Chapter 6
Samuel
I hobbled all the way to the med bay. Kyle was his usual helpful, non-talkative self. The fucker could have swept me up honeymoon style and singled handily make the trek in less time than it took for him to hoist me half on half off his shoulders. I have seen the asshole bench press weights three times my size without breaking a sweat. No, he preferred to assist me with brooding silence, which spoke volumes. This was another long mark in my book of disappointments. No wonder Naja was angry he practically threaten to kill me. I deserved it everything his sadistic mind can think up. If he wanted to snap my neck like a twig or rip my throat out as he so elegantly put it. After all the times, he turned a blind eye to my stupid decisions, thinking rightfully so that it was just a phase. I had been a sullen pain-in-the-ass handful.
During his explosion, I desperately wanted to shout have at it put me out of my misery. Strangely, I kept my mouth shut, and they said I couldn’t be taught. My brother’s tirade had told me one thing my ignorance had missed, Naja had a breaking point, her name was Charlotte.
All my life I had pushed the boundaries, using my dead absentee parents---no fault of their own that my father's brother was a sociopath, and the secrets buried deep within my subconscious as scapegoats for the things I did.
I often wondered if my gifts had somehow protected me from the evil I witnessed that day by the cliff. It certainly sealed my mouth shut for the better part of ten years. So much so that Naja became worried. He believed I had suffered some inexplicable illness stunting my development, not like he could have asked my mother why her youngest had stopped talking for no apparent reason.
Disclosing what I knew seemed less prudent considering my brothers' lives were on the line. Forget about avenging my parents. I had to keep Naja and Kyle safe, so I did what Micah ordered me to. I kept my mouth closed back then. Several years later, Naja killed Micah, took over the pack. All was well. Expect for the memory I had unknowingly repressed, forgotten, shrouded in darkness, lost for so many years, while I moved on with my life, finding my place in the pack as Naja’s third. One day it just appeared. It reared its ugly head, a nuclear bomb detonating inside my carefully constructed walls. Destroying everything in its wake. In the last year, I have gone from responsible Samuel in charge of defenses surrounding the pack lands to fuck up Samuel, the drunk, starting fights for females that could never be mine.
How ironic the master of memory manipulation was being manipulated by his own mind. I tampered with the memory of so many, causing untold trauma without care. Finally, I received a taste of my own medicine.
If my dad was alive, he would have been just as disappointed in me as Naja, when he found me passed out in the forest of the pack lands, or in a ditch behind Miller's Bar? Naja was more of a surrogate parent than a brother. He’d sacrificed most of his childhood to run interference with Micah’s cruelty. Never asking why our last remaining relative hated me so much? Naja became one of Micah’s henchmen, so Kyle and I didn’t have to, and I repaid his loyalty and love by lying to his face every time he asked me what was going on. If he ever found out my secret, it would kill the last piece of his soul stolen by Micah Greyson. I would rather die than let that happen.
Glancing at Kyle, I felt the anger radiating off his bulky frame like a second skin. The skin on his forehead pinched tightly, his jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed to slits when his eyes sort out mine. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment, I quickly averted my eyes, unable to see the disappointment in my brother’s eyes. Disappointing Kyle and pissing off Naja in one day was new and not likely a good thing. It seemed they both wanted to beat the shit out of me at the same time.
His anger was warranted, and so was Naja’s. He practically sent his mate away to keep her safe, and I almost put her in danger. Andrew Greyson was as demented as his dad, maybe even more so. I knew his minions frequented Millers Bar, and in the back of my mind I knew stepping into that bar was a mistake. Still, I ignored the warning, the telltale signs that my decision-making was being impaired by alcohol. What the hell was wrong with me? When couldn’t I get my shit together?
“I don’t know what the fuck is going on in that head of yours lately, but I suggest you figure it out quick,"
Kyle, words started me for a moment I hadn't expected him to talk to me. He usually ignored me for days after I did something stupid he said it was to cool his temper, otherwise, he would give me the trashing I rightfully deserved.
"I may be the strongest member of the pack, Naja included, but the look in his eyes terrifies even me. We both know the inside of Naja's head isn’t right, don’t push him."
I bowed my head in resignation. I have really done it this time.
"Sam,"
"Yeah,"
"Whatever it is, I expect you to tell us when you're ready, but stop punishing yourself for whatever you think is your fault."
Silent tears fill my eyes as Kyle sees the demons fucking with my head. My heart was torn in two directions, and I had no idea how to resolve the conflicted emotions I felt.
"Okay," I say as we step into the med bay, where Ambrose is waiting to fix my leg. If only the good doc could fix what was wrong with my head and heart. Life would be fucking perfect.
