Hiding from the Beta

Chapter Nine

Tahlia’s pov

I stared at the tree for a moment, relief spread through me. It didn’t catch fire. I quickly walked over to the front yard and started grabbing the signs. “Hey, how are you doing?” I looked up and saw CJ in his truck a few yards away.

I gave him the thumbs up. He jumped out of the truck and ran over as more lightning lit up the darkening sky, “come on, storms moving in pretty quick. Here I will get those signs.” He said running to the signs furthest away. He yanked the big one out of the ground and put it under his arm before leaning down and grabbing another one.

Another round of lightning lit up the sky and three seconds later a loud c***k of thunder rang through the air. I grabbed another sign and realized it was the last one. I quickly walked to the front office, CJ held the door open for me. “What else do you have left to do, Doris?” He asked.

“The chairs and then making sure the windows in the rooms are closed.” She said quickly. “I got the umbrella’s done and pushed the button for the awning, it’s closing right now.”

“I will do the rooms, you two work together to get the chairs.” He grabbed the master key and a list of vacant rooms before he quickly ran out of the office.

I followed Doris outside and we started to stack the chairs. “Right here sweetheart. Stacks of five then use the bungee cords like this.” She said, as she quickly showed me how to strap in the chairs.

“Got it.” I started to run around and stack all the chairs I could. We ended up with six sets of five chairs.

“Hey, rooms are good, do you need anything else?” I looked around as the sound of rain hit my ears. Suddenly I was drenched, someone grabbed my shirt and dragged me into the office.

“Thanks CJ, is everyone in town all set?” She asked.

“Timothy was helping Mrs. Copper get Sunny out of a tree then he said he was going to come here.” He said, as he grabbed a towel and wiped the rain off his face.

“Perfect, is there anything else we need to do?” She asked.

He shook his head, “just check your gas can and make sure you’ve got enough for your generator. If not I can run over to the gas station and get you some.”

“Nah, we are good, I filled up the gas can last night.” She said, “thank you for your help, both of you.”

“You know how to get a hold of me, keep away from the windows, do you have any other guests?” CJ asked.

“No, the next guest isn’t expected for a few more days.” She leaned over to me, “family reunion, nearly every room is booked for a week.” She said with a big smile.

I assumed it wasn’t normal for her to have a big family reunion or every room filled. “Alright you two, I am heading back to the station.”

“Drive safe hun,” Doris called after him.

Once he was gone she looked and smiled at me. “What?” I asked her.

“Nothin’, I can just feel a different energy from you.” She said with a smile.

I chuckled and looked down. I jumped when there was suddenly a ton of banging all over the place. I glanced out the window, shocked to see the huge hail raining down from the sky. “Is this normal?” I asked her.

She shook her head, “not typically, but this summer has been a doozy for storms. She glanced out the window, “that looks like they’re almost baseball sized this time.”

I looked at her surprised when her face turned to panic. “Oh my god!” She said as she quickly ran over to the door.

“What are you doing?” I asked as she started to unlock the door.

She flung it open and I grabbed her and pulled her back before she could run outside. “What are you doin’?” She asked as she glared at me.

I was taken back, “I am stopping you from killing yourself.”

“Timothy is out there.” She pointed towards the truck.

“He’s in his truck, he will be okay.” I told her.

She shook her head, “no he wont, that glass won’t last much longer.” She said, her frustration growing.

“Fine, I will go, okay. My body will heal faster than yours will.” I turned and was about to walk out when the windshield on his truck gave out and shattered from the impact of so many hailstones.

I bolted from the door and ran to his truck, the hail hurt as it struck me. Then suddenly it stopped. I looked up to see the stones bouncing off an invisible wall. I reached his truck and opened the door. His head was bleeding a lot, I grabbed him fireman style and ran back to the door. Once we were inside I laid him down on the floor.

“Oh geez Timmy, why would you do that? You knew it would have been best for you to just stay at Mrs. Copper's place.” She quickly left the room muttering to herself.

