Blessed by the Moon Goddess

Chapter 8(continued)

Janelle

I finish tending to Sadie, who wants to just lay awake cooing and blowing little bubbles when Serge calls from the doorway. “Son, Alpha’s here.” Serge’s brother is the Alpha? Interesting, which explains why they seemed extra worried about me.

“Masey, honey. Do you think you can sit with your sister and make sure she doesn’t roll away on us? She won’t be crying for a bit, but I also can’t leave her by herself.” I say. “You told me that you were able to as long as she doesn’t need a diaper.”

“I can do it.” Masey nods.

“Thank you,” I smile as I walk to the stairs, taking Abel’s hand and following him down. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but at least I kept Masey and Sadie safe.

We enter the parlor as Serge and another wolf, I sense is the Alpha are discussing and examining the scene. Helga is sobbing by the door, but runs to me when she sees me enter behind Abel. “Oh, thank you,” She wraps me in a hug and continues to cry on my shoulder. “Where are they?”

“Upstairs, in Abel’s room,” I answer.

“Okay.” She nods and releases me as she regains her composure. When she sees Abel holding my hand, anger flashes across her face, but she says nothing. She doesn’t know yet.

The Alpha is watching Helga and me carefully. “Serge, is she? Please tell me that you didn’t defy direct orders.” The Alpha seems exasperated.

“I wish I could, Alpha.” Serge muttered. “She looked older in wolf form.”

“Unfortunately, her description was giving too well when alerted of her escape.” The Alpha stated moving towards me.

Abel moved so quickly, putting himself in front of me. “She’s mine.” He growled. “Touch her, and I will kill you.” Helga gasped but Serge moved to protect his son.

“If anyone is to be punished it is me. I made the decision to let her live and brought her here as my prisoner. She was a slave, who I gave to my wife as a present to make up for an argument of me not being home enough to help her with all the kids.” Serge explained.

“The threat on my siblings is more important than my mate being brought here.” Abel snarled. “What are you going to do about keeping them safe?”

“We are looking into it.” The Alpha replied. “Serge, when the threat is gone, there will be consequences for your actions. As for her…” The Alpha sighed. “We’ll figure out a story, but I’m not thrilled. I ordered you to do a job, and you lied to me Serge. I thought demoting you from Gamma would make you fall in line. What will it take?”

“Maybe not order a father to kill children of others.” I snap. The anger inside of me is bubbling to the point where I’m shaking. I move away from Abel to look at this Alpha. “Tell me, Alpha, what did a 6 month old and a 6 year old child ever do so wrong where they were slaughtered for being in a pack? Answer me! What did a defenseless 6 month old do to deserve to have his throat slit in his crib? What did my 6-year-old sister do to deserve having her neck snapped in the parlor of our home? You are a monster, and your shaming him for not killing me. Have you no shame?”

“I do not have to answer to you, girl.” The Alpha growled.

Abel wrapped an arm around my waist but I pushed him off. “How can you stand there and tell these people that you will help them protect their children, when you ordered the slaughter of innocent kids? You are a murderer.”

“Says the wolf who is covered in another man’s blood. Did you not kill this wolf in my pack?” The Alpha asked.

“He kidnapped an innocent child, taunting her telling her that he was going to kill her father. She is innocent! I did what I had to, to protect innocent children. What did you do? You ordered your army to slaughter innocent children. Don’t try to compare me to you.” I retort. I feel anger coursing through my body. Rage that I have never felt before.

“Yet, you survived. How did you manage to kill this wolf?” The Alpha asks me calmly. “You look like Masey could beat you in a scuffle, yet everyone will have me believe you killed this wolf.”

“I still don’t understand it myself. I chalked it up to him being too busy taunting a child, and thinking he’s too superior that he didn’t sense my presence even when she was talking to me.” I shrugged. I launched into the play by play of what happened and how I managed to kill the intruder.

“Her scent is all over this house as she’s been helping me keep it clean.” Helga offered. “Maybe he didn’t smell her.”

“I sensed her presence before she entered the room. The Alpha aura is strong on her.” The Alpha stated. “There’s no masking that.”

“It wasn’t that strong before.” Abel admitted. “She was meek, and timid. The kill has affected her wolf.”

“That’s true, she’s been here for a while, even when you’ve come over.” Serge confessed. “You didn’t sense her in the past.”

“No, I did not. I suppose you’re right…” The Alpha sighed. “I will not defend my decisions to you, girl, but I will let this matter be. If it comes to my attention that you are a problem, I will show no mercy, understand?”

“Again, we’re back on me. What about this asshole who tried to harm a child? Or who ever poisoned your nephew and niece?! Your priorities are very f****d up.” I push back. “Be proactive, stop focusing on me. I’m a nobody. Just an orphan of a past pack.”

“With an Alpha aura,” the Alpha stated. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d be worried my brother is trying for my position with you.”

I laughed. “I’m a runt. Always have been since the day I was born. Just because I have Alpha blood, does not make me dangerous. Unless you threaten a child.”

