Hiding from the Beta

Chapter Five

Andria’s pov

I sighed angrily as I sat in a chair in Ray’s room. I tried to read a book just to keep my mind off of things but it didn’t work. Just like the television, the music, I even tried to go for a late night swim last night and that didn’t even work for a minute.

I looked out the window, just hoping I would see her beautiful jet black wolf. She has been my rock since we were little kids. She helped me through everything, even when my baby brother was killed by rogues, she never once left my side.

I grabbed my phone and started pacing around my room. It’s been nearly three days since they took off. I felt lost and I had no idea what to do. I growled to myself and plopped down on the bed. I pushed a button on the remote and the television flickered to life. I started surfing through the channels, I wasn’t paying much attention to the tv as my mind started to wander again.

Suddenly something caught my attention on the television. “Early this morning a body washed ashore on Grays Lake. Two campers found the body and reported it to the police. We have been given a photo of what they suspect the man to have looked like.” A photo flashed on the screen and I stood there shocked.

On the screen was a simulated picture of Andy. The door to my room opened and Ray stood there huffing with sweat clung to his forehead. “Baby, what’s wrong?” I pointed to the television and he stood there looking at the picture.

“No identification was found, if you know of this man please contact the local authorities, with the number on the bottom of the screen.” The woman on the television said confidently. “The man’s age is suspected to be late teens to early twenties.”

“Oh my god. That’s why she ran, something happened to Andy. I need to talk to my father.” He said and bolted from the room. I turned and ran after him, down the stairs and out the back door. We ran to the garden, one of the main area’s the alpha likes to be.

We ran past a few guards, “where is the fire Andria?” Rex called out.

I ignored him, Ray stopped ahead of me and I ran into him unable to slow down in time. He reached around behind himself and steadied me. “Whoa you two, what’s going on?” My soon to be father in law said with a smile on his face. He looked at me and his expression quickly changed, “what happened?” He asked, standing up from the bench that he and his mate were resting on.

“Andy was on the human’s news. He’s dead.” Ray said as he wrapped an arm around me. Tears leaked from my face as the news started to sink in. “They said two campers found his body. There is a number to call to give them information.”

“This isn’t good.” He said as he turned and marched back towards the pack house. “Do you know when this happened? Did they find a second body?” More tears slid down my face at the very thought that my dear friend could be dead.

“No, they only talked about Andy.” Ray said, confidently.

We walked into the pack house where the doctor was waiting for us. “You called alpha?” He said as he rested his arms on a dining chair.

“Yes, we need to speak in my office, please.” The alpha said quietly.

“Okay, you lead the way.” The doctor said with a smile. He looked over at us and his smile dissipated.

Ray kept his arm around me as we walked up to the office. Once we were all in and the door was closed the alpha turned to the pack doctor. “Paul, I know it’s supposed to be your week off, but I need you to do something.” The alpha said very seriously as he started to type something into his keyboard.

“Sure, what’s the task?” He asked with a smile on his slightly chubby face.

“We have a problem, a pack member was found by the humans. He is deceased and we need him brought back here for an autopsy.” The alpha said, his tone showing how upset he was by the news of this death. Andy was one of the top ten pack warriors. He would have one day become one of five lead warriors that would teach others.

“Who is the deceased?” Paul asked sadly.

“Andy, Andy Lotus.” He said softly, a few more tears slipped from my eyes.

“Are you serious? What happened?” Paul asked, shocked by this news. “What about his parents? They have suffered so much already. I delivered him when he was born.” His brow furrowed.

“We don’t know, that’s why we need him brought here. I need to get his parents in here and inform them of what happened.” He said.

“We will do that.” I was shocked to hear my own voice say these words.

All eyes turned to me, “are you sure?” Raylan asked.

I nodded my head, “yes, I think it’s best. We were closer to Andy.” I said sadly.

“She’s right, I spent the last twelve and a half months with him. We should be the one to tell them. We will go to their room and discuss it there, they will need privacy after all of this.” Ray said as he entwined his hand with mine and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Okay, also you can inform them that their new home will be finished and they can move in next week. I will surprise them with it being fully furnished, don’t tell them that.” He said softly.

Ray nodded his head and turned to leave, “I will leave immediately, I will need one extra set of hands.” He said as we walked out of the office.

We didn’t hear the alpha’s response, I leaned into my mate for support. “That’s why she took off, isn’t it?” I asked him.

He sighed, “I think so, I think you’re right. I am pretty sure something happened that we aren’t aware of.”

“Is there any way for us to find out?” I asked him.

“Well, we could go searching through the pack lands to see if we can find anything. However, that could take days, and it’s supposed to rain tonight.” He said as he opened the door to his room.

“So we may never find out what happened, or who did it?” I asked my mate.

He pulled me into a hug and gently kissed the top of my head. “No, we may not. Unless we can find Tahlia.” He paused for a second, “the autopsy will at least tell us how he died.”

“I don’t think we should go searching for her. It could put her in more danger. The autopsy can only tell us what hasn’t been destroyed in the water.” I said, thinking about what the alpha had said about her father.

