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Chpt. 12
Ana

The sound of the door opening down stairs has me sitting up in bed; I must have fallen asleep because the room is now dark. I listen for Christian's voice, but all I can hear is faint voices that I can't identify. There's more than one voice which worries me. I try not to think the worst, but my first thought is that Tony somehow found me. Even though Christian insists I'm safe here, I've learned the hard way that you can't doubt Tony or just how far his reach is.

When I hear heavy footsteps coming up the steps, I glance around the room, trying to find something to use as a weapon. The nightstand is pretty much empty, just a small alarm clock and a lamp. There might be something on the dresser, but it's too dark to make out anything in detail plus it's halfway across the room.

As the footsteps get closer, I panic, no longer able to convince myself that it's not Tony coming for me once and for all. Pushing through the pain, I launch myself out of the bed and grab the lamp off the nightstand. It's not much, but if he comes after me at least it's something to hit him with. Even if I do hit him, it's not going to do much good because there's no way I'll be able to make it down the stairs to get out of here. My only hope would be that Christian comes home soon though I have no idea where he went.

What if Tony somehow got to him too? What if he tied Christian up somewhere before he came here? The sun was just starting to set when Christian left, but now it's completely dark outside. Who knows what Tony or his men could have accomplished in the short time he was gone. What if they got to Taylor and Gail? Or to Elliot and Christian's parents? I'll never forgive myself if Tony hurt them because of me. I'll never-

The door opens just slightly and I freeze, holding my breath hoping that Tony won't see me in the darkness. Maybe he'll think the room is empty since it's dark. When a commercial appears on the TV, the entire room lights up and I realize I'm screwed. I fucking fell asleep with the TV on; something that drove Tony crazy when we lived together.

"Ana?" a deep male voice calls into the room, but I can barely hear it over the pounding of my heart.

I don't say a word, knowing that the element of surprise is probably the only thing I have working in my favor right now. I should have moved closer to the door so I could hit him as soon as he came in, but I obviously didn't think this plan through since the lamp in my hand is still plugged into the outlet behind the nightstand.

"Ana?"

"Go away!" I yell out. "You're not going to hurt me again, Tony!"

He's not close enough, but he will be soon. I raise the lamp over my head, readying to hit him with as much power as I can muster. My injured wrist screams in protest, my ankle throbs as I put even the smallest amount of weight on it, but ignore it all.

"Ana? It's Christian." The bright light blinds me momentarily; I close my eyes out of instinct and open them the moment I feel a hand on mine, prying the lamp from my clutch.

"Christian?" I sob in relief when I finally realize it wasn't Tony after all.

"You're okay; Tony isn't going to ever find you again." Without another word, he places the lamp on the nightstand, and lifts me in his arms. He takes a couple of steps over to the bed, but instead of putting me on it, he simply sits down with me on his lap. I curl into him, and try to get my breathing under control.

I don't know how long we sit there, but Christian doesn't seem in any hurry to change things. I should have known it was him downstairs, and not Tony. I wonder if there will ever be a day when I don't assume that he found me. Even though I feel safer right now in Christian's arms, I know that it can't last forever. At some point I'm going to need to leave, before my fear becomes a reality and Tony hurts Christian's friends and family.

"You okay?" he says softly.

"Yeah…" My shaky voice can't hide the emotional toll that this just took on me. "Sorry about that-"

"You don't need to apologize, not about him. You're safe here, Ana. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise." He kisses the top of my head as his hand rubs small circles on my lower back.

"I must have fallen asleep and woke up to mumbled voices downstairs-wait, is someone else here?" I remember distinctly hearing two different voices when I woke up.

"Yeah…I was coming up here to ask you if you could come downstairs-"

"Is something wrong? Do I need to leave?"

My mind immediately races, trying to figure out where I could go next. My options are limited thanks to my injuries, but I should have enough cash to pay for a motel room to hide out, at least for a little while. From there, who knows.

"You're not going anywhere," he growls, his chest rumbling against my body as his grip tightens on me.

"I can't stay here forever, Christian-"

"Look," he sighs and leans back just far enough that I need to look up to see his face. "There's something we need to talk about. Can you come with me downstairs?"

"Someone's down there?" I ask even though I already know the answer.

"My dad and our pack's elder." Although he answered the question I asked, he doesn't answer all the others he must know that I have. Why do they want to meet with me? Are they going to tell me that I need to leave? That I'm putting the pack at risk by staying here?

