Escape to Midnight

Home Alone

Charis POV

My Father drove us home in silence.  I hated my Father as much as he hated me. The 3 hour drive would be unbearable.  I began to think of my life. What made my father the way he was, and how much I missed my brother Edward.   

My father was born to two alphas. Unfortunately he was the third son and would never lead his own pack. He was angry and jealous of his older brothers. He felt like he was cheated by being born last and hated them for being leaders while he was a “lap dog” for them. He was relegated to the position of weapons and warrior training captain. The family thought it was perfect, he could work out some of his aggression all day while training. They all knew it was not enough, his anger was so intense, but no one had a better solution.

 .

My father made sure we understood he was the ruler of his family and he ruled with an iron fist. He was most brutal with my brother. He was sadistic. In the human world there are agencies and officers to help women and children in our position. Our world has nothing like that. My father could treat us as he pleased.

 Being raised with such a brutal, sadistic parent made Edward and I closer. He was one year older and did everything he could to protect my mother and I. We never knew what would cause an episode with my Father, what would set him off. As soon as he started getting angry we would try to become invisible. It never helped. The longer he ranted the more worked up he became and the worse the beating. My brother would always try to take the brunt of it for me, and even started to interfere if Mother was in too much pain. There were times I thought he would die. I prayed to the Moon Goddess, Selene, to protect him. She gave him his wolf early. He was ten years old when he got his wolf. I believe She gave it to him because our wolves speed up our healing. She knew the older he got the more  cruel my dad would be to him.

 When My brother was 16 years old, my fathers’ rage finally went over the line. Edward was  eating his breakfast. My father walked into the room already angry. I did not understand how he could wake up angry. My father started to scold Edward. “I  heard from your training leader you are not the top of the class. I am the training captain. I will not have my son look weak in front of our pack. If you are weak then I am weak.” Edward did not answer right away. He was trying to think of the right words to stop what was coming. Suddenly, my father grabbed him by the neck, jerking him out of his chair and slamming him into the wall. My Mother began to shout at my father, “Put him down, Please do not hurt him.” My father scoffed, “Don't hurt him? What do you think a Rogue would do to him? He needs to be tough. I’m teaching him to be a warrior.” My Father’s fist hit my brother in the face with full force. The sound of Edward’s nose breaking made my stomach turn. My Mother grabbed my father’s arm, but he shook her loose and back handed her. She fell to the floor. Edward’s wolf began to growl when he saw our mother fall. The sound made my father smile a wicked smile. Still holding Edward against the wall he began to beat him in the face. Edward was screaming in pain and trying to free himself. My Mother was back on her feet and begging father to stop.

 I was frozen, I wanted to help, I wanted to hide, and I wanted to be far away. If I interfered my father’s anger would be worse. I did not have the speed, strength or healing abilities Edward had. I could see people walking past our house on the way to school and work. I prayed to the Goddess someone would come help if only for this one time. Everyone knew what was happening, but no one ever helped us. They turned a blind eye while my Brother had been beaten to the brink of death over and over again. My Father walked into my brother's room carrying my brother by his neck.  As he shut the door I made eye contact with my brother. He looked so lost and hopeless. It was the last time I saw my brother. I don’t know what happened after he shut the door. My Mother sent me to school and when I got home my brother was gone.  My Father told everyone he was killed by a rogue. A rogue that none of the guards could smell. A rogue that killed my brother without leaving a trace of him. I would never believe that story. I didn’t think anyone else did either, but again no one helped.

My mind was abruptly brought back to my current reality, as we arrived home.  I jumped out of the car, ran into the house and straight to my room. I slammed the door and fell onto my bed. The tears I had been holding in for 3 hours began to fall. I was sobbing, I did not know if I would ever see my mate again. I could not see a future where my dad would allow it. I heard my father enter the house and shut the door. My Mother began to speak immediately. “what happened? Why are you back so early?”

“She met her mate and could not handle it? She started freaking out. Everyone decided it was best for her to come home.”  My father’s version was so close to the truth, but such total bullshit.

I heard my Mother rushing towards my room. She hesitated and knocked. I was planning to ignore her, but she came in without my acknowledgement. She sat on the edge of my bed and began to stroke my hair. She had not done that for years. I used to love when she would come into my room. There was a time when I felt her love and she was happy. My father had beaten all of that out of her. I turned over and looked into her eyes. “Why? Why do you stay with him? Why do you make me stay with him? Why didn’t you leave and take Edward and I years ago? It didn’t have to be like this” I was crying uncontrollably.

