“Baby, this can wait until you’re feeling better.”
“No, it’s already waited too long.” I started recounting everything that Marcus told me whe I was locked in the cage. She listened intently, crying as I talked about how Lucas died, and how her sister had tended to him all by herself. I was sure she was remembering doing the same for her sister, and then I told her the rest, about how Marcus followed her there that day, and watched from the woods as she did the same thing. By the time I was done, my mom was speechless. She leaned her head over on my good leg, and just cried. I didn’t care how much it hurt to move, I ran my fingers through her hair, offering the only comfort I could. “I’m so sorry mom, I didn’t know.” I whispered. “I wish I had known. I can’t even begin to imagine having to go through that.”
“Anna would be so proud of you,” she finally said through her sobs. “Thank you for avenging her.” She was silent for a minute before she went on. “I thought maybe he’d just stumbled on the cottage out there after he’d been shunned, but apparently, Marcus knew it was there all along.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was holding you in Anna’s cottage.”
“Eileen!” Evan’s voice was full of sympathy. “You should have said something, you didn’t need to be there.”
“She’s my daughter, of course I needed to be there.” My heart bled for my mom. The last time she’d been to that cottage she had found her sister dead in it. Then to have to go rescue me from the same place, and I can only imagine the sight I was to behold when they pulled me out of there. “You saying he had hoped to make Lucas’s death look like a hunting accident makes me wonder what really happened to Drew.”
“I wondered that too, but I didn’t get to ask him. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry about any of it, baby. Ever. What he did… If I could bring him back so I could kill him again myself, I would.” She rose up, maybe strengthened some by her fury, and she turned to leave. “I have to go tell your father. He’ll want to know. Will you be okay?”
“Yes, I’ll get Evan to bring me down soon. Maybe if I’m already downstairs, shifting won’t be so bad. I worry about how well I’ll be able to use my legs at first though, because my arms feel like dead weight right now.”
“Take your time baby. You don’t need to rush things.” She looked over my shoulder at Evan, “call out if either of you needs anything.”
“I will.” He said, and my mom was out the door and shutting it. “I’m sorry you had to learn about your Aunt that way, Jess.”
“I’m named for her, you know?”
“I thought your mom said her name was Anna?”
“Anna Marie. She gave me her middle name. Anna was shunned, my mom couldn’t just name me after her completely, but she never stopped loving her sister.”
“Jess, there’s something else you need to know.” Evan did not sound particularly happy for some reason, so I braced myself for more bad news.
“What?”
“My family is here.” I stiffened in his arms, panic rose up from my gut and brought with it that now too familiar taste of bile.
“Ughh,” I groaned, and swallowed my fears down. “What do we do?”
“They’ve been demanding to meet with you. We’ve been stalling.” He ran his hands down the lower part of my arms in a gesture that was meant to comfort me. “They’re not having it anymore. When I was downstairs, I got a text from Mikael saying they were on their way. My brother Malachi, his wife, my father and mother, they’re all on the way here.”
“Do they know what happened to me?”
“Mikael told them a little bit, and that you were gravely injured. After three days, they’re wondering why you are still unable to wake and heal yourself. They’re coming to see for themselves why I would chose to stick by such a weak person. Those are their words, not mine Jess.” He added the last part when he felt me try to pull away. “They don’t understand. They haven’t been told you’re a white wolf. So, they can’t understand why we haven’t forced the change on you so you can heal.”
“You guys tried?” Shock colored my words. It had been Marcus’s plan to weaken my body enough to make my mind susceptible to his suggestion. Maybe if he had known it wouldn’t work he would have spared some of the gunshot wounds. Actually, scratch that thought. I probably would have had only one, if he had known, and it would have been right between the eyes.
“We did.” I nodded, already expecting that answer. Of course they would have tried.
“Okay, well, give me just a minute to let this settle in, and then maybe help me downstairs? Maybe I can shift and we can run before they get here? That way, they don’t see the white wolf, and when we get back to the house, I’ll be good as new.”
