. He brushed the hair from her face, letting his fingers slide through the tresses, they still held a slight pink tinge but she was no longer caked in her own blood.

“She hasn’t woken up yet” Lacey broke the silence in the room, he stiffened at the sound of her voice. “The doctor said he would be by in a bit to take a look at her.” She added, Kane just nodded but never turned to look at her. Though he would be polite and cordial towards her, Kane still had nothing really to say. Ky however had lot’s to say and none of it was polite or cordial. Get her the fuck out of here! He growled in his head. I don’t want that bitch near our mate! Lacey has shown more and more that she is not ready to grow up, and therefore he still did not want to talk to her. Though it did intrigue him as to why she was here in Dax’s room. Was she finally seeing that there were more people in this world than her? Or was it to save face and this was just where everyone expected her to be? He hoped for the first but he feared it was the latter. It’s the latter, that bitch thinks of no one but herself! Easy Ky! Get her the fuck out of this room and away from our mate before I go Cujo on her! Settle down! NO, she is not to be trusted with our mate! Others were in the room and Carter was on the door! If I ever catch her alone….! NO! I don’t want her near our mate alone! I don’t either! Kane finally had to admit it to himself. He didn’t trust Lacey near Dax anymore than Ky did. Going forward, he would see to it that those two were never alone together.

“Who cleaned her up?” He asked when he finally said something.

“We did, sir! It was right if she woke up covered in blood. We got as much as we could off of most of her.” He didn’t recognize that voice, he turned slightly to see a mousy little thing, maybe 26 standing beside Jackie. She was taller than Jackie who was 5’9 but tiny in build. But then ballerinas are small in build. Her curly black hair framed her slender face and her olive skin tone made her chocolate brown eyes pop.

“Seraphine?” He asked, looking from the girl to Kenneth, he didn’t get a chance to meet her and the one time he did see her was when she was cuddled up next to his mate sleeping.

“Yes sir!” She spoke, keeping her head slightly turned down, Kenneth moved to stand beside her after Kane’s eyes flashed azure blue for a minute. Ky was curious about the voice as well and wanted to see the girl it belonged to.

“Thank you” he turned away from her, but not before he heard her release the breath she was holding. He could hear Johnny snickering behind him.

“Way to terrify her!” Johnny’s voice rang in his head.

“Ky was curious about the voice!” Kane replied.

“And you couldn’t tell him no!” Even in his head Johnny was laughing.

“Sometimes it’s best to give him what he wants! Better she sees him in a good mood first, then in a bad one!” Kane said, justifying letting Ky have a look as well.

“Is that how you want to explain it to Kenneth?” Johnny asked, still laughing.

Kane couldn’t help the crooked grin that appeared on his face.

“We’ll leave and give you some time with her.” Kenneth said, taking Seraphine with him.

“Seraphine!” Kane’s voice was low.

“Yes sir!” She swallowed hard, her voice just above a whisper.

“Welcome to the Blood Howlers” he once more turned to look at her, letting her see the crooked grin on his face.

“You asshole!” Kenneth smirked. Johnny cracked up laughing.

“Thank you sir!” She replied, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Once he was alone in the room with her, he pressed his lips to hers, but she didn’t kiss him back. Realizing now he took being able to kiss her whenever he wanted for granted. He wanted to feel her lips move under his, he longed for it, he would move mountains to get back that feeling. When she woke up he’d kiss her everyday, no matter how many fires it ignited in him, he’d kiss her, he’d never stop. He held her tiny hand in one of his, while his other ran through her hair. Fighting with everything he had to keep it together, he needed to give her strength.

“Our fairy tale doesn’t end here, little mouse. We have a whole future ahead of us. You and I have big plans, I don’t know what they are, but they’re big and we’ll figure them out together, but you need to open your eyes, I can’t make them without you.” He pressed his lips to her forehead.

“You fight, I fight” he whispered. He stayed like that, just holding her hand and running his fingers through her hair, until a knock came to the door. Placing one last kiss, he went to answer the door. The solemn face of the doctor greeted him on the other side.

“Alpha!” He bowed and entered the room when Kane stepped to the side. He immediately moved to start checking her over. He checked her pulse, her heart and her lungs.

“I need to turn her over to check her back.” Kane nodded and together they gently rolled her onto her stomach. He opened the back of her gown, there was still a lot that needed to be cleaned, her creamy skin was stained crimson with her blood. As gently as he could the doctor checked her injury, it looked worse this time than it did last time.

