The Twisted Links

Chapter 22 (Mature Content)

Dedicated to NayNayR80

CHAPTER 22 (MATURE CONTENT **Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault involving a minor**)

Cub Creek Territory...

Convincing his sister-in-law to help him talk to his mate wasn't difficult. Tracy brought Carrie to the Rose Parlor under the guise of having tea. It was an old tradition that Camilla Mason, Dayton's mother, had started when she had been Luna. Upon their arrival, Carrie had stiffened seeing Dayton already there.

"You'll never know the truth unless you speak." she said quietly to Carrie. "Just talk. It's only fair to you and to him."

With a heavy sigh the younger woman took a seat. Tracy abruptly turned on her heel and left. Shutting the door on her way out. Dayton sat next to Carrie on the couch but maintained a good distance apart, as they sipped a cup of tea.

"So tell me about your life as a rogue." he asked cautiously.

Carrie shrugged. "Mostly boring. I couldn't go to school because the Reese's didn't have legal custody of me. So I started to study on my own. When I came here your mother enrolled me in school. When they did an assessment test on me, I actually placed two grades higher than where I should have been. So they allowed me to go to the same grade as you."

"I missed you a lot." Dayton said sincerely, thinking about all the good times they had had playing and having fun.

"And I missed you both as well." Carrie said. For her, Salim and Dayton were the last chance she had to be a kid. When she was with them, the past didn't menacingly loom and the memories weren't as vividly overwhelming. Even the nightmares stayed away when they lay next to her, protecting her from the horrors that invaded her mind.

"Did you have a boyfriend?"

Carrie shook her head, "I only had one friend, Ms. Nadine. She owned and operated the junkyard not far from where we lived. I would collect metal scraps and she would pay for it by the wagon load. I'm sure she paid me more than the metal was actually worth but she never said anything about it. We would talk about all sorts of things. She liked to say that I was an old soul in a young body." Carrie smiled sadly. "I haven't thought of her in years. I never went back or asked about her after I left. She saved my life."

"How?"

"A bad man tried to hurt me and she picked up the truck he was in with a magnet then threw him in a compactor. Before that she helped me survive when I had no home." Carrie said.

Flashback...

Carrie had been living in an old abandoned car for the last six months. Shortly after her 10th birthday, Harry Reese met an unfortunate end. Paula sent her children back to her old pack to stay with relatives. The current Alpha of her old pack refused to take her back since she left her pack against everyone's wishes to be with her rogue mate.

It hadn't been a very practical move, Carrie had always thought, but she could understand Paula's reasoning. Despite the desperate straights they often found themselves in, they loved each other from the beginning.

Now that Harry was dead, her children gone, and no pack or family to turn to, Paula was in too much pain to carry on. Carrie knew this and called the woman's family before striking out on her own. She knew that she only had one source of income so she would have to find a way to stay close to the junkyard and hopefully away from the East Coast Rogue King's notice. Or more importantly his second in command, Crusher.

Ms. Nadine discovered Carrie's new home a month after "moving in" when she had picked up the car to take to the crusher and the girl's head popped up. She wanted Carrie to stay with her but she only had a small shack/office in the middle of the junkyard that was barely big enough to turn around in. Ms. Nadine also had to occasionally meet with Kyle or one of his crew who used her business to launder money. So it wasn't safe for the young girl to be around but the older woman made sure she had blankets, food, and a portable toilet. She also invited her to use the small shower in her shack.