Chapter 6

• As Anna told her life-changing story, Lucian sat in silence as he watched the tears flow.
• “So, that’s how he was turned.”
• “But how did you get out of there?” he asked.
• “Just as Dylan was about to turn his focus on me, the FBI, along with some other government agents, raided the place. Valor and his men were stronger, so most of those agents died that night. The government covered up what happened and said it was a club event gone wrong.”
• “I remember that on the news. They said it was a cult. I knew even then it was more than they said.”
• “The manhunt is still out for him. It was called a ritual killing, but most of them escaped. Only a couple of Valor’s people were arrested for the murder. He threw them under the bus and skipped town. Dylan was put on the most wanted list and humans still didn’t know they exist. In the weeks following, he killed five people as the venom surged through him. From what I know, the Lycan leaders have been working to expose this, but the government is worried there will be a witch hunt once they think there are demon wolves among us.”
• “So that’s why it was so easy for the world’s government leaders to accept us,” he noted as he sat thinking about everything that had happened over the past few years. “They are using us to gaslight this shit with the werewolves.”
• “Exactly, and I think they are worried there may be an uprising coming. The fact is, they can’t fight without your people. Since they see Lycans have been helping humans, they think it will be easier when werewolves try to rise up.”
• “Unbelievable. I can’t image what you must have gone through.”
• “Well, the best thing about being here has been meeting wolves who aren’t out to kill me. I met Lycans like you, who really are kind and loving people. At least that’s something.”
• Reaching to give her a hug, he nodded in agreement. “We’re all here for you. I’ll never let that asshole get to you. I promise. I hate were-people. They’re sick murderers, all of them. I’ve had some of my own pack killed by them in the wars. Here I thought it was all over. But I guess it’s just been covered up more.”
• “It’s not over until the last of them are dead,” she said sadly. “Then we can all live in peace.”
• “Well, there’s always evil in the world, but it would be nice to be rid of them once and for all.”
• A few minutes later, Lucian’s brother, Luka, and some of the elite staff walked into the room. Luka, Tate Forman, and Simone Rockwell, who had witnessed the whole ordeal outside.
• Panicked, Anna covered her face, whispering softly to Lucian, “My mask. My face. Please. Cover my face.”
• Lucian looked over, finding the mask on the floor broken, making it impossible for her to put it on.
• “Please, Lucian. Help me.”
• Embarrassed, she realized what they had all seen. True to her current self, she covered her face with her hands to hide.
• Tate spoke up first, throwing a stick of gum between his lips. “You’re too pretty a girl to wear that dang thing. Sweetheart, you don’t have to hide from us. We’re all family here.”
• Luka, with a smile, lifted her face and pulled her hands down. “It’s okay, you’re safe with us.”
• She looked into his eyes which changed from kind wolf to human, with tears staining her rosy cheeks. Her petite frame, lightly tan skin, big chestnut eyes with a fleck of gold, seemed broken and defeated. They all expected to see a horrific monster under that mask, but there was a natural beauty, dressed in gold, a true queen. Quietly they took it all in, finding beneath the shimmer of gold was a shy girl no different from any person on the roster. She timidly looked around the room, finding smiles from some of the most famous people in the industry looking back at her, human and Lycan alike.
• While Luka handed her some napkins from the table next to him, they all gasped at her beauty, and she covered her face again.
• “Honey, you don’t have to hide from us. Hell, we’re the cavalry here to save the princess. That fucking asshole won’t ever touch you again with us around,” Lucian said as he went and pulled her hands away from her face, and she slowly lowered them.
• Softly, she spoke to the brothers. “Thank you. You saved my life. He would have…” She stopped at the sheer thought of the horrors that she would have faced at the hands of that murderer.
• As she broke down in tears, Lucian pulled her to his chest once more. She could feel his massive frame shadow her as his big, strong arms warmed around her. It had been so long since she had felt another person’s touch that she just melted into his arms. It wasn’t attraction that made her feel this way. It was longing for any personal interaction she had been deprived of for four years.
• “You’re safe now.”
• “Right brother. No one’s going missing on our watch,” Luka noted. “We watch out for our own. Grayson is going to catch hell for this, too. He should have told me the truth. I’m in charge of our fighters and he lied to me. We thought you just didn’t want the guy stalking you. We have no idea it was this bad. Had we known, we would have never allowed this to go on for the past five years.”
• Looking at his brother, Lucian sighed as he remembered what she had just told him. “Brother, it’s worse than you know. It’s not just the rape. I’ll tell you more later, but we have big trouble going forward.”
