BK 5 - Chapter 54 - Isla
Petra suddenly sat up in bed, looking around. She brushed her long black hair out of her face as she tried to get her bearings. They were in a hotel in Utah after rescuing a few people from a pack who had bought them when they were pups. She looked at her pup, Kaiden, sleeping in his bassinet beside the bed. He had the same blonde hair as his dad. Anton sat up next to her, rubbing his eyes.
"Is everything okay?" He asked as she tried to figure out what had woken her up.
"I don't know. I feel like we need to be somewhere, and it feels urgent." Petra, Anton, and the rest of their family had been all over the country rescuing pups and adults who had been kidnapped. They had shut down several packs as well as discovering who was responsible for the kidnappings and deaths of some werewolves. Their group had continued to grow with every pack they went to, but none of them complained. They all beleived the more they had the better..
"Where do you think we need to go?" Petra was a werewolf from the Mystic Moonlighters pack. They were known to have powerful magic, and she had abilities that not many had seen. Her wolf, Diamond, felt the pull to leave as well.
"I think we need to go to California. Do you remember when Lisa came to the palace for my birthday? She said the family was getting prepared for something big?" Anton nodded. "I believe we need to help them with whatever they're preparing for."
"Okay. I'll mindlink the others to let them know. It's almost sunrise, so they should be getting up soon, anyway." Anton said as he got out of bed.
*"I'm sorry to wake everyone up, but Petra said we need to get to California and to the werelion family as soon as possible. She said they're going to need our help."* After getting responses from everyone, including King Adrian and Queen Victoria, he turned to Petra.
"You heard that. Everyone will be ready soon." He said, kissing her forehead before going to the bathroom to get a shower. Petra swallowed past the familiar lump in her throat when she thought about the werelion family. Lisa had called and told her about Grandma Valerie, but she hadn't been able to go to the funeral last week. They had been at a pack, shutting it down and rescuing those who had been held captive. Petra hadn't seen her often as she had always lived in Illinois with Jelena, but the few times she met Grandma Valerie had been enough to love her as a grandmother.
An hour later, everyone was loaded onto the bus. There were six couples with pups who were around six months old. Joel, Kiana, and Logan's parents, King Adrian and Queen Victoria, were also there. As well as Anton, Teegan, and Damon's parents, Simon and Mirela. They had also picked up a few people who didn't have anywhere else to go and wanted to help them with rescuing pups. So the bus was fully packed, and they had royal guards in a cargo van following them that carried some of the luggage and baby items.
The trip would take them almost ten hours, but no one complained. Everyone knew that if Petra said they needed to go, they were needed. Every day, her power got stronger, and some of the people in their group were scared of her. Teegan smiled as she and Joel sat down with their daughter, Gracie.
"Do you have any idea what trouble they're going to have?" Teegan asked Petra.
"No, but the feeling that we need to be there is so strong it's almost taking my breath away. I'm sorry it's messing up our plans." She said, even though she wasn't really sorry at all. If the werelion family needed her, then she wanted to be there. Grandma Cat's daughter Jelena and her mate Garrett rescued Petra when she was a teenager from a pack that had kidnapped her and abused her for years. She owed the family her life because, without them, she may be dead.
"You know, if someone needs us, that takes priority. After everything you've said about them, I'm anxious to meet this family." Teegan said, smiling as she pulled her blonde hair up into a messy bun.
Isla sat quietly in her seat, listening to Petra and Teegan talking. They rescued her a few weeks ago from a pack who had bought her when she was an orphaned pup. She was nineteen now, and the scars she had weren't ones people could see on the outside. The things the pack had done to her had made her beg for death many times.
She was beautiful with long dark brown hair that fell in waves to her waist and teal blue eyes. Isla was petite at five foot two, but had a curvy figure. She looked out the window as the bus headed down the highway. She was surrounded by many people, but she felt all alone. Everyone was nice to her, and she knew many of them had been through bad things like her, but she just couldn't open up to them.
She had hoped to meet her mate while she was at the pack and have him take her away, but that never happened. Even though she was still young, Isla knew that if she ever met her mate, he probably wouldn't want her. She was too damaged for any man to accept her. She was too scared to have anyone touch her anyway, so there was no point in having a mate. All he would do was end up hurting her.
The bus stopped several times on the way to California for gas, food, and bathroom breaks. It was almost dinner time when they made it to Granite Bay. Petra had called Lisa and told her they were coming and going to check into a hotel, but Lisa told them to come straight to the house. She thought they would have enough room to accommodate everyone; if they didn't, other family members could help.
Isla looked at the enormous house they pulled up to in awe. She had never seen such a beautiful house. Several people were standing outside waiting for them, and her nerves took over. What if they weren't as good as Petra said? She could already feel her anxiety growing as they came to a stop.
"I'll just wait here," Isla said quietly as her voice shook. She wrapped her arms around herself as more people came outside. How many people were in the house? It was too many. She couldn't do this. Petra sat next to her and took her hand.
"Remember I told you that I was like you?" Isla nodded. "You don't have to be scared of this family. They have the biggest hearts of anyone I know. Come with me. I won't leave you, okay?"
Petra had seen herself in Isla as soon as they had met. She had a similar upbringing in an abusive pack. Isla swallowed a few times and nodded. They stood up and were the last ones off of the bus. As the people from the house started moving towards them, Isla tried to step back towards the bus, but Petra held her hand tightly.
When she looked up at the family approaching, she saw them smiling, and it made her calm down a little. However, her heart began to race when her eyes met those of a tall, muscular man with black hair staring at her from behind the others. Her wolf, Scarlett, began howling in her head with excitement. Isla couldn't move as the man walked toward her. Petra saw what was about to happen, so she stayed next to Isla in case she needed her. The man stopped when he was in front of the two women. Looking at Isla, he smiled before speaking.
"Mate," Nathan said softly as he looked at Isla.
Isla shook her head in a panic. She couldn't have a mate right now. She was too broken. She took her hand from Petra and dropped to her knees as her tears fell.
"No, no, no. I can't have a mate. It's too painful. Please make the pain stop." Everyone watched in horror as Isla curled up on the ground in the fetal position as she sobbed. Nathan's heart broke as he watched his mate. She had clearly been hurt badly. He vowed whoever had hurt her would face a painful death. First, he needed to help his mate, but later, anyone who had made her cry would die.
