by Mia Rose
“Yes,” Declan said, “you will need to satiate that hunger now and do it appropriately so that you can get it under control. Once you’ve done that, we can sit and talk a while longer about what to expect from now on.”
“Are you coming with us on this hunt?” the woman asked.
“Not this time,” Declan said. “I have a few other things to tend to right now, but I will be here for you. Don’t worry.” The woman nodded her head, looking slightly relieved.
Declan nodded at Gabriel before heading to the door. He was glad there wasn’t a full-on uproar about the circumstances surrounding it all.
“Declan,” Abigail called out.
“Yes?” Declan looked at Abigail with kind eyes.
“Do me a favor. Don’t tell Noelle about any of this.”
“I’ll try.” He felt that a half-truth was as good as he could promise, at least he thought it was, for right now.
Declan looked at the woman and knew deep down that he wanted to tell her the truth. And that Noelle already knew —but something held him back from saying more. He turned and walked out of the room.
Declan walked up the stairs slowly. He could feel the tension in his shoulders and he knew that he needed to release it, somehow. He opened the door to his apartment and sat down on the couch. It seemed like only minutes ago when he was sitting on the same couch, talking to Aria.
Declan shook his head as he remembered Aria’s decimated body lying on the ground in the woods. They would need to do a proper burial for the wolves on this day, or soon. It had been a sad state of affairs and that was obvious him. It was hard to shake the numbness he felt in his mind. Sometimes, being the alpha was too much to cope with. Everyone relied upon him, all of the time. He wanted to just be responsible for himself, at least for a time. The stress was building up on him. The tension became evident as his neck bunched up and he clenched his teeth together in a strange, boyish, bodily retreat. He never got this tense and the feeling was unusual to him.
He had so much on his mind between his pack, his newest pack members, Aria, and the feelings he had for Noelle. He couldn’t relax his body and he felt like he was on the verge of being torn apart. He wanted things to go back to the way they were just before Cassidy died. Before Aria died. Before Noelle left him in the dust.
He remembered the way that Cassidy would situate the pillows on his couch every single day before she left the apartment. He closed his eyes and recalled the first day he saw Noelle sitting in the coffee shop across the street —how strikingly-beautiful she was to him. He looked to the bedroom door and remembered Aria as she sat on the bed; naked, willing and wanting only to please him. He remembered the way her nails scratched at his back, just enough pain to be pleasure. He could almost feel it now, and he noticed his cock stiffen in response.
Declan lowered the zipper on his jeans and released himself. He stroked his penis and closed his eyes as he imagined Aria’s lips wrap themselves around him, sucking him softly at first. Her lust would always help to pick up the urgency of his need. She would grab his ass and force her mouth all the way down on him, gagging on him.
Declan imagined Noelle walking in on them and watched as she slid beneath Aria, spreading Aria’s legs over her face. She began licking at Aria’s clitoris and forcing her tongue between the folds of the soft, aroused skin. Declan could feel the rush of heat coming over him as he watched Noelle pleasuring Aria. With everything in him, he released all of himself into Aria’s mouth and watched as she sat back and smiled at him, clearly pleased with her work.
Declan opened his eyes and saw that he had finished all over his jeans. He stripped himself from them and headed into the shower. With the water on cold, all memories of his fantasy were washed away. Just like that, they disappeared in a single moment of time. A surreal similarity to real events within the same timeline.
He slipped into some boxers and headed to the bed. His head barely even made it to the pillow before he fell into a state of dreamless, solid sleep.
“Conversations can be awkward at the best of times.”
Chapter 2
Decisions
“What if we want to leave the pack?”
Noelle awoke startled, looking around frantically before her eyes finally landed on Edmund standing at the other end of the sofa.
“Hey,” he gasped out as if he’d been holding his breath. “I didn’t want to wake you, but you’ve been out for a while.”
“How long have you been here?” Noelle asked.
He looked down at his watch and said, “Almost four hours.”
“Oh my god, I am so sorry! I didn’t even know I had fallen asleep —you should’ve just woke me.”
“I know, it’s just —you looked so peaceful and I imagine you could have used as much rest as possible.”
Noelle nodded thankfully. She struggled to get herself into an upright position, and she winced at the throbbing in her abdomen and the surrounding areas.
“Let me take a look,” Edmund said, walking over to her side.
He pressed his fingers lightly on her stomach, keeping his eyes on her face, the whole time. As soon as he reached her lower rib cage, Noelle cringed and closed her eyes trying to hold back the sudden surge of hot tears.
“There,” she whispered. Edmund nodded and stood up from his position.
“It’s not broken, so that’s the good news. But it’s seriously bruised and it looks much worse than what I saw during our checkup. What did you do?”
Noelle wanted so badly to tell Edmund everything. She could feel the words wanting to vomit and/or dance along. To push out and over her tongue. As if just willing her lips to open far enough that she could spill out the truth. The truth of how she and her family were werewolf hunters. The truth of how she had been sleeping with the enemy. The truth of how (now) her entire family had become the enemy. But she couldn’t risk it. He would think she was certifiably insane.
