(Nate's POV)
I told my father to call the Pack house and see how things are.
My father took Danny in the house with him as I sat there and stared at Eva.
So many things we're running through my mind.
Could I bring her back to the pack house like this?
Is she even safe to be around?
I looked over he pale skin and it just broke my hear to see how things turned out.
I wonder what they did.
I traced my fingers over the scars that were on her hand.
Her arm flinch and I withdrew my arm and waited.
But nothing happened. Maybe she doesn't like to be touched?
No mystery as to why that is.
"I'm so sorry Eva." But she laid there, no sound, no movement.
I wondered how she survived when we all saw her die years ago.
I requested her medical chart and I couldn't stomach what I read so far.
She was malnourished, two fractured ribs, x-rays showed she suffered through many years of abuse. She's broken her ribs, pinky, ankle, fractured wrist. Shoulder was recently dislocated, evidence showed that she was restrained by her arms and legs for a large amount of times.
But one thing that bothered me was the fact that her alcohol level was really high.
That confused me the most. Why did they not feed her but made her drink? It made no sense.
One thing I was grateful for was that they didn't touch her. And I mean touch... touch her.
But that only meant I had more questions than I did answers.
I leaned forward and put my head in my hands.
Time was passing by and I didn't know how long I've been sitting here but I still needed to figure out how to get Eva home.
I smelt him before I saw him.
Braxton walked in but didn't say anything to me.
I looked him over and he seemed to be just fine.
A couple of scratches but I knew he could handle it.
He leaned against the wall and just stared at Eva.
Neither one of us daring to say a word.
Until I remembered something.
"I heard your pack was there to help protect my pack."
Nothing.
"My family was in trouble and if it wasn't for your pack who knows what would have happened. So, thank you."
He looked at me and nodded his head once.
"Have you decided what you are going to do?"
I knew he was probably thinking the same thing I was.
"No. She doesn't like to be touched and I can't risk her killing anyone else."
His eyes snapped to mines and he growled.
"Who did she kill?"
I leaned back against the chair and sighed. Hissing a little as my ribs touched the arm rest making pain shoot through the left side of my body.
"A nurse."
He looked back at her but said nothing.
"Then it is settled. There is a little trailer in the back. Its not much but it will do. I'll drive her to my pack house where she will stay with me an-"
Over my dead body.
"No. We are her family. I'll drive her myself with pack cars in front and in bac-"
He growled and turned his body to mines.
"The hell you will. You idiots lost her once, I won't let you do it again." With that he walked out not leaving any room for discussions.
He knows since she isn't marked he can't take her. An Alpha can not take his mate from her pack if she does not agree to it. That would be starting war between the packs and I don't think he wants that.
"Your mate is a pain in the ass, you know that?" I said looking at her.
She looked liked Eva, but I know she wasn't Eva.
So many things are going to change , I can only hope they are for the best.
I got up and decided to go see where everyone else was.
I walked out of the shed nodding my heads at the guards to keep a special eye on her.
Walking back into the pack house I noticed Alpha Oscar there sitting at the table with coffee and toast.
"I see you are healing well. How do you feel?"
I smiled and sat across from him.
"I'm well, thank you. How are you? You took a lot of fatal hits." I said remembering how he fought hard against the rogues and the hunters.
"I've been Alpha a long time. One of the highlights about still having the title is that even though I age my wolf hasn't. So my injuries were terrible, but my wolf has always been a good healer." He said taking a sip and smiling.
But something was bugging me from the fight.
"Did you know him?" I asked
He didn't seem surprised by my question more like he was waiting for me to ask him this.
"That I do. But we should discuss this in my office."
He said as he got up.
I followed silently behind him up to his office.
Mostly everyone was there.
Danny, my father, Ariana, and Braxton.
They all looked at me as we walked in.
"How are you feeling?" Ariana asked as she stood next to me.
"Stiff but fine." I kissed her forehead and she smiled up at me.
"Where Xavier?"
"He's having some ice cream with a lady and her six sons!" she all but screamed.
I can see why shes excited Ari has always wanted a big family.
I, on the other hand don't. Maybe one more but that's all.
"Six!?" Danny asked with eyes big as plates.
"That is a lot of kids." I said and shook my head when I looked at her smiling like a little kid in a candy store.
"Check in with the mother I want to know if they leave anywhere." Ari nodded her head and walked out of the room.
"Danny hows Alex?" I asked as I walked over to them.
"Better. It was touch and go for awhile but shes responding to the medication. She should be fine by the time we arrive home."
Finally, some good news. I think we could all breath a little easier now.
I nodded my head at him and looked at my father.
"And the pack?"
"A few damages, four fatalities but overall it was better than expected."
I sighed because the packs safety has always been my main concern.
"Shall we all sit there are many things we need to discuss." Alpha Oscar said.
Ari walked in right on time as we started to sit down at the table in his office.
Danny got up so that the seat next to me was available for Ariana. He went and sat on the other side of my father.
Braxton sat at the end of the table away from us all which wasn't anything new to us.
He would always separate himself from the rest of us when we first started the search party for Eva.
