Annie jolted awake, her breathing ragged and hot tears spilling down her cheeks as she tried to erase the nightmare from her mind. They'd started after the attack on Stonehaven. Nick sat up with her, making the covers fall from her bare chest.
"Who'd you see this time?" Nick murmured, taking Annie into his arms and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He was getting accustomed to waking in the middle of the night because of Annie's nightmares. They were always the same, it was just who she saw that was different.
"You," Annie whispered, holding tightly to Nick's arms around her. "But it was different this time." That's what had scared Annie the most. The nightmares never changed. It was always the same place, the same scenario.
"Different how?" Nick pressed, ducking his head to trail kisses down Annie's damp cheeks, letting his lips wipe some of the tears away.
"The setting was different. You weren't in Stonehaven. There was a dense fog. I could only make out the outline for trees. Your head was still attached to your body, and your eyes weren't closed either. They stared lifelessly back at me, bloodshot like you had bled out from your eyes. It was horrible," Annie murmured, fresh tears running down her cheeks as she described it.
"It's alright Principessa, it wasn't real," Nick soothed, pulling Annie tighter against him. He would do anything to rid Annie of her nightmares, but nothing seemed to help. They'd tried a white noise machine, listening to music, even chamomile tea before bed. None of those helped.
"Do you have to leave today?" Annie asked, turning in Nick's arm until their bodies were wrapped up in each other's.
"Yes, Joey will be here in an hour," Nick responded after checking his watch. It was Jeremy's idea to send Joey and him to New York City to try and follow Malcolm's financial trail. As much as Nick wanted to find the guy, he didn't like leaving Annie. Neither did his wolf.
"When will you be back?" Annie whispered, afraid of the answer. She hated the idea of Nick leaving. She hated sleeping alone. Jeremy wouldn't let her go with Nick. Ever since the attack on the house, Annie had started her term of house arrest. If she wanted to go outside at all she had to have at least one pack member with her.
"As soon as I can." Nick rarely ever knew the timeline of his jobs. "But I think we have time for one more roll in the hay," he added with a sly smile as he rolled them so he was on top. He wanted to savor what little time he had left with Annie. It would have to tide him over until he could see her again.
…
Annie tossed and turned that night without Nick. By the time the sun had started the day, she was ready for a distraction. Dressing in a pair of yoga pants, one of Nick's tees, and sneakers, Annie tied her hair back and headed for the stairs. She was hoping she could slip out for a quick run around the property before breakfast and without Jeremy being the wiser. What she had forgotten in her sleep depraved mindset, was that there was an Alpha meeting occurring in the living room, just off the entrance hall.
"Annie," Jeremey called out to her when he noticed her standing at the foot of the stairs. "I thought I told you to stay upstairs."
"I'm sorry I forgot," Annie murmured, taking in the crowd of men in suits that stood around Jeremy's desk. The only familiar faces were Jeremy and Antonio.
"So this is the little she-wolf you have been keeping from us," the man standing by Jeremy's chair spoke. He had a Russian accent and stern eyes. "Come here girl, let me inspect you."
Jeremy internally flinched at Roman's order. There was a reason he had wanted Annie to stay out of sight today of all days. She was just another trinket Roman would inherit should he remove Jeremy as Alpha. When Annie looked to him to tell her what to do, Jeremy nodded. It would be worse for him to deny the Alpha his request. He was already in hot water with the Alpha council.
"You're a tiny thing, aren't you," the Russian commented when Annie stopped before him. For Jeremy's sake, Annie tried to hide her fear. Inside she was shaking from head to toe. She could feel the power rolling off of the man. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-one," Annie responded, happy her voice remained even.
"My youngest son is just a few years older than you," he commented, paralyzing Annie. It was a loaded response that had cold fear running down her spine. Mutts were one thing, but an Alpha trying to get her was way more likely to succeed. She should have taken the back stairs. Better yet, she should have stayed in Nick's room.
"What a small world," Annie managed to force out. She needed to get out of there, fast. "If you'll excuse me, I was just about to go for a run."
"Of course. It was a pleasure Annie," the Alpha smiled at her, his eyes calculating.
