Chapter 20:

Arriving at the lane of the house, a truck was right behind us and squealed to a stop. I turned around and saw Jeffrey get out of the truck and let out a loud, aggressive growl. I held onto Sly as we speed through the lane and ran into the house.

"Marcus!" I exclaimed.

"What is wrong?" Dad asked, getting up. "Why did we hear a growl coming from the lane?"

"Why is Jeffrey outside the property line?!" Marcus exclaimed. "Brian, Donny, George! Go out on patrol!"

"Yessir!" they exclaimed in unison as they ran out the door.

"What happened!" Marcus snapped at us.

"I think I should be asking that question… Is there something you need to tell us about the Slechts?" I shouted.

"Not that I can think of right now," he yelled.

"Really? Because we were over at the Slechts, and David said some interesting facts about you," I said... more as a yell.

"Why does it matter what they say?" Marcus growled.

"Because I need to know the truth!" I snapped back.

Marcus growled at me and was about to lunge for me. Sly quickly jumped in and said, "He said that he wanted to come back to the pack, that Jeffrey is not what they want in a leader. So, please, explain it."

"Fine, kids, go help your parents," Marcus commanded.

Kenny, John, and Evan were about to leave. "No! They stay! We are a family, and we should know all the facts, not just the facts that you want us to know!" I yelled at Marcus.

"First of all, little missy, I am the alpha, and what I say goes," he said, standing up in front of me very defensively.

"And I am the person who has a choice to make, so without me there is no alpha!" I yelled to his face.

He glared at me and was so irate with me. He cleared his throat and said shortly, "Fine… the truth is the Slechts were Goeds at one time." The way he said that made chills go down my spine.

"What did they do?" I exclaimed.

Marcus growled at me and said, "They each did something different: David got banished for telling our secrets to his loved ones, Lukas for trying to be the alpha and losing to me, and Harry just wanted to leave. We had to do it for the safety of the pack."

"What about Jeffrey? What did he do?" I asked.

"Jeffrey was never part of our pack. He was from the pack North of us. He was sent here from his alpha to destroy us. But they learned that we were stronger than they originally thought. Once they realized that, they told Jeffrey to come back, but he refused and started a new pack with the Wanders and the ex-Goeds," Marcus explained as he sat down in his chair.

"So, they all know our secrets." I said, surprised by the story.

"Not exactly," Marcus said, "They were not part of the group long enough to know everything. Like you guys know only a fraction of our true powers."

"What?" all the kids yelled in unison.

"We have to make sure you are on our side, not theirs."

"So, we are not on our side. We are just Wanders like the rest of the beasts out there," Kenny commented with uneasy in his voice.

"No, you are higher up than them, but we have to make sure that you are on our side of your own free will. That will happen once you are older," Marcus added to get everyone back on their side.

"So, you were going to keep a secret about our other powers from us until when? Have you ever thought that we need to know those powers? What if we are alone and are in trouble?" I asked, trying to get the truth.

"We have to make sure our secrets are safe, and that is why we have you with someone else at all times," Marcus responded.

"This is insane...Is there any other information you forgot to give us about the Slechts?" I asked, a little rudely.

"You know about the curse, the powers, the past...I don't think there is anything else you need to know," Marcus explained.

"No need to know...what do you know that we have to know for this discussion? The choice is in November. We are running out of time," I yelled, forgetting that he was an alpha and my uncle.

"For the last time, little girl, I am your ALPHA. I do not take orders from you," Marcus yelled in my face. "And no, there is nothing else we need to tell you."

I was going to keep hounding him, but I could see golden light floating around the room. I felt like I had to stop, so I let the topic die.

For the next several hours before we ate, I was in my room trying not to punch the walls and get back into Marcus' face.

"Everything okay, Eve?" John asked in my doorway.

"I don't know. How can I trust what Marcus is saying when he keeps lying to my face? He kept this a secret from you for your entire life. Are you not mad?" I asked.

"I am mad, but he is my alpha; what he says goes," John said, trying to calm me down.

"I don't understand this whole alpha business. Doesn't that make him your boss?" I asked, not understanding the whole pack situation.

"Yes, but he does what he knows is best for the pack," he said, rubbing my back a little.

"How does he know it is best for the pack?" I asked, enjoying the back rub.

"Past alphas keep track of bad times and good times. So, every alpha follows the rules and lives life in secret," he explained.

"I am tired of secrets. Every time I turn around there is another secret I must uncover. Even with the witches, there are secrets. I almost guarantee there are more secrets with the Lichts and Dunkels than what I know. Will you promise me something, John?" I asked.

"Sure, what?" he inquired.

"If there is ever a secret between us, will you tell me the secret?" I asked.

"Uhm...yeah. Of course, I will tell you… any kind of secret. There are no secrets between us," he said sweetly.

"And I mean about anything, not just about beasts or the supernatural world, I mean personal world, too," I said.

"Of course, I will," he said it with a stutter in his voice.

"Okay. Well, I am tired. Is it okay if I rest my head on your lap?" I asked, needing to relax.

"Yeah, that is fine," he said with that same little stutter in his voice.

As I let out a long sigh, John stroked my back. I ended up falling asleep on John's lap. I woke up to the sound of Donny telling us it was time to eat.

All the adults were back in the house, they were talking about something but once I made eye contact with Marcus. He let out a low growl. I rolled my eyes and sat down to eat in silence. After we ate, I just went to bed and ignored everyone else. Once I had the door shut and was in bed, the door opened, and I could see John. Since I did not want to deal with anyone, I faked sleep.

"Eve, you awake?" John whispered. With no response, he came over and gave me a kiss on the forehead and whispered into my ear, "I promised you no secrets… I just want you to know that you are my world, both supernatural and human." With that said, he left.

I shot out of bed and was confused. Then I heard Marcus yelling downstairs about training, which made me go back to hating the day. "This is ridiculous," I exclaimed as I flopped onto my bed.