Chapter 22: The Alpha’s Goddess

~CALLIE’S P.O.V~

Lisa walked over wearing this skimpy short skirt with a See-thru crop top that showed her bright pink bra, she had fishnets on with some stiletto black high heels. She looked like a stripper, leaving nothing for the imagination. If she bent over, you would be able to see EVERYTHING. She came to a halt right in front of us, blocking our way to the stairs.

“I see the Alpha takes really good care of his pack members already.” She says while glaring at me.

“Can I help you with something?” He says to her.

She takes her glares away from me and looks back at Gunner with a look of lust.

“Oh, there is plenty you could help me with, and I can help you too, you know.” She replied seductively with a wink.

“If it is related to a pack issue, you can see it to my father, as I am not the Alpha yet. If it is related to anything other than pack business, I suggest you keep that comment to yourself.” He spits back with anger laced in his voice.

She looks back over at me shooting daggers with her eyes.

“You know, I could please you so much better than some inexperienced loner virgin.”

With that remark she had my blood boiling. I begin to lose control over my wolf and my emotions.

“What is wrong with you, your eyes... they are gl--glowing....” she says while stuttering.

‘Callie, you need to calm down, she isn’t worth it.’ Jade mind-linked me.

But it was too late, my fury had the best of me, and I couldn’t control it. I lunged for her and snatched her by her shirt, bringing her close to my face. I could feel my eyes switching back and forth, indicating Emery was also present.

“You listen to me, and you listen very close,” I say, as Gunner places his hand on my shoulder.

“Cal- “I cut him off with a glare indicating to back down.

I turned my head back to face Lisa.

“You have one chance only, to redeem yourself. You apologize to your Alpha for your behavior and to me for the disrespect you and your fellow friends continue to cause and you, stay the HELL AWAY FROM MY MATE. If you choose to go against my warning, I WILL show you what it is like to get on my bad side, and yes, that is most definitely a threat. I advise you to respect your Alpha and stop throwing yourself at anyone who can warm your bed and save what's left of yourself for your mate like you should’ve done from the beginning!”

By this time, a crowd had formed. I could’ve attacked like my instinct was demanding me to do. I wanted to scare her but not harm her. Emery, on the other hand, wanted blood, but I somehow managed to keep her at bay. I let go of her shirt as she stumbled backward shaking.

“Fucking freak!” She screams as she tries to run but fails miserably from her 6” shoes.

“Don’t listen to her,” Jade says.

I could hear mumbling. Stuff like: what’s going on, what is wrong with Callie’s eyes, did you see the way she took control, did you see how terrified Lisa was? I wonder why Alpha Gunner allowed that? Did you hear her call him mate? Surely that’s not true.

I looked over at Gunner waiting for him to have a reaction or to stop all the murmuring. When he didn’t, I decided I would just go to my room. I pulled away and walked towards the staircase. I could hear him hollering my name, but I chose to ignore it. If he doesn’t want to stand up to the pack, fine.

Once I reached my room, I could smell Gunner all over it. His scent relaxes my nerves. I walk over to my bed and sit down; I grab the picture frame that never leaves my nightstand. I see my mom’s beautiful smile and my dad's goofy facial expression. Her long dark hair and beautiful seafoam eyes. She was such a beautiful person, in and out. I wished I could be more like her. My dad was tall and buff. My friends would always drool over him, he was handsome. I can give them that he had those caramel brown eyes that resembled his hair tone. He had perfectly chiseled features. I missed them so much. I sat there thinking for a moment when I decided I was going to do it. I was going to go 1 flight downstairs.

I got off the bed, placed the picture back where it went, and exited my room. As I leave, I hear Jade coming up the stairs.

“Hey, you, okay?” She asks.

“Yeah, I’m going downstairs,” I replied.

“I'll wait a bit to let the gossiping cool down.”

“Oh, no Jade, I’m going to go see my parents' bedroom.” As I say that, her eyes widen, and she looks stunned.

“Cal... that’s great... um, do you want me to go with you?” She says.

“Um... I do, but I want to be in the room alone. Can you wait in the living room for me in case I need you?”

“Of course, I will always be there for you.” She says back, making me smile. I do have the most amazing best friend.

We walk together down one flight of steps and I start to feel nauseous. I haven’t physically been on this floor since before they died. I don’t know what made me brave enough, but I began to question if I was ready for this. And as if Jade could read my mind, she held my hand by squeezing it tight.

“You can do this, Cal.” She says, making me feel braver just by her words. She is right, I can do this.

