Unwanted

Teegan’s P.O.V.

I look around the pack as we leave the SUV and feel uneasy. Just as I had figured, this wasn’t going to be good. Some of the people standing around look terrified, and I can feel their fear as though it’s part of me. I can only imagine what they’ve been through to have this reaction to strangers. I’m thankful our group is growing because we need all the help we can get. When we approach the pack house, a man and woman step out onto the porch.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” The man asks angrily. He appears to be in charge, but something tells me to keep my eyes on the woman beside him. Her whole demeanor reminds me of a snake. Joel pulls me close as the six royal guards spread out around our little group.

“I’m Prince Joel, and we’re here looking for pups taken from the Silver Moon Pack in Michigan. We have proof that this pack bought several pups over the years.” I see the woman smirk.

“So what if we did? What business is it of yours?” I step forward, and Petra stands by my side. I have a feeling her magic may be coming out more now that she’s mated. I can feel her confidence now.

“My father is the alpha of Silver Moon. We want to return the pups to their families.” I tell them. They look at each other and begin laughing.

“Any of them that are still alive belong to us. You need to leave now.” The woman waves her hand as though she’s dismissing us.

“They do not belong to you. They’re people, not objects. How dare you speak to the prince like that.” I turn to see Martina glaring at them. I like her. She’s got a lot of spunk.

“I will speak to him in whatever way I choose. This is our pack, and you’re trespassing.” The woman lets out a long whistle, and we’re suddenly surrounded by growling wolves.

“I suggest you leave before I order them to attack.” She yells. I wasn’t expecting packs to show this much aggression toward the royal family. However, with what we’re accusing them of, it shouldn’t be a surprise.

“We’re not going anywhere.” Petra steps forward, closes her eyes, and stomps her foot. The ground begins shaking, and the wolves fall, whimpering to the ground. Everyone stares at her as she begins glowing a bright green. What the hell is going on? I look toward the people on the porch, and they’re on their knees with their hands over their ears.

“Uh, Petra. What just happened?” I ask her. She turns to me with a smile.

“Let’s just say that I am learning to use my magic. It’s not affecting us, but I made them hear a screech so loud it’s almost busting their eardrums. Something like nature’s own dog whistle.” My brother stands proudly beside her, and I can’t blame him. She scares me a little. Okay, she scares me a lot.

“Like she said, we’re not going anywhere. Now, where are they?” I turn when I see someone walking toward us. That’s when I notice that only certain people are affected by what Petra did. I look at her, and she smiles.

“Only those with darkness could hear the screech. Those standing we can trust.” Wow. Can I keep her with us always?

“Excuse me.” I see a girl about the age of twelve walking toward us. I approach her while the others stay back, not wanting to overwhelm her.

“Hi, I’m Teegan. What’s your name?” I ask her.

“I don’t have a name. They just call me little bitch.” I look at Petra, and she stomps her foot again as people scream in pain.

“What do you want your name to be?” I ask her. She looks down at her hands and then back up at me.

“Raquel. I had a friend who had that name, but she died.” My heart breaks for her. How has this been going on for so long, and no one has done anything?

“Okay, Raquel. What can you tell us?” I ask her, placing my hand on her shoulder. I notice she flinches and then relaxes.

“I can take you to where they bring the slaves and where they burn them.” Slaves? They were buying pups to make them slaves? I look up at Joel, who looks just as angry as I feel.

“Okay, sweetheart. Give me just a minute.” I walk over to the others so we’re all standing together.

“While she shows us where they’re being kept. Make these fuckers suffer. Not enough to kill them yet, but make them wish they were dead.” I say to Petra. She nods. “The rest of you come with us because I don’t know what we’re going to find. I think Petra, Anton, and a couple guards can control these bastards.”

I don’t know what Petra is doing to them, but the screams of pain ring through the forest as we follow Raquel. Joel said the Mystic Moonlighters had magic, but watching Petra is unbelievable. When we enter the forest, I see cages set up randomly throughout a large area. I would think they were dog cages if I didn’t know any better.

As we approach, I see people in most of them. Some look clean and healthy like they were just put in a cage. Others look sick and dirty. Many of them are dead. There are people of all ages, from pups to elderly. Raquel points to an empty cage.

“This is mine. Over there in the area between the trees is where they burn the bodies.” I look to where she’s pointing and see a large black area. Burnt bones are lying everywhere. I feel sick thinking about everything these people have been through. The people in the cages look terrified, so I approach them with Raquel by my side.

