Chapter 5
2703 Words
Chapter 5
Unfortunately, that sentiment went out the door when Allie decided to visit Sarah one night, and her ex-husband, Alexander, and several burly men kicked down Sarah’s apartment door. And it just so happened that Carter was away on pack business that couldn’t be avoided.
While they were enjoying some friendly and girly banter over overcooked ramen noodles and fruit that Sarah had made, Allie’s laughter came to a sudden screeching halt.
“Unnie? What’s wrong?” Sarah asked when she noticed Allie’s eyes snap toward the door.
“Are you expecting anyone?” Allie asked and jumped to her feet, taking a defensive stance.
“No. Why?”
“Go to the bathroom, lock the door, and call the police!” Allie hurriedly said as she pushed Sarah toward the main bathroom.
“What’s wrong?!” Sarah asked, terror in her voice.
“Just as I say! Lock the door and call the cops! Now!” Allie slammed the door closed behind her. Sarah pulled out her cell phone, and as soon as she dialed emergency services, she heard her front door being kicked off its hinges.
“GET OUT!!!” Allie’s voice rang throughout the apartment.
“Emergency services, how may I direct your call?”
“I need the police! My apartment was just broken into!” Sarah whispered frantically.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” the dispatcher asked. Before Sarah could answer, she heard Alexander’s voice.
“No! My ex-husband just broke in.”
“TEAR THIS PLACE APART!” Sarah heard him command.
“He has other people with him!” Sarah told the dispatcher and started to tremble in fear. She jumped into the bathtub and closed the curtain to protect herself.
“GET THE F*CK OUT, ALEXANDER!!”
“I heard another woman in the house. Is she okay?”
“That’s my cousin. She’s trying to fend them off! They’re breaking everything!” Sarah cried. “Please hurry! He’s dangerous. I think he’s going to kidnap me or kill me!”
“GET THE F*CK OUT OF MY WAY, ALLIE!”
“AH!”
“Hurry, please! I think he just hit my cousin!” Sarah could hear the commotion getting closer and closer to the main bathroom.
“Stay on the line with me! I need your address.” Sarah quickly gave them the address and apartment number. “I have officers en route. Stay on the line with me.”
“Okay.”
*BANG BANG BANG*
“Ah…” Sarah whimpered when she heard someone banging on the bathroom door.
“MOON AHN YEOREO!” (OPEN THIS DOOR!) Alexander’s voice echoed.
“Leave her alone!” Allie shouted. Sarah could hear a loud thump on the ground. “Oh, you motherf*cker, you’re going to regret crossing me!” Allie shouted. Sarah could hear them fighting right outside the bathroom.
“Oh my God, please hurry! They’re fighting, and my cousin doesn’t stand a chance!”
“The police are there; just hang on a few more seconds.”
“POLICE! STAY WHERE YOU ARE! HANDS UP!”
“Oh, oh, they’re here,” Sarah sighed in relief.
“Good. Stay calm. You’re safe now, ma’am,” the dispatcher soothed Sarah’s nerves.
“Thank you.” Sarah hung up the phone but didn’t open the door.
“Took you long enough! Why is Metro PD's response time so f*cking slow!?” Allie’s criticism rang out. Sarah got up from the bathtub and opened the door to see Allie sitting on top of Alexander with his arms and legs twisted around him in some yoga position.
“Unnie?” Sarah called out.
“Ma’am, you can let him go now. We got it from here,” the police told Allie. Allie released her hold on Alexander and saw Sarah peeking out of the bathroom.
“Hey, you good?” Allie asked her. Sarah saw that Allie’s hair was a mess and she had a small mark on her face from being hit by Alexander, but that was the extent of her injuries. When Sarah looked at her ex-husband, however, it looked like he was suck up, chewed up, and spit out by a tornado.
The police read Alexander his Miranda Rights, and as he was being taken into custody, he threatened Sarah and Allie, promising that his lawyer would get him off. Allie, not wanting to take the risk, instructed Sarah to pack a bag so she could take her to Carter’s house.
“What!? But he’s not even home!” Sarah exclaimed in shock.
“It’s fine. He’s not going to care. I told you, he cares about you a lot. He would want you to stay at his place, where it’s safe. No one can get into the neighborhood. We’ll make sure no one can get to you there. Now do as I say,” Allie instructed. Sarah nodded and went with Allie back to the pack territory.
