The Secrets We Keep

Chapter 18

Alana

I was almost a week and a half since they were taken and Mathias was a wreck. He was still able to shockingly put this whole extraction together, so I was impressed.

"Alana? Come on back to this girl!" I snapped my head up at Mathias, who was waiting for an answer about something.

"I'm sorry. What did you say? I zoned out for a second." I was really sorry about it, I've been spacing out a lot since Zeric and Erika had been taken. It was weird. I felt okay with Ty, but I still didn't feel grounded without them. And it felt like something was missing from whatever it was that kept my feet planted.

"Are you sure you'll be able to find them?"

"I should be, we all have a weird pull to each other for some reason. Ed should be able to help now too. I mean if he is who beta Leon says he is." I looked at Edrick with an eyebrow arched, wondering what his answer would be.

"Do you want a blood test or something, Alana? I'm not very thrilled to be your brother either, especially with how bitchy you are, but sorry to disappoint you I am." Tyler let out a low growl at him but Ed stood his ground. I looked at him and he looked like my big brother. I felt my eyes start to burn from tears forming.

"Enough!" Mathias boomed and they both obeyed even though they didn't want to. I wiped my eyes and they both noticed, it was strange this was what our world had come to, but they made sure I felt welcome. Tyler came and pulled me into a hug and rubbed my back, soothing the ache I felt from my missing siblings.

"She needs to stay here," Edrick's voice cut through the air and all eyes turned to him, "she is clearly distraught over them being held captive. What if we go in and her emotions are all over the place and it puts us in some type of predicament?"

"What is that supposed to mean, Ed? You're new to this sibling connection, so what if we go in and you do something?" I couldn't help but feel offended by his insinuation of me being a problem and not helping.

"I may be new to you as siblings, but I'm not new to the off-centered feeling we have right now! Remember I've been without you three since I was born and not once have I accidentally burnt down an entire house! Have you?" I was stunned at the low blow he jabbed at me. I didn't want to say anything about it but, the fire at the lake house got so big because of me. I didn't know he knew it was my fault though.

I didn't realize how right he was though. He had uncle Marcus to help him as he grew up. Mom never said anything to us, and dad, well, wasn't exactly helpful. I wanted my brother and sister back and I wanted to be there to help save them, but he was right. I was unpredictable. I caused the whole town we lived in last year to have a power outage. It wasn't because of any good reason either. I got mad over not being cast in the school play. I contributed to the fire at the lake house because of how scared I was. It wasn't as much damage as Erika and Zeric had caused before, but I went into the fire to help Mathias and all I did was make it worse. If it weren't for Tyler, Reyna and Ed, we wouldn't have made it out.

"You need to stay here, I'm not saying it to be mean, but Alana you almost died," and there it was, the reminder of my sad excuse of a rescue mission. "If you stay here and something happens and it scares you, you have a better chance at keeping people here safe by accidentally lighting the front lawn on fire. I know how to use whatever it is we have, magic, powers, whatever it is you want to call it, so please stay here so we can get them and come back." For the first time ever, I looked at Mat and Ty and both of them wouldn't look at me. They felt the same way, they just didn't want to be the ones to say it.

"Okay," I said quietly and kept my eyes on the ground. I sniffled a little and wiped my tears again. I wasn't hysterically crying but tears were falling. I was calm and it was strange, this stranger who was really my brother told me a harsh truth in a way that, even though harsh, it was in my best interest.

"So then how are you going to do this?" They needed to come up with a new plan and fast, since I wasn't the one going to find them.

"Well, I'll go in for them," Edrick didn't hesitate to answer my question. Mathias looked at him and was obviously concerned about Ed going in without even thinking.

"Ed, we need to think before you just go storming in without a second thought."

"I'm not going in without a second thought, Mat, I'm going in and moving everyone who gets in my way." Tyler was quiet the whole time, and just listening to Mat and Ed going back and forth with each other. He walked over to the blue prints of silver moon's pack house, his brow line scrunched together as he flipped through the large papers showing each floor. I went up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist and took a deep breath to calm myself.

"What are you thinking?" He turned to look at me and took a seat, pulling me to his lap, hugging me and taking a minute so he could also calm himself.

