Names in a Book
Dammit, dammit, dammit! Grant thought to himself as he raced after the Fire Light Alpha. Why couldn't his father just... He let out a small growl.
Once again the former Silver Moon Alpha has chased off his mate. But that look in Katrina's eyes... Grant had never seen it before. It was more than anger, more than rage, it was the look of someone who'd witnessed something terrible. It was dark and cold. He shook his head. That's not his Katrina. She's not cold. He'd watched how she interacted with her pack, her family and friends, she was warm and caring and well... she was intelligent.
He'd thought her nerdy when they were kids, attractive but nerdy. She was constantly studying, constantly had her nose in a book or a pile of work. Now he'd gained enough intelligence of his own to admire it, to admire her. He wish he had the same compassion and undying loyalty that his Katrina possessed.
He was so lost in his own thoughts he didn't notice when the visiting Alpha had stopped running and nearly ran into him. The Alpha had practically frozen in place. When Grant had finally stopped and turned to see why he felt ice crawl through his veins as well. It was Katrina...
She'd crossed the path of some rather unfortunate rogues. Unfortunate because the she-wolf had literally torn them apart. Grant had arrived just in time to watch his mate use her teeth to tear out the tore of a wolf. He felt sick to his stomach at the sight.
When the last one was dead Katrina seemed to notice their presence. "Kate," Alpha Greyson said. "Stand down." His voice rang with authority and Katrina seemed to stiffen as some unseen force pressed down on her. If he weren't so shocked by the sight before him Grant would've growled at the man for thinking to use an Alpha command on his mate. "I said stand down," Jason ordered again with Katrina resisted the first.
Grant lunged forward when Katrina's legs gave out. He pulled her into his arms whispering her name as he did so. Then he looked around again. "They're dead," he whispered in newfound horror of the massacre. "They're all dead."
"Give her to me," the Fire Light Alpha said trying to take Katrina from him. He resisted half-mindedly.
Then Katrina started whispering something in a rough voice. He didn't quite catch it the first time then she repeated herself. "Their names..." She looked at her brother with what Grant could only describe as desperation.
"I know," Jason replied clearly understanding what Grant did not. He pulled again this time taking his sister and Beta with him. "Trina will see what she can do."
Jason left with Katrina but Grant felt as if he'd been wielded in place. "She killed them all," he whispered to himself. It was then that he realized what Katrina, no Kate had been telling him all along. She was not the girl he knew. The Katrina he knew could never doing something like this. These wolves were killed by a monster. Katrina and Kate are two different people.
It felt like hours before Grant could move again and when he could he ran from the bodies and ordered to have them burned as soon as possible. He wanted to burn his memory along with them but some things could not be done, some damage could not be healed.
"Alpha Adams?" Luna Greyson called knocking on his office door.
Grant looked up at the small Latino woman. "Yes?"
"I've come to discussed with you the burning of the Rogue bodies," she said entering his office.
"It is tradition to burn the bodies of Rogues," Grant said preparing himself to argue this point.
"Yes, I'm aware," she said surprising him.
"Then why are you here?"
She met his eyes. "I want you to hold off burning them."
"What?" She knew the bodies would be burn but she didn't want them burned? "Absolutely not!"
Her hands clenched into fists. "Not for long, just until Kate's woken."
"Why?" She's already killed them what more could she possibly want to do to the Rogues?
Almost as if hearing his thoughts the Fire Light Luna glared at him. "Because Kate would wish to attend."
"So?" he questioned. "That is not my concern and the burning of the bodies will happen as planned."
Her lips turned down in an angry scowl. "Have you considered how Kate would feel knowing you ignored her wishes to be there?" she demanded.
Grant stood palms pressed against the wood top of his desk. "Yes. She'd feel nothing because coldblooded murders cannot feel!"
His words shocked the woman so much she actually stumbled back. "You have no idea what you're talking about!" she snapped. "No wonder Kate left when she discovered you were her mate!" The woman spun on her heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
The Silver Moon Alpha glared at the door. The visiting pack had been rude, disrespectful, and a pain in the ass since they arrived. He'd put up with it because he thought they brought with them his lost Katrina. Knowing that they hadn't had caused his patience with them to run very thin.
Suddenly tired Grant sat back down and opened up a file on his computer labeled "Katrina Grim". Over seven years of failed search popped up along with pictures of Katrina right before she left.