“I’m glad you find it comical.” The Alpha replied. He pulls out his phone and makes a call. “I want an escort for our brother’s children from the pack house to here in one hour. Ensure there is at least two guards at the hospital watching over Conrad and Nia, and send a clean up crew to his house. Yes, the attack came here as he feared. Masey is safe and sound.” He hung up the phone. “Abel, you will have time off, as will you Serge. We’ll put around the clock guards on the house. No one in or out until we find the responsible party.”

“I’m going to be checking on my children.” Helga stomped her foot. “Don’t you try and stop me Vinny.”

“I won’t dream of it, Helga.” Alpha Vinny replied. “I’m going to arrange to have them brought home with a healer. Until they are well. It’s the only way to keep them safe and secured.”

“Thank you, Vinny.” Serge responded with a bow. “I’m sorry for the mess, I caused.”

“She’s your son’s mate, we should be happy for him.” Alpha Vinny smiled. “Congratulations, Abel.”

“Thank you,” Abel nodded.

“When this is over with, we will discuss your future within this pack.” Alpha Vinny stated. Both Serge and Abel nodded in acceptance as the Alpha turned and walked out of the house. Once the door was closed, Helga walked over and slapped my face.

“Don’t f*****g touch her,” Abel shouted at his mother.

“Learn to mind your damn tongue, girl.” Helga stated. “Just because you helped protect my children does not give you the right to speak to our Alpha like that.”

“Helga,” Serge called to her with such patience. “She did have a right. If you knew what he ordered us to do that day and saw what so many did. She’s alive because I couldn’t kill her as I thought she was Nia’s age.”

Abel wrapped his arms around me and held me close to him. “What did he mean when he said he demoted you from Gamma to teach you a lesson?” Abel asked his father.

“It doesn’t matter,” Serge answered. “I will always do what I feel is right.” He walked over to the wolf I killed. “Help me get him outside. He’s starting to stink.”

Abel kissed the top of my head, then walked over to help his dad remove the man I killed while I went to the laundry room to get a bucket of soapy water. When they came back into the house, they hefted the sofa and brought it outside as well as I set to work scrubbing the blood off the walls. “Do you have a carpet cleaning machine?” I ask Helga.

“No, we don’t have that kind of money.” She said indignantly.

“Okay,” I reply. Abel comes back inside and takes the cloth from me to keep washing the walls. I go get a second bucket and a scrub brush before setting to work on the rug. I start in Masey’s room as I left a trail of footprints when I carried her in there.

“Give Masey a shower,” Serge instructs his wife as he comes into the room with the girls from Abel’s room. “I can tend to Sadie while you are busy.”

“She needs a diaper,” Helga stated.

“I was recently taught how to do it,” Serge replied going into the nursery. I didn’t realize he was watching me while I changed her with one hand waiting for my arm to heal. As I continue scrubbing the footprints off the floor, Serge sticks his head out of the nursery. “Can you come check that I did it right?” He whispers to me. I have to suppress a laugh as it’s clear he’s trying to impress his wife.

I quickly go into the nursery, and examine the diaper with a smile. “Now just put some clothes on her,” I reply going back to my scrubbing only to find Abel has taken over for me. I try to take the scrub brush from him, but he doesn’t let go.

“Why don’t you go take a shower, I can finish this here,” Abel suggests. “You don’t have to clean, you are my mate Janelle, not a slave to my family. I’m going to put a stop to that.”

“I like to help your mom. Besides, after what happened earlier, I’d feel better doing something to keep busy. I think I’m still in shock after killing someone.” I admit. Abel lets go of the scrub brush, turns to face me, and wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his lap. He just holds me for what feels like hours, but I know it’s only minutes before he releases me.

“A shower will help,” he whispers as he tilts my chin to look at him. “It’ll take time, just keep telling yourself you did it to help Masey.”

“I know why I did it, but that doesn’t change the fact that I killed someone today.”

“Janelle, please. Just go take a shower. Take as long as you need. I’ll come find you when I’m done here.” He insists. Reluctantly I get back to my feet and walk away down the hall to take a shower. It’s not that I don’t want to shower, believe me, having the dried blood in my hair does not feel or smell good, but I’m afraid to be alone right now. The adrenaline is starting to wear off, and I feel like I’m turning to Jello. Then there’s how I spoke to the Alpha, yes Helga was right, I should have never done that, I was just so angry with him.

***************************************************

Abel

Watching her walk away down the hall is a relief. I wonder if she’s even aware of the amount of blood she still has on her. I know how one can be affected by their first kill, even if it’s in self-defense. Once the shock and adrenaline wear off, it leaves the person feeling a wave of emotions. “Son, we need to talk about your mate,” My dad states coming back into the room as I finish scrubbing the floor.

“What about?” I have a feeling it has to do with the way she spoke to Uncle Vin. Something along the lines of me needing to convince her to hold her tongue in the future.

“Many things,” He sighed sitting down. “First off, are you 100% sure she’s your mate?” The look in his eyes has me feeling angry.

