Hiding from the Beta

Chapter Ten

Tahlia’s pov

As I looked down at Timothy I wondered how I could have not known he was a hunter. HIs head had stopped bleeding, I looked at Doris, she looked shocked. “Did you know?” I asked.

She shook her head, “but I am honestly not that surprised. He told me yesterday that he knew what I was.”

“He knew you were a witch?” She nodded her head.

“Do you think the alpha knows? I mean, he wasn’t too thrilled to see me, I couldn’t imagine what he would do if he knew he was a hunter.” The banging started to slow down until it completely stopped.

“I don’t know.” Everywhere around us became eerily quiet, Doris eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“I have a feeling that the quiet isn’t necessarily a good thing.” I said eyeing her suspiciously.

She opened her mouth to answer but just then the sirens started to go off. “Quickly, this way.” She said, then grabbed one of his feet.

I stood up and grabbed his other leg. We dragged him across the room into the back. Doris set his leg down and ran over to a small room. There weren’t any windows in this room. “Will we all fit in there?” I asked, looking into the tiny storeroom.

“Well, we will have to.” She said, then quickly grabbed his leg again. I heard the wind pick up and howl around.

“What is that?” I asked.

“That is the sound of a tornado getting closer.” She said, we had squeezed into the room and she jumped over him and pushed the door closed.

“What do we do?” I asked.

“We wait, we just wait it out. It will pass soon.” She said sitting on the floor next to Timothy.

I sat next to her and leaned back onto the wall. “What brought you here?”

She sighed, “that darlin’ is a very long story.”

“Well, we have some time.” I motioned around the room.

She laughed, “well, alright. I came here about fifteen years ago. I was forced to leave, there was a group of witches and warlocks in this little town in South Carolina.” She started to wring her hands together. “We were all mixed together with the humans, we were all homeschooled. Our families needed to make sure we wouldn’t cause problems with the humans.”

She let out a sigh, “things were great, until they weren’t. A hunter and his family showed up. They moved in right next door. We didn’t know they were hunter’s at first, but their teenage boy and I became friends. His name was Niko, I fell for him, hard.”

She started to wring her hands together even harder, they had started to turn red. I reached over and placed my hands over hers. “You’re going to rub your skin off, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

She shook her head, “I will tell you, I just haven’t thought about it for a really long time.” She took a breath to calm herself. “One day I was out with my best friend, Neveah, and we went to our hiding place. We never did like that our parents wouldn’t let us practice our magic together, even though we were both seventeen.

“We had discovered a little secret garden, it was beautiful. There were so many flowers. Willows surrounded the entire garden, hiding it from view. The garden was filled with hummingbirds, butterflies, dragon flies, and so many other little creatures.

“That day we left for our spot, I never thought Niko would have followed us. We had just started practicing trying to levitate things when he grabbed Neveah. She didn’t stand a chance. He stabbed her straight through her back and into her heart.” She stopped and wiped away a few tears.

“I am so sorry.” I laid my hand on her shoulder.

“It’s alright, it was a long time ago.” She took a shaky breath and continued, “he told me that he only got close to me because he knew who I was. Well, he knew what I was. His family had heard about a large group of witches and warlocks and decided to try and take us all out.

“Apparently they had figured out our pattern and where Neveah and I practiced. Niko came to take the both of us out while the rest of his family lineage took out the rest. It was his coming of age ceremony, I remember him pulling the sleeve up on his arm and he showed me his fresh tattoo.”

“How did you manage to escape?”

“I levitated a rock onto his head, it was the biggest rock I had ever levitated before. I took off, I ran home and saw that they had already killed my parents and my little brother. Neveah’s family was dead too. I knew everybody I could trust was gone, so I ran and got onto a plane and ended up here.

“I was taken in by the elderly gentleman who used to own this establishment. He didn’t have anyone else, he and his wife never had kids. So he left this place to me in his will. He passed away two years before Timothy came to town.”

“You weren’t kidding when you said it was a long story.” I said with a chuckle.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s not the best explanation of what happened, but now you know.”

“This town has a way of finding runaways, doesn’t it?”

She nodded her head, “yeah, it does.” We both jumped when there was a knock on the door.

“Doris, it’s me!” CJ said as he opened the door.

“Geez, you could have warned us!” I said, my voice slightly shaky.

“Well, the sirens stopped five minutes ago.” He said as he looked at us like we were some strange thing.

“Sorry, we were talkin’.” Doris added as she stood up.

“How is he?” CJ asked, “An ambulance will be here shortly.”

“He is okay, we have been keeping an eye on him. Has the storm completely passed?” She asked.

CJ nodded his head, “yeah, it’s nice and sunny now. There is even a nice cool breeze.”

“How bad is the damage?” She asked.