Sarah left her vehicle, just in case Alexander had placed a tracking device on it, and she would get either Giles or Sully to scan the car before having it delivered to the pack territory later. Sarah was shaking in Allie’s passenger seat from fear, while Allie was shaking from anger.
“Unnie, I’m so sorry,” Sarah whispered. She wrung her hands in her lap as tears started to fall. Allie reached over and held Sarah’s hands to ease her.
“It’s not your fault. We knew this could potentially happen. I’m just glad I was there when it did.”
“How did he find me?”
I don’t know. I’ll have the tech team at the company review all of your information to ensure that nothing was compromised without your knowledge. With what Alexander has access to, it’s likely someone hacked your phone or even put a tracker on your car. That’s why I told you to leave it there.
“I understand.” Sarah sighed, her breath still shaky. While Sarah was watching, Allie quickly sent a mind link to Dr. Quinn, the pack’s attending physician, informing her that Sarah was on her way and that she needed her to meet them at Carter’s house to check on Sarah and her baby. She also instructed Dr. Quinn to get a sedative safe for a pregnant woman to take so Sarah could sleep through the pack’s morning training routine.
Dr. Quinn promptly got everything together and was already waiting for Allie’s instructions when Allie pulled into the territory with Sarah.
“How do you know which house is Carter’s?” Sarah asked Allie.
“I told you, he bought a house from Dorian. I know where everyone lives,” Allie replied and winked.
“That’s creepy, Unnie.”
“Yeah, well, when your husband owns a sh*t ton of real estate and sells it to his employees, you can’t really help but know where everyone lives.”
Allie had already informed Carter, through Mikey, about what had happened, and Carter told her that there was a spare key hidden under a fake rock that they could use to get into his house. After they settled in, Allie pretended to call Dr. Quinn and lied to Sarah that she was their family on-call physician to avoid any awkward questions for now.
“Good news, Sarah, your baby is fine. Your blood pressure is a little high, but that’s to be expected. I’m going to give you some anti-anxiety medication that is safe for pregnant women to take in low dosages. It should help calm your nerves and help you sleep as well,” Dr. Quinn said.
“Thank you. And thank you for coming on such short notice. I didn’t know my cousin was so resourceful.”
“They’re not my resources. They’re Dorian’s. I just use them,” Allie snickered. Sarah smiled and nodded. Once Dr. Quinn checked on Sarah, she left. Allie made sure Sarah was comfortable in the guest room upstairs at Carter’s house. When she was fast asleep, Allie took a breath of fresh air and headed back to the main packhouse, where she had to explain everything to Dorian, who sensed her anxiety from half a mile away.
The next day, Carter returned home feeling anxious after hearing what had happened to Sarah while he was away. He was kicking himself for leaving. He knew something like this would happen once he left, but he did it anyway.
“Dude, you didn’t have a choice. It was a direct order from the Alpha,” Warlord said to him.
“Seriously, man, Gizmo said she wasn’t harmed and is safe at your place,” Mikey said from the driver's seat.
“I never should have left. I should have been here. This wouldn’t have happened if I had been at her place,” Carter said as his body trembled with unease.
“You don’t know that, bro. This could have happened whether you were there or not. She’s lucky the Luna was there and not you,” Poseidon indicated.
“Why’s that?” Carter asked and furrowed his brows.
“Seriously? Because the Luna at least had the restraint now to kill that f*cker. Had you been there, you would have ripped his head off as soon as he came through the door and asked questions later. I don’t think that would have won you any brownie points with your mate, and you’d be rotting in a prison cell.”
“Percy is right,” Mikey said in agreement. “Things worked out the way they needed to. Gizmo being there was good for everyone. She’s small but strong. She took him down and downplayed her martial arts training to explain the size difference. Although Carter didn’t like what Mikey and the others were telling him, he and Jasper knew deep down that they were right. If he had been the one to receive Alexander, things would have turned out disastrous.”
“Take a deep breath, Carter. We’ll be home in ten minutes,” Aries said from the passenger seat.
“What am I supposed to tell her when I get home?” Carter questioned. “You know, about what we are?”
“You’ll need to do your best to keep her from leaving the house during morning training. Dorian said he’s given an Alpha Command that there's no shifting until further notice, unless it’s for morning training. Since she’ll be dead asleep at that time, it’s not that risky. And it won’t matter during the day because she’ll be at work with most of us.”
