A/N: NOT EDITED. I will say this is shorter than I had intended but I have so much going on I figured you guys would rather something than nothing. I'll continue typing the rest when I finish with all the real-life things I've got going on today/tomorrow.



Chapter 9 – Chelsea POV

I was normally a planner, every little detail, with back up plans, options at each turn, borderline OCD, meticulous. Making decisions based on methodical objective information. To keep balance I was making decisions on the fly. So as I stood in front of my the house, windows covered in steel, I was nervous, I couldn’t find a point to begin the different emotions and tone I’d be dealing with. I wasn’t sure what to expect at all, but I figured anger – that I locked them away – was in the top five. Probably right at the top, number one.

Is she one of the daughters?

She’s Chelsea? She’s a child!

Are the two guys with her Jay and Gabriel?

Who is the little girl? Momma left?

Where the hell are we?

Their thoughts collectively throwing me off, I couldn’t catch the anger, but Ava was wriggling in my arms, placing her on the ground, my eyes never left the Lawson’s’. “Casey play?” she walked two steps towards him, pointing at outside, looking up between him and I expectantly. Those two words breaking the staring connection.



Chelsea? Casey asked me unsure, I rolled my eyes, four humans and me? Really?



“We will be outside,” Casey said picking Ava up, swinging her around, tiny giggles lightening the tension. Somehow in my top five feelings and emotions, awkwardness hadn’t crossed my mind. It should have though, because this was bordering on physically painful – I wanted to wince.



“Sarah was right? She left us…” she left us… Oakley thought staring at Ava. From her thoughts, I would suspect that she concluded Ava was her mother’s child. I expected her mind to be above average in intelligence but it was like spending time in my own head, her thought pattern taking me by surprise. I was puzzled by their reactions, they weren’t crying or begging, they seemed stiff and their hearts were racing but I hadn’t expect this… easiness.



Inhaling deeply, I walked confidently over to Oakley and Ben, leaving three or so feet between us, sitting on the ottoman and then gesturing for them to sit as well. Grant eyed outside, behind me, maybe we could make a run for it… he thought. I wanted to laugh but not ready to divulge too much of my capabilities I remained stoic.



Aria and Avena growled, humans… don’t even have any idea and they’re making a plan to run, don’t matter if we are on a cliff… Again I held the laughter in. Now that they – the Lawson’s’ – had seen me Ben spoke up, “Oakley have you – do you know her?” his voice tiny, eyeing her then me; I wanted to know that too.



“No… she’s – she’s our older sister, one of our sisters?” unsure, Oakley answered sadly, she knew a lot, but her answer left Ben confused.



“Where are we?” now Grant asks, when the silence left awkward and went to downright unbearable, but Oakley couldn’t look away from me. Does she like me? Her thoughts bothering me, not to the extent of being angry at her, but more like she has so much going on, such low self esteem that she craves acceptance with a stranger. She’s your sister… you just found out, but she’s known you were out there since she was seven years old Chelsea… Aria says and I wonder how she knows that.



“One hundred plus miles away from Panama, on my island, not on any map…” their eyes widened. We are home now, a voice says, very unexpectedly, then understanding creeps in and I know it’s Oakley’s wolf. She had one. It wasn’t fully there yet, but around.



“I’m Chelsea, I brought you – Oakley and Ben – here to protect them, as well as making sure that the two of them wouldn’t be used against me at a later time…” more silence.



“I’ve thought about you a lot!” Oakley blurted out, her hand holding her uncles, shaking, his eyes focused on her from the side, “She told you about me? Us?” I asked my head tilted to the side. Mom left us to go to you… she didn’t tell her about us, Oakley thought sadly. First she nodded, and then shook her head, “Not until right before she died? Left?” she glanced back at Ava and Casey.



“Ava isn’t your sister, she’s your niece,” I gave a slight smile, good lord she’s no older than 16, Grant thought in shock. Inward, outwardly he remained blank faced, “She’s adopted.” Oakley nodded, wide green eyes running over my features; the tension in this house running high. I didn’t realize how – this reunion was slightly better and worse than when I came face to face with Jay and the others.