“Why does it look worse?” Kane asked, his concern growing.

“When she was hit, her back ripped the sutures out of the skin around the laceration. The more she moved the more they ripped. Before we could repair the damage we had to remove them all. This will need to be cleaned before I can treat the wound any further. I can send a nur….” The doctor was saying,

“I’ll clean it myself” Kane interrupted him, he could see around the waist of her panties that there was blood underneath them. He didn’t want any blood on her when she woke up. The doctor nodded, said he would get him what he needed and then he would be back to treat her wound.

Supplies gathered, he started the process of cleaning her back.

“Last time I did this you were awake, and I tried to go slow.” He gently wiped the blood from her back exposing her creamy skin. Maybe it was just all the blood that made it look worse. No, that looks pretty bad! Not helping Ky! When will she wake up! When she’s strong enough! When will that be! When she is! That is not an answer! I don’t have an answer Ky! Kane snapped at him in his head. That’s all you had to say! Sorry, I’m….! Just trying to keep it together! Yeah! Maybe just let it go! What good will losing control do! Might feel better! I won’t feel better until she’s awake and in my arms in our bed and nothing is trying to get her! Until then you’ll be grumpy! I’m not grumpy! You’re grumpy and slightly disturbed! I am not disturbed! You let me scare Kenneth’s mate and thought it was funny! Ok, I did do that! Slightly disturbed! I would prefer unhinged! We’re passed unhinged, we’re borderline deranged at this point! The shrink would have a field day with this! Let’s just not tell him! I am shocked it hasn’t come up that we need to talk to him! They’re all probably too afraid to tell us! That is not a bad thing, I don’t want to talk to anyone! Me either, I want to kill someone! I want to kill Magnus! I want to kill White! There I spoke to someone! I don’t think this counts! I feel better don’t you! Yes! How come we don’t play 1000 ways to die? Because you only know one way to kill people! What’s wrong with ripping things to pieces? Nothing, but the game is 1000 ways to die! I wanna play! Strung and quartered! Rip them to pieces! Boiled alive! Rip them to pieces! Electrocution! Rip them to pieces! Games done, you win! Yes I do! Kane shook his head at the deranged psychotic wolf laughing in his head.

He had finished cleaning the rest of the blood off of her and the doctor came and treated her wound and helped him roll her back over. He was now sitting right beside her bed, his hand covering hers reading the emails between Carl and Magnus. He found a pad of paper and a pen and started writing down any possible clue as to who White could be. A quiet knock came to the door, he debated ignoring it, but when the knock came again he figured he better answer it. When he opened the door, Damon stood there, stepping aside, Kane let him enter the room.

“I thought you’d be with Lydia!” Kane said, returning to his chair by her bed.

“She’s having a nap, I’m too wired to sleep, so I figured I’d come down and sit with feisty pants for a bit before Lydia clocked me again.” Damon pulled a chair by the bed. Kane smiled, noticing the bruise around his eye was now sickly green.

“Why did she hit you?” Kane asked,

“She didn’t want to leave the room and see a doctor. She apologized immediately after she did it, and then understood why we needed to go talk to a doctor.” Damon explained,

“And?” Kane asked,

“Better and better!” The grin that spread across his face, confirmed what they already expected.

“Congrats brother!” Though he was happy for Damon he couldn’t help the tinge of jealousy that rippled through him. Knowing everything he knew, that might never be him. She would have to wake up first and even then they weren’t guaranteed a future after the blue moon. He looked at her lying in the bed beside him and covered her hand with his again.

“Hey, it’ll be you too” Damon tried to be reassuring.

“How do you know?” Kane asked, looking at him.

“The same way I knew she was my sister, I can feel it. There’s gonna be a little Kane running around out there with a little Johnny and a little Damon, causing all kinds of shit. They’re gonna be way worse than we were. Don’t lose hope brother!” Kane could only nod his head.

“Between the three nutjobs hunting her and the approaching Blue Moon, not sure how much I have left. Every time she ends up back here I hope that’s it, it’s done and she doesn’t have to go through anymore, but then she ends up back here again worse than before and each time a little more chips away.” This time it was Damon’s turn to just nod.

“Hate to add another layer, but I did some reading in the book. The third trial is a past event, more specifically an unfinished event that is going to reoccur.” Damon said after a while.

