Strawberries and Cream

Who's The Thief?

Hiya! I hope this chapter is long enough to hold you over for a few days. I'm chillin' with the grandpa.

~PR~

Shit! What have I done? I attacked an alpha, and an alpha from the Hunter pack at that! Will he kill me? My family? I screw my eyes shut as his hand reaches out to me. They shoot open when he caresses my face. His eyes show mild confusion. His hand feels... nice.

"How do you know about the Hunter pack?" He asks, voice just above a whisper.

"I was born in the underworld. Someone in that pack tried to steal me away when I was little. That's why we moved to the human world." I answer his question without hesitation. I'm dealing with an alpha here. The stranger alpha man surprises me by laughing. I look at him, confused. There is no humor in his eyes.

"So that's what they told you..." His green orbs dance with anger as he looks behind me. Someone snatches me back by my shoulder, but the alpha catches my hand and doesn't let my father push me behind himself.

"It's true!" He yells at the stranger. And in that moment, I don't think I've ever been so happy to see my dad, even with dried blood under his nose.

"She found her mate! We were going to grow up together! That's all we wanted! I was five years old, what did you expect me to do, rape her?" The alpha yells back, belligerent. Mate? I look back to my father, eyes wide. His eyes don't meet mine, but they sadden immediately.

"Dad?" I whisper. He still doesn't look at me. I glance back at the alpha. He's not talking about me, is he?

"Dad, did you and mom lie to me about being kidnapped?" I look back at him, my eyes filling with tears. I can tell by his expression what the answer is. I pull away from the alpha's grip. He lets me go willingly. Dad's mouth opens, then closes, then opens again. He finally looks at me, a haunted look in his eyes.

"We... we wanted..." He stops when I hold my hand up.

"Tell me the truth." I whisper. My eyes have gone defensive. I'm hurting so bad. Why would my parent's lie to me? 

"Trinity... we only wanted to keep you away from all of... this." He lets my shoulder go and gestures to the alpha.

"And what exactly is all of this?" I gesture to the alpha also.

"You were too young to have found your mate. And with him being the next alpha and all-" My hand to his cheek silences him.

"How can you make excuses for taking me away from my mate?" I screech at him. Tears spill over. I've never raised a hand to my father. I've never even raised my voice in anger like this. I've always been a sensible child. But how can I be sensible when something like this happens?

"Trinity." Behind my father is my big bellied mom. She pleads with me to understand, her eyes spilling over too. I shake my head slowly, backing away from them. I freeze when I bump into the alpha man. My mate. My mother sobs. And quickly, I move to her, careful to stay away from dad. She looks terrible. Her honey blond waist length hair is sweaty. Her light blue, teary eyes half-lidded as if in pain. Her pale skin feels clammy.

"You need to sit. And we all need to talk." I take a deep breath, calming down, and look back at my mate. He looks right back at me. I blush and take hold of mom's arm, pull her down the hall, then help her downstairs. I take another deep breath and sit her down on our cream sectional. This stress can't be good for the baby.

"Are you okay? Want anything to drink?" I don't look at her. I don't think I can.

"Water?" She asks. Her face is sad. I move into the kitchen, passing the apple pie on the counter, and get her out a bottle of water. When I return to the living room dad and the alpha, my mate, sit opposite each other. Both have cleaned up the blood from their faces. My mate's nose is spotless, but dad's nose looks crooked and swollen. It must be broken. I don't offer him ice.