My mother had a strange look on her face. I had never implied she was to blame for what happened to Edward, but my words now felt like an accusation. I did not care. It was just as much her fault as his. I was suddenly struck with the thought that I was no better. What happened at the Moon Ball was my fault. I could have spoken up and maybe I would be with Logan right now.  I hated myself as much as them. My Mother drew in a deep breath. When she began to speak she was trembling “I wanted so much more for you and Edward. I never wanted my life to be like this and certainly not yours.” She began to cry mournfully. She looked so broken. “I should have never been involved with Warren. He stole my happiness and I have been trapped with him ever since then.” My Mother’s words surprised me. She had never spoken to me like this. She always tried to pretend everything was fine and we had the perfect family. She always acted like everything was O.K.

“I began dating your father when I was 16. We thought we were so in love, we just knew we were going to be mates. We were fools. On your father’s 17th birthday we discovered we were not mates. He was mated to another girl in our pack, Lila. She wanted to be the Luna, the wife of a pack leader. She was not satisfied with a mate that had Alpha blood only. She wanted the status and power of being Luna. She rejected him. I was there when it happened. He was in so much pain and so humiliated. To make the situation worse she began to pursue Uncle Jameson. They carried on an affair for everyone to see.  When Jameson met his mate That ended his relationship with Lila. Your Father was so angry, he felt Jameson stole her away from him and then rejected her. 

 I swore to him the mate bond did not matter to me. I would always love him and stay with him.” She sighed and I thought she would stop telling the story, but she continued.

“I met my mate at my first Moon Ball. Warren was not permitted to attend. He knew who his mate should have been. When I saw my mate, Warren became my past. All I wanted was my mate. His name was Chance.” She smiled slightly as she said his name.  I realized that even now she still had feelings for him.

“I left the Moon Ball and joined Chance and his pack. The mate bond was wonderful. He treated me like a queen. We had our mating ceremony a few weeks after we met.”

I sat up on my bed listening intently. How had she kept this secret? Where was Chance?

Warren found me A few days after the Mating ceremony. He tried to convince me to come back with him. Even though I knew I was breaking his heart, I told him I did not love him. I told him we never really loved each other. I told him I loved Chance and I told him goodbye.” My Mothers voice started to sound shaky, her eyes filled with tears. I kept expecting her to stop, but she needed to get this story out. It had been burdening her soul.

“I waited for Chance to come home from patrol.  I planned to tell him about Warren’s visit. I did not want secrets in my relationship. That night I felt a searing pain. I fell to the floor and began to scream. I knew instantly, It was the mate bond breaking. My Chance was dead.” My Mothers tears were flowing freely down her face. She was not looking at me anymore, she was looking through me and into her past. The Alpha assembled some warriors to hunt down the wolf responsible. At first they believed it was a pack wolf. When they found no evidence they decided it must have been a rogue. I have tried to block all of that out of my mind for all of these years. What happened to Edward felt so similar. Sometimes I wonder what the truth is. Were they both taken by rogues, or did Warren do something to them.” My Mother was talking to herself. Thinking out loud the secrets she had been trying to push down inside of her.

I did not know what to say. I did not know if I should try to comfort her. She started speaking again. ” I had my suspicions. I immediately came back to our pack and questioned Warren. It was so strange Chance would die the same day Warren visited me. Jameson convinced me it was a coincidence. He said Warren was back too early to have been involved. At the time I believed him. I was crushed and lonely. I wanted to lie down and never get up. Living without Chance felt impossible. I did not think I could do it.”

Her eyes shifted back to me and she appeared to focus back on my face. “Warren was there for me. He helped me through my grief. After I had rejected him, just like his mate, he forgave me and took me back. In the beginning he was wonderful. We completed the mating ceremony and we were so happy for two years. When Jameson found his mate and rejected Lila, Warren wanted to be with Lila. He wanted pups with her, his true fated mate. Your father was very angry. He had made a commitment to me. I was pregnant with Edward. To leave me for Lila would be unforgivable within our pack. They would be banned from our pack. He suddenly felt trapped with me. It was too late for him to have anything to do with Lila. Lila went to live with some of her relatives in another pack. That is when everything began to change with Warren. it happened so slowly at first I thought he was just depressed. Then he started drinking a lot. By the time you were born the Warren I loved was gone. I think all the rejection and being second best to his brother’s finally wore him down. He became filled with jealousy and bitterness.” My Mother sighed and leaned her head against my head board.

As I thought over everything she said I could not help myself. I asked her a question. “Have you ever loved Warren as much as you loved Chance?”

I barely got the name out of my mouth before my bedroom door slammed open. “What did you say? You b***h! What lies are you telling.” My Father looked insane. His eyes were bugged out and he was spitting with each word he spoke.

