Across Enemy Lines

Chapter 14

We pulled up to the gate to see Alpha Liam pacing.

"Where's Joe? That bastard has cross the line!" He shouted at us.

"What do you need Joe for, father?" Jared looked annoyed.

"He's poaching my people!"

"Jared, man, I tried to tell him, but this mothe-" said the biggest of the men.

"Silence traitor!" Liam was fuming. Jared pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Who, exactly, did Joe poach, Dad?"

"Evelyn, you, now Clarence and Marcus! Where does it end,huh?" Liam counted on his fingers.

"Dad… you're such a f*****g jackass…"

"What did you say to me, boy?" Liam's eyes flickered between black and brown.

"Joe didn't poach anyone. Evelyn was his mate, so you should have let her go. You had mom anyway, so why are you still mad? Second, I asked Clarence and Marcus to come here and seeings how you kicked Marcus out of the pack, he's a rogue. So, that leaves Clarence. Maybe, if you didn't treat him like s**t, he wouldn't be so willing to leave!"

"You little s**t! I'm going to-"

"You're gonna what Liam?" My father limped down the path to the gate.

"Daddy! You need to be resting." I quickly made my way to him.

"Oh, hush, little one. I'm alright. Momma's been takin' good care of me. What's goin' on here?" Daddy asked. I looked up at Liam. He had a strange look on his face that almost looked like concern, but when he noticed we were looking at him he hardened his features.

"What happened to you, did my son kick your ass?" Liam sneered.

"No, he's a good boy. Got attacked by rogues the other day… not that it's any of your business!" My father spat. "Damn, that's a big boy…" My father was staring in awe at the huge man who must have been seven feet tall, with creamy chocolate skin and hazel green eyes. His hair was kept short with soft curls on the top. The man's arms and legs were like tree trunks that attached to an extremely muscular frame. The large man was standing next to Liam, and made him look almost like a child comparatively. The man chuckled.

"It's nice to meet you Alpha Joseph, I'm Clarence. I will be the new beta to your pack." His voice boomed out in a merry way that made you feel giddy and safe.. My father's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he hobbled over to the gate. He clasp Jared on the back roughly and laughed a hearty laugh.

"Woo wee! Let them rogues try to mess with us now! Clarence son, I am honored that you're gon-"

"He's not going anywhere!" Liam snapped. No one had noticed Liam's handsome face contort into a raging tomato. My father snorted.

"Whatchu gonna do? Yell at him to death if he leaves? Come on son, let's get you some lunch. My wife is makin' them Philly cheese steak sandwiches. You like them sandwiches?" Clarence smiled widely and started to walk forward when Liam turned and punched him in the center of the stomach making him crumble.

"I said, he's not going." Liam quietly stated. Jared roared.

"Enough! I challenge you, to the rights to your pack!" Silence followed as the crisp air began to fill with electricity.

"Jared, son, don't take the man's pack…" my father put his hand on Jared's shoulder but he brushed it off. Hurt filled my father's eyes and he just stepped aside.

"Open the gate!" Jared shouted. Devin looked to me and I just nodded. We turned around and headed in the direction of the packhouse with Liam, Clarence, Marcus and my father following.

"Hey, Gary? Have somebody take the cars back to the garage, will ya? And keep watch on the gate." Devin said to his lieutenant as he followed us to the challenge.

We walked onto the training field to find training in session.

"Clear out!" Jared ordered. One by one, pack members vacated the premises. Jared took off his shirt and stood dead center in the field, waiting for his father to ready himself.

"If this is what we're doin' we need to lay the ground rules out. No, shifting. Once someone submits or dies, that's it, the other person has to stop. Alright?" Devin looked between the two men. Liam took off his shirt and cracked his neck.

"Fine." Liam growled out. Both men were equal in size with Liam being slightly larger.

"I understand." Jared said calmly.

"You ain't gotta do this Jared. He's your daddy for God sakes!" My father pleaded. Jared ignored him and crouched down. The rest of us took our seats on the bleachers. My heart raced as I watched the two men circle each other.

"What's goin' on? Why's Liam here?" Joey appeared at my arm.

"Jared challenged him for his pack." I whispered.

"Oh no."

Suddenly Liam swung his fist at Jared, who dodged him and landed a right hook to Liam's jaw causing him to stumble back. The sound was like thunder rumbling through the arena. Liam steadied himself and his eyes turned solid black. He charged at Jared and slammed into his middle, pounding him into the ground but Jared quickly tossed him off of him and jumped up landing a kick to Liam's stomach.

"Get up old man!" Jared yelled.

Liam got up slowly and spit blood onto the grass. They circled each other for a few moments before Jared charged at Liam, who side stepped and then jumped up, wrapping his legs around Jared's neck and throwing him down hard on the ground before slamming his fist down into Jared's face. My heart jumped up into my throat and I stood quickly only to be pulled down by Joey.

Jared stood up with Liam still wrapped around his neck, then he catapulted him down onto the ground knocking the air out of the man. He then proceeded to throw punch after punch to his father's face. After a few minutes Liam managed to kicked Jared off of him, but his face was already bloodied and his eyes were starting to swell. Liam shook his head and blinked several times before swinging his large fist but it was easily dodged. Jared then moved quickly and kicked Liam's legs out from under him before wrapping his own legs around Liam's throat and grabbing his arm and putting it in an arm lock. Jared pulled on Liam's right arm.

"Submit!" He grunted. Liam just growled out in pain as Jared pulled harder and squeezed his legs tighter.

