Guarded Hearts

Author's note:

All characters and companies mentioned in this story have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone or anything bearing the same name or names. Events portrayed in this story are pure invention and have not been based on any events that have happen in real life. All the characters involved in any sexual acts if their ages are not mentioned before hand; are over 18 years of age. Enjoy.

Hi everyone

New chapter... I hope you enjoy it. As always a big thankyou goes out to my editor, she rocks. Also thanks goes out to everyone who sent feedback, or left comments. So as always all feedback is welcome.

Enjoy.

Chapter 2

Amy hung up on her daughter and sighed. She stood from her desk and walked out of her office, passing passing people who was busy cleaning or working. Amy sent her mind out looking for Maria, when she found her she willed herself to her. Maria didn't react as she rearranged some flowers, taking out the wilting flowers and replacing them with new ones.

"Maria," Amy said to get her attention.

Maria turned and smiled, she was a small woman, a few inches shorter than even Amy's diminutive height, slight with dark wavy hair and almond shaped dark brown eyes, her skin was a healthy honey brown. She held herself with an air of quiet confidence but Amy knew that confidence would vanish the moment she left the land where the central pack was homed. She had however come a long way since she had first come here, the weary almost panicked look was no longer always in her eyes, and she no longer looked like she would bolt at a single notice.

"Electra won't be home for a while; she just called it in, a hate crime." Amy informed her.

Maria frowned for a moment wondering why Amy was telling her this, it wasn't like they were mated, then suddenly she knew and started to shake her head. "No." She said firmly as she walked away.

Amy sighed she had expected this reaction as it was the same reaction she got whenever she suggested leaving the central den if only for an hour. "Maria... it was Ghost." She told her retreating back.

Maria paused in shock and turned back.

Amy nodded, "he was the one who was beaten and Electra fears for him, fears that this will turn him even more against humans." Amy took a few steps to bring them closer, "Unless she can arrest the people who did that to him to show him that humans do care and don't want him to run away again."

Maria looked down, she felt conflicted, she wanted to help him but at the same time, she didn't want to go, didn't want to leave the safety of the central den.

"It'll just be for a few days," Amy told her seeing her wavering, "Less even; it will be up to you." She amended. "I'll take you and bring you back, you won't be left alone for a moment, Electra and Nathanael are there."

Maria paced for a few moments, indecision in every line of her body. Amy let her be; she would not push Maria to do something she didn't want to.

Maria turned to her, "No more than a few days right?" She asked.

Amy nodded vigorously.

"Okay... I'll do it." She conceded.

Amy nodded but wasn't that surprised that Maria had agreed although she was jumping around on the inside. No Were would say no to helping Ghost, ever, everyone wanted to see him come out of his self imposed purgatory.

"I better go pack for a few days then." Maria said before she quickly left. Amy watched her then looked down when she felt a tug on her arm.

Thais smiled at her his blue eyes sparkling, today he had pleaded with his eyes to do his own hair when she went to style it in it's normal spikes, she had conceded so today he had a little Mohawk. "She'll find the one." He told her, his voice soft and slightly husky with disuse, of all her children Thais was the most unique. His ability to see the future only part of that reason, he was a child, he looked like a child, but he wasn't a true child because didn't act like one; he had unsettled the people doing the preschool interview with the way he acted. In fact, all three had unsettled the interviewers so much that they didn't get their placement. Wolfgang didn't care; he loved having the cubs underfoot.

He had rare moments of childish behaviour, but she could say the same of Wolfgang, the rest of the time he was calm, collected, as if he was decades... nay centuries older than he truly was. Taliesin often said that he was an adult trapped in a child's body, although Amy wasn't so sure, at four he had a vocabulary that rivalled that of most adults, when he talked his sentences were always well thought out as were his words. She always was a little amused when ever he opened his mouth and said big words like necessitate, improbability and hypothesize in the right context, but at the same time it was also exceedingly cute.

"Her soul mate?" Amy asked as she knelt so that she could look him in the eyes.

He nodded, "Don't worry, she'll come home." He told her.