"That I'm sorry. I didn't want to agree with Ed, but I don't want you to get hurt. You'll be safer here and you'll have more reason to control yourself because it's something for you to protect." I could feel him relaxing the longer he held me and it gave me butterflies.

"Look, don't be sorry for caring, I'm sorry for always being in a state of uncertainty. Edrick wasn't trying to hurt my feelings, and he's right. If something comes up and I get uncontrollably scared I could mess it all up." He looked up at me and smiled, he looked tired and drained, but it didn't make any sense why. At the moment, asking him why probably wouldn't get me a real answer, so I just let it go for now.

"Fine Ed, you take point when we go in, since you're certain you can get through without any of us being sacrificed, get us through. We leave in an hour. Alpha and Beta will hold down the upcoming battle here. Alana, if something happens, you light every single one of those mutts up." Mathias was so set on ending this upcoming war before it even began and I didn't blame him. I've never actually started a fire like Erika and Zeric did, I've only made them grow. I wanted to be able to help but I wasn't Erika and I didn't think I would be able to do it.

Mathias

We made it to Silver border and we waited as most of the pack left to attack White Moon, and get Anthony back, but White Moon was ready for them. Once the coast was clear and patrols were scant, we made our way to the pack house where I knew my mate and her brother would be. Ed took the lead. He hadn't gone through his shift yet but he had amazing control over his abilities. He was young but Marcus had high expectations for him to learn and control his emotions to help him learn what abilities they could effect.

"The pack house has a passage to the prison, the cells meant for the big guys are to the left, away from the rest of the prison. They had them specially reinforced with actual silver, so opening the door is going to hurt really badly, so be ready when we get there." Tyler studied the blue prints and all the documents that went into this pack house all week, so I knew he knew what he was talking about. The guard on post outside of the house went to check around outside of the house. Once he was out of sight, all three of us made our way through the front doors. When we made it inside, Tyler made his way to the security room so he could watch the cameras set up around the prison and make sure we were clear. It was uncomfortably quiet, and there were no pack members anywhere.

"Maddox?"

"I know, Mathias, I don't like this either."

I'm glad I wasn't the only one feeling worried about this horribly quiet building. I followed behind Ed, waiting for someone to pop in and attack, but nothing. We made it to the back door to the prison, it was around midnight and as we entered the prison we heard the most unexpected sounds. Very loud and in the mood, wolves going at it, the perfect distraction as we made our way further in the prison. As we were making our way, we heard a loud scream and a guard came flying in this direction. Only it wasn't a guard, it was Nick. When he saw us, he quickly jumped back up to his feet ready for a fight.

"Nick!" I heard my mate's voice from around the corner and Nick turned in her direction and was met with a hard fist to his mouth followed by a kick to his abdomen. She grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him up to face her. My heart stopped and then I heard the guard running in wolf form but suddenly, he stopped and let out a loud yelp and fell over in what looked like agonizing pain. I looked at Ed and he was just staring at the wolf as it curled in a ball whimpering. There was a loud pop and silence as it stopped moving and blood formed a pool under its mouth.

I looked back at Ed, who looked at me with a cocky smirk, and it honestly kind of scared me. I wasn't sure how he did it, but I remembered my mate. When I looked at her, she and Nick were both looking at Edrick with the same look I'm sure was spread across my face.

"So we have a lot to talk about, but first can we get them out of here?" I could hear his confidence as he walked right past Erika to the cells they would be in. I looked at Erika who was covered in dirt, thin and covered in cuts and silver burns. When I noticed all of that, I grabbed Nick and pulled him to face me, at this point ready to rip him to nothing.

"While I would love to rip your head clean off, I have a mate and her family to get out of here, but I will get back to you once we are back in my territory." I was having a hard time restraining Maddox from taking control, but suddenly my little mate spoke and I felt her had touch my shoulder.

