Chapter 16
In the predawn hours just before sunrise, Hellen threw back the top of the sleeping bag she’d been tucked inside of and walked across the dirt floor of the shanty she’d recently been spending most of her time in. She took the three or four steps across the shanty to the opposite wall, then looked down at the creature sleeping there. He appeared to be asleep, but she knew better. Though his breathing hadn’t changed at all, and he lay perfectly still, she knew he was acutely aware of her standing over him.
“I have to go.”
The predator’s eyelid opened, displaying the vertical slit of the pupil he possessed.
“There’s something wrong with my family. They need me. I put off leaving for long as I could, but I can’t wait anymore. I have to go make sure everyone is safe. But I’ll be back.”
A deep rumble rattled his chest.
“You’ll be fine. I’ve left food here for you. And you’ve got water, too. I’m leaving my weapon in case whoever did this to you comes back. All you have to do is shift and use it.” She paused to give him time to reply, when he made no sound at all, she walked away from him to gather the food, water, and her weapon to move them all closer to him.
“There you go. Everything you need, within reach. As long as nothing is seriously wrong, I should be back in a day or two. Do not go outside. Do not draw attention to yourself. Just lie here and rest until I get back. It’s all you would do if I was here anyway.”
Hellen walked away from the creature who’d refused to shift back into his human form since he’d healed enough to be able to realize she was trying to help him, not finish the job someone else started of removing him from this Earth. Just before she stepped outside the shanty, he let out an angry hiss.
“If you keep that shit up, I won’t be coming back,” she snapped. She closed the very old, warped door of the shanty and started her trek through the woods to where she’d left her four wheeler hidden.
Some fifteen minutes later, the creature heard the very distant sound of a four wheeler starting up. The sound gradually drifted further and further away until he couldn’t hear it anymore, letting him know he was alone. Alone was good. He wanted to be alone. He didn’t want her here. She had no right here. He tried to move his sore body again, and pain shot through just about every inch of him. He lifted his head and turned to look with his one good eye at the food and water she’d left for him. Forcing himself to turn away from the food and water, he lay his head back down and thought of the female who’d discovered him, then saved him. Good riddance, he thought to himself. Only it wasn’t good riddance. He wanted her here as much as he didn’t want her here, and if truth be told, she had more right to be here than he did. Doing his best to slap the ground in frustration with his huge muscular tail — and failing pitifully — he released another hiss just for good measure before settling in to wait out the excruciating pain of his screaming muscles and bones attempting to knit themselves back together, so he could finally regain enough strength to get out of this damn place before the female he didn’t want, but needed, returned to attempt to save him again.
~~~
Hellen rode her four-wheeler for miles until she reached the forestry truck she’d left parked to the side of a rarely used path leading into the swamp. Reaching it, she left the four-wheeler several feet behind the truck. She lowered the tailgate, then extended the tri-fold ATV ramp and drove her four-wheeler up and into the bed of her truck. She locked the tailgate back into place, strapped down the four-wheeler, then hopped in the truck and settled in for an hour and a half drive back home. She knew by looking at the clock on the dash that it was far too early to contact Havoc. He was not even close to being a morning person, besides, he had Analise now, and was surely snuggled all warm in bed at this time. Brandt would read her the riot act and ask more questions that she was willing to give answers to. Barron was not answering her prompts and was as shut down as tightly as Emmalyn was. Not knowing exactly what was going on, only that everyone had tried to reach her at some point in the last few days, she decided to just keep a low profile until she arrived.
Pulling into her driveway with the morning sun blindingly greeting her, she hopped down from the driver’s seat and slammed the door. She took a minute to assess everything. Nothing seemed out of place. In fact, everything seemed just as she’d left it. She searched for her house key on the key chain attached to her belt loop and let herself inside her house. Stepping into her living room, she knew right away something wasn’t right. The smell of old food permeated the house.
“Emmalyn?” she called out. “You here?”
There was no answer, and the house was unusually quiet. So still in fact, she knew Emmalyn was not in the house. Hellen inhaled, trying to determine how long it had been since Emmalyn left based on her scent. It was then that she scented a strange man, and blood. “Oh, shit,” Hellen rushed out, starting down the hallway leading from the living room to the bedrooms, and then the back of the house where the kitchen and the den were located. She found some of Emmalyn’s things in her extra bedroom, but just as she’d expected, no trace of Emmalyn. She continued through her house, coming to a stop in the kitchen where there was dried food splattered on the kitchen island and the floor beside it. In fact, there was still cold, dried roast in the Crockpot on the kitchen island.
Hellen noticed a pile of her comforters and quilts on the floor in the den and hurried over to them to snatch them up and see if she could get a good scent from them. What she picked up had her realizing that Emmalyn was the one that had been injured. It had been Emmalyn they were trying to contact her over.
“Hey, girl. Where the hell you been?”
Hellen spun and instinctively reached for her weapon to aim at the unexpected voice behind her, but realized after the fact she’d left it with the injured male she’d saved. “Jesus, Havoc. You could have gotten shot!”
“That’s not a nice way to greet your only brother.”
Hellen started to defend herself, then stopped and canted her head slightly. “You’re not my only brother. We have Matty, and we have Ronan.”
“Yeah, but I’m the only twin you got, so I’m the only one that counts.”
“Fine, whatever you say. What happened to Emmalyn?”
“First, she’s okay. Well, she’s not okay, but she will be. She was attacked, and drugged, and beaten and stuffed in your freezer to die a slow miserable death.”
“Oh, my God!” Hellen exclaimed.
