Filed To Story: Their Bullied and Broken Mate by Teri Petry
Reassurance
*LOKI POV*
Once Rico, Jason and Leif left to retrieve his twin, the rest of us went back towards the packhouse. I had a burning question that needed answering, and I hoped Liam and I were on the same page with it. “Liam, when do we tell Mel about this?” I asked. “Not until they get back and meet with Gretchen. No offense Luke, I trust in your abilities and I value what you say. However, your grandmother hasn’t let us down yet, and I really want her opinion as well,” he answered. Luke chuckled and said he took no offense, and that he would take his grandmother’s word over anyone’s as well. I, on the other hand, didn’t agree with Liam. I thought our wife should know immediately. I hated keeping secrets from her, no matter what it was. I learned my lesson when I didn’t tell her about Lisa as quickly as I should have. Liam said it technically wasn’t a secret, because she would be told. It was more of a security thing because of what they had gone through with others who said they had Melian’s best interest at heart. With that logic, I couldn’t argue.
We stopped by the group home to see our mate before going to our office. I wanted to make sure she had eaten and was feeling alright. Opening the door, I could hear Maddix’s laughter. It warmed my heart, and eased my soul even for just the little time I was there. Him and Mel were on the floor playing. She was tickling him and blowing raspberries on his belly, causing him to erupt with laughter. The more he laughed, the more she laughed. When we fully entered the room, his eyes landed on Liam and I. “Daddy” he squealed and ran into my arms. My eyes flashed at Liam, who stood with a smile on his face. “Did you hear that?” I whispered to him. He nodded his head and started to rub the little boy’s head. Maddix reached for Liam, also calling him daddy, and I swear I saw Liam tear up. “He knows who his daddies are,” Mel said. “But….He…” I started to stammer. She shook her head and said, “Even though Eric was his biological dad, he rarely saw him. Maddix was probably the one thing that Eric truly loved, but it didn’t change anything about him. He still lived his life, and left Jenna to raise Maddix alone most of the time. You two are the closest things to a true dad that he has ever had, and he knows this.” The way she explained it made sense, and I was blessed to be this little guy’s daddy. Unfortunately, our visit was short-lived as Rico had linked us, letting us know they were on their way back, and we told Mel we had work to take care of. She told us that her and Maddix were going to go take a nap, and would see us at dinner. We gave them both kisses and left for our meeting.
Liam called Gretchen and Luke, and they both agreed to also meet us for the meeting. By the time we got to the office, they were already waiting for us. Walking in, we all took our seats and made small talk. Gretchen was unusually quiet, but we didn’t pay much attention to it. We were speaking to Luke about his and Rory’s ceremony coming when a knock rattled the door. “It’s open,” I called out, and the 4 men walked in. I heard a small gasp leave Gretchen’s mouth, and she stood up and walked over to Mel’s uncles. “Welcome, Rosewood brothers. It’s good to see you again. It’s been many years.” she greeted them. We all watched in shock as she led them to the couch. She explained how she knew the brothers, and that they were good people. What shocked us all the most was when she informed us that they were basically the extra puzzle pieces that were needed for tonight’s events. Liam moved closer to Gretchen and the brothers, and sat in front of them. “How? How would they be able to help keep her safe?” He questioned them. Jorma spoke up and said, “We can enter his mind with her. Though, as males, we don’t have the same type of strength that the female Fae do, we are able to carry the same traits. We can enter minds just as Melian can.” Liam nodded his head, and asked me to call Grace to see if she could keep an eye on Maddix. Rico spoke up and said they would watch him, and that he would personally ask Mel to come join the meeting. I thanked him, and he went to fetch our mate. Gretchen held onto both uncles’ hands and said, “I know you are both leery and afraid. You have every reason to be. I ask you to trust me once again, alphas. When I first met the Rosewood twins, they spoke daily of their sister and her children. Little did I know that we would all meet again with those same children they spoke of.” she laughed. “There isn’t an evil bone in their bodies, not even towards the man who ruined their niece and nephews and shot them. No hate, just pity. They are sad that the others perished under their fathers’ rule, but they wouldn’t change the decisions that were forced upon both of you in regards to the boys and David’s actions.” She grabbed onto Liam’s hand and looked right at me. Almost as if she was staring into my soul. I gave her a curt nod, showing her I understood. Liam shook both of the twins’ hands and said, “I trust in Gretchen. She has not only become a valued friend and confidant, but she has become like a grandmother to us all. We will allow you to help, but you will need to practice with our mate to make sure it can be done. We can’t and won’t go into this blindly. Also, you are both going to come as a shock to her. She thinks all she has left family wise is Jason and her niece and nephews. You will have to be patient with her, and it’s up to you both to earn her trust.” Just as he finished his sentence, Melian walked into the door. One look at the men sitting on the couch, and she slumped to the floor in tears.
