And then it happened, it couldn’t have been a worse time. Suddenly, Vlad materialised at her side, and hell broke out. Ben looked at her and then Vlad before growling and lurching forward. In the blink of an eye Ben had punched Vlad, making contact with his face before pulling his fist back again, this time Ben hit him in the stomach. As the pack Alpha, Ben was strong but Beth knew Vlad was as strong, so why wasn’t he fighting back. As Vlad leaned forward slightly, Ben pushed him. Although Vlad remained on his feet, it did propel him back a couple of steps.
"How dare you." Ben hit out again and Vlad just stood there hands at his sides, regret in his eyes. It was then that Beth realised the anger and betrayal she had caused. With each impact Ben threw an accusation with it, 'she is too young', and 'you are too old,' as well as 'do you understand the risk she is in now?'
Beth watched, tears streaming. She looked to her mom to stop this but Lucky was furious. She saw Theo and Nicky heading her way.
"STOP THIS, STOP IT!" Beth screamed, but everyone was oblivious to her. Nicky and Theo arrived and grabbed hold of Ben. Vlad just stood there, waiting and expecting more. He was right to expect more, Beth watched in horror as Nicky lost his grip. Watching as everything had happened in slow motion; Beth saw Ben struggling and him moving away from them, without thinking she raced forward, standing between them. To get to him Ben would have to get through her.
She saw this mountain that was her stepdad, coming towards her full force. Bracing herself she closed her eyes, feeling a draft but no impact, she opened her eyes. In the distance she could see Ben still racing towards them. Vlad's hands were on her shoulders, he had teleported them across the field. As he let go, Beth realised what he planned to do. He would leave her here and face Ben on his own. As he teleported out again to land less than ten feet away from Ben, Beth gripped his arm and teleported with him.
Vlad's main thought was to face Ben and take what was coming. If he had ever been blessed with children, he would feel the same as Ben. Vlad wouldn’t however let Beth get hurt. So when he teleported her out of the way, and returned to face Ben the last thing he expected was for Beth to grip him and return with him. He didn’t have time to act Ben was careening straight for him, but at the last second Ben veered to the left and missed them both. Vlad should have known that Ben would not risk hurting one of his girls. Beth ran forward, straight at Ben.
"Stop this Ben. Stop, it isn’t his fault." Beth was tugging at his arm pleading with him.
Ben howled at him before responding. "Yes it is Beth he knows better. Only a fool would put you in this position. Go to your mom please; you don’t need to see this."
Vlad waited hoping she would heed Ben's advice. "No I won't, and he did know better. Vlad didn’t do this……."
He wouldn’t let her do this her family were so important; he wouldn’t risk her losing them.
"Beth you don’t need to say anything else. Just leave it like this. Ben is right; go inside with your mom." Was he surprised when she didn’t listen, not really?
"No I won't it is time for everyone to stop telling me what to do. Ben I did this, when Vlad was sick. I bonded to him, he didn’t even know until he woke up."
Ben's face dropped staggered at the enormity of her words. "Why did it have to be you? Why would you do that? Do you understand what you have done to yourself, how dangerous this will be for you?" His voice had quietened his fear was real, and Beth suddenly saw what Vlad was scared of.
"The why is immaterial Ben, and no I didn’t realise. But that doesn’t mean I regret it, I don’t. But if it helps, Vlad is furious with me so you have something in common."
Her mom was stood to one side disappointment etched in her face. "Beth, why would you do that to someone? You tell us that you are an adult, but what you have done is childish and inconsiderate."
Vlad stepped forward. "Lucky let me explain, Beth did what she thought was right. It doesn’t make it right, but you have taught all of your children to care for others. Beth thought I was dying, and she did the bonding at great risk to herself."
Lucky's face softened as she hugged Beth close whispering. "Beth what am I going to do with you? You have a good heart, but do you realise how scared we are for you?"
Beth reciprocated the hug. "I am sorry mom, he hates me now." The last of her words were barely a whisper.