He'd never told a soul but he'd had a crush on the Beta's daughter since he realized girls didn't have cooties. Being a stupid kid he did what all other stupid boys did, he ignored or picked on her. When he got older her befriended her brother in order to see her.
She of course hadn't out right avoided him but she definitely hadn't gone out of her way to hang out with him when they were kids.
It saddened him to think that all those years of searching were in vain. It saddened him more to think that his Katrina, the Katrina he grew up with, was truly and most certainly gone. Grant pushed his keyboard away and dropped his head down onto his desk. It didn't take long for the exhaustion of his day to catch up to him and he was out like a light.
Grant Adams woke the next morning to the voice of the visiting Alpha. "Kate? You'd better be up here!" Alpha Greyson called from the hallway.
Then a loud crash that had Grant falling from his rolling desk chair. He groaned getting up. His neck and back were stiff from sleeping at his desk but he made his way out towards the crash to see what was going on.
"What the hell are you doing up here?" Jason said loudly from Kate's door.
Grant surveyed the damage to the frame. So that what the crash was. The Fire Light Alpha was breaking his doors.
"Do you really need to ask?" Kate said. Grant debated on whether he should leave. After all this had nothing to do with him.
Then Alpha Greyson moved into the room and Kate saw him. Too late. "You are on bedrest, Kate!" Alpha Greyson berated her. "Do you not know what that means? It means you rest in a bed!"
Grant saw her pat the bed in the room. "Here's a bed. Leave and I'll rest."
"This is not a joke!" her Alpha yelled.
"I know that!" she yelled back and Grant wondered again whether he should just leave. "I know that, okay. I know I'm on bedrest and I won't violate it again, I promise, but this is something I had to do, Jason." Grant saw her hand tighten bringing his attention to a small leather journal. "I had to do this."
The visiting Alpha sighed, "Okay."
Grant looked at the Alpha with surprised confusion. "Okay?" Just like that he's going to let it go.
Alpha Greyson looked back at him finally realizing that Grant had been eavesdropping. "Yes," he said with a tone that rubbed Grant the wrong way. "You need not concern yourself, this is a matter between my sister and me." Grant felt a flash of anger at the Alpha's condescending tone. To Kate he said, "Come on, I'll take you back downstairs. We can talk about this later."
Grant watched he put the journal in her bedside dresser. "There's nothing to talk about, Jase. Look I won't sneak off again. You can even post a guard to watch me at all times to make sure of it."
"Which I will be doing," he said.
"Fine. Go ahead. But I had to do this. I won't apologize for it."
"You, apologize? Gee that'd be a sight!" For a moment Grant really could see the two as siblings. They reminded him of how his Katrina would interact with Tyler when they were kids.
The exchanged a few more comments before Alpha Greyson picked her up and carried her out. Grant only half listened to what the man said about the door as he walked past. He was too busy burning a hole into the side of his mate's head. She was very actively not looking at him.
Grant watched them leave. Curiosity burned at his mind. What was so important about that book that her Alpha would just let go her disobeying him? Grant checked the hallway. Empty. He went into the room and pulled out the book. If he looked at this and Kate found out she would probably horrible maim him. Or painfully end his life.
He glanced back at the door. Kate is downstairs and on bedrest. She'd never know. Hopefully. He flipped the book open to a random page. "What the hell?" he murmured confused. He reread the page twice trying to make sense of it.
September 25, 2013
Name: Hemin, Oliver
Birth: May 16, 1987
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Name: Ivo, Sergei
Birth: Unknown
Gender: Male
Age: Estimated 20-23
Name: Unknown
Birth: Unknown
Gender: Male
Age: Estimated 24-25
Grant flipped to another page.
January 4, 2015
Name: Johns, Unknown
Birth: Unknown
Gender: Female
Age: 29
Name: Lem, Fergus
Birth: June 17, 1994
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Name: Ronkowski, Alice
Birth: Unknown
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Name: Scotts, Evan
Birth: January 2, 1983
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Name: Yevich, Unknown
Birth: Unknown
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
He quickly flipped through all of the pages. Each one had date after date and name after name all written in Kate's familiar scrawl. None of it made any sense until Grant reached the last page with writing on it. It was dated with yesterday's date and below it had five entrees.
Five entrees, five wolves Kate killed.
Grant shook his head. It can't be. There's too many names. This... It's a log of everyone Kate's killed.
