“Well, a few years back, I became pregnant with my high school sweetheart’s baby. He proposed and we were supposed to be married before the baby arrived, but something went wrong. I was about four months along when I lost it, and I had to have surgery because of complications with internal bleeding. I was told I would never be able to have children again, so… I guess she saw that in whatever tests they did.” She turned her face away from him, not wanting to see the pity that must be there. He didn’t speak for so long, that she had to peek up at him. He was staring up a little, towards the sky. “What are you doing?”
“Thanking the Goddess for the gift of me biting you,” he answered. The words shocked her speechless. He glanced her way, before clearing his throat and looking into her eyes, causing her cheeks to warm again. “When I bit you, your body changed. Not just the ability to change form, but everything. Think of it like a factory reset or an upgrade, everything reset to a new and better version. I’d give anything to bet if you saw Dr. Gerald again, he’d tell you you are in perfect health and able to bear children.” His smile was calm and sweet and it brought tears to her eyes. She’d always wanted children, and the knowledge that she could, made her beyond happy. So happy she also sent up a silent prayer of thanks. His eyes had returned to their destination as he asked again, “So, what about your aversion to men?”
“W-well, that one is a bit more difficult. See, my fiance worked in construction, so he was really strong. After we lost the pregnancy, he got really angry all the time. It started with words and arguments. Then he threw a lamp on the floor of our apartment. Then he-” She let the words drop as she held her arm, remembering. He didn’t miss the gesture. “Well, it got worse. So, I had to leave. I broke off the engagement, and when I told him he got the angriest I’ve ever seen him. He tore apart our apartment and almost pushed me out the second floor window. The police were called by a neighbor and he got arrested. I was moved out before he got out the next day.” She still remembered the words he spewed at her, the things he hit her with. The black eye and fat lip, not to mention the bruises from her last encounter with him. “The bruises healed faster than my mind. It took six months of therapy before I was fully able to come to terms with what had happened. I’ve never forgotten, but I had to move on. So I moved down here a year ago. I needed a fresh start, and that’s what I had.”
Nicholas had been quiet the entire time she spoke, but now she heard a growl deep in his chest. She looked up at him and he was baring his teeth at the air in front of him. His hand began to glow faintly, and she saw the rope in his hand start to smoke. “If I ever meet that low life, I’ll tear him apart! There won’t be anything left of him to find! Thank you Goddess for this blessing of my never meeting him and her being changed!” His barely contained anger caused Elizabeth to flinch, which he caught. He inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m sorry, but you know how the pack treats women. They are to be honored and protected. They bear the future of our race, without which we would not exist. We were gifted from a goddess, after all, so we cherish our women.”
She did know this, she’d learned it from her tutor. Seeing his anger at someone he'd never met because of her made her feel warm inside. Her heart was beating quickly, and not from all the adrenaline she had used tonight. She glanced around their surroundings, not quite sure where they were, but trusting Nicholas’s sense of direction.
“So, how far until we hit the pack? I’m tired.” It wasn’t a lie.
“Hmm, only a mile or two now. Won’t be much longer.” He grunted as he tugged at the ropes, one of the males getting snagged on something.
“So, since we have a little bit of time then, why don’t we continue clearing the air. You know my history, how about you tell me yours,” she tried to act casual and hide how much she really wanted to know.
“Well, okay, if you really want to know. You already know how old I am, so I’ll gloss over my more formidable years. Don’t give me that look!” he scoffed as she glared at him. “Look, it wasn’t that interesting anyway. Just me getting in trouble for playing jokes on the rest of that pack. I outgrew that eventually but the pack never let me live it down.”
“Jokes? Like what?” She wanted to know what young Nicholas was like.
“Well, when you are a Connor and you have the power of fire, you do little things. Like overheating the soup so the water boils out. Or heat up your teachers seat so she jumped up in front of the class. Little things like that,” his cheeks pinked up as he explained. She tried to stifle a giggle but failed, and he smiled warmly at her. “Yeah, well, she never enjoyed it. Anyway, after I outgrew that I was given the responsibility to patrol. My job was to keep the southern edge of the pack’s territory safe. I did that for years, wander around that same path all day, eat meals and sleep. Until one day, my brother told me to patrol the western side and he would take the southern. I thought it was a little odd since he hated patrol, but I listened because he was older and named heir to the Pureblood line. So that day, I patrolled the west all day just like I did for the south. At sundown, I made my way back home. It wasn’t until I was almost within sight of the entrance that I smelled it. Blood, a lot of it. I ran into the den searching for someone, anyone I could help. But I was too late. My father was beyond saving when I got to him. He died in my arms and I never saw my brother again.” The shine in Nicholas’ eyes was not due to his inner fire this time, but held back tears. It broke her heart so much to see the sadness in them.
She reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I heard it was bad, but I never imagined… Do you think your brother might still be alive?”
“If I had to guess, he was probably captured by the Hunters who attacked and tortured into giving the location of the den. I can’t imagine they left him alive after that,” he admitted. She found herself walking a little closer to him, hoping her closeness alone would somehow ease his loneliness. She flicked her gaze up to his face quickly, and she caught sight of that warm smile again.