She smiled and kissed his forehead. "Go on, I'm sure Taliesin is looking for you."

He tilted his head. "No... but Maddie wants to run before dinner, may I?" He asked hopefully, he was still kind of in trouble for not telling them about the attack and Keira's turning.

"Take Sage with you." She answered giving him the go-ahead.

He did a cute little happy dance, in one of his rare moments of childish behaviour, before he ran off to get Maddie and Sage. Amy smiled and went to get Maria a mobile phone; she would program the names and numbers of every Ancient that had a room in the Manor so that she would be able to get back at a moment's notice.

Amy stood and walked towards the kitchen. Temperance, having been banned from going anywhere near the kitchen stood in the hallway swaying as she waited for Anna to bring her a drink. She was doing her best to be good and it helped that she now had structured lessons so she had less chances of getting up to mischief. Amy leant down and kissed the top of her head on her way passed.

Anna handed Temperance a cup of water and waited for her to finish before returning it to the kitchen. Amy turned to them and paused at the door. "Thais, Maddie and Sage are going for a run before dinner, you're welcome to join them." She told her troublesome daughter. Temperance's eyes went wide; she gulped her drink handed the cup back to Anna then ran off.

"No point in telling Serenity, she begged another piano lesson from me before dinner." Anna said as she followed Amy into the kitchen.

"Like she really had to try." Amy shot back with a knowing smile, all Serenity had to do was give Anna the adoring pleading look and she would get her way.

Anna smiled and walked into the kitchen and to the sink to take care of the cup. She loved the family that had sprung up around her and it was all down to Wolfgang. Her mate had died in an accident and the only reason she didn't fall apart was because she was pregnant, but when she lost her child her world crumbled and she had made serious plans about ending her life. However, fate stepped in and a day later Wolfgang was placed in her arms, a little boy who needed her to survive and she no longer had a reason to kill herself, she pushed all that away and focused on the little life that now depended on her to be strong. Then Gillian was put in her arms as well and she had been taken to the Alpha's home and had made it her own. As the boys grew, her duties changed and she stopped being a nursemaid for them and started to be a motherly influence. As Wolfgang and Gillian became men, her duties had changed again but it never stopped the two men coming to her for advice. Then Amy came and cubs were back in the house and she got to be involved again. She owed a lot to Wolfgang and his father.

"True." Anna answered.

"Maria will be going to help Electra; I need a mobile for her." Amy told the room.

Bastion was cleaning dishes Temperance had dirtied in her escapade. "How did you manage that?" He asked as he lifted a large ceramic mixing bowl to scrub. His kitchen had finally been righted after Temperance had trashed it earlier although he doubted he would be able to cook dinner tonight.

"It was Ghost." Amy answered.

The bowl slipped in his hands as he jerked to Amy in surprise and shock. The bowl crashed to the ground and broke into three pieces. He cursed as he jerked to the broken bowl; it had been one of his best and had survived Temperance four times. He growled at himself and reached to collect the broken pieces

"Ghost... are you sure?" Anna asked as she moved to a cupboard that was mounted on a wall, pulling out a ring of keys she unlocked the cupboard. They kept a ready supply of mobiles in the house; the amount of phones that were accidentally crushed in anger was high. She quickly activated a phone and handed it to Amy who instantly started to program the numbers she knew by rote into the phone.

"Very, Nathanael identified him." Amy told them.

"And Maria agreed to go?" Anna asked surprised.

Amy nodded.

Bastion turned after dumping the broken bowl into the bin, "it's Ghost..." He said, "I don't know a single person living or dead who will say no to helping Ghost."

Anna nodded in agreement, she knew.

Maria walked in carrying a bag, she took a deep shuddering breath before throwing her head up and shoulders back. "Ready." She said although on the inside her stomach was working its way into large knots.

Amy handed her the phone. "Every Ancient's number who lives at the manor is programmed into this. Call until you get one of us. They'll know to get you home instantly."

