Carter woke up with a big freight to the sound of a click. The only light in the room came from the moonlight out of the window. She looked to the door and her heart melted again.
"Tobias!" She gasped, waking up fully and sitting up.
"Shhh... shh... We can't let anyone catch us..." Tobias whispered faintly and moved as fast as lightening to her on the bed. Carter held her arms open for him and embraced him the moment he joined her on the bed. His eyes buried into hers as he seemed to study her soul. A scent caught his nose and he looked to the other side of the desk, frowning.
"You didn't eat?" Tobias whispered, his eyes flickering to the tray of food sitting on the opposite side of the room.
"Everything has just all happened so quickly... I kind of collapsed on the bed in exhaustion... I didn't mean not to eat." She muttered honestly.
Tobias listened as if it was the most important information he was ever going to hear as he stroked her hair lovingly. Carter watched him as he watched her. A question circled her mind as she stared into his golden eyes.
"Are you going to mark me?" Carter asked quietly, praying for a yes.
"I think we should wait..." Tobias confessed, pain clear in his hushed voice. Carter winced and felt like she had been shot with a silver bullet. She couldn't believe it! A million questions flooded her mind. Didn't he want to mate with her? Didn't he love her?
"It not safe right now... I think we should keep out mateship a secret until Rob gets home..." Tobias admitted quickly, aching because he hurt her.
"I don't understand." Carter whimpered, "Don't you love me?"
"Of course I do! Of course I love you! You're my life now! It's just that the Alpha has severe anger issues and it might get really bad if he finds out! If I mate you he will be especially mad! It might be so bad that he would kill me. And if I die, you might die, and I can't let you die..." Tobias explained but he could see in his mate eyes she wasn't buying it.
"Hey... Love, listen to me. Rob is my best friend. If we can keep us a secret until he gets home, I can talk to him. Rob is my best friend, he will understand." Tobias promised, cupping her face in his hands. "But until then... We need to keep 'us' on the down low..."
Carter whimpered and Tobias shushed her gently, "it's for you own good, Carter..."
"The Alpha and the Beta scare me..." Carter admitted sliding her hand into his and matching her palms to his and marking how small her hand was in comparison.
"They won't hurt you... You are far too precious... But I am begging you, please don't give them a reason."
"You sound like my cousin..." Carter chuckled soberly and her family flashed through her head and tears came to her eyes. She looked over to the window and looked out before Tobias's hand cupped her chin and brought her back to him, wiping her tears with his thumbs. He had no words to comfort her, as he knew no words could heal what his Alpha had done to his love. He pressed a long kiss to her forehead and pulled him onto his chest as he laid down covering them with the blankets. He drew patterns on her arm until her breathing evened out and she slipped into a peaceful sleep in his arms, where she belonged.
There was a banging on the door and Carter woke startled. In a reflex she tried to grab Tobias but found him gone. His absence sunk her heart and she looked around as if he was still in her room, but he wasn't. Her mate had left her alone some time ago as his sent barely lingered and her bed was cold. The rough banging continued and she couldn't help but think of her mate. When he came to visit her he was so sweet in the way he knocked, as if she would be offended if he knocked too harshly. Carter's train of thought was destroyed when the door slammed open and Killian stood, obviously aggravated.
"I shouldn't have to wait Carter!" He snapped.
"Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Carter quipped and slapped her hand over her mouth but was too late as the thought had slipped out in actual words.
Killian looked absolutely pissed and his eyes narrowed.
"You have five minutes to get dress and get your bratty ass down stairs before I drag you there by your hair." He growled threateningly. "I'm counting and your time starts now!"
Carter was too frightened to react and it wasn't until the Beta yelled 'NOW!' that she scrambled out of the bed and stumbled into her new closet. The man slammed the bedroom door shut and it probably echoed throughout the house.
Carter filed through the overly massive collection of clothes that her captors provided her with. She acted quickly and pulled together something she hoped was going to look alright before opening one door in hopes it was the right one. Carter groaned to find it was the smaller closet and not the bathroom and turned around and into the bathroom, tugging on the shorts. Five minutes was ridiculous! If she hadn't opened her damn mouth then perhaps she would have more time! She growled and hopped around the cold tiles to get her leg through the right hole. Carter yelled in frustration and then between her heavy breathing and doing up the short buttons she could hear the bloody man laughing at her struggling. She pulled her shirt over her head and huffed, looking into the large mirror at her reflexion. Carter was disgusted, she was a mess.
"Two minutes!" Killian called and her eyes widened. She rummaged through the many drawers in the room in the desperate search for a brush. Carter found many things that fit the description of 'not what she was looking for'. She did find toothpaste and a tooth brush and she threw them onto the counter top for after she found the apparently invisible brush. She screamed when she found it behind the mirror that doubled as a cupboard!
After attacking her hair with the brush and brushing her teeth, Carter hurried out of the room, stopping for a moment to look at herself. She looked fine for a kidnap victim but what if Tobias saw her... oh goddess! She looked terrible! The door opened and Killian scoffed.