“Well, I hope he is still alive out there, somewhere. What did you do after that?” There had to be a couple hundred year gap between that incident and now, so where had he been all that time?
“Well, that's a bit harder to explain. I spent a little while being lost, I stayed in a few nearby packs for a few years. Then I spent a year in London before Byron and Colin found me. He talked me into moving to America and I eventually joined Beatrice’s pack at the request of her grandfather as her Beta,” he explained. His expression shifted a little when he mentioned London, but just as she was about to ask, he said, “Look, we’re back. Now we have to go report to Beatrice. Get ready for a lecture.”
Darren greeted Nicholas, or started to before he saw who he was and what he was dragging behind him. Darren called Benjamin and pointed to the approaching pair. Once he stepped through the opening into the warm night air, the younger man became very pale. “Take them to the Alpha while I take these Ferals downstairs. Get a move on before I punish you, idiot!” Darren shouted. Benjamin actually saluted Darren, before walking up to them.
“Fo-follow me!” he stammered as he walked stiffly back inside.
“Guess it’s time to face the music.” Nicholas said, as he handed the ropes to Darren.
“Hopefully we’ll be on probation?” she asked, hopefully.
“Not likely, get ready to be on kitchen duty for the next six months!”
Elizabeth gulped. She hated cooking almost as much as she hated cleaning out the deep freezer. Almost.
Chapter Thirteen
Beatrice wasn’t completely pleased with being woken up at 3 a.m. that morning by the young male pounding on her door for nearly ten minutes. Neither was she pleased to see the newest thorn in her side next to her favorite Beta, Nicholas Connor. Now they stood before her at this unholy hour, her own bloodshot eyes glaring daggers at the pair for a few agonizing moments before speaking.
“Leave us!” she ordered harshly, star
tling the male. He nodded his head to the Alpha and quickly left, not saying a word. The Alpha stood and cleared her throat to draw the pair’s attention back to her. She sat heavily into her chair, placed her elbows on the desk and held her head in her hands. She sighed deeply, as she began, “So, which of you wants to start? Nick, perhaps you?”
“If that is your wish, Alpha Beatrice,” he answered, every bit as formally as he had been trained all those years ago. Best to show respect with short comments, only giving what is required when you’ve angered your Alpha.
“No, actually, why doesn’t the new girl share first, because I assume you dragged those two Ferals here because of her,” she spat the word out like it was poisoned.
Elizabeth cringed at her tone, swallowing the lump in her throat. She glanced at Nicholas, but his eyes were only on the Alpha. Eyes darting down before returning to Beatrice, she took a deep breath. “Alpha Beatrice, I snuck out and went home last night. After discovering I couldn’t handle myself as well as I thought I could, I decided to come back. But, on my way, I was attacked by the Ferals and Nick found and saved me.” It was only a small mistelling, hopefully she wouldn’t ask for more. Nicholas gave nothing away as to whether she was lying or not. Who knows how it would go if she found out that she had used some werewolf compulsion on a human to make her forget the sight of a giant wolf attacking her friend.
It seemed Beatrice might buy the explanation, but some small motion Elizabeth made seemed to give something away, and her eyes narrowed on to her again. “You sure that was all that happened? You met no one after returning home?”
Elizabeth swallowed again, the lump not going away this time, making her throat even drier. “Y-yes ma’am.” Damnit! She’s gonna know I’m lying! She cursed herself. Beatrice arched an eyebrow at her. Beatrice closed her eyes for a moment, seeming to accept her explanation., her eyes snapped open again, burning like fiery suns in her eye sockets. The force of the push from Beatrice nearly knocked the other female from her feet, pushing her against the door. Nicholas turned, stunned and scared to the nearly paralyzed woman, unable to help Elizabeth or cross the Alpha.
“I want the truth, Elizabeth. I will tear your mind apart if you threaten my pack with your lies!” Beatrice snapped, pulling her lips back and baring her teeth. Elizabeth groaned at the shooting pain through her head, closing her eyes trying to fight back. Her wolf instantly reared up to help protect her, easing her pain as much as she could, allowing her human self to breathe a few shaky breaths.
“I’ve do-done nothing to dam-damage the pa-pack!” She stuttered through the pain. “I swear!”
“Beatrice, please go easy on her! She was attacked after she left, nearly taken. I saved her but only barely, please let her go!” Nicholas pleaded, clenching his fists and fighting himself to not go to her aid.
“Then why did I get a call from the police claiming someone saw a giant wolf at our newest wolf’s home? A big white one?” It seemed that Elizabeth’s order hadn’t been as strong as she would have liked. Inhaling a deep breath, Nicholas moved to stand in front of Elizabeth, and all at once the pain was gone. She slumped to the floor, panting heavily just to catch her breath, eyes staring up at the back of his white head. His movement shocked Beatrice enough that her eyes stopped glowing.