“Of course, I am. It took an entire month for her to know I was her mate. She just turned 18 yesterday. How could you even ask me such a question?” I pressed.

“Because I know you had other female guests over in the past month. Usually, when we meet your mates, we don’t do that sort of thing.” My dad reasoned.

“It was stupid of me, but she didn’t know. She was more scared of you than anything. Every time I got close to talking to her, she started shaking and looking around in a panic, pushing me away. I felt rejected when she did that.” I explained. “My choices have nothing to do with her. I’m ashamed for what I did this past month in terms of my relationship with her, but that’s between us, and doesn’t concern you.”

“Okay, fair enough.” My dad just nods. “We need to figure out where we go from here in terms of this household.”

“I know she still wants to help Mom out, she said it herself when I told her she was my mate and no longer a slave to this family. It pisses me off to know you captured someone and made them a slave, I always thought we were more dignified than that.” I point out. I’ve been holding this in for over a month, as I struggled to wrap my head around the girl he enslaved was my mate.

“We were kind to her.”

“Bullshit, I know you put your hands on her. I saw the marks.” I growl, cutting his defense off. “Mom threatened her with death by you if she stepped out of line. That’s not being kind to someone who lost everything and was forced to leave her home.”

“We were wrong,” My mom stated coming into the parlor and taking Sadie from Dad. “I know how wrong we were, there’s a reason I rewarded her often to show my appreciation for all the help she provided me without protest. I’m rather glad she’s your mate, son. She’ll teach you patience and challenge you just enough to keep you in line.”

“I have 8 siblings, you don’t think I have enough patience?” I ask.

“8 siblings who you don’t particularly like, no you don’t have patience. She’s smart with the ability to endure and adjust. Did she make mistakes, we all do at some point. If Vin took offense to what she said, he would have attacked her, but he left it alone,” My dad answered. “It wasn’t the way she spoke to him that he ignored, but the challenging questions were what made him pause. She’s right, and he knows it.”

“Why did he order the elimination of her entire pack?” I ask almost not wanting to know the answer.

“Son, that is one reason that is best left unknown in this house,” My dad whispers and looks at the floor. Something tells me the reason was not a good enough reason and speaking the truth will anger everyone within this house.

“Serge?” My mom looks at him with pain in her eyes. “Please tell me it was a fair and just reason. After all, you passed the order to the army and partook in carrying it out.”

“I only attacked the soldiers,” My dad corrected. “Helga, you know I couldn’t openly disobey him or call him out again. Saving that girl, was my way of disobeying. I thought she was younger, and we had more years to come up with a story of how she got here.”

“Her name is Janelle,” I insist.

“Serge, what are we facing and why?” My mom asked pleadingly.

“I don’t know who or why we are being targeted. I’ve gone through everything, and nothing makes sense to me. Other than my title, which isn’t even that great. Everything that Wolf said to Masey makes no sense to me. I’ve never acted better than anyone, and I train with my soldiers. I make an appearance in all the units and do my best to accommodate everyone.”

A knock on the front door has us all jumping. Uncle Vin enters with Nia, Fletcher, Conrad, and Weldon. I see several soldiers climb out of a military vehicle and spread out around the perimeter. “Where’s Gus and Quil?” My mom demanded.

“They will be safe with their unit at boot camp, Helga. I assure you, in one’s unit is the safest place to be.” Uncle Vin replies. “Clayton and I have arranged to have different units guarding the house at various times throughout the days. Hopefully, we can find the source of the attack and eliminate it before long. Fina will be here within the hour to check on and treat Nia and Conrad.”

“Thank you, brother,” My dad says with a bow. Uncle Vin turns and leaves the house. “Kids, go play in your rooms. Try to be a bit quiet, let Conrad and Nia rest.” Mom walks both Nia and Conrad to their rooms to get them situated as Janelle returns smelling clean and fresh.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” She offers.

“You’ve done more than enough today, Janelle. I think you’ve earned yourself a break.” My dad answers. “Helga’s getting Conrad and Nia settled in their beds, and the healer will be here shortly.”

“Oh, are you sure?” Janelle seems a bit surprised and lost at the suggestion of having the day off. I take her hand and bring her upstairs to my room, where we can sit in private and just be together on the sofa. “You are not possibly thinking about having s*x right now?”

“No, I just want to get to know you. Or at least spend some quality time together, alone.” I smile wrapping an arm around her as I lean back on the sofa and turn the television on. “Sometimes, just sitting together watching a movie is all a relationship needs.”

“If you say so. My parents preferred sitting and reading books together in the same room, with music playing softly in the background. Dad said it was always good to just sit and shut the outside world out once in a while.” She explained as she leaned against me.

“Being alone with you is my way of shutting the outside world out. Today has been a shitty day all around, and it’s just the beginning until we catch the assholes targeting this family.” I admit. She laid her head on my shoulder but said nothing more. It feels natural to just sit here, holding her in silence. This is what we need after all the events of today.