Chapter 4
Cara’s POV
The bad dreams just kept coming to me as I watched Lisa get more and more out of hand like it was one long movie reel. She never came after Brenna. She was always after me. I was the one she had a problem with. She also knew that she would lose a fight against Brenna. She had no other choice than to keep after me. She could easily beat me up, especially with the help of her friends. She did it every time she got a chance. She made sure that if my arm was broken, it wasn’t my right arm. That way, I could keep on working.
A rib or two here, a finger there, as she kept the doctor in business for a solid year. Seriously hurting me at least once a month. Once Brenna caught on to what was happening to me, she gave Lisa a taste of her own medicine. She asked to spar with Lisa during training. Lisa didn’t want to, but she was too embarrassed to refuse. She wanted to portray herself as strong. Paxton had taken over the pack at twenty-one, and she was nineteen. She wanted to be Luna. Admitting that you were scared of a seventeen year old, was not Luna behavior. Brenna broke her arm, the same one she broke on me, as well as a rib and a few fingers in that sparring match. She was absolutely deliberate in doing so.
Luna had told me that Brenna bent down to speak to Lisa after the fight. Lisa was hurting pretty bad and couldn’t get up. Luna told me that Brenna warned her to stay away from me. I wish I could say she did, but that didn’t happen. Lisa just got smarter about it. She became Luna, as she was the best option in the pack for him. At least, she had convinced the pack she was. She had already been sleeping with him for years, so it was a no-brainer. She got what she wanted. She had rank over me now and made my life a living hell like it was her job.
She included additional work to my already busy workload. I wasn’t ever allowed a day off. I wasn’t a wolf and would occasionally get sick, but that never mattered to Lisa. I was not allowed to stay home, no matter what. I worked at least ten hours a day, seven days a week. Lisa got her wish. I didn’t complain, but I was a shell of my former self. I couldn’t have breakfast at the packhouse, so I had to get up extra early to make it at home. I had to, as she worked me until dinner. Most days I was so tired, I just showered and fell into bed to get as much rest as I could. I bore it for my sisters.
I could see the concern they had for me. I could see the worry in their eyes. I downplayed it and took it for a few years. The last year and a half were the worst. Lisa couldn’t bear Paxton a heir. He stayed quiet for almost three years after he claimed Lisa as his chosen mate.
In a town hall meeting, he announced he would be looking “For a qualified pack member to bear my child. Someone who will provide an heir that I can be proud of.”
I felt sick. I knew what he was thinking the moment he looked at me. It didn’t go unnoticed, either. Lisa was breathing fire as she glared at me. I don’t want him, I never have, and never will. He is a pompous jerk who only cares about himself first and the pack second. Despite my being a hybrid, I knew he meant me when he spoke. If he wanted a she-wolf, that is what he would have said. Saying ‘packmember’ was as good as declaring that it was me that he was after. I am not going to allow that to happen. I started making plans to leave the pack at that moment.
I woke up at that point at the start of the next nightmare. My heart rate was too fast. I was sweating as if I had been running away from my dream. That nightmare was the moment our lives changed for the worse. I can handle tough work. I toughed through the broken bones and never missed work. I took it as my punishment for the alleged sin of my mother being a witch who dared to fall in love with a wolf. There was no use arguing with a pack full of wolves who believed that I should have never been allowed to exist.
FLASHBACK
I had been in the laundry room when it happened. The kitchen was on the wall behind the laundry area with a separate entrance. They did that to try to keep the area clear and out of the way of the kitchen traffic. Paxton’s office was on the opposite wall. When the kitchen staff had a falling out, I could hear them arguing through the vents, but only if the machines were not on. I had never before heard anything from Paxton’s office until that day.
My sisters and I have all been depressed and upset since the death of our parents last month. They had gone into town for their monthly date night and just never returned. The police came to the pack the next day to tell us that their car had been found in a ravine. They were holding hands when they were found, their love for each other still evident, even in death. It was hard moving on, as we loved them both. But we were forced to move forward because Paxton forced our hand. He had a replacement Beta here the day after the police had notified us of their deaths.
