Favor Redeemed Ch. 05

I am so sorry for the delay in posting. A personal tragedy took up my time and made writing difficult for a bit. But things are improving. Sorry, there is no editor; I'm doing the best I can. I appreciate all the comments and feedback and look forward to more. Thank you all who have liked my story so far. Hopefully I will get chapter 6 posted very soon.

meelana

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Reyna hung up the phone and sat wondering what she should do next. The information she had just received was troubling. She went and scooped up her two of her sons, twins that were three years old, and gave them a fierce hug. Of course they immediately struggled to be put down and let go. Though she knew that there were times they liked to cuddle and be affectionate, when they were playing, like they were now, they did not want hugs from mom. She sighed as she put them down. She hoped that they would grow up to be just like their father. She then began tidying up toys and other things while she contemplated how to handle the information she had just received.

She was surprised, when she saw Jeremiah walk into the room. He walked directly to her and pulled her into a hug. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She frowned at herself and asked, "I hope I didn't pull you away from something important."

"Love, you know that you are the pups are the most important thing to me. What's got you so upset, I could feel it all the way in my office," Jeremiah said, looking at her tenderly, his love and support absolute.

Reyna blushed, she hadn't realized that she was broadcasting her emotions like that. "Well, I've gotten some news," She began. "I know I shouldn't interfere but I contacted a lawyer to ask what it would take to get a divorce."

Jeremiah frowned, and correctly suggested, "For Amelia?"

Reyna nodded and continued. "The problem is that in this state, you have to be separated for a year before you can get a divorce."

"A year!?" Jeremiah echoed, shocked. Divorce was nothing something common in their world, but it seemed to him that this was an awful long period of time for a human.

Again, Reyna nodded. "The lawyer did say that if physical cruelty could be proved, then the divorce could be expedited."

"Well he was abusing her, which should count," Jeremiah said.

"It should but she would have to prove it. It's been a week since Amelia arrived here. I'm sure that her bruises have faded by now." Reyna said as she laid her head on Jeremiah's shoulder. She still couldn't understand how abuse could happen between mates or spouses. "When you did the background check on her, did it include a medical history?"

"It did not. Maybe you can talk to her and find out about her medical history," Jeremiah suggested.

"Or maybe I can recruit Hannah. Are things still going well at the Inn?" Reyna inquired.

Jeremiah replied, with a smile, "They've never been better. Bringing in Amelia to manage the Inn has been the best idea ever. Grady and Chase said that she's not only gotten everything organized, they are amazed that she's learned just about every pack member's names. They've joked that she's like a little mother hen with all of them, but not smothering. Everyone at the Inn adores her."

"Is she still working those long days, though?" Reyna asked as her brown puckered with concern.

Jeremiah was temporarily distracted by this and leaned down to kiss her forehead. He then kissed down to her nose and then to her lips and before either of them knew it, his tongue was slipping into her mouth to stroke hers.

Reyna was always amazed at how he could touch her and kiss her and still turn her on. Even after children and several years together. Looking at them, she was sure that no one would guess that she was the older of the pair, by almost a decade. She had thought she would never find someone. She had trained as a female beta and longingly watched other women with their children. She would be forever grateful that she had found Jeremiah.

Unfortunately, before the interlude could go too far the dual sounds of, "Eww, gross," and "Do you have to do that in here?" were sounding in their ears. The pair parted a little to see their 12-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son standing there.

"One day you will do stuff like this too," Jeremiah teased them as he looked down into Reyna's eyes. Then he heard his daughter mutter, "I hope not," while his son said, "No way!"

"Everyone get cleaned up for dinner," Reyna said, breaking the eye contact reluctantly and looking to her children. "We'll be going to the dining hall soon." She smiled at the chorus of groans, but since they were all fairly well-behaved, they did as she asked. She turned back to Jeremiah and prompted, "Amelia?" picking up the thread of their conversation again.

"Yes, she is still working really long days. I don't know how to stop her though, do you?" he said with a sigh.

"No, I don't," Reyna acknowledged.

"It's like she feels like she has something to prove," Jeremiah remarked off-handedly.

"Well of course she does," Reyna said with a laugh. "She has to prove that we made a good decision by 'hiring' her."