• “What sort of trouble?”
• “That man was a werewolf.”
• “What? Grayson is a dead man when I see him. He should have told us!” Luka yelled.
• “Please don’t blame him. I asked him not to tell you at first and things just got out of hand. He thought he was helping because this was a dream job, even though my ex ruined it for me.” She smiled slightly, feeling some sense of joy knowing the people she admired over the years were being protective of her.
• As she sat in silence on the bench, Simone, the daughter of the famous Rockwell pack leader, asked the men to leave the ladies alone, thinking maybe some girl time could help calm Anna’s nerves. As a daughter to an Alpha, she knew her leadership could be an asset, and this was the best way she knew how.
• “Are you sure?” Luka asked.
• “Yeah, let me talk to her. My father’s an Alpha. Maybe I can have him investigate things to help her.”
• Lucian rolled his eyes. “You mean the same father who kicked us out of his battle dome?”
• “Oh hush,” Simone said with a giggle. “It’s your fault you can’t listen to authority and had to start your own fight club. Lycan men are so headstrong.”
• Giving his girlfriend a wink, Lucian laughed. “Apparently you like headstrong Lycan’s because you left with us to start this brand.”
• “Well, I like a bit of a rebel,” she taunted, making Anna giggle. “Now shew! It’s girl time.”
• “All right. We need to get the show started, anyway.”
• Before they had the chance to leave, Grayson returned, saying, “Anna, I know this is a lot, but you have a match tonight. The media are outside. I just did a press conference and—”
• Luka held up his hand to stop him. Pulling the shy golden adorned woman to his side, he put his arm over Anna’s shoulder like a protective father. “She’s not doing any such thing. You can’t expect her to go out there right now. Don’t you see she is scared to death? Change the match. You know you’re going to have to talk about the attack on the show. I sure as hell hope you didn’t tell all her personal business to the media. Just tell them it was a stalker because that’s all they need to know. Anna can go out next week and give a statement. But only if she wants to, and don’t pressure her.”
• Simone agreed, stepping next to her. “This is your fault. We could have had security with her all this time, had you not hidden this from us. She could have been killed.”
• Grayson didn’t argue. He knew he couldn’t win this one. “I know. I screwed up. So, did you tell them he’s a werewolf?”
• “Yes.” Anna nodded.
• “Shit. The FBI is going to have my head if this gets leaked. They warned me about this. This could really hurt your image. I screwed up big time.”
• “Damn right you did,” Simone snapped. “I can’t believe all you care about is her image. Do you not know how dangerous those creatures are? You’re an idiot and so are those stupid FBI people. Now, Goldie girl and I are going to dinner. She needs some time to process. So, all of you get out of here and get to work. I got this.”
• Smiling sweetly, Anna said softly, “Thank you.”
• “No problem, sweet pea. We girls gotta stick together. It’s a tough world with a bunch of Lycan men running this crazy house. Let’s get away from these morons before I have to knock the lot of them out on the floor.”
• “Hey, I’m not Lycan.” Tate chuckled. “What did I do?”
• “Guilt by association.” Shoving the men out the door, Simone laughed. “Go, get out!”
• “We’re going! We’re going!”
• As soon as she had all the men out the door, she turned back to Anna. “Now, let’s get out of here. I want you to tell me everything.”
• Watching Anna turn back to her bags, she watched her grab a veil to cover her face once more.
• “What are you doing?”
• “I don’t feel comfortable yet without it. I just want to feel safe.”
• “Oh, sweet girl. You really are scared, aren’t you?”
• “Simone, he won’t stop. He was abusive and a stalker before he turned into a werewolf. Can’t you see? He’s more dangerous now than he ever was. Now he has my scent, and I know how wolf people are. You can scent us. He’s going to track me everywhere I go. He has a blood lust and he won’t stop, so I’m as good as dead. Having the veil over my face at least makes me feel safe, even though I know it’s not.”
• “Hum… It’s like a security blanket.”
• “Yeah. I know it’s stupid, but for years, this has been who I am. It’s something I need to adjust to, okay?”
• “I get that.” Walking to her new friend, Salmon took her hand. “I’m sorry you went through this alone. I’d like to be friends if that’s okay?”
• “I’d love that. The truth is, since I met Dylan, I stopped having friends. He made sure of that.”
• “Well, you do now. Let’s go have some fun. We can go to my hotel room and order pizza and watch a movie. Girl’s night.”
• “With pistachio ice cream?”
• “With whipped cream!”