“I know, we will figure out something. Right now, we need to inform Andy’s parent’s. I just wish we had more answers than we do.” He said as he squeezed me closer to him.

I sighed, “alright, let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and led me down the stairs where we found Andy’s mom sitting on the couch, his father walked in with a bowl of popcorn.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lotus?” Ray said in a formal voice.

They both turned to look at us. Their faces instantly turned from one of happiness to one of worry. “What’s going on?” His father asked.

“We need to talk to you, privately.” I said softly.

Andy’s mom looked up at her mate, he handed the popcorn to the pups that were playing a board game on the floor. He picked her up and placed her in the wheelchair then gently wheeled her out of the living room and towards the bedrooms. Once we were in the room I picked up the television remote. “I think it would be best if you had a seat.” I said to Andy’s dad as I flipped through the channels until I found the right one.

“What’s going on?” She asked me, her voice cracked slightly.

“We are here to inform you that we believe Andy is,” I paused for a second looking at my mate for reassurance. He nodded at me and I took a deep breath. “We believe Andy is dead.”

Tears instantly welled up in his mother’s eyes. She shook her head, “no, no this isn’t right. He took his mate and ran, he can’t be dead.” She said hoarsely, his father sat there in silence, eyes wide in shock.

“We saw a picture that looked almost exactly like him, I need you to verify that it’s him.” Ray said as he waited for the news to repeat.

It didn’t take long before his picture was back on the screen. “No, NO!” His mother screamed, tears streamed down her face as she clenched her chest with her hand. “Why did this happen?” She screamed. “Why would the goddess do this to us?”

Tears streamed down my face as I listened to her screams. “Where is he?” His father growled.

“Paul and another wolf are on their way to retrieve him. He was found in Grays Lake, we don’t know how he managed to get so far away but he will be back home by this evening.”

He nodded his head, “I want to know exactly what happened as soon as you know.” He said as he stood up and walked towards his mate.

“We will, the second we know.” Ray said.

“Please go, we need to be alone.” He said as his mate continued to scream in agony.

“I am so sorry.” Ray and I both said then we walked out of the door.

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. “Let’s go get something to eat.” He said softly.

I shook my head, “I don’t want to eat.” I told him.

He sighed, “I know you don’t want to eat, but you are still alive and I will need your help to track her down. I need you at the top of your game.” I nodded my head as he led me to the kitchen.

Tahlia’s pov

I opened my eyes and looked around the room. It was dark and the clock said that it was five twenty. I sat up and shook my head, “how long was I asleep?” I asked my wolf.

“A long time, but we needed it.” She said weekly.

“What do we do?” I asked her.

She sighed, “I don’t know, I never thought that we would lose our mate. I don’t know what to do.” Daphne said then retreated into the back of my mind and put up a wall.

I sighed, would we ever feel whole again? The only reason we have even made it this long without our mate was because we didn’t finish the mating process. He didn’t mark me and I didn’t mark him.

I sighed and stood up. I grabbed my bag and walked up to the bed. I threw my bag onto it and grabbed out a fresh set of clothes. I pulled out my toiletry bag and headed into the bathroom. I ran the water as hot as I could stand it.

I washed my hair and body, then just stood in the shower, allowing the water to flow over my aching body. Everything hurt, my chest hurt the most. I don’t know how long I was in the shower when I finally decided it was time to get back to reality.

I got dressed in a sports b*a, tank top, and a pair of capri leggings. I put on my tennis shoes and pulled out the envelope with all the cash. I looked at it and realized there was at least fifty thousand dollars here. I set the money off to the side and pulled out the papers that were inside.

The first paper read:

To the Alpha of this pack,

I am Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack. Andy Lotus and Tahlia Starwaski have been in my pack since they were born. They are both wonderful pack members, Andy is the best fighter I have seen in years, and Tahlia is just as good.

I need you to keep them safe for a while. Due to certain circumstances within my own pack I have to send them somewhere else. It is too dangerous for me to know where they are going. It would be too easy for my Beta, Tahlia’s father, to learn of the information. He is a threat to this pack, to his daughter and her mate in particular.

I need some time to get things in order here. If you are willing to help them, please call my pack line directly. I do not care if you are an ally of mine or not. I only care about the safety of two wonderful young wolves.

Sincerely Alpha Raylan McCoy Sr.

I looked shocked by the letter. He planned this? He helped try to get us out of there, now the money made sense. It was from the alpha himself. He wanted us to get away. I sighed and set the letter with the money. I pulled out the next set of paper and realized it was a pack transfer form, with my name on it.

“Our alpha thought of everything.” Daphne said in my head.

“Almost everything, he didn’t expect that man to kill Andy.” I told her. She whimpered and receded back into my mind. I sighed, “I’m sorry Daphne.” I said quietly to her.

She didn’t respond, instead she put up a wall. I looked at the next set of papers and saw they were the same but had Andy’s name on it. Tears slid down my cheeks as I looked at his name, written in the alpha’s tiny neat scrawl.

The ache in my chest continued to grow, I just wanted to lay in bed and let myself die. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like if I had been marked. I jumped when there was a knock on the door. “Hey hun, it’s Doris, I have some chocolate chip banana bread and milk.”