“Something left unfinished in the past is going to reoccur so it can be finished in the present?” Kane questioned,

“Yup! We know it’s not your past, so it has to be something from hers. The only thing I can think of big enough to be a tragedy is when Carl tried to kill her.” Damon replied,

“But he tried last Wednesday and we prevented it then and then killed them both. If that was the reoccurring tragedy then this should be over, it’s not we’re still hunting three nut jobs” Kane countered,

“I don’t know brother!” Damon rubbed his hand over his face, this was making his brain hurt. Anything in her past could come back and bite them.

“Getting anywhere with the emails?” He asked,

“Not enough to be conclusive, these things are all over the place. But Magnus clearly doesn’t like someone else wanting what is his” Kane replied, going back to the emails, to find the one.

“From Magnus. Why does your dog want what was clearly promised to me? Why is it doing this? Does it want to die? I have no problems burying it with the rest of the waste. From Carl. Why does it bother you that another boy wants her? Maybe this boy is more deserving than you. You may have been promised her, but you have not shown you deserve to have her. Prove to me you deserve her, and I’ll make the others go away. From Magnus. Do you know how to kill a pit viper Carl? Remove its fangs, and it’ll eventually starve to death. I don’t need to prove anything to you, I’ll make them disappear.” Kane read the email.

“Wow! He’s a homicidal little bastard!” Damon remarked. Kane just nodded.

“Not to add any more confusion into the mix, but something doesn’t make sense, White has tried to kill her a few times now. The fire at the art gallery, the attack last Wednesday, and I bet $100 that the car was him as well. But he wants her for someone else? If he wants her then why is he hell bent on trying to kill her?” Damon asked, that doesn’t make sense. Once more they fell into silence.

Oh little one! I am so sorry for the plight you have been through, this was never meant to happen. It was not my design. One more time little one, one more time! Fight one more time, open your eyes. The voice swirled around her mind, urging her, encouraging her to open her eyes, but she was tired, so very tired. She wasn’t sure if she had the strength to fight anymore. Last time little one, last time! Fight for yourself, fight for your life, fight for him, for them! For the family that needs you. Last time! She fought and struggled and pushed herself one more time to open her eyes, to focus on her surroundings. Voices faded in and out, she couldn’t make out what they were saying, they were garbled and low. It was too much, too hard. One thing and the rest will come! Kane tells her all the time one thing, focus on one thing not everything at once. The sounds, the smells, the feelings. Focusing her strength on what she was feeling, pain so much pain. Her back hurt, her body hurt, too much pain swirled through her, around her, filling her with despair. Then she felt it, small at first a warmth, a comfort, she focused on that and the feeling started to grow. Surrounding her, quieting the noise in her head, a calm washed over her, filling her, dulling the pain her body felt. There was a presence with her that was powerful, she could feel it, but it was warm, welcoming, inviting. It was home. One more push, one more time. She wasn’t done yet, she had to save him.

“Damon move!”

Kane and Damon’s heads snapped in her direction as her voice rang out loud breaking the silence of the room. They looked at each other then back at Dax.

“There’s a car!” her voice was quiet and dropped off at the end.

“Baby?” They were both on their feet by her bedside. Her eyes were still closed. “Get the doctor!” Kane ordered and Damon was out the door hunting the doctor.

“Baby? Open your eyes baby, open your eyes” he ran his fingers through her hair. His hand still covering hers, he could feel her struggling to keep a grip on his fingers.

“Come on baby, come on, open your eyes for me please” Kane was whispering to her.

Damon rushed back in the room pulling the doctor with him.

“So tired!” Her voice was barely audible.

“Ok baby ok, you rest, build your strength.” He kissed her forehead as she fell back into unconsciousness.

“This is a good sign!” Both Kane and Damon looked at the doctor. “There was some concern with the amount of blood she lost. But if she’s talking it means she’s fighting, the more she rests the stronger she’ll become. My hopes are high for recovery.” The doctor explained.

“A full recovery?” Damon said, looking from him to her.

“Time will tell, but the outlook is promising” The doctor didn’t want to give them false hope, by saying yes. He did a quick examination of her instructed that they turn her on her side in a few hours and then left the room.

“You’re not coming back to the office are you?” Damon asked as he watched Kane sit back down in the chair.

“You heard him, she’s fighting, and as long as she’s fighting there’s hope and I won’t let her fight alone.” Kane said,

“I call the couch!” Damon replied sitting down.

