The Gamma's Heart
The Gamma’s Heart – Chapter 53

Hank stared at the two of them in utter disbelief. This had to be some kind of joke right? They wouldn’t offer him this without some kind of catch…. right?

“”So what do you say?” Wyatt asked him again.

Hank shook his head. “What’s the catch? I accept it, then you both take me out back so you can kill me slowly?” he chuckled lightly, but was being dead serious.

Noah cleared his throat to cover up his laughter. “No, Hank! Wyatt told me how you had his back the entire time durring the attack. Jackson and Richard said you’d be perfect for the position as well.”

“My dad even said you saved his a*s before you even got to Wyatt!” he added.

“And…” he sighed knowing she probably didn’t know. “and what about, Clara? She won’t be happy that you both have asked me to be the pack Beta!”

Noah and Wyatt looked at each other then back at him “we can handle her” they said simutaniously.

“I doubt that, considering…” Hank pointed behind them “she is right behind you”

Both boys jumped up to replace their mate with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes narrowed at them.

“Hey angel” Noah said nervously.

“You know, when it comes to meetings…am I or am I not supposed to be present?” Clara asked them.

Dan chuckled from his corner in the room. “Oh I have missed you dear!”

Clara smiled at him, then turned back to glaring at her mates. “I’m not mad at your decision. But next time tell me about it, atleast Hank thought it was polite enough to mind-link me asking me if you two were planning on killing him!”

“Dude, I wanted I ease it onto her.” Noah growled.

“No, you thought I’d blow up about it. Although…I’m not going to be entirely comfortable around him….ever. But don’t hide things from me.” Clara said, then turned her eyes to Hank.

“Congratulations Hank, you deserve everything your father denied you.” and with that she turned on her heel and walked out.

“I didn’t even smell her when she came in.” Wyatt grumbled. “Did she cover her scent? I hate it when she does that!”

Noah chuckled at his cousin and shook his head. She would most likely do that just to sneak up on them.

“Have you and your mate marked each other yet son?” Dan asked Hank.

Hank looked down at his hands. “Stacey wants to, but….with my issues and with Clara.” he sighed “I don’t want her to regret marking me and being stuck with me for the rest of her life.”

“Look we may not like you around our mate because of how much your dad was able to influence you. But you are a really good fighter and you would make a great Beta Hank.” Wyatt said “It sucks that your father didn’t see your potential before the rouges tore him to shreds.”

Hank smirked at his last comment, because everyone knew it wasn’t the rouges who killed his dad. It was him, he tried to kill the Alpha while he was defending this daughter and granddaughter from the rouges who killed his wife.

So he took him by surprise and tore him apart without thinking twice about it.

“Thank you.. all of you. I will talk to Stacey and hopefully we can get past my problems in therapy together.” He stood up and shook their hands.

**********

An hour later Clara knocked on the door to the room Samuel was staying in at the Packhouse, when it opened she smiled nervously at him.

“Hey kiddo” Samuel smiled. He was about to go crazy if she took any longer getting here, but once he seen her face all his worries slowly left. “Come in”

Moving past him he noticed her hand on her side, when he was a child he seen that same thing with his grandmother, but it was with her chest.

“What color is it?” He asked getting straight to the point.

Clara sighed turning towards him and moved her shirt up to show him the b***d red color and the veins spreading around it, it made her dizzy everytime she seen it.

It only flared up every few days, why did it decide to do it now?

Samuel nodded his head, he knew who was behind this per say, and she was still two colors away from the danger zone.

“She said I killed her husband, but none of the men I killed had families or were married.” Clara said looking down at the mark on her side. “She wouldn’t let me explain, but instead cursed me anyways”

He needed the b***d of the witch that did it to get rid of the mark. He called a few friends of his they said they would help him, but there would be a cost for this to work.

“What was her name?” Samuel asked not taking his eyes from the cursed mark. She was lucky she didn’t put on her chest or she’d be pretty much dead already.

“Ironically, she said her name was Amara Judas! But she should be dead, shouldn’t she?” Clara said her nose scrunching up in confusion.

He shook his head “Depends on who she is possessing, a willing participant or an unwilling one.” he noticed the look of horror on her face.

