Rinc had tried to be patient and understanding with Lacee, but after the phone call came from Laran with news of a half-breed girl living in her apartment, he was losing what little patience he had left. He was trying his best to take Lacee under his wing and protect her, but she was making it really hard with her resistance and now secrets that should've been told.
"The half-breed girl in your apartment? Who is she?" Rinc asked her.
Lacee stared at him for a moment without speaking, but then she tried to make a run for it to her car. He was much faster and stronger than her, even if she had been training her whole life, she wouldn't stand a chance. With ease, he caught up to her and grabbed her from behind, pulling her back close to her chest as he leaned his mouth to her ear.
"Don't scream. Don't make a scene. There are people around." He told her. "Now, if you want to see the half-breed again, stop fighting and get in my damn truck."
She quickly turned to face him; their bodies still pressed together as she looked up angrily at him.
"If anyone hurts her, I will kill you." Lacee threatened. "I mean in, I don't care about wolves or alphas or any of your bullshit. If anyone harms my sister, I will kill them and I will kill you for dragging us into this."
"Sister?" Rinc could feel the rage and anxiousness that his mate was feeling. It made sense now, why she was being so guarded and secretive. Protecting family was something that he could relate to. The pack was family, and every day for him was spent putting them first.
The sound of a women beside them coughing interrupted their intense stare.
"Is everything alright, Lacee?" A pudgy brown-haired woman asked.
Not wanting trouble, Rinc pulled her even closer to him to remind her to not make a scene.
"Yes, Jenn, we're fine." Lacee patted his shoulder. "We're just leaving."
"This is your boyfriend from the other night?" The nosey woman continued. "Everyone is saying her beat-up Dan in his office. Is that true? What happened? Did they really get into a fight?"
"Jenn, would you just shut up and mind your own business for once?" Lacee separated from him and pushed past the woman as she made her way to his truck.
The woman was speechless as her cheeks reddened and eyes widened in shock and embarrassment. Rinc shrugged at her as he passed and followed Lacee to his truck. He jumped up into the driver's seat and saw Lacee was already buckled in and ready to go in the passenger's seat beside him.
"Was she a friend of yours?" He asked.
"I don't have friends. Now drive," She sternly said. "And tell me who the hell has my sister."
"Two of my men have her. You can trust that they won't harm her. I forbid them to."
"Men? From your pack? Like the same kind of men that attacked me? Yeah, they listened well to you." Her sarcasm was irritating, but she did have a point.
"My Beta, Daron, is meeting them at the barn. He is my most trusted best friend, he's like a brother to me. He'd never betray, and he'd never harm someone without good reason." Rinc explained. "Why didn't you tell me you had a sister. You knew she'd be in danger too."
"Me not telling you was keeping her from danger. I don't know you. I don't trust you." Her words pained his heart.
Of course, she couldn't feel the fated mate bond like him. Even though they were strangers, their hearts were as one, and it felt like he had known her forever. Every moment he was around her, the bond was growing little by little. He supposed her wolf was also growing slowly each time she was around him, but it wouldn't be enough if she didn't work at it faster and willingly.
"I'm sorry, okay." He wasn't used to apologizing or bending for anyone but seeing her unhappy only made him want to do anything to assure she'd smile again. "Look, we didn't know the half-breed was your sister. If I had known, I would've just gone to you."
"Why do you keep calling her a half-breed? What does that even mean." She crossed her arms and he could tell his words did nothing to calm her worries.
"She's only half-wolf. You are full. One of your parents had to have been human, and the other werewolf."
"That would mean," she said with a pause as she gathered her thoughts. "It would mean that Leena and I are only half-sisters."
"You didn't know?"
"No." Lacee shook her head. "Not that it matters. She's my sister, any other details are irrelevant. She was too young when my mom died to remember much, and I only remember little things. But I don't remember a dad, ever. I just assumed we had the same one. Doesn't matter, neither were there to raise us."
"Lacee, there's something you have to know," he said. "Half-breeds aren't allowed in the packs."
Her hands went up in the air and she looked even more irritated than before.
"I don't care. I don't care about being in your pack or any pack. I don't want to be involved in any of this. Especially if you go around kidnapping underaged girls and stalking me at my job." She told him. "As soon as I get my sister, I'm getting as far away from you as possible. You and your pack are a danger to my sister, and I won't put up with that."
"Believe it or not, we don't care as much what a half-breed does." He shrugged. "They aren't allowed in our packs and most members don't associate with them much, but we also forbid harming them unless they go against the pack laws. They still need to check in with packs before going onto their territories, and they have to pay a protection fee."
"This is a joke, right?" Lacee sighed. "You're prejudiced against these so-called half-breeds, but you still demand their money? This is why I don't make friends. When I first met you, I thought you might be a good guy. Yeah, you killed that man in front of me, but you also saved me. But I think you're just a big bully that takes advantage of innocent people, like my seventeen-year-old sister."
