Angelique's POV
When I reach Lilith and Maya I immediately wrap my arms around her. I felt awful for her and I wish there was more I could do to console her. I saw her like the older sister I never had, and I'm sure Maya felt the same. To see her in this pain broke my heart considering she had only lost her aunt and her first baby in the most violent ways just a short 6 years ago, now her youngest cousin was taken the same way.
"Thanks girls" she sniffles once I pull away.
"Is there anything we can help with?" Maya asks.
Lilith sighs and shakes her head. "I'm leaving for Denver tomorrow to help Arthur with the plans. Kai and Anna will be joining me a few days before the funeral." She states.
"He's letting you go alone?" I ask incredulously. Kai was known to be very protective of her. Well, he always was since she's his mate, but after the incident 6 years ago he almost loses his mind every time she accidentally forgets her phone at home and goes shopping or something.
"Not willingly." She chuckles sadly. "He wanted me to wait but Arthur really needs some help. He's not exactly functioning and he still has Leah living at home."
"How's Leah taking it?" Maya asks.
Lilith shrugs. "She didn't talk much when I called her. Just answered my yes and no questions and that's about it."
Maya and I look at each other briefly. I couldn't imagine losing Maya that way.
"Just keep an eye on Kai and Anna for me while I'm gone. She doesn't exactly understand what's happening and you know how he worries." She adds.
"We will, promise." Maya says pulling Lilith into another hug.
Just as I planned to join in I felt a cold chill throughout my body. My hands began to feel clammy and I felt incredibly uneasy.
I quickly turn my head back in the direction of where I left Daniel standing. From a distance it doesn't look like anything's wrong, but when I notice he stands completely still as he stares at his phone I know something isn't right.
"Angie?" Maya says resting her hand on my shoulder.
I don't respond as I'm already making my way towards Daniel.
"Daniel?" I call when I'm more than halfway there. No response
"Danny?" I say again once I reach him, again, nothing.
"Daniel? Talk to me what's wrong?" I say placing my hands on each side of his neck, trying to get him to look at me.
His eyes shift up to meet mine. Fear etched on all his features.
"I know them" he says quietly.
"Who?"
He looks back down at his phone, my eyes following in suit. It must be the photo my dad sent to the whole pack.
"You know the men?"
He continues to stare at the photo but nods his head.
I take his phone and stick it in my pocket, then take his hand in mine and lead him away from the bonfire and the crowd of people and towards the cabins. When we're far enough from everyone I stop and turn to him.
His usual bright eyes were glossy and his eyebrows were furrowed.
"I know them Angie. I know who they are. This is my fault." He whispers the last part as he takes his hands and runs them both through his hair nervously.
"It's my fault it's my fault." He mumbles to himself as he begins to pace.
"Daniel stop" I say grabbing his hands which were still gripping his hair and stopping him.
"It's my fault Angie" he says a little louder with a shaky voice. "Marcy is dead because of me." He says as a single tear slips from his eye.
"Hey. Stop it." I say sternly and place both my hands on his cheeks. "It's not your fault. They did this. They hurt her. Not you."
"But they're probably here because of me." He says sadly.
"Why?"
More tears begin to flow from his eyes and his heart rate picks up.
"Why Daniel?"
"They're friends of my dads." He finally says.
"Why would they be here for you?"
"Because I ran." He says now sounding more angry. "I ran away so he couldn't find me."
"Why did you run?"
He lets out a heavy breath and starts shaking his head. "I can't" he says frustratedly.
"Daniel I don't want to push you but you have to tell me now. You have to tell me then we need to tell my family."
His jaw clenches as he nods.
"I know. I just-" he takes in a shaky breath. "I never wanted anyone to get hurt that's why I ran." He says dropping his head.
I wipe away his tears with the pads of my thumbs before pulling his head to my shoulder. His arms wrap tightly around my waist as if he's expecting one of us to be ripped away from each other.
"You need to talk to me." I say softly as I scratch the back of his head softly. He nods against my shoulder before pulling away.
"I left New York because my dad might've been getting a parole hearing." He starts. "If his friends are here it's because he's using them to help him find me."
I frown at his words. I didn't even know his dad had been in prison. "We need to tell my family." I say softly.
"I know." He says nodding.
"I'm going to send them a message to meet us at the cabin. Come on." I say taking his hand in mine and leading him back towards the cabins.
I didn't receive a response back from anyone, but when my parents and Angelique come strolling through the door of the cabin I know everyone would be here soon.
Daniel and I sit on the couch hand in hand as each member of leadership walks through the door with looks of concern.
"What's going on?" My mom asks taking the last spot on the couch beside me.
Everyone stands around us or takes a seat at the dining table before Daniel finally speaks up.
Daniel's POV
I never wanted this. I never wanted anyone to get hurt. When I fled New York I made sure no one knew where I was going aside from one leader of my old pack who was the one who provided me with a new identity.
After learning Lilith's story I've been on edge hoping my dad didn't have access to a witch willing to help him, but considering he's coming close to finding me I'm afraid he did.
"I know who the men are." I start.
I stare at the floor, too ashamed to look any of them in the eye. Since I've arrived I've caused these amazing people so much bullshit. I broke Maya's heart, and now the daughter of one of their leaders is dead.
"They're friends of my dad." I continue. I feel Angelique squeeze my hand in hers which gives me a bit more strength to finally look up at everyone.
I felt terrible when I looked at Lilith. She looked horrified, as everyone else gave me looks of confusion and concern.
"I think they're looking for me. That's why they're attacking the leaders in Colorado."
"Why are they looking for you?" Kai asks.