Chapter 7 Charlie A loud sigh escapes my lips, frustrated I opened my eyes and maneuvered myself to a sitting position on the plush sofa. A quick glance to my left sat a very pensive doctor Alfonso. His warm chocolate brown eyes piercing me with a disproving frown and pursed lips. I guess he expected this session to produce more insight. I couldn’t blame him. I, too, was woefully disappointed. Four days flew by since the cafeteria incident, four days of me trying but failing to trigger a fresh memory. Bereft and exhausted, I laid awake night after night reliving the gruesome scene of my dad’s lifeless body lying prone on the dirt floor of what appeared to be a campsite, riddled with bullets. My tiny fist pressing against his opened flesh. After witnessing that, getting out of bed seemed like a monumental task, one I couldn’t even do. The nurses and orderlies came into my room three times for the day, left food, and pills. Stoically, I ate what my churning sto
Chapter 8 The first thing I see is smoke. I am surrounded by its thick, ashen puffs. There is no discernible solid surface anywhere, nothing to hold on to. Then in walks a figure, his face shrouded in darkness. How I knew it was a male, no idea, but I figured it could only be male considering the height and broad shoulders. I gasp as his familiar salt and pepper hair, dark brown eyes, and chiseled jaw become clear. My dad. A huge smile appears on my face. I run and throw myself in his arms, crying and laughing as he catches me in mid-jump. “Hey pumpkin,” Dad says, squeezing me even tighter, placing a chaste kiss on my forehead, as he used to when I was younger. “What are you doing here, you’re not supposed to be here Charlie, you have to go?” “I ----I don’t know what happened Dad,” my words falter as he looks at me with worried eyes. “Where’s mom, where are the boys? Do you even know what’s going on? Where I am right now.” I cried, gazing at h
Chapter 8 Charlie My eyes popped open on a gut retching scream, curled into a fetal position I laid on the sofa, completely devastated. Tears streaming down my face, a fist clutched in my mouth to quiet my sobs. I wasn’t sure what I witness; It wasn't a memory that I could say with absolute certainty; I felt like I was in-between realities, a place where my dad was dead, but still able to warn me. How any of it was possible, was the question of the century. Maybe I was just as delusional as the rest of the patients here. Either way, whatever it was, it left a giant hole in my aching chest. Gentle hands patted me on the back as more tears fell from my eyes. So lost in my grief, I did not know the doctor had entered my personal space, until I felt his calloused hands on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. It was useless. Nothing short of my family magically turning up yelling surprise would lift this pain from my heart. “It's okay, Charlie,
Chapter 9RileyI sat in the corner of my room, on the white linoleum floor, my knees to my chest, my head bowed as if in reverence all the while my hands covered my aching head as the voices kept bombarding me with negative thoughts. I was tired of the constant negative things people thought, tired of having a front-row seat to the evil in the world.Usually, the meds help drown out the voices and the pressure of whether I should intervene or ignore what I knew, particularly when I hear someone thinking about hurting themselves or others. Being a clairvoyant, who picked up on the negative thoughts, pretty much sucked ass. Hell, even my own parents were afraid of me and had been for years as my abilities developed.At the first opportunity, they had me committed, telling the police that I was a danger to myself and the others they fostered to earn more money. Joe, my dad, was incapable of working. He was in a car accident when I was four, thus the f
Chapter 10 Charlie It was hot, super fucking hot. Playing with the stupid thermostat hadn’t helped, either. No matter how cold I turned the dial, this insufferable heat I felt just kept intensifying. Today, like the last three days in a row, I woke with sweaty armpits and drenched sheets, let’s not mention the disgusting mess that was my panties and tank top, they never stood a chance. I was so out of my element it was a joke. I would give my left nut, if I had one, what was the equivalent of a nut for a female, tits maybe, hmm. Insert groan here, too much thinking. Fuck if I knew what the equivalent of a guy's nuts was. Anyway, whatever it was, I would give that for someone to explain to me in great detail what the hell was going on with me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the other changes I thought were kinda awesome, like the increase in strength. I practically lifted my bed a couple of days ago when I couldn’t find one of my shoe
Chapter 11 Charlie Someone was in my room, on top of me, don’t panic Charlie, at least not yet. Just breathe deep breaths. Calm down, you can get out of this. How the hell did he get in? I try to think back. When Riley left, she closed the door. Then I realized. I hadn’t locked it. How fucking stupid. I was like a momma bear with Riley’s safety. I guess not so much with myself, shit. My eyes lifted and as clear as day I saw it was Legolas, his pointy Elvin ears gave him away. Wearing a balaclava wasn’t really helping him. For a moment, I was scared. What would he do to me, in the back of my mind I knew, but denial and anger kept pushing the disturbing thought away? Was he the one who attacked Riley? The son of a bitch tried to rape her, the bastard would pay for that and any other unwilling females he raped or tried to rape. He bends close to my ears and whispers. “If you scream, I will kill you bitch, you got that,” he
Chapter 12 Francis “FUCK”, I shouted Of course, the stupid little girl would get herself into more trouble. Trouble was Charlie’s middle fucking name after pain in the ass, which she had been since I took this post. I was a fucking enforcer, for god’s sake, not a freaking babysitter. I should be at the Alpha's side protecting him, not his mate. Another growl left my lips as I struggled in my haste to throw on the t-shirt, shorts, and jeans I discarded on the floor the night before. Sleeping naked was easier after a run, not that I could go far, considering I had to have an eye on the pain in the ass down the corridor at all times. Aggravated, I left my room sands footwear to get to my charge, all the while pondering what the hell I had been thinking to take this post. I must admit when the Alpha first approach me with his asinine plan for the new gig, it sounded easy enough. “Take the job Francis,” he said. “How much trouble coul
Chapter 13 5 years later Charlie I trudge through the quiet, dense underbrush, as I felt the crunch of fallen leaves and small stones sticking to my front paws. It had been five years since that faithful night, since my life had gone to complete and utter shit, practically splintered into a million pieces. Shards of me were everywhere, and I was just trying to put the pieces back together like a 3d jigsaw puzzle, one piece at a time. I stopped as the tickle of pine, and the feeling of home filled my nostrils, drawing in a deep breath as memories of that night began fading in and out. I was confused, yet the prospect of finding another piece of the puzzle thrilled me to the bone. Unexpectedly, a painful longing stole the nervous breath that suddenly felt trapped within my chest. The mere idea of what lay ahead gave me pause. Mate, the words whispered in my head, my wolf paced back and forth, restlessness, and apprehension dawning