Little Wolf

Monday

Paislee

Monday morning, Paislee awakens to the sound of clattering dishes downstairs in the kitchen. Rolling over to face Luke, she buries her face into his bare chest. “What do you think that was?”, he mumbles. “I don’t want to know”, she groans, “Ivy is the only one here”. Luke caresses her bare shoulder, trailing kisses up to her neck when suddenly there’s another crash.

He flops onto his back and groans. “I’d better go before she burns the house down”, Paislee sighs. Heaving herself off the bed, she shuffles to the dresser and pulls a tank top lazily over her head before stepping into a pair of shorts. She ties her hair into a bun as she pads down the hallway.

“Ivy?”, she asks when she enters the kitchen. It looks like a bomb went off. There are dishes everywhere and broken eggs in a bowl that trail out and smear along the counter. “I wanted to make breakfast”, she smiles sheepishly. “Are you in a hurry to go to the bank and see what’s in the safe deposit box?”, Paislee asks, c*cking an eyebrow. “Maybe”, Ivy mumbles before returning her attention to the bowl of eggs. “Let me help”, Paislee sighs, gently moving Ivy out of the way as she begins to pick eggshell out of the bowl.

“Are we on fire yet?”, Luke teases as he enters the room in nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. Ivy whirls around, turning her back to him and blushes deeply. “We’re getting used to being naked, or nearly naked”, Paislee laughs as she whisks the eggs.

After breakfast, Luke goes to work at the office leaving Paislee alone with Ivy. Paislee has been chomping at the bit to ask about Tyler.

“Soooo. Wanna talk about Tyler?”, Paislee asks casually, eyeing Ivy. Ivy stiffens but tries to keep her face neutral. Paislee can hear Ivy’s heartbeat quicken. “No”, she answers finally. “Ivy, we know you slept together. You damned near shook the house, and now you’re avoiding him”, Paislee frowns.

Ivy’s head snaps up and her eyes grow wide before she covers her face with her hands and groans. “What’s the problem?”, Paislee asks insistently. “He’s a f*cking werewolf, that’s the problem!”, Ivy exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. Paislee is shocked and leans back on her stool. What? “What’s wrong with werewolves?”, Paislee asks defensively.

“His mate is going to come along and I’ll be left behind. What if I catch feelings for him?” Ivy demands, tears welling in her eyes. “Ivy, do you have feelings for Tyler?”, Paislee asks slowly. “No”, she crosses her arms and turns her cheek to Paislee.

“Fine, whatever. I still think the smartest thing to do would be to talk to him”, Paislee huffs, “He’s hurt, Ivy”. Ivy is silent, and Paislee knows that she’s absorbing what Paislee just said. “How do you know?”, Ivy asks finally. “I’m not betraying his trust, Ivy. Like I said, talk to him”.

The girls hop into Charlotte’s jag and drive into town. Paislee feels a knot of anxiety in her gut as they pull up in front of the bank. Ivy barrels out of the car and races to the front door, tapping her foot impatiently. “Come ooonnnnnn”, she pleads.

Paislee is immediately directed to the bank manager, Mr. Woods. He’s a tall wiry man with thick eyeglasses and not much grey hair left on his head. He peers down at her over his glasses, eyeing her carefully. “This key is very old, young lady”, he tells her. Is he… scolding me? “Well I just acquired it, so can we hurry this along?”, she snaps back.

Mr. Woods leads them into the vault and places his key into a large safe deposit box. Paislee slips her key in underneath his, and he slides the box out and places it on the counter. “I’ll be back in ten minutes”, he grumbles on his way out.

Ivy and Paislee stare at the box curiously in silence. “Are you gonna open it?”, Ivy whispers. Numb, Paislee nods and lifts the lid. The first thing she touches is a photo, presumably of Anne Warner. Paislee feels her heart clench, looking at the beautiful woman in the picture. She’s laughing, looking away from the camera. Her long dirty blonde hair is in motion, with a few tendrils sweeping across her chin and lip. Her eyes are a beautiful shade of hazel, and she has a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks.

“Paislee, she’s beautiful”, Ivy breathes, coming around the counter to stand beside Paislee. Paislee hands the photo to Ivy and then picks up a dark purple velvet pouch. Wiggling the strings loose, she reaches in and pulls out a stunning emerald solitaire gold ring. The stone seems gigantic. Paislee’s breath catches in her chest and Ivy gasps, “Put it on!”. Paislee hesitates, “Should I?”. “Yes!”, Ivy barks.

Paislee slides the ring on to her middle finger on her right hand, and it fits perfectly. “That’s probably worth a fortune”, Ivy marvels.

Reaching back into the box, Paislee pulls out a manila envelope, stuffed full to the brim. The seams have begun to split. Paislee delicately slides out the bundle from the envelope, and the paperwork springs open. Thumbing though it, she finds copies of stocks and bonds held in her mother’s name, Paislee’s ultrasound photo, a copy of Paislee’s certificate of live birth and another key.

“Another key?”, Ivy exclaims, “What’s it for?”. Paislee shrugs and shakes out the empty envelope. “I have no idea”, she answers. “Maybe your Uncle Bob knows?”, Ivy suggests. Paislee agrees, but she’s not quite certain that she’s ready to meet him just yet.

She gathers everything and stuffs it into her purse before leaving the vault. Mr. Woods glances at them with a scowl and heads into the vault.

Back in the car, Ivy turns to Paislee, “It’s almost like Anne wanted you to reach out to your Uncle Bob. He clearly knows what this key is for”. Paislee nods, lost in thought. Ivy is probably right, the thinks to herself as they drive back to the house.