I take another few breath before beginning my long ass story. I knew I'd have to tell this story to Angelique one day, but I didn't expect it to be so soon and I definitely didn't expect to have to tell basically her entire family all at once. I just prayed to whatever god was out there I wouldn't have a melt down like last time.
"My mom died when I was 8." I start. "She was killed by a couple of men, regular humans, and I couldn't save her." My voice cracks at the end and Angelique holds my hand tighter.
"She was pregnant at the time with my baby sister, so she couldn't shift to protect herself. As you guys know it's harder on a woman to shift when she's so far along." Everyone stares at me intently, some of them nodding in understanding.
"After she died my dad blamed me for her death which lead to a lot of abuse growing up."
I felt Angelique stiffen beside me, but she rubbed the back of my hand with her thumb to soothe me.
"I got tired of it, and I wanted to be able to defend myself. So when I was 16 I started training to be a fighter. Only issue was we were mostly taught offensive moves. I went through the training but sought out for help from one of the trainers, Seth. I asked if he could teach me defensive moves so I could protect myself from my dad. He of course didn't know why I wanted this type of training, all I told him was that I wanted as much experience in combat as possible, so he taught me for about a year."
When I look at Angelique I almost miss her and Alyssa sharing a look.
"After I had trained for about a year I finally decided to fight back one night. My neighbors heard all the commotion and called the police. Of course when the police are called so are the pack leaders. My dad was arrested that night for child abuse and endangerment and I was almost thrown into the system until my trainer Seth offered to foster me since I was almost 18 already."
"You didn't have any other family to care for you?" Elise asks sadly.
I look over at her and shake my head. "My grandparents passed long before I was born and my parents were both only children." I shrug.
Looks of pity flashed through everyone's eyes and it bothered me. This is why I didn't want to tell anyone.
"I was in Seth's care for another year when there was talk of my dad possibly getting a parole hearing. I was terrified because I knew I'd be asked to be there but I didn't want to be. I didn't want to testify against him and make it worse for myself, especially if he ended up getting parole and I had gone and bad mouthed him. So I went to my pack leaders. They offered to help me move away. They told me to choose a place and tell no one besides the one leader who was going to help me get everything I needed for a new identity."
"They can do that?" Maya asks surprisingly.
"If you know the right people." I respond. "He did I guess"
"Is Daniel Martinez not your real name?" Angelique asks from beside me.
I look over at her and shake my head. "Technically no." She looks surprised by my response. "I go by my middle name and my moms maiden. That way if he ever tried to find me through public record he couldn't. My real name, Marcus Daniel Wright, no longer exists. Legally anyway." I add.
I felt weird saying my name. I haven't heard or spoke of it in so long.
"So why did you decide on Colorado?" Damien asks.
"It was far. That's all I wanted. I just wanted to be far and somewhere unexpected. My leaders gave me more than enough money for me to move to Colorado and find a place of my own."
"So why did you move to Texas?" Alyssa asks.
"I got word from the leader who knew where I was that my dad ended up getting parole. I was just scared. I didn't want to change packs again because I knew it would cause suspicion to the next pack I went to, so I just came to Texas and told the leaders in Colorado that I was moving for school. The rest is history." I say.
The room falls silent. I don't think anyone really knew what to say.
"And that one leader was the only one who knew you went to Colorado?" Damien asks.
I nod my head. "I wanted to tell Seth, but I knew it would put him in danger."
"How do you think they found him?" Elise says to Damien.
"Could be a witch." Kai adds in.
"But a witch would've found him here in Texas already. They wouldn't have even gone to Colorado." Lilith states.
"Do you think the leader that helped you talked?" Nicholas asks.
I shake my head. "I doubt it."
"Did he have where you went in any of his private records?" Damien asks.
I shrug. "Probably. Like I said, he handled all of it. I only told him where I wanted to go and he got me everything I needed."
The room falls silent again, leaving me in my own thoughts.
"We need to contact the leaders of New York." Damien finally says. "We need to know how he got the records. Based off my own assumption and if you say the leader that helped you wouldn't give up your location, I'm sad to say it may have been taken unwillingly." Damien adds.
I frown at his words knowing exactly what he meant. Another person could be dead because of me.
"Stop" Angelique says quietly from beside me. She could sense my guilt.
"Thank you for telling us Danny. I can't imagine telling your story was easy." Elise says softly.
"You shouldn't thank me. The first thing I did coming here was cause a rift between your daughters, now another family member of Lilith's is dead. It's my fault."
"It's not your fault" Lilith says moving from beside Kai to kneel in front of me.
"I felt the same way when my dad was threatening our pack just to get to me. We're family. And this family is going to do everything in its power to protect you. What's done is done and you can't fix it so don't blame yourself. Understand?" She says.
Looking her in the eyes I knew what I was feeling had to be something she had felt before. I felt truly understood.
I nod my head, not trusting my voice to not crack and embarrass myself any further by bawling my eyes out in front of all of them.
"Jesus. This family has got some serious daddy issues." Toby remarks.
Both Lilith and I snort a laugh. As I looked around the room I saw multiple eye rolls and attempts to hold back laughter.
"Leave it to Toby to make it weird." Noah says shaking his head.
"Someone has to." He mutters with a playful glint in his eyes.
"We're all gonna get through this Danny." Elise says reaching behind Angelique and resting her hand on my shoulder.
I smile at her and nod. As much as I didn't want anyone to know my story, I have to admit I felt like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
So are y'all crying as much as I am right now 😭
Also... I may or may not be working on a 3rd book featuring a character from this book 👀 I'm still working it out in my head how it'll fall in line with the last two books, buuuut we'll see 🤣 if not I have plenty of other stories for you guys to read coming soon! 💕
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Thanks!
-Zeri