"Stop admiring your reflection and get downstairs." He demanded. Carter folded her arms and walked past him, glaring.
Carter walked down the hallway, past Tobias's room she longed to stay there where she could smell his scent but she remembered what he said about keeping their mateship a secret. She continued to push forward and moved down the corridor to the steps.
Carter sniffed the air and it was filled with the smell of cooking meet. Her stomach growled as she was guided closer to her destination, which she assumed was the kitchen. Killian kept towing her by her over-abused arm until he pushed her through an arch and she was in the kitchen. Standing in a semi-sloppy line were three guys, and to the right Alpha Phillip stood by a beautiful woman, who was no was no doubt the Alpha's wife.
"Julian, where is your brother?" Killian asked quietly to one of the guys who looked maybe 16.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him this morning..." 'Julian' muttered, looking slightly nervous. Carter then realized that Tobias was Killian's son. She couldn't believe she hadn't pieced that together prior to now! She looked up at the giant man and noted the same curly brown hair and same jaw structure. The two actually looked quite similar. She felt stupid, but realized she really didn't know anything about her mate. She had fallen asleep before she could ask any questions.
Carter shook the thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on the scene in front of her. She looked at 'Julian'. He had a sandy brown head of hair and shared Tobias's beautiful golden eyes. Carter found herself daydreaming about his eyes and then his lips before the Alpha brought her back.
"Carter this is my wife, Amanda. And these are my two youngest sons." The Alpha said put his hands on the two boy's heads. Carter looked at the two boys. One of them could almost be her age. He has the same blonde hair as his mother and her eyes. The younger one looked...Blake's age...
"This is Damon and my youngest, Alexander. Boys, this is Carter." The Alpha stated. Carter only barely registered the names as her heart wrenched at the memory of her youngest cousin, who this young boy remind her so much of.
"And this is my youngest son, Julian. My other son is somewhere around here. His name is Tobias if you come across him." Killian said some point, Carter only began listening when the love of her existence was mentioned.
"Carter." The Alpha barked making the family jump as she snapped out of her thoughts. "Did you not get enough sleep last night?"
"No, sir" Carter said through gritted teeth as her anger started to show through. "I'm not quite accustomed to my prison cell yet, so do forgive me!"
The entire group of people were shocked except the two large men who were just pissed. The Alpha concealed it well through a face of lies.
"Carter, manners. You still haven't greeted my family, so you might want to do that first!" He suggested, giving Carter a look that could kill.
"Yes sir." She quipped and turned to the family. "I am truly sorry. Forgive me for my shocking manner, being kidnapped and dragged to a foreign place with the idea I will never see my family again has put me in a rather sour mood. Let me introduce myself. Hi. My name is Carter Miller. Thank you for hosting me in your beautiful home, and giving me a room and everything I could possibly want... Except for my freedom, of course."
Alpha Phillip blinked and snarled under his breath.
"Oh dear, you must be starving! Did you enjoy your dinner last night? I wasn't sure what you wanted so I just made up an extra plate of the boy's dinner." Amada said quickly, trying to smooth the waters as all good alpha female could.
"I'm sorry, Mrs Amanda... I feel asleep before I could." Carter admitted. She looked at the woman. Amanda seemed like such a kind caring woman and she really didn't deserve Carter's defiance and rude side. The side that should be saved for her husband and Killian.
"Oh! You poor dear!" Amanda exclaimed loudly. "Sit down, sweetie! I'm making breakfast now. Julian, be a dear, find your brother for breakfast!"
Alpha Phillip point to the table and motioned for her to move. He wasn't please with her actions this morning, and she was sure she was going to hear about it. Carter moved quickly across the room as Julian disappeared. The Alexander boy pulled out a chair and motioned for her to sit. It made her smile. He may have his father's eyes, but he was brought up by his mother obviously.
"Thank you..." She whispered with a smile. He grinned and he sat down across from her. His older brother sat beside him. The Alpha sat at the head of the table and looked down at Carter. She avoided eye contact and came up with an idea to get her from under his glare.
"Mrs Amanda, would you like some help?" Carter asked.
"Oh no dear, don't be ridiculous. I've got it, you just sit and relax. Oh and please, just call me Amanda...or if you like, you could perhaps call me mum?" Amanda offered, looking over her shoulder.
"Oh um... I- I have a mum... m- Amanda..." Carter swallowed awkwardly...
"Oh of course you do sweetie. Forget I even suggest such a ridiculous thing." Amanda said, passing it off as nothing, but Carter could hear it in her voice. Amanda was disappointed. "I've just never had a daughter before..."
There was an awkward silence in the air.
"Maybe we could go shopping sometime...or something?" Carter said twisting her fork between her fingers, looking at the woman. In the reflection on the back splash, and she was smiling.
"What a great idea." Amanda giggled and took the deliciously smelling, sizzling bacon off the pan and into a paper towel.
Carter sniffed the air, drinking the scent, before smelling something even better... Tobias appeared in the doorway behind his younger brother.