“I outrank you” Kane said,

“I’m her brother!” Damon countered,

“I’m her mate!” Kane fired back,

“I still called dibs! We’ll get another couch” Damon said grinning. Kane knew arguing with Damon about staying in her room was pointless, he wasn’t leaving.

“Still want to have that talk?” Kane asked, wearing his own grin. She may not have opened her eyes, but she spoke. He didn’t fully understand what she said, but it was important.

“Nah! Don’t need to. You’ll die first before you let anything happen to her….present circumstances excluded of course” Damon replied, picking the journal back up.

“This thing’s boring, can I have the emails instead. Why did Magnus even take it?” Damon complained, holding it out to Kane.

“It’s boring is not a ringing endorsement for me to want to read it.” Kane replied, shaking his head.

“Why did he take it?” Damon repeated,

“Maybe he wanted to know what she was saying about him” Kane shrugged,

“It has no answers, it just refers to the boy as D, no actual name. D could be any name, Dave, Derek, Drew, Daniel. Could even be a nickname.” Damon said,

“What about the other woman?” Kane asked,

“Mentions a sister, but doesn’t say whether it’s D’s mom, her sister or Carl’s sister and she’s only mentioned once then never again. Most of this is either her wondering about Magnus and whether she made the right choice, or just ramblings of a very depressed woman.” Damon answered with a sigh. Kane put the emails on the table beside him and rubbed his eyes.

“These are giving me a headache, they all sound positively insane” Kane said. “Reading them is like reading a book with mixed up pages.”

“Marco, Johnny and Kenneth should be in the office waiting for us.” Damon said.

“I don’t want to leave her. She woke up once, I don’t want her to wake up alone” Kane replied, looking over at her in the bed.

“I’ll stay, that way you can also grab her some things from your room. Like something for her feet, they’re freezing.” Damon said,

“Her feet are always freezing” Kane uttered,

“Lydia’s too, what the fuck is that about?” Damon asked,

“I don’t know, it’s gotta be a woman thing.” Kane shrugged, shaking his head.

“Then they put them on you. Like we’re supposed to warm them up, first time Lydia did that I damn near jumped out of the fucking bed. Now I pretty much brace for it every night, pray for frigid but they always end up being subzero” Damon stated, causing Kane to laugh.

“I fell out of the bed, it felt like ten little icicles on my back, I had to check to make sure they weren’t blue with how cold they were.” Kane admitted Damon cracked up laughing and he could only nod his head in agreement.

“It’s like they have a mind of their own and gravitate towards the warmth.” Kane added, though with how many nights they spent apart, he missed the tiny frozen assault.

“I got this.” Damon urged him to go.

“I won’t be long” Kane got up, with one last look at her he walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Damon waited till he heard Kane walking down the hallway before he spoke to her.

“Hey little sis! I can actually call you that, cause you actually are my little sister. Who knew? I did, I knew, I knew there was something about you the second I saw you. I think you did as well. You acknowledged it first, it was right there on the tip of my tongue, but you beat me to it.” He placed his hand over hers gently curling his fingers around it “You know you were the first person to tell me you loved me and actually mean it, you were the first person I ever said it to. You’re the strongest person I know, and if you tell anyone this I’ll deny it, but you’re my fucking hero. You’ve been through some shit but you’re still fighting, we’re Gamma’s it’s in our blood. I may not be the most dependable or reliable guy to others, but I promise I got your back, you can count on me. You fight, I fight. So you keep fighting and just know that I’m right there fighting with you.” He felt the tears rolling down his cheeks, but it was the movement of her fingers under his that had his breath catching. He sat there silent, not moving, not saying a word, feeling her find the strength to let him know she heard him, she was listening, she was still fighting. It was when her fingers relaxed and stopped moving that he released the breath he held.

“I love you too lil sis!” He whispered. Never removing his hand from hers, he picked up the emails Kane was reading and started from the very first one. Maybe he could find something Kane missed.

Kane walked into the office, and sure enough they were all waiting for him, but he had no desire to stay there, he wanted to be by her side. She woke up once, he wanted to be there when she did it again.

“Get up! We’re moving to the medical ward” Kane ordered, Marco was already on his feet gathering items.