Let Them Help
*MELIAN POV*
I was feeding Maddix his dinner when Rico came in and told me that my mates needed me in their office. He was being very cryptic and it started to worry me. All I wanted was to spend as much time with Maddix as I could before tonight. The more time I spent with him, the less I saw him as my nephew and more as my son. It was clear he already recognized Liam and Loki as his daddies, and that warmed my heart. It only proved that after all the crap and negativity that surrounded my dad and brothers, including his father, the little ones weren’t yet affected by it all. Rico said he would take over feeding my boy, and I left to see why I was being summoned. A million things were running through my head, but I just kept telling myself that it was just to go over final preparations for tonight. I could hear voices from inside, and knew it was more than just my mates and Gretchen. When I opened the door and made my way in, I froze in place. Two faces I hadn’t seen since I was 5 years old were sitting in my mate’s office. Two faces I had hoped would save me, but was told were dead, were sitting in front of me. My hand clasped my mouth as I gave a loud sob and I slumped to the floor. I kept repeating ‘How?’ over and over. My mates were on the ground trying to comfort me, but it was no use. Nothing they said or did could calm my palpitating heart, or dry my steadily flowing tears.
My two uncles finally moved to where I was sitting and kneeled down in front of me. “It’s OK little bird, we are here now,” Jorma whispered to me as he reached his hand out towards me. “I’m sorry it took us so long, but we are here now. We will never leave you again.” Leif apologized. Jason also kneeled down with them, and tried to soothe my racing mind. “Let them explain, sis, they tried to save you. Dad prohibited that from happening, but they did try. I was there.” My head snapped towards Jason, and my eyes pleading for him to tell me what he meant. “What do you mean you were there, Jason? When was this?” I questioned. He let out a sigh and held my hand. “It was a little over 8 years ago. I had just turned 16, so you would have been around 10 years old. It was about the time dad would padlock you in your room after dinner. Our uncles showed up to see us, and demanded to see you too. Dad refused and told them that you were busy or something like that. When they persisted, dad pulled out his pistol and shot them both. Thomas and Eric took them into the forest and left them there to die. That’s when dad started telling us that no one in mom’s family would ever come to us again, especially you. However, as you can see, they survived. They have been watching over us for years, but couldn’t approach and reveal they were still alive because of what dad would do.” Jason explained. It wasn’t their fault.