"I didn't say I agree with the ways, or I dislike half-breeds, I'm just saying this is how it is. It's been this way for hundreds of years. It's to discourage members from breeding outside of the pack. So, the bloodlines stay strong, and we don't die off. Half-breeds can't birth wolves."
"Maybe the world would be a better place without any of you," Lacee claimed.
Anger sizzled inside of Rinc as her words scorched his mind. Why would she say such a thing? A world without the wolves within would a tragedy. It would be less beautiful, less magical, less wild, and free. Maybe the ways were perfect but keeping the bloodline strong yet hidden was hard and this seemed to be the only solution.
"If you'd give me a chance. I could show you that there's more to the wolves than fighting and pack laws. You could feel it for yourself." He told her.
"What about my sister?" She asked. "Do you expect me to just cast her side?"
Many of his people would expect that, but he knew better than to ask that of Lacee. She was a devoted and loyal sister, so instead, he came up with an idea.
"I'll make you a deal. If you agree to awaken your wolf and train with me, I'll work on changing the way half-breeds are treated, including allowing your sister at our pack farm to live and be under our protection."
"I told you, I don't want any part of this pack."
"Lacee, listen to me, no matter where you go, you will be discovered by a pack and hunted down. It's a miracle you guys weren't already. You and your sister will get caught and punished. I can assure you that most pack Alpha's won't be as lenient as I was. Most packs hurt rogues and those that try to ignore the wolves within them. Aborting the wolf inside of you is what they call someone that pushes the wolf away until it is dead. And it's against the laws. Whether you want to be a full wolf or not, the fact is that unless you do, you're endangering yourself and your sister. There's so much I need to tell you, so much that will one day make sense, but for now, just know that I care about you and will do anything to keep you safe."
"You promise you will keep my sister safe?"
"I promise." He told her. "Deal?"
After a brief moment of thinking it over, Lacee stuck out her hand.
"Deal." She agreed.
He put his hand in hers and was relieved she didn't immediately pull away. For a moment, her hand stayed in his and he thought he saw her smile from the corner of his eye, but the sound of his phone ringing in his pocket interrupted them.
"What?" He was angry that his men were calling him again, just as he seemed to be getting somewhere with Lacee.
"Sir, we have a problem," Gideon said on the other side of the phone.
"What kind of problem?"
"It's the girl, the half-breed. She's having some kind of health issue. I don't know, like she can't breathe."
"Where are you?" Rinc saw Lacee's worried face beside him.
"We just got to the barn. Daron and Laran are trying to help the girl, but she's a mess."
"Gideon, you better fucking make sure she's breathing by the time I get there." He hung up the phone and stepped harder on the gas.
"What's wrong? Is it my sister? Who can't breathe?" Lacee was growing angry and anxious again, he could feel her emotions inside of him.
Fuck. He was going to rip his men's heads off if anything happened to that girl.
"Stay calm." He told Lacee. "We're only a few minutes away and I'm sure everything will be fine."
That was only partially true; the farm was only a few minutes away, but he had no idea whether everything would be fine or whether that girl would be harmed, and he'd lose his mate forever.
"Is she not breathing? Did they do something to her?" Her questioning was only making him angrier at his men. They were told not to harm the half-breed. It was simple orders.
"I'm sure she's fine." Damn it. Lying again.
"You promised me you'd keep her safe!" Lacee yelled at him. "You promised!"
For fucks sake, why were these last few miles taking an eternity to get through?
"Lacee, I intend to keep my promise." And he was going to kill anyone that made him break that promise. "But you need to trust me."
The phone rang again, and he growled an irked sigh as he picked it up. This time it was his Beta.
"What now?" He snarled into the phone.
"Alpha, we have a problem," Daron told him.
"The girl?"
"No, it's not the girl. It's a different problem," Daron said. "Alpha Alder from the Terran Pack just checked in at the bar. He said he has a meeting with you today."
"I'll be there in a minute." Rinc threw his phone onto the floorboard of the truck.
Enraged, he growled and punched the steering wheel twice.
"Damn it!" He yelled out.
"Is it my sister?" Lacee worried beside him.
"No. It's something else." He didn't want to tell her that meeting with Alpha Alder at the bar meant that the Alpha would be only yards away from the barn, putting both Lacee and Leena in danger if the Alpha came face to face with the male.
Not wanting to risk the Alpha seeing Lacee in his truck, Rinc decided to not go through the parking lot. Instead, he jerked the wheel and drove straight into the grass fields that surrounded the place.
"What are you doing?" Lacee grabbed onto the handle above the door and held on as they bounced over bumps and uneven ground.
"We're taking the back way." He acted as though it was common to drive through the field and down the fill to the barn, but he was just trying to play off the fact that he was avoided the Alpha. If the Alpha caused trouble with Lacee, Rinc would fight and kill the male without hesitation, but it would start a war between packs that he didn't want to start. They made it to the barn, and he pulled up right at the door. "Go right inside. Your sisters in there."