“That sounds like a terrific plan, Jess.” I leaned back into Evan, and closed my eyes for a minute. His arms were lying down by his sides, as I think he was afraid to touch me, in case it hurt.
“Evan, can you just wrap your arms around me for a minute. I miss feeling them.”
“I’ve been here the whole time with you, Jess, but it might hurt you if I tried.”
“I don’t care. He took so much out of me already. I just want to feel somewhat normal for a minute. I need to be able to close my eyes for just a minute, and have your arms wrapped around me so I feel safe again.” He didn’t say another word. He slid his hands beneath mine, across my abdomen, and held me like that. “Thank you,” I said as let my eyes close for a minute.
NO REST FOR THE WEARY
I must have nodded off for just a minute. I awoke to the sound of some banging downstairs, and a loud booming voice demanding Evan’s presence.
“Hey, I have to get down there.” He said, as he shifted out from behind me. He stacked a bunch of pillows and blankets up behind me so that I would be comfortable. “It looks like we both took too long of a nap. My family is here.” There was a sadness to his voice that broke me inside. “I’ll be right back for you, okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered after him as he left my room.
“If this girl is fit for any of my sons, then she should prove it by coming down here and facing our family.”
“She’s been through a great ordeal,” I heard my mother say.
“So I’ve heard, and a better wolf would have healed by now.” He insisted.
“Father,” Evan’s voice carried back up the stairs to me.
“Ah, there he is, my wayward son.” There was a bit of shuffling around, and then I heard him say, “what the hell have you gotten yourself mixed up in now? And when were you planning on telling me about that Lesser being you allowed Asriel to take as his mate?”
“Father, how about we make proper introductions, and get comfortable first.”
“Or, how about we meet this woman that has you so enamored you’re willing to face my wrath?”
That was my cue. I couldn’t let Evan be punished for my weakness. I was going to have to pull my big girl panties up, and haul my broken ass down those stairs to face the music with him. I leaned forward, both of my shoulders blazing fire with the effort. Immediately, I sat back and had to catch my breath. “Oh, God that hurts.” I tried one more time, sitting forward quickly this time, I manage to scoot up close enough to throw my feet down on the floor. The forward movement on the bed had my thigh screaming in protest along with the burning in my shoulders. “Oh boy, this is going to be so much fun,” I mumbled to myself. I leaned forward a bit further, clasping my hands onto the desk chair in front of me that my mother had been sitting in a short time ago, and I tried to use it to help leverage myself to a standing position. I failed miserably. As soon as I put weight on both of my arms, my shoulders burned, and the muscles gave underneath me. I damn near face planted into the back of the chair, and then I ripped something open in my right shoulder as I caught myself before momentum had me rolling with the chair to the floor. I managed to right myself at the last minute, and stopped all movement long enough to catch my breath.
&n
bsp; Once I was standing upright again, I tried taking a small step forward onto my wounded leg. It hurt like hell, but it was doable. One baby step after another got me closer to the door. Evan had left it open when he went downstairs to try to hold his father off. I finally listened again, hoping to catch a snippet of conversation that said all my efforts weren’t necessary, and that I could haul my ass back to bed. Instead I heard loud and clear as Evan’s father yelled at everyone downstairs. “I don’t care what you think her condition is, if someone doesn’t get that girl down here right now, I am going to go up there, and see to her health myself.” While it sounded like he cared in theory, his words were more threatening than they were nurturing.
I took a page out of his book, and yelled back myself, “I’m on my way down!” Sweat was beading up across my forehead with the effort it was taking to move to the top of the stairs, but when I got there, I saw Evan, at the bottom and he looked scared. I think it may have been because it appeared I was going to topple straight down the stairs at any moment. That was still very much a possibility, I realized, as I took the first downward step, and lost my footing. When Evan took that first step to come help me, I shook him off. “I got it.” I stopped, breathing heavily with my efforts, and then took the next step. It took every ounce of energy, and effort I had in me to get my ass down those stairs. I did it slowly, but I did it. Evan was wincing the whole time. He could see my face as I traversed the steps.