“What? Why?” Johnny asked standing,

“She woke up!” Kane replied,

“She’s awake!” Kenneth asked,

“No! She spoke, the doctor says that’s a good sign, if she’s talking it means she’s fighting.” Kane walked out of the room after that. He moved quickly to their floor and gathered a few things for her and him, he also grabbed a quick shower and was back down in the medical ward. When he walked into her room he saw they grabbed not one, but two other couches and a few more chairs. Marco had set his computer, Magnus’s laptop and the printer up in the corner, while Johnny and Kenneth had taken a whiteboard from one of the rooms and were going through everything they knew and what they still had questions about. Damon and Carter had also gone on a food run.

They moved around the room, as quietly as they could filling in the board, with what they could figure out and writing questions they needed answered. The trace came back on the third address. It was a storage locker at the edge of town and they made plans to visit it tomorrow.

“There’s still the third trial as well.” Kenneth reminded them,

“That’ll be a fun one to figure out” Johnny agreed,

“Well we know, it’s an unfinished past event that will come back. Like unfinished business, and it wasn’t when Carl tried to kill her either time. So it’s something else.” Damon said,

“And it’s her past, nothing in my past is unfinished.” Kane added, Muffled whispers swirled around him, he couldn’t make out what the words were. CHANGE THE WAY YOU’RE LOOKING AT IT! The voice was sharp, piercing and loud in his mind. Like it was trying to get through but wasn’t able to. Kane flinched at the sharp sound, pressing his palm to his head.

“What’s the matter?” Damon asked,

“I don’t know!” Kane said, giving his head a shake. ….grrrr….YOU STUPID DING DONGS, YOU’RE NOT FUCKING LISTENING! Again Kane grabbed his head. FUCKING PAY ATTENTION. YOU’RE NOT LOOKING AT IT RIGHT!

“Kane!” Damon grabbed him before he hit the ground.

“Stop yelling!” Kane groaned. IT’S NOT HER!

“No one’s yelling!” Damon eased him into one of the chairs.

“Someone’s yelling” shaking his head again.

“None of us are yelling.” Johnny said, growing concerned.

“She’s yelling,” Kenneth said, pointing in her direction.

Looking in the direction of her hospital bed a pair of glowing amethyst eyes stared back at them. HOLY FUCK I DID IT! YOU CAN HEAR ME!

“Stop yelling!” He growled at her covering his ears. Fucking listen and I won’t have to yell. I’ve been screaming at you idiots the last few trips here hoping someone would hear me and you all have boulders for brains.

“She’s getting stronger!” Johnny commented,

“She’s fucking belligerent!” Kane snapped. Aww. Big fucking baby! Did I hurt your widdle feelings? Finally one of you can hear me and I get stuck with the fucking cranky one. Why couldn’t I talk to the funny one? How does she put up with you? Kane just stared at her. He could hear Ky howling in his head. Oh fuck, this is gold finally someone sees what I’m dealing with! Stop laughing and talk to her! Fine, but this is funny, I like her!

“What’s she saying?” Kenneth asked,

“She’s been trying to scream at us for days, and we have boulders for brains,” Kane repeated what she said.

“Well that’s not very nice!” Damon looked at her. Tell the brother wolf we can do warm and fuzzy later!

“She knows who you are!” Kane said, looking at Damon. I can’t talk to her, she’s not strong enough! Ky told him. HEY DIPSHIT! WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR PARLOUR TRICKS! Kane grabbed his head again. If you want her to survive this, you need to shut up and listen!

“What?” Kane’s head snapped back to her. Figured that would get your damn attention, considering you don’t think with your big head.

“What are you talking about?” Kane asked. I don’t have a lot of time, she’s…...strong…...hold…...but you’re not looking…...right. It’s…….separate events…...them…...whole…...her…...but not…...event…...tied…...it’s…...chance……

“You’re not clear.” Kane watched as her eyes started to get heavy, and the voice cut in and out. He was losing the link between him and her wolf. Too…...stand back…...change…...look at it…..her eyes closed and the voice was gone.

“Wait…..FUCK!!” Kane growled out,

“What happened? What did she say?” Johnny asked, they all looked at each other then looked at Kane.

“I lost the link, she wasn’t strong enough to hold it.” Kane said, rubbing his head.

“What did she say?” Johnny repeated,

“We’re not looking right, separate events, them, whole, event, tied, chance. Stand back, change look at it.” Kane summed up what was said as best he could. “It was like tuning in a radio, it was coming in, in bits and pieces.”

“Now we need to figure out how those bits and pieces go together.” Kenneth said as he was writing what was said on the board.