He grabbed my Mother by her hair and jerked her off the bed. He began to punch her and drag her out of my room at the same time. I was stunned. For the first time in my life I tried to intervene. I grabbed his arm and tried to stop him from hitting her. His rage was out of control. He threw my Mother to the side and grabbed me with both hands. My necklace caught his attention. I see you are wearing the same slut necklace your Mother wore to her mating ceremony.” His claws extended and he grabbed the necklace pulling it off my neck. His claws cut deep grooves into my neck and shoulders as he did it. “I got rid of this piece of s**t years ago. Where did you find it?” He was holding me off the ground by my head. I could not even answer him. “You stupid, stupid bitch.” He said those words as he slammed my body into the floor. My head began to spin. He slashed at me with his claws tearing my dress into rags. I felt him lifting me and slamming me back down over and over again. I could not see anything and everything sounded far away. I tasted something salty in my mouth. It was blood, but I had no idea where it was coming from. Slowly the world became dark. I saw nothing, I heard nothing and I felt nothing. There was only darkness.

I opened my eyes and saw a bright fluorescent light. I heard a beeping sound. I felt the soreness of my body. I was in the pack hospital, hooked up to a heart monitor and IV. I slowly looked around the room. My Mother was sleeping in a chair, she looked like she had taken a bad beating as well. I closed my eyes and lay as still as possible. Any movement hurt, I think every inch of my body was bruised and aching. I heard someone walk into the room. I kept my eyes closed and stilled my breathing.

“Eliza, are you alright?” It was Jameson speaking to my Mother. I could hear my Mother waking up as she spoke her voice was strained.

“Jameson, you have to do something. He almost killed her. I thought she was dead, He thought she was dead. Why did you let him bring her home? She should be with her mate.”

Jameson let out an exasperated sigh. I could feel the tension between them. When he finally spoke he did not answer her question. “I have Warren locked in a cell for now. I can tell the warriors he is sick, for a few days, but I can’t keep him there long.” He said.

“Why?” My Mother’s voice was pleading and demanding at the same time.” He would have killed us both if you had not shown up!” Did you hear what he was saying? He is crazy.”

“I heard him, but I don’t understand what he meant.” Jameson said, confused. I realized something was said while I was unconscious, Something that finally pushed my Mother to ask for help.

“When Charis is marked by her mate, he will know everything she knows. All of Warren’s secrets will be revealed to not only her mate, but potentially his entire pack. Warren said he will kill her before that can happen. I believe him.” Mother said.

There was a long pause. Jameson did not ask my Mother what secrets his brother had. He did not ask because he knew. I was never sure if he did, but his lack of curiosity just proved it to me. I felt myself becoming angry. He is not fit to be the alpha of a pack if he is willing to ignore the violence against innocent pack members. The heart monitor started to beep faster. My anger was making my heart race. I tried to slow it down, and my mother began to call for a doctor.

 Logans Point Of View

I made it back to my house in thirty minutes. I don’t remember the drive, I was driving blind. When I parked the car I could see my parents waiting for me. They had stopped waiting up after the moon ball when I was twenty. I am sure my uncle had already told my father everything. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about it. I sighed as I got out of the car and walked to the door. Before I could open it, my Mother had jerked the door open. ‘Logan, I'm so sorry. We know what happened. Something is not right about this situation.” 

I looked at her incredulously. ‘Not right’, she thinks something is ‘not right’. I felt my anger begin to surge, my wolf was growling and surly. I needed to get away from them before I said something I would regret. This was not their fault, but they were pissing me off. My Father looked at me, but did not say a word. He reached out and took hold of my mother’s arm gently. I’m glad at least he can tell this is not the time to talk about it. I continued past them, upstairs to my bathroom. I turned on my shower with the water as hot as I could stand it. I stepped in and tried to let it wash this entire disaster off of me. After my shower, I dried off and went to lay down. Sleep would probably help, but there was no chance of me sleeping. The night kept playing over and over in my head.

I got up out of bed a little after 7 a.m. I was grumpy from not sleeping and still angry. I needed to go to the gym and train. The aggression pent up inside me was dangerous. I walked downstairs and saw my parents still in the front room where I left them last night. I was not ready to deal with them. I brushed past them and out the door without saying a word.

I spent several hours training. I felt better when I left, but tired and sore. As I returned home all I wanted was food and a nap. When I walked through the door my Mother seemed very worked up. “Logan, we need to talk to you about last night. Please, it is important.” I rolled my eyes. I really did not need a pep talk or whatever they came up with. I needed space. I started to tell her that, but the look on my Dad’s face caught me by surprise. He looked disheveled and concerned. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. This was about more than one crappy night. I decided to see what they thought about the situation. 

