“It’s okay, don’t stress. Is your throat sore?” I nod again. “Can I give you some water?” before I can even nod he is stretching out. He lifts a glass with water from a side table that is placed next to the bed. I take a sip from the straw that he offers me, letting me sip at the water until I shake my head for him to take it away. Throughout this whole interaction his thumb has constantly been stroking my hand as if he will never let go.
“Does that feel better?” he asks with a worried look, even though my throat’s still burning like crazy I nod my head to try and appease him.
“I’m so sorry for what you went through, but I promise you that I will do everything in my power to never let anyone hurt you again.” The anguish on his face and the honesty I hear in his voice touches me deeply. Never have I felt as safe with anyone as I feel with him. Suddenly I realise this whole time we have been chatting not once have I heard any of his thoughts. How is that possible? I always hear every one’s thoughts, even my gran who I lived with for so long. I heard her thoughts all the time.
I used to be normal until I turned sixteen, then my whole life changed. One day as I was sitting in class listening to one of my teachers. I started to hear various voices at the same time, but about all random things. At first, I was surprised with the amount of chatter. When I looked around at the other students and I realised that no one was talking I freaked. I was confused, but just as suddenly as they had begun the voices stopped.
This went on frequently for a few weeks, where suddenly I would start to hear voices. When I mentioned this to my mother she screamed at me, accusing me of seeking attention, until one day the voices never stopped unless I was by myself. Over time, my gran and I realised that I was hearing people’s thoughts, however before that my parents had threatened to have me committed. But my Gran managed to convince them that I would be better off if I went away for a while. After various attempts by my parents trying to take me back to town, and after seeing my relapses, they finally allowed me to stay with her.
At first, they wouldn’t believe us, however after having explained what we thought was my illness, they saw proof. With time they realised that what we said was true, they couldn’t handle it. Since that day I have never seen them again.
Now at twenty-two I still have my parents somewhere out there but I’m practically alone. I heard my father’s thoughts that day when he realised that what we had said was true. He thought of me as a freak. Will Brandr also think of me as a freak if he finds out?
My gran took me away from people when it all started. We went to live on a small little plot just outside of the town, and it was great until the kidnapping. I had believed that I would always live there, even after my gran passes away. I would order anything I might need online, so that I would never have to go into the town. We sold eggs and vegetables which we grew on the plot. The money we made was enough for what we needed. When they arrived, I saw one of them destroying my herb garden by driving his pickup truck over our vegetables. If I were to go back to my home I would have to start all over again. I might have to go into the town to buy some of the seeds I would need as the nursery doesn’t sell online.
Looking closely at Brandr I wondered why I couldn’t hear his thoughts. Was it possible that the trauma that I went through has cured me? Or is it temporary and the voices will come back in time?
I hear a noise from the direction of the door. Turning my head, I see another man enter the room. Instantly my body tenses.
“I see you are both awake.” He walks towards us not taking his eyes off me. I can feel my breath catch and my body start to shake. Who is this? I’m sure he’s not going to hurt me, after all Brandr is here and he promised to keep me safe.
“Sunshine this is Bion.” Brandr is looking deep into my eyes as he leans towards me. “He’s our medic. He has been looking after you for the last few days.” What does he mean the last few days? How many days have I been out? He must have noticed my confused look as he offers me a tender smile.
“When you first arrived, you were in bad shape. Bion gave you a sleeping aid while he cleaned out your wounds and stitched you up. Don’t you remember anything?” I shake my head. “Don’t worry okay. I have been with you since we found you four days ago.” His words calm, me knowing that he had been with me while I was asleep. I know I’m being irrational after all he is going to have to leave sometime, but while he’s here I feel safe.
“Hello Aria, how are you feeling Sweetheart?” Bion is standing behind Brandr, looking over at me. Bion doesn’t look anything like a doctor, if anything he looks more like a model. Contrary to Brandr who has a handsome rugged kind of look; Bion is more of a pretty boy.
“She can’t speak. I think her throat is sore,” Brandr answers him, not once looking away from me.
“Do you mind if I look?” Bion is already moving around the bed as he asks. I look at Brandr cautiously. I notice he’s tensed up, but he nods at me in confirmation as if to appease my worries. I look back at Bion and nod.
“Okay Sweetheart open your mouth, let me see what is going on.” He has a small pen light with him that he flashes into my mouth. “Stick out your tongue for me as far as it will go.” I am fine until he places his hand on my cheek and turns my face towards him. As soon as I feel his touch my heart starts to race, and I can feel my breathing accelerate.
“Aria, it’s okay Bion won’t hurt you.” I hear Brandr’s calm voice, but the fear has taken hold of me, I know he’s not going to hurt me, but I can’t stop myself. My vision is tunnelling, I know if I don’t calm down, I’m going to pass out.
“Bion let go of her!” Brandr snaps. I know that it’s unfair as Bion was just trying to help me, but it’s stronger than me. I feel Brandr’s hands framing my face. “Aria breathe, I’m here, no one is going to hurt you.” His voice is low, intense.
