Finding Tree
Trina's scream sounded like a bell out through the house, filled with pain. My heart stop for a prolonged second before I dart inside. I don't remember consciously grabbing my gun, it was just suddenly in my hand. I followed the scream and the distinctive smell of blood hit my nose.
I grabbed onto the scent and it took me to a bedroom on the second floor. I busted the door open and brought the gun up ready to eliminate the threat. But all I saw was Tyler and Trina. Trina was on the floor, curled up and trembling in the corner. And Tyler, his back to her, was in a defensive stance. I scanned the room but I couldn't see or smell anyone else.
My brain was racing trying to understand what was happening. Had the intruder already escaped?
I looked at Trina. Her shirt had blood on it, a lot of blood. I approached her. "Tree," I said softly. "What's going on?"
She lifted her hand from her neck and my breath was forced out of my lungs. "What did you do?" I demanded of Tyler in a horrified rage. I glared at him. "What did you do?"
His cheeks were red and he look down shamefaced. "She was going to reject me. I-I acted. I swear I didn't mean too I just lost control and I marked her. Then she started screaming and..."
I growled loudly, I saw red rage tint the edges of my vision. "You forcibly marked her?" I hissed vehemently. "You would force her to be your mate?" When a wolf marks his me they are tied. The bond can never be broken between them. "How dare you!" I put myself between him and Trina.
He growled back, eyes flashing. "She is my mate! Move out of the way Kate."
"No way in hell!" I yelled. "You have no idea what you've done! I told you not to hurt her! I told to let her figure this out for herself!"
"I did and she try to reject me!" he yelled back.
"And that was her right!" I shouted furious. "That was her decision to make and you took it away from her!"
"Yes!" he snapped. "Because I wasn't going to end up like you!"
He jerked back when he realized what he said but I was too angry to feel hurt. "I'd go through it all again because anything is better than being stuck in this dead end pack!" He flinched but I didn't care. "Now get out."
He growled again. "No! Now move so I can get to my mate."
"If you touch her," I snarled, "I will kill you, Tyler. I don't care if you are my brother."
"She's my mate," he shouted.
"But she is my little sister!" I hissed. "That makes her my responsibility, it is my job to protect her!"
"Even from her mate?" he questioned angrily. "From me?"
"Right now?" I bared my teeth. "Especially from you." He took a threatening step forward and I growled in response. "I am not someone you want to challenge Tyler Grim."
His body shook, he was on the verge of shaking then it froze and he looked back at the door. "Alpha," he growled as a force fell over him making his head dip.
Grant looked almost as mad as I felt. "Leave Tyler. You can see your mate later."
I wanted to say he'll never see her again but I held my tongue. Grant had just given an Alpha order. Tyler had no choice to obey. He fought against it but the long he did the more the power over him increased until his will gave out and he left, very much against his will.
My angry subsided only fractionally but I had to worry about Trina. "Thank you," I said to Grant before knelling in front of my sister. "Trina," I said softly. Her terrified eyes met mine before she threw her trembling body into mine, burying her face in the crook of my neck. I wrapped my arms around her protectively and rubbed her back with one hand and soothed her hair with the other. "Don't worry," I whispered in her ear. "I got you." I didn't try to quiet her sobs or tell her it would be okay. I wouldn't lie to her.
"Grant, get Jason and tell him to bring a First Aid kit," I said as I cradled Trina to my chest. He left and I noticed a small crowd at the door. I glared harshly at them until they left. "I'm so Tree," I whispered softly. I was supposed to keep an eye on her so something like this didn't happen.
She was still shaking. I swear if what Tyler did sends her back into the traumatized state that we found her in I really will kill him. "Kate," Jason said softly from the door. "Can I come in?"
I hesitated and looked at Trina. "Tree, sweetie, Jason is going to come in and he is going to carry you up to my room so we can take care of you. Is that okay?" I said everything softly and slowly so I didn't overwhelm her. After a long minute she nodded against my shoulder. "Come in Jase."
He approached us carefully so he didn't startled Trina. "Tree," he whispered, "I'm going to pick you up now, and I need you to put your arms around my shoulders." He slipped his arms around her and I helped place her arms. She whimpered when he lifted her up and I suppressed a growl. I am going to make Tyler suffer for this.
"Up to my room," I directed him leading the way after grabbing the kit he'd set down at the doorway.