I sighed in relief, it was just Doris, my father hadn’t found me, yet. “Come on now, I know you’re in there. You went into your room yesterday and never came out.” She said, “I know you’re hungry.” My stomach growled at her words. “I can hear your stomach from here, darlin’.” I stood up and walked towards the door. “Don’t make me get Timothy or CJ.” She said in a motherly tone.

I pulled the door open, she stood there with big hoop earrings, her dark hair with its insane amount of natural curls that bounced against her matching dark skin. She was wearing a long maxi dress and had bangles on each of her wrists. Something seemed different about her today, yesterday I didn’t really pay much attention but her scent was different. “Finally you open this door.” She said as she walked into the room. “Here, you sit here and eat, then we are going to go shopping.” She said with a wide smile.

I shook my head, “no, I don’t want to go shopping.” I said.

She narrowed her eyes at me, “you need to go shopping.” She said more slowly as she pointed out the window. I looked at her confused but then saw there was a black SUV outside. My stomach twisted, “you need to know something about me.” She said soflty.

“What’s that?” I asked her, keeping my eyes on the SUV.

“I am a witch, I left my coven a long time ago. You are the only person who knows, other than the pack that comes around. Which, that vehicle over there belongs to the alpha of the nearby pack.” She said, pointing out of the window.

“Why does it matter?” I asked.

She looked at me dumbfounded, “why does it matter? Are you serious right now? That alpha hates rogues, he doesn’t care if they’re on his territory or not. I can tell you’re a good person, the energy that flows off of you screams it. But I can also tell you feel like you have nothing left to lose. I can feel that you’ve lost the most important thing you ever had.” She said, looking directly into my eyes.

I bit my cheek to keep the tears from falling, “I don’t care if he kills me.” I told her firmly.

“You might not, but I would be willing to bet that you have people out there who love you very much.” She said as she took a step towards me.

I shook my head, “I don’t know anymore. Maybe my best friends and brother, but my parents lied to me, they took everything from me.” I said as traitorous tears slipped down my cheeks.

She sighed and looked down at the bed, “who is Andy Lotus?” She asked in a sweet voice.

I jumped to the bed and quickly stuffed the papers back into their envelope. “Hey, look I didn’t mean to intrude. I can tell you’re running from someone. Nobody would expect you to hide out here. You could make this your new home.” She said with a smile.

“Why would you even want to help me?” I asked her, dumbfounded by her kindness.

“Because, for whatever reason I feel drawn to you.” I looked at her suspiciously, “something in my gut is telling me to help you. It’s telling me that you’re important.”

I started to laugh uncontrollably, she looked at me like I was a crazy person. After a few minutes I calmed down. “I am not important, not anymore.” I growled at her. I turned on my heal and walked out into the sunlight.

That was quite stupid of me as I walked right into a very large and hard chest. I dropped to the ground on my butt with a hard thump. A low growl left the chest I had just walked into. “What is a rogue doing so close to my borders?” The deep growl said.

I looked up at him in shock. He would know that I am not technically a rogue, yet. I haven’t said the words to make me a rogue. I narrowed my eyes taking him in, he was quite tall, larger build, his hair was mostly white with some dark specks in it. His eyes were pitch black and his hands were balled into fists.

I stood up and dusted myself off. “Technically I am not a rogue, you should be able to smell that.” I told him.

He took a threatening step towards me and I stood my ground. “What makes you think you can talk to me like that?” He growled at me.

I glared at him, “I am not on your territory, I have no reason to go after your pack. I am no threat to you.” I growled back.

He looked at me shocked that I would talk to him like that. He grabbed me by the arm and pushed me into my room, Doris was about to follow but he slammed the door in her face. He lifted me up and started to smell me. He growled, “you smell like Silver Moon.”

I ripped my arm out of his grip and took a few steps away from him. “I am from Silver Moon.” I stopped for a second and a knot formed in my stomach. “Was from there.” I said softly, as I inched closer to the corner of the room.

He looked at the money and the envelope that were still sitting on the bed. “Where did you get this?” He growled as he pointed at the money, his eyes flashed black.

I sighed, “Alpha Raylan, he did that.” I told him.

He laughed, “I doubt that. No alpha would give up that much money for a stupid girl.” He growled. He stormed over to the bed and grabbed the envelope. I jumped towards him but he grabbed my arm and held me at a distance as he read the letter. He looked at me confused then back at the letter. “Who is Andy?” He growled.

I ripped my arm away from him and moved back a few paces. “None of your business.” I growled.

He turned to me and growled back, “it is my business, for all I know this letter is fake and you’re here to try and hurt my pack.”

“That’s not what’s happening here.” I told him, I could feel my face begin to heat in anger.

“Then explain why I don’t need to worry about this Andy.” I could tell his patience was starting to thin.

“Just tell him Tahlia, it’s not worth fighting anymore.” Daphne said weakly.

I wrapped my arms around my body and dropped to the floor. “He’s no threat to you or your pack because he is dead.” I whispered. I pulled my knees to my chest as the floodgates burst open again. Daphne receded into my mind and put up a wall between us. I didn’t know if we would ever be able to come back from this.