Chapter 30

How? How could he have even known? When?

I panic instantly, my eyes widening at the horror in front of me. It had to be Asher's wolf, I hadn't forgotten it. It was years ago when I watched my brother and his friend shift. They believed if I watched them shift, I'd somehow too.

"How many do you think they are?" I asked Khalid, my voice as low as a whisper as I tried to restraint my fear.

"I'm not sure," He shook his head and stepped back before heading toward the stairs. "I'll have to check out. In the meantime, it would be better if you stay inside the room provided."

"No," I quickly snapped. "You can't leave me alone. I can't shift and if any of the—wolves come to me, I'll die in a minute and there's no one else here. I'm not going to be alone."

If Gerald's friend was here, it meant he'd be here too, searching for me. But how did he even know I was here? Something wild clicked in my mind. Was he suspicious and was he waiting till the Alpha and his strongest warriors were gone from here before making a move?

My face filled with fear and panic.

Khalid agreed with me and he didn't go away. We stayed upstairs, hearing everyone unravel. The sounds of footsteps and the smell of foreign werewolves stepping into the house became stronger. Snarls echoed in the silence. They weren't stopped by the guards at gates, which either meant they had killed them, or they were able to make their way into the house with the guards ever knowing.

My heart raced as I thought about what would happen if Gerald found me. I was no match for him, or his friend. I had to trust that Khalid would protect me.

He stepped in front of me and pulled out a gun upon hearing the steps getting closer to us. They weren't coming up from the staircase near to my room, but they were already up through one of the other stairs in the house.

"We should go inside the room and hide. It's better if they don't know we are here." I suggested, thinking quick.

Gerald was a wild monster, and if he ever wanted something, he was going to get it no matter what. He was well-trained, and he could kill Khalid without injuring himself even a little and with his friend, we were still not a match.

"There's more than one, and you can't take them all by yourself. And there's a chance it might be my brother, and he desires to kill me more than anything else." I continued while reaching the door to the room.

Khalid nodded a moment later, agreeing. We slipped into the room and I opened the small window near to the bed, letting the sounds of the thunder and the wind suppress the sounds of our breathings.

I didn't have any scent, but after night, Nicholas' scent was all over my body. It had sunk deep into my skin and it was going to take a while before it could go away.

We walked near to the wall on the opposite side of the bed and window. The walls were covered in gray wallpaper, making the room darker then it was already. With the lights switched off, we stood against the wall, covering ourselves as the footsteps became closer.

Khalid hand went to his gun and he prepared for the worst while I stood behind him. My heart thudded hard in my chest. My head became muddled with countless thoughts.

I couldn't even begin to comprehend what Gerald would do to me.

"There's no one here. Again. Who even told you she's here?" Asher said, his voice familiar in my head. They were reaching closer and closer. "This is just a waste of time. We should leave with the others before the pack and their alpha returns."

"No. I know she's fucking somewhere near and I know she has found refugee in this pack. You saw the picture, Ash. She's here." My brother snapped, even growling a little as his heavy steps thudded across the hallway.

What picture?

"But there's no one here."

And there wasn't asides from Khalid and I.

"There's a whorehouse somewhere near by. There's probably a bigger chance she's there, giving her ass for some money," Asher suggested, his tone cruel and wicked, as always. "Do you want to check that?"

My lips lined straight and my chest heaved as I heard them talk. Anything was better than them finding me.

The steps stopped. They no longer moved, but I could hear them only inches away from the room and the staircase next to it. I held my breaths and counted the seconds while Khalid slowly loaded his gun and held it near to the door just if incase they walked in, or figured something out.

"Probably whoring herself out. Let's go there. Call the others and we'll leave." Gerald said a moment later, agreeing to his friend.

"Wherever she is, we'll get to her tonight and you can have your sweet, sweet revenge."

Revenge? For what?

I blew out a breath of relief upon hearing them step down the stairs. It took a few minute before they were gone and we stepped out of the room. Quickly, Khalid began making calls and informed the guards about the wolves that had came in here. By the time they could do anything, they were already gone, and weren't found again.

Gerald was always smart, he knew whenever there was someone behind him, or if he was going to be attacked.

My eyes welled as I returned to the room after it was all over. Tears poured one after the other and I held my face in my hands before sobbing as quietly as I possibly could.

I didn't want anyone to know how much of an affect my brother had on me. I hadn't done anything to him, but he also believed I hastened Mom's death from all the pain I gave her after I was birthed and that I was a runt. Just like my Dad believed.

But how was any of it my fault?

I hadn't done anything to quicken Mom's death. She died when she was meant to and there was nothing any of us could do to stop it.

I laid on the bed, catching my breaths while my face became wet with my tears. My head buried deeper into the pillow. I listened to the sounds of the trees trembling outside and a few moments, while still sobbing, somehow, I dozed off.

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