"Don't go too far," Jeremy called after her. He hadn't wanted her to go alone, but Antonio wasn't dressed for a run. At least the run was an excuse to get her out of the room of Alpha's, who were all eyeing her with mixtures of curiosity and envy.
"Just think, if I had only discovered her six years ago while she was in Europe, she would be a part of my pack," Roman mused after Annie had left. Jeremy could only imagine what Roman would have forced Annie to do had she stayed in Europe. Her father knew what he was doing when he sent her to Stonehaven.
…
"I can't believe you turned that down," Joey shook his head when he returned to the hotel room to prepare for phase two of their plan.
"What can I say, meaningless sex doesn't do it for me anymore," Nick retorted, his thoughts drifting to Annie and the way her smile always widened, reaching her eyes, just for him. Her sweet scent, and the way her cheeks had tinged pink when she first told him she loved him was intoxicating. Everything about her made any other girl unappealing.
"That's right, you have a girl waiting for you. I can't blame you there, if I had a girl like Annie, I wouldn't be interested either," Joey responded with a playful wink as Nick pressed the call button. Siobhan had just made it back to her desk.
Getting the information they needed was easier than Nick had anticipated. Jeremy had a probable location for Malcolm, meaning he could be home and back to Annie within three hours. He was just about to ask to speak to her when Jeremy conference called Elena and Clay. Apparently he had a deadline to find Malcolm.
"You didn't really answer Elena's question. What happens if we don't find Malcolm?" Nick pressed once Clay and Elena had ended their call.
"Then I have to step down. Give up my pack and my territory. The Russian Alpha, Roman, would most likely take control of everything. Including Annie. He met her earlier, took a liking to her for his son," Jeremy decided to tell Nick the truth. He deserved to know what was at stake.
Nick was speechless at Jeremy's news. A new desire to return to Stonehaven burned in him. He needed to get to Annie as soon as possible. He wouldn't let anyone take her away, not even an Alpha. As if sensing Nick's hostility, Jeremy pressed forward, trying to keep him focused with a question about where the money is coming from.
"It's a wire transfer from a foreign account," Nick responded, zooming in on the screenshot on the iPad. "Russia," Nick bit out. Yet another reason to hate Roman. Not only was he trying to take the pack from Jeremy, and Annie from him, he'd been funding Malcolm. Who was also, coincidentally, after Annie.
"Nick, I need you to come back to Stonehaven." Thank god. Because whether Jeremy had ordered it or not, Nick would have been on his way home. He needed to be with Annie. He needed to keep her safe.
…
Annie had to restrain herself from running to Nick when he returned. Instead she didn't venture farther than the landing overlooking the entrance hall. She wanted to hear what was happening, but she wasn't going to take any more chances of running into any more Alphas, and she knew the Spanish Alpha was downstairs.
"Rodrigo Sanchez, may I present Nick Sorrentino," Jeremy introduced the two.
"A pleasure. I've also met your mate. She is quite charming," Rodrigo commented as he shook Nick's hand.
"I concur," Nick responded, squeezing Sanchez' hand a little harder. The Alpha showed no signs of wanting Annie, especially by referring to her as his mate, but Nick wanted to make sure he understood he would have to go through him should he change his mind.
"Spying from the stairwell. I thought you outgrew that Principessa," Antonio interrupted Annie, causing Annie to jump in surprise. She'd been so focused on the conversation below, she hadn't heard him approaching.
"Jeremy won't tell me what's going on," Annie explained as she rose from her spot. "It always worked for me before."
"It's not that he doesn't want you to know. He doesn't want to flaunt you in front of other wolves. You and Elena are a rarity. Female wolves are priceless and our pack has two of them. He wants to keep you safe." Out of sight, out of mind. Annie couldn't argue with Jeremy's plan after this morning with the Russian Alpha. She just wished she wasn't looked at as a possession, as something that can be owned or stolen.
"Meanwhile Elena gets to go out hunting down mutts who might know where Malcolm is. Why am I the only one who's being told to sit and stay like a pet?" She was not a pet. She was a member of the pack and deserved to be included in pack business.
