Chapter 22
Braxton
Nyah barely speaks as we ride to the Midnight Pack lands. We’re in the back seat of Kenia’s vehicle as Levi drives with Kenia in the front passenger seat. My guards are in an SUV in front of us and Father, mother, and James are in another behind us.
With Nyah’s hand in mine, I massage it for support. My wolf and I can feel the concern she is trying to hide. As her mate, I wanted her to know that I am here for her and will always be by her side for whatever.
As we grow nearer to the entrance to the Pack lands, a cloud of smoke can be seen bellowing above the treetops.
“I wonder where that’s coming from,” Kenia says, looking back at Nyah.
Nyah shrugs her shoulders, responding, “Probably daddy having some of the members burning off the scraps of wood from the last timber cutting. There were at least three big piles left.”
“I hope so,” Kenia whispers, turning back to look at the smoke.
Nyah gives me a quick smile after I squeeze her hand. Leaning over I whisper, “Whatever it is, we’ll handle it. Just know that Lightfeather and Midnight Pack are my family now too.”
“I know,” Nyah says, kissing my cheek. “I just want to make sure daddy and Crown are okay.”
“I’m sure they are, especially Crown. The poor fawn doesn’t know who his true owner is. Your father or you,” I chuckled, making light of the situation.
“Crown belongs to me,” Nyah playfully expresses, which I’m happy for her uplifted change. “Daddy may have a connection with Crown, and I would never block that, but at the end of the day, I’m Crown’s adopted mother. You’re lucky I didn’t bring him with me for the weekend.”
I move to the side. “I wouldn’t have objected. Housekeeping would have gotten a bigger tip for cleaning up behind him.”
Nyah giggles. “No, I wouldn’t do them like that. I think daddy is trying to house train him.”
“Can that be done?” I questioned.
“I don’t know, but daddy seems to think he can, and I think he will do it too. Crown will be scratching at the back door like a dog going outside.”
Everyone in the vehicle laughs. Kenia twists in her seat. “Too late, daddy already has Crown trained. Remember I used to tell you daddy was the Animal Whisperer.” She giggles. “Crown is now your brother, not your adopted son.”
“We’ll see about that,” Nyah snickers.
Kenia continues to laugh as we turn onto the road for Midnight Pack lands. Our playful moment is replaced with more silence. Pack members stand outside their houses, staring at us with pity as we pass by.
“Why are they looking at us like that?” Kenia murmurs. “This can’t be good. If they are looking at us like that, then we’re about to roll up to some bullshit.”
Nyah removes my hand from hers as she in Kenia releases their seatbelts, then stretches their arms out in front of them. Bones crack as they rotate their arms before flexing their shoulders and more bones pop. Kenia shifts in her seat, leaving Nyah to continue their synchronized flexing. Kenia stops her flex, but Nyah continues.
“Baby, what are you doing?” I ask.
Touching her right ear to the right shoulder, then doing the same on the other side, she replies, “Daddy taught Kenia and I to always be prepared for the unknown. We don’t know if we’re pulling up to an ambush or for one of daddies over the top barbecues. Either way, Kenia and I are ready.”
I catch Levi’s eyes in the rearview mirror. With a slight nod, I conveyed for him to be on high alert. Using my cellphone, I send a message to the leader of my guards, informing him that there may be trouble when we arrive.
He shoots a text back informing he already told the rest of my men to be alert. I send the thumbs up emoji, letting him know I approved.
As the vehicles pull into Alpha Lighfeather’s driveway, he appears from the back of the house with another member of their Pack. Normally, Alpha Lightfeather is smiling, joyous to greet us but not this time.
Before Levi can park, the ladies jump out and rush to their father. I waste no time joining them.
Nyah speaks first. “Daddy, what’s going on?” as she hugs him.
His large arms engulf her as he replies, “I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, but your grandmother’s cabin was set on fire, and we can’t find Crown.”
Nyah steps out of her father’s embrace before dropping to her knees as a blood-curdling scream leaves her. I’m instantly at her side, wrapping her within my arms.
Alpha Lightfeather squats to our level, telling Nyah, “Babygirl, I promise we will find out who is responsible for this.”
“Responsible?” Kenia shrieks, drawing everyone’s attention. “We all know who is responsible! Where’s your Beta and his son, daddy?”
Alpha Lightfeather studies his daughter as he stands. “They left yesterday morning to go visit relatives in Arkansas. I haven’t seen them since they left. So, I have no reason to believe they are responsible for this.”
“Well, I do,” Nyah snaps, pulling out of my embrace, then rising. “Who’s to say they told you that bullshit excuse to make you think they were gone, but in reality, they never left. They could have booked a hotel in the city, then came back to do this.” Nyah moves closer to her father. “My grandmother’s house, I can always have it restored as she once had it, but Crown...if they have hurt him in any way, I will do ten times as much to them.”
Nyah and Alpha Lightfeather stare each other down. Leave it up to my mother to break the silence with her bullshit.
“This sounds like a four-corner lover’s quarrel. The Beta, his son, and someone named Crown? How many other men besides my son is she messing with?”
