Chapter Twenty-Three

We wake to a knock at our door.

"We are just putting y'alls breakfast on the table in the foyer."

Caleb kisses me.

"Good morning my wife. Would you like to get up? Breakfast sure does smell good."

Yes, it does. We grab our robes and get our trays from the foyer. We take them to the dining table in the sitting area. They fixed us a huge breakfast. I guess they figured we worked up an appetite last night. We have scrambled eggs with cheese, home fries, sausage links and biscuits with gravy. Also, a bowl of fruit. There is a plate with a cover over it. Caleb lifts the cover. We both laugh. They sent us a piece of our wedding cake with breakfast. We ate all the food including the cake.

Caleb wants to take me out into the town. Since his parents' announcement of our wedding yesterday. We need to be seen by the pack. That way they can get to know me. We get in the shower and clean ourselves up. Then get dressed. There is a knock at our door before we get to it to leave. Caleb opens it to find a couple guards.

"Mr. McClay, we have been instructed to guard you and your wife. You both need to stay in here."

Caleb says.

"What is wrong?"

"Mr. McClay it is for your safety. Leah escaped sometime during your wedding reception last night. We had hoped to find her quickly but have had no luck."

"What about my parents? Are they safe?"

"Yes sir. We have guards on them too. And your brother also."

Caleb shuts the door and looks at me.

"Well so much for going out in the town today. I was so looking forward to showing off my wife."

What do you want to do now? He looks at me with that gleam in his eyes. Caleb, we can't stay in the bed all the time.

"Why not, it's not like you will get pregnant?"

Ha, ha. You are just so funny. He just stares at me.

"Well, what do you want to do?"

Let's watch movies or play some of these games you have.

"Ok. But you will not be able to hang with me on these games."

Before we know it, Caroline and Carrie are coming in with our dinner. And are followed by two guards.

"Mr. and Mrs. McClay, we have searched the entire palace and have not found Leah. We believe she is still on the grounds somewhere but not in the palace. We will have guards still constantly watching the cameras. But y'all are free to move about the palace and pool area. Just don't go farther than that."

We thank them and take our meal from the staff. Once again, we are given huge pieces of cake. After eating we decide to just stay in the room and watch a movie. Caleb starts snoring. Poor thing got worn out beating me in all those racing games. I just slide over next to him and fall asleep.

I wake up in the morning realizing we have over slept. I shake Caleb to wake him too. We have over slept. We both jump up rushing to get ready and run down to the dining hall. His parents are laughing at us as we arrive. His dad says.

"Ok newlyweds y'all letting time get away from you?"

No, we say. Just over slept. Caleb and I enjoy our breakfast with his parents and then head to the office. Luna McClay wants me to handle everything this week and she will just supervise me. It isn't a hard job just time consuming. Caleb and his dad are discussing other pack matters. Alpha and Luna tell Caleb and I that we can leave early. I had already finished my work for the day. Caleb asks me.

"Honey, would you like to go for a swim?"

Yes, that would be great. We go to our room and change. Caleb picks me up and carries me all the way to the pool. He sits me down on a lounge chair. I take my robe off and lay it down and remove my shoes. We start toward the pool. And hear someone yelling. It's Leah.

"Why couldn't you just die when you fell. You have ruined my life."

Guards are screaming for us to get down. She pulls a gun and points it at me. Caleb shoves me into the pool and he falls in with me. I come to the surface and the pool is red with blood. I'm not hurt. It's Caleb, she shot Caleb. HELP! HELP! Caleb has been shot. Guards and staff come running to the pool to help me get Caleb out. He is conscious but bleeding bad. The guards had also shot Leah. She was screaming for help but no one cared. Every ones attention is on Caleb. They rush him to the doctors. His parents meet me in the waiting area. I can't help but cry. He put himself in danger to save me. After about an hour the doctor comes out. Caleb is very lucky. The bullet went in his chest on the left side and exited. It didn't hit anything major. He does have a broken clavicle. We have sewed him up and set the bone. He should be healed in a couple days. We are planning on keeping him until morning just to make sure he doesn't have a reaction to the silver bullet. As I said Caleb is very lucky. That the bullet went all the way through. Leah on the other hand has been pronounced dead.

Can we see Caleb? I asked.

"He is still pretty out of it. Would be best to see him in the morning."

I hug the Alpha and Luna McClay and head to our quarters. After everything that has happened, I didn't even think about eating anything. This is going to be my first night alone in Caleb and my room. I go in and take a shower to try and relax. Afterward I climb into bed. I laid here it seemed like forever before I finally fell asleep.

