Wild at Heart

“Hold on, Emma.” She held her hands out to stop me from leaving the room. “What the hell just happened?”

“What do you think happened?” I asked her, finally stopping trying to escape.

“I don’t know, you were just sitting there then you started crying.” She lowered her hands and took a step towards me. “I went over to check on you and I just—” She sighed. “I guess I read the moment wrong, I’m sorry.” She lowered her head in embarrassment.

“It’s alright.” I tried to wave our awkward moment off. “It was just a lot.” I nodded my head. “Overwhelming.” I looked to the door again, wanting nothing but Nick.

“Emma, please don’t go.” I instantly turned to her, her words breaking my heart after hearing them fall from my own lips to Derek just moments ago.

“Why?” I asked her.

“I don’t want to be alone.” The sound of her voice was so weak and childlike. How could I leave her by herself like that? I nodded and sat down on the bed.

“Okay, I’ll stay.” I said. She seemed relieved as she walked over and sat on the bed beside me. I pulled out my cell phone and sent Nick a quick text to check in on him. I couldn’t be sure she wasn’t trying to keep me here to distract me from being with Nick. He text me back rather quickly and I instantly felt at ease. “You have to tell me what’s really going on here, Octavia.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” She looked at her lap like she was afraid to admit something.

“Octavia,” I turned towards her. “When Nick and I were driving into your territory we almost wrecked.” Again, she refused to look up to me. “A wolf ran out in front of our truck.” Still nothing from her. “Octavia?” She finally turned to me and we locked eyes, but with that single look I knew the answer to the question I didn’t ask yet. “It wasn’t you.” I said. She shook her head to confirm. “But you know who it was.” I wasn’t asking, I could tell by her demeanor that she knew exactly who it was.

“He wasn’t trying to hurt you.” She began. “He just wanted to scare you into not coming.” By the size of the wolf and the statement from Octavia, I put together who it was that ran in front of us.

“Why wouldn’t Kendrick want us here?” I asked. “Is he against the alliance?” She instantly shook her head.

“He was trying to protect us.”

“From what?” I asked. “Nick and I aren’t here to harm anyone.”

“From the truth.” She turned away from me again. I slid my hand over to her until it rested on her thigh.

“Octavia, I think I proved how much I trusted you when I took a trip to whatever kind of zombie island I just went to. It’s your turn to trust me.”

“My father’s not who he appears to be.” She turned to me again, tears in her eyes. I tilted my head and raised a brow at her.

“Meaning?” I questioned her further.

“I’m not naïve, I know our pack doesn’t see the world like the other packs do. We’re more open with our sexuality.” She was basically repeating what Nick warned me of, but what did this have to do with her father? “My mother died in battle when Ophelia and I were eleven years old.” Only a year younger than I was when I lost my own mother. “My father was never faithful to her when she was alive, but he took her loss hard.” She cleared her throat as if to stop herself from tearing up again. “He broke it off with all of his mistresses and spent his nights alone, locked in his room.” She turned away from me and began to fiddle with her fingers. “Until about a year after her death he started coming into our bedroom at night. It started with him touching Ophelia and I through our clothes.” She took a deep breath. “But through the years it got worse and worse.” I shuddered at the thought. Every time I was around Reginald, I felt a need to get into the shower and scrub my skin raw and now I know why. He was a disgusting monster. “It happens every night that Ophelia and I are alone. Which is why we bring wolves into bed with us as often as possible.”

“Did Derek know?” I asked her in a whisper.

“He did.” She said with a nod. “Not at first, but I begged him to join our pack so he would be here every night with Ophelia and I. He was going to, but then I found out about you.” She turned to me, her look apologetic. “I don’t blame you, Emma, I was never Derek’s responsibility. But he created a safe place in my head that made it hard to let go.”

“I’m so sorry, Octavia.” She nodded and turned back to her fidgeting fingers.

“My father rapes my sister and I every chance he gets, and he encourages rape between pack members.” She took another breath.

“How is he still Alpha?” I asked. “Has no one questioned him about this?”

“Kendrick isn’t our first Beta, but he’s our smartest.” She began. “The Beta we had while my mother was alive found out and challenged my father’s position. They fought and unfortunately my father won.” Alpha Challenges were always fought to the death, no matter what. “An Omega was chosen as the next Beta and once he found out, the same thing happened.” I guess Reginald isn’t as weak as he seems. “Kendrick was next. But when he found out about us, he put together a group in secret. There’s not many of us, less than half of the pack. The other half are still in the dark about what is going on and the rest are part of the problem.”

“Kendrick is a strong warrior; does he not think he’d win in a fight against Reggie?”

“It’s possible.” She said. “But he doesn’t want to take the chance and have us defenseless again. He used to spend the night with Ophelia, just sitting on the floor while we slept to keep my father away, but he caught on and forced him away. He’s been trying to prepare for us to escape. We were going to move our group and start a new pack together, but the numbers aren’t on our side.” If a small group of wolves left their pack, they would either be picked off by rogues or killed by another pack who owns the territory they tried to run to. They were basically trapped in their own pack. “We’ve been trying to get the pack members who don’t know into the light so that they’d join us, but when Reginald planned a trip to your pack for the alliance, we lost time. Kendrick is so busy with Reginald and all this planning that he doesn’t have any time to slip away from my father to get to our pack members.” So that’s where Kendrick snuck off to last night.

“So, why keep us away?” I asked. “Why would he want to stop Nick and I from coming?”

“He’s not against the alliance.” She repeated.

“But?”

“But with the alliance, my father gets more power. And nothing good comes from giving that man more power.”

“He’s scared of the South pack.” Without the fear he has for that pack, he wouldn’t have tried so hard to make the alliance work.

“Stefan knows Reginald is a rapist.” She stated. “The man is a devil dressed in wolf’s skin if you know what I mean, so being a rapist isn’t exactly a terrible thing to Stefan.”

“Then why is he so afraid of him?”

“My father is a monster, but he considers Stefan a monster. What does that tell you about a wolf when a monster is terrified of him?” I sighed. With this new information, I wish Nick never would have signed that alliance agreement in the first place. “Last night, after you left, I went to Kendrick.” She turned to me and locked her brown eyes on mine and refused to let go. “We came up with the best possible solution for not only us, but our entire pack.”

“Okay.” I nodded and leaned in, waiting to hear what the grand plan was.

“You’ve created quite the reputation for yourself in a short period of time. And Nick’s reputation has been with him for years. You’re a feared couple and the only thing more dangerous than a feared Alpha is a feared mated Alpha.”

“Octavia, I’m confused.” I responded honestly. “What does your pack’s solution have to do with me?”

“We want you to kill my father and take over the pack.”