"Oh sweetheart I am not surprised he is angry. What's done is done; you need to find a way to work through this. If he hated you, he wouldn’t be here now." Beth cried on her mom's shoulder, before lifting her head and wiping her eyes.
The exhaustion and cold was seeping into her skin, causing her to shiver. The sky had darkened, clouds rolling in. Although she was only a small distance from the house, Beth felt lost like she was in the wilderness, with no way of returning. Looking at Vlad his split lip and weariness didn't detract from the immensity of the feelings she possessed for this man.
"Vlad you need to leave, Beth will remain here where she is safe." Beth watched Vlad nod at Ben's words, the decision already made by these two powerful dominant men. It was time for her to take a stand.
"Is anyone interested in what I think? I didn’t think so, well I will tell you anyway. You are all right, I do need to take responsibility for my actions and I will, starting now."
Everyone was focussing on her waiting for an explanation. "Isn’t it obvious? I am going to pack, mom I need to work through this. I am sorry if that upsets you but it is my decision."
With wobbly legs, Beth walked away heading into the house. Vlad walked to nearby tree stump and sat down. He cared not for the moss cultivating on his pants, nor the leaves fluttering from the nearby standing trees. Placing his head in his hands, Vlad contemplated his future he couldn’t determine whether the future looked bright and glorious, or dull and depressing.
Vlad could hear Ben walking towards him; even for a wolf he was quiet. Pack land was always busy, lots of animals, children, and quad bikes. But it was always an incredibly peaceful place; he always seemed to relax when he was here. With a sigh Vlad thought about what was to come next, the problem was that he didn’t know the answers. Beth was a wild card; she unhinged him and always had.
"Is she telling the truth, Vlad?" He would never have told Ben the truth, Ben adored the girls and he had no intention of disillusioning him. But she had told Ben to protect him, something else he had never expected.
"I don’t think it was a simple as that Ben, according to Albert I was at deaths door. Now ordinarily I wouldn’t have believed it, as you know Albert can dramatize things. But Ice also confirmed it, I don’t know why she did it, but my staff are now enamoured of her. I am truly sorry Ben, your friendship has been a great thing for me, but I understand how difficult this will be. All I ask is that we put our feelings to one side and allow the alliance to continue."
"This will not impact on the alliance, as for our friendship I don’t know how we mend that. I am so pissed right now, even though I know Beth did this I am still pissed at you. She was……" Vlad never got to hear the last of that sentence instead; he saw Nicky coming out with a rather large case.
Chapter 22
Are you sure this is what you want Beth? How did she answer that? When Vlad had asked her, she wasn’t sure what to say. Yes I do want this, but I don’t want you to hate me. Yes I want this, but I want you to want me as well. I am totally terrified that I have messed things up and there is no going back. Instead, she nodded.
As she packed her clothes the tears were still streaming. Her future was now uncertain, paved with unknowns. She realised she had hurt Vlad and her family. But in her heart she would be willing to do the same again, even knowing the consequences and the hurt she knew she would cause.
"Hey big sis, need some help?" Claire poked her head round the door, catching sight of Beth's face she came to sit next to her.
"You look as if you need a hug." Without waiting for an answer Claire hugged her. "Why so sad, you got the man didn’t you?"
"I didn�
��t want it to be like this, he doesn’t want me."
"Beth since when have you ever let that stop you? It's happened, now you have to prove that you can keep your man. I suspect that the challenge will require a compromise, he won't let you just go off and do what you want."
"Yeah right, I am sure that he would love for me to leave him alone."
"I don’t think so Beth, the thing is you are stronger than this. I never thought you would let a man upset you. The best things don’t come easy; you have to fight for them."
Wiping her tears she nodded. "How did you come to be so clever?"
"If you only knew princess, if only you knew. Now let's get these things sorted out."
It would take her a week to pack all of her things up, so she focused on what she would need for the next few weeks. Hell with the way she was upsetting people, she would be back at her apartment in about two days. When she had four ceases packed she hugged Claire.
