Alpha Beast (The Alpha Shifter Collection Book 10)(21)
Author: Sam Crescent

 

“You can’t take him,” Jenny said.

 

“Sweetheart, you and I both know our dads gets what they want.” Lewis sighed. “Let’s go.” He looked at Jenny. “You saw Anna?”

 

“She didn’t know it was you,” Jenny said. “She said the men with nice clothes. The ones she has to be quiet around.”

 

Lewis covered his face. “I loved her. I did, Jenny, but I knew this world, our world, would spit at her.” He shook his head. “I fucked up big time.”

 

Jenny turned toward Liam, putting her hands on his chest. “Don’t send him away.”

 

“This is out of my control.”

 

She whirled back to see her brother. “Did you set the fire?”

 

Lewis shook his head. “No. I was there to pick up Tana and Anna. She had gained enough information for me, and I was done, but the fire was already going strong when I arrived. I had no way of putting it out. There was nothing I could do.”

 

She cursed.

 

“If you see Anna, tell her Daddy loves her so much and that he’s sorry. He’s sorry for not being there all the time. Tell her I’m going to think about her every single day.”

 

Liam had already grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned to look at his wife, who was crying.

 

“Please, for your own sake, stay here. Please.”

 

Jenny’s tears cut him to the core. “You shouldn’t take him.”

 

“You know the rules. We need to make sure no one knows about his involvement. He has made a mess of everything. Please, tell me I can trust you.”

 

“You can trust me.”

 

He doubted it, but Liam knew his father would cause trouble if he didn’t handle this first. All he wanted to do was hold his wife, to let her know it was going to be okay.

 

Instead, he held her brother, taking him from his apartment, toward the elevator.

 

“My sister is a good person.”

 

“You spat at her feet less than twenty minutes ago,” he said. “Don’t try to claim to be the doting brother. You’re not.”

 

“I know that my sister is as good as dead. The life that was handed to her is a death wish. I watched it slowly consume my mother and I was there to see my grandmother die. That’s all that happens to those that have her curse. They die. It’s not pretty. It’s a slow death, painful.”

 

Liam wrapped his fingers around Lewis’s throat. “For your own sake, you better hope my wife doesn’t suffer that self-same fate, otherwise, you’re going to be the one I’m coming for. I’m going to kill you, and tear you limb from limb. By the time I’m through with you, no one will ever be able to recognize the body.”

 

“Do you think I give a shit?” Lewis snarled at him. “I lost my daughter.”

 

“You may act like the nice guy, but you and I both know differently,” Liam said. “You shouldn’t have been on our property in the first place. You love your daughter that much, but not enough to let your family know about her.”

 

“You know nothing.”

 

“I know enough.” He shoved Lewis out the open elevator doors.

 

“You know enough? You think you know enough. You don’t have a clue. You can judge me all you want, but you’ve known Jen a matter of days. In real terms, you’ve known her hours, and that’s all. Me, I’ve lived with her. I know what it’s like for her. For people to stare at her because she’s talking to someone only she could see, or the way strange shit happens all around her. I was there. I lived with it. Anna didn’t have Jen’s gift, but she was human. I know because I got her tested. The wolf blood didn’t run within her veins, but she was my daughter. I’ve lived my life with people starting at their horrible rumors and judgments. I kept my daughter away to protect her. Judge me all you want, but until you have a kid of your own, don’t you fucking dare tell me what I should or shouldn’t do for the love of my child.”

 

Liam hated that Lewis had him beat. He couldn’t judge. Even before he’d truly met Jenny, he’d heard about her. The rumor mill was always running rife and certainly within wolf packs.

 

He slammed the door closed and couldn’t help but wonder what he was going to do if his son or daughter was given the same gift that Jenny had.

 

****

 

There was no way in hell Jenny intended to do as she was told. She wasn’t a child and no one was going to make her do something she didn’t want to do, not even her husband.

 

With a coat on and her cell phone at the ready, she managed to get past the guards with a few more idle threats. It wouldn’t take the guards long to realize she couldn’t hurt anyone, then this freedom she had would end. She’d have to come up with more elaborate escape plans.

 

Taking a car during the day was just stupid. She had no choice but to grab a cab and take the journey toward the same location. She paid the driver and climbed out, looking around at the open businesses. There were a few clients in each but not a whole lot.

 

Approaching the danger zone would only come with too much risk. She looked around and found a bench. It had been graffitied to within an inch of its life. She sat down, put her hands in her lap, and tried not to look like someone who was waiting for a ghost. She had to look odd to people.

 

Jenny stared at the house and thought about her brother. She wondered if it had been easy for him to keep this big secret or if it really upset him. She had an eight-year-old niece and hadn’t known.

 

Anna.

 

Clasping her fingers together, she waited.

 

“You shouldn’t be here, honey,” her grandmother said.

 

“This is coming from the woman who raised me and taught me not to ignore the people no one else could see.”

 

“I also taught you better than to make it appear like you’re talking to yourself.”

 

Rolling her eyes, she reached into her jacket and pulled out her cell phone.

 

“That’s good, dear. You’re lucky, back in my day, I didn’t have any such luxury.”

 

She smiled, wishing once again that her grandmother could hold her. “Did you know?”

 

“Yes, I did. It’s why we could help and protect her. Our abilities are so limited, especially in this world.”

 

“The ghost world.”