"So you said you knew him?" I asked
"I would first like to say that this pack has nothing to do with his crimes. And for what he did to your sister, I am truly sorry."
We all nodded our heads in acceptance.
Braxton being the person that he is, didn't comment.
"I didn't find my mate till way later in life. My first wife was from another pack and I marked her when I was twenty eight. My true mate didn't come into my life until I was thirty five. But by then seven years had went by and I loved my wife. But I was in love with my Mate."
Wow its very rare for an Alpha to not find his mate by the age of twenty two.
"My mate Marlene, was an amazing women. She was the most beautiful women you have ever laid your eyes on. She had a voice that reminded me of an angel when she spoke. And when she spoke about things she was passionate about, I didn't stop her. Because if you saw the twinkle in her eyes like I did, or the way her hands would make all these motions, and how she would smile her 180 watt smile, then you wouldn't have had the heart to stop her either."
Hearing him talk about his mate made me think about how grateful I am that I have Ariana. She really is my everything.
I placed my hand on her lap and she looked up and smiled at me.
God, she really was beautiful.
"Well Marlene had a sister Memory or memo as they would call her. She was sick, very, very sick."
"As in health wise?" Ariana asked
But he shook his head.
"No, she was psychotic, sadistic even. She had a son by someone else and that man found his mate. But sadly memory never found her true mate. I believe that is what lead to her psychotic ways. She was irresponsible. Marlene would agree to babysit and memory was grateful. But at times she would never return. She would be gone for days at a time and finally Marlene had enough. When she became Luna Marlene sent her sister to the psychiatric ward."
We all sat quietly, listening intently at his story.
"But the minute the men came to pick her up, we found her dead. She hung herself in her room leaving the baby to my mate."
"The baby was Jo wasn't it?" Ariana asked.
He sighed but nodded his head anyways.
"Yes. We all tried so hard to love him, but he was already too far gone. We knew something was wrong when we walked in on him dissecting a rat, with his bare hands. And when we asked him what he was doing he simply said he wanted to see the inside on the outside."
I sat there, mouth gaped open because I couldn't believe what he was saying.
"When he got older he started acting out. Killing any wolf in sight. He even tried to fight some of the pack members. So when it came down to handing him the alpha position, I denied it to him. He wasn't fit to lead the pack. And he didn't like that. The next day he set the daycare on fire. Babies were rushed out except one. So my mate ran in to save her, but she never came back out."
His voice sounded so sad. So... broken.
" He left a note confessing to the fire and stating he wasn't sorry for anyone lost, including the only person who has ever cared about him since birth. I wanted his head. My wolf wanted blood. So we looked but we could never catch him. Who knew for so long he was right in front of me. But Since then, he has not shown his face."
Silence filled the air as we all absorbed what Oscar just said. I didn't know what to say, I don't think any of us did.
"What are your plans for him now since he is back?" My father asked.
Oscar leaned back in his chair and sighed.
"I'm not quit sure. But I will assist you in any way that I possibly could."
"Thank you, but I think we will take it from here." I said and Oscar nodded his head.
There were so many things we still needed to discuss so for the next three hours that exactly what we did.
We talked about plans for the pack, the funeral arrangements for those who were lost in the fight, better security, and strategic battle forms that would have benefited us in that fight.
Finally we got everything settled but there was still the matter of Eva.
That is what we were discussing now.
"I don't want to transport her like some animal. She is still a human being, our family even." I said looking at everyone.
Right now everyone had an opinion of what we should do.
Braxton had made it very clear that he wanted to transport Eva himself and my father agreed saying because they are mates his wolfs main instinct is to protect her at all cost.
Danny and Ariana thought we should just drug her up with Anesthesia and cuff her so that she is no harm to anyone.
But that was shut down when my father pointed out that her body was too weak. If we give her more than she needs she could die, and none of us wanted to risk it.
"It is the only way we can help her." my father said.
I didn't know what to do.
"I think hes right. As much as its going to hurt to see her like that, we need to do this."
Just then Oscars phone rang.
"Yes?............... mhmm....... I see. We will be right there." he hung up the phone and looked at us all.
"It seems Evangeline is awake." I took a sharp intake and I felt so anxious and I knew it was because of Ariana.
I looked towards Braxton who was clenching his jaw. He suddenly just got up and walked out of the room.
"Lets go." We all walked out and into the shed.
Alpha Oscar didn't come, saying he knew we needed this time to ourselves and my sister.
When we arrived Braxton was right there standing against the wall as he stared at her and she stared at the ground.
He was scarring her.
"Eva?" but she didn't life up her head.
No one made any sudden moves towards her because we weren't sure how she would react.
My father took a step closer to her and she hung her head lower and then it finally connected.
There were two Alphas here, a Luna, a Beta and a former Alpha.
She was submitting to us.
"Do you know where you are?" My father asked but she said nothing.
"Do you know who you are?"
Again, nothing.
But with each question he took another step closer.
" Do you know who any of us are?" She didn't say anything.
"Do you know who I am?" she opened her mouth and we all held out breath waiting, expecting, her to say something, anything really.
But she closed it and was silent again.
"You have nothing to be afraid of Evangeline. You are safe now." My father reached out and before I could stop him he touched her arm.