Samuel moved closer and cupped her face in his hands. “I won’t let her kill you. I can fix this, all I need is the b***d of the witch who cast the spell.”

She placed her hands over his. “You never told me she could do that.”

Samuel smiled sadly “I didn’t want to frighten you. She possessed my grandmother, cursed her too. To get rid of her she killed her daughter, my aunt and then herself.”

He pointed down to the mark that was slowly spreading. “When this turns brown and the veins on it begin to spread to your heart she has your wolf, when it turns black and they do reach your heart it means she has you. Essentially killing you just to bring her back, she will be living through you.”

“Is that why I’ve been so drained of my energy? I thought it was because I was keeping Wyatt blocked out from feeling anything I felt?” Clara asked him her chest rising and falling rapidly from all the new information.

Samuel nodded “unfortunately yes, how long ago did this happen?”

Clara closed her eyes and took in a steady breath. “Two weeks ago”

“She wants you to suffer. That’s why she put it on your side, with my grandmother she put it on her chest. It had her wolf in a matter of days, and right before it got her she killed herself before she came through!”

“Why did she kill her daughter?” Clara asked. She remembered what the other version of her told her and now he is confirming it.

“Because she only goes after the females with the power. If the male has power she won’t go after them, but she will the females.” He explained softly.

He was praying he’d never have to deal with this with his children, but now he is and he hates it. “I have done extensive research. I can stop the curse, and kill her for good. I just need you to trust me.”

With the intensity of his gaze and love within his eyes Clara felt the overwhelming urge to wrap herself around him and not let go.

So that’s exactly what she did.

She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. She knew he would never replace her dad, but he was all she had left apart from Noah’s dad and Wyatt’s mom.

It took Samuel a moment to register that she had hugged him, he tried to think if this was the first time she willingly did it or not, he couldn’t remember, and honestly he could careless.

But when his arms wrapped around her tightly it all just felt right.

“What do I need to do?” he heard her ask him. Samuel kissed the top of her head before pulling away.

“Fight! You are gonna begin to hear her in your head over the next few weeks. You are stonger than she is, that is why she needs a b***d relative to stay in this world, after she cursed you she went back to where ever it was she was at.” he said firmly.

“She speaks little English, hher native language is Latin! I hear you are fluent in it…” Samuel smirked at her.

Clara nodded with a shy smile while biting down on her fingernail. “How long can I keep it from everyone?”

He c****d his head to the side “You don’t want them to know?” she shook her head. “How come?”

“Because with everything you just told me, this isn’t something they can fight. If anything I could hurt someone just for them interfering or trying to help me.”

Clara shook her head again. “I don’t think I’d beable to handle it if I was the reason one of them got hurt or died, especially Wyatt and Noah, I need someone here to raise Baliey! Even if it isn’t me!”

The strength she was showing right now made Samuel want to cry. She wasn’t upset about what was going on with her, she was more worried about her mates and friends and who would be there to raise her daughter.

She didn’t care if she made it through this or not, that right there just showed him how much more stronger she was compared to him.

“You are so strong and you don’t even realize it Clara.” Samuel smiled at her.

“I killed over 130 humans and wolves because of a single attack, I’m not strong Samuel, I just have a tendency to overreact.” Samuel laughed at her retort “as I said, you don’t even realize it.”

Clara looked down a small smile on her face.

“There’s one more thing!” Samuel added, when she looked up at him he continued. “If this works and it’s successful, it may damage your wolf, maybe even kill her.”

“What?” she looked at him with such sadness in her eyes that it made his eyes prick with tears.

“I don’t care!” Clary said “Lets get rid of this old hag!”

**********

Later that night Josie knocked on Noah and Wyatt’s door, when Wyatt answered she smiled. “Hey, I’m here for her bag.”

Wyatt nodded with a sigh and went up the stairs to go get the bag from their room.

“How is she?” Noah asked as he watched Bailey in her swing.

Josie looked over at him, she chewed on her bottom l*p nervously. She wasn’t sure if she should tell them about her best friends night terrors or not.

She knew full well if she just came home they wouldn’t be so bad or so frequent, but the woman was f*****g stubborn.

She refused to go past the threshold of the door of their home. Wouldn’t even go into her parents home, so she asked if she could stay with Josie and of course her parents adore her so they said yes.