I grabbed the sleeves of my sweatshirt and started to apply pressure to the wound on his head. He groaned but didn’t wake up. “That’s good, he is respondin’ to pain.” Doris said as she handed me a wad of gauze. “Use that instead of your sweatshirt darlin’. I need to use the radio and let CJ know Timothy is hurt.” She stopped and looked back at me, “use that pillow on the chair to elevate his head.”

I grabbed the yellow pillow and put it under his head. I looked at the gauze and noticed it was almost completely saturated. I grabbed more from the box and replaced it. If we didn’t get this bleeding to stop soon we could be in trouble. I pushed harder onto the wound, hoping extra pressure would help stop the bleeding.

Doris came back into the room, “we can’t get any help until the hail passes.” She sighed, “how’s it look?” She asked.

I pulled the gauze off and didn’t see any more blood coming from the gash on the side of his head. “I think the bleeding has finally stopped.” I cringed as I looked at the gash, “I think he is going to need stitches though, unless you can use some of your magic.”

She bit her lip and shook her head, “I don’t think it will work on him.” She said softly.

I looked at her confused, her face suddenly pale, “why not?” I asked.

She pointed to the rip in his sleeve, it revealed a rather large tattoo on his arm. “Is that what I think it is?” I asked her, my voice slightly shaky.

She nodded her head, “I have known him for ten years, he has never tried to hurt anyone. When he came here he was on the run too, just a kid. I guess we know why he took off now.”

I looked down at Timothy, he was a hunter, a hunter on the run. “I guess we'll just have to talk to him when he wakes up.” I told her.

She looked at me and nodded her head, “if he wakes up.”

Raylan’s pov

I looked out the window and sighed as I saw the van pull up towards the house. I watched as it veered to the left and around the side of the pack house and out of site. “They’re back.” Anna said softly.

I nodded my head, “I saw, I will give them a few minutes before I head down there. I am sure Paul is just as upset about all of this as I am.”

Anna let out a sigh, “you know Nate will do what he can for Tahlia.”

I turned around and gently pulled her hands up to my mouth. I kissed each knuckle and then rested my cheek on them. “I can only hope that he means what he says. You two haven’t really been that close. Yes you may be family by marriage, but you don’t really act like it.”

“We may not act like it all the time, but we do when it really comes down to it.” She said defensively.

“I know, I am just on edge, normally I could feel when a pack member dies, the link snaps. Why didn’t I feel when something happened to Andy?”

Anna wrapped her arms around me and pulled my head towards her chest. I laid my head on her chest so that I could clearly hear her heartbeat. “I don’t know, it normally means something else was involved. Normally it means magic is involved. Could a witch or warlock have gotten into the land?” She asked quietly as she stroked my hair.

I thought about it for a moment, “it’s possible, it’s also possible to enchant a weapon.”

She sighed, “I know, it’s also possible for a lot of things to happen. Andy’s death could have been purely by accident.”

“I sent them in that direction.” I told her.

“What?”

“I sent them there, I had cleared the border patrol so that it would be a clean shot to get over the border. I needed to protect them, and in doing so I think I got the best warrior killed.” I said, my voice slightly muffled from her breasts in my face.

She leaned back and pulled my head up to look at her, “you didn’t do this. This is not your fault, we will figure out what happened and we will make sure they pay for what they did.”

I smiled up at her, “this is why I say you’re the best Luna ever.” I stood up and picked her up, squeezing her tightly until I heard her back c***k.

She sighed in relief, “that felt good, now we need to head down to the morgue. Maybe Paul can give us a preliminary idea of what happened.”

I grabbed her hand and started to make our way towards the stairs. I stopped at Ray’s door and knocked. He opened the door and looked at me surprised, “Paul is back.” He bowed his head and shut the door.

We started to walk down the stairs when I heard the door fling open. I looked, knowingly, at my mate. Andria was on her way down and I am sure Ray was right behind her. “Tell Jonathan.” Anna said over her shoulder.

