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“I think I know enough.” Paige walks over to Quinn, who has Maddie by the hand, and she scoops up Maddie. “Quinn, we are going to play in Eli’s office while you have your meeting, okay?"
She doesn’t wait for an answer and walks off in the direction of Eli’s office. I watch her go with my heart pounding out of my chest; if someone were to speak to me, I wouldn’t be able to hear them, my heart was so loud. How dare she think she knows what I had to live through! Shit! This is a mess.
I place my hands on my face, scrubbing away the tangle of emotions in my mind. I look back at the three people standing in the hall with varying expressions on their faces. Thorn looks like he wants to kill me. I don’t know how much he knows, but he likely knows enough to want me dead. Quinn looks conflicted. I get on really well with her, so I’m not surprised to see her trying to figure out what is happening.
And then there is Eli. He looks at me with sympathy, and this time, I don’t hate it. He is the only one who really knows what happened in my old pack. After he became Alpha, he looked at some of the warriors and sought out those of us who were dedicated and loyal. We'd talked a long time about what happened, and he helped me wade through some of the tougher feelings I had yet to deal with at that time.
Quinn takes the awkward pause as an opportunity to move people to the meeting. “Okay, well, let’s get the meeting started. The sooner it starts, the sooner it can end, right?” Her attempt at cheeriness fails, but it’s enough to get Thorn moving after her.
Eli doesn’t follow, though; he comes over to me and places both his hands on my shoulders. I can’t help but look him in the eyes.
“You okay?”
I let out a breath and lightly shake my head, because I don’t know if I’m okay.
“I’m sorry, Alpha, that was inappropriate of me. I won’t do it again.”
“Liam, I’m not upset. I’m concerned.” He drops his hands and pauses for a moment. “She’s from your old pack. Is she the girl?”
I can’t look at him, so I look down the hall where Paige walked away with Maddie.
“Yes.” Another moment passes and I turn back to look at Eli.
“Okay, we’ll figure it out. For now, let’s get this meeting started.”
I nod and follow him into the room where the Twilight Meadows elders, the council, and a few other important members of the pack are waiting. There are low voices in conversation as we enter the room, but it soon turns quiet once everyone sees us. Eli doesn’t take long before he launches into his Alpha duties.
“Okay, we’re here to discuss the Clearwater rogues that have been hanging around the area.”
I go to stand by the far wall and look at the shifters sitting around the oval table. Thorn also must not like to sit, because he is leaning against the wall, legs and arms crossed, and looking at me with something I can’t read.
“The latest attack was on the construction office in town. Thankfully, no one was there when it happened. The cameras picked up three shifters who broke in and completely trashed the place. Destroyed computers and customer files and busted every single window in the place. They decided to also decorate my office with words describing me in very colorful language.” Eli’s attempt at a joke falls flat, but I see why he is trying to lighten the mood. This has been an ongoing issue for over a year.
“They have attacked other pack buildings, and some of our younger shifters have even been attacked in the woods. The council is here to help us find the rogue wolves, because no matter how hard we try, they keep getting away and finding a place to hide. Up until this last attack, we didn’t know who they were. There are two males and one female causing this trouble, but we want to confirm it for sure, which is why the council is here.”
Eli continues on and explains what they hope to find out. Eventually, Thorn interjects that they have done satellite imaging of the area and are looking for the rogue wolves. The next steps are talked about for the next hour, but I can’t seem to focus.
My mind wanders back to Paige. I feel the tugging again, and I absentmindedly rub over my heart. How is she here? Is this Seluna’s way of punishing me for everything I have done wrong in my life? I finally find someone to hopefully fall in love with, and my old love comes walking back into my life. Maybe I don’t deserve happiness. The look on Paige’s face breaks me. She has every right to be mad at me—hell, hate me. I shouldn’t have reacted so strongly. I should have apologized, not defended myself. What the hell is wrong with me? Oh, I know I was struck dumb by how beautiful she is and wasn’t thinking through my actions. There’s no excuse for my behavior.
But damn, she is a gorgeous woman. My memories don’t do her justice. I wish I could have seen her smile instead of seeing her anger and fear. I caused that. I don’t want to cause her any more pain. I don’t know how much time passes, but my thoughts are consumed by Paige. Wondering where she is, if she’s ok. My wolf begs to be let out and check on her, but I've had years of conditioning to stop my wolf from running to protect her. I can focus on this meeting and wait. She likely doesn’t want to see me, anyway.
This is not how I thought this day would go.
Chapter 6 - Paige
"Auntie Paige, do you want to play tea party?"
"Sure, sweetheart."
Memories flood my mind after seeing Liam. I've been avoiding everyone from Portsmills for years; I thoroughly killed any connection to my old pack a long time ago. I can't believe he is here, has been here for years! Part of me is mad at him for leaving that toxic pack to live a good life here, but the other part of me is just sad. But it makes me stop and think; if he has been here for over eight years, he must have left the pack just before I did. How had I not heard anything about that? I know I wasn't the most popular person—okay, I was a hated person—but you would think I would have heard about that, wouldn't I?
He acts like I have no right to be upset. Does he even remember the hell he put me through? The things he said to me—hell, the things he said and did to others! But maybe he just doesn't want to remember it all. I know I have tried hard to forget the past; maybe he is trying to do the same.
"Look, Aunty Paige, Pengy got tea on him." Quickly, I looked down at Maddie, who had poured 'tea' water all over the place.
"Shit," I try to mutter but fail.
"Bad word, Auntie Paige!"