Before I can get a grip on her, Nyah uses her wolf-speed and is standing damn near nose to nose with my mother,
“Lady, I put up with your shit last night and this morning out of respect, but I won’t do it now when you are standing on my land.”
Mother gasps, clutching her imaginary pearls as Nyah continues. “There’s no lover’s quarrel and definitely with four others. I swear some people need to ask questions before making assumptions. The world would be a better place because of it. Since you didn’t do that, let me bring you up to speed; my daddy’s Beta and his son are up to no good, Crown is my pet, and Braxton is my mate.”
Mother scoffs, saying, “That still has to be determined.”
I could have stepped in and gave mother our news, but I let Nyah take the honor.
With a sinister smile, Nyah stares at mother, airing our news. “It was determined last night by the Gods when Braxton officially claimed me.”
If it wouldn’t come off as disrespectful, I would have pulled out my cellphone to capture my mother’s shocked expression. If the saying ‘close your mouth before you catch a fly’ were true, then mother would have a swarm in hers.
“You didn’t?” she implores, glancing at me.
“I did,” I proudly replied.
Mother grimaces. “What about Megan?”
Taken aback, I sneer, “What about Megan? She is not my mate, Nyah is. The faster you realize that, the better.”
Our little dispute is interrupted when Alpha Lightfeather says, “You all can go back and forth about this later.” He cuts his eyes to me and Nyah. “We’ll discuss your unorthodox mating at a later time. Right now, our focus needs to be on who set fire to the cabin and Crown. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” we say together.
Moving forward, daddy tells Alpha Lightfeather, “Noah, if you don’t mind, James has a person who can track the movements of Horace and Corey. We’ll be able to see if they actually left the state.”
Alpha Lightfeather nods. “Thank you, Bryant, that would help tremendously. Everyone else, I need you to comb the land for Crown. Security did it once, but maybe since Nyah is here and he’s hiding, he’ll come out.”
Once again mother had to open her mouth. “Bryant, I hope you know I won’t be tramping through the forest in my five-thousand-dollar heels.”
Father, having enough of her bullshit, states, “No, I didn’t think you would Ramona which is why I’m having you escorted back to the hotel.”
“What?” mother shrilled.
Father stands his ground, replying, “If you’re not here to help, then there is no reason for you to be here.”
“But I want to be here,” mother argues. “I might not be able to help with looking for...” She waves her hand. “The Crown person, but I can be helpful here while you all are out there. I’m sure whatever they do around here, I can handle.”
“Oh, really?” Alpha Lightfeather asks.
“Yes,” mother replies with moxie.
I know he knew she was full of shit, but I waited to see where he was going.
Clapping his hands together, Alpha Lightfeather drops several bombs on mother. “Great, I was about to skin two wild boars and harvest the meat. You can do that while we’re out. After that, you’ll need to boil down the skin for us to make cracklin.’ Can you handle that?”
Mother’s face turns a light shade of green. I guess when she made the remark of handling things around here, she meant doling out orders, not getting your hands dirty or should I say bloody.
We hold in our laughter as she swiftly turns on her heels, then rushes to the SUV. Father instructs the head of his security detail to return here after they drop her off.
After mother left, we broke off into pairs to look for Crown. It wasn’t a surprise to me when Nyah led us towards her grandmother’s cabin.
My gut was telling me it was soon for her to see the damage, but I knew I wouldn’t have been able to stop her if I wanted to.
As we neared the end of the trail, we saw the remnants of the cabin. Nyah sobbed, walking closer to the smoldering embers of what was once her grandmother’s cabin. The only thing that was left standing is the brick fireplace that was in the living room.
Nyah drops to her knees, clasping her hands together, hanging her head. “This cabin was the only thing I had left of my grandmother,” she cried.
Kneeling next to her, I pull her into my arms. “No, it’s not, baby. The cabin is just a reminder, but what you have of your grandmother in your heart is forever. No fire, earthquake, or tornado can tear that down. We will restore the cabin to how it once was.”
She silently sobbed while I comforted her. Nyah then wiped away her tears, saying, “You’re right. The cabin can be replaced, but my memories are forever.”
“Exactly,” I return.
“Now we just need to find Crown,” she says, sniffing. “I hope he’s okay.”
“I’m sure he is,” I console. “He probably saw what happened here and fled.” Thinking that it might work, I tell Nyah, “Why don’t you call out to him. I’m sure your father did when he was looking for him, but you were the one who saved him that night and he sees you as his mother. Call him, Nyah.”
Nyah moves her head up and down before clearing her throat.
“Crown, come here boy,” she yells. “Crown! Crown, where are you?”
Minutes pass as we wait for Crown to show. Nyah feels defeated, saying, “They got him, or they killed him. Either way, they will die.”
I open my mouth to talk, but my words are cut off by the scent of blood, fresh blood. Nyah and I sniff the air to see which direction it’s coming from. We are predators by nature, so the fresh smell of blood has our wolves going crazy. Looking towards the left end of the tree line to the back of the house, our wolves calm when we see Crown dragging himself out. We race to him as he collapses to the ground. Once closer we see the gash to his right thigh. It looks as if a larger animal took a swipe at him.
“We have to get him back to the house, now,” Nyah says, scooping him up in her arms before taking off towards the trail.