My Hidden Wolf

Chapter Eighteen

Thomas P.O.V

        A girl walked in, about eighteen at a guess. The same age my daughter would be. Her eyes reminded me of Claire but there was no way this girl could be my daughter.

        "Sorry, I didn't realise you had company." She spoke confidently.

        "It's fine Princess. Come here." Samuel spoke gently to her. Princess? She must be his mate. I've not heard anything about him finding his mate though. "Mr Richardson, this is Emily Pearson, my mate. We're keeping it low key at the moment. Emily is in her final year of school and want to finish before we announce it. She goes to the same school as your son actually."

        I was stunned. There was another wolf at my son's new school and he didn't tell me. And Emily, that's one of the names Claire and I had discussed for our daughter. I looked at her more closely. Her eyes were the same as Claire's but I could see some of myself in her face too. She had my nose. I rose to my feet.

        "It's a pleasure to meet you Emily, I'm Thomas. William told me a bit about you, not that you were a wolf though but about your parents." I offered my hand which she shook. She seemed shy at the mention of her parents. "Sorry, that was insensitive of me." She gave me a small smile.

        "I'll leave you to it. It was nice meeting you Mr Richardson." She left closing the door behind her. I think I've found her. My daughter. So close to me all this time but I can't tell her. It would tear her world apart. She had to find the truth of who she is herself.

        "What was I saying? Oh yes. When Claire left me she was pregnant with our second child. Her mate had told her that he would treat the baby as his own."

        "So you think this second baby is what Jefferson is after?"

        "Yes, because the baby was a girl."

Sam P.O.V

        I was very surprised at this. Why hadn't my parents told me any of this before I took over.

        "So the rumors of Jefferson treating women as property, items to trade are true then?" I asked

        "Yes, he's probably looking for her to force her into a marriage which would benefit him. He may try to take any girl of the right age."

        "How old would your daughter be now then?"

        "Eighteen."

        I couldn't hide the fear from my face. He could think that Emily is his granddaughter and try to take her.

        ""Do we know where Jefferson is now?" My voice was hoarse.

        "He's still in the north but heading south. He seems to be following someone, he isn't making a straight line, he's zigg zagging across the country. This gives us some time to prepare. I would suggest that you don't let Emily leave the pack territory unaccompanied."

        "Yes of course. Thank you Mr Richardson. Is your son aware of the situation? He and Emily seem to be good friends." My voice was normal again.

        "Not yet, I'll tell him once I'm home." He finished his whiskey and stood up. I was lost in thought. "It'll be okay. If anything happens to her you can count on our support."

        "Thank you." I rose to my feet and walked him out of the house. I found Kyle and Emily chatting about her training in the kitchen. They looked at me when I walked in.

        "Sam? What's wrong?" Emily asked coming toward me.

        "You should both sit down." I told them everything that Thomas had told me. When I finished Kyle's hands were balled into fists and Emily was as white as a sheet.

        "So he's coming after me?" Emily's voice was barely audible.

Emily P.O.V

        Sam had just told Kyle and I what Thomas Richardson had told him in their meeting. His wife had the same name as my mother. When I saw him I noticed I had the same nose as him. Now that I thought about it, William and I had the same shaped face. Was Thomas my father? Was William my brother? Was I the little sister he never knew?

        "So he's coming after me." I spoke very softly.

        "What do you mean Em?" Kyle asked.

        I looked up. Both Kyle and Sam looked at surprised at what I had said.

        "My mother's name was Claire, she came to this pack when she was eighteen. She had me when she was eighteen. I have the same nose as Thomas, the same face shape as William. I don't think the man I knew as my father was actually my father. I think I might be Thomas' missing daughter."

        "We need to get my parents here now!" Sam spoke sharply.

        Neither of them noticed me getting up from the table and going out onto the patio. My whole life was a lie. No wonder my grandparents didn't treat me as their grandchild, because I wasn't their blood relation. My head was spinning. My wolf came forward. I pushed her back. My knees gave out from under me and I sat on the ground. I took a few calming breaths, got up and went to the wooden gazebo to sit down. I was panicking. There was a mad man after me. A man who wanted to sell me like he sold my mother, his own daughter. Everyone had lied to me my whole life. My mother, the man who I thought was my father, my grandparents, even Steven and Stacey had lied to me. My wolf came forward again and I couldn't push her back this time. My body started aching, right down to my bones. I let out a piercing scream as they bent unnaturally. The pain was excruciating. I was shifting for the first time. Sam and Kyle must have heard me scream. The pain stopped as quickly as it had started. I looked down to see two large reddish brown paws and what remained of my clothes under them. My head could rest on the top of the table without any effort. I heard a growl behind me. I turned to look. There were two large wolves behind me. One pale and slightly smaller and the other dark brown, almost black. I was terrified. Were Charles Jefferson's men here already? The two wolves stopped growling when my eyes met with the larger one's eyes. It was Sam and Kyle. They shifted and I looked away, guessing that they would be naked. I heard the rustling of fabric and risked a peak back at them. They had pulled on some shorts.

