Chapter 7
Tore Hansen
“Please don’t call him that.”
The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, the predatory and dominant energy inside of me taking over and demanding that Effie never call another man ‘alpha’—especially another fenrir male. One that no doubt took way too much fucking pleasure out of her calling him that.
My mate’s eyes went wide as hurt and confusion flashed through her gaze at my tone.
Fuck. I knew it had come across as sharp, and I was instantly regretting it.
Not because I didn’t stand by my words, but because I never wanted her to think I was mad at her in any way.
I couldn’t be mad at Effie—she was fucking perfection incarnate.
“I’m sorry, lil bit. I shouldn’t have said it like that,” I said, my tone filled with the tension and frustration I felt about this situation.
I didn’t like Effie being in harm’s way, and that was what this felt like.
Her face softened as she nodded, sliding her hand up my chest to rest on my heart.
The action was so damn soothing, and it felt like she was connecting the two of us—that she could feel how my heart beat for her.
“I don’t know his real name,” she admitted softly.
Before I could assure her that I wasn’t actually mad, Gerald pulled the door open and scuttled out of the way to reveal a man that looked very similar to him. I had to assume by his fair amount of power that this was ‘Alpha.’
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded of Gerald, who looked towards us with a wave of his hand.
When his eyes landed on the group of us, realization followed by authentic fear passing across his face before he could mask it, making me realize that he was used to being the only dominant shifter in the room.
In fact, I would bet he went out of his way to ensure that was always the case.
“They have questions for you, Alpha,” Theresa stated.
She was now lounging in a torn armchair, ignoring the way Effie was staring at her.
I hated how dismissive she was of Effie.
The aggression, the anger—I could address those.
But dismissing her? Acting indifferent towards her?
I couldn’t do anything about that. I couldn’t fix the hurt they were causing.
Effie may not have loved Theresa, especially not Gerald, but they were the only thing even close to parents that she could remember, so of course their actions hurt her to some extent—which made me fucking furious.
“And who are ‘they’?” ‘Alpha’ demanded, looking at all of us with distaste. I had no doubt that he was unhappy about us being here, but more than anything, he was afraid. I could scent that shit in the air.
“That’s a question I would like for you to answer as well,” Caedmon drew out, everyone looking to where he now stood near the kitchen. I could tell he was pissed that this was where Effie had lived for so long. More so, outraged that she had been stuck with scum like Gerald and Theresa.
“Because none of us are calling you ‘Alpha,’” Dakota added, looking almost amused. I didn’t believe it for a second.
I could feel through our pack bond how upset everyone was, and if I had to guess, Effie could sense it as well.
Her magic was now fueling this connection between the six of us, ever since that mark appeared on her arm.
It was both fascinating and a bit worrisome because I couldn’t imagine that dealing with the emotions and thoughts of five other individuals was enjoyable in any way.
‘Alpha’s’ face contorted in anger at Dakota’s slight before moving his gaze to Effie as if he was dismissing him completely. I tightened my hold on my mate when his eyes narrowed in distaste. “You’re the reason they’re here, girl?”
“Yes.” Effie’s voice was soft but she didn’t shy away from the truth. “These are my mates, and they have some questions.”
“Whore.”
A dangerous, defensive growl ripped from my chest as I looked at Theresa, her eyes widening before she paled and sank further down into her chair, looking at the floor as if we weren’t there.
Effie tightened her hold on me, prompting me to look down and study her expression.
I nodded in understanding, knowing she didn’t want me to retaliate in response to the insult, before looking back at Alpha, who was staring at Theresa in clear distaste.
“Jesiah.” The Alpha finally answered, clearly aware that we weren’t moving forward in the conversation until we had something to call him.
“Well, Jesiah.” Ryder walked forward from where he had been in Effie’s room. “We need to talk to you. Now.”
Behind him, I briefly noticed that Julian was gathering things from Effie’s old bedroom, which didn’t surprise me in the least. I even noticed the bed had been stripped of sheets.
They would most likely be disposed of, unless she wanted them for some reason, but we sure as fuck weren’t leaving them here so just anyone could have access to her amazing scent.