“The first thing she said was, change the way you’re looking at it. Said we’re not looking at it right.” Kane said,

“Stand back, could mean we’re looking to close. Stand back and change the way we’re looking at it.” Damon said.

“Their all separate events, Magnus and her, White and her, and the third trial, but how does the third nut case fall into the mix?” Kenneth mused,

“Then what the hell does the rest of it mean?” Damon asked. Kane looked at the board then looked at her. He was pulling the pieces together. Separate events, separate tragedies, three strikes to get it right. Her and Magnus, her and White, her and nut job number 3. No, they would only get one shot at the third trial. It wasn’t the attack at the warehouse. It wasn’t the attack in the bathroom at Magnus’s and it wasn’t the car. The third trial is a big event, one event, something that didn’t happen. So what didn’t happen?

“What if they’re not separate events but a whole event, one event. One that didn’t get a chance to happen.” Kane said, looking at the board. NOW YOU’RE THINKING WITH YOUR BIG HEAD! Kane groaned and grabbed his head. Not sorry! Kane looked over at her, her eyes were still closed, but the voice was back.

“She’s back?” Damon asked,

“I don’t know, I think it takes a lot of energy for her to come through. It would be great if she talked and not yelled. But I think we’re on the right track.” Kane said…..hear…..talk…..yell.

“Focus works!” Kane snipped. Focus works….easy for you to say, I’m learning this shit on my own.

“That’s just fucking weird, brother you’re talking to yourself” Damon shook his head,

“Do you want her talking in your head?” Kane asked, Can I talk in his head?

“No! No I don’t! I’d rather talk to my sister.” Damon said and went back to the whiteboard. Brother wolf big mad!

“Maybe it’s not her event. Magnus threatened to Kill Carl multiple times but never got to, you beat him to it.” Carter said. Oooo…...him! Kane waited for her to continue, but all fell quiet. He lost her again.

Damn it! Ok one more last try, now what did mountain wolf say to do….focus. They talk to each other through a link, I can too. Just focus, one last time. Ok brother wolf your turn.

“That can’t come back, Carl’s dead.” Damon said. YES IT CAN!

“Ow!” Damon grabbed his head. Hey I did it!

“Get the fuck outta my head!” Damon hissed at her. LISTEN! Damon hit his knees groaning, still holding his head.

“Ok! Just don’t do that anymore” You need to listen, I don’t have time. Magnus tried to kill Carl, it’s why Carl tried to kill her.

“What?” Damon asked, Listen! He found out where she was and came to the house.

“When?” Damon grabbed a pen and some paper and started writing. Maybe a month or two before. Carl promised she was fine and healthy, but when he saw the house, he knew Carl lied. But there was someone else there.

“Who?” Don’t know, some bitch. He was hella fucking mad. He jumped on Carl and just started hitting him, he was about to smash his head in with a rock when the bitch pulled him off. Bitch shoulda minded her own fucking business, dirty hoe. Damon bit a chuckle back, he no longer wondered where she got her mouth from.

“Dax saw her?” No!

“You took over?” I protected her! Don’t know how I did it but I did.

“It wasn’t the first time was it?” I couldn’t protect her from all of them, just the really, really, really bad ones. She was starting to fade from his mind.

“NO! Hold on, would you know her if you saw her?” Ye…..

“Where’s that photo, the family one?” They all started frantically looking for it.

“Here, here!” Johnny gave it to him. “Can she even see it though?”

“I don’t know.” Damon moved to her bedside “Open your eyes, come on open your eyes” Too…...can’t…...tired!

“Come on! Fight, open your eyes.”

Give her strength! The voice was a whisper in Kane’s head, it was the same one that spoke to him outside of Magnus’s warehouse. Kane moved towards the bed, he placed his hands on either side of her head. They all watched the scene unfold, and when her eyes shot open.

“Holy fuck!” Johnny said, stepping back. HER! This time Johnny hit the floor holding his head. Oops! Maybe I need better focus!

“You think! Go yell in their heads” Johnny snapped. Don’t get pissy at me, I’m new at this! Kenneth backed away from Johnny.

“I’m sorry darling, but you’re loud when you come through” Johnny said to her. Sorry! I was trying for boulder head over there, but I’m getting tired and it takes a lot of energy!

“Which one‘s boulder head?” Johnny asked, snickering looking back and forth between Kane and Damon. Take your pick! But it’s her, it’s her, it’s her. Carl has his arm around her. She’s the bitch that pulled Magnus off!