"If she works herself into exhaustion, and the Alpha finds out, he'll probably take it out on both of us," Jeremiah reminded her dryly.

"So I guess I need to go out there and try and talk to her," Reyna sighed. She could not help but ask, "And how is Alpha Brendan?"

"Very distracted and agitated. Most are giving him a wide berth right now."

"Has he seen her since she left?"

"No, and I know he wants to."

"Should we tell him about the divorce requirements?"

"Not yet," Jeremiah rubbed his own forehead and walked to the window. "I think whoever delivers that message its likely to be 'shot.' Besides, maybe she does have a medical history that can prove abuse. Or she has some bruises and we can get pictures, or something."

"That's not going to be easy. She hid them when she was here before, and didn't Hannah say that she hadn't seen any either. And that she's kept pretty covered up."

"Well there's got to be something we can do." Jeremiah said. He was not used to inaction. He also couldn't imagine what he would have done if Reyna had rejected him.

"Since I interrupted, do you need to go back down to the office, or are you able to come to dinner with us?" Reyna asked.

"I was finishing up anyway," Jeremiah responded. "Besides, the early to dinner, then the earlier to bed for the pups, right?" He stalked closer to Reyna and pulled her back into her arms and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "And then I can pick up where we left off before we were interrupted." Then he lightly bit her ear and heard her give a small groan. He was quite pleased that he could arouse her so easily sometimes. Loving her would never get old.

At the Inn Amelia was oblivious to the discussions about her. She sat at the desk in the office while another was at the front desk. In a little while she would go and relieve the person at the front desk so that they could grab something to eat.

She took a minute though and closed her eyes. She was so tired, but she had to keep pushing herself. For one thing, she wanted to be the best manager this Inn had ever had. She had mastered almost everyone's names now, but there were still two or three she did not have down.

Of course, she knew proving herself was not the only reason. She hoped that if she worked really hard and got herself tired enough she could have a night of sleeping without dreams. Ever since she had been here she had been having either horrible nightmares or sexually explicit dreams. In the nightmares her husband kept finding her and hitting her over and over until her blood was all over the ground. After one of those nightmares she could never go back to sleep. And if she was not dreaming of John, she was dreaming of Brendan. In her dreams of Brendan, he was holding her and kissing her like he had that day in his office.

She had not felt sexual desire in years, but with Brendan she had. His touch had made her light up and a tiny part of her wondered what it would be like to belong to him, but her fear outweighed that part by far. Yet, if she was honest with herself, she also recognized that she wanted to see Brendan again. She wondered how he was doing and if he still thought she was his mate.

The ringing of the telephone interrupted her internal musings. "Luna Inn; this is Amelia. How can I help you?"

"Amelia! Its Reyna, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you. How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm doing just fine. I was thinking that maybe I could come by tomorrow and see how things are going. Jeremiah's heard such wonderful things that I wanted to see for myself."

"Yes, that would be fine," Amelia said with just a touch of nervousness. She knew that they would come eventually to check on her progress with the Inn, but there was so much more she wanted to do before they came. "When were you thinking of coming."

"Well, when would be good for you? I wasn't sure what your schedule might be like."

"Well, umm, I like to be available at the desk in the mornings for check out. Then there is all the prep-work after that for the next guests, and then check-in starts at 4, but there are always a few that show up early."

"Well, when do you take lunch?"

"Um, well, I haven't really been taking lunch. Sometimes I'll grab something and eat at my desk."

"Well that won't do!" said Reyna authoritatively. "You need to take time for you too, or you'll get worn out. Tomorrow I'll come at 12:30 and we'll have lunch and talk."

"Ok, I'll have lunch ready then," Amelia said wondering what she could prepare. She'd learned in the time she was here that although they did eat vegetables and grains, they were also big on meat.

"No, we'll just order something from the restaurant kitchen and have them bring it to us," Reyna replied with a light laugh in her voice.

"But that's so much extra work for the kitchen staff." Amelia protested.

"Amelia, have you eaten in the restaurant since you got there?" Reyna asked a suspicion forming in her mind.

"Kind of," Amelia hedged. "You know that the food that they can't save for the next day gets brought up to the den area, so I've had some of that."

Reyna's tone changed to concern, "Amelia, you are eating aren't you?"