“You know me.” Noelle laughed. “I just pushed myself a little too hard today.”
“Uh huh,” he said, “and from the look of your clothes and hair, you must have fallen into a ditch at some point.”
Noelle laughed nervously. This was exactly what she was afraid of. He was a smart guy and he wouldn’t be fooled easily, and some part of her didn’t want to try to fool him.
“I was trying to help clean up some stuff outside today and fell into the bushes. It was kind of funny, actually. Well, until my rib started hurting.”
“I see.” Edmund pursed his lips together, clearly not impressed by her story. “And your family? Where is everyone so early in the morning?”
“Oh, um, they had to go…” Noelle trailed her words off as she began thinking of their bodies lined up in a row in the woods.
“Go where?” Edmund asked. He was slightly confused about all of it, it seemed.
“You know, you do ask a lot of questions,” Noelle retorted.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t imagine your family to be the type to leave you after you took such a big fall in the garden, or wherever it was.”
“Yes, well, they had to take the rest of my family to the airport. Their flight wasn’t until later, but they probably stopped for breakfast or something. I don’t know, I obviously didn’t go with them.”
“I understand. Sorry for being so nosy…” Edmund trailed off.
Noelle looked at his face and she couldn’t determine how he was feeling. Was he frustrated at her lack of candidacy? Was he upset that she was closing herself off from him? Was he completely indifferent?
“No, Edmund, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you here, I just wasn’t sure what to do.”
“Sure, I understand. I am a doctor after all, it’s the least that I can do.”
Noelle could hear it in his voice —he was disappointed, but at this point, she didn’t have the time or energy to try to make him feel better. She needed to focus her energy on her newest goal.
“Thanks for coming.” Noelle smiled. “I�
�d walk you to your car, but, you know.”
“No, I completely understand. I’ll show myself out.”
Noelle watched as he picked up his jacket from the chair and his briefcase. He walked to the door without looking back and he pulled it open. She called out a goodbye from the couch, but he did not turn to respond. Well, I guess there goes my chance for a date with him, she thought to herself.
She sat up shakily trying to catch her breath. Placing her hands on the arm of the couch, she forced herself into a standing position and as soon as she was up, she cried out in pain. Her vision blurred and she nearly blacked out. She blinked a few times to recover her sight and she felt her entire body shaking. She opened her eyes, and there stood Edmund in the doorway.
“I’m not leaving you, Noelle.”
Noelle started sobbing and Edmund rushed over to her side, he placed both of his hands on either side of her face. He forced her to look him in the eyes.
“Listen to me,” he said, “we don’t have any time to waste. And you need my help as much as I need yours. Noelle, we need each other, so please stop trying to be brave around me and stop lying to me. I am here for you, no matter what.”
Noelle nodded and leaned forward, putting her forehead against his. He pressed his lips against hers and he could taste the saltiness from her tears. He kissed her softly at first, but Noelle tangled her fingers through his hair and pushed his face closer to hers.
“Noelle,” he whispered.
She placed a finger to his lips and without saying a word, she reached down to her top and began tugging it off her exhausted body. When she felt the now-familiar sting, her breath caught and Edmund’s concerned eyes fell over her body.
“Let’s wait, Noelle,” he said, “I know you don’t want to and I definitely don’t want to, but we need to give your body time to heal.”
Noelle let out a frustrated sigh but she nodded in agreement. “Yes, you’re right.”
“Now,” Edmund said, “let’s talk.” Noelle looked up at him and saw that his expression had completely changed from concerned lover to something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“Talk about what?” she asked.
“Your family.” Edmund walked over to the armchair which faced her and sat down. “Why don’t you tell me what really happened to them?”
Declan awoke to the sound of insistent banging on his door. He stayed in his bed a few moments longer, willing himself to move.
“Declan!” The person banging on the door now started screaming his name and Declan knew if he didn’t answer it, the entire apartment would start peeking out to see what was going on.
He climbed out of bed and tugged on a pair of jeans before heading to the door. Once he was there, he heard a strange sound coming from the other side of the door. It was almost as if someone was wheezing, fighting for air. Declan pulled open the door slowly and he saw Abigail sitting on the floor, her hands to her throat and all of the color drained from her face.
“Abigail?” Declan knelt down beside her and pulled her hands away from her throat to see what was underneath, but he saw nothing. “Abigail, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“I can’t —breathe,” she managed to get the last word out in barely a whisper.
Declan picked her up in one quick swoop and carried her inside his apartment. He laid her down on the couch, painfully aware that he’d not yet cleaned it up from the night before.
“I think you’re having a panic attack,” Declan said. He rushed into the kitchen and pulled out a brown bag. “Here, use this. Take slow, even breaths.”
Abigail lifted the bag to her mouth and breathed in and out. After a few minutes, her breathing finally slowed to a normal rate and Declan could see the color coming back in her cheeks.
“How are you feeling?” Declan asked. Abigail shot him a look as if he’d just asked the most stupid question in the world.
“Declan, I really do not understand anything that has happened. Why did you do this to us?”