"Because you were born a wolf, not bitten. Malcolm isn't after Elena. He wants you," Antonio whispered, hoping Jeremy was too busy with Sanchez to hear him. He hadn't wanted Annie to know she was the only one targeted by Malcolm. As always, he was trying to protect her.
"Why? Elena's stronger than me, and can track anything that moves. Being born a wolf hasn't given me any advantages. Why would he want me?" It didn't make sense. If Malcolm wanted a she-wolf, Elena should be the obvious choice.
"We don't know. And until we do, we need to keep you close," Antonio murmured, wishing he had the answers to Annie's questions.
…
Antonio was serious when he said they needed to keep Annie close. Because they brought her along with them to Baton Rouge, to the very house where Malcolm was hiding out. It seemed Jeremy's plan to keep her away from Malcolm and keep her close were contradicting each other.
"Annie," Nick murmured, pulling Annie's attention away from the old abandoned house they'd pulled up in front of. "Please just…stay near the back. Don't get close to Malcolm." He'd been more than a little uneasy bringing her with them, to Malcolm, seeing as that was exactly what Malcolm wanted. However, Jeremy needed the whole pack behind him to ensure they ended this once and for all.
Annie nodded in agreement, ignoring the sting of hearing the word 'stay' again. Nick was just worried about her. Just like she worried about him. It turned out, Annie wasn't in the same room with Malcolm for more than a minute before she was chasing after Logan with Nick.
"She's not here man," Nick told Logan when he finally stopped running. Annie couldn't help but agree that Logan was hearing things. She hadn't heard or smelt Rachel at all. As much as Annie wanted to find Rachel and get her to safety, she wasn't on the property. They would have at least gotten a whiff of her scent.
"He can't kill Malcolm," Logan muttered frantically before sprinting full speed back to the house.
"I really wish we'd found Rachel so he could," Nick grumbled as Annie and him chased after Logan once more. Killing Malcolm would solve one very big threat to Annie.
Logan was able to stop Jeremy just before he drove a screwdriver through Malcolm's brain. Instead, the pack took extra care in making sure they secured Malcolm so they could transport him back to Stonehaven where the interrogation of Rachel's location would begin. Annie and Nick were waiting outside by the car. Jeremy and Nick still wanted to keep Annie out of Malcolm's line of sight even when they had the upper hand.
"He's alone, with no mutts to back him up. He's no threat when it's seven against one,"' Annie reassured Nick as Clay led Malcolm toward them. He had tensed up, his fingers digging into the front of the car.
"Doesn't mean I don't want to rip his heart out. For the humans, and Pete," Nick muttered, his eyes narrowing at the man who had been behind the deaths of so many innocents.
…
"Is Logan still down there?" Jeremy asked as he entered the kitchen.
"He hasn't slept yet," Nick responded. "He won't event take a break to eat." As if Nick would if he was in Logan's place.
"Malcolm still hasn't said anything?" Jeremy questioned, stopping beside Nick at the table. He didn't really expect his father to give away his ace card so easily.
"Not since insisting he'd only talk to Annie," Elena muttered. "He's stalling. Every minute of silence is another minute he gets to breathe."
"I don't mind talking to him to help Rachel," Annie spoke up from her spot on a stool beside Nick. True, Malcolm gave her the creeps, but he was in the cage. He wouldn't be able to get to her.
"We're not giving him what he wants," Elena shouted, surprising everyone with her outburst.
"She's right. We can't play into his hands. We'll have to find another way to get him to talk," Jeremy murmured, cutting through the deafening silence that followed Elena's response.
"I want to kill him so badly," Elena admitted through gritted teeth. It was a sentiment shared by everyone in the room. Unfortunately Malcolm was more useful to them alive. For the time being. "If Clay were here, he'd torture it out of him."
"Violence doesn't work on Malcolm. He enjoys it," Nick countered.
"Everyone's afraid of something. Even the devil," Elena insisted. She would find what frightened Malcolm and she would use it against him. Then she was going to rip his head off.
…
"There is no cavalry coming to save you. Where is she?" Jeremy demanded, stepping over Sanchez's dead body and gripping the cage door with his blood soaked hands.
