Slave: The Fight to Save a Species

My head hurts so badly. I don’t know why – LILY!

I jerk up, only to have gentle hands press me back down.

“Calm down, you’ll make yourself sick if you move to fast,” Mrs. Habberknack whispered
Resting back, I noticed Adrian asleep in a chair by my bed. The pink chair looked completely uncomfortable; I don’t know how he’s sleeping in it.

“Poor cub, he’s been running back and forth for days.” The healer sighed

I frowned, “How long have I been out? Wait, more importantly, where’s Lily?!”

Mrs. Habberknack let tears roll down her cheeks.

“No...” I whispered, tears forming in my own eyes.

Sniffling, the healer looked at me, “You can find her.”

“Me?” I stammered

More sniffles, “I know your secret. You’re faster, stronger, you can do things others can’t.”

A feeling of dread overcame me, “How did you find out?”

She looked sheepish, “I ran some blood work off you and found out about your father.”

Oh, no.

She looked at me with hope shinning in her eyes, “He was a natural wolf, wasn’t he?”

I staid silent, shocked that she knew.

“The mixing of a shifter and natural made you different, didn’t it?”

I continued my mute charade.

She sighed, “It’s your secret, I know, but you’re the only one who can find her, I know you are.” She whispered with force.

All I felt was panic. If I looked for Lily then everyone would know my secret, but if I didn’t Lily would-

I don’t want to think about it.

Seeing that this conversation wasn’t going anywhere, Mrs. Habberknack left.

I don’t know what to do... I love Lily, Nobody has every broken through my walls, but her.
But if people knew about me... they’d kill me. They wouldn’t have a choice. In the animal world the weakest or most unknown was destroyed for fear that they’d bring the rest down.

It’s just how it works.

What do I do?!

“Carmella?”

Turning, I see Adrian asleep. Thinking that I was just hearing things, I turned again, only to be shocked when he bolts straight up gasping.

Blinking his eyes, his place his head into his hands, shoulders slumped. Was he shaking?

“Adrian?” I whispered

His body stilled, slowly lifting his head he stared at me, as if he couldn’t tell if this was reality or a dream.

“Carmella? You’re really here?”

Sitting up, I moved closer to him on the bed, and reached out to grab his hand.

“I’m here.”

He looked at me with shattered eyes, “She’s gone. My little lion cub is gone.”

His voice broke my heart, but when tears started to fall from his face, my life shattered.

“I thought you were gone too, that I had lost you both. I can’t – I can’t –“ sobs shook his body, he couldn’t finish his sentence.

I pulled him onto the bed, holding on as he broke apart.

My mind’s made up, this isn’t about me anymore.

I need to talk to Lord Landers.

~*~

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. I left Adrian asleep on the bed. We held each other for hours, letting each other release our fury and pain at the loss of Lily.

Opening the door at the tired ‘enter’ I was shocked to see the man sitting behind the Lord’s desk.

Landers was no longer the Lord of the land, he no longer had perfect hair, he wasn’t clean shaven, his clothes were wrinkled and dirty. No, he wasn’t Lord Landers. He was daddy, and his little girl was missing.

He looked at me with red shot eyes, “Hello, I’m glad to see you’re okay.” He gave me a little smile that never reached his eyes.

I took a deep breath, here goes everything.

“I can find her.”

Landers looked shocked, then sad.

“Carmella, the authorities are doing everything they can, there’s nothing you can do. Nothing anyone can do.”

His pain broke my heart even more.

So I proceeded to tell him everything. About me being a hybrid of a hybrid, about my abilities, everything.

“That’s why they took her. Somehow, they found out about me, and they took Lily knowing that I’d go after her.”

Landers looked shocked, “Then you can’t go, I’m not going to risk one for another. We’ll get Lily, don’t worry.”

But I could tell that he was worried.

“If you’d just let me go I’d – “

“No.”

Both of us looked to see Adrian standing at the open door. He looked hurt, furious and hurt.

“Adrian, I – “

“You can’t go. I won’t let you.” He interrupted me

His father sighed, “I wasn’t going to let her do it anyways. We can’t afford – “

The phone rang.

“Hello?” Landers answered. It wasn’t long until his face lost all color. Gulping, he hit a button, allowing the room to hear the conversation.