"Of course," Amelia replied, a defensive edge in her tone.

Reyna's motherly tone came out as she asked, "How many times a day?"

"I don't know, Reyna. Look, things have been busy, and I may have skipped a couple of meals. But it's not like I'm going to waste away from missing a meal or anything. You've seen me, you know."

Reyna paused before responding. "I just want to make sure you've got what you need dear. And I want you to remain healthy."

"Thanks for the concern, but I'm fine. Really."

"Alright, well we are still doing lunch tomorrow. And we are ordering from the restaurant. So get a menu and pick something you think would be good, and call it in. I'll call in my own order tomorrow before I head out there."

"Ok." Amelia said, a little grudgingly.

"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow. Don't work too late dear."

"Goodbye Reyna," Amelia replied with no intention of changing her plans about working late.

A few hours later, Amelia was at the front desk. Benjamin was supposed to be on duty with her, but she had told him to go ahead and take off. He had been telling her about a test he had the next day and she wanted him to have the extra time to study. She was comparing the list of reservations against the guests already arrived and noticing that almost everyone had already checked in when she heard the door open. She lifted her head and froze as three men walked in. She knew they did not have reservations.

"What are you doing here, Toby?" she asked the man in the front. He had a kind of sleazy look that made her feel dirty from being around him. Amelia actually did not know the names of the other two men with him. Of course, their names were not important; they were there to provide Toby with intimidating muscle. Both were large men, though one was tall and the other average. The trio reminded her of the Harry Potter movies where there was Malfoy and his two sidekicks.

"I think you know why I'm here, Amelia," Toby replied looking her up and down.

"No, I don't," Amelia insisted. She wondered if she should have let Benjamin have those couple of hours now or not. She also realized that having two people at the desk was probably a better move for safety reasons.

"Well then let me explain," Toby said in a condescending tone. "I'm here for the money Amelia."

"What money?" She asked, even though she knew. She could feel her cheeks heat up. She wondered if she yelled if anyone would be able to get to her in time.

"Don't play dumb! You owe us $5,000 and we are going to collect from you, one way or the other." Toby walked closer to the counter.

"I don't owe you a thing, Toby," she hissed and took a step back. "That was all John. Go find him and get the money there."

Toby laughed, and reached over the counter, but Amelia ducked away. "We all know you were the one who funded him. He told us you would have money and so here we are. It took a little bit to find you."

"I'm not with John anymore," she said, backing up farther. "And I'm not responsible for his debts. Not to mention I don't have any money."

"No money? Yet you're working in a swanky place like this?" Toby scoffed. "You can say whatever you want, but you are going to get me the money. I would hate to have the boys 'convince' you, but I can."

"Leave Toby!" Amelia said. "You aren't getting a penny out of me. And if you or your goons try and touch me, I'll scream my head off. There are enough people in this building that someone would hear and come to help me." Amelia had no delusions that she could fight them and win.

"But you won't be here all the time, now will you?" Toby asked.

Amelia wanted to tell him, that actually, since she lived there too, she would be there all the time, but she did not want them to know where she was staying.

"Leave!" She said forcefully again. Then she glanced at the shadows and saw Chase and Grady walking out from down the hallway. Her face flamed with embarrassment and she wondered how much they had heard.

"I believe the lady wants you to leave," said Chase mildly, but his face was menacing. Grady stood silently to his side watching the three 'intruders' intently.

"You can run along, Amelia and I are just attending to some business." Toby responded, seeming not to feel the newcomers were a threat.

Amelia wanted to cry out, "Don't you realize they're wolves and they can tear you apart," but the words remained unsaid. She had seen some mock sparing amongst the pack and she had no doubt that these men were trained. She knew that they were here for security, which she had thought was silly until now. She just wished they would pretend like this had never happened.

Chase said, "I'm going to count to three and if you are not out of here by then, we will help you."

One of the two goons walked up to Chase and Grady and said, "You think we are scared of you?"

Lightning fast Grady shot out a kick that hit the goon right in the middle of his chest and had him gasping for air.

"One," Chase started his count.

"Two"

"Alright, we're going," said Toby, seeming to realize that perhaps his goons were outmatched. "But Amelia, this isn't finished." With that the three exited.