"If I tell you, you'll kill me." Malcolm wasn't wrong. The only thing keeping him alive was Rachel.
"If you don't tell me, I'll kill you right now," Jeremy threatened, hoping Malcolm wouldn't call his bluff. It wasn't Malcolm who responded to his threat. Instead whispers on the wind answered him, mumbling words Jeremy couldn't understand.
"You won't get a chance. They're here," Malcolm responded, tilting his head as if motioning to the whispers.
"Where are they coming from?" Annie asked Elena as the made their way through the halls of Stonehaven. What sounded like hundreds of whispers were echoing louder and louder. It had goosebumps forming on Annie's skin.
"I don't know," Elena murmured just as they reached the living room. Nick and Logan were there, looking as confused as Annie.
"We need to secure the perimeter," Jeremy ordered, leading the way towards the back of the house. Annie moved to follow but another swift 'stay put' order was given. Once again, Elena was included where she was excluded.
When Annie was alone in the room, she moved towards the window facing the West. She knew she was pouting, but she couldn't stop. Would it kill them to act like she was a part of the pack, and not the pack's special bone that they buried for safe keeping until they wanted to take her out?
When a thick fog came swirling around the grounds, covering it in a blanket of smoke, Annie's thoughts finally turned away from her status in the pack. It reminded her of something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Looking out towards the forest it hit her like a sucker punch to the gut. It was just like her nightmare. The fog, the trees. She needed to find Nick before it was too late.
Not even bothering to run to the door, Annie hoisted the window open, jumping out and running full speed in the direction she'd seen Nick's back disappear. Annie heard his screams before she found Nick, and her heart leapt in her chest. Changing directions she sprinted as fast as her body would allow until she came across Nick screaming. His hands were covering his eyes.
"Nick," Annie gasped, moving to stand in front of him. She wasn't too late. He was still alive.
"The blood, it won't stop," Nick cried out.
"Let me see," Annie murmured, her hands shaking as she pried Nick's away from his face. "There's nothing. No blood," Annie sighed in relief.
"I can't see anything. I, I can't see. Annie I'm blind," Nick cried out, each word becoming more frantic.
"Nick, listen to my voice, just listen. There's no blood," Annie murmured soothingly, cupping his face in her hands and repeating the words until Nick calmed down. Eventually his breaths slowed and he gripped her forearms gently. That's how Jeremy and Elena found them.
"You were supposed to stay in the house," Jeremy chided when he saw it was Annie standing before Nick.
"I couldn't." She couldn't stand still and let her nightmare become a reality. Being safe didn't matter if Nick wasn't safe with her.
"Nick, what happened?" Jeremy turned his attention from Annie. Scolding her wouldn't help him figure out what was going on.
"There was a woman out here. She did this to me," Nick insisted, his voice growing frantic again.
"Take him back to the house," Jeremy ordered Annie. "Elena and I will search for the woman."
"C'mon Nick." Annie pulled Nick's arm over her shoulder while she gripped his waist, leading him home. She made a mental list of all the tests she'd need to run when they got there to try and understand why he went blind.
Annie led Nick to one of the chairs in the living room, begging him to listen to her voice. He'd started freaking out halfway to the house, and she needed him to be calm. High blood pressure wouldn't only make whatever eye problem was causing his blindness, worse.
"Just listen to my voice," Annie pleaded, trying to keep her voice calm. Inside she was freaking out. She hated seeing Nick like that. "Do you feel my hands?" Annie asked, holding his hands in hers.
"Yes," Nick gasped out.
"Do you feel this?" Annie continued, resting her hand lightly against Nick's cheek and rubbing soothing circles with her thumbs.
"Yeah," Nick responded, still on the verge of hyperventilating.
"They're not wet. There's no blood," Annie reiterated, hoping it would help with any mental part of Nick's blindness. "Just breathe Nick. There's no blood. You're okay." Annie repeated that last phrase over and over in her mind. He's okay.
Blinking rapidly a few times, Nick finally met Annie's eyes, able to see her. He immediately glanced down at his hands, as if looking for proof that there really hadn't been any blood.