I heard a groan and then the footsteps slowly faded. “That got us a few more minutes head start.” I said with a smirk.

Anna giggled and wrapped her arms around mine and leaned her head onto my shoulder. We walked silently down to the morgue. It was in a building behind the pack house. This building was the hospital, clinic and morgue all in one.

We walked into the building and everyone bowed their heads at us. Nobody knew what was going on, other than the ones I had told. We walked over to the elevator and I pushed the button that said underground. I looked at my mate and she looked at me. Neither one of us liked this part of our duties.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Instantly I was hit with the smell of sterilization and decomposition. It was especially cold down here. I walked in and saw a gurney with a black bag and blue straps with a buckle to hold the bag in place.

“Alpha.” I looked to my left near the door to the supply closet. Paul was standing there with Bridgette. She looked to the floor as soon as I looked at her, it was obvious she had been crying.

Anna sighed and walked over to Bridgette, she wrapped her arms around her like a mother would. “I know sweetheart. This is not something we like to do.” Bridgette broke down and started to cry uncontrollably. “Let it out, take a few minutes and feel your emotions.”

I stared at Paul, his face seemed to suddenly age. “My love, why don’t you bring Bridgette to the pack house and get her some hot chocolate. Paul and I will talk and then I will talk to you about it later.”

She nodded her head and started to lead Bridgette from the room. I gently put my hand on her arm, “maybe you should stop Andria. She will be Luna someday, it would be good for her to see this side of it.”

“Okay, I want to know everything.” I nodded my head and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. We waited until they were out of the room and elevator doors had closed.

“What do you have for me?” I asked.

He sighed, “I do not think this was an accident.” He beckoned me over. “Would you mind?” He asked, pointing towards the top of the bag.

I walked to him and grabbed the top part. We lifted it up and placed him on the stainless steel table that had holes in it so any liquid could go into a drain underneath. He put on an apron and some gloves, then handed me some gloves as well. He unzipped the bag and instantly I could see the bruises on his face and body. “Do you have any idea what happened?”

“I can’t give you anything preliminary based on what happened, but there is one thing I want to show you.” He pushed Andy onto his left side.

I looked at him stunned, “is that what I think it is?” I asked him.

He nodded his head. “If you think that, that’s poison then yes.”

“Regular silver wouldn’t do that, would it?” I asked, I already knew the answer but I asked it anyways.

“No, it wouldn’t do that. Neither would just wolfsbane. Wolfsbane on a knife wouldn’t do this either.” He said sadly.

“How do you know?”

“Do you see here?” He said as he pointed to the black veins around the wound.

“Yes, what would cause that?”

“There are a couple things that would-” He was cut off by the ding of the elevator.

Jonathan and Ray walked in. They both stopped at the sight of Andy. “What happened?” Ray asked, his anger rising.

I sighed, “we need Apollo and Travis here.” I told him. He looked at me skeptically. “This wasn’t an accident, this was murder.”

Ray’s eyes glazed over and a moment later he said, “they are on their way. Now please explain.”

I motioned for them to come over. “Paul, if you would please back up a little bit and explain for all of us.”

He nodded his head, “Boys, do you see this?” He asked. They both nodded their heads, “this is an intentional and very fatal wound.”

“How?” Jonathan asked, “how is that fatal? It is in his shoulder, he wouldn’t have bled out before his wolf could heal him.”

“If this was a normal blade, it would have healed in minutes.” Paul said.

“Silver doesn’t do this.” Ray said, as he looked at the black wound on his friend's back.

The elevator dinged again, “no silver doesn’t do this.”

“Silver doesn’t do what?” Apollo asked, he walked over and stood next to us, his eyes grew wide.

“As I was saying, silver doesn’t do this, but there are a few things that do. First, liquid silver mixed with a high concentration of wolfsbane. Second, wolfsbane infused with magic and flecks of silver. Third-”

Paul was cut off by Apollo, “powdered silver infused with wolfsbane.” He said, his face turning red from anger.