“But Gamma, we can’t hide it from her forever. She’s going to find out eventually,” Warlord stated.
“True, and I’m sure Gizmo has a plan for that, but we’ll have to wait for her to come back,” Mikey replied.
“Back from where?” they all asked in unison.
“She’s currently ripping Sarah’s family a new one,” Mikey replied.
“Nice!” Poseidon cheered.
“Oh, sh*t,” Aries mumbled.
After a few minutes, Mikey pulled into the pack territory, and Carter’s anxiety shot through the roof of the car. Before it even came to a complete stop, Carter was already jumping out and racing to his front door. He was in such a hurry that he fumbled with his keys several times before getting the key in the lock. The guys were shaking their heads from the car before Mikey pulled away to take everyone else home.
“Sarah?!” Carter called out for her as soon as he successfully opened the door.
“Carter?” Sarah called from upstairs. When he looked up and saw her beautiful face, Carter couldn’t suppress a sigh of relief, glad she was, in fact, relatively unscathed from the night before. “Hey, welcome home!” she chirped as she descended to greet him. Once she was within arm’s reach, Carter couldn’t resist pulling her into his embrace. Sarah gasped at his sudden display of affection.
“Are you okay?” Carter asked softly before pulling back slightly, but he didn’t fully let go of her. “Did that bastard hurt you at all? Are you injured or hurt? Is the baby okay?” Carter fired off question after question, not giving her a moment to respond.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, take a breath, Carter,” Sarah could help but laugh a little.
“Sorry. I was so worried when I heard what happened.”
“Ugh, I told my cousin not to say anything to you,” Sarah groaned. “She has such a big mouth.”
“What’s done is done. Are you okay? The baby?” Carter asked again, only more calmly this time.
“Yes, we’re both fine,” Sarah replied. “I’m still a little freaked out, but Allie’s OB-GYN has been a blessing. She gave me anti-anxiety meds to help me sleep,” Sarah said as she rubbed her belly. “And Allie and her friends have been making sure I’m comfortable until you get home. They even brought me food and snacks because your house is so empty.”
“Oh, sh*t, sorry about that. I’m pretty much a nomad. I don’t have much and tend to avoid junk food.” Sarah gasped playfully, hearing that he didn’t like junk food.
“Who stays away from junk food?” Sarah joked.
“Someone who wants to stay healthy.”
“Nah, I’m good,” she jokingly said. Carter hugged her once more, only gently this time. Sarah couldn’t help but hug him back.
“Carter, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Are there wolves around here?” Carter instantly froze at her question, but quickly composed himself.
“Why do you ask?”
“I thought I heard howling this morning. I mean, I know that the mountains are visible from here, but hearing them freaked me out,” Sarah replied.
“Oh, that might have been a small pack of coyotes,” Carter moderated.
“That makes more sense. I mean, why would there be wolves in the desert? That wouldn’t make any sense, right?” Sarah laughed. Carter also laughed, but deep down, he was panicking. He would have to let Mikey know. “So, how was the business trip?” Sarah asked, effectively changing the subject.
“It was uneventful.”
“Did you get what you needed to get done?”
“No. We didn’t get to finish the job this time around, but it’s no big deal,” Carter replied. “We did what we could, and that’s all the client asked for.”
“Okay. Are you hungry?”
“Nah, I ate in the car,” Carter lied straight through his teeth. He was famished, but he was concerned about her well-being than caring about his hunger.
“Oh, okay, I was going to make some popcorn and watch a movie. Would you care to join me?”
“Sure. Let me put my stuff away and shower first.” Sarah nodded and headed to the kitchen. Carter ran to his room but was disappointed to see that Sarah hadn’t been there. He sniffed around and realized she had stayed in the guestroom down the hall. He and Jasper sulked before getting cleaned up and meeting Sarah in the living room for the movie.
“I hope you like romcoms,” Sarah sang as she sat down on the couch with the popcorn and two sodas.
“Not really.”
“Have you ever watched one?”
“No.”
“Well, there’s a first for everything,” she stated and pulled him to the couch.
“What are we watching?” Carter asked.
“Juno. The American version.”
“There’s another version?”
“Yup. There’s a Korean one. This version is different from the Korean one, but not by much.” Carter nodded and decided it wouldn’t hurt to watch it with Sarah. He was willing to do whatever it took as long as he got to spend some quality time with her.
- Writer
