The Broken Wolf
Chapter 79

“I hope you don’t mind that I joined him,” Lily asks me and I shake my head. “I was a little jealous when he said he’d get to spend so much time with you today.”

“I’m glad you did,” I tell her with a genuine smile and I feel a little bad that I didn’t even think to ask her.

They enter the tent, Benjamin carrying a small chair with him and zip it up behind them.

Lily sits on the ground next to the mattress and takes my hand, pulling me to her. “Benjamin told me how you covered for him. Thank you,” she whispers so softly that I can barely hear her, and I’m amazed she’s able to. She’s probably had a bit of practice to keep secrets from the wolves since she can’t mind link, though.

I don’t want to say anything too loudly, so I just nod at her and she squeezes my hand in thanks.

Why doesn’t your Beta know? I ask Benjamin through the link, knowing that it’s not safe to say it aloud.

His eyes grow, and he smiles at me, realizing that I had opened the link for him. It wouldn’t be safe. If they knew I couldn’t truly protect her, they could come after your mother.

Don’t you trust him?

When it comes to your mother’s safety, I don’t trust anyone.

It makes sense, I guess. And that’s probably part of the reason he wanted Lily to stay tonight.

“Molly, tell me about your brother. He’s the Alpha now, correct?” Lily asks me and I nod.

“Robbie is the best!” I begin. “He’s one of my best friends. When the kids would get too mean, he would always jump in and make them leave me alone. My best friend and I would go hiking a lot and he would come with us some, but the Alpha training took up a lot of time.”

She smiles at me and looks up at Benjamin. “I know he’s not your biological brother, but I’m still so glad you got to grow up with a sibling.”

‘Me, too,” I say to her, honestly. I can’t imagine if I hadn’t had him growing up. “What about you? Do I have any aunts and uncles to know about?”

Benjamin shakes his head. “I was an only child. Lily had a sister, but she passed away before we had even met.”

“I’m sorry,” I tell her and she shakes her head.

“It was a long time ago dear. People can be afraid of us, because of the magic. It’s how I ended up out here, just trying to hide and be alone.” She tells me and looks over at Benjamin, a smile on her face. “I’d have never met your father if I hadn’t moved out here.”

We talk for what feels like hours, just getting to know each other better. They seem happy with every answer I give them about how I was raised and I realize that they never, truly knew how it was for me. Sure, they had people from their pack tell them what was going on, but they didn’t know what happened at home.

“Sometimes I would sit near the border, hoping to catch a glimpse of you running by with your friend,” He tells me, a sad smile on his face. “You always looked so happy.”

“I was,” I tell him, but I don’t continue as I hear a noise. I look up and realize Benjamin also heard it, as he’s now on high alert.

“Why is there a tent in the yard?” I hear a voice whispering.

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t change the plan. The dad is out on patrol and the grandparents are gone. It’s just mom. Break the window, grab the girls and run.”

Benjamin’s eyes go wide and he begins to slowly unzip the tent, so slowly that it doesn’t make a sound.

They’re here. They know Alex and Della’s parents are gone.

WHAT?! We’re coming. Hide.

“Maybe we shouldn’t. We don’t know what the deal is with the tent?”

“The pay for these girls is almost triple! We can’t pass that up. Come on.”

Benjamin turns and meets my eyes and I can see the concern he has over hearing that someone is paying for the she-wolves.

I reach in my mind, searching for the box that Della is in, but I’m struggling to replace her. I take a deep breath, trying to calm some to make it easier, but it’s really hard to replace her while I’m so scared. Finally, I replace her and throw the lid off.

Della, there’s someone outside. We heard two voices. They’re planning to come through a window.

No! Get Benjamin.

He knows, but you need to get to the girls.

I couldn’t even get the whole warning out though when I hear the loud sound of glass breaking and the terrified sound of kids screaming. Benjamin looks at me and nods once before he heads out.

“Stay here,” he whispers.

I don’t listen though, and step outside of the tent. I see the back half of a brown wolf hanging out of a window, the other must be inside. Benjamin runs over and grabs the wolf’s back legs, dragging him out of the window. The wolf looks at him and growls, but takes off into the woods.