I get up and rush down for breakfast. The Alpha and Luna aren't far behind me. We eat our food and go to see how Caleb is doing. We walk through his door. Caleb is sitting up eating his breakfast. He stops and smiles.

"I know y'all didn't think Leah could take me out in one shot. Did y'all?"

I shook my him and ran over to him. Giving him a huge kiss. His parents followed me in. We have been so worried.

"I'm going to be fine. Did they get Leah?"

"Yes, they did and she didn't make it." His father said.

They shot her when she shot you. The doctor told us last night that she didn't make it. The doctor walks into Caleb's room.

"Good morning, everyone. Caleb is healing nicely and hasn't had a reaction to the silver. We are planning on letting him go tomorrow morning."

Thank you, doctor. Caleb, we have to go to the office. We will back later to see you. I Love you.

"I love you, too. Erica."

We get to the office and the Beta is waiting outside the door.

"Alpha and Luna McClay. I need a few days off for my family to grieve. Can I have it off?"

"Yes, you may." They told him.

Beta walked off down the hall and we entered the office. The morning flew by. I guess we were so busy with the start of the week. A knock comes at the door. We look up and there stands two guards.

"We have news from the two wolves from the attack the other day. They gave us info on who hired them in exchange for their lives. They both said it was the Beta and his daughter Leah, that put them up to it."

We all looked at each other in shock but also not so much. Since we had a recording of the two discussing, getting rid of me. The alpha speaks up.

"We will give the Beta the time to morn his daughter. But the day he returns we will have a council meeting. With all the pack elders in attendance. We will read the statement made by the two wolves and also play the recording of the Beta and Leah talking for the council. Then we will decide on his punishment."

We agree with the Alpha and I head to see Caleb. He needs to know what is going on. I get to his room and he is flipping through the tv channels.

"Hey Erica. So glad to see you. When I get back to the office I'm putting in for blu-ray players and video games for the hospital rooms."

I laugh at him. Caleb, I have some news. I update him on what is going on. And that the Beta is planning on coming in Friday. He said that would be enough time and he can catch up on things for the weekend. They bring Caleb's dinner in and he starts to eat. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight. I go to the dining hall to meet the Alpha and Luna for dinner. We all take our seats and converse during our meal. I tell them I'll see them in the morning and head to my quarters for another evening without Caleb. I get my shower and lay down. I keep thinking about what Leah and her father had done. And if the Beta had time what more might he do.

Morning comes and I head to the dining hall. I'm so excited that Caleb will be able to join us sometime today. I walk into the dining hall and Caleb is at the table. I am so surprised to see him there. What are you doing here? I thought they would at least keep you until after breakfast.

"I told them what is the difference in having breakfast there verses in here with my family. So, they released me. Plus, we have a lot of stuff to discuss."

I go over hug and kiss him. I'm so happy to see you. Alpha and Luna McClay come in. They rush over to hug Caleb. We all sit down and enjoy our breakfast together. We talk back and forth about how beautiful the wedding was and how good the cake was. After we eat, we all head to the office. Caleb's brother Evan is already in the Beta's office taking over for him. We head into Alpha's office and start getting everything together the we need to present to the council. Before noon we have everything we need. The guards even got signed testimonies from the two wolves in the jail. We start working on the daily duties. Before we go to dinner we receive word that Leah's funeral will be tomorrow morning at 10. So, we decide we should make an appearance.

The next morning, we put on some clothes for the funeral and head down for breakfast. We eat and then get into the suvs and head to the towns chapel. Since the crimes Leah had committed against the Alpha's family her family is not allowed to have her funeral at the palace chapel. We get out of the suvs in front of the town chapel and walk in surrounded be security guards. We walk up the Beta and his wife. We all tell them we are sorry for their loss and proceed to the coffin. The have her looking real nice. Her hair is curled on the ends and just enough makeup to make her look alive. She had on a light green dress with lace trim. We walked back down the aisle and out the front to the suvs. We didn't want to stay for the funeral. I don't think we could have kept our peace hearing them talk about how nice she was.

We arrive back at the palace and go to our quarters to change. Afterward we get to work at the office. The rest of the day drags by. We keep going over everything for tomorrow. When the Beta arrives in the morning he will be escorted to the board room to stand trial in front of the council.

It is finally time for dinner. I am so hungry but my stomach is in knots thinking about tomorrow. I manage to eat so my stomach will stop growling. Caleb asks if I'm ok. I tell him, yes just nervous. We go to our quarters and I help Caleb with his shower to try the wound from getting too wet. It is healing very well. The entry hole has healed up but the exit wound was bigger. It is still a little open. Afterwards I place a bandage on the exit wound. We just left the other one open since it has closed up. We go lay down. We talk about what all is going to happen in the morning and then fall asleep.