The Lone She-Wolf

Chapter 9

Diane's POV

I couldn't believe what was happening before me. Shannon's Mate Brett had just stood up for me, knowing nothing about me except for maybe a few minor things yet he still stood up for me. The shock of having watched him walk forward in order to grab the young woman by her throat as he reached into her jean pockets was enough to chase my rage away instantly... but when he placed the two vials within my hands and said that he didn't like it when people falsely accused his Mate's friends, I gripped the vials gently as I tried to keep tears from my eyes. Although I didn't know exactly why I felt like crying in the first place, I knew that it wasn't because I was sad or in any pain... I was oddly really happy with the fact that Shannon considered me a friend even though we barely knew each other.

It's because we both thought that no one could be our friend. - My wolf informs me gently, -and our little Blood-Sister doesn't count because she is family, and our Mate is our Mate.

I could feel the truth in her words as she spoke to me, but I was still wary to agree about our Mate... I didn't know him that well yet, and didn't know if he would want to stay with me when he learned about everything that had happened within my past.

"What would you like us to with her?" Charlie asks in a growling tone as he takes a step or two toward the young woman as he glares at her in a menacing way.

I step out of Andrew's arms, I kneel in front of the young woman and took hold of her wrist in a tight grip that made her wince when I did so.

"Don't fight with me." I snap at her as she looks at me with wide eyes... but then seconds later, she threw her head back with a gasp as I forced my mind into her own and began to dig around.

I had my eyes closed as I held the two vials in my left hand and kept my grip on the girl's wrist as she tried to figure out what was going on... but by the time she figured it out, I released her wrist and looked her dead in the eye as she tried to get her labored breathing under control.

"You know... you really should have just said something to me about this instead of trying to kill your own pack members." I inform her as I pull out my cell and speed dial my former boss.

"What's going on?" Andrew asks me with confusion.

"She's going to be helping me from now on. This deals with my last case at my former job." I tell him just seconds before my boss answered on the other end.

"This is Val." Her clipped tone meets my ears.

"Whats Ivory's current location?" I ask in a serious tone as I stand up once more and pull the young woman up after me.

"I'll send it to you... why?" Val asks me, just as serious.

"Let her know that I'm joining her... and that we have someone who is going to be helping us for a bit." I reply as I glare at the young woman when she opened her mouth in order to protest.

"I'll send her the coded message... anything else." Val replies as I hear her typing on the other end.

"No. I'll see you in a bit though." I hang up quickly before looking to Andrew's worried face, "I'm sorry to do this to you... but I need to go follow this lead while it's still fresh."

"It's that important?" Andrew asks me in what one would consider a sad tone of voice.

"Her younger siblings have been taken hostage, which is why she was doing what she was instructed to do... and the person who instructed her to take this action is one of the people who is close to the person that is the key member of the investigation that Ivory is conducting." I inform him, not speaking names or any other great details of the investigation that I'm currently helping out with, "Because of that, you will help me whether you like it or not."

I direct my final statement to the young woman and she stares at me in wide-eyed disbelief as I return her stare with a look of complete and utter calm. She then seems to finally find her voice once again and a bit of confidence along with it.

"Why in the hell should I help you!?!" She shouts at me and I put a hand up to stop the men from stepping toward her as they all seemed to let out soft growls.

"Because I know the witch that took your siblings... and I can get them back for you, but I need you there because they won't trust me right away and they trust you completely. I need you there so that we can get them out of there as fast as we can." I inform her and she goes silent again.

"You're not mad at me?" She asks me and I see her on the brink of shedding tears.

"No, I'm not mad at you... you were trying to protect those who matter most to you." I tell her softly as I kneel in front of her once more, "I could never be mad at you for that... I'm infuriated at the witch and at her boss for putting you through this trouble."

The girl begins to cry before me and before I can even think about what I'm doing, I take her into my arms like I've done for Cleo in the past and I let her cry within my arms as I hush her and pet her head gently. When shes done crying, I go inside to see Shannon and her new baby girl before going back to my guest room to pack a quick bag for my trip to join Ivory.

"You really have to go? But it feels like you just got here." Andrew says from my doorway and I turn to see his saddened expression.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to leave again this soon, but her siblings are still just pups and I can't stand for what's been done to her family... she's all that they have left and vice versa." I tell him as I wrap my arms around him cautiously and feel his arms wrap around my waist slowly as he hides his face against my neck.

"I'm just worried about you..." He comments as I slowly pull away and I smile at him as I hold his face within my hands gently.

"Did you forget who I am?" I ask him with a small smile that was reserved just for him and Cleo, "I'm the She-wolf that all Rogues fear and obey, Blood-Sister to the Alpha daughter of the Second strongest Alpha leader this country has... my Mate is the Strongest Alpha I know, he has to be in order to be able to be around me as much as he is."

"Not funny." He grumbles as he tightens his hold on me a little bit.

"It wasn't a joke... when I finally end up telling you just exactly everything about me, you're going to need that strength for the both of us." I inform him as I look at him sadly, "Because then you'll really see just how messed up I truly am... any way, here is Val's card. She's who'll you'll contact in order to get a hold of me. I don't know how long this will take, but I promise I'll try to come back to you as soon as I possibly can."

He nodded as he shoved the card into his jean pocket, and I couldn't stand his sad expression any longer... it just got on my nerve and I didn't want to see him sad like this, I wanted to see his happy expressions. So I did the most insane thing I've ever done. I stood up on the tips of my toes and kissed him gently yet a bit anxiously as I wrapped my arms around his neck carefully. He deepened the kiss a little, still trying not to scare me even though I was thoroughly terrified, and his grip on my waist tightened a little to before he pulled back and rest his forehead against mine.

"Hurry and come back... because I miss you already and you haven't even left yet." He mumbles to me with his eyes closed, and I give him a quick peck on the lips before walking past him with my bag slung over my shoulder.

With the young woman, whose name was Melissa, already in my truck when I came out, I threw my bag into the back with hers and quickly sped down that long driveway... my heart becoming heavier and heavier with each mile that was placed between me and my Mate.

"So what's the plan?" Melissa asks me in a soft whisper.

"The plan is for us to get your siblings back... and that means you're going to get to see just how I run the Rogue-World." I inform her in a cautious tone.

It also means that our past isn't as far behind us as we thought. - My wolf comments sadly and it made me frown at her mentally as I spoke to her silently.

It was never in the past to begin with...