Clay has been here on numerous occasions. He usually flies here because it is quicker. Paxton always picked him up at the airport to bring him here. They always attract attention, whether they are together or apart. Paxton gives off a stronger Alpha aura. Paxton had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. He had a handsome face and a strong jawline. He commanded attention from most, just not me or my sisters. Clay had brown hair, longer on top and shaved on the sides. He had soft brown eyes, but there was nothing soft about who he was on the inside. There was nothing nice or kind about either of them.
They were proud of the work they put into looking the way they did. They trained hard, and their bodies reflected it. They looked like they had been chiseled from stone. Broad shoulders and strong abs. They were never alone, no matter where they were. Even marking Lisa and making her his mate didn’t slow Paxton down. They seemed to feed off of each other’s body count.
It wouldn't be suspicious if you didn’t look at it too hard. I should have known that it wasn't a coincidence when he showed up with everything he owned in a U-Haul driven by a friend. He drove his truck, which was also filled to the brim with his stuff. It should have been impossible for him to have driven eight hours and loaded that truck so quickly. I just hadn’t been thinking clearly as I was still mourning. Paxton forced us out of our home the same night we were told of our parent's deaths. He gave it to Clay the next day. Clay was one of Paxton’s best friends. Clay was a few months younger than Paxton at twenty-four years old. Clay was the second son of a Beta in his former pack and was thrilled to get the Beta position here. Clay’s older brother had received the Beta position in his former pack.
I wouldn’t have even been there, as it was after hours, but my work had taken extra time that day. I went around making sure all the machines were empty, and the lint traps were clean enough for me to start the laundry immediately the next day when I heard them talking.
“Have you moved in?” Paxton asked.
“Yeah, I had help, so it went fast. They left about an hour ago to return home and turn the truck back in. Thanks for the call asking me to be your Beta. I hated thinking I would have no rank in my old pack simply because I was second-born. You are lucky to be an only child, man,” Clay responded.
I was rolling my eyes and getting ready to leave when my attention was grabbed by what Paxton said next. “I made the girls move out of the house so you could move in. I thought having them closer to us in the packhouse would be better. We will start working on them when Lisa goes out of town next weekend. She wants to go shopping in Los Angeles and is flying there with her friends. I plan on getting Cara to agree to be with me while Lisa is gone. I know that the pack won’t like it, but I want her. Our children will be handsome,” Paxton brags.
“You have had a hard-on for that girl for at least the last six years. She doesn’t want you, man; you need to face it and let it go. Pick someone else to play around with,” Clay replied. I sighed in relief as it seemed like Clay seemed to realize that no matter what Paxton did, I would not be receptive to it. I had just relaxed when my world was shattered.
“I have already had a taste of most of the unmated she-wolves here. I don’t want the ones who are easy to get anymore. I only want Cara. Besides, I have already gone too far to stop now. Getting rid of Beta James and his mate is complete. Clay, you are just as much a part of this as we are. Don't forget, it was all your idea. Rex and I just carried out your plan. You are just as much to blame for this as we are, so don’t try to back out now. If you don’t help us, we won’t help you take Luna as your chosen mate. I am their Alpha. I can Alpha command both her and Brenna to accept you and Rex as their mates. Their parents stood in the way for far too long. They would never change their minds about letting their daughter pick their mates. I know they would be happy to have chosen mates. They don’t need to find their true mates. They were having difficulty refusing to see our side of it, so I took them out of the equation. They needed to know their place. I am the Alpha here. No one can stop me from taking what I want,” Paxton announced.
Wait, what did he say? Did he just admit that he killed my parents? That they came up with a plan to get rid of our parents so they could force us to be with them? My stomach rolled, and I knew that I was about to lose the little food I had in my stomach. I rushed over to the sink on the wall as the trash can was too far away to make it. I knew I needed to calm down. I rinsed my mouth out to get closer to the vent again. I need to know the whole story so we can make up a plan to get out of here. I refuse to bend to Paxton’s will. I will not allow him to offer my little sisters up as some kind of screwed-up award to give to his band of disgusting men.