Where's Annie?
Where's Annie?
Giselda
I was pacing back and forth in my room, twisting my hands together, while Gerry watched, when my anxiety got the better of me. I stopped pacing to pin him with a furious glare.
“Gerry, have you heard from your brother?” I asked.
“No. I’m sure when it’s settled, he’ll let us know,” he reassured me.
I sighed deeply. “Are you sure about that? We literally just handed him over to the council. Can we trust your brother? Can we trust your aunt?”
“We can trust my family. I know that Osprey is the biggest dick in the world, but I promise you that he has the purest intentions. He will always do what’s right, even if he grumbles about it the entire time,” Gerry told me.
“But what if–”
I fell silent as my link with Osprey opened.
‘Giselda? Have you heard from Annie?’ he asked worriedly.
‘No, why? Is she okay?’ I replied, my anxiety skyrocketing.
‘I don’t know. Mom said Annie yelled at her and then left the house. They haven’t seen her in hours. They also can’t find Vinekeeper Annaria to ask her if she has seen Annie.’
‘No. I haven’t heard from her, but I will reach out to her.’
As soon as I finished the sentence, I cut our link to be able to open my link with Annie. The link opened, but the rush of anger that came through it sent terror flying through my body.
‘Annie?’ I called softly. ‘Are you okay?’
She didn’t respond. The only thing that came through the link beside her fury was the sound of deep panting that sent shivers down my spine.
‘Annie? Are you okay?’ Again, I received no response. Fuck! What was going on? ‘Annie? Talk to me, honey. What’s going on? Where are you? Are you safe?’
A low growl reverberated through my head before a single whispered word was uttered. ‘Kill.’
‘ANNIE!’ I screamed. ‘KILL WHO?’
Her deep, menacing laughter echoed through the link before it was cut. The moment her presence faded from my mind, I met Gerry’s eyes.
“We have to go!” I told him as I started to head toward the door.
“Why? What’s going on? Where are we going?” he asked as he hurried behind me.
“Annie’s going to kill someone,” I informed him as I rushed down the stairs, tearing my clothes off so that I could shift the minute I stepped out of the doors.
I could sense Geoffrey behind me, keeping pace as I ran into the woods. I knew it would be quicker to run than it would be to fly. It would take time to fuel the plane and rouse our pilot. When we arrived at the council land, we would have to run approximately two hours anyway, so it would just be easier to run the six hours to the council’s headquarters.
‘Who is Annie going to kill?’ Gerry asked as we ran.
‘I don’t know, but with the anger she’s feeling, I would bet my life that she knows what’s going on with Logan. I think she’s going after the council to save him. We have to get there first. I’m the only one who can bring her back,’ I replied.
‘Bring her back? What do you mean by that?’ he asked, his voice wavering with panic.
‘I think she’s gone feral.’
“NO!’ he cried before passing me.
No matter how much I tried to match his pace, he stayed several feet ahead of me, but I didn’t care. If we could intercept Annie before she made it to the council, then we could keep her from ruining her life and doing things that she would never do if she were in the right state of mind. As we drew close to the council territory, Angel let our senses flare out, trying to find Annie before she got to the council, but we didn’t, which didn’t surprise me in the slightest. She had grown more powerful than I could have ever imagined. I had a sneaking suspicion that Marsha’s anger had broken the lock that I had placed on her powers. When we got to the building that housed the council when they were in session, I shifted back midstep on the porch. As we got dressed in the clothes that had been left on the porch for people who arrived, I eyed him closely.
“Gerry, I hate to ask, but can you stay out here and intercept Annie if she shows up?” I requested.
“I’ll try, but if she’s feral, I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do,” he replied.
I put my hand on his cheek. “You’re her favorite person, Gerry. I know that you can handle this. You know Annie. You can do this.”
He took a deep breath as he nodded. “Alright, my love. Go make sure that our Alpha is going to be okay.”
I pressed my lips against his briefly before spinning around to rush inside, following Logan’s scent. When his scent led me to a door, I paused outside of it, breathing deeply before pushing the door open as I let my aura flare out. Everyone fell silent as I strolled inside, my eyes glued to my cousin. Orion stepped forward, his hands fisting at his sides.
“You don’t belong here! You’re not part of the council, and you’re intruding on council business!” he snarled.
I pinned him with a furious glare as I let my aura wrap tightly around him, locking his arms and legs against his body.
“Let me make something very clear to you: you are not the one in charge! As far as power goes, you are one of the lowest alphas on the totem pole! I allowed you to take our alpha under the guise of respecting the laws, but they are outdated, and you are even more outdated! You think that you are all-powerful, but you’re not. I can name several people who are more powerful than you. I’m one of them. So, do yourself a favor and heed my warning: there is a very angry, very feral alpha sow coming for you. If I were you, I would do my best to hide–”
My voice trailed off when I saw Sonia on her knees beside the only throne at the table. Fuck! What was she doing there? I thought we had a few more weeks before she turned 18 to figure out how to get her out of the agreement with Everglades. I took a deep, steadying breath. Milton was going to be pissed. He spoke about her at least 20 times a day, wondering if she was okay.
“You were saying?” Orion taunted, baring his teeth at me.
“I was saying that if I were you, I would climb back into bed and hide under the blankets like the little bitch you are!” I snarled as my eyes flew back to his.
“You may be a Bruin, bitch, but you still have to abide by the laws! Your bloodline is not going to protect you from having to answer for your crimes!” Orion growled, making me narrow my eyes at him as I took a step forward.
“You are a fool,” I hissed. “Being a Bruin does mean that I am above the law! I am the law! The only reason you’re still standing and not a pool of blood at my feet is because I respect my alpha, and he obeys the laws. It’s not because I’m afraid of your laws. So, don’t get it twisted, Alpha, I may be a beta, but I could rip you apart without even touching you!”
“You fucking, bitch!” he roared as he broke out into a sweat in his effort to overcome my command.
Before anyone could say or do anything, a loud, threatening growl came from the front of the building. Several of the council members swallowed hard as they exchanged looks. Osprey met my eyes, and when I nodded, he jumped to his feet, moving in front of Orion, while Logan’s eyes closed as he inhaled deeply.
“Annie,” he practically moaned.
I turned to face the door, bouncing lightly on my heels as I anticipated a furiously feral Annie. There were sounds of a scuffle just outside the door, coupled with Gerry talking to Annie, trying to calm her down. Before I could take so much as a step toward the door to help him, the door splintered, and Gerry rolled across the floor until he came to a stop by my feet. My gaze met Annie’s, and I was happy to see that I had been wrong. Annie wasn’t feral. She wasn’t happy, but at least she wasn’t feral.
“Annie–”
She let out a loud growl as she lifted her arms, while clicking her tongue. Vines erupted up out of the floor, cracking the floorboards in their rush to wrap around Annie’s outstretched arms. Her hair blew around her head as if there were a powerful wind blowing through the room. Her eyes were completely black and glittering with the promise of violence. She moved toward the council, the vines flowing and shifting effortlessly with her. When she stopped in front of Orion, fur erupted along her arms.
“Logan didn’t kill Kirkland. I did. What are you going to do about it?”