“Are you sure?” Johnny asked. Yes, that’s her! Shoulda left him the fuck alone and let him bash his brains in. Marco could bury him in the yard!

“That’s not funny!” Johnny huffed. It’s kinda funny!

“Is it her?” Damon asked,

“No, it was Maria Whitekar that pulled Magnus off, not the other woman. Did you see the other woman before? What about the other boy?” Never seen her before, but the boy looks familiar! I’m...I’m…I’m getting I’m getting really tired!

“You saw him when you were younger?” Johnny asked. Um...what? No, um….soon! No, what? Johnny could feel her starting to fade from his mind.

“You saw him?” Johnny asked again. Ye...yes, a few times, I’m tired, I’m really tired!

“When did you see him?” Johnny asked. Recen…. Her voice faded out and her eyes closed.

They all stood there quietly waiting to see if she would come back seconds turning into minutes. After 20 minutes it was clear she was not going to make another appearance Johnny spoke.

“She’s as nuts as you” He said to Kane,

“Me?” Kane asked,

“She said Maria should have left him alone to bash Carl’s brains in with a rock. Then made a joke about Marco burying him in the yard.” Johnny snipped, Kane barely bit back a snicker.

“It’s not funny” Johnny huffed,

“It’s kinda funny!” Kane hid his grin behind his hand.

“That’s what she said,” Johnny glared at him.

“What do we know now?” Kenneth asked,

“Magnus tried to kill Carl, but Maria pulled him off.” Johnny replied,

“That happened a month or two prior to Carl trying to kill her, she thinks it’s why he tried.” Damon added,

“And the other boy from the photo I think she was trying to say she saw him recently. Maybe walking around town? But she also said she saw him a few times” Johnny offered,

“But he can’t kill Carl, Carl’s already dead!” Kenneth interjected,

“No, but he can use White as a replacement for Carl.” Kane stated, “Didn’t Magnus tell White he was hunting a bigger target? Maybe Magnus is hunting White. Might be another reason why he hasn’t taken her yet.” He added after a bit.

“But how does that involve her?” Damon asked.

“In his mind it would be safer for him to get to her. If Magnus killed Carl all those years ago, he would have taken her then. He was the only thing standing in the way.” Johnny responded,

“So he thinks the only thing standing in his way now is White? What about us?” Damon posed another question,

“He doesn’t know what we are or what kind of threat we pose to him. We are keeping her safe from who he thinks the bigger threat is.” Kenneth answered,

“Well we were until we sent that photo to him.” Johnny said,

“Now we wait and see what he says, Marco said Magnus hasn’t replied back yet.” Kenneth commented,

“Maybe he won’t reply back, and a dead body will just show up in town somewhere” Damon said,

“The third nut job fits into all of this, how?” Johnny asked,

“That’s what we need to figure out” Kane said, looking back at her,

As the night progressed they slowly started to drop off, Marco fell asleep in the chair next to his computer. Johnny stretched out on one of the couches. Carter on the floor in the corner. Damon and Kenneth took the other two couches.

“So much for getting a couch” Kane grumbled, trying to make himself comfortable across two chairs. Psst boulder head, are you awake!

“And so much for sleep?” Kane uttered, he looked over at her. Glowing amethyst eyes stared back at him. Don’t be a grumpy boulder head, I’m getting better at it, at least I didn’t yell!

“Do you not know my name?” He asked. I do! But I like boulder head. Boulders go with mountains. What does Fido call you? Cause I can call you that if you’d prefer! Kane thought about that for a moment.

“I’d prefer my name, but boulder head is preferable to asshole.” Kane replied. I don’t have much more time, she’s getting stronger and she’ll wake up soon. But there’s something I need to tell you! Relief flooded through him as he looked at her, not answering he just waited for her to continue. That woman, what’s her name?

“Maria?” Yeah that bitch, it wasn’t the first time she came to the house. She would show up from time to time trying to convince Carl to give us to her. Said we didn’t deserve the life we were given. Carl threatened to kill her, but she said this is the first place they’d look if something ever happened to her. Something about a note. Magnus followed her the day he tried to kill Carl. She looked shocked to see him there. But there’s something else!

“What?” There was somebody else there that day. There were four shadows on the ground!

“Did you see the fourth person?” No, just the shadow!

“Could you tell if it was a male or female? No! But there were four of them. It helped pull Magnus off! Maybe that fourth person was White! Did the funny one tell you about the boy?