"Okay," I reluctantly agree knowing that I really don't have much of a choice.

Christian lifts my chin up so I'm once again looking at him. He slowly leans it, much more cautiously than he did earlier when we laid in his bed together. His soft lips find mine, the urgency from earlier may be gone, but the passion is still there. As we separate, I open my eyes and immediately find him watching me. For a split second I swear I can see both of them…Christian and his wolf, looking back at me.

"You're safe here," he tries to assure me likely sensing my nervousness. "They're not going to ask you to leave, I promise."

"Okay…I trust you."

I might have only known Christian for a few days, but I trust him more than I've ever trusted anyone before. It doesn't make sense, because I should probably be afraid to trust anyone after what Tony did to me. I was certain he ruined my ability to trust a long time ago, especially with men. But, Christian is different. I don't know why, but he is.

"Let's get you downstairs."

He tenses against, but doesn't say anything more. I use the bathroom before he carries me downstairs, gently placing me on the couch. Carrick and another man probably at least twenty or thirty years older than Christian's dad, sit on the loveseat next to the couch. Without me asking, Christian takes a seat next to me, taking my hand in his.

"Ana…" he begins but then shakes his head.

"Ana, Christian has told us a little bit about your childhood," Carrick surprises me by announcing. I look at Christian, confused as to what my childhood would have to do with anything, but his eyes are down and he doesn't look up at me.

"Okay?" I ask, still confused.

"Let me start," the older man says. "My name is Theodore, I'm Carrick's father, and therefore, Christian's grandfather. I am what's known as the pack elder, or pack historian. Essentially it means I know everything about everyone."

I laugh and for the first time since Christian brought me down here, I feel a little less anxious. I still have no idea what's going on or why Carrick and Theodore needed to see me, but Theodore puts me at ease.

"I'm going to give you a little history about how our packs work before we get into the questions I'm sure you have about why we're here," I nod before he continues. "There are packs just like ours all over the world. Most are set up just like this one, where everyone lives close and with one another. Some are a little more spread out, but the concept is still the same. It's customary for packs to get together, which allows the adults to share information and discuss risks to our survival. Almost as important, it gives our younger generations a chance to meet others.

"It's hard to explain, but when we are born, there is another shifter genetically matched with us somewhere in the world that is designated as their mate. Usually the match is within a few hundred miles of each pack, as I'm sure you can imagine mates may not find each other if they were countries apart."

"Makes sense," I agree but still not understanding what this has to do with me.

"Every shifter is born with a birthmark that identifies them as part of the pack. When two people mate from two different packs, the father's birthmark is left on their offspring as usually the woman joins the male's pack."

Silence falls around the room, but I still can't figure out what any of this has to do with me and why we're sitting here discussing the history of the pack. It's fascinating…but it really doesn't have anything to do with me.

"What my father is trying to say," Carrick breaks the silence. "Is that we believe you have one of those birthmarks."

"Wait…what?" I look at Christian, who finally meets my gaze. He almost looks guilty, which doesn't make any sense. Then again, none of what they're saying makes any sense.

"The birthmark…I saw earlier…" he mumbles.

"I told you, it's been there forever," I shake my head.

"Christian sketched the birthmark for us," Theodore says. "I was able to confirm that it matches a pack in North Dakota."

"I don't understand. You're saying…?"

"We're saying that your father, who I understand from Christian you didn't know, was or is a shifter," Carrick clarifies.

"That's not possible." None of this makes any sense. I have the sudden urge to get up, to move around the room. Sitting on the couch is driving me crazy. I feel like I should be doing something! Christian isn't saying anything, but his hand grips mine even tighter.

"Taylor dug into your past-" Carrick announces.

"WHAT?! He can't do that! I need to leave, before Tony-" I try to stand up, but Christian's wraps his arm around my waist and stops me.

"Taylor is very good at what he does," Christian explains. "There's no way that Tony would have even known that anyone was looking into you, let alone figure out it was Taylor. In fact, Taylor put several safeguards into place ensuring that he's notified the moment someone even as much as looks at your banking activity. You need to trust us; no one will let Tony near you again."

"Christian is right, Ana," Carrick tries to assure me. "Taylor is the best at what he does, that's why he's head of security for the pack."

"Okay…"I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. "So, did he find something out?"

"Not exactly," Christian says.

"We don't know who your father was," Theodore explains. "What we know is that when your mother passed away, her family refused to take you in-"

"She was an only child; her parents had passed away," I say even more confused.