Declan shook his head back and forth and sat back in the chair across from her. “I think we should call a meeting with your whole family. I don’t want to have to explain myself multiple times.”
“Okay,” Abigail said, “I’ll get everyone together and we can meet in the basement. Is fifteen minutes good?”
Declan nodded and watched as the woman walked out of his apartment. Her shoulders were slightly hunched forward and her head was hanging low. She was a far cry from the woman he had gotten to know over the last few days. He couldn’t understand how none of them were glad to be alive. It would have been so easy for the pack to tear them to shreds.
Declan stood up from his position and headed into his bedroom to change. He pulled on a simple blue t-shirt and threw on his brown flip flops. He wanted to seem as casual as possible to put the family at ease, but he knew that he would have a lot of work ahead of him. He walked over to Gabriel’s apartment and knocked on the door.
When Gabriel opened the door, Declan said, “Hey Gabe, meet me in the basement in five minutes.” Gabriel nodded and closed the door again.
Declan descended the stairs slowly as he planned out what he wanted to say to the family, but he needed to make sure that he and Gabriel were on the same page. He pulled open the doors to the basement and found the family already sitting there, waiting for him.
“You’re early,” he said.
“We couldn’t wait,” Abigail replied.
“Okay, well Gabriel should be here soon. We can wait for him.”
“No,” Garett growled, “we want to hear it from you —straight from the wolf’s mouth, as they probably say.”
“Right.” Declan dragged his hand across his face and he felt his shoulders slump slightly. He grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the family. “So, you all want to know what happened and why it happened?”
The family nodded in agreement. “Yes!” a few of them called out in eagerness.
“Okay, well, one of your hunters —Noelle, actually —she killed my mate, Cassidy. Cassidy was the female alpha of the pack, so as you can…”
“That doesn’t make any sense at all,” Garett interrupted, “Noelle was not even with us. She stayed home last night.”
“No, this was not last night. It happened before…” Declan trailed off as Gabriel entered the room.
The family turned to watch Gabriel as he walked up to the front of the room where Declan was seated. They were like lost puppies waiting for their momma to feed them. It was information they needed though, not food.
“Let me start again,” Declan said, calling the focus back to him. “When your family first came into town, you all went on a hunt. It was at that hunt that Noelle killed Cassidy with a silver bullet.”
“You were there that night?” Garett asked. “That was the night some wolf almost ripped out my throat.”
“Yes.” Declan grimaced.
“Who was it? Who did that to me? If that hadn’t happened, Noelle wouldn’t have killed anyone!”
“You were all out on a hunt —one way or another, someone was bound to get hurt or worse.” Declan made it a point to avoid Garett’s question.
He needed to gain their trust at this point and he knew if he had to admit that he’d been the one to nearly kill Garett, all of that would fly out of the window.
“Anyways, the pack suffered a great loss, as you can imagine. I tried to persuade them that revenge was not the answer, but they wanted to try.”
Gabriel snorted at the back of the room and all of the family looked at him. “What?” Gabriel asked.
“Did you have something to add to that, Gabriel?” Declan asked, but his tone indicated that Gabriel better keep his mouth shut.
“No.” Gabriel muttered.
“I advised my pack to go to a different section of the woods to avoid running into you all and hopefully hunting deer would have been enough to satiate them for a while, but as you all know, they did not listen to me, again.”
&nb
sp; “I thought you were the alpha?” Abigail asked. “Don’t they have to listen to you, no matter what?”
“He stepped down as alpha for a few days,” Gabriel explained. “He needed to tend to other things.”
“Noelle?” Garett whispered. “So, you weren’t there to spy on us? You really were there to help her?”
“Yes,” Declan nodded.
“Did she —does she know what you really are?”
“Yes,” Declan said quietly. Abigail gasped and her hand flew up to her chest. Declan was concerned that she might have another panic attack. “She didn’t know at first, but she found out just as I discovered out what she was as well.”
The family exchanged glances with one another and Declan took the opportunity to continue, despite the faces surrounding him that looked shocked.
“So, they went to those woods where you all ended up as well. Under orders from a pseudo-alpha, they were instructed not to kill you, but to transform you,” Declan explained. “And that’s what led us to this point.”
“Garett,” Abigail cried, “If Noelle knew the truth about Declan and she didn’t kill him, maybe we can tell her the truth about us. Maybe she will not kill us.”
“No,” Garett said, his voice eerily even, “I’m sure she was planning to act on the information given time. This must have just been some sort of reconnaissance. When have you ever known Noelle to go easy? She doesn’t go soft. If she knew about us, she would kill us. Just as we taught her to.”
Abigail sat back in her chair, overcome with fresh tears. She cried quietly as she mourned not only the loss of her only daughter, but also the loss of herself. She was in fact, the enemy to her daughter, now.
“This is not the end of the road for you,” Declan tried to say. “You are all still very much alive. I can show you the ways of the wolf and I am sure you will soon discover that it is not as bad as it may have seemed at first.”
“Declan,” Garett spoke in a sensible tone, “are there rules regarding deflecting from the pack?”