“You think you saw him recently?” I don’t think it, I know I did. Ok it might not have been recently, recently, maybe a few months ago recently. But something scared her and she froze in place!

“And you came forward” I fought like hell, but I saw this guy staring at her. It was hella scary the way he was looking at her. He watched her as I watched him, I had to get her the fuck out of there!

“And you’re sure it was the boy from the picture?” Positive, I’ve seen him before at the house. A boy’s face would appear in the window sometimes as Carl beat us, he always looked angry. Sometimes after I would hear singing!

“How can you be certain?” The eyes. He looks friendly, but the devil hides behind them. Magnus might be crazy, this guy was evil! Kane nodded letting that sink in.

“You protect her” I couldn’t protect her from all of it, I tried but I couldn’t. She has holes in her memory and she’ll always have them. Like when Carl kicked us down the stairs, she remembers him raising his foot and waking up at the bottom of the stairs in an immense amount of pain with three broken fingers. But she doesn’t remember hitting every step on the way down thinking one wrong hit and our neck could snap. She won’t remember having to relocate her elbow and shoulder. I passed out from the pain after that!

“When did you start talking to her?” Kane wanted to know. I’ve always been there, but she could finally hear me around 6, maybe 7 years old!

“Why do you hate Maria?” That bitch! We spent a lot of time alone in that house, at any point she could have just come and taken us away, but she didn’t. She chose to ask him instead, if she really wanted to save us like she claimed, she wouldn’t have asked! She had a point, why didn’t Maria just take her away?

“Maybe she was afraid Magnus would hurt her” Magnus would have settled down and stopped killing kitties if she was there!

“That doesn’t make me feel better!” Aside from scaring her a few times, what has he done to her?

“Tried assaulting her at the art show, then tried to roast her alive!” Kane said. She beat him with a napkin dispenser! She got him there. Dax did more damage to him, then he did to her. I’m surprised you don’t see any similarities between you two!

“What are you talking about?” He tried to kill Carl, you succeeded in killing Carl. He’s going to try and kill White for what he did, you’re also hunting White for what he did. Don’t get me wrong you’re not cutting off people’s ears because she has a scar, that’s just a little fucked up, but do you see where I’m going with this….?

“I do!” He doesn’t love her though, not like you, he loves the idea of her, the third nut job is the one you have to worry about!

“What do you mean?” Sometimes he would talk to her, tell her how sorry he was that this was happening to her. When he got bigger no one would hurt her again. He would protect her, keep her safe! Kane let that sink in, it pretty much confirmed what he already thought. He’s not crazy!

I don’t have much time left, before I become the voice in the back of her head again. Ask the question!

“What question?” How come I know who Carl is but she doesn’t?

“I think I already know, but why don’t you tell me” I made him a monster in her head so she wouldn’t have to be afraid every time she saw his fugly face!

“You’re kind of an aggressive little thing” You would be too if the only thing you could do was sit on the sidelines for 20 years watching the shit I’ve seen. ….grrrr….what was that?

“That was you! Do you know what you are?” It is becoming more clear that I am not just a voice in her head!

“No, you’re not!” We’re like you aren’t we?

“Yeah!” Have fun explaining that!

“Thanks!” Anytime boulder head! Oh, sorry about the paper weights!

“That was you” Not technically, but it was my idea to throw them. My defence, you were sketchy as fuck! Then you kept coming back, started breaking down her walls, gaining her trust, keeping your word. We started to like you. The hell almost made me feel bad!

“Couldn’t have that now could we?” Right! But I made it up to you, you’re welcome by the way!

“For what?” The reverse strip tease. Granted my idea was to make you drool. She chose the horny as hell in need of a cold shower route! Again Kane just laughed.

“You gave her courage” No! You gave her courage, you still do, something about the way you look at her. I just encourage it. It’s time! Keep her stubborn little ass out of trouble!

“I’ll try!” Then all went silent in his mind. He sat there for a while in the darkness, in the quiet. Replaying the conversation he just had. Never asked her name! Ky whined. I doubt she would know, considering she thought she was just a voice! I couldn’t talk to my mate! You would like her, she has a language issue, Martina would have a field day! She called me Fido! She called me boulder head, I feel bad for you! Could have let her call you asshole? And take that away from you! You do like me! No I don’t! Yes you do! Goodnight Fido! Goodnight boulder head!