"She was one of four children," Carrick says apolitically. "All of her siblings and both of her parents are still alive, even today."

"I need a drink," I mumble.

"I'll get you one," Christian goes to get up from the couch, but it's my turn to stop him.

"I'm fine. I shouldn't drink with the pain medicine anyway." Though, maybe it would help make everything they're saying a little easier to swallow. I feel like I'm finding out my entire life is a lie. "You said my father was part of a…pack, right? But my mother wasn't?"

"Correct," Theodore says. "I contacted an elder at the pack where we believe your birth mark originates from. I didn't get into any specifics about you, but I asked if he recalled a situation in which a shifter impregnated a human. You have to understand that it's very rare for a human and a shifter to be mated. That doesn't mean that relationships don't occur, but if a shifter has sexual intercourse with someone who is not their mate, a pregnancy should not occur. Every so often though we do hear of a pregnancy occurring, however it's very rare."

"You think that's what happened with my mother and father?" I ask.

"Yes," Theodore confirms. "According to the person I spoke with, there was a young man who was dating a human woman around the time in which you would have been conceived. He believes the mother's family was visiting the area on vacation and the two met a local restaurant where your father was working. She left a couple of weeks after they met, and as far as the elder knew, pregnancy was never mentioned."

"Is he still alive?" I whisper.

"Yes," Theodore confirms. "He met his mate two years later and has several children with her."

"So...my mother's family disowned her because of who he was?"

"We don't believe she knew he was shifter. They had only known each other for a very short period of time, so it's highly unlikely he would have confided in her so quickly. They may have disowned her because she became pregnant outside of marriage. Or perhaps they met your father and didn't like him. I'm not sure."

"So if my father was…is…a shifter. That doesn't mean that I'm a….?"

"You're also a shifter," Carrick confirms.

"But…how…what?"

"The shifting gene would have been dominant and passed down to you. Just like with a human pregnancy, you receive genes from both parents during conception. However, shifters have additional genes because…well, obviously, we have the genes of a human and those of a wolf. Therefore, our genes become dominant when conception occurs. That's the reason the child always receives the birthmark from the father's pack and not the other way around," he explains.

"But…I've never…I'm not a…" I stutter, none of this making any sense.

"Your wolf is in there somewhere, Ana," Carrick leans forward and gently says.

"But wouldn't I know? I mean…I've seen Christian talk with his wolf, they have full conversations. How can I have a wolf and not know it?"

"I'm still looking into that." Theodore sits back on the couch with a confused look on his face. I'm glad I'm not the only one confused as to what's going on right now. "Your situation is truly unique; I've reached out to a couple of packs but no one has ever heard of a shifter being raised by humans and having no contact with their own pack. It's just not done."

"Maybe they're wrong? I mean, isn't it possible the birthmark is just that-a birthmark?" I ask.

"It's not just a birthmark," Christian sighs next to me. "I knew the moment I saw it that it wasn't just a birthmark."

"That's why you ran out," I realize.

"Yeah." He shakes his head and lowers his gaze. "I shouldn't have done that, but I was caught completely off guard."

"You and me both," I mumble.

"You may start noticing some changes the longer you stay here," Carrick breaks the silence that seemed to have fallen over the room. "Some of the elders theorize that your wolf needs to feel safe, protected even, before she makes herself known. In a world surrounded by humans, she might have been too scared to make herself known."

"You think…she'll come out now that I'm here?" We seriously cannot be having this conversation.

"Yes," Theodore says firmly. "It might take a little while, but we believe as she feels safe, she's going to start making her presence known."

"This is crazy. You're sure this isn't some big mistake?"

"We're certain."

"I know it's a lot to take in." Carrick stands up and Theodore follows suit. "We're going to spend the next few days speaking with the other packs to see if anyone has been through something like this. They might be able to provide some guidance or suggestions to us-well to you. In the meantime, Christian will be here with you every step of the way. He can answer any questions you might have, but of course you're also welcome to ask any one of us."

I look at Christian, but he doesn't look up to meet me. He's been quiet for most of the conversation; I have no idea what he's thinking. Silently, he let's go of my hand and walks Carrick and Theodore out. When he returns he takes the seat that they previously occupied, rather than sitting next to me. Somehow the distance feels so much farther between us than it actually is.

"This is really screwed up," I shake my head still in disbelief.

"You have no idea."