Jason looked down at Trina with concern the looked at me. His eyes asked questions but I shook my head. I don't want to risk saying or doing anything that might set Trina off. He set her on my bed. "I'll grab some wet rags," he said. "I already linked Lily to bring a change of clothes."
I bit my lip. I don't want too many people in here but Trina knew Lily, like Jason Lily may not set her off. It took a while to clean and dress the wound on Trina's neck and when I finished I tucked her into my bed. "Get some sleep, Tree, I'll keep watch."
This seemed to relax her and seconds later she was out cold. I shut and locked the door and pulled a chair up to the side of the bed so I could keep an eye on her. She looked so, so innocent and scared, like a young child having a nightmare. I couldn't help but think back to the first time I saw her. It was a little over a year after I joined Fire Light. I was still learning the ropes so Jason had come with while Lily stayed home.
The pack had a Rogue problem, the most common reason we visit packs, and we'd tracked a group of Rogues to a small community outside of the territory. Small Rogue communities were pretty common, Rogues who didn't want to live in a pack nor live with humans sometimes built communities in the woods where they would live in peace, they usually had about twenty or so members, a few families all together for protection from violent Rogues or other dangers.
We found Trina in that community.
"Oh my God," I whispered looking around. I forced back the bile raising in my throat.
"They're all dead," Ayo, a fellow trainer, whispered.
There were about six cabins in a large clearing with several tents scattered around. Toys laid about, and large logs acted as seats around fire pits, clothes hung on lines to dry and some were still in tubs of water to be washed. The fires were still going. "This happen quickly," someone whispered.
"Kate," Jason said but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the horror in front of me. Bodies were strewed everywhere. A couple of elderly, children, some being held by adults. Only a couple wolves, no one really had time to shift, and then some bodies were so...so tore apart that they didn't even look human.
I choked back a sob and it took all of my control to keep my voice even. "We have to search the bodies," my voice broke but I kept going, "and the houses to look for survivors."
"Are you going to be able to?" he asked.
I steeled my emotions. "We have work to do." I started forward. It was hard to look at the bodies, to touch the necks and wrists to check for pulses. Especially the children. I had to press my fingers to the neck of a dead baby. How could anyone do this? Silent tears rolled door my face as I moved from body to body, tent to tent, and cabin to cabin.
Finally I was at the last cabin. Two bodies were at the door, man and woman. The female was dead but the man still had a pulse, a weak one. "Sir," I said. He opened his eyes and started to move. "Don't move," I whispered. "We're here to help."
"Protect her," he begged in a weak raspy voice. I barely heard. "Protect her."
Protect who? His eyes begged me and I heard myself replied, "I will." I saw peace fall on his eyes. His breaths came further and further apart. Then they stopped coming. He was dead.
I shook. I knew I'd never forget this. I left him, he said protect her. Did he mean his mate? That can't be, she's already dead. I looked up at the cabin. A survivor.
I searched the cabin, only three rooms, a large living room, a master bedroom and a child's room. A girl child. His daughter. She has to be here then. Unless she's one of the children out- No, don't think like that Kate. There has to be one, there needs to be someone to remember these people. But there was no one. Still my brain nagged me about the couple outside.
Why weren't they closer? Why wouldn't the run to join the fight? Fight was putting it nicely, this was a bloodbath. They had to be protecting something. I looked around the house, children's clothes and toys. Not something, someone. A girl. So where was she?
I walked across what looked to be like a master bedroom when the floor creaked differently. I walked two steps. The creaking changed. I walked back, it changed back. It sounded... hollow. I knelled down and rapped softly on the floors. I heard a muffled sound following the sound. A person.
My heart started beating quickly with hope. A survivor. I looked at the wood floor boards pressing down to see which ones came up. I slowly lifted up five short boards to reveal a dirt and blood covered child. She couldn't be more than twelve years old. Far too young. She trembled and whimpered as she looked up at me. She reminded me of Alex and how much I missed.
"Hey," I whispered softly and she flinched. "Whoa, hey I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help. I'm Kate Greyson. I'm the Beta of Fire Light." I reached down and she flinched again before bursting into tears. My heart broke.
"My parents," she sobbed. "My mom screamed. I want to see her!"
I swallowed back my out cries. How is she ever going to get through this? "Your parents, were they mates?" I asked.
Her brows furrowed. "Mates? What's that?"
She doesn't know what a mate is? "Uh, it's not important. What's your name sweetie?"
