The Protector

Chapter 12

Hunter and I left the party around twelve, not really caring to stay for the drunken mess it had become. I grabbed my bag from the backseat and kissed him goodnight before running inside. I expected to see part of the pack there, the adults and children, but they were nowhere in sight. I guess it was pretty late after all.

“Where’s everyone at?” I asked my mother who was already in her night clothes and sitting on the sofa.

“Only four or five people were going to stay but they chose to stay at the old pack house since there was a game night going on.” She was referring to the big house that most of the elder members of our pack lived in. After our pack started to grow, it was obvious that we needed a bigger pack house if everyone wanted to still remain in the same area like most packs did. That’s when my grandpa, the Alpha at the time, bought the second house. It was a lot farther away than the old pack house, but that only helped us sleep at night. Like I said, there were a lot of really rowdy people in the pack house, both unmated adults and teens.

“You’re home early,” my dad called as he walked into the living room, holding a cup of what I hoped to be decaf coffee. I shrugged and dropped my bag on the couch before sitting down next to my mother.

“It’s a Thursday,” I sighed, my feet hurting from all of the dancing. In all honesty, both Hunter and I were worn out. Something that was actually pretty weird, since we were both pretty young and strong werewolves. It didn’t matter though because I had a great time.

“Oh honey,” my mother gasped, causing my father to rush to her side with worry. Before either of us knew what was happening, she was in front of me, holding my necklace ever so gently in her hand. “It’s so beautiful,” she said in awe, causing my father to let out a sigh of relief before he appeared next to her, looking over her shoulder at the necklace too. My mother turned it over and read the engraving on the back.

“Did Hunter give this to you?” My dad asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth from his silent approval of his Beta’s son.

“Yes he did,” I smiled.

“Oh, you two are going to be wonderful together,” my mother gushed before wrapping her arms around me so tightly that I wondered if she was aiming to break my neck.

“Mom, you’re killing me,” I fake coughed. She let me go from her iron hug, but kept one hand on my shoulder and the other on my cheek.

“Oh honey, I’m so happy for you. Did he…?” Her eyes shifted to my neck, which was covered by my hair. Before my dad could get protective and start growling like a mad man, I quickly pushed my hair away for them so see.

“No,” I sighed. Because of my mother’s disappointed face, I went on and added, “not just yet.” She gave me a gentle smile, not seeing my hidden worry about everything.

“Well you two should mate soon,” my dad said, shocking my mom and I both. “Just so some of the other unmated males in the pack back off.”

“We will,” I confirmed, or lied, before they could launch into a discussion about it. I felt like the last thing I wanted to talk about with my parents at that moment was mating with Hunter. “I’m going to head to bed,” I announced before hugging them goodnight and heading towards the stairs.

“Is Claire on her way back?” My mother called up the stairs, causing me to halt in my steps. I looked back down at them and shrugged, quickly forming a lie to cover for my little sister who I knew was probably wasted with her friends.

“When I left she was helping one of her friends home who drank way too much,” I answered, feeling a little bad for lying so easily to my mom. She nodded and retreated back to the living room, allowing me to make my way upstairs. I closed the door to my room and moved to my bathroom before stripping from the white sundress and sandals and jumping in the shower. I tried not to think of anything but song lyrics as a means to keep my mind from thinking about things that were stressing me out. 

When I finally slipped under my covers, I couldn’t help but think of my conversation with Hunter over and over, as though I was listening to a scratched record. I don’t know when exactly I finally passed into the darkness, but I was glad when it came. So glad that I almost slept through the sounds coming from downstairs. 

I shot up in my bed, my eyes flying open at the abnormal noise. I listened for the sound to continue, but I didn’t hear anything else. Maybe I had imagined it. Or maybe it was just Claire sneaking in and failing miserably to do so. I looked at my clock beside my bed. 3:23. There was no way that Claire would come home that late. So maybe someone was getting something to eat. Problem was, I didn’t believe it despite how reasonable my explanations were. The longer I sat there, the more worried I became as scenarios filled my head of someone breaking in our house to kill us.