My mind was swirling with memories of my mom and her brothers laughing at the table playing cards. Seeing them only brought back more memories of her. My uncles were always around and were always happy to see us kids. If they were allowed to see us, maybe things would be different. All these years, I thought after she died, they abandoned us. Now knowing it wasn’t true, broke my heart even more. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on my knees. I had so many questions, but wasn’t sure which one to ask first. So, I started with the one that bothered me the most. “If you were watching us all those years, why didn’t you try to find a way to let us know? We weren’t always around dad, and did you know what was happening to me? I asked. The sadness in their eyes as they answered showed me they were being genuine when Leif answered, “Little Bird, we have tried, but your dad had eyes everywhere. Alpha Scott and your dad were so close that if we even had the thought of trying to access you children, we would have been busted, and would definitely have been killed on the spot. The closest we were able to come to showing you we were there was the last day you were at school and you hid in the forest in the tree stump. We almost revealed ourselves, and the bell at the school rang and you ran off. We were unaware of what you were enduring at home, until after you were already here at Blood Moon and the council invaded Mystic Shadows. We immediately made our way here, and once your dad and brothers were executed, we decided to reveal ourselves. Especially after we overheard patrols talking about the demon Alpha. We are here to help and try to reconnect with you and your brother.” I concentrated on his words, and my eyes bounced between him and my brother. I wanted to trust their words, but I was afraid. Loki was the one to give me some sort of sense of courage when he explained their connection to Gretchen and Luke. He told me how they both had seen their intentions, and Gretchen even knew the twin uncles. That they had helped her when she was being threatened by a rogue, and helped her to her destination, many miles away, to make sure she was safe. My eyes met Gretchen’s and she gave a slight nod and smile, as only she could do to reassure someone. I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes. I held my hand out to Leif and he took my hand. The all too familiar feeling of how loving my uncles were came flooding back. When I opened my eyes back up, I looked at everyone around the room. “OK, tell me how they can help. I need them to.”
Being Thankful For Blessings
*MELIAN POV*
After agreeing to allow my uncles to help us defeat Mammon, Gretchen reminded us that we only had a few hours until we were to face the demon alpha. My mates insisted on me eating before practicing with my uncles, so we all went to get cleaned up and would meet at the dining hall for dinner. Jason took the uncles to his cabin first so that they could clean up and get a fresh pair of clothes. I needed to go to our room to freshen up and wanted to talk to my mates in private. I stretched out on our bed, and laid silent while they were busy cleaning up. “Liam, do you think I am wrong to trust them? I haven’t seen them in a very long time. I don’t know them anymore. I just know who they were back then.’ I asked. Liam cleared his throat and replied, “What does your gut tell you? What did Ruby say?” I huffed at his reply because that wasn’t the answer I expected. “I asked for YOUR opinion, not my guts.” I replied in a snarky manner. “However, my gut says they are good, and Ruby is over the moon they have found us. I just can’t get over my trust issues though. Goddess knows my judge of character, for the most part, has sucked balls.” I continued. My statement must have caught Loki off guard because I heard him yell ‘What the fuck!’ from the closet and start to laugh. He walked from the closet and plopped down beside me, “Listen, woman, you’re a great judge of character. It’s your kind heart that gets in the way sometimes. You want to believe that people can still be good, even when they have shown you time and time again they are shit. That doesn’t make you defective. It makes you amazing. That is why you are the perfect Luna. So, quit doubting your choices, and questioning the decision to allow your uncles to help. They are helping, end of story.” Loki said bluntly. I nodded my head and kissed his lips. “When did you get smart?” I asked. Liam started to cackle this time, and the look on Loki’s face was priceless. “You can’t be serious right now. I’ve always been smart. I just pick and choose my smartness.” He retorted and stuck his tongue out at me. I started to belly laugh with Liam and it was times like these that made me appreciate my mates.