She was still crying but talking seemed to sooth her. "T-Trina. Trina Greenfield."
I don't know where I got the strength but I manage to put a small encouraging smile on my face. "Why don't you come up from there Trina?"
She shook her head. "My mom told me to stay here until it was safe. She said that I had to be a good girl that I couldn't move or talk until I was safe. Then the put the boards down and it was dark."
Each word twisted my heart. "You've been a good girl. You're safe now."
Again she shook her head. "We were playing and then suddenly the wolves came." I couldn't hold the smile any longer. "They attacked Timothy while he was riding his tricycle." I felt sick. "And then they were everywhere. I think that... I think they killed William. He was born five months ago."
The baby I... More tears escaped my eyes as she spoke about the horror show that happened outside the cabin. "They're dead, aren't they?" she asked. "My parents, they're dead?"
I hesitated then let out a sad breath. "Yes they are."
"Mom said not to leave until I was safe," she whispered to herself. "But they're gone. Who's going to protect me now?"
The man's face popped up in my head. 'Protect her.'
"I will," I said aloud to both of them. The girl looked at me with wide eyes. "I'm going to protect you, I promise." It was then that she climbed out of the hole and burrowed herself into my arms. "I've got you," I whispered wrapping my arms around her. "I'll protect you, I promise." I swear to you I'll protect her.
I stroked the back of Trina's hand. "I used to watch you sleep like this all the time," I said softly so I didn't wake her. "When you first came to Fire Light. I think you remember, it was so long ago but you would refuse to fall asleep unless I was in the room. It's why we shared my room for the first few months.
"When you first came... well we didn't think that you'd ever get better. You never got out of bed, the pack doctor said you were in a catatonic state. When you finally woke up you couldn't remember from that day until after I'd found you. We actually had a shrink, you hated him. But he said you'd repressed it, that we should be carefully not to trigger the memory in case you reverted back to that state.
"Please don't do that," I begged gently. "I've grown quite fond of you, Tree. I don't think I can handle seeing you like that again. So please don't do that to me." She remained a sleeping statue and I let out a shaky breath. "I promised your father I'd protect you. I promised you that too. I won't let Tyler near you, not after something like this."
I stood and grabbed a set of sleep clothes. My shirt and pants had Trina's blood on them. I tossed them in the hamper, I'd worry about getting the stains out later, and changed into the sleep clothes. I crawled into bed alongside Trina and wrapped my arms around her.
She curled into to me like she had when she was a child. I closed my eyes and held her. It was too early to sleep so I laid awake and thought about the early days with Trina after the catatonic state had ended.
"I brought you some food," I said when I entered my room. Trina Greenfield sat on the second bed Jason had brought in. She hasn't left my room since I brought her here. "It's peperoni pizza."
"I've only had pizza once before," she said softly looking out the window. "We were celebrating a pairing so my parents went all the way to a human town to get pizza."
It was strange to think that she'd never actually left her community. I had to teach her how to work the shower, sink, and toilet. I had to teach her a lot of things, I was slowly working up to using a television. She'd never seen electricity before and it freaked her out.
He community was primitive, most of their stuff, I learned, had been handed down from one family to another. Toys, clothes, dishes. The cabins held the council members. Her parents had been important. She was considered...wealthy, she had a high status. I set the plate down next to her. "Hey, how about we go downstairs and eat with everyone else. That'll be fun, right Tree?"
"Tree?" she questioned.
I smiled in what I hope was encouragement. "Yeah, it's a nick name. Tree, short for Trina. Trees are strong and mighty, like you."
She shook her head, "I'm not very strong or mighty. I watched the people fighting outside every day, I can't do that. We lived peacefully, we didn't need fighters."
"How about I teach you," I offered. "I can train you, teach you how to fight, how to take care of yourself."
She looked at me, her eyes full of something I hadn't seen in them before. Hope, determination. "I want to make them pay, the wolves that killed them, my family."
I wanted to tell her we'd do just that but I wouldn't lie to her. I'm trying to get her to trust me. "I can't promise you revenge on those to hurt you, but I can offer you something else. If you train and work hard you can become good enough to train other people. You can teach them how to take care of themselves so that what happened to your family and your community won't happened to them. It isn't the same as killing those who hurt you and killed the ones you love but maybe it can be better."
"How?" she asked bitterly.