“How long will you be holding us here?” Julia asked stiffly, I just sighed, thinking over the question. What do you expect Chelsea? You barricaded them inside a house with steel after kidnapping them… Avena chortled. I gave them food and water… clean clothes as well, I defended myself.



“I’m not apologizing or sorry for locking you up here at first. You aren’t prisoners – none of you. If you wanted to go back, we could do that, bring you back, but Oakley and Ben would be on their own. If the time came and the wrong people got their hands on you two, I won’t come to your aid.” I had thought long and hard about this as well. I could send them back, come up with some crazy story that worked, wipe their memories…



“What do you mean?” Grant questioned perplexed.



“Oakley and Ben are like me… right Oakley?” I countered Grants question, he flicked his gaze between Oakley and I, but the girl looked like deer in headlights.



“What’s the voice in your head telling you right now Oakley-” I wasn’t expecting it but she threw herself at me, knocking the window out of me as she wrapped her arms around my neck sobbing. Her family startled by this, and behind me James growled, ready to throw her into a window for leaping at me.



I’m fine, just startled, my wide eyes flying to Grant who seemed dazed by Oakley’s behavior. This just isn’t like her…



Why’s Oakley crying, Ben turned to his uncle with questions floating in his eyes but he didn’t voice them out loud, none of the family did. While I just slowly wound my arms around her, holding this fragile girl in my arms. I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy.



I’ve been trying to tell you that you aren’t crazy Oakley, her wolf tried to calm her. She’s like me… she doesn’t hate me… I’ve missed her so much… not alone… not alone anymore.



“You’re okay Oakley,” I whispered to her, to the other humans it would sound like unintelligible mumbling. “You – you – don’t un-understand,” she bawled, a mess on my lap, “No cry,” Ava ran into the room, patting Oakley’s back, Casey just hung back. She cried until she stopped, her face blotchy and searching mine.



“You hear it too?” she asked in a voice smaller – more vulnerable – than Ava’s, “I don’t hear the same voice as you, but I do hear the voice like you do, like Ben will. We – all of us here – are all like you,” I answered honestly.



“Will – will one of you tell me what’s going on?” Grant stood, demanding answers, hands gesturing, waving between Oakley and I.



“I’m going to start at the beginning, because Oakley doesn’t know what’s going on with her, but we have our mom to thank for all that-” I said shaking my head.



“You better?” Ava asked Oakley concerned, oblivious of the rigidity of the room, Oakley looked from Ava to me and back, nodding. When Ava got the answer that pleased her she attacked Casey.



I shook my head at her natural kindness, “Uhm as I was saying Oakley doesn’t know what’s happening to her, neither does Ben, but it’s because Anya-”



“Who is Anya?” Ben asked puzzled.



“Well… that’s what people who knew my mother, knew her as, but I guess to you guys she’s Norine?” he nodded, why would she need so many names… he thought to himself but still said nothing.



“Anya – Norine – she,” I stopped this was harder than I thought, “Oakley has been hearing a voice in her head, not like a hallucination, it is a part of her, I have that as well. We all do here – as I said before – but there are other things enhance about Oakley as well. She can hear much better than a normal human, as well as her vision and sense of smell,” bring me a knife, I told James. Swiftly he went and returned with a small sharp knife, “Watch,” I said taking it and slitting my palm open, deeply, the blood rushing, pooling. James offered me a towel, I placed it over my palm, the blood saturating the towel and by the time I pulled it away showing them the wound, it had already begun healing, closing, scabbing over and in less than five minutes my palm was as it was before.



“Holy shit!” what – what is she? Grant thought, frightened, he wrapped an arm around Ben, reaching his wife. You just say that Ben and Oakley are like you and he’s trying to protect them from you? They are like you… Avena said humorously.



“Have… uh – have you all seen the news? About the shifters?” I treaded carefully, the animals? “I can turn into a wolf, Oakley is turning into a wolf, and Ben, I think you’re one tantrum away from shifting as well,” I said unsure because while Oakley had the notable signs, I couldn’t get those same readings from Ben. I just felt his wolf, but I don’t think his wolf had made himself known.



She’s crazy… Julia thought dazed, afraid to blink while Grant was more or less sifting his memory for signs.