“Molly, get inside,” I hear Lily hiss as she grabs my hand and tries to pull me down, but I refuse and pull away. Instead, I walk away, taking a few steps and now standing beside the tent.

One ran into the woods, but I think the other is in the house. I tell my mate, so he knows what is going on as soon as he arrives.

The sound of the children screaming in fear combined with the growling of wolves is chilling, and I feel like I should help, but I don’t know what to do. I see the front door swing open and a wolf appear and I realize from the scent that it’s Alex and Della’s oldest son, Ezra. He’s standing there, facing the house and I realize he’s waiting to catch the offender when they try to leave.

There’s a rustling in the woods and I feel relief for a moment, thinking that it’s Seth and Alex, but I feel absolute terror when 4 large wolves appear, and not one of them is Altair.

Seth, hurry. 4 wolves just showed up. The other is still in the house.

We’re almost there. Stay hidden.

I reach out in my mind for Benjamin. There’s 4 wolves coming up behind you.

I can visibly see his body stiffen, knowing that he has no way to protect himself. He grabs a large stick to try to hit them with, but this situation is not good. One of them walks up to him and circles him a bit and another gnashes his teeth at him. Benjamin swings the stick at them, but neither seem deterred at all. The smaller of them leans down to lunge at him when a large, black wolf tackles him to the ground biting his throat, and leaving him to bleed out onto the ground.

Altair. My heart skips a beat at seeing my mate there, knowing he’ll protect me. I see a sandy brown wolf quickly enter the house at the front door and can tell from the scent that it’s Alex’s wolf.

Go to the window and help Benjamin get the kids out. Seth tells me and I quickly comply, running over, still barefoot. I step on some glass and cut my feet, but I continue my mission and help pull the jagged glass from the window down so the kids can safely exit.

Jenny appears in the window and Benjamin reaches up, handing her down to me. Next, I see Eleanor and I place Jenny on the ground right beside me and take Eleanor, putting her right beside her. The three younger boys come out next, and they need less help than their younger sisters. I place all the kids up against the house and stand in front of them. I know I’m not much help protecting them, but it’s better than nothing.

One of the wolves stalks over to us, and Benjamin steps in front of me, arms out, trying to block as many kids as he can. He takes off at a run and just before he gets to us, Altair jumps into him, rolling on the ground as they land. He quickly pops up and positions himself between us and the wolf, growling and snapping his teeth at the offender. The other wolf tries to get around him, but Altair continues to block him. He runs straight at Altair, and he clearly wasn’t expecting it as he knocks him to the ground.

I see another wolf appear and he’s circling Altair and the first wolf as he has him on the ground. My mate is able to flip him though and as he is now on top, he reaches down with his teeth, ending the life of another wolf. He quickly releases him and turns his attention to the other wolf, who has now turned his full attention to him.

I can see that Alex’s oldest son, Ezra has run off a wolf and I see Alex’s brown wolf emerge from the house. Unfortunately, a terrified Jenny also sees him and takes off running after him. “Daddy!”

Her cry for her father brings everyone’s attention to her and the deep grey wolf leaves Altair and takes off at a fevered pace towards her. Altair is right behind him though and tackles him to the ground as he approaches her. A white wolf comes around the corner and knocks Jenny to the ground and stands over her, growling threateningly at anyone who may come near her pup.

Altair is wrestling with the wolf when he loses his footing and falls, the other pinning him firmly to the ground. He moves his head as he goes to sink his teeth into the neck of my mate when he’s knocked off by a large light grey wolf with one white paw and when he turns, I can see his green eyes sparkling back at me. I turn my head to my side and realize that Benjamin is gone, and he had shifted to protect my mate.

Before anyone can move, the dark grey wolf flips Benjamin over though and sinks his teeth into Benjamin before he quickly gets up, and runs off into the woods with the other wolves.

“No!” I scream and run to him, hearing Lily screaming as well. He shifts back to human form before I can get to him and I throw my hands on the wound on his neck, trying to stop the bleeding. “No! I barely know you,” I say, my voice hoarse with pain as I try my best to apply pressure to the wound, tears freely falling.