By the time I got to the bottom his father walked over in front of him, and looked up at me. “This is what all the fuss is about?”
“Well, if I had known you were coming, I would have at least hopped in a shower.” I said, deadpan. I stuck my hand out in greeting, waiting for him to shake it, “I am Jessica Marie St. Marks, daughter of Jameson St. Marks and Eileen Stewart St. Marks.” Contrary to Marcus’s statements, I did actually know proper etiquette. I just didn’t use it around him because he’d always rubbed me the wrong way. Now, I knew that feeling was because he had been a psycho.
“You look wounded still,” he said as he took my hand gingerly, and shook it. I watched as his nose scrunched up a little at my scent. I was well aware that I had to smell super funky by now.
“Yes, well, I’m pretty sure I lost the vast majority of my blood to a psychopath who poisoned me and locked me in a cage then shot me several times. Oh, and doused me with wolfsbane. I’ve been a little out of it, and couldn’t shift to heal. I realize I may not be recovering at a rate which your kind would, but I should be right as rain tomorrow.” I looked over at Evan, and then towards the door. “I was going to shift and run, but since we have company, I suppose that can wait for a little bit.”
He actually smiled at me, and it wasn’t a bad smile. I don’t know why I thought he would look old, but he did not. He looked to be in his early thirties, tops. Although, because he was a wolf, I knew that could mean he was far older. Judging from the ages of Evan and his brother, the man standing before me was probably in his 70s. “I am Antoine De’Lune, my dear, and I do believe my son has been silly enough to think that I would let a bond to a Lesser stand.” He looked me up and down keenly aware of everything going on around him as he did. “It appears you are not yet bonded though, just marked. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask why?”
“I promised my parents that when the day came I would do the bonding ceremony the right way. My mother lost her sister when she was young, because my aunt did not.”
“I see. Respect for family, pack, and rules. Perhaps something you could have taught my son while you were in his company.” He moved out of my way so I could maneuver off the last step. “It appears you are freshly bleeding again.” He said pointing to my right shoulder.
I just nodded. I knew. I felt it when I ripped it back open. I was panting slightly as I started moving for the door, and sweet salvation that was calling to me. My wolf wasn’t going to wait much longer. She was chomping at the bit to get out, because to her this pain was insanity. “If you’ll excuse me, I hate to be rude, but I’m in need of some wolftastic healing that I can’t do in this form.”
Antoine didn’t bother hiding the smirk that blossomed across his face. He simply nodded and moved out of my direct line to the door. Evan was there by my side in an instant. “No,” I told him. “I can do this myself.” I didn’t want him helping me in front of his dad, and making me look any more helpless than I really was in that moment. I knew that I was already bending over with the agony I was putting myself through. Pain. It’s all I felt. It had become my world over the past few days, and the only thing that was keeping me going now was the promise that I would feel immensely better even if I could only manage five minutes in my wolf form.
I was on the verge of collapse when I finally made it almost to the door, and I knew if I didn’t shift then I wasn’t going to be able to stay conscious. I looked up at Evan with dread written all over my face.
“A few more steps?” He asked, the questioning look he was giving me was practically begging me to make it.
“Evan, I can’t.” I screeched, just as the shift hit me. The screech became a growl, and my wolf was calling the shots now, tired of the pain I was putting her through needlessly. The change came over me quickly, but with it came a pulse of blinding pain. I heard the intakes of breath as my wolf’s form appeared in the doorway of my parents’ house. They all knew now.
“The white wolf,” I heard a woman’s shocked, and heavily accented voice say behind me. My wolf didn’t care, she took two tentative steps, testing out her shoulders’ ability to maneuver, and then she was off at a quick trot. It was the best I could do at first, because the healing I had done as a human had left everything stiff.
