Alisha blinked, feeling a little woozy after being transported in a nano-second to the area just outside of her home. Blinking to fight her disorientation, Alisha looked at the trees that surrounded her.
“I dropped you just before the entrance to the pack lands. However, Asher, drop me a text and I will get you from inside the pack itself when you want to go back.” Liane smiled, then disappeared again.
“Wow, that is freaky,” Alisha sighed.
“Yes, but, you get used to it, she pops up everywhere, and can take you anywhere on Earth,” Asher chuckled.
Alisha nodded, as her eyes zoomed in and focused on one of the old trees, the pack mark clear on the bark. Her eyes stung with unshed tears, as she instantly recognised it as her father’s mark. Reaching out, she traced the claw marks with the tips of her fingers, the lump that rose in her throat felt like it was constricting her windpipe. Asher watched his beautiful mate, bravely fighting her emotions, then reached out and gently took hold of her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Alisha swallowed the lump in her throat, before taking a long breath and, with determination, stepped forwards passed the trees into the official packlands.
“So, as you can see, the human housing estate backs onto the pack lands. Their gardens end where our lands begin. They have fences and no footpaths to the back of their houses. The only way anyone could attack would be by going through human homes. It makes it almost impenetrable. That is the same on the West and North borders as well. The south is a 200 ft cliff directly into the inhospitable waters, with no beach, an impossible climb even for werewolves.” Alisha said, hoping the location of the pack would help calm him down about her wanting to move here as soon as she was able to leave the hospital.
Asher nodded, it was safer than he imagined, but what his mate did not know yet, was increasingly humans were becoming more aware of the existence of werewolves, speculation rife over the internet, especially after video evidence of someone shifting had been captured. He could not tell her yet, but she would need to be brought up to speed about what they were all facing, sooner rather than later.
The pathway was thick with undergrowth, brambles, and even large stinging nettles that had been left unchecked, and had never been cut back, probably for the last 3 years or even longer. Alisha sighed, she remembered running along this pathway as a girl, and it was perfectly kept, but now it looked much like land forgotten. They reached the old checkpoint, the wooden barrier still in place, and the hut at the side, had empty cups with dregs of coffee and tea in them, indicating that someone had been present keeping guard over the land.
As she climbed over the barrier, she shook her head. The pack was never big, it was around ¼ acre of well-maintained grounds, and the rest of the two acres was a thick forest. But as she stepped out, the once perfectly mowed lawn was again filled with nettles and weeds. High stalks of dead nettles stood almost half her 5 foot 9, height, the grass looking like it had turned to wheat in places making the garden look like a wilderness. Alisha sighed, in its current state, the land was unusable.
“They didn’t even mow the grass!” She said, anger starting to bubble in her stomach.
Asher looked around the pack lands, shaking his head. How had this been missed? Anger mixed with shame that they had all dropped the ball regarding this pack, and its Alpha began to stir inside him.
Stepping through the thick undergrowth, the pathway took a small turn to the left, before opening out where a beautiful chocolate box thatched house stood. The white lime-washed stone looked grey, green growing up the structure from the overgrown ground below. The roof was unkept, a hole in the straw, and one of the two chimneys than ran up the side of the old building was caving in on itself.
Alisha gasped, her childhood home looked like a ruin. Yes, it was a packhouse, but it was more like a larger family home where everyone was welcome. Her heart began to pound in her chest as she looked at the square led windows with jiggered edges of broken glass between, where the perfectly sparkling clean glass had once resided. Her stomach clenched and sunk, as she looked at the dilapidated state of the place she had held so fondly in her memories. Pain, began to bubble to the surface, she had gone through so much because Jabez wanted to hold on to this land, and he had left it to rack and ruin. The large double door that was the entrance of her home, stood the white paint turned grey, flaking off so badly the wood beneath had begun to rot. Pushing the door open, Asher took hold of her waist to stop her from stepping inside first, not sure of what she might find and worried about her safety.
“Get off me!” Alisha growled, sharply moving away from his protective hold.