Once dressed, we went to the dining hall. It was buffet style tonight, and we all lined up to fix our plates. There were dishes from all over the world on the buffet tables, and I think I put at least something from each tray on my plate. As we were walking to our table, Jason and my uncles walked in with Rebecca and the kids. They were thin, but didn’t look as if they had been starving. Probably surviving on what their wolves would hunt and kill. They both had long blonde hair that came to the middle of their backs. Leif had shaved his scraggly beard into a neat goatee, and Jorma had shaved all the face from his hair. They both had the same sparkling green eyes that me and my mom had, and you could see the years of sadness weighing heavy inside them. Jason led them through the food line, and Liam noticed they barely put anything on their plates. He stood to go tell them they were welcome to as much as they wanted or needed, but Rebecca beat him to it. I heard Jorma tell her that they didn’t want to impose or take advantage, and that is when Liam stepped in. “Leif, Jorma, you are both family. You are all welcome to whatever we have available here at Blood Moon. You do not have to hesitate about anything. If you need anything at all, just let Loki, Jason or myself know. You can even go to Mel or our Beta Rico.” he told them. The demeanor on both of my uncles’ faces softened. Instead of holding a look of worry, they now held one of relief. They started to load more food on their plates, and came to sit at our table with us. We noticed they prayed to the goddess before starting to eat, and it caused Rebecca to smile. She had always done the same thing for as long as I had known her. Leif must have felt us watching because when he lifted his head he smiled and said, “We always thank the goddess for the blessings in our life. Especially things like food. When you are on your own and not sure where your next meal is coming from, you are thankful to her for providing when she can. This time we have a lot more to be thankful for and we wanted to make sure she knows how grateful we are.” He reached for my hand and I gave it to him. He squeezed and thanked me for taking them in, and allowing them to be part of our lives. They both keep calling me little bird, and I didn’t know why. So I decided to ask.
“Uncles, you both keep calling me Little Bird. I don’t understand why. Was it a nickname when I was little? I don’t ever remember being called that.” I asked. Jorma chuckled, and almost choked on his food. “No, No..you wouldn’t remember that. We gave it to you as we were watching you from afar. I think you might have been close to the age of 13, and you were working in your backyard doing chores, I assumed. You found a nest of baby birds who appeared to be abandoned by their mother. So you went digging for worms, and found a stick to grind them up for the chicks to eat. When you tried to get the babies to eat the worms from the stick, the mother returned and chased you around the yard. Ever since, we have called you little bird.” He explained. My mouth fell open, and I gasped and then giggled. “I can’t believe you saw that. I always hoped no one did, because that momma bird scared me so badly. I was crying and screaming so hard, and I remember when I went into the house and tried to tell Constance about it, she scolded me for tracking mud and leaves into the house. She then sent me back outside to finish raking leaves. I kept looking over my shoulder for that bird to return.” It felt strange to share memories with people that you didn’t realize were there to begin with, but it was also comforting.
Gretchen, Luke and their family finally came in and joined us, and we started to go over the plans for tonight. Rory was going to watch Maddix for us, and Roxy would be outside of the cell house in case of any injury. She had recruited a few nurses from the hospital to help. Everyone had been put on a lockdown curfew tonight and needed to be safely in their rooms or homes by 10pm. Rebecca, Rory, and Grace would all be at the group home with the kids in a safe room. It was probably overkill, but we wanted to be safe than sorry. After we ate, Gretchen, Luke, my uncles, Loki and I walked towards the training fields. My heart was beating out of my chest. I nearly failed the first time because it took too long for me to find Loki. Let’s hope this isn’t the case again. Once again, Luke sat Loki a good distance from us. Gretchen had him close his eyes and recreate a different scenario from the last time. Once he was deep in his trance, she instructed the three of us to join hands and squeeze when we were ready to enter Loki’s mind. I felt both of my uncles squeeze my hand and I asked Ruby if she was ready. She confirmed she was and I squeezed theirs in return. As quickly as we entered, my uncles were instantly able to sniff out Loki. However, Loki had created a distraction in his scenario, and I was able to track it down as fast as the uncles found Loki.
“Good job, Mel.” Gretchen praised. “I asked Loki to intentionally create a diversion. Almost like a trick, because Mammon will not play fair and will create all kinds of chaos to avoid being distracted himself. I think with the three of you together, this will be a piece of cake,” she explained. I spoke up and let her know that I was still concerned about Liam entering the cell with Callum and Mammon. She embraced me in a hug and whispered in my ear, “He will be fine my dear. I will make sure of it. Your alpha is determined and focused now. He has more than one reason to live this time. Don’t fret over his safety. He will be victorious.”
Alpha Lost
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.