“My name is Teegan, and this is my mate Joel. We’re not here to hurt you. We’re here to set you free. Please don’t be scared of us. The ones that hurt you are the people you can hear screaming right now.” I wave the guards over, and they begin unlocking the cages. The people that can walk come out slowly.

“Where are we going to go?” Raquel asks me.

“We’ll try to find what packs you’re from and return you to your families.” When I see her begin to cry, I at first think they’re tears of happiness.

“Does that mean I have to stay here?” She takes a deep breath, trying to control her sobs.

“Why would you have to stay here?” I stroke her head gently.

“The alpha and luna are my parents. They didn’t want a daughter so they made me a slave and called me little bitch.” She starts crying harder, and I wrap my arms around her, hugging her tight.

“You will not stay here. I believe some people here are from the Silver Moon Pack; you can go with them.” I tell her. She looks up at me with big brown eyes.

“Do you live there?” I shake my head.

“No, I live at the palace. Joel is a prince.” I answer her. She looks thoughtful for a minute.

“Can I go to the palace with you? I’ll work and promise not to be in the way.” I look at Joel, and he walks over smiling.

“Of course, you can go to the palace with us. How about you go to the Silver Moon pack for now. My parents, the king and queen, are there. So when they go to the palace, you can go with them, but you won’t be working. You’ll be in school and doing all the things children do. Okay?” Have I ever said how much I love this man? Every time my heart feels like it’s going to explode, he does something else to make it grow even more.

“Thank you,” Raquel says as she goes to help the others who are still too scared to come out of the cages.

“Mom and Dad are going to be all over her. By the time we return to the palace, she’ll most likely be a princess.” Joel whispers to me. We watch Raquel as she talks to some of the pups. Even with everything she’s been through, she’s thinking of helping others. The palace will be lucky to have a girl like her there.

Once everyone is out of the cages and we have them settled in the packhouse, Joel calls several local packs to see if they could send some people to help. He then called someone to come check the DNA of the wolves to see what packs they were from. When we return outside, Petra is still using her magic to cause the rest of the pack incredible pain.

“Are you ready?” She asks.

“Yes. It’s time for them to get a taste of their own medicine.” Petra stops her magic, and everyone stops screaming, but they still don’t stand.

“You’re going to pay for that.” The bitch on the porch says while she tries to sit up.

“How could you treat your own daughter like she doesn’t matter?” I ask as I walk over to her. She glares at me.

“She’s worthless. We wanted a son, not a bitch daughter. She’s lucky we let her live.” I’ve had enough. I punch her in the face hard, making her fall back down. I then kick her in the ribs several times while she yells at me. When I’m done, one of the guards walks over and puts a pair of silver-lined cuffs on her.

“Lucky for her, she never has to see you again because she’s going to live in the palace. You, however, and the rest of your pack will not be alive to see another day.” We line up those affected by Petra and walk them to the forest. They are tied to trees, and the guards hammer long silver spikes through their hands, attaching them to the trees. I don’t want to know why this pack has so many silver spikes, but I know it wasn’t for anything good.

There are about fifty pack members in all that we have staked to the trees. We leave them to cry in pain from the silver entering their bloodstream. When we leave the forest, we check on those in the packhouse and see the members from the other nearby packs have come to take care of them. They decide to take them all to their packs until we find out where they’re from. By the time everyone is gone, and we get to our vehicles, we’re exhausted.

“This was eye-opening. I can’t believe there are packs out here like this. The one I was taken to was raising me to be a breeder, but that seems like a walk in the park compared to this.” Martina says.

“Hopefully, the next one won’t be as bad. Let’s go check into a hotel and get some rest.” Joel replies. We leave to the sounds of the screams while the guards stay behind to make sure they all die.

Blake’s P.O.V.

We track the do-gooders from the palace to a pack I know well. My sister is the luna. However, there is no one here. We check the packhouse, and there’s nothing. It’s as though the pack is abandoned.

“Alpha, come to the forest; we found something.” One of my men mindlinks me. We walk outside and into the forest. What the hell is this?

My sister, her mate, and many of the people from the pack have silver spikes through their hands, and they’re all dead. Were the people looking for cubs able to do this to them? How is that possible? My sister was a rogue, too, until she met her mate and made him her bitch. She was almost as ruthless as me. This is fucking war. They will not kill a member of my family and get away with it. When we gather near the packhouse, I scream at my men.

“Find those fuckers now.”