She flinched away from his touch, whimpering as silent tears fell from her eyes.
Braxton growled and stepped forward.
"Dont. Touch. Her." he said through gritted teeth.
His eyes were changing colors and you could see that he was trying to get control over his wolf.
In Braxtons eyes he sees my father as a threat to his mate.
My father backed away keeping eye contact with Braxton making sure that he knew that he wasn't going to hurt her.
Braxton growled making Eva pull on her restraints trying to break free.
"Calm down. You're scarring her." Ariana said as she looked at Eva.
He growled once more and walked out of the shed.
Eva was shaking now, trying to pull on the restraints so that she could get free.
She was trying so hard that her wrist were starting to turn red.
"Eva stop, you're going to hurt yourself." Ariana said as she tried to plead with my sister.
But she wasn't listening.
"Nathaniel, look." My father said and I was seeing what he was seeing.
She was pulling so hard that blood was spilling from her wrists.
"She's going to open her stitches Nate, you have to stop her!" Ariana screamed.
Eva was starting to flip out. She was throwing her body around trying to escape.
We couldn't touch her because we were afraid of what she might do so there was nothing we could do.
"ENOUGH" I said loud enough with my Alpha voice.
She whimpered but that didn't stop her, she kept struggling.
Her wrist had burns from the cuffs, blood was spilling from them.
I saw a syringe of Anesthesia on the table next to her. There wasn't a lot so I was praying this was going to work.
I grabbed it and with one swift moment I jabbed it into her arm and push down.
She screamed a little and I waited to see if it was going to work.
I was loosing hope when I didn't see anything happen at first but then her body began to go limp.
Her eyes screamed betrayal and it hurt me so much to do this to her.
"I'm sorry." I whispered
Her head fell forward and she stopped moving.
My father had left to go get the nurse so that she could bandage her wrist.
Braxton returned a few minutes later and was furious that she had hurt herself.
But his anger wasn't directed at us, I think he felt that he was at fault here.
"I found a cage. Its isolated and portable. We will use that."
It wasn't the best idea but it was the best one we had.
"Someone should clean her and at least give her something comfortable to wear for right now. She must be freezing"
And Ari was right. She had on a gown from the hospital and that was all.
"Add a blanket inside the cage, maybe she will like that." Ari said.
So we did.
Ariana left with my father, and Danny to get help set up the cage in a Uhaul that we rented.
They had to make sure her cage didn't move, that there was food, and water.
I had them install a camera so that we could see what she was doing since Braxton won't let us take her.
The nurse walked in and I was about to tell her to start cleaning Eva but Braxton interrupted me.
"Get out, we won't be needing your assistance. But leave the bucket." She looked at me and I nodded my head at her and she left.
He grabbed the first aid kit and took out a needle, fresh bandages, and everything else he needed to clean the wound.
When she was all stitched up, Braxton walked over to the bucket of warm water and grabbed it, taking it with him as he stood in front of Eva.
He bent down and grabbed the sponge squeezing the excess water from it.
He placed the sponge against her arm , and lightly ran it over her skin taking the dirt with it.
He bent down again to clean the sponge and repeated the process on her other arm.
He not once went under her gown and I was happy.
I leaned against the wall and watched, making sure he was cleaning her and nothing else.
My main concern was him marking her without her permission.
The same nurse came back in and left clothes for Eva.
Black sweats, with a black sweater.
He lifted her shirt, not once taking his eyes off of her face.
It wasn't until now that I could finally get a good look at her stomach.
Whip marks covered her stomach and a scar that stretched from the top of her chest to her belly button kind of caught my attention.
She had bruises everywhere to the point where I had to look away.
They were purple and big, and others were healing so they were an ugly yellow.
He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, I could see his wolf was about to surface.
He growled and took a few step backs away from her.
He took deep breaths, trying to calm down. He let out one growl but stepped forward again to continue helping her.
His wolf was still on the surface so I didn't say anything when he bent down to put her sweats on.
Alphas are known to lose their tempers when they're fighting for control against their wolf.
He stepped away when she was fully dressed and leaned back against the wall.
After awhile everyone returned and said they were ready to leave.
Ariana went to go get Xavier, as my father and I went to say our goodbyes to Alpha Oscar.
We thanked him for his generosity and help.
He told us we were welcome anytime.
We untied Eva from the bed and Braxton grabbed her carrying her bridal style to the cage.
No one said anything as we watched her being settled into her cage.
Ariana made it as comfortable as possible.
Adding blankets as a bed, some pillows, a water bottle and fruits.
Who knows when she will wake up but we had to be prepared so we locked the cage with a steel lock. I had the key so that Braxton wasn't tempted to let her out.
He closed the Uhaul door and we all got into our own cars, heading home.
Ariana, Xavier, and I were in the car in front of the Uhaul as my father and Danny were in the car behind the Uhaul.
Evey now and then I would check the cameras and see that she was still sleeping.
After twelve hours in the car we finally made it home.
Eva was asleep and so was everyone else.
It was about four in the morning when we got home.
After being away for so long, I never thought I would miss my home so much.
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Aw they're reunited and it feels so good 💖