Chapter 24: Chapter Twenty-four

Warmth was the first thing Cassidy felt as she came back to consciousness. It was an all encompassing warmth around her whole body as if she was wrapped in the softest of blankets. Nothing hurt and everything was peaceful as she zoned in and out of sleep. She could smell the forest and feel the gentlest of breezes teasing her hair. It was a dream she didn't want to wake up from, she didn't want to go back to the harsh reality of cold floors and isolation and she was happy to settle back into a light sleep again until the giggles of children woke her with a startled jerk of her body.

She stilled as she came to full awareness, her memories coming back of everything that happened in the last hour before she had gave in to the alpha of BlackStone. Her heart began to beat rapidly and her hands clenched the bed underneath of her before she froze and then spread her hands over the soft sheets. Her eyes opened and she looked down at her human form and a soft cry of relief escaped her. She was alive, and she was back in her own body! Slowly, she mentally checked every part of her body. She was still a little sore in her shoulder and neck, but her wounds had healed and she was in one whole piece.

The giggles and laughs of children again caught her attention and she turned her head towards the sound. Windows lined one wall of the room she was in, four of them from floor to ceiling and all open to the outdoors and a breeze teased the sheer curtains that were drawn for privacy. It was then that it really dawned on her that she was no longer in the prison or in the kennel she had been trapped in.

Grabbing the blankets to get up out of the bed and see just what kind of situation she was in now, Cassidy had only got as far as sitting upright before there was a soft thud of a body against the door and a low growl. “Damn it..” She whispered and laid back down quickly. She needed to get a game plan on how to get out of here, but she wasn't ready to go to war with anyone just yet. She had closed her eyes almost all the way, peeking out from under her lashes as the handle turned and the door cracked open. Cass could see just through the door, a large body leaning to the side briefly. “Ill see you tonight.” The one at the door said to another that was walking away, the sound of the voice making Cassidy catch her breath. She thought she would never see the owner of that voice again.

Jett got through the door, had shut it before he turned around and was nearly tackled to the ground by the slip of a female that had damn near turned the entire pack inside out over the last several days. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around Cassidy, holding her tight. “Good morning princess.” He said affectionately.

Cassidy was not sure she heard right, thought maybe she had misheard and just imagined she heard Jett’s voice again. Relief and happiness washed through her when his body came through that door and nothing was going to stop her from going to him. She came out of the bed without a sound and rushed over to Jett and when he turned around she threw herself at him, clinging to the man she had grieved for and thought had been killed.

“Oh my god… I thought you were gone. I thought they killed you!” She cried out, wrapping her arms around Jett tightly as if she wasn't going to let him go. She lifted her head, happy tears and a bright smile on her face as she looked up at Jett who was returning the smile just the same.

“I am very much alive Cassi. Very much so. Lets get you back to bed, you have been through a hell of a lot.” Jett said and guided Cassidy back to the bed, getting her sat down and he making her comfortable before he pulled a chair from the wall and parked it next to the bed. “Do you need anything? Water?” he asked, already going to the other side of the bed where there was a mini fridge under the night table. He pulled out a bottle of water and opened it, handing it over to Cassidy and as she drank deeply, he went back to the chair and sat down.

Cassidy was much thirstier than she had thought. Her mouth and lips were dry as sandpaper and her throat was coarse, her voice rough from not using it in so long. She drank the cold water, intending only a sip but once the liquid got into her system she was gulping it down. Half of the bottle was gone before she came up for air with a deep breath. She put the cap on the bottle and she looked over at Jett with a smile that was lost when he was no longer smiling and looking Arther with a worried expression. “What… What is it?” she asked and looked to the window hearing the kids playing outside. “And where the hell are we Jett?” she asked in a demanding tone.

Jett was uneasy filling Cassidy in but it had been decided by the Alpha that it was his job to do being her former beta. He knew she wasn't going to be happy with him. He had lied to her for the last few weeks he was in that prison to keep her in the dark and unaware of what was happening. He cleared his throat and looked down at his hands, fidgeting with them a little. “We are still in the BlackStone territory. After you challenged and lost to Alpha Black, you were in the hospital for three days recovering from your wounds. When you were healed all the way and you shifted back on your own, you were brought here to the rehabilitation house.” Jett explained to her, deciding to leave out the part that up until last night she had been restrained in silver cuffs on the bed by order of the alpha. Alaric and the alpha’s brother had finally convinced him to lift the order and Jett had been anxious that when she woke up, she wouldn't be herself. “That was four days ago.”

She watched his face as he spoke, easily seeing the signs of Jett when he was nervous. His biggest tell was that he couldn't look her in the eye and made an effort to avoid her eye contact. “They thought we were rogues Jett… Why are we here. Why are you alive? Where did they take you?”

Jett ducked his head a little in guilt, suddenly wanting to leave the little room they were in. “For a few weeks before they took me out of the cell, they had started testing me. They knew after awhile I wasn't lying to them about anything I told them. They gave me some tests to make sure I was not really rogue, to see if I was worthy of joining the Pack or not. Its not everyday you find a beta without a pack. Alpha Black made the decision I could be trusted enough to be set free. He unofficially made the pack announcement the night before the rogues attacked. I will be brought into the pack with the next full moon. I didn't want to keep it from you… I promised you I would find a way to get you free. But you seemed to have done that all on your own when the rogues attacked the prison.” He said in a more light hearted tone, glancing up to see how well Cassidy took the news.

Cassidy had a white knuckled grip on the bottle of water in her hands, her golden eyes focused on Jett and her brows drawn together with a sharp frown on her face. Jett couldn't get a read on her expression, and he had never seen her look so serious before. “Cassidy I-”

“So what?” she snapped angrily. “You get tortured, play the good guy after they captured us and held us as their prisoners in that room. Then, when you dance to their tune long enough, they throw you a bone and you jump to catch it. Just like that?” she asked him in a cold tone and a low growl came from her that had Jett sitting up in his chair, alert. This wasn't the same young alpha he had helped raise… She had grown into her wolf and was already displaying her position with him with that growl. “Just like that… You join them and leave me alone in that hell hole… YOU ABANDONED ME!” she yelled at Jett, throwing the sheet off of her and the bottle of water as she got up to confront her guardian.

Jett had lost his position as a beta the second he agreed to join the BlackStone pack. He technically had no rank in the pack until the ceremony that would add him into the pack completely. The tones Cassidy was using in her voice and growls held the power of an alpha and Jett felt worried as he stood up and took several steps back from her, holding his hands up and trying to explain. “Cassidy… I didn't abandon you. I was trying to get you out of there. I had to do it. Alpha Black wasn't going to leave you in there forever. He was going to give you the same choice once you had came out of your first shift. I promised you I would get you free!” he pleaded with her, being backed towards a corner by the growling alpha female that had the look of murder in her eyes over her belief of being betrayed.