"This is like a bad dream" Nick muttered before realization dawned on him and he met Annie's eyes again. "It's literally almost exactly like your bad dream. Except I didn't die."
"Thank god for that," Annie murmured, kissing the knuckles of his left hand.
"I'm being serious Annie. Don't you find it a little strange that just two nights ago you dreamed about my eyes bleeding out in a forest covered in fog, and today it actually happened? Or a woman made me think it happened." Nick pressed, leaning forward so his face was just inches from Annie's.
"I find it terrifying," Annie murmured, inhaling a shaky breath. As if the night terrors weren't bad enough on their own. Annie didn't need the threat of them becoming reality. "We should get some sleep."
Annie knew there was little chance either of them would be getting much sleep. But they needed to try. Facing whatever was coming at them while sleep deprived would most likely result in death on their end.
…
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Annie asked dubiously as she watched Jeremy place the ingredients on the table. Clay had returned early in the morning with news of the existence of witches. Annie wouldn't have believed him if she hadn't witnessed what happened to Nick. Witches made more sense than ghosts. Still, they were wolves. They had no magic. How were they going to summon the witches who were after them?
"Yeah, are you really telling us we're going to summon these things with orange picot? You've got to be shitting me," Nick chimed in, earning him an elbow in his side form Annie for his language.
"Why hide the book if these spells aren't real?" Clay countered, effectively quieting Nick and his disbelief.
"Veni admae indominae luminea," Jeremy chanted, ignoring both Nick and Clay's comment and Annie's question.
"Are you sure you said it right?" Annie asked when nothing happened.
"Maybe we should have used chamomile," Nick suggested sarcastically. His smile faltered when the whispering started up again like the day before. A previously nonexistent wind pulled at the papers on the table and blew out the candles at the same time all the lines burnt out. No longer in doubt, Annie found herself gripping Nick's hand on the table. At a loud sound coming from the front of the house, they all rushed into the living room, Annie bringing up the rear. That time it was her own choice to hide behind the others.
Stopping beside Nick, Annie saw two women by Jeremy's desk. They looked normal, but their presence had Annie's skin tingling. They were anything but normal. Clay made a move towards them, as though he was going to treat him like a mutt who was trespassing. The woman standing to the right of the chair warned him against it. Nick quickly backed her up on the warning, leading Annie to assume she was the girl who had made him go momentarily blind.
Despite how they'd original came to Stonehaven, the witches claimed they meant no harm. The women were there to strike a deal. They wanted to trade Malcolm for some girl he had taken from them.
"Why should we give him to you? Why should we trust you? You come onto our land, into our home, and work your voodoo magic to try and hurt us and just assume we will help you when you couldn't steal what you wanted?" Annie growled out, remembering how frightened Nick was, how much pain he'd been in. All because of the two witches before them. There was no way in hell they should agree to the witches' request.
"Annie, Principessa, don't antagonize the sadistic witches," Nick whispered as he gently pulled Annie away from the woman who'd made him bleed. The last thing he wanted was for them to turn that kind of magic on Annie.
"So you're the first female werewolf born to your kind. I've heard about you," The older witch commented with a smile, seemingly unperturbed by what Annie had said. "Just a puppy. You're adorable."
Annie wanted to ask how she'd heard about Annie. Hardly any werewolves had heard of her. Her father had kept her well hidden from the world for many years. However, Jeremy spoke first.
"She's also right," Jeremy commented. There would be no deal, and they would not be handing Malcolm over to the witches. The pack needed him dead, or else they'd be getting a new alpha.
The witches left with a threat on their tongue, thinly veiled as a warning. As soon as they were gone Annie felt her shoulders sag in relief. She should have known it would be short lived. She should have known the witches wouldn't really leave without getting what they wanted. She should have seen that they'd use their voodoo magic to free Malcolm.
A/N: Hey guys! So here starts season two! I'm hoping I can continue working Annie in. So far I'm having a lot of fun with it! Hope you guys enjoyed it. And please let me know your thoughts on it! They really help me with writing!
Rach
xoxo