Walking into the house, she attempted to put a light on in the old hallway, but there was no electricity, and she let out another frustrated sigh, as she gingerly stepped down the hallway, seeing holes in now rotten floorboards, that had once been highly polished, and immaculately clean. She made her way down to the kitchen area, a place that conjured up so many happy memories. Daphne at the stove boiling milk for hot chocolate before bed. Sitting at the large farmhouse table, eating snacks of freshly cut up fruit, her mother baking cakes for the pack members, singing happily as she beat the mixture, telling her happy baker happy cakes. Lunches were served, always in the kitchen, only the evening meals in the large dining room. The pack rushed in and out to grab food, there was always laughter and so much love.
As she entered the kitchen her heart broke. Rats scurried around the floor, they climbed around the sink that contained dishes, that had been unwashed. The smell of mold and damp rather than home baking reached her nostrils.
“I need to go upstairs,” Alisha whispered.
“Alisha, please, I doubt it is safe up there,” Asher pleaded, knowing his words were going to fall on deaf ears.
Alisha completely ignored him, and climbed up the stairs, watching her step where some of the steps had broken. The anger that was washing over her was intensifying with every step. Opening the door to her bedroom, she saw how the bed was unmade, evidence of someone sleeping in it apparent, shaking her head, she moved to the Alpha bedroom, memories of being a little girl and rushing into the room on a morning, when Iesha was born, sitting beside her beautiful mother, as she handed Alisha her sister, placing her into her arms, and smiling told her that it was her job to protect her with all that she was and everything she had. As she walked into the room more tears weld in her eyes, threatening to spill over. Laid on the crumpled bed Alisha saw her father's favourite picture of her mother, the morning after he had placed his mark on her neck, she looked happy, carefree, totally in love, beautiful, her long brown hair blowing in the wind. Alisha felt her stomach lurch as she notice stains on the picture, and she did not need to scent them to know exactly what they were. Someone had pleasured himself all over her mother’s picture.
Bile rose in her throat, as the wave of anger that had been building, turned into a tsunami of hate, disgust, rage. Pushing past Asher, she ran down the stairs, through the house and out the door, as her stomach began to twist and turn and lunge. The thought of someone she knew, had defiled that picture of her mother, even if they did hate her at the pack, was harder to bare than even knowing Jabez had sanctioned her murder. She needed to get out of the place she once felt was home, but was now a house of horrors. Struggling to breathe, her tongue swelled in her mouth as her stomach heaved, and she bent over into the long grass and nettles.
Asher ran after her, disgust and rage filling him, his heart feeling like it was being ripped from his chest at the pain his mate was in. Disgust at the Matlock pack members and their leadership that they had left Edensor to rot, they had defiled the image of its Luna in such a deprived way, was making his own stomach churn, his own anger peak.
“Get to her, get to our mate, she is going to explode Asher, help her!” Max cried out in his mind, as he ran down the stairs, back out of the building towards his beautiful strong girl. As he reached her, he saw that she was bent over her body trembling, as she wretched over and over, as bile spilled onto the ground.
“Baby, oh god I am sorry, I am so sorry, ” Asher whispered, as he placed his hand on her back and began to rub, holding her long hair behind her, as she emptied the contents of her stomach all over the overgrown grass.
“GET THE FUCK OFF ME!” Alisha bellowed, rage swirling in her eyes.
“YOU FUCKERS, YOU FORGOT ABOUT ME, MY SISTER, AND LET THIS PLACE ROT. SITTING IN YOUR IVORY FUCKING TOWERS IN CRESCENT MOON. RUNNING AROUND PLAYING THE OMEGA HEROS, WHEN THE TRUTH IS YOU DON’T GIVE A FUCK, YOU DON’T CARE, YOU LEFT US TO ROT, YOU LEFT THIS PLACE TO ROT. YOU DISGUST ME, DON’T TOUCH ME, DON’T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!”Chapter Twenty-Nine The Forgotten Mate and The Alpha Prince.