Embraced Scars

Chapter Fourteen

Marcus's POV

My office door opened, revealing Noah, Brett and Cody. I frowned for a second, then remembered that Cody had a spare key. They sat down in front of the desk, the chairs creaking under their huge bodies.

"Right, we need to figure out what's going on with these rouges." I said. They nodded and Cody lent forward to rest his arms on his legs. 

"What do we know?" He asked, frowning.

"They're the last rouge pack we haven't defeated. They're a lot stronger than the others, with almost as many members as we have. They've been threatening to attack for months, but they've suddenly stopped." I informed them, rubbing my temples to soothe my quickly forming headache.

"Why would they stop?" Noah asked, "Are they going to attack soon?"

"I don't know. We've given them no new reason to and our sources say they haven't brought more members in. We could still defeat them if they did attack, but with heavy casualties." I said, looking at Noah who was frowning. It hit me suddenly, that the man sitting opposite me was in a way my equal. He had Alpha blood and was practically the same size, yet was sitting on the other side of the table following orders. I wondered, suddenly, why he was doing that.

"Maybe they want to surprise us. Attack in the middle of the night, with no warning." He said, looking thoughtful.

"That's always an option, but we've doubled patrols. There's no way that they would get in, even if they tried." I replied, sighing. 

"Do we attack them before they get us?" Brett suddenly asked, leaning back on his chair. I shook my head.

"No, that might get other packs involved. We want to keep this fight as small as possible." I said, realizing how complicated things were becoming. We had no idea what they were planning, and with no new threats, there was nothing to give away their next moves. "We just need to stay alert. Leave no area unprotected, twenty-four hour patrols and full day training." 

We were cut off by Annabelle's screams. Her tortured screams rolled down the stairs, through the cracks in the floor boards and filling the room like a disease. I stood up quickly, motioning for the others to stay there.

"I'll be back in a minute." I called, already half way up the stairs. I threw open Annabelle's door, rushing over to her bed. Her head was clasped between her hands, her shaking form curled into a tiny ball. 

"Annabelle. Wake up!" I yelled over her screaming, shaking her gently. Her eyes flew open, crazed eyes darting around the room. I pulled her onto my lap, rocking her while she sobbed into my shoulder.

"It's OK. You're safe." I whispered into her hair. Her grip around my neck tightened but her sobs slowed. "I'm here. You're safe."

"It was Joey," She sobbed, "He won't get out of my head and I-" She cut off, burying her head back into my shirt. Her skin felt hot against my own. Pure, white hot rage filled my being. The need to kill the two men responsible for this was so powerful, it shocked me. 

"He's not here, you're OK." I whispered, desperately trying to comfort her. 

"He is." She sobbed, "He's always here."  

"Come on, get back into bed." I instructed softly, helping her back between the sheets. 

"Please don't go, Marcus." She begged, clinging to my hand. 

"I have to. We're having a meeting, but I promise that I'll come back when they're gone." I told her, slowly moving over to the door. She looked heartbroken, but nodded anyway. I shot her an apologetic smile, then headed back downstairs.