I take a shuddering breath trying to calm my breathing as he requested. I can feel calmness start to embrace me once more, as I focus on his unwavering stare.
“That’s it Sunshine, just relax.” I feel a tear slip down my cheek at his gentleness. I had believed that I was going to die, and then everything had changed. Out of the darkness and despair I was sent a flicker of light to guide me and maybe erase the evil that had clawed at my body, mind and soul.
“Are you feeling better now?” Brandr asks. What feels like a few minutes later, even though I can still feel shudders rippling through my body, my breathing calms, and my vision clears. I nod, as I try to calm the worry that I can see in his eyes. My eyes start to close in exhaustion, I want to stay awake, but sleep takes over.
I hear Bion just as I’m drifting off. “I don’t know yet what happened to her throat Brother but I could see deep lacerations as if something was forced down her throat …”
BRANDR 4
PTSD, that’s what Bion says she has. When I first saw her, and believed she was dead I thought my life had come to an end, but now that I have my girl with me and I can Imagine all the suffering she went through, the thoughts going through my head of all the things that might have been done to her, are ripping me apart.
Bion has just left. I’m still standing by the bedroom door looking over at this beautiful woman who is now mine. They might have tried to break her, but I am going to make sure that whatever she went through will be forgotten. Bion warned me that with PTSD I would have to be patient and try and figure out what her triggers are, that way I would be prepared to help her.
Even though I want to assure her that everything will be fine, I feel nervous that I might do the wrong thing. I have never been in a situation like this before. I have never been responsible for anyone before besides myself. Yes, I do have my brothers and their women; we are family and in a way. I have a responsibility towards them, but I have never had anyone that was my sole responsibility.
I’m about to go and sit next to the bed, where I have been sleeping for the last few nights when I hear a knock on the door. Opening it I find Burkhart standing on the other
side with two beers in his hand. I know he’s worried about me. We have been together for centuries and have always helped each other through the worst of times.
“Hey B, just wanted to see how you’re holding up,” Burkhart starts by saying. I motion for him to lower his voice, looking back I see that Aria is still sound asleep. “Shit, sorry Brother,” he says in a much lower tone of voice as he looks over my shoulder at Aria.
“It’s okay, come on in but keep your voice down.” I walk towards the far side of the room where I can keep an eye on Aria, but where our voices won’t disturb her. I slide down the wall holding out my hand for one of the beers. Burkhart sits next to me, taking a sip of his. After a few minutes of silence he nods towards her. “So how are you handling all of this?”
“I feel the connection Brother. I can feel the need to complete our bond but look at her, look at what those bastards did to her.” My voice is a low growl because of the fury that courses through my body every time I think about what my girl went through. “Today she woke for the first time. She can’t speak as her throat is raw. Bion said he was going to bring her something that would help. He mentioned that it was going to take a while before she could speak without any discomfort.”
I place my half empty bottle of beer on the floor, my arms resting on my drawn-up knees in frustration. I feel Burkhart’s hand on my shoulder in comfort. “This is my fault; if it wasn’t for me she would be fine. They hurt her because of me.” I finally confess to what’s eating at my soul. The knowledge of knowing what was done to her tears me apart.
“Don’t even go there B, it will eat you alive if you keep on thinking about it like that. She is your girl; we all know the consequences of having mates. You didn’t even know that she existed before they found her, therefore there’s no way you could have stopped what happened,” Burkhart whispers.
“It still doesn’t take the blame away from me Brother. If she wasn’t mine they would never have hurt her. Did Bion tell you that she has PTSD?” I can feel the emotions choking me. I know that Burkhart can hear it too. From the corner of my eye I can see him shake his head in denial.
“I mentioned her throat to Bion when he came in to check on her. He was examining her when she started to hyperventilate. I could see the panic in her eyes. Do you know how useless I felt? I wanted to rip Bion apart for frightening her, but it wasn’t his fault, he was just trying to help.” I can feel tears fill my eyes. Burkhart is the only person who I would allow to see me in this state.
“I don’t know what to do Brother. What if she finds out that all of what has happened to her is my fault?”
“We will make sure that she understands and gets over it. You know that bonded couples are for life no matter what happens. She won’t be able to keep away from you for long. I know that you didn’t want this, especially after what had happened with your brother but it doesn’t have to be all bad.” When Burkhart mentioned my brother the familiar pain of his loss engulfed me. I try not to think about what happened, but the memories were already flooding my mind.
Olav my brother had lived here at the compound and had been part of our MC. He was the only one that had found his mate at the time, Anna was a sweet and caring woman and they had been happy for a very long time. Anna had been expecting their first child when the Keres MC captured and killed her. I can still remember the look on Olav’s face when he felt her death. It was devastating, we all knew that we wouldn’t be able to help him, but we all tried.
For the first week Bion put him to sleep until we could formulate a plan on how to try and keep him sane, but nothing worked. When he awoke he was a different person, it was as if the man that I once knew and loved wasn’t there anymore. All he wanted to do was go out and kill everyone who were involved with the Keres MC. He managed to escape our surveillance about a week and a half after Anna’s death. He went after the Keres but in his bloodlust, innocent people were killed.