None of them were saying anything so I continued, “Norine, she…” I was already frustrated, my hands wiped furiously across my face, “I don’t want to overwhelm you guys with too much, but I – I don’t know what she was thinking. I know your dad is human but Oakley and Ben are not, and there are some dangerous people that were watching you two. Keeping tabs, waiting to see if Oakley would shift, just waiting to take her. When they did – and there is no question that they would – they wouldn’t be taking her for any reason other than self-gain. Whether that be having her breed children out like she was just an incubator, or beating the shit out of her until she reached her shifter potential, then killing her…” I ignored the gasps but there was no way around this, I needed them to truly understand the danger here.



“Not all shifters are bad, but there are those that are truly terrible and care about nothing but power – those people – those bad ones, they are the ones watching you…” I stood, turning around, lifting my shirt so they could see the scars on my back.



Oh my god….Poor child… Julia and Grant thought simultaneously. She isn’t lying, this isn’t… what do we do? Grant furiously trying to absorb and make sense of what he was learning, “So you took us…” he said unsure.



“Many people want me dead, want everyone here on this island dead, no one knows where we are and as of maybe three hours ago, everyone back home, your home too believes you are dead. I ordered people to bring you here because of the bad men but also because of what you did Oakley,” I said lightly, taking her hand, the wrist she cut, pealing the bandage off, it was still healing. Deciding to show them more, I closed my eyes and concentrated on healing it completely.



When it was physically healed, the Lawson’s – minus Oakley – were green faced, so I waited. I expected them to throw up, be afraid something but they seemed too shock to do more than blink and open their mouths closing it quickly after. Oakley brought it closer to her face, examining the area in pure astonishment. This is impossible, she thought.



“No, not impossible, just different,” I braced myself for her reaction, which she didn’t disappoint, jumping to her feet, can she – is she reading my mind? “Ah-”



“Yes, I am,” I kept my eyes on her, not looking away, Oakley brought her hand to her head, touching it lightly, she can – everything… “Oakley?” Ben called his sister, unsure of what was going on, going between us like a tennis match.



“She can read our minds?” she still said it like a question, but I nodded.



“I can… I can read everyone’s mind – minus the Elders-”



“The man that killed our mom called her an Elder…” Oakley blurted out. I whipped my head towards James, Gabriel? Can you send Jack and Marlon here?



What’s wrong? He growled, worried, so I just replayed for him what had already happened as Oakley stood sitting near her uncle Grant, he his self examining her wrist once again, “this is – things like this just don’t exist-” she was saying something else…



“I was…” I answered, startling him, but I just continued, “Besides the power hungry individuals that were keeping tabs on Oakley, the main reason I brought her here was to get her away from Sarah and Amelia. You see, even though Oakley has the genes to shift, without the willpower to actually want to live, she wouldn’t survive her shift… do you understand?” I asked them all, but kept my eyes on Grant. I’m sorry for loving them, Ben thought sadly looking at Oakley.



Your brother thinks that you hurt yourself because he loved Sarah and Amelia, I told Oakley, her head whipping to face me, a fire behind her eyes, before she registered what I told her and went to Ben. “Ben, you know the tape I played for dad? I know Sarah and Amelia aren’t bad people, but Dad just… I feel like I’m not enough, not good enough. I look just like mom and that makes him sad, but one of the other reasons was I had that recording. I guess I always thought that eventually daddy would love me again, not just see that mom left and then him, you and I… well I wanted to find the people mom mentioned on there…” Ben shook his head, blonde hair flopping about, “But if I loved you more and didn’t love them you wouldn’t have done that…” he pointed to her now healed wrist sadly.



She shook her head, but Grant was the one to answer, “Benny, what Oakley did was because of how she felt inside, us grownups made a lot of mistakes in how we treated her and handled your momma missing and Oakley was hurting and afraid because of what she heard,” he paused for a moment, but that was all Oakley needed, “Ben, if it wasn’t for you, I would’ve given up so long ago… you’re the only reason I held on and tried so hard but then it was like all my feelings were crushing me, suffocating me,” and I glance at James. His face clear but his mind is on his daughter, hoping that if he ever finds another woman to love that he doesn’t do what Pat Lawson did to Oakley.

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Scratch: i'm still typing and editing that story.

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