Back From Beyond (Sample)

4. Can't Be

Addie had been squirreled away in her bedroom with Clark and Hunter for a couple of hours before she heard any word from her father.

Hunter was hyper alert as he kept watch. He went from the door to her windows with a panicked frequency. Since he was wasn't part of the pack he felt out of the loop since he had no mind-link with the pack. In all honesty, he didn't believe Addie at first when she said it was okay to leave the confines of her room.

Sweetheart, it's safe to come out now. Her father mind-linked with her.

Hunter had come over once he saw the glazed look on her face. Breathing out a large cathartic breath when he saw she was relaxed, he asked her about it.

"Who was it? What did they say?" Hunter asked urgently.

"It was my father. He said it was safe to come out now," she told him. She watched as his face went from mistrustful to complacent when he saw no tells of a fib in her face. "I wouldn't lie, you know. I have no reason to."

"I know," he told her, walking toward the door. He looked out into the hallway as if to see if any looters or armed men were around and then opened the door fully. With a sigh, Addie followed her mate out of the room and down the stairs. It was nearing lunchtime and her stomach was begging to be fed.

Taking out some of the leftovers from dinner the previous night, she placed a good portion of the spaghetti on a plate and into the microwave. Without thinking, she heated it up and placed the plate along with a fork and spoon in front of Hunter. She repeated the same thing for Clark and set about making herself a plate as well. Adeline was nothing if not hospitable.

Forking the noodles onto the spoon, she twirled it before placing the bite in her mouth. Her tummy grumbled appreciatively and the three ate in relative silence before hearing the back door open and then shut in the quiet of the house.

"Addie?" It was her father's voice. Until that moment, she hadn't realized how worried she had been for him. With her mother taken down by hunters and her twin sister gone by rogues, she was terrified of losing her father as well.

"Daddy?" she called out. There was something in the tone of his voice that set her nerves on edge. She quickly moved from the kitchen to the back porch where her father was standing still, knees bent slightly and his face a puzzle.

"What's wrong? Did the rogue get away? Is everyone okay?" Adeline walked up to her father and shook his arm to gain his attention.

"What? No- everything is fine. Just... complications," he said to her. He seemed completely unraveled and chaotic. She hadn't seen him in such a state since her sister's life had been taken.

"What sort of complications? Where is the rogue?" Addie looked worried and there was a faint growling noise emanating from the kitchen. Hunter could hear her words no doubt with his superior hearing, and she was sure he could sense the tension in her voice.

"He's in the cells. The complications- well, the wolf says he can sense his mate in our pack," he told her.

"But- but he's a rogue!" Adeline was shocked. Most rogues had either lost their mate or were kicked out of their pack for crimes that would get most humans sent to prison. Only a few would willingly leave their pack.

"He- he doesn't smell like a rogue. His story is- interesting. If it can at all be believed," Corbin told her.

"I would like to meet this rogue who is not a rogue and find out why he thinks his mate might be here," Addie said strongly. She had a wicked sense of being able to tell when a person was lying to her. She could pick up their tells almost faster than the lie slipped out of one's mouth.