My Father spoke, he tried to sound calm, but a slight tremble in his voice gave him away. “When you first met your mate? Was she alone or with her father?”

“She was sitting alone when I found her. Why?” I needed him to get to the point fast. I suddenly felt like I had a large weight on me.

“Was she afraid when you met her or when her Father intervened?”

I tried to remember, the night kept playing over and over in my head, but all I remember was her fear.

“Sit down Logan.” My Mother spoke softly, she was trying very hard to appear calm. 

“Why do I need to sit down? What is going on? If you know something, tell me. If not, leave me alone!” My patience was thin. I was tired and hungry and I did not want to be analyzed.

“Logan Cain, You sit down and do as your mother says. You answer our questions and then IF we feel there is anything to tell you, we will tell you!” My Father used his voice command. Usually Only Alpha Pack Leaders have that ability. He is a beta with Alpha blood, so he has a weaker version. It is still strong enough that I can not resist it. 

I felt compelled to sit. “Lean back and close your eyes.” My mother’s voice had become very soothing. Relax and think about the first time you saw her. Tell me all about it. What you felt, what you heard and what you saw.”

This felt really stupid. No part of me wanted to participate, but the voice command was compelling me. I was getting angry again. My father has not used his voice command on me since I was a teenager. They better have a really good explanation for pulling this stunt. 

“Logan, I need you to relax and speak the truth.” My Mother’s voice had become a little more stern. It made me unable to resist. My Father commanded me to do as she said. 

“I was walking through the garden when I smelled the most heavenly scent. I felt drawn to it. I followed the smell until I saw her. Sitting alone at a fountain.  I went to her, she lost her balance and fell into me. I was holding her in my arms. She told me her name and I told her mine. I was about to ask her to dance when her Father grabbed her. “ I cringed at the memory.

“Was she afraid of you before her father got there?” My mother’s tone made me feel like I needed to be 100% sure one way or the other. 

“She was nervous and scared, like I was nervous and scared. It all felt pretty normal until he grabbed her arm.” I felt really uneasy looking at the situation from this point of view. I really need to know what my parents are hiding.

“Did she ever pull away from you and go towards her father for safety. Did she act like she was scared of you and needed him to protect her?” I suddenly understood the implication. My eyes flew open. My wolf and I were so agitated the voice command lost its power over me. “Tell me what you know!” I insisted.

“Logan, We are going to tell you, but we don’t have facts and we need to be calm about finding the best solution. Charging in after her will make this harder. Sterling is waiting on our call. He will have a diplomatic solution. We won’t go to war unless we need to.”

My stomach dropped. This was way more serious than I thought.

“I have a cousin that lives in the Crescent pack. I called him last night after Sterling told us what happened. He did not want to speak about Warren, The girl's father. He was very guarded probably because he is the Alphas brother. He does not want to get kicked out of his pack.” My father was rambling and I needed him to tell me what was going on.

“What did he say Dad!” I was all but pleading for him to tell me.

“He said Warren likes to keep his family close. The girl, Charis, only leaves the house for school. She does not have any friends. She is a loner. They all stay to themselves except Warren. He likes to be the big shot. Charis has never trained or hung around after school or with any friends.”

“You think there is something wrong with her? That is crazy, she is beautiful, so what if she is socially awkward.” I yelled at my dad. How dare they try and make it look like Charis is the problem. I was done with this. I pushed my dad out of my way and started walking to the door.

“We think her dad is hurting her!” My fathers words made my blood run cold. I had to fight to keep my wolf from taking over.

“What are you talking about?'' I growled at him. My claws began to lengthen and my clothes were becoming tight. My wolf was trying to force a shift. He was just as angry as I was.

“Her brother died under mysterious circumstances. People have been whispering about their family for years. He might be beating his kids. He might have killed one already.”

I lost my breath. I felt weak and ashamed. I sent her home to be what, beaten or killed? I started to run to my car. I was in a panic, I had to get her. I was going to get her out of there if I had to kill every wolf that got in front of me. I started the car and put it in gear. I began to drive off when my dad jumped in front of my car. Just as quickly my Mother jumped behind me. They had evidently thought this through and planned it well. I was trapped. My anger began to boil over. I opened the door and began to yell at them to move. 

Out of the corner of my eye I saw my Uncle Sterling running over. 

“I am going to get her. You can’t stop me. I will run the whole way if I have to.” I was adamant.

“I Have a plan! We are all going to crescent pack. They never asked you not to visit. We will take you to visit. The four of us in one car and 5 elite warriors in another. You will get to see her alone and if she wants to leave we will take her.” Sterling explained.

I began to calm down. It was a plan. I would need to be calm and look unconcerned if I wanted a chance to see her alone.