He cringed, “it’s not good. All the buildings are still standing, but I saw a roof on the way over and there were at least five or six trees down.”

“The coffee bean tree?” Doris asked, her face filled with dread.

He shook his head, “that was the first one I saw.”

I looked at the two of them, “coffee bean tree?”

“It’s been here for a really long time. It was at least a hundred and fifty years old. You can ask Mrs. Copper, whenever you go to the library, she is the town's history buff.” CJ said.

“I just might have to.” I said, quietly.

CJ and Doris both smirked at me, “does that mean what I think it means?”

I looked at her and shook my head, “what do you think it means?”

“I think it means you have made up your mind on staying here.” CJ added.

I sighed, I kind of wanted to stay, but I knew it would be dangerous for me to stay here. “I don’t know, I have to think a little bit longer.”

Daphne stirred in the back of my mind. She was still weak and hurting, “Daphne, you okay?” I asked.

She grunted in response and a wall went up between us. I sighed, “you okay darlin’?”

I looked up at Doris and shook my head, “it’s my wolf, she is not doing very well. I didn’t think that it would be this horrible, we didn’t even get a chance to mark each other.” I told them.

CJ looked at me shocked then back at Doris, “wait, you know about this stuff?” He asked.

Doris started to laugh, “yeah, I am part of that stuff.”

“What the hell did I miss?” He asked, faking outrage.

We both laughed, “hun, I am a witch.”

His eyes widened then his mouth formed an ‘O’ shape. “Why didn’t you tell me? You knew I was working with the wolves didn’t you?”

She laughed, “no, actually I thought you were just an extra sweet police officer.”

He sighed when we heard sirens from the ambulance, “Oh good, they’re here.” I said, I stood up and walked out of the room. I knew they were going to need room to work.

“This way guys,” Doris said as she pointed them in the right direction. “We got the bleedin’ to stop.” She said, then pushed the door all the way open for the EMT’s.

I watched as they got him ready and on the gurney. He didn’t wake up, he did groan now and then as they moved him around and evaluated his head. “We will take him to,” the guys stopped and eyed me and Doris, “umm.”

CJ sighed, “it’s fine Jimmy, they’re aware.”

“Oh, okay, we were told by Alpha Cullen to bring the injured to the pack hospital. The road to the regular hospital is blocked with trees. We only were able to come here because we were on the other side, we had just finished up with a well check for a grandma.”

CJ turned to me, “sometimes kids get panicked when they don’t hear from grandpa or grandma for a while. More so when a storm is rolling in.”

They walked out of the room with Timothy on the Gurney. “Is he going to be okay?” I asked CJ.

He nodded his head, “I am sure he will be just fine. For now, you need to rest.” He left the room and now it was just Doris and I.

“Should we go check out the damage?” She asked.

“Sure.” I said, then followed her outside. I looked around and was shocked by the amount of hail and debris on the ground. “Wow.”

Doris sighed, “we have a few trees down over there that will need to be dealt with.” She turned and looked up at the building, “we have a couple broken windows, and the roof is still there, although it’s in really bad shape now.”

“Some gutters came off too.” I said pointing towards a gutter that was halfway off the building.

“Hey look, it’s a rainbow.” She said pointing into the sky.

I smiled, “it’s a double rainbow.” I sighed, “Andy and I used to stand outside after storms and see who could spot a rainbow first.”

I could feel Doris’ eyes on me, “I know this is hard on you, but like I said before, I feel something about you has changed.” She smiled at me and I nodded my head in return.

“Come back inside, you need another cookie, and I have to call Ralph. He is the window guy in the next town.” I sighed and reluctantly followed her in. The smell of the rain and the forest mixing together reminded me of Andy. I didn’t want to leave this spot. However, I knew she was right, I could feel it. Something has changed, but I don’t know what.

Nathaniel’s pov

“Hey Seamus, tell me you have something.” I asked my Beta.

“I think I do. We know she took a bus that was heading towards Bemidji. I have an image of her at the Bemidji bus station. I got it off of their surveillance tapes.” He said.

“So do you know where she went?” I asked him.

Suddenly the door opened, I turned to see my beta walking in. “Not yet, here put this into the computer.” He said as he handed me a disk.

I hung up the phone and then turned to the computer, “was it necessary to call me if you were just a few feet from the office?” I asked as we waited for it to load.

He sighed, “yes, because it’s more fun to annoy you when I get the chance.”

“Really, I am your alpha.” I told him.

“You are also one of my best friends, so friend trumps hierarchy.” He said with a laugh.

I shook my head “fine, oh look it’s up.”

I sped us up until I saw her get off the bus, “where is she going?” Seamus asked.

“I think the better question would be who is that.” I said pointing to a man who just wrapped his arm around her.

