Betrayed by My Pack – Wolfless Hybrids Escape
Chapter 63 –

Alexei's POV

I can't believe how open Cara is with her emotions. The images that she is throwing my way are making it impossible for me not to rise to the occasion. I am glad that she can teleport us home, because right now, anyone who sees me will notice the issue I am currently dealing with. Cara is an innocent girl; she hasn't realized I am in agony at the moment. I am sure that after tonight, she probably will. I am glad she cannot wait any longer because she is all I have been dreaming about since I met her.

We will be staying at the hospital until six p.m. when Dmitry comes to relieve me. We had decided that it would just be the two of us watching over Ivan until he woke up from his coma. We knew we could trust our fellow team members, but Ivan was like our brother. We would stand watch over him until he woke up. Dr Gurin is making very sure that Ivan is well taken care of while he heals. The rest of the team is searching for Jana and Anika. I don't think they left the area. I think that Jana won't be leaving here until she has hurt or killed Cara. Jana's shooting Ivan was completely intentional. She clearly didn't want him to see a vision of what she was up to and wanted him out of the picture. We are all aware that she was trying to kill him. We are trying hard to figure out why, but so far, we have nothing that gives us even a hint of what she plans to do. The not knowing is the hardest part. Jaxon had told me that they were pretty sure that Lena was the person who Jana was meeting with. Nadia had come over to Black Adder last night and confirmed that it was Lena as she recognized her scent. I don't know why Lena is throwing in with Jana, but it couldn't be for a good reason. I will be making sure to keep Cara away from Lena until we know what they are planning to do. Lena has an issue with Brenna, not Cara. Jana has a problem with Cara, not Brenna. The issue between them stems from jealousy. I have to assume that they are switching out. I think Jana is now trying to kill Brenna, and Lena will be coming after Cara. That might work because Cara is watching out for Jana, not Lena. Lena might be able to get close enough to Cara hurt her. The same with Brenna. She isn't looking for Jana to come after her. Jaxon would never forgive me if Jana hurt Brenna. The trust between his pack and my coven would be destroyed, and we might be unable to overcome that.

I don't know if that is what is going on or not. I have tried to think about it from every direction. Up until now, that is the best that I can come up with. My gut told me I was missing something here, but I couldn't figure out what it was. My fear and concern for Ivan is keeping my focus off. It is hard for me to concentrate on worrying when Jana will pop up and try to end Cara. I have too much going on right now, and I am sure that plays a part in this.

I can usually deal with anything. I have made up hundreds of missions for me and my team to go on. I am used to going in and dealing with the problem at hand. I never hesitated to make a judgment call. I was used to having pressure on me, I usually thrived on the challenge of it. I could make plans and carry them through without a single incident occurring. But this was different. I was so worried about Cara and Ivan that I couldn't focus properly. Cara was sitting beside me, lost in thought.

She is calmer now that we had a serious talk about our relationship, and what we wanted from it. I know that she isn't worried about me anymore. She seemed content with what I had told her. She knows that the minute we get time alone together, I am going to mark her as mine. I cannot do that to her here. I do not want anyone to come in when I even attempt to mark her. I don't want anyone seeing my mate like that. If I can, I am also planning on sleeping with her too. The fact that she seems to think that I will not like her inexperience is heartwarming. I don't care if she has experience or not. I just want to be with her and make her mine.

Dmitry showed up right at six p.m. to relieve me. When he entered the room, he smiled at Cara and me sitting together on the couch. He looked over at Ivan the next minute with the smile being wiped off his face. His concern for Ivan was etched all over his face the moment he looked at him.

"He is still not awake?" Dmitry asked.

"Not yet, but Dr. Gurin is very optimistic that it will be soon. They are doing everything they can to help him," I responded. We all watched Ivan for a few minutes before I spoke again.

"Any leads on Jana and Anika? I know that they are still close. I can feel it," I asked.