Sam P.O.V

        Kyle and I stopped talking when we heard an ear piercing scream from the garden. Where was Emily? The side door was open. We stripped down to our boxers and hurriedly tied short around our legs before shifting into our wolves. We ran out of the house to see a large reddish brown wolf at the table in the wooden gazebo. We approached slowly. Both of us growling. The wolf turned it's head to look at us, it looked terrified. When it met my eyes I knew who it was. Emily. She looked away as I shifted, closely followed by Kyle. We hastily put on our shorts and I approached the wolf. She was as big as my wolf.

        "Emily?" I spoke softly, I didn't want to scare her. Kyle kept his distance. "It's okay. You've just shifted for the first time." She gave me a look as if to say I was being stupid, stating the obvious, that she was well aware of what had happened. I chuckled slightly.

        "Sorry, that's obvious isn't it?" She nodded her head. Her wolf's eyes were orange, like a raging fire. They were as beautiful as her human eyes. "Come on, let's get inside." I scooped up her ruined clothes and made my way back towards the house. Kyle was standing with his mouth hanging open. Emily followed me unsteadily for a few paces but she quickly got the hang of walking on four legs rather than two. I let her catch up with me so we were walking side by side. Her head was almost at my waist. She was really big for a female wolf, taller and broader than my mother's wolf for sure. Kyle followed closely behind us.

        "Kyle can you lock up for the night? Oh and can you ask my parents to come over tomorrow. We need to talk to them about tonight." I spoke once we were back in the kitchen.

        "Yeah of course. You take care of Emily." He smiled gently at her wolf.

        "Thanks, oh and send a message to Thomas, I'd like him to come tomorrow evening if he can, ask him to bring William with him too, but no one else can know about this. No one else apart from Thomas, William, my parents, you, me and Emily can know who she really is and no one, and I mean absolutely no one outside of the three of us can know that Emily has shifted." Kyle nodded and started locking up the house. I picked up my discarded suit, shredded boxers and led Emily upstairs. She struggled a bit with the stairs so we took them slowly. Once in her room I closed the door behind her and dropped the clothes on the floor next to the laundry hamper.

        "Emily you need to shift back. I'm struggling to keep my wolf in check." I kept my voice gentle. She looked at me as if to ask how to shift back. "Deep breaths and think human. It will probably hurt a bit." I stood in front of her as she closed her eyes and started breathing deeply. It took her a few minutes but she managed it. She stood for a second, completely naked in front of me before she collapsed. I caught her and pulled her close. Picking her up with one arm behind her knees and the other around her shoulders I placed her on the bed propping her head up on the pillows. I went into the en suite and started running the bath, just as my dad had done for me after the first time I had shifted. I had known what to expect though. I doubt anyone had ever told Emily how painful the first shift is. I quickly ran downstairs to get her a glass of water. I had to hold her head up as she sipped from the glass.

        "That was bloody painful." She finally spoke. "It doesn't hurt like that every time does it?"

        "No Princess, the pain stops completely after you've shifted a few times. What happened? How did you sift?"

        "I don't know. I was overwhelmed, I was panicking then my bones started aching, then my joints started bending unnaturally, I screamed and then you and Kyle found me."

        "The first time I shifted was triggered by panic as well. My mum had been badly injured by some rogue wolves, I'd never seen so much blood, haven't seen that much since either. I was twelve." I paused, sitting on the edgeof the bed. She managed to sit up a bit. "How about a relaxing bath?"

        "That sounds nice."

        "Can you walk?"

        "Yeah, I think so." She gently eased her feet to the floor. I stood up ready to support her if she needed it. She almost fell when she stood up but I caught her. She leant on me as I walked her to the bathroom. I helped her into the warm water in the bath before turning off the taps. I kissed her forehead.

        "Thank you Sam."

        "Anything for you Princess." I sunk to the floor next to the bath. My back against it's side and head dropped back so I could see Emily's face. She let out a breath and closed her eyes.

        "That's better. The aching has almost stopped." She murmured.

        "Good. It will get easier, I promise. If you feel that ache come back it probably means you're about to shift so just breath and think human if you're anywhere unsafe, it should stop you from shifting. You should only shift here until you have full control. And I don't think you should go to school tomorrow, shifting is exhausting when you're not used to it."

        "I'm meant to finish setting up the art classroom for the exam on Wednesday and Thursday though." She opened her eyes, now back to their stormy grey.

        "Someone else can do it. I also want you here when I talk to my parents and also when Thomas and William arrive. I'll get Kyle to go into town to get an instant DNA test kit from the pharmacy so we can know for certain that Thomas is your father."

        "Okay. You'll stay with me tonight won't you?"

        "I'm not going anywhere Princess."