“What’d you find?”
Dane asked his father as we took a seat. Zayd shook his head solemnly, “Not as much as I would have
liked to. I'll tell you what little we found and then I'll tell you a theory that your mother and I have come
up with.”
“ Sounds good,”
he replied as he wrapped an arm around me. “ The day that Holly was born, a younger woman had
shown up at the hospital, alone. She refused to give her name and paid in cash. During labor, she told
the doctor and nurses she wanted to give the baby up for adoption. It’s a small town, everybody knows
everybody kind of thing, and no one had ever seen this woman before. After giving birth to a baby girl,
the woman whispered in the baby's ear before the nurses took her away. The woman disappeared in
the middle of the night.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My heart dropped the more Zayd talked. So not only did my
mother not want me, but she also made sure there would be no way to find out who she was. Dane
motioned with his hand for Zayd to continue, “ Humans aren’t usually able to leave within hours of
giving birth to a baby, but this woman did. According to records, she eyebrows at Dane. “So, she wasn’t
human. The only ones that can possibly heal that fast after giving birth are werewolves and strong
ones. Maybe Alpha blood? But why doesn’t Holly have a wolf? Or any of the abilities of a werewolf?”
Dane seemed to be talking more to himself. “What is the theory?”
I questioned, finally finding my voice. Adria looked at me, giving me a small smile, “Well, dear, this is
going to sound crazy, we know, but during that time the Alpha King’s pregnant mate had disappeared
without a trace. When she was first reported missing, she was around four months pregnant. Rumor
has it she was running to save her baby from the Alpha King himself, though he has always denied
that. What if you are that baby?”
I started laughing as tears streamed down my face. They were all looking at me worriedly. Dane gently
began wiping away my tears as his other hand tightened around me. “Okay, now I’ve heard it all! I don’t
know who the Alpha King is, but I can guarantee I’m not royalty of any sort.”
I tried to gain my composure, “Look, I know that y'all are trying to help, but doesn’t that sound like
reaching just a little bit?”
My emotions were all over the place at this point. Anger started to build within me. “Okay, let’s say your
theory is true. What about her I looked at each of them, my laughing fit over as anger pulsed through
my veins. A loud knock on the door startled me, “Come in!”
Dane shouted. Ash came through the door, his face contorted in anger, “What is it, Ash?”
“Alpha Kain is here with his Beta and his dad.”
Dane jumped up, almost knocking me to the floor. His fist clenched tightly at his sides, “Where?”
he growled through gritted teeth. “Out front.”
Dane grabbed my hand and began pulling me out the door with him before Zayd grabbed his shoulder,
stopping him, “Remember son, keep your calm. You have to be in control.”
Zayd and Adria headed down the hall in front of us, following Ash out. Dane pulled me close to him,
inhaling my hair, “Let’s go, babe.”
He seemed to be a little calmer as we walked out the front door. As soon as Kain saw me, he started
walking toward me, “Holly, it’s time to go home.”
Ash quickly stood in front of me growling, “I wouldn't.”
he told Kain. Aman I had seen with Kain around town stepped beside him staring at Ash. I could see
the anger flash through Kain’s eyes, “Alpha Dane, I’m here to get what belongs to me.”
his eyes never left me. “Sorry Alpha Kain, but there is nothing here that belongs to you,”
Dane replied calmly. And then Kain saw it. escaped his throat, “You marked her? She wasn’t yours to
mark.”
His eyes now left me to stare at Dane, “She’s my mate, so yes, I marked her. And youcannot own
aperson, Kain.”
I noticed the hint of sarcasm in Dane’s voice. Without warning, the man standing next to Kain lunged at
Ash, shifting in mid-air and knocking him to the ground. Everything around me seemed to be happening
so fast. Dane pushed me back hard as Adria grabbed my arm. In one step, Dane no longer stood on
the porch but in his place, a huge light grey wolf stood. He had small patches of black on each ear tip.
The grey wolf was facing off with a much smaller, dark brown wolf. I could faintly hear Adria yelling for
me to go inside as other wolves came from all directions, circling the house. The only men still standing
as humans were Zayd and who I assumed was Kain’s father. “You know you will lose this, ”
Zayd warned them. I felt like I was frozen in place, and everything was in slow motion. I looked around
me, the wolf that had tried to attack Ash was pinned on the ground by a large tan wolf. Though so far,
the light grey wolf towered over all the others. I had never seen a werewolf. The whole time I had been
here, I hadn’t seen one. I should have been scared but I wasn’t. snarling. Dane didn’t back down
though, in fact, it looked like he...smiled? I couldn’t be sure, but I swear if a wolf could smile, Dane’s
just did. The urge to protect Dane was back and stronger than before. I tried to step next to him, but
something was holding me back. I spun around and found Adria with a death grip on my wrist. Her
eyes, which were normally dark blue, were now swirling dangerously with silver. Ash still had the wolf
pinned to the ground; I could now see asmall amount of blood running down the other wolf's neck
where Ash’s teeth seemed to have broken the skin. Dane was still standing off with Kain, waiting for
Kain to make a move. Kain’s father had been creeping closer to the porch as he thought no one was
watching him. Zayd stood next to Dane as he leaned on his cane. I could tell he was mind linking Dane,
probably trying to tell him to calm down. Kain’s father saw an opening and lunged toward me, “Zayd!!”
Adria yelled as she spun me behind her in one swift motion.
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