Maria nodded and tucked the phone into the front pocket of her jeans, she had changed after she packed, putting away her loose house clothes for jeans, sturdy boots and a cotton shirt. She lifted her bag flinging it onto her shoulder and gave Amy the nod to send her on her way.

Before she even had a chance to blink she had vanished from the manor and appeared near Electra and Nathanael; they both turned to her and smiled.

Maria approached the table after quickly glancing around the room, "I thought he would be... bigger." She said as she turned back to Electra.

"Maria you could walk under him in your wolf form and your ears and tail wouldn't even touch him." Electra said amused. "But I know what you mean, we've heard about him our entire lives, of course we are going to be a little disappointed when we met the man."

"So what are we doing?" Maria asked.

"We are going to move him to a concrete pit." Electra explained.

Maria nodded and started to pack up Nathanael's kits keeping her eyes away from the curious stares of those in the room, she hoped that if she focused only on what she was doing she would be able to do this. Electra helped her, they made one trip back to the car to put down the back seats, Nathanael would ride in the back with Ghost.

"Drive the car around to the front doors, Nathanael and I will carry him in." Electra told her.

Maria nodded and took the keys. Electra walked back into the hospital, moving her badge to a long length of chain she wore around her neck for this purpose. They started to strip, they didn't want to ruin their clothes as they had only brought a few sets with them, folding them neatly and ignoring the embarrassed looks of the humans in the room. They then pulled their beasts forward and together they shifted into their hybrid forms, both had to hunch a little as their heads could easily clear the ceiling. They moved around Ghost and used some heavy-duty strapping and a spine board to lift him, together they carried him to the car with Katie following to carry the drips.

Maria had opened the back of the SUV and crawled in to help move him around once he was in. She was small but she was still exceedingly strong, she might not have the sheer power Electra had but she was used to moving un-wielding heavy things, so she knew how to use her strength a lot more wisely than Electra could. Katie crawled into the car with the drip once Ghost was finally in place and hung it on one of the panic bars above the doors then crawled out and went to get ready to lead the way.

****

An hour after sending Maria off, Amy was comfortably relaxing with a book when the door bell rang for the third time, she sighed and remembered that Bastion and Anna had gone to do food shopping as they were running low, and would likely come home with take out. Maria was off with Electra, and Wolfgang had taken almost everyone else out for a run with some of the cubs already out there. She put her book down after marking her place and willed herself to the front door. She grabbed the door and opened it. She frowned for a moment as she looked at the two people before her then remembered.

"Jeff and Haley right?" She asked and got a confirming nod from Jeff, "I've been expecting you... I think." She added with a frown, she had actually been expecting them days ago. She studied Jeff, he looked just like all investigators she knew, nondescript, as the purpose of an investigator was to be... invisible. His brown hair was cut short; he was clean-shaven and dressed in jeans and a black shirt.

"Come on in," Amy invited as she opened the door wider.

"Forgive our tardiness Alpha," Jeff told her as he gently urged his sister into the house. Haley moved woodenly into the house as if she was only there in body not spirit. "I had trouble trying to get her on a plane, the authorities weren't comfortable letting a mentally unstable Were on board. So I had to hire a car then seek permission to go through each territory." He explained.

Amy nodded as she closed the door, they would be able to get the bags later. "Normally I would show her down to the box, sadly however Mayhem trashed it in a fit of rage and we are still repairing it so I had another room prepared for her and one for you."

Jeff nodded his thanks and helped to lead his sister to the room Amy had prepared for her. It was a beautiful room with wide long windows, which bathed the room in light and gave the occupant a beautiful view of the gardens. "Look Haley, ducks." He said as he pointed but got no reaction.

"I'll settle her for a nap before dinner." Amy said gently taking Haley and guiding her to the bed, as Jeff left the room knowing Haley had to get used to other people tending to her. Amy sat Haley down and went about taking off her shoes, socks and belt before sliding Haley under the covers. She then gently rested her fingers over Haley's eyes, "sleep," she commanded and Haley obeyed.