I was heading into the forest beside my house when I noticed a large black wolf with a silver starburst on each shoulder flank. They were the only markings on his otherwise flawless black coat. The cobalt blue in his eyes gave him away though. Evan was with me, and we were definitely a pair to behold.
We ran until the only thing I saw was the tree line passing us by. I stayed near Evan’s side, my wolf wanting to keep close to him. As we neared the lake, I nudged him playfully, and he bumped me back. Even his wolf knew to be gentle with me as I continued to heal though. I put my muzzle down into the lake and started lapping greedily at the cool water. I never wanted to stop drinking. I had been so thirsty. Evan came up and nudged me away though and tossed his head, indicating we should go back. Part of me didn’t want to.
The larger part of me wanted to stay right there, and secure my bond with Evan before anyone could do anything about it, but that made me think of my Aunt Anna, and I didn’t want to live out her fate. I followed behind Evan, eventually catching up to him. When we got back to the house, there were robes waiting for us on the porch. Evan shifted first, and I did not politely turn away as I should have. Instead I stood boldly, checking out all he had to offer. He grinned at me as he put his robe on came over and scratched behind my ear. “You’re a naughty girl!” Then he held the robe up for me so I could shift, and dress without him being able to peek. Now, that was chivalry.
“And apparently, you’re not naughty enough.” I said. “Evan, maybe we should have just kept running back there.”
“If you had, I would have followed,” he confirmed what I already knew. He was letting me call the shots here, because he heard the story I told my mom about her sister, and he had already known the promise I made to my parents before we found out just how important that promise was. I leaned up on my tip toes, and kissed him before we headed into the unknown.
“So glad you two could join us again. I was just having a talk with your parents about how it could be possible for a Lesser to be a white wolf. It would seem you aren’t so much of a Lesser, but more a hidden Ancient that we weren’t aware of. That makes me wonder how many other times the white wolf has come forth, only to be hidden away by small packs, or killed.”
“Well, since you seem convinced
that I am an Ancient that means that you shouldn’t have a problem with me bonding with Evan then, right?”
“Wrong.” He said plainly.
“What? But…” Antoine held his hand up in front of him in a gesture meant to shut me up. It worked. I was speechless.
“Antoine?” A tall woman who was sitting to the left side of Evan’s father called out.
“No, Eleanna. You know the rules.” Antoine said, and then turned back to look at Evan and I. “The oldest son is the one set to inherit rule. The eldest gets first crack at his choice of mate. If he denies an eligible female, then the younger brother may pursue her. That is how it has always been.”
“But, Malachai is already bonded with someone.” I said, looking at the woman beside him who held his hand anxiously.
“This is true, but Mikael is not.”
“Father, you can’t possibly...”
Antoine cut Evan off. “I can. I am. You do not have permission to be with this woman, this white wolf. Your brother will make an attempt at wooing her, if he discards you may have her.”
“Excuse me?” I said. He was talking about me like I was meat to be passed around at a barbeque.
“What part did you not understand, sweetheart?” Antoine sounded just like Mikael in that moment.
“I understood everything perfectly, but I do not agree with it.” I looked at my parents hoping they could make this man understand, but their faces seemed as hopeless as Evan’s did in that moment. “I don’t even like Mikael. He was a jerk when we first met, and he hasn’t changed at all in the time he’s been here.”
“I’m not sure I understand either, father. Mikael was given an option to mate, and he waited until I was far gone to say he didn’t want her.”
“Yes, well, that was a wise decision on his part, as it turns out because he now has a chance to be with the white wolf. I decree it so. She may continue to see you both, if she so chooses, but your brother will get equal opportunity until the Summer Solstice. On that day, a final choice will be made, and a bond will be sealed.”
Shadows of the Ancients Page 22