Grady came up to Amelia and asked, "Are you alright?" while Chase flipped out a cell phone and made call.

"Yes, I'm fine. Who is Chase calling?"

"Jeremiah," Grady calmly replied.

"No! Stop! That's not necessary!" Amelia cried. "No one needs to know about this, please."

"Amelia, this is a threat to your safety, Jeremiah has to know."

Amelia's eyes filled with tears of humiliation. "Please," she pleaded again, but she was too late. Chase was already talking to Jeremiah.

After dinner Brendan had asked to spar with Jeremiah for a few while. Reyna and Jeremiah both knew that Brendan was the best at sparring and that sparring Jeremiah meant he needed to work off his aggression in a way that he could not do with others since Jeremiah was almost as good.

Reyna smiled at Brendan, gave him a hug, and then told Jeremiah she would get the kids ready for bed. She then gave him a wink and told Brendan not to hurt him too badly because she had plans for him. Then Brendan and Jeremiah went to the gym. For over an hour the two had sparred and Brendan was quite aggressive and kept Jeremiah on his toes. Finally Jeremiah dropped to his back and bared his belly and throat and said, "You win."

Brendan accepted his submission and then said, "My office." After they were there, Brendan asked, "How is she?" Jeremiah didn't need to ask who "she" was.

"She's well from what I am hearing. I believe Reyna is going to see her tomorrow, so she should have more details then."

"Good," said Brendan.

"From what I've heard so far, she will make an excellent Madam Alpha." Jeremiah continued, wanted to be able to give his Alpha and friend more.

"Oh really?" Brendan said with satisfaction.

"Oh yes, I hear she's quite the mother hen. And she's learned just about everyone's names."

Brendan smiled a sad smile and then said, "Thank you."

"I'll have Reyna come give you a full report tomorrow."

"Again, thank you. Go on, I know Reyna's waiting for you."

"Thank you, My Alpha." Jeremiah said as he started walking to the door. Then his cell phone rang. It was slightly odd for it to ring at that time of day, so he looked at the number and said, "Chase, what's wrong?"

Brendan stood impatiently, instantly knowing that somehow Amelia was involved. He listened, his acute hearing allowing him to hear both sides of the conversation.

"We've just had a bit of trouble here involving Madam Amelia."

"Is she ok?"

"Yes, she's fine."

"What happened?"

"Toby Mathias was here demanding money from Amelia."

"What? Why?" Jeremiah questioned.

"I think it had something to do with her ex-husband." Chase replied.

Brendan was already walking to the door, and Jeremiah followed after him. "I think the Alpha and I are on our way up there," he said.

"Ok, but just to warn you, she's not all that thrilled that I've called." Brendan grabbed the phone from Jeremiah and barked the order, "Get her up to the den. Have one of the women stay with her. I will be there shortly." He then shut off the phone and handed it back to Jeremiah, not doubting for a moment his order would be obeyed.

Jeremiah called to Reyna and told her something had happened at the Inn that he and Brendan were heading out there.

"It's involving Amelia isn't it?" Reyna guessed.

"Yes."

"Well, be careful. I imagine Brendan's going to be in a tizzy."

Brendan interrupted, "Tell her I do not get in a tizzy. But I'm going to go make sure my mate is safe."

"Yes My Alpha," she replied respectfully, then to Jeremiah she said, "Take the time you need. I'll be waiting for you."

Brendan insisted on driving and while Jeremiah tried to calm him down, Chase and Grady had their own issues with calming someone down.

"I can't believe you called Jeremiah. And now Alpha Brendan is worried. It isn't worth all this fuss," Amelia fretted.

"Madam Amelia," Chase said in his most respectful tone, "My orders were to make sure everything here was safe and to notify Jeremiah, the Senior Beta, if anything occurred. He and the Alpha must have been in the same room. Trust me, I don't want the Alpha upset either, but I had to report this."

Grady had already called Benjamin back down to take over the desk.

Amelia was so frustrated and upset that she ran to the elevator and went upstairs and then went in her room and locked the door. She laid down on the bed and cried. Not only was she embarrassed, she was scared. She did not want to be scared anymore. She had just barely begun making a life for herself and something like this happened. Normally she did not allow herself the luxury of tears but this time she could not help it.