“That was me, yes. I couldn’t follow her scent for a while, but I figured she’d go home. By the time I got there, she had already left. She must have gotten lost, wandered out to the edges of our territory and encountered the Ferals,” he explained, still protectively standing in front of Elizabeth. Beatrice looked between her Beta and Elizabeth a few times, eyes narrowing.
“Fine. I will handle the authorities, luckily we have friends in that precinct. I will also inform them about our missing woman case so that the proper people will be notified and questions will no longer be asked. As angry as I am,” she sighed, “I am glad you both are back, safely. Elizabeth, please think carefully next time you have one of these ideas. I know your past and, while I won’t go into it now, I don’t want to see you hurt.” The sincerity was surprising to Elizabeth, but it didn’t last long as she was handed down her punishment. “Kitchen clean up duty for the next three weeks. Nicholas, since she was under your watch and got away causing me a lot of headache, you’re on the midnight patrol around the northern edge of the territory for the same three weeks.”
He sighed, nodding his head. Seemed that was not as bad as he had thought, as he turned toward her with a small smile on his face. He held his hand out for her to take, which she did. She felt that tug again, much smaller than a few nights ago, but enough to make her look away to hide her heating cheeks.
“Out, the both of you. Nick, you’ll start your new duties first thing tomorrow night. Elizabeth, you start at 9 a.m. sharp, report to George in the kitchen.” She waved tiredly at the pair, Nicholas nodded as he helped Elizabeth out the door. Beatrice narrowed her eyes after they left, hoping her fears would be gone soon.
They walked down to her den in a comfortable silence. She had a lot of information to sort through, and she couldn’t begin to process anything in her sleep-deprived state. Had she been noticing anything besides the nearing of her bed, she would have felt Nicholas’s gentle touches on her shoulders and around her waist, to make sure she wouldn’t collapse. Once they reached her door, he released her and she turned to him suddenly feeling his loss with a chill.
“Seems we got off a little light. I actually like patrolling that area, keeps me on my toes.” Nicholas said, flexing one of his arms.
“Well, sounds like you’ll enjoy your punishment. I hate cleaning,” she grumbled. He snickered a little as she glowered at him.
“Well, it’s not so bad. You also get to be the first to try everything too, even before us,” he acknowledged. She sighed again, the weight of the events of tonight feeling like several bags of sand on her shoulders. Noticing her exhaustion, he smiled sweetly, saying “I’ll leave you to sleep now. I’ll see you later today.” He turned, only stalling a second or two before walking back to the stairs.
“See you,” she whispered to his back. He must have heard because he waved his hand in understanding. She opened her den door and walked inside, breathing deeply the new yet comforting scent. It smelled of her this time, and she was growing to love it. She made her way into her bedroom, sliding off the sundress from home and tossing it onto the floor. Reaching under her pillow, she grabbed her nightgown, put it on, and gratefully slid into bed. All her troubles and problems were for tomorrow, tonight she slept.
She awoke the next day to the sound of quiet snoring. She knew it wasn't her because she was already awake, so she looked around and saw Camila curled up on the floor by her bed wrapped in a blanket. When the girl had snuck in, she didn’t know, but she didn’t want to wake her so she crawled out of the opposite side of the bed and crept into the kitchen. She grabbed a box of waffles from the freezer, popped half the box in the large toaster on the counter, and lounged on the couch waiting for them to heat up. Her friend must have been worried about her, and snuck in at some point in the early morning. Elizabeth glanced at the clock, it read eight o’clock, so she had some time before she had to leave. After everything the last forty-eight hours had brought her, she should still be tired, but she wasn’t. She just had a lot on her mind.
The foremost in her thoughts was the knowledge that Nicholas had been the one who attacked her. He bit her, turned her and caused all of this mess she had suffered for the last couple weeks. She didn’t know how to handle that right now, so maybe being away from him for a while was for the best. Then there was the attack from last night with the Ferals. Memories of her past abuse came rushing back to her in the few moments before Nicholas saved her, memories she had thought she was healed from. She also didn’t know how Beatrice would treat the Ferals, knowing they had attacked one of her pack, but she imagined it wouldn’t be pretty. Beatrice was a whole other issue of her own. She seemed snarky and bossy at first, but now she seemed to care
about Elizabeth. The notion surprised her a little, but maybe it was all an act put on for Nicholas. Or maybe it was just because she was pack and Beatrice was the Alpha, she had to act a certain way.
The toaster dinged as the den began to smell of waffles. Elizabeth could just hear a shuffling in the bedroom, so she poked her head inside. Camila was sitting up on the floor, looked at the bed and stood up quickly. Panicked, she looked around before her eyes rested on Elizabeth. She didn't even get to say “hi” before the girl pounced on her, knocking her to the floor.
“Oh my gosh! You’re back, you’re really back! What happened? Where were you? Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving, I was so worried! I heard you were attacked, are you hurt? I swear I’ll tear them a new one, Goddess help me if they harmed you!” She spoke so fast, Elizabeth almost didn’t catch it all.
Pureblood (Pureblood series) Page 13