Amy touched both of Haley's temples; she closed her eyes and focused on Haley's mind. She came across nothing, no thoughts, no dreams and no beast. She didn't want to delve too deeply into Haley's mind, not unless it was completely necessary as she could hurt Haley's being, her identity as an individual, that way. She pulled out and studied the shell of the woman before her; Haley was gaunt with hollow checks and pasty skin, her rich brown hair, although clean, seemed just as lifeless as the rest of her body. It saddened Amy to see Haley this way, but she knew it was nothing compared to the pain her family was going through, seeing her waste away without being able to do nothing to stop it. Their only solution was to send her away, to people who had experience dealing with people who had been caged and abused like she had.

This was not as easy as she thought it was going to be,

Amy thought,

but if anyone could help her the people in this house could.

*

Serenity glanced around to make sure no one saw her, lifting her nose, she sniffed the air, following the scent of the new woman. Her mother hadn't told her specifically to not go near the new woman so she knew she wasn't breaking any rules but if Anna or Bastion saw her, they would stop her claiming the woman needed rest. She didn't want to disturb the woman's rest, she was just curious about her.

She moved quickly and ducked into Haley's room, closing the door silently behind her. Haley was asleep on her side. Serenity watched Haley for long moments trying to sense Haley's emotions, there was nothing there, no fear or anxiety at being at a new place, just nothing.

She frowned for a moment wondering what she could do to help, as she knew instinctively that something very bad had happened to the woman, which had caused her to shut down. She glanced down at her clothes, today she was wearing pale denim over alls and a pale blue shirt, her sister was wearing almost the exact same outfit only Temperance's shirt was a bright girly pink. She stripped quickly and in moments, a small sabre cub was in her place, she didn't want to startle the woman if she woke to see a strange child in her bed. However as a Were she wouldn't bat an eye at waking up next to a cub in fact she would probably take comfort from it, from the familarity of it as cubs often shared beds with those in their pack. Cubs were special, they could offer comfort in a way no adult could, not even Amy could do what they could, as cubs were harmless against full grown Were, they were not a threat against anyone. Even a mentally unstable woman like Haley would know that instinctively and would not harm Serenity.

Serenity wasn't big, maybe a little smaller than a medium sized dog, and gangly as she never had a chance to grow into her size before she started growing again. Her paws were almost comically large for her body and forced her to walk with an odd clumsy gait. In her shifted form was the only time she never got mistaken for her twin because she had darker stripes on her face with bold lines under her eyes and only two full stripes on her forehead which ran down to her nose. Her eyes were still blue only now they were much lighter, closer to a sky blue than the sapphire orbs she had normally. Her eye-teeth, her namesake, only just showed from beneath her top lip, as they still had to grow to their full length.

She clumsily moved to the bed and crouched down, her tail flicking from side to side, and focused completely on judging how much power she would need to get up. She jumped, and realised she had misjudged how much power she needed as she bounced off the mattress, landing with a huff. She glanced around quickly, if her siblings had seen that she would never hear the end of it. She got back into position to jump up; she jumped and landed successfully on the mattress with a little bounce.

She licked her nose pleased that she had made it and walked along the edge of the bed and along Haley's body; she used her nose to push and prod Haley to roll into the middle of the bed. Haley took a bit of prodding but eventually she rolled over into the middle of the bed and back onto her side.

Serenity moved to Haley's front side and snuggled up to her, nudging Haley's right arm up and over her body. Serenity shuffled herself closer pressing her body to Haley's before she finally rested her chin on Haley's neck; she then closed her eyes to nap.

Temperance suddenly appeared from thin air next to the bed five minutes later, Thais appeared a few moments after her, they both watched the woman their sister was cuddled up to. Thais stripped and quickly a wolf cub had taken his place. He was not as long as his sisters were but just as tall as they were in the shoulder. His thick coat was his most interesting feature and no one quiet knew what to call it, he wasn't matt grey or black. If you looked at him from an angle you would swear he was grey but if you looked at him straight on you would also swear he was black. The closest anyone had come to describing his coat was to call it a reverse Luna's touch, the tips were black and the roots were white. His eyes were the same light blue as his sisters and like his sisters, his paws were comically big.