When the house comes into view, Paislee feels fear wash over her as she sees that the front door is ajar. Paislee and Ivy look at each other nervously. “Stay here, lock the doors”, Paislee orders as she gets out of the car.

Paislee walks slowly and deliberately up the porch steps and pokes her head in the door. Slipping inside, she can see that everything on the hall table was swiped off and is shattered on the floor. She pulls out her cell phone from her back pocket and texts Tyler, “Are you on your way soon? Someone’s been here while we were out”.

Paislee slips her phone back into her pocket and makes her way into the kitchen. The cupboards have all been emptied, drawers tossed and dishes smashed everywhere. Paislee is gaping at the mess when her phone dings in her pocket. As she reaches for it, something crashes into her, and her head smacks off the counter as she tumbles to the ground.

Paislee feels a foot connect with her ribs and she cries out. Rolling over onto her back, she sees Abby lunging at her. She shimmies out of the way and scrambles to her feet. Paislee swings at her and connects with Abby’s shoulder, knocking her back two steps. Abby lets out a roar and lunges again. Paislee ducks and swings her leg out, and Abby falls flat on her face.

Paislee steps over her, and Abby grabs her by the ankle and twists it, causing Paislee to crash to the ground, taking some pots and pans clattering with her. Abby is overtop of her in a flash and connects a punch to Paislee’s jaw. She rears back for another swing and Paislee sees a frying pan smack off the back of Abby’s head. Abby’s eyes flash to black and she whirls around. “Ivy, no!”, Paislee screams as she lurches off the floor and on to Abby’s back.

Abby continues to advance towards Ivy, who is pinned in the corner in terror. Paislee grabs a fistful of Abby’s hair, but it’s short enough that her fingers slip through it. In a last ditch effort to save Ivy, Paislee hooks her pointer finger in the corner of Abby’s mouth and yanks hard, in a fishhook.

Giant arms wrap around Paislee’s waist and pull her off of Abby and set her down. It’s Tyler, and he’s mad as hell. He grabs Abby around her waist and carries her through the kitchen as she kicks and flails, screaming. Trevor and Lucy jump out of Tyler’s way as he barrels past them. Trevor follows them, and Lucy races to Paislee, who is bleeding from her lip.

“Goddess, Paislee! What happened?”, Lucy breathes. “Ivy, are you alright?”, Paislee ignores Lucy’s question and looks over at Ivy who is still cowering in the corner. Ivy nods shakily as Tyler comes thundering back into the kitchen. He barrels up to Ivy and scoops her up in his arms and stares into her terrified eyes. “I’m alright”, she whispers. Tyler swings his head to Paislee and she nods in agreement.

Everyone seems frozen in place, Lucy crouching over Paislee, and Tyler gripping Ivy firmly in his arms, bridal style. “H-how did she find us?”, Paislee stammers. More silence as everyone looks at each other.

They can hear Trevor shouting outside, and they can’t help but eavesdrop. “What the f*ck do you think you’re doing? Alpha Michael AND DAD will have your f*cking head!”, he roars. “That little home wrecker’s bastard child deserves what she gets!”, Abby spits. Tyler’s body stiffens and his face contorts into a grimace. He’s very, very angry. He sets Ivy carefully on a stool and disappears in a flash.

“Tyler! Stop!”, Trevor yells. Lucy grabs Paislee’s arm, who is ready to race out to them. They can hear a scuffle and then a roar like nothing Paislee has ever heard in her life. “You will not ever touch my sister again!”, Tyler rages. “I’m your mother! Take your hands off of me!”, Abby screams.

Trevor links in to Paislee and Lucy, “Lucy, I need you to come with me to return my mother to the packhouse. It’s probably best if Ty stays here”.

Luke

Luke hangs up the phone and races out to Emily’s desk. “Cancel my afternoon meeting!”, he shouts and races to the elevator. He’s seething with rage, his fists clenched so tightly that they’re white. Jax is threatening to come to the surface, right here in the middle of all of the humans in his office.

Driving like a maniac, he swerves in and out of traffic as sweat tickles his brow. When he gets to the house, he leaves the driver door dangling open and races inside. There’s broken glass everywhere. Tables and chairs are turned over and papers are scattered around.

He finds Paislee, Ivy and Tyler on the deck. Paislee is holding a blood soaked tea towel to her jaw, her hair is a complete mess. “I told you not to come”, she mutters as he races to her and kneels beside her chair. “Let me see”, he insists, ignoring her. Paislee pulls the tea towel away to reveal a deeply split lip. “That will heal by tonight”, he tells her.

“What the f*ck happened?”, he asks Tyler. “He wasn’t here at first. Ivy and I came back from the bank and the door to the house was ajar. There was no car in sight so I assumed whoever was here had left. When I came in, the house was trashed. Next thing I know, I’m on the ground, fighting off Abby. If Tyler hadn’t arrived when he did…”, Paislee trails off.

“Where is she now?”, Luke rages as he jumps up. Every fibre of his being is enraged. He’ll kill her for touching his mate. His Luna. Paislee touches his arm, “Lucy and Trevor took her back to the packhouse. Tyler might have killed her if they didn’t”, Ivy jumps in with a nod to Tyler.

“I think it’s time that you come to the packhouse”, Luke says firmly. “You want me to go to where she is?”, Paislee gapes back at him. “We can protect you there”, Luke growls. “But I have to clean this house! It’s going to take days”, Paislee counters. “I’ll send some omegas over. Come on, let’s go pack”.

Luke is adamant. There’s no way he can go in to the office every day, worried for Paislee’s safety. What the hell did Abby want, anyway? Why trash the house? Paislee can try to argue, but Luke is putting his foot down. She’s coming to the packhouse. Today.