Everyone stopped and looked at him, “how did you know that?” Paul asked him.

Apollo glared at the wound, “um, my father.”

“What do you mean your father?” I growled at him.

He looked up at me shocked, “I remember just before we left last year my father brought home a large knife. I wanted to look at it because the hilt looked cool. He freaked out and yelled at me. He told me I would die if I touched it. He said that it was covered in powdered silver.”

“Do you know where the knife is?” I asked him.

He nodded his head, “in my dad’s office, he displayed it on the bar.”

“Does it have a purple amethyst in the hilt by chance?” I asked him.

He nodded his head, “yeah, that’s the one.”

“Alpha, would you say the blade is big enough to make this size wound?” Paul asked.

“Absolutely.” I told him, “he killed him, my beta betrayed me and my pack.” I growled.

I stormed away and towards the elevator, “alpha, wait!” Paul yelled.

“I need you to clean him up, allow his parents to see him, then do the autopsy. I want a full report by the end of the day tomorrow.” I growled.

The door to the elevator opened and I walked in, Apollo, Jonathan, Ray, and Travis followed me. “There is something else.” He said.

“What?” I growled.

“There must be a witch involved, otherwise you would have known he was dead long before the humans found him.”

“I know, I already know which witch it is. The Amethyst Witch.” The elevator doors closed.

“What are you going to do?” Ray asked.

“I am retiring my beta and arresting him, he will be given a trial, then he will pay for his crimes.” The doors opened again and I marched through the hospital and out the doors to the pack house. “I need you three to head to the Beta’s house. Apollo, I am sorry but I cannot allow you to join us.”

“I want to be there, Andy was one of my best friends, I will not rest until his killer is found and justice is served.” He said angrily.

“I understand, but this time you will sit on the sidelines. Comfort your mother.” I told him and placed my hand on his shoulder.

He looked down, “yes alpha.”

“Go, I will be right behind you. I just need to grab something.” I ran up to my office and grabbed the brown wooden box out of the bottom drawer in the filing cabinet. I pulled out a light purple amethyst.

I took a breath and focused on it. I turned to see Jada, she glared at me and set down her cup of coffee on my desk. She wrapped her white fuzzy bathrobe tighter around her, her strawberry blonde hair hung down her back.“Why did you summon me?” She asked.

“I know who stole your knife.” I told her.

She whipped around to look at me, “who?” Her voice was filled with anger.

“My Beta, Anthony Starwaski.”

She glared at me, “is this some sort of trick?”

I shook my head, “no, he used the knife to kill one of my pack members.”

She chuckled, “I told you not to allow him in, especially after what he did to my half brother.”

I sighed, “I know you are upset about that. I tried to stop him, we all tried.” I told her.

“He killed him, and then continued to treat my niece like a piece of trash.” I nodded my head.

“I know, but right now she needs you.” She turned away from me and shook her head, “the member he killed was her mate.”

She whipped back around, “he killed my niece's mate? I came here a little over a year ago to get my niece, she is part witch. Do you know what happens to mixed witches?” She asked.

I shook my head, “no, I don’t but we need to go get Anthony.”

“I need to find my niece, if he used that knife to kill one of my family then I will use it to kill him. If the magic passed to her and she found her mate, then her powers would begin to surface. She will have no idea what is happening. To go through that without her mate and going through a mate bond break at the same time. The chances of her survival without my help or the help of any witch are slim to none.”

“I understand, once we are done with Anthony you will be allowed to carry out the sentence.” I told her.

“What is the sentence?”

“Death.”

She smiled and nodded her head. She snapped her fingers and her clothes changed. She now stood in front of me in black cargo pants, with a black t-shirt, and a belt across her waist. Her leg had a holster around her thigh with a pistol, her belt had buttons on it, and her amethyst was hanging on her neck. Her strawberry blonde hair was no longer hanging down her back, it was now secured in a braid hanging down her shoulder.“Lead the way.”