We reached the floor, and everything still looked the same as the day my parents died. The blanket remained lying across the couch where my mom would occasionally nap. I walked over and picked it up and smelled it. It no longer held her scent, which made my heart ache. I just want to smell her one more time. To be held by her one more time. To tell her I love her. A lone tear escapes my eyes and I wipe it away. I lay the blanket back down and looked around the living room at all the pictures on the wall. I am going to have to take these with me when they pick a new gamma to take over this floor. My heart aches at the thought of my memories being taken away, it feels like moving their stuff is like finally saying goodbye for good and I don’t think I’m ready for that. I look over in the direction the door is located for my parents’ bedroom and my breath catches in my throat.

“I’ll be right here Cal,” Jade says to me as I begin to walk towards the door.

As I reached for the knob, I could feel my pulse pick up. I take a deep breath and turn the knob. The door creaked open; I could see the rays of the sun beaming down on their bed. The bed was made up just how Mom always liked it. I walked into the room and sat on the bed. I looked around the room and took in its appearance. I decided to look at her vanity. Mom always did her hair and makeup, and always had her perfume and lavender. Even after she died, I would go pick the lavender flowers in the meadow that was on the border of our territory. Sometimes I just lay in the meadow and took in the scent. It reminded me of her. I was very close to my mom. Me and my dad had a wonderful relationship, but I was closer to my mom. I loved them both so much and missed them beyond what words could express.

I ran my fingers across all of her perfumes and picked up her hairbrush. Her smell still lingers lightly on the brush, making me shed tears. I couldn’t hold back.

I kept a hold of the brush and walked over to the closet. I opened the doors, examining all of their clothes still hanging. As I run my hand across them, I notice that no dust has collected on them even after almost 3 years. I smile as I look at her stuff. I am at the age now that I can wear them, but I’m unsure if I want to. It would make me feel closer to her, but our styles were very different. I couldn’t ever part with them though. As I examine some of the clothes, a board creaked underneath me. I look down and see one of the panels on the floorboards is warped and it appeared as if someone had used to move them away. I bend down and use my hand to move the boards to see if there is a way I can grip them to remove the panels. As I pushed down on one side, the opposite lifted. I grabbed the opposite end and pulled off one of the boards and, to my surprise, it looked like a storage place. I see a beautiful locket; I open it and see a picture of this couple and a small boy and a young girl. They looked like a happy family, their smiles brought joy to my heart. I sat it aside and then I saw a blanket with the initials R.E.L on it. I wonder who this belonged to. Then below the blanket was a box. I pulled the box out and took the lid off. Inside were so many papers. Pictures, letters, a birth certificate, articles. I picked up the first letter.

•••••••••••••••••

Silvia,

Hello, I know our communication from here on can only be through letters. So here is number one. I needed to know how sweet Railynn is. I know in my heart you will keep her safe. My vision told me that much, but my heart breaks at the mere thought of being away from my girl. I hope one day she can return home to me. I miss her beyond words. I know when that time comes, your heart will shatter, but I promise you will always be a part of our daughter's life. Thank you, Silvia, for protecting her and keeping me at peace with the updates and pictures. I know it must be hard being away from your girl. Please keep in touch and send all the pictures you take. And I will do the same. You have served a great honor by your sacrifice. I promise she will always know you, not the full truth, of course, for the protection of Railynn but she will know some stories and your face.

Much love, LL

••••••••••••••••••••

My heart pounds in my chest, who is LL and who is Railynn? I never met Railynn and mom never spoke about her. I quickly scanned through the other letters, all from this LL to my mom, there were so many. Then I came across a letter that was sealed with the name Railynn on the front. I thought hard about opening the letter.

‘Callie, where are you?’ Gunner mind-links me, taking my concentration away from the letters.

I quickly gathered up all the letters and put them back in the box. I stood up, grabbing the locket, blanket, and brush. As I walked into the living room, Jade was sitting there patiently.

“Find something interesting?” She asks.

“I’m not sure yet,” I replied.

“What’s in the box?”

“A bunch of letters to my mom. I wanted to look into who was writing them and who they are about.” I said back.

‘Callie, are you okay, are you upset?’ Gunner mind-links me again. I sigh, not wanting to talk to him just yet.

‘You can’t ignore him forever; he is our mate...’ Emery finally spoke up.

‘Meet me in my room in 5.’ I mind-link back.

‘Okay, is everything okay?’ He asks in return.

‘Yeah, I found something that I may need a little help looking into.’ I told him honestly.

“Okay J, let's get upstairs, read all this and start digging into my mom's secrets,” I said as I walked towards the elevator. With my hands full, I’d rather take the elevator rather than the stairs. We get on and push the button to go one flight up. As the door opens, it reveals Gunner waiting patiently leaning up against the wall by my bedroom door, looking gorgeous.

“Okay guys, time to do some reading,” I said as I opened my bedroom door, and we all went in.