"You can keep them from dying in vain. Nothing can ever bring them back. But you are all that's left, the only person who remembers them. You're the only person that can give their deaths meaning." I brushed a lock of hair out of her face. "Isn't that better than letting their legacy become more death?"
She thought for a moment then said, "Yes. I guess it is."
She did took my words to heart. She worked hard, trained hard. The only person I'd ever seen who was that determined was myself. I learned a lot about her those first few weeks. Starting with how little she really knew. I hadn't actually given much thought to her confusion about mates when we first met but then I realized it wasn't just mates. It was everything about wolves. She had no clues about packs, or Alphas, or Rogues.
It's why she didn't know what Tyler was when they met. How could she know he was her mate when she still didn't actually know all that much about them? Everyone in her community fell in love much the same as humans. It was quite enchanting to me. I wasn't really one to fall in love but I liked the notion of love and mate not being the same word, not going hand in hand. I'd never cared for Grant and I'd certainly never loved him so the idea of still being able to be with another person even if he was not my mate was charming.
I heard the doorknob jiggle and I shot out of the bed grabbing my handgun from the bedside table. The door was locked. I walked to it cautiously and soundlessly. I reached out with one hand to unlock and open the door while keeping the gun trained on it. I quickly jerked it open, took a step back, and zipped my second hand up to the gun to click off the safety.
It was Tyler. I'll admit it, I thought about shooting him. "Can you put the gun down?" he asked, he seemed calmer but I wasn't going to let my guard down. "Please?"
"Not a chance," I replied. "Why are you here? I'm not letting you in."
"I wasn't going to asked you too," he said. "I just... I needed to know if she, Trina is okay."
"She's not," I answered sharply.
A look of pain crossed his face. "I don't understand," he said desperately. "Why didn't she know what we were, why would she try to reject me?"
"That's not my story," I said gently. "It's not my place to tell."
"But I'm your brother," he argued exasperated.
"And as I've told you, Trina is my sister," I retorted. "More than that it's my job to look after her and take care of her. I've already failed to do that once today. I'm not about to do it twice."
"You haven't change, have you?" he sighed. My brows furrowed in confusion so he explained, "You sounded the exact same whenever someone messed with me when we were kids." He actually gave me a grim smile.
"I have changed," I said in a small voice. "More than you and Grant realize."
He looked at me inquisitively but bit back his questions. "When she wakes up," he said instead, "can you tell her I'm sorry? I shouldn't have marked her like that. I should have tried to talk her out of rejecting me instead of trying to force the mate bond on her."
"Yeah, you should have," I said but it lack any harshness. I was simply agreeing with him. "I'll tell her, but Tyler don't get your hopes up. Just because she wears you mark doesn't mean she'll accept you as her mate."
"It there any chance?" he asked.
I shrugged and finally put my gun away. "I am the last person to ask about being with your mate. Dealing with being reject, now that I could help you with."
"How did you deal with it?" Tyler asked. "I've heard stories of mates after rejections, especially females. The heat is supposed to be awful." Heat is kind of like a girl's time of month but not quite. For starters it happens once a year and usually around the time you and your mate met. It lasts from meeting your mate until menopause. It's close to ovulation and its main purpose to get the female pregnant. But if your mate isn't around the heat goes from uncomfortable to painful. It's called heat because it can be like your body is cooking, roasting you alive.
"I had help," I said. "Tristan, the blonde who came with us, he helped me with the rejection. He helped me with a lot of stuff."
"You sound like you love him," Tyler said in surprise.
I shook my head, "It's not love, as least not in the sense your thinking but... well whenever I need advice or someone to talk to, Tristan is the one I go to. He's a good person. They all are at Fire Light. Not many people would have done what Jason did."
"You mean taking you in?"
I nodded. "You know what it's like when one Alpha gets caught hiding another Alpha's mate. It's asking for war. Anyone else would have sent me packing, or forced me to go back to Grant." I heard Trina mumble in her sleep bringing me back into focus. "Sorry Tyler but you have to go."
He sighed, slumping his shoulders forward. "Yeah. Just...let me know when I can see her."
He left before I could reply, probably so he didn't have to hear me say that Trina may never want to see him. I wouldn't blame her. If Grant had marked me without my permission and against my will I'd see him exactly two more times after that. Once to kill him, and a second time to make sure he's really dead by burning the body.
Maybe it's thinking like this that causes Jason to say I'm scary.
I shut and locked the door again before returned to Trina.