Grant felt sick to his stomach to think that his Katrina, his mate could murder so many.
He flipped back to the very first page. He had to know when his Katrina became lost.
The first date was nearly two years after Katrina had left him and Silver Moon. There was only one entry but it was hard to read the page, it looked like someone had dripped water all over the thing. Grant squinted to read it.
Name: Sennett, Lorinda
Birth: Unknown
Gender: Male
Age: 8
"Kate wouldn't be happy to know you looked at that," a voice said making Grant nearly jump out of his skin.
"Alpha Greyson," Grant said turning around not bothering to hide the journal. "What is this?" Please say it's not what I think it is.
"It's a ledger of every life Kate's take," Alpha Greyson said. "And it's private. You shouldn't had gone looking in it."
"She's killed so many people," Grant said in a shaky voice. She killed a little girl, a child.
Alpha Greyson looked at him with clear anger and he snatched the journal from his hand. "Don't presume to know who she is. You know nothing about her!"
"The past two days have made that quite clear," he growled back. "She's a killer!" Grant wasn't quite sure what happened after that he was just on the ground and all he felt for the next three seconds was pain.
He looked up to see Alpha Greyson glaring down at him. "Kate is anything but a killer. You have no idea what she's been through and if you think she doesn't make herself miserable and suffer for doing what she does your wrong. She's save three times as many people as she's killed. You asked us to come here to take care of your rogue problem. You asked us to come kill them."
"They're just rogues," Grant argued as he struggled to his feet.
This only made the other man angrier. "She doesn't see it that way. Would you like to know why Kate writes those names in this book?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Because she doesn't see rogues as you and everyone else. She sees people, people who have names. Everyone burns their bodies and never give them a second thought. She has that book so they won't be forgotten. So maybe you should try rethink your idea that she's a killer!"
Grant huffed. "Why do you even care what I think of her?"
"Because she does!" he snapped and Grant jerked back surprised. "For some insanely stupid reason my sister gives a fuck about what you think of her. She already believes herself beyond redemption and you calling her a cold-blooded killer..." Alpha Greyson seemed to suddenly lose his fire and sank down onto the bed. "You have no clue how much you affect her, how much you hurt her, do you?"
Grant flinched and sat next to him. "No matter what I do I always end up hurting her."
Alpha Greyson shoved the journal into Grant's chest forcing him to catch it. "Well you'd better fix it or it won't be the rogues that you should worry about." He got up and left.
Grant sighed. What is it with the Fire Light members threatening him? But maybe he was right. He'd done a lot to hurt Katrina but when she returned she still gave him a chance. He got up. "I'll fix this," he said determinedly. And he knew where she is.
The only problem was when he got to the pack house med room his mate was asleep. Like a creep Grant sat and watched her sleep. He'd almost fallen asleep himself when she finally woke. "Grant?"
His head jerked up. "Katrina, you're awake."
She pushed herself up into a sitting position all without actually looking in his direction. "What do you want?"
He stood and walked to her side and held up the journal. "I want to talk to you about this."
She turned her head and her eyes narrowed when she saw the book. She grabbed it from him. "You had no right to look at this!" she growled. "This is private."
"Have you really killed so many?" he asked gently and she cringed.
She turned her head away again. "It's none of your business. Just leave."
"No."
Her shoulders tensed. "Why are you here, Grant? Are you looking for an excuse? Some reason to kill or some justification? There's none. Those people are dead at my hands. Happy now? Your mate is nothing more than a 'coldblooded murderer'."
"You've gotten very good at throwing my words back at me," he said sadly.
"You make it easy," she replied hatefully.
"I'm sorry."
She let out a humorless laugh. "For rejecting me or taking the rejection back?"
"I'm sorry that I hurt you again," he said placing a hand on her shoulder. "That book proves you're anything but coldblooded."
"It's a book of names, nothing else," she said. "Don't deluded yourself, Alpha Adams."
It was his turn to cringe. "Please don't call me that, Katrina," he whispered. "I'm your mate."
"Why do you keep holding onto that?" she asked finally looking at him again. "It's been nearly eight years. Why haven't you just marked someone else, found a new mate?"
"You can't just find a new mate, Katrina," he answered. She opened her mouth to reply then closed it and shook her head to herself. "I don't want another mate," Grant said using a finger to tilt her face up towards his. "The only mate I want is you."
He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.