In a rush, Lacee hurried from the truck into the barn. Rinc scanned the area to see if anyone else was around, but he didn't see anyone or smell any scent. He went into the barn and locked the door behind him.
On the floor, the half-breed girl was laying with her shoulders and head in Laran's lap. He was trying to console her, but she seemed to still be short of breath.
"Move." Lacee pulled her sister away from him as she glared angrily at both males.
Laran looked at Rinc, who nodded for him to let the girl go. Lacee calmed her sister who still had a frightened look on her face but seemed to be catching her breath better.
"It was a panic attack," Laran told him. "She got freaked when she saw Gideon's wolf come out."
"Why did you do that?" Rinc asked Gideon.
"She kicked me in the face. I didn't mean to, it just happened. I'm sorry, sir." Fearing backlash from the Alpha, Gideon apologized. "I didn't know it would scare her like that."
"She doesn't know she's part wolf," Rinc told the males. "She didn't know werewolves exist."
"Shit." Laran sighed.
"How is that possible?" Gideon asked. "Even half-breeds are raised to know the wolf."
"Not these two females." He confessed. "I'm trying to figure it all out, but this all stays between the pack. No one else is to know. These two females are under our protection, as though they are members. If anyone hurts them, they will be punished."
The males nodded in agreement. Rinc went over to the females and hunched down close to them.
"Are you okay, little one?" He asked the girl. She was a pretty female, but short and thin, which meant she probably was a week fighter, even when in wolf form. The girl nodded, but she was still shaken.
"Get away from her." Lacee pushed him back. "This is all your fault."
"If you wouldn't have hidden from me, none of this would've ever happened." He told her. "This is why you need me, you the pack."
"I don't need anyone." Lacee stood and helped her sister to her feet. "We're leaving."
"You can't leave."
"You can't stop us." The defiant female smacked his hand as he reached out to stop her.
Gideon and Laran gasped as they knew that such actions would mean punishment, but Rinc would never even think about punishing his mate. The males watched in confusion, unsure whether they should step in and defend their Alpha or be careful not to upset him themselves. To keep them back, Rinc put up his hand and motioned for them not to take action.
"We made a deal." Rinc reminded Lacee.
"Yeah, well, you broke that deal the moment these idiots almost scared my sister to death." She tried to get to the door, but Rinc blocked her.
He'd had enough of her ignoring the danger that lay outside of his protection. It was his fault for trying to coddle her at first and give her time to understand, instead of just laying all the facts about the world around her. It would've been better had he had just taken her with him that first night and made her live on the farm until she adjusted to pack life.
Now, he was done playing games. Alpha Alder was right at the bar next door, and if he saw a commotion with these females, there would be a bigger problem on their hands. It would affect the pack tremendously, and his number one priority as an Alpha was putting his pack first. He would never allow harm to come to Lacee, but if he had to upset her in order to keep the pack, Lacee and Lanee safe, then that was a consequence he was ready to face.
"I tried to do this your way, but you made it impossible. Now, we're going to do this my way." Rinc looked over at his males who picked up where he was going with it.
"Lacee." Leena whispered as the males closed in on them.
"It's okay, Leena." Lacee stared right into his eyes, and he could feel her warning him not to dare touch them. "Just stay calm."
"No one's going to hurt you." Rinc promised. "But I can't let you go out there, for your own good."
Laran and Gideon pounced, grabbing the females from behind. The males had clothe soaked in herbs that worked to render werewolves unconscious, the same as chloroform does to humans. His people had used these herbs for centuries, and he knew it was a safe way to put the females to sleep for transport.
Leena was easier to handle, and she barely put up a fight before the herbs knocked her out, but Lacee was a much scrappier female. Her elbow crashed into Gideon's ribs and her foot hit the male right between the legs. Rinc couldn't help but admire his mate, even if she was defying him, she was so much stronger than he expected, and he knew she'd only get stronger as she accepted the wolf within.
"Enough." Rinc stepped in and grabbed his female. She may be strong, but she was nowhere near as strong as him. "Easy. I promise I'll never hurt you." He whispered into her ear as the herbs began to take effect on her. "Shh. Just trust me. Please."
The weight of her limp body fell into him as she lost consciousness. Rinc laid her gently onto the floor and brushed her golden hair out of her face.
"Take them back to the farm. Lock them in the spare bedroom. I'll be there as soon as I finish with Alpha Alder." He directed. "And remember, no harm comes to them."
The males nodded. Rinc took one last look at his fated mate on the floor and then headed out of the barn. The thought of losing her pained him so much that he had to take a moment to catch his breath before going into the bar. Every decision he made since becoming Alpha had always been impactful, but life after first sight on his mate made his every move even greater.
Lacee had just stumbled into his life, but she had already made it more beautiful and more dangerous than ever. He headed into the bar, hoping his meeting wouldn't make matters worse than they already were.