It wasn’t even that I wasn’t scared for myself. I was actually scared for my family who were downstairs and probably still fast asleep. What if they were hurt? My internal instincts to protect my family compelled me to leave the safety of my room and venture further into the terrible scenarios that filled my head. I looked over the railing that looked over our living room and dining room that were open to each other, but I still couldn’t see anyone or anything. I cautiously made my way downstairs, thankful that the carpet provided soft padding to keep my presence mostly quiet.

I started towards the back of the house, towards my parents’ room, but something stopped me. There was a sound that resembled something of a voice from the kitchen, though I wasn’t too sure I was hearing it right. I turned around and started making my way towards the kitchen, careful to step softly and slowly on the wood floors that covered the first floor. My heart sped up as adrenaline pumped through my body and my hands curled into fists. There was no way someone was in our house. My dad’s scent was everywhere as well as my mom’s. No one would dare come into an Alpha and Luna’s house without permission. Unless… well unless they were human.

The thought calmed me down a bit, though not enough to send me back to my bedroom. Eventually I reached the end of the wall where the doorway to the kitchen was. I cautiously peeked into the kitchen, but found myself looking into an empty room, immediately allowing my heartbeat to lower. My eyes landed on a slightly open window on the other side of the room, the moonlight from outside casting an eerie glow around the room. I released a breath of relief that I didn’t know I had been holding. I couldn’t believe I scared myself shitles for no reason. The branch from outside tapped against the window again, making everything fall into place in my head. My stupid brain and it’s endless scenarios were really becoming a problem. First with Hunter and now with burglars. I had to stop binging slashers.

I walked over to the window and closed it, locking the new sounds of a barn owl outside. What a silly thing to overreact about, I thought as I turned to head back upstairs. Immediately, I ran into something hard and tripped over my own feet, falling to the ground and causing my back to hit the wall.

“Sorry dad,” I muttered as I pushed myself away from the wall and back onto my feet. “I thought I heard…” my words started to fail me when an unfamiliar scent filled my senses a second before my eyes caught sight of the person before me. The stranger before me.

“Did we wake you?” He asked, his voice scratchy and scuffed as though he smoked a pack a day. Before I could say anything or even take in a breath, I felt a sharp pain in my neck followed by immediate adrenaline. I screamed aloud before a cloth was suddenly placed over my mouth and caused me to hold my breath for as long as I could. 

“Damn it,” another voice from the darkness cursed. In an instant, I heard the distant footsteps of my parents and their bedroom door slamming open. The cloth was removed from the mouth but my body was paralyzed, causing me to fall into the nearest set of arms.

I was being picked up and carried bridal style out of the house, my vision slowly slipping as my mind began to cloud. I tried to scream again, but my mouth wouldn’t move to form proper words let alone sounds. I looked up at the person who carried me and felt fear rise in my throat at the thought that they might be letting me see their faces because I wouldn’t live to describe them. 

I was carried quickly out of the front door of the house and thrown into the back of a grey truck, a pain erupting along the side of my left body from the impact. I tried to stand again, to fight off whatever they had used on me, but I couldn’t. I had never learned to fight off something like this before. My body was useless and my coherent stream of thoughts was slowly slipping away too. As the truck started to speed off with the tailgate still down, someone jumped into the back of the vehicle next to me and grabbed my side to keep me from falling out of the back of the truck. For a second, I thought it was my dad but I wasn’t that lucky.

As soon as my parents came into view outside of the house, I wanted to call out to them for help but my mouth wouldn’t move to form anything more than grunts. The guy next to me grabbed the tailgate and pulled it up, blocking the last view of my parents. I heard two loud growls and realized my parents had shifted which meant they would catch up to these people soon. 

Until I heard the gun.

One shot.

Two shots.

Three shots and a whimper. I felt my heart jump to my throat as tears leaked from my eyes. Only when I heard the sound of two wolves howling in the growing distance, did I release a shaky breath. My mom and dad were alive. At least for now. I prayed they wouldn’t continue to chase the truck, fearing for their safety.

I tried to move, and I even thought I felt my left leg twitch a little, but before I could attempt anything, the same rag was pressed over my mouth again. I tried holding my breath but they continued to hold it until I needed to gasp for air. I breathed in, taking in the scent of the chemical that burned my nose and made my eyes fill with more tears.

Suddenly, I was enveloped by darkness.