"Claire are you sick? You look so tired and drained." Her sister did look sick, she had lost weight and the bags under her eyes were unusually dark.
"Other than not sleeping too well, I am fine. Don’t you worry about me."
Nicky came and took her cases downstairs; surprisingly he looked at her with sympathy. "Beth, I don’t know what is in your head sweetheart. But I truly hope things work for you, now let me know if you need anything at all. Don’t forget we are family regardless of how many stupid mistakes you make. Don’t forget I was far from an angel; it was only my angel that saved me. Maybe you can save the devil in disguise." She pushed him playfully.
Nicky had been something of a player before he had met Morgan. The saying that a sailor has a woman in every port, fit Nicky well, except he had a woman on every block, sometimes more than one. Then he met Morgan and everything changed for him.
Following him down the stairs, she went back out to Vlad. The atmosphere in the house was subdued. Her mom had been crying and the anger inside Ben was still vibrating through the house. His agitation had resulted in him pacing the garden, Beth knew his wolf would be fighting to get to the surface thankfully Ben had it under control.
Vlad had come to stand by her cases. "Beth, you can change your mind at any time."
"I won't."
"Ben can I send Ice to collect the cases? I won't be able to teleport them all, you certainly have enough clothes Beth."
It was Ben that broke the tension in a sarcastic sort of way. "Vlad you have a lot to learn about Beth, this is just the basics. Between the clothes here and in her apartment your place will lose masses of storage space. I will have her cases at the gate. Oh and Vlad if she gets hurt in any way I will kill you."
"And I will let you." With that he took her hand, and they materialised in his house.
Chapter 23
Claire was right; Beth was a fighter. What's more she truly believed that she and Vlad would be happy together. So she would fight, she just wasn’t quite sure where to start. Albert was waiting for her when she returned, he ushered them into the morning room where Talia was lying on a chaise lounge. Albert's happiness was evident on his face and in his tone as he spoke.
"The master and mistress have returned." Talia turned to greet them. With one of her goons at her feet massaging them, her black silk robe falling open to the waist revealing a somewhat tight negligee, she was clearly going for seductive, it didn’t work. Did the woman have no taste and dignity?
As they both entered the room Beth felt a little numb; so much was happening her brain was still trying to process all of the day's events. Vlad as usual seemed composed and relaxed; slightly surprised was an understatement for Beth when he slipped an arm around her. Beth leaned into him, immediately her body calmed.
Vlad felt Beth's stiffness fade as his arm slipped round her waist. Maybe he should work through this with Beth. This seemed to be a splendid idea especially when he saw Talia's face change. She had turned to greet them with a wide smile, until she saw them together.
"YOU BONDED TO HER!" She shrieked the accusation and the ensuing hatred was there for all to see.
"I have Talia; it was time and the right thing to happen." The confidence in his voice surprised Beth.
Talia's eyes darkened the red becoming more pronounced as she reigned her emotions in. "Well that depends on how you look at things. I seem to recall a man who declared that he would never bond to anyone. So I have to express my surprise." Beth knew that Vlad would not disclose the circumstances of the bonding, but he didn’t dispute her statement.
"It is a good thing, my home.... Sorry our home now has a new mistress. My business now has a woman with a wonderfully creative and organised mind to help it to continue developing. And me, well I am the luckiest man in the world."
"Then I must congratulate you both." The smile was fake; her long hair hanging past her shoulders. When Talia hugged Beth it was just a little too tight, when she hugged Vlad it was for a little too long.
Then she left, leaving them alone. Beth almost wished she would return, almost but not quite. The tension between them was pulsating through the room neither seeming to know what to say or do, so it was a good thing that Albert came to save the day.
"Master, Mistress your presences has been requested in the ball room." With a raised eyebrow they followed him. Just before they entered the room Vlad groaned. "They haven’t."
Beth had no idea what to expect. So when she saw the Elite team stood around Vlad's piano with a small cake, decorations, and a gift wrapped in lovely paper she felt so humbled. Looking around Beth was astounded by these people; they had been part of her life for such a short time, yet they had made her feel so welcome. It was Shaun who stepped forward.