"No, not yet. I think they are still around here, too. They didn't have any money to be able to go anywhere. I also think that someone is helping them. I pulled the team in, as trying to replace them during the daytime wastes time. I am having them go out in teams of two. I am leaving Adrik in charge, at the moment. Kira came back with Blake to help us search. They arrived last night. Anton and Cheryl are on the second team, and the third team has Irina, Polina, and Nadia. I wouldn't send one of them out alone. It just wouldn't be safe. With you guarding Cara and me here with Ivan and Adrik having to stay in the coven, I felt it was the best thing to do. I don't know if I can trust the patrol members to go out looking for them," Dmitry answered.

"Thank you, Dmitry, for doing that. That is exactly what I would have done. It will be much safer for them to go out in teams. I don't know who we can trust either, past our team at the moment. We will interview each of them, and I will have Anton and Adrik sit in on the interviews. They will know who, if anyone, was a part of what Jana and Anika did. I don't want anyone who helped Jana get away with what she did to stay in our coven. We will clean house, after we get everything settled with Jana. Let me know if you need us. We can come back quickly if you need us," I replied. Dmitry knew that Ivan walking up, or another attack was what I was talking to him about.

"Good night, Dmitry. Will you need any food brought to you?" Cara asked him.

"I am good, Cara. I brought something with me, Cara, I appreciate you asking. Have a good night," Dmitry answered her with a smile as he lifted a small cooler into view.

As Cara walked a few steps away, Dmitry looked at me with a small smile. He wanted his mate, too, just like Ivan did. I knew exactly how he was feeling right now. We all wanted someone special in our lives. We had all been so jealous of Anton when he found Cheryl. I know that Dmitry and Ivan were actively looking for their mate. I knew the pain they felt. I had lived it myself. Living for hundreds of years without someone special in your life was hard. Finding someone who loves you as much as you love them was priceless.

As vampires, we sometimes struggle to replace someone who is willing to accept us. The feral ones do not want to accept to live in harmony in a coven. Some are unwilling to take time to get to know us, instead going by horror stories told to them by their ancestors. Those stories were usually based on an interaction with a feral vampire. Many other supernatural carried a great deal of bias against us.

Anton and I also had a hard time knowing if someone liked us for us or if they wanted us because we were royals. The fact that we were powerful and rich had women always coming after us. I was so glad that I found Cara. She didn't care if I had money or not. She has never even asked me anything concerning my funds. I doubt that she knows about our businesses or what we own. We stepped towards the corner of the room, and Cara teleported us home. She brought us to the hospital and from the hospital through teleportation. We do it secretly like this to keep others from seeing or knowing about her powers.

Cara brought us back home, and the house was quiet. Cara walked into the kitchen to replace a note sitting on the island. Cara read it before announcing, "We are on our own. Mom went to dinner with Robert. I really hope she is willing to give him a chance. I can tell that he loves her." "Love isn't always instant. Your mother had been hurt, and it takes time to get past something like that. She has to learn to trust Robert. I don't know why she didn't just look into his mind to check and see how he felt. That would have been the quickest way. I think she was scared to see how much he liked her. Maybe she didn't want to look inside his head without his permission. She had some deniability before, as she didn't know how he felt. Once you know that someone loves you, it is much harder to hurt them. I think that was why she left him alone. She was scared of getting hurt again. She was also scared of hurting him. She knew how bad it felt to be rejected. She didn't want to do that to him. I hope she gave him a chance as well. He deserves it," I replied. I had kind of been in the same boat. I knew Cara was meant to be mine, but she feared my intentions towards her. But I wanted Cara, mind, body, and soul. I believe that I started loving her before I even saw her.

I saw Cara's eyes soften to look at me as she walked back over to me. "I know that you love me, Alexei. You have made no secret of it, and I appreciate you giving me time to get to know you. I was scared of rushing into a relationship with you. I had never been in one before. Some wanted me, but only as someone to have fun or play around with. Not as their mate or wife. I had prayed for someone to love me, and here you are. You came to me when I was at my very lowest point. I had almost given up on having someone in my life. I thought it was an impossible dream until I met you. I know that a higher power had sent us here. Whether it was the Moon Goddess or your God, Absalom, we were brought here for a reason," Cara responded to me before rising up on her tiptoes to kiss my jaw.