Absolutely fucking not. The concept of another male being able to have that made me see red.
I was so thankful that Effie had come to SFU. Sure, the way she got there had been bullshit, but she was safe with us now, no longer trapped in this incest-filled shit hole of a pack.
I knew my thoughts were cruel, and maybe in a different situation, a different light, I would have felt bad.
Maybe I would have even tried to aid because of how poor the leadership clearly was, but not here.
I didn’t want anything to do with them after we got Effie out of here, especially considering how they had treated her.
“Sit.” Jesiah motioned to the furniture, but none of us moved.
We were not sitting on these sofas—who the hell knew what had happened on them.
I adjusted Effie so she was tucked into my side as she stared at Jesiah, seemingly shocked by everything going down.
I had no idea how he normally communicated with her, or how often, if at all…
but clearly he was acting differently than she expected.
Unfortunately, I had a feeling this experience would make it clear to Effie just how mistreated she had been, and I didn’t want that for her. I mean, I wanted her to know it wasn’t okay, but I also didn’t want her to be sad. I wanted Effie to be happy, always.
“What do you want?” he growled, grabbing an armchair and sitting down, pinning us with a look of disinterest before going to pull out a cigarette.
“No.” I spoke up immediately before he even had a chance to light it. “You do not smoke around her.”
“Are you for fucking real?” Gerald demanded with a laugh. “The girl has been around far worse than that.”
In a snap I was across the room and had Gerald slammed up against the wall, my elbow against his neck. “Yes, I am for real. He does not smoke around her. You do not swear around her.”
“Fine.” He gasped, sounding choked as his face began to turn purple.
I held him there for another moment, letting him suffer for a second more before dropping him.
He groaned and stayed on the floor as I walked back towards Effie.
I worried momentarily that she would have been upset by my actions, but instead she just seemed concerned about me, her hand immediately taking my own before examining my elbow.
I almost smiled at that. The woman was so damn sweet; it made my chest squeeze painfully.
“No smoking then.” Jesiah sighed and tossed the unlit cigarette towards the floor. “So what do you want?”
Ryder took the lead of the situation, moving forward and putting his hands on the back of the sofa before asking a simple question. “What happened the night Effie arrived? Could you recount it for all of us?”
“What do you mean, what happened?” Jesiah asked, looking genuinely confused.
“Walk us through that night and what happened,” Ryder continued. “As much as you can remember.”
“Why?” Theresa demanded, suddenly looking defensive. “We didn’t do anything wrong. We took her in—what else were we supposed to do?”
“We didn’t say you did anything wrong,” I rumbled out. “Just answer the question.”
“Plus, does it really matter why?” Dakota added as Julian finally left Effie’s bedroom, joining us as Caedmon helped him grab some other bags still remaining.
“No.” Jesiah sighed. “It doesn’t, and if it gets you the fuck out of my pack lands faster, all the better.”
Effie winced, and I had to resist the urge to punch him in his fucking face, knowing his words had hurt her feelings. “No swearing.”
We messed that shit up all the time, but I wasn’t going to allow anyone else to do it around her if she didn’t like it.
Jesiah offered a look of annoyance but sighed. “My brother and Theresa found her that first night.”
Gerald spoke up. “We had just finished dinner and were going to Jesiah’s place for a meeting. She turned up at the doorstep of our apartment building, her neck torn up and bitten, and her skin practically blue from walking around the city.”
“We were going to turn her back out or send her to someone else’s home,” Theresa admitted, “but then Jesiah said we should keep her until we could sell her at a profit.”
The way she said it was so damn matter of fact that it was clear this wasn’t a new concept to any of them.
When all of this was said and done, I was going to break this pack apart piece by piece until it no longer existed to sell another individual again.
This type of shit shouldn’t have existed in any community, let alone a fenrir one.
“We had several buyers,” Jesiah admitted, ignoring the dangerous noise that broke out from several of my pack mates’ chests, “but it wasn’t until the president of Silver Falls contacted us that we realized how valuable she was.
He had been scouring the city for others like her when he heard about Effie from a second possible buyer. ”
“Who else would you have sold me to?” Effie whispered in horror.