"It is not every day that the boss gets bonded, and judging by the other bitch in the house he picked the right one. Maybe she can get him to smile a little more. No forget that one, he may not realise it, but she has made him smile a lot more. So maybe she can get him to increase our pay. Hell we even brought a cake! No for sure, seriously we are all very happy for you both. Beth you are a good woman who has in our opinion proven her worth. Boss ye better be good to her, or I might have to steal her away from you."
With his Irish lilt Shaun raised some twitters. "Anyway, we wanted to welcome Beth to our lives and the team. Each one of us in this room, hereby swear to protect her with our lives." With that every member in the team dropped to one knee, Beth felt her throat clog up. Not knowing what to say she tried to blink away her tears, she had never expected this. Vlad saved her by discreetly handing her a tissue.
"Every one of you in this room has pledged to serve justice, and protect those within your species. That you would extend this to Beth humbles me, and confirms why each of you was chosen to join my team. Each of you knows Beth so I do not need to tell you about her courage, her heart, her kindness, and her strength. I know she will be an asset to our species and to Tsychovsky Industries. Thank you everyone. Now I am sure you all have work to do."
As everyone filed out only Albert remained. "Master, Mistress, my lovely wife has requested your company for a moment." Vlad was suspicious of the glint in Albert's eye, giving a hint of something secret. His bonding with Beth seemed to have suddenly become public. However he could never refuse Louisa. Beth on the other seemed worried. "Albert is Louisa well, she isn’t sick is she?"
Without breaking a stride they headed to Albert's home. "Of course not Mistress, although I do thank you for your concern." He looked back and winked at Vlad clearly impressed with his choice in Beth.
The three bedroom home was warm and welcoming, still on the property it was just to the side of the house. From talking to Louisa, Beth knew that they had brought their children up here. This would be where their oldest son was likely to reside when the time was right for Albert to hand over the reins. Louisa was waiting for them on the couch her body gnarled and tired. Thankfully, her brain continued to be quick and witty.
"Oh Beth it is lovely to see you, although you do look tired. Vl
ad what are you doing to the poor girl, no don’t answer that. Come and sit with me."
Beth sat beside Louisa who seemed unusually happy with herself, in her late 70's Louise looked relatively young in her facial features, her eyes were a bright green, with a wide smile. Her white hair was pinned up and neat, but as you moved your eyes downwards, her body belied the soul within her. Arthritis twisted her fingers, and the car accident immobilised her from the waist downwards.
"We are so happy for you both. We knew the day would come when you finally met the woman who would be kind enough to tame your army, strong enough to stand by your side and beautiful enough to match your lovely personality. We are both overjoyed that we are still alive to see it. We would like to be the first to give you a gift, to show you how honoured we are to share this with you." Vlad and Beth looked on as Albert bent to kiss Louisa on the forehead.
"Now I have never been a man of many words or one to voice my opinions." Vlad interrupted Albert with a terribly inappropriate cough, which promptly stopped when Albert shot him a fierce look.
"Fine maybe I am a little opinionated but only when necessary. I must say I knew from the moment I met you Beth that you were born to be mistress of this home, and the soul mate of my master. I hope that the both of you are as happy as we have been."
Louisa handed them a small black box with the Tsychovsky emblem on it; Beth slowly opened it to reveal two bracelets. Each made of silver, one thinner than the other. But both followed an intricate design of knots, they were absolutely stunning. With tears in her eyes Beth looked to the older couple before her. She had not known them long and somehow they had crept into her heart.
"I don’t know what to say." Smiling it was Louisa who answered.
"Its design is that of a Celtic Knot a symbol of love and affection. The journey of marriage and relationships is never an easy one. I don't doubt that you both have a long journey of discovery and conflict before you, but you will share the same journey. These bracelets are a symbol of that ongoing journey."
Two Halves of a A Vampires Soul (The Silver Series) Page 13
