Betrayed by My Pack – Wolfless Hybrids Escape
Chapter 41 –

Cara's POV

Alexei is nervous. I can tell he is, even if he hasn't said anything to me. He has even been distancing himself from me for some reason. I spoke with my mother, and she assured me that he still feels the same way about me. She knows what is happening but hasn't told me what it is. She just told me to keep training and only focus on that. I don't know what is going on right now, but I have felt someone watching me for the last few days. I could feel their eyes boring into me, and I already knew this feeling.

I have felt it hundreds of times before, at my old pack. I had to be sensitive. I had learned the hard way to listen to my gut. It has saved me more times than I care to admit. The only exception was Lisa and her goon squad. Sometimes, the direction I ran to get away led me right to her or her friends. I wish someone would tell me what was happening. It was making me nervous. Either my mother or Alexei was going to have to tell me. They both knew but stayed quiet about it.

I have learned a lot in the last week. My mother has been pushing me to learn all that I can. In the last three days, she has upped my training. I now train for at least four hours a day with her. I can throw up a protection spell in the blink of an eye. I can make much larger fireballs and ice arrows to throw. I have nailed down teleportation. I even went to see Luna at the Black Moon pack by myself, using her as my beacon. She was just as proud of me as Brenna was. I was happy with my progression as well, but I hated being kept in the dark.

I also trained one-on-one with Brenna in the mornings. She wanted me to learn some defensive moves. I was never allowed to train at Kamaria because I was not a wolf. The former Alpha, Hugo, had said that I had to wait until I shifted before I could train. A lot of them acted like I was a spy sent there to try to get information on the pack. They also said I would get hurt, but I am tougher than they realize. My mother didn't want me to train with Brenna at first, but she agrees with her now. She said, "All knowledge is beneficial," when I asked why she changed her mind. Most of what Brenna is teaching me is how to get out of a hold. I learned the thumb is the weakest point of the hand and how to get out of someone's grip.

I already suspect what is going on. Lisa taught me a lot over the years as well. I have to assume that the girl who likes Alexei has learned that he believes that we are mates. I believe that he is right about it. I always feel safest around him. The pull I feel towards him is much greater these days. He makes me happy. I was going to speak to my mother about what would happen if I did decide to allow him to turn me. There are a lot of questions involved with it. Would I lose being able to speak telepathically with my mother? Would I lose my magical powers? I didn't want to enter it without more information. I needed to know what might happen if I decided to fully accept Alexei's offer. I have spoken about it with my mother. She was not against it. She just wants me to go slow. She told me again that he loved me. That he wants to take care of me. But I still wanted to see that for myself. I will only have myself to blame if I make the wrong choice here. I would have to live hundreds of years with Alexei before my life ends. I don't want to live that whole time with reassurance. I want to know it in my heart before I can make such a leap of faith.

I was heading from our house to the packhouse to meet Brenna for breakfast before training. My mother had forgotten something at our home and returned to get it. I am not a child. I can walk on my own. The sun had not risen yet, but I could see perfectly well in the woods. I heard her before I saw her. She came at me fast, but I had a dome around me before she could reach me. She fell back from me in surprise after hitting the dome before slowly getting up from the ground. She was extremely thin, and her skin was very white. Her yellow eyes glowed at me in her anger. She was angry at me, and I had never seen her before. But I suspected who she was.

"So he fell in love with a fucking witch. Makes sense you wouldn't be a vampire. He would want someone special, just like his brother did. What does he even see in you? Sure, you're pretty, but so am I. So, what is it about you that interests him so much? I have been watching you for days after he shot me down this last time. I had to come onto the packland to start asking around. It took me too long to figure out what was happening with him. I finally followed him to your home after he thought he lost me. No wonder I couldn't replace a way to get to you. Your home is spelled. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it. I will catch you, and I will take pleasure in draining you. See if you can survive that, bitch. I will never allow you to take Alexei away from me," she spat at me.

"He came to me, so I didn't take him away from you. You never had him, so don't act like I took your boyfriend away. You don't have to act like this. Just set your sights on someone else. Alexei is my mate. I was created for him. A higher power has decided that we belong together. It is out of your hands. Leave me alone. I won't warn you again. I will be sure to tell Alexei about this when I see him tonight," I replied.

My heart was beating fast, but my tone remained calm. Like I believed every word I told her. It didn't go over well. She shrieked angrily and extended her claws to strike at my protective shield. Going all the way around me, slashing over and over again until she tired herself out. She was angry and frustrated now. I could tell that she would not be letting this go.

"Go ahead and tell him. You have no proof; he can't kick me out of the coven without proof. I will never let you go, Cara. I will make sure that you suffer before you die. I promise you that I will be the last thing that you see before you draw your last breath. I won't let you get away with undermining what I have spent three long years building. Be seeing you," she mockingly told me before taking off. She was fast, really fast. I watched her until she was completely gone from my eyesight before I lowered my dome. This isn't good at all.

My mother suddenly appeared next to me, and I screamed out in fear. She put her arm around me and said, "I was here with you, Cara. You were never alone. I needed it to look that way to draw her out. She has been watching you for days. Do not worry. I know exactly what we need to learn today. I believe we will need all four hours of practice to cover it. I wanted to kill her myself, but I think it would be better for you to do it. She is not a strong vampire. She is a young one, I can tell. I will speak to Jaxon about this. He will not be happy to hear it." The next thing I knew, we were at the entrance to Brenna's packhouse. I hate to admit it, but the threat I had just received was scary. She wanted me dead, and she was going to make plans to get that done. Goddess, I have only been here eleven days, but things have not gone as smoothly here as I had hoped. I just wanted to live a nice, peaceful life with a partner who loved me. I didn't think that was too much to ask.

My mother immediately headed for Jaxon in the dining room as I headed toward Brenna. I was no longer as hungry as I had been. Her threat had actually terrified me. I watched as Jaxon took out his cell phone, and I knew that he was calling Alexei. I didn't want that. I just wanted to go train. Learn whatever my mother wanted to teach me to be able to deal with that woman. I grabbed some eggs and bacon and headed for their table when I saw Alexei run into the dining room. His eyes flew all around the room before he came towards me. I was glad I set my plate down because he spun me around, looking for an injury on me. He was in a panic, and I could see real fear in his eyes.

"I am fine, Alexei. I would have preferred a heads up, as she told me that she has been watching me for days, but I am fine. I saw her coming and protected myself. She is a real piece of work. She made sure to tell me that I couldn't take you away from her," I told him. "Did she say anything else?" he asked. He was calm, but I was not falling for it. He was angry, very angry.

"She did. She said that she had tried to get into my house. But she also said that she was going to catch me, and she was going to drain me," I told him.

My mother nodded at what I said and then said, "Hang on a moment, Alexei." She then touched his temple, and he was quiet for a few minutes with his eyes closed. He was even more upset when she was done. I assume that she allowed him to see her memories as she said she had been there the whole time.

"You left her alone? After knowing that Jana was watching her?" he finally asked.

"I needed to see who was after my daughter. I also needed to know the threat level. I didn't like keeping a secret from my daughter. I knew you were trying to deal with the problem, but the problem is getting out of hand. We all needed to be on the same page, and now we are," my mother replied.

"I dealt with her, even without the heads up. Please tell me if I have anyone else gunning for me. I know you two were trying to protect me, but this was something that I needed to know about. What if she didn't run straight for me? What if she was much closer? I know you were there now, Mom, but I would have appreciated the heads up, especially since my life is on the line. She wasn't joking around. She wants me dead," I told them.