"Mathias," I turned to look at her and she had a weak smile. I felt complete all of a sudden as she fell into my arms. I heard the sound of bare feet making their way this way and I looked up and saw Ed along with Zeric and Lauren, who were dirty and obviously weak but not nearly as bad as Erika. Zeric wasn't burned by a silver cuff like Erika, but he was bruised from where a cuff wrapped around his ankle. Lauren didn't have anything really, just malnourished and dirty. I looked up at Zeric who was huffing and I could see his anger rise the more he looked at Erika. Ed turned to face him so he could get him to calm down.

"Alright man, you need to chill, if you lose it right now we are all screwed down here. Get Nick and we need to get out of here before you burn it down." Zeric nodded and immediately turned to Nick, who was trying to scramble to his feet so he could get away, but Zeric was fast and caught him with ease. I picked up Erika, bridal style, and felt her relax in my arms, and we made our way through the passage to the house. When we were almost out, Erika started to struggle out of my arms.

"Baby stop, it's me, what are you doing?" I finally asked as I let her down.

"You!" She pointed at Nick and grabbed him by the back of his neck, throwing him to the ground, "you take me to my baby, and you take me now!" I looked back at everyone and it was like we all felt a shift in his energy.

"Erika, I told you I can't! If you want to live, you need to get out of here. Please!" I looked at her expression and I saw her lips quiver as she started to hold back her tears. I took a step towards her but Ed grabbed my arm and pulled me back, shaking his head for me not to move.

"Nick, I'm asking you to help me save him, please."

"Erika PLEASE, you need to get out of here before they come back, before Naya comes back!" Her tears started to fall and her anger started to fill the entranceway. I looked at the time and we needed to either get this pup and go or we needed to come back for him. I didn't want to try and undermine what she wanted right now. She went through so much I didn't feel right not letting her get the one thing she asked for.

"Nick, what aren't you telling me?"

"NOTHING Erika, I swear I-" before he was able to finish what he was saying, I heard him start to gurgle and his hands went to his throat, "okay I.. I'll... te tell you!" Erika looked back at Ed, and as soon as she heard those words her face softened, and so did Ed's. Nick inhaled deeply. When he was able to breathe again, he looked at the floor in shame.

"He isn't here," tears started to form as he rubbed his face, "I'm umm..... I'm so sorry...." he started to sob uncontrollably and he stood up.

"What do you mean you're sorry?" His attention fell on me after I finally spoke.

"Umm Erika, Naya she uh," he sniffled as he pulled out what looked to me like a piece of fabric that was covered in old blood, and handed it to her, "I didn't know she did it till yesterday." He covered his mouth trying to stop the sobs from escaping and he fell to his knees. She looked at the fabric and she turned to me and she held it close to her and let out a painful scream that should have shattered every window in this house and we all covered our heads as we heard it. Ed quickly ran to her as she started to fall and he held her.

"Shh, I know," he whispered and brushed her hair to behind her ear, "I promise I will make her pay, but right now you need to calm your storm." He rocked her for a minute, and she looked up and was confused why he was the one holding her. She turned to me and then it was like her pain shifted and then she got up to her feet, looking around at the mess she made then to her bare feet.

"Umm, Mathias," before she could ask, I walked over to her and scooped her up into my arms and we walked out the front door. It was like we walked into a field full of wolves waiting for us.

"s**t," I looked at Tyler and he pulled out his phone to find a text from Reyna.

"They won't be here in time, Mathias."

"Then we will give them time to get here." I heard Edrick respond to Tyler's statement and looked at him knowing we didn't stand a chance. He looked at Erika and Zeric. My mate climbed out of my arms to stand on her own.

"Erika and Zeric, whatever anger you have for that baby, you use it." Edrick sounded completely different than the kid I knew. I wondered how much of his personality was real and how much of it was a front.

"You're out of your mind, do you see her?"

"Either she fights and we all get out or she doesn't and none of us make it out of here!" Before I knew it, Erika was walking in Rolland and Naya's direction. They were across the clearing where the entire pack was and when they saw Erika walking all the murmers silenced. I was about to walk to her when I heard her voice break the silence.

"NAYA!" The anger in her voice was cold. She didn't sound like herself. She sounded like she was filled with hate. I remembered my father's words about if anything had happened to her pup and I realized he was right. It changed her. I looked at the people beside me and I didn't realize until now how lucky I was to have them.