“Yeah. Barron and Brandt found her in time, though. They got her out and Bam and Daisy saved her. It’s just a matter of time before she’s fully healed. But she’s going to be okay.”
“What happened? Who attacked her?”
“Some guy that used to work at the agency with her. They were on the same team trying to track down this psycho, and she gradually figured out he was the psycho. He disappeared after she alerted the other agents and they went to his house. He was collecting women like zoo animals and keeping them in cages. They all died in the raid and he blamed Emmalyn. So he stalked her.”
“He must have followed her to my house,” Hellen said.
“No. He was hiding in your garage. Apparently he watched the rest of us while watching her. Figured out your house was empty and was hiding out in your garage when we were all looking for him. She came here and walked right into his hands.”
“When was this?” she asked.
“Three nights ago. She’s healing, she’ll be fine.”
“And I wasn’t here for her.”
“Hell, you know I love you, right?” Havoc asked.
“Of course,” she said.
“Remember that. ‘Cause you haven’t been here for nobody. I understand work and all, but damn. Do you even want to be a part of the family anymore?”
“You know what?! That’s not fair, especially coming from you! You freaking deserted us, deserted me, and you want to pretend like you’ve always been here.”
“Fair enough. But I had to take care of responsibilities. And I had to make sure that I caused my mate as little pain as possible while I did what I had to do, so I had to leave. It wasn’t like I willfully disappeared.”
Hellen scrubbed her hands down her face and sighed audibly. “Yeah, I know.”
“So, you okay? You get into something you need help with? I’m here, Hell, all you got to do is ask, you know?”
“I know,” Hellen said, nodding tiredly. “I just, I have responsibilities, too. And I’m not quite sure I even know what they are yet. Just that there’s something I have to see to, and I’m seeing to it. But I heard when everybody called for me, so here I am.”
Havoc stood his ground a few feet away, taking his sister’s measure as he tried to decide if he was going to push anymore for details or allow her to keep her secrets to herself for now. Finally he scowled at her. “You get somebody pregnant, too?” he asked seriously.
Hellen was stunned at first, then she burst out laughing. “No, I did not, but it’s still a possibility,” she said, still snickering a little.
“Come here,” he said, opening his arms to her.
Hellen walked into her twin brother’s arms and melted into his embrace.
“I miss you,” Havoc said.
“I miss you, too.”
“So what are we going to do about it?”
“I don’t even know. I just came back to answer all the calls I was getting.”
“So you have to go back?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it work?”
“I found it because of work. So, I’m doing enough work not to be in trouble for not working, but no, this particular situation is not work.”
Havoc nodded, but didn’t say anything as he held Hellen in his arms. “What can I do?” he finally asked.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing at all? Not even help you clean up this damn mess of a house?” he teased. “I mean, seriously, who throws roast on the damn floor? I thought you knew better than that.”
Hellen smiled as she stepped back out of his arms. “Apparently not.”
“Tell you what, why don’t you head on over to Barron’s to see Emmalyn, and I’ll start cleaning all this crap.”
“Really? You don’t mind?” she asked.
“Oh, I’m not cleaning all this shit by myself. You will be coming back to help, but I’ll get it started,” he said.
“Fair enough. So, wait, did anybody catch this guy?”
Havoc smiled that cold, manipulative grin he possessed that could make a man’s blood run cold. “Oh, yeah. We tracked him down, and Aunt Everly made sure he paid the price.”
“No, shit!”
“No shit. She’s as cold as they come. He fucked with her baby and she made sure he understood she’d see him in the next life to tear his throat out again over it.”
“Damn. I heard all the stories about her saving Uncle Bam, but I’m still impressed with this one.”
“Same. If I’m ever missing, send Aunt Everly after me. She’ll save me,” Havoc said, nodding his head for emphasis.
“You think it’s too early to go to Barron’s?” Hellen asked.
“Nah, if they’re asleep, they’ll be awake soon. Everly and Bam went home yesterday afternoon, but I’m sure they’ll be back over there before too long.”
“I’m going to try to slip in and out without seeing any of the parents at all.”
“Good luck with that,” Havoc said as he lifted the Crockpot and looked around as he tried to determine what to do with it.
“Just throw that out. And the freezer, and anything else that you might think had something to do with Em getting attacked,” Hellen said. “I sure don’t want any reminders and I’m fairly certain she won’t either.”
“Got it,” Havoc said.
Hellen started for the front door and stopped, turning to look at her brother. “Hey, how is Analise?”
“She’s shook up, but much better now that we know Emmalyn is alright.”
“Y’all still planning your wedding soon?”
“Nah, it’s put off for a little while.”
“That’s a shame. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all good. Wouldn’t be the same without Emmalyn, and Analise wouldn’t feel it was just right without her. So, we’re going to push it back until Emmalyn is recovered, and then see when she feels like she wants to participate.”
“Whenever that is, I’m in. I’ll be here.”
“You sure? You ain't never here.”
“Let’s make a deal here and now, Havoc. I won’t give you a hard time for deserting me before I even graduated from high school, and you won’t give me a hard time for doing what I have to do right now.”
“You gonna tell me about whatever it is you doing?” he asked, realizing her expression was indicating that she was already shutting down. “Some day at least,” he offered.
Hellen smiled at her brother. She adored him. “Yeah, some day.”
“You gonna be okay? Is this something putting you in danger?”
“Nothing I can’t handle. Just don’t exactly know where it’s leading.”
“Make sure it leads you back here, or I’m coming searching for your ass. And I’m bringing Aunt Everly,” he teased, sort of.
“Promise,” Hellen said.
“Alright. Deal, then.”