But these past few days has her and her parents worried, she wakes up several times durring the night either crying or screaming, it takes Josie calling one of her brothers to come calm her down to help her fall back asleep.

She won’t let them call her mates to come over.

“Josie?” Noah’s voice made her jump out of her reverie and snap her eyes to him.

“Yes?” Noah rolled his eyes “I asked you how she was doing?”

“Oh…” Josie laughed while scratching the back of her head nervously while looking away and biting her fingernail. “She’s great” she lied.

Noah narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re lying”

“I am not” she defended.

“Yes you are…” he pointed at her “Micah, told us about how you bite on your nails when you lie.”

Josie looked down at her fingers and instantly removed them from her mouth, then glared at him just as Wyatt walked into the room.

“Here you go.” Wyatt smirked as he handed her the bags. “Wait this isn’t just her stuff guys.” she glanced back over at Noah who was now putting Bailey in her carseat.

“We have patrol tonight, and our daughter misses her mother dearly.” Wyatt said with a light smile.

“She’s gonna curse you guys for not telling her.” Josie stated.

“Well then tell us what’s going on with her?” Noah probed.

She shook her head as she took the carseat from him. “Sorry, she was my best friend before she was your mate.”

“Someone has gotten cocky now that she’s become a Delta Female hasn’t she Noah?” Wyatt smiled.

“Damn right I have!” Josie told them both walking over to the front door.

**********

Josie opened the door to her house and instantly smelled her mother’s cooking, it made her stomach growl.

“Josie, is that you?” Gloria asked from the kitchen. “Yea, let me take this to Clara and I’ll be right there.”

“She’s in here.” Thomas her father yelled.

Josie nodded to herself and placed the bags down in hall and walked towards the kitchen with Bailey.

Gloria looked up, her smile only widened when she seen she had the baby. Clara was turned towards the stove and hasn’t noticed yet.

“Clara?” Josie called her name to gain her attention.

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she turned around, the spoon she was stirring with slipped from her hand.

“They said that they had to patrol, and that she missed you,” Josie started “They pretty much gave me no other choice but to bring her with me.”

“I’ll be in the other room” Clara quickly walked out, leaving the three of them standing there.

Josie sighed and followed after her, she found her sitting on the steps of the back porch. It was the middle of February and she was only wearing a tank top and bed shorts..

She grabbed a blanket and walked out she set Bailey down, made sure she was snug then wrapped the blanket over her friends shoulders.

Clara looked up just as Josie sat down.

“You know as well as I do that, that baby wont hurt you.” Josie smiled when she heard a soft laugh escape Clara.

“It isn’t that!” Clara looked down “What if I hurt her, Jo?”

Josie turned in her direction. “You are kidding right?” she asked her completely perplexed at her statment.

“I can’t trust myself anymore, Josie.” Clara thought about telling Josie about the curse and Amara, but wasn’t sure if she should.

“Why do you say that? Because of everything you have done? If anything it makes you a more dedicated mother and Luna!” Josie told her with all the sincerity in her voice.

Clara shook her head, she knew then out of all her friends that Josie seen through all her cracks, no matter how many layers she put up to cover them.

“Can I tell you something?” Clara asked her.

Josie nodded her head “Always”

“You can’t tell anybody about it, Josie.”

Josie thought for a second, then lifted her pinky finger up “I promise I won’t tell anyone”

Clara laughed at her childish act then lifted hers and locked her pinky finger with Josies.

She then moved the blanket aside and lifted her shirt up. “My great grandmother, who is dead by the way possessed a witch and cursed me. She wants complete and utter control over my wolf and me so she can take over my body so she can come back to life.”

Josie’s mouth was wide open, she was too busy staring at the mark of her coven on her side.

She’s only seen it once, but this time the, beautiful aspen tree looked like it was rotten and the wisteria covering it was just in vines moving along her skin going upwards.

She looked up at her with tears filling her eyes. “How long?”

Clara tried to ignore the tears filling in her friends eyes but it wasn’t easy to do as she answered her question. “Samuel said two maybe three months if we can replace the witch she took over. He can fix it, Josie, but…”

“But what?”

“….it might kill Clary if we are able to save me. I won’t be a wolf anymore, just a witch.” her voice cracked when she told her that and Clary whimpered.