Carter

I watched Katen and Sam carefully help Annelise and my mother mix together the cookie dough they were currently making. Sam talked quietly to Annelise careful not to move to fast or startle her, while Katen never said a word and stood near her trying to comfort and protect at the same time.She never smiled at them and hardly glanced up at them at all and I could see that it was hurting the boys.

It was apparent that they were most definitely mates, that much was obvious. They probably had no idea why they felt drawn to one another, but someday they would figure it out. For now, it would just make them close friends that would be fiercely loyal and protective.

Katen was helping Annelise measure out the flour and whenever his skin touched hers she flinched back slightly. I knew that the boy was doing the best he could not to touch her, but I also knew he was trying to help Anne relax around the twins. I found it odd that Sam seemed so talkative, but Katen hadn't said a word yet.

I turned my attention to the kitchen table where Hayden and Emiliea were sitting and focused my attention on them. They were staring at their children just as I had been with small smiles gracing their faces.

"Why hasn't Katen said anything to Annelise yet? Is he shy, does he not talk much, what's up?" I asked quietly so that the kids couldn't hear us and their parents quickly turned to face me.

"I keep forgetting that we haven't seen you in a long time so you don't know things. We really need to get together more Carter, it has been far too long since I have seen you." Hayden said as if realizing for the first time that I didn't know something or other.

"About a three years ago there was a rogue attack on our territory. Nothing to bad only about four wolves and it would have been nothing if Katen hadn't been there. He had been making flower crowns for the festival the next day for Sam, Emiliea, and him to wear.

The wolves attacked only about fifty meters away and Katen came to investigate the noise. One of the wolves attacked him, but we got him before he could do anything life-threatening. It was only after the attack was over that we realized how wrong we were.

Somehow they had managed to get some silver down Katen's throat. It got caught in his bloodstream and he nearly died from it, it was the scariest moment of my whole life. Although they were able to save his life they couldn't save his voice. Katen can't talk and he can't taste food anymore due to the fact that the silver was orally administered to him.

If you watch, Katen has learned sign language along with the rest of us and most of my pack. All who are old enough to understand learned so that they could communicate with him easier. Sam watches him closely and speaks for him, sometimes he just adds Katen's comments to his own and other times he tells you that it's Katen who is talking." Hayden explained this all to me and I turned once again to watch the kids.

Katen was indeed pausing here and there to make small hand gestures and signs that Sam adeptly read and translated. Annelise was still ignoring them adamantly and focused solely on making the cookies.

"Can you explain a little more about what happened to the girl's parents. I know you gave us a quick rundown, but when we take the boys upstairs to unpack I think it would be a good time to explain the situation to them." Emiliea suggested and I took a quick breathe trying to decide how to start this story.

"Well, Annelise's mother died giving birth to her almost nine years ago. It was very hard on her father, one of the pack's warriors, Chad, and he struggled to figure things out. His son Corbin, did an amazing job taking care of Annelise while his father was....indisposed.

For a while, they went to live in the children's home, but after a little less than a year Chad was able to put himself back together and take care of his family once again. It was hard for Carter to come to trust him again and Annelise had a hard time remembering who he was because she was so small. Everything got better though and they were doing fine.

Elinn met him a couple times and she began to get comfortable with him and wasn't afraid of him like she was most people. One day Anne and a few of her friends came up to me with presents for their Luna that they wanted to give her. Corbin had helped them build and make some beautiful things and Elinn fell in love with the two instantly." I couldn't help but smile as I remembered the day that my mate had met the two kids.

"A few days later Elinn got into a little altercation with her parents and it really upset her. She went and hid out in the library trying to get some peace to understand what she was feeling. I found her and then Annelise and her brother found us and I left her with them while I went to talk to their dad. Anne joined us after a few minutes and I overheard the conversation Corbin was having with my mate.

He was telling her that it was okay to be upset over a lost childhood, that it was okay to be sad. He told her that she was allowed to be and feel whatever she wanted, but she didn't need to keep it all tucked away inside. It was really helpful for her and gave her the courage to be herself.

The kids became some of Elinn's best friends and she spent a lot of time with them. Then the night of the ball everything went crazy and none of us had any idea what was going on. Elinn was drugged and attacked so we were trying to help get her back. Then I was told about the attack on the others, five of the people closest to Elinn were killed.

They killed her nurses from the hospital, her doctor who was one of my best friends, as well as Chad. They were all torn to shreds but the worst was Corbin, seeing him like that, he was barely seventeen at the time. He had just met his mate that night and they were going ring shopping when....those bastards tore him to pieces and used his blood to write her a message.

Annelise hasn't been the same since the whole thing happened. It was bad enough that her mother had died and now the rest of her family was gone. Elinn had become like an older sister to Anne and all she wanted was to spend time with her but before we headed back... She's been all by herself.

She won't eat or talk to any of us. We can barely get her to sleep let alone go outside or do anything. This is the most I've seen her interact since the incident and frankly, I've been scared for her. She's become like a sister to me and I don't know what I would do if anyone ever hurt her." I glanced over at Annelise with sadness in my eyes.

"Don't worry Carter, the boys will help her," Emiliea assured me taking my hand and squeezing it tightly.

"I hope so Emiliea, I hope so."

AN: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!! You have been so supportive and I am so glad to have you guys here. I know this has been a crazy time but know that I am doing the best I can to get things up when they need to be. We just hit FIFTY-NINE THOUSAND VIEWS!! I am so proud of you all and appreciate what you do. If anyone wants to send me new covers for the book I would love some my email is [email protected]. Until next time, bye bye!