“Did she just get kidn*pped?” Seamus asked.

I shook my head, “doubtful, she is a highly skilled warrior, I doubt she would have been kidn*pped that easily. Wait, who are those guys?”

I watched as a few guys walked up to the truck, the guy that put her in the truck stood toe to toe with a wolf. I smiled when I realized where she was, “which pack alpha do you know that taught a human to stand up to a wolf?”

Seamus smiled, “Cullen Jameson.”

I nodded my head and dialed his cell phone number. “Alpha Jameson.”

“Hello, it’s alpha Nathaniel Heep, do you have a moment to talk?”

He let out a deep sigh, “what is this about?”

“A certain young lady that you have on or near your territory. Her name is Tahlia.”

He cleared his throat, “I am sorry but I am not quite sure who you are referring to.” I could hear the bitterness in his voice.

“Look, if she is there, know that I just want to help her. I have no intentions on marrying her at the moment. Especially not after she just lost her mate. Now I have come to realize that she needs to stay away from her father. I would be willing to help ensure her safety.” I said as I leaned back in my chair.

He let out a heavy sigh, “fine, what do you propose?”

“I was thinking I could send a few of my warriors down to help with her guard detail. I could also lay false breadcrumbs to her father.”

“What is she to you?” He asked.

“Just someone who I would like to help. I lost my mate not that differently than she did. I just want to keep her safe until she is strong enough to protect herself. Then I would like to move her up here.”

He sighed again, “I will relay the message. It’s her choice what she wants to do. I will not force her into anything, I cannot force her into anything actually, she has decided to become a rogue as soon as her body can handle rejecting her mate.”

“Do you realize how dangerous her father is?” I asked him.

“Yes, I have a pretty good idea, considering he killed her mate.” His tone deepened.

“Is she doing okay?” I asked.

“Not really, she is struggling really bad, there is a witch that is helping her though. Hopefully that will be enough.”

“They didn’t mark each other, so her wolf should work through it over time.” I said.

“I know, but she doesn't exactly want to stay here. I made her an offer, but I don’t know if she will accept it or not.”

“Wait, she may be leaving? That would be a really bad idea in her state.” I told him, worry filled my chest.

“I know, I am hoping that Doris, CJ, and Timothy can convince her to stay.” He said.

“Who are they?” I asked.

“Oh just a few of the people I trust the most that aren’t part of my pack.” He said calmly.

“How would they convince her to stay?” I asked.

“Oh, Doris is the witch, CJ is the human I raised, he brought her here apparently and Timothy is a hunter who defected.”

I sat stunned momentarily, “you have a hunter near her?”

“Yes, he has been here a while now, he hasn’t given us any grief whatsoever.” He said confidently.

“I hope you know what you're doing. I would hate for something to happen to her, she has been through enough already.” I told him, a hunter was not someone you wanted to mess around with.

“Don’t worry, we got this. I will get back to you later. Have a great day.” He said and then hung up.

“Did you say there was a hunter?” Seamus asked.

I nodded my head, “sadly, apparently he defected though. Have you ever heard of that before?”

He shook his head, “I have never. That would be a first time thing.”

“What are you thinking?” I asked him.

He sighed, “right now I think it would be best to make Anthony believe his daughter is somewhere other than where she is.”

I nodded in agreement, “I think you are right.”

I picked up the phone and dialed Anthony’s number, he never answered. “Hello Anthony, it is Alpha Nathaniel, I have some news about your daughter. Please call me back as soon as you can, thanks.” I hung up and looked at Seamus.

“He didn’t answer?” He asked.

“No, I wonder why, normally he is pretty good about picking up his phone.” I said.

Seamus leaned back in the chair and stretched, “don’t worry about it. He was an asshole anyway.”

I shook my head and called Anna’s cell phone, “hello?” She said softly, I could hear a couple people crying in the background.

“Anna, it’s Nate. Do you know where Anthony is?” I asked as casually as I possibly could have.

“We are asking ourselves the same question.” She said, sounding slightly annoyed.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“We went to arrest him and found out that he wasn’t at his house like we thought he was.” She said.

“Really? Where would he have gone?” I asked.

“I don’t know, probably to try and find Tahlia.” She said, I could hear a fresh wave of sobs from her end of the phone. “Who is crying?” I asked.

“Bridgette, she had to help bring Andy home. Is there anything else you need? I am overwhelmed here and need to get back to it.” She said.

“Yeah, I can call you later.” I told her.

“Okay, sounds good, bye.”

“Bye.”

“Anthony is missing?” Seamus asked.

I nodded my head, “that would be an accurate statement.”

A smile formed on his lips, “I can track him down.”

I nodded my head and leaned further back into my chair, “Go for it.”