"SUBMIT!" Jared roared out. After what seemed like hours Liam tapped the ground with his left hand and Jared let go. Both men lay breathless on the ground. My father stood, staring disappointedly at the two men, and walked out of the arena.

"You… took… everything… from me." Liam breathed out.

"Chloe's pregnant. I need to protect the baby." Jared stood and walked over to me. He placed his hand on my stomach.

"Come on princess, it's lunch time." He leaned downed and kissed my forehead.

"Go clean up. I'm right behind you." He nodded.

"Come on guys. I'll show you into the house." And with that I was left alone with a solemn looking Liam who was still sitting on the ground. I walked over and took a seat next to him.

"I've gotten my ass kicked twice in this arena." Liam said as he stared off into the distance.

"It doesn't have to be this way. We want you to be a part of this family."

"Jared doesn't." He looked down at me. We sat silently.

"You need to go eat. You need to feed the baby." Liam said, looking down at my stomach. I sighed.

"Come have lunch with us." I slowly stood up.

"I don't think that's a good idea." He said as he got to his feet. I grabbed his hand and he stiffened.

"You're going to tell a pregnant woman no?" I smirked. He rolled his eyes and let me pull him along to pack house. When we walked into the great hall, all eyes were upon us. Liam's face hardened as he attempted to jerk his hand from mine, but I tightened my grip and pulled him along to the table. Jared smiled at me as we sat down. My mother sat down beside Liam, my father sitting beside her. Liam reached up to grab a sandwich and my mother smacked his hand.

"You can wait til we bless the food." She said sternly. Zachariah, Stephania and Mikanos walked in and sat across from us at the table. Clarence, who was talking to Joey, suddenly froze and slowly turned his head toward Stephania, who in turn was gawking at him. Zachariah was growling lowly beside her.

"Mine…" Clarence whispered. Stephania squeaked and sprung to her feet and took off upstairs.

"What just happened?" Joey asked. A look of anguish swallowed Clarence's face.

"I don't think I should follow her." he whispered.

"What just happened?" Joey asked again.

"Clarence found his mate." Liam stated, looking down at his empty plate.

"How do you know?" Joey asked.

"Because that's the face your father made when he saw Evelyn. And it's the face I made when I saw Mary." He said quietly.

"What happened to Mary, Liam?" My father asked quietly. I could see the hurt on Liam's face. He closed his eyes.

"Rogues. Rogues happened Joe. Let's not talk about it." Jared spoke roughly. My father's eyes saddened and he just gave Jared a nod.

"Daddy, bless the food. I'm going to talk to Stephania." I stood from the table and walked up the stairs. I could hear sobbing as I reached the top stair. I knocked gently on the door.

"Y-yes?" Sniffle. I opened the door to find Stephania curled up on the couch, hugging her knees.

"Oh honey. Why are you upset? This is a wonderful day! You found your mate!" I sat down on the couch and wrapped my arms around her. She lay her head softly on my shoulder.

"I don't want a mate." She sobbed.

"Why not?"

"Because… mates just hurt you."

"What? Who told you that?"

"I've seen it! In my old pack, the males beat their mates. Women are there just to cook, clean and have sex." She sobbed harder on my shoulder.

"Does Jared beat me?"

"No."

"Do you see me cook or clean?"

"No."

"That's because I don't. Mates are a gift from the Goddess. They are to be treasured." Sniffle.

"Stephania, how old are you?"

"I'm eighteen." My eyes widened. Eighteen. She looked so young.

"Oh Stephania-" someone knocked on the door.

"Yes?" The door opened and Jared and Clarence walked in. Clarence's eyes filled with worry as he raced over to Stephania.

"Oh no. What's wrong beautiful? Are you hurt?" Clarence started looked Stephania over urgently, trying to find the cause of her tears. Stephania sat terrified at the large man at her feet.

"Dammit, Clarence! I told you not to charge in here! Look, you're scaring her!" Jared scolded. Clarence looked up and saw Stephania's wide eyed look and backed away sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, gorgeous. I just wanted to make sure you was alright." He turned to go.

"Wait!" Stephania blurted out. Clarence spun around.

"Whatchu need girl? You hungry? I'll go get you a sandwich. You just give me a minute." Clarence spun around and barreled down the stairs, sounding like a herd of elephants.

"Hey, give me a plate! I gotta get my woman a sandwich!" We heard Clarence barking out to the table.

"Dammit, Clarence! Settle down!" Liam was yelling, as my parents' laughter filled the hall. Stephania let out a small giggle. I turned to see the tears had stopped.

"Do you want to head down stairs for lunch?" Jared asked. She looked up at him and carefully nodded her head.

"Come on, kid. Lets go, before Clarence tries to bring the whole damn house up here." Jared muttered as we walked down stairs.

Clarence was loading down a plate with everything on the table. He was at the opposite end of the room when we once again entered and took our seats. He raced back to our end of the table.

"Alright, baby girl, I got you a little of everything. If you want anything else you just let me know. You got some juice, girl? You know what, here take my juice." Clarence was fawning over Stephania as she giggled uncontrollably. Zachariah on the other hand was growling lowly at Clarence, who was completely oblivious.

"Zach, stop growling. Getting on my nerves." Jared barked out. Zachariah blinked a few times before a blush rushed his cheeks.

"I'm sorry alpha." Jared looked up at Liam.

"When are you handing me the pack?" The water that was in my mouth sprayed across the table.