Chapter 127

Michael POV

"You are serious," Shawna states, her eyes gleaming with tears. "Your Alpha had these things done to me? He had me tortured and raped for his own personal gain, and you didn't know?"

I flinched at that last statement, because no I didn't know. But I should have. How did I miss it? The clues were there. His secretetive behaviors, his oddly timed meetings. His Beta not being involved in so many things that he should have been. I was sworn to secrecy though. It wasn't my job to question what a council member did. It was my job to protect them only.

"I know Shawna, I'm eaten up inside by this knowledge. I saw signs, sure. It didn't become apparent though until recently. All the puzzle pieces are falling into place and the truth is coming out. But it's not just him. There are dozens involved in this and it expands globally. The information that has been brought forward is astounding and I don't even know half of it." I take a deep breath and pull her tight into my chest. "I'd give anything to go back in time and find a way to change this story." This is what I told her, but I wasn't sure if I meant that part or not. Because without this, I wouldn't have found her. Or would I? There was basically zero chance she'd have ever found herself in Georgia, and I can't say as I'd have ever had reason to visit the little pack she comes from.

"So what's next?" she asks as she snuggles her head on my chest. "Is there going to be a trial?"

"I don't think so. There's enough evidence stacking up that I doubt the council will go with a full blown trial. Beta Roger should be back in a few days and hopefully he brings with him some of the proof they need." I tell her this but honestly feel that the ledgers are enough to convict wtihout anything else. It sounds like they want to know if he killed his mate and son and if he did, they will kill him for it. Torture and trafficking may only get him prison, since he wasn't directly responsible for any deaths associated. Killing his mate and son though, different story.

I run my fingers through Shawna's silver blonde strands of hair. It is healthy now, silky and strong. Not like it had been when she'd first been rescued. Nourishment and sleep have done wonders to restoring her to her natural beautiful self. Her body is now toned with muscle that she has earned from training with my sister over the past year. She is strong, but her emotional and mental health are still recovering and I don't want to be the one to set her back. "Shawna, they may ask you to speak. The council I mean. They may have questions about some of the stuff they found in the ledgers or journals, in the event you were witness to anything."

"Okay," she says. "I tihnk I'm okay to talk with them. Will you be there with me?" she asks.

"If they will allow it, I will be," I tell her. "I don't want you to ever think you have to walk any of this alone."

"I appreciate that," she says as she raises herself up and brings her lips up to meet mine. She kisses me gently on the lips and then grazes my cheek with her lips, then my ear and my neck. I moan at the tingles her lips leave on my skin. This woman still drives me crazy. I can never get enough of her. Having a mate is everything my mother once told me it would be. She had always encouraged her sons to find their true mates, though we all thought it unlikely we ever would. Finding your fated mate was become more and more rare, as packs became more distant and tried to blend in with the humans more.

I pulled Shawna to me, hugging her tightly and breathing in her scent. "I'm going to have to get up my love, I have work to do," I tell her. Really, I was going to see Alpha James. I wanted to speak to him myself. I wanted him to admit to me what he had done. "Why don't you go spend some time with Ashlynn today? We will be leaving in the next few days and it could be a long time before you see her again."

"Hmmm," she purrs against my neck. "Okay love." She pushes herself off and heads to the bathroom to shower. I watch her as her tight ass walks into the bathroom, muscles flexing with her movements. "Are you coming?" she says turning back to me with a smile. I don't need to be asked twice.

I move quickly to the bathroom, and watch as Shawna turns the shower on. I lean against the counter, the granite cool against the back of my thighs. I watch her as she waits for the water to warm. "You can get in with me," she says.

"Is that a good idea? I might not make it to work if we shower together," I say with a smirk. Of course we could shower without it leading to sex, we've done it many times. Something about her today though, it makes me want to be inside her. She's teasing, smiling, happy. More than I've seen her in our time together. This makes me happy and my wolf is quickly excited, especially as her phermones drift to my nose. I groan because she's horny again, I can smell her arousal. "Babe," I grunt. "You are...", I stop because I don't want to say anything that will hurt her or embarrass her. She's taken so long to get comfortable with our intimacy.

"Is what you have to do really that time dependent?" She asks. "I mean the Alpha is locked up," she smirks as she toys with her now taught nipple. She steps into the shower and looks at me with want in her eyes. "I'm going to close this door now Michael, and if you aren't in here with me then I"m going to take care of myself while you stand there and watch." I'm instantly hard, my cock throbbing. Like I'm in a trance, I walk to her and close the door behind me. I lift Shawna up by her ass and walk her into the shower until her back is against the tile wall. Without a word, I slip my cock inside her and exhale with a growl.

"You feel fucking amazing." That's all I get out before I pound my cock into her relentlessly. Neither of us speaks, the only sounds are her whimpers and gasps. She reaches her climax and contracts around me so hard that I think she's going to cut the circulation off from my cock. Instead, it sends me over the edge and I growl deep in my throat as my cum explodes inside her. We stand there, the spray from the shower rinsing us as we pant and try to come down from this high. Then I have a realization. "Shawna," she looks up at me, dazed. "I think you are starting your heat."

"What?" she gasps.

"Your heat, you've been insatiable and Goddess, your skin is fire. Your scent is making my wolf fucking crazy," I sniff her neck and she shudders. I'm right, I have to be.

"My heat," she whispers. And then there's a loud pounding on the bedroom door that I can hear in the bathroom. "What? Who?" she asks. "Who could be at the door?"

"I don't know but I need to send them away," I set her down and get out, wrapping myself in a towel. When I open the door, Alpha Gabe is standing there.

"We have a problem. We need you to come to the meeting chamber now," he turns and walks away. What the hell is going on?