”Did you do as I asked? Am I on speaker?”

I know that voice, but from where?

“Yes.” Landers spoke

“Good. Hello Carmella, I’m sorry about your head, but I hope you still remember me.”

No, no, no, no, no. It can’t be... I thought he was dead.

“I see you’re stunned into silence. Should I take that as a good thing? Don’t you remember me, lil sis?”

Andrew.

A cackle came through the phone.

“Aren’t you happy that I’m alive? You should have really known better then to let someone else attack me. You should have killed me yourself instead of letting poor cousin Luis try.”

I felt my knees buckle, good thing Adrian was there to catch me.

“Want to know the really funny part? Maybe if you had been the one to attack me, Adrian and Lily would still have their mother.”

I felt Adrian stiffen, releasing me as his father blanched even more.

“That’s right, I killed Cerise, but it’s you who should feel bad. You weren’t wolf enough to kill me yourself, so you’re the reason Cerise is dead. It’s all your fault.”

Silence filled the room.

“Now, for the real reason I called. I have Lily and unless you find me by tomorrow Lily will be no more. But maybe I’d be doing her a favor, at least she’s see her momma once again.”

No, this can’t be happening.

“Well, that’s all I wanted to say. Better get moving.”

There was a faint click on the other line, then silence.

I looked between Adrian and his father, panic setting in.

“Adrian...” I reached for him, only to see him pull away.

My heart broke.

“I’m so sorry.” I whispered before I fled the room, running for the front door.

~*~

“Kill me!”

I watched as my older brother laughed from the middle of the fighting ring. I was so tired, bleeding everywhere. I just went from runt of the litter to second in command, and only one person stood in my way the alpha position, Andrew, my older brother.

We’ve never been able to get a long, having different fathers’ puts a gap between family members. The main part of it all was the fact that I was stronger, and he wasn’t.

“C’mon! You know the only way to get an alpha position is to kill me! Do it already!”

He was gasping for breath, already on a thin line between life and death after the last beat down I gave him.

Making a quick decision I attack, brining him even closer. The next time I walked away, his body was so still, so close to death. Watching the others leave, thinking it was over and he was dead, I pulled Luis to the side, explaining to him that I wanted Andrew thrown off a cliff, into a bottomless pit.

Walking away, I thought I would never hear from my brother again.

Who knew I would be so wrong?

If only I had been a better alpha, a better wolf, then Adrian and his family would still have Cerise.

Andrew’s right, it’s all my fault.

Shaking those thoughts from my head I push myself harder. I had to get to Lily. I owed them.

Following Lily’s faint scent and my instincts I turned north.

Having a natural wolf as a father and being born wolf made me different. Normally shifters made their first change at puberty, but I shifted for the first time, from wolf to human, when I was ten. My body and mind is more advanced then others, but it’s not a gift. It’s a curse.

Tonight, I’m going to embrace that curse.

~*~

Adrian paced around his room, thoughts crashing through his mind. The loudest one not letting go.

I’ve finally found him. After years of looking I know his name.

Andrew. The knowledge was bitter sweet. After all these years since his mother’s death, Adrian looked for him. He knew it was a wolf, the prints and scent proved that, but he never knew the murders name, never knew how the knowledge would shatter him.

The man who killed his mother was the one wolf he’d allowed past his icy heart’s brother.

Carmella’s brother.

Carmella...

Adrian sighed, when she had reached for him after that god awful phone call he’d backed away. He knew his emotions were fried and didn’t want to hurt her, but by the look she had given him right after wards he guessed she hadn’t taken it that way.

Adrian felt like slime. He never wanted to hurt her, but when he had tried not to he’d hurt her more.

Deciding to settle at least one mishap, Adrian headed to her room. Knocking in her door he waited, but when no answer came he opened the door to an empty room. Searching for her door by door Adrian started to panic. By the time he’d ran the entire house he was losing control.

Running into his father, Adrian panically asked, “Have you seen Carmella?”

Landers looked confused, “Not since the phone call.”

“She’s not here,” Adrian was breathing hard, “She must have gone after Lily.”

For the first time since his first change, Adrian shifted to leopard unconsciously, the animal reacting to his fear.