We brought him back thinking that now that he had killed, some of his rage would subside, but we were wrong, it only grew. One day we found Olav choking one of the Jezebels because she had touched him. That’s the day when I knew that he was lost to us. I remembered the emptiness in his eyes as he looked at me and pleaded with me to end his pain. I knew that he would only get worse. I still wonder if we had kept him alive, if I hadn’t ended his life that day when he had pleaded with me to stop his agony whether he would have gotten over his grief.
“You know that I had promised myself never to bond with my mate. Now that nature has seen to making her mine, all that consumes my mind is how I am going to keep her safe. What if I fail? The thought of what happened to Anna happening to Aria makes my heart race in fear.”
“You are forgetting something!” Burkhart stated in a forceful tone. “You won’t be keeping her safe by yourself. You have all of us behind you Brother. I will die before I let what happened to Olav happen to you or your girl.” Burkhart’s words touched me. I know that all my brothers will always be there for me and now for my mate; the same way that I will always be there for them, but hearing him confirming it calmed my mind a little.
I nod, letting him know that I appreciate his words. “Once she is better I want to find the bastards who did this to her. I know that photos were taken of all the humans who were killed, and we have photos of the Keres who we killed. I will have her tell me everything about them. If they are among the ones who we caught I want them. If not, I’m going hunting.” I looked directly at Burkhart. I wanted him to make sure that the Keres who were caught were not killed before I could get to them. I know that he understood and that he would do my bidding.
“I’m with you Brother. Whatever you need I have your back.” He promises. “We have acquired some Intel from the ones who we detained; apparently they are still trafficking women. We were told that two days before we attacked, five women were taken. The question is, if they are all gifted women, could they possibly be any of our mates, or were they just normal women?”
I know that this situation hasn’t only messed with me but with the others too. Some of them want to find their mates but others like myself and Burkhart would rather not, as a mate makes you vulnerable. We need to find and protect these women before they hurt any of them. Celmund and Bion have been working on it and have made some progress.
“Did they say where they are being taken? Maybe if we knew where they were taking the women we could extract them. The perfect plan would be to shut down their operation, but unless we can find Vercin’s and Merdor’s hiding place we won’t be able to do that.”
“The humans don’t know much and the three Keres who we have say that they only know that they were being taken across the border into Mozambique and then they would be flown into the Middle East and Turkey to be sold into the Harems.” Burkhart replied.
“Fuck, as soon as they are sold we will never be able to get to them again. When does Draco want to meet?” I ask. I don’t want to leave Aria, not until she can move around, and I am sure that she’ll be okay without having me nearby.
“He is meeting with Katya to confirm the Intel we have. He’s also has some of us checking up on leads. You know Draco, only once he is one hundred percent certain that the Intel we have is real will we make a move.” Katya is a special agent with the FBI who provides us with information. From time to time we are called in by the FBI to help them with certain terrorist situations which they can’t resolve; and they in turn help us with information when needed. Lately, we have had problems with the FBI as they had a leak that some Keres were on their books.
Katya used to be the most trusted agent, but since Wulf’s bonding she’s been evasive. Wulf and Katya had a sexual relationship before he met Jasmine, but like all Elementals, when mated we lose complete interest in all women except for our mate. Wulf made it clear to Katya that she would have to deal with Draco or one of the other brothers since his bonding, but she’s kept on insisting on dealing with only him.
“Is she going to do it without
Wulf being there?” I ask looking over at Aria to make sure she is still sleeping as we converse.
“I don’t know Brother. You know how stubborn she can be. There is also something else you should know. I wish that I could hold on until Aria was better, but we need to deal with this now.” At his words I could feel my body tense. “When Aria was kidnapped they killed her gran, leaving her body behind, apparently one of the neighbours that used to buy vegetables from them found her in the house. The cops were called in, they are looking for Aria. For now, they have a missing persons case opened, but Celmund has heard talk that they are suspicious that Aria could have killed her gran as the people in the town think she is mentally disturbed.” Why would anyone think that she is mentally disturbed? And how can they think she would kill her gran?
“Does Celmund know why people think she is disturbed?”
“The only thing he’s found out so far is that she left school when she was sixteen. On her file it only states that they proposed that she get psychiatric help. We all think it might have something to do with whatever gift she might have.” I hadn’t even thought about her gift yet, all our women had them. What could hers be that had people suggesting she be committed?
Burkhart must have noticed my expression of hopelessness as he bumped my shoulder with his. “Don’t over think stuff B, you always do that, and it doesn’t help you. Just let things go and move forward.” He’s always busting my balls about how I’m my worst enemy. I know he’s right but sometimes it’s stronger than me.
I’m about to answer him when I see that Aria has her eyes opened and is looking at us. “You awake!” I get up and move towards her. I’m sure that she must be thirsty. After giving her some water I notice that as she had been drinking that her eyes had been fixed on Burkhart, who was now standing behind me.
BRANDR_Elemental's MC Page 3
