We could hide there.
A tree had fallen and the foliage had tried to take the space back but for us, it became a little area where no one would see us. I set her down gently then wedged myself in beside her holding the knife in front of my face in case anyone else came along.
All the fighting after hitting my head created a buzz in my hears. The loud buzzing became my focus once we could take a breath. I couldn’t hear anything and the harder I tried the less I could see.
The world before my eyes was fading fast.
Until I saw nothing.
Chapter Thirty
“Lizzie. Elizabeth.” Orin’s voice reached out to me like I was drowning and he was the hand that would pull me to shore. I wanted to be on shore with him. “Come on, Lizzie. Open your eyes. Please open your eyes.”
I wanted to do as he said if for no other reason than to make the sound of panic to leave his voice forever. But my body wouldn’t obey my orders or his. It took every single ounce of resolve and energy left in my body to open my eyes the smallest bit. The late morning sun hurt my eyes causing me to wince in pain. At first, I couldn’t feel my body but then the tight muscles and aching from my fall kicked in and I knew I was alive.
“There she is,” Orin smiled down at me. “Don’t try to sit up just yet.”
Listening to him, I focused on breathing and getting that dizzy feeling out of my head. It’s the same feeling that Olivia and I used to make happen on purpose just to feel different. Now I didn’t like it at all. Once I felt ready, I began sitting up and of course, Orin was right there helping me along the way until I was upright. It was a full minute later before I could stand on a set of very shaky legs and was able to take inventory on the others.
A quick count let me know that we hadn’t lost anyone but no one had come out unscathed for the most part. There were bruises already forming along with cuts and scratches. At least as far as I could see but everyone looked like they could use some sleep. Roman was basically carrying all of Karina’s weight. He was shirtless and the missing item was hanging loosely on his wife. Which meant she shifted. I hadn’t seen that.
“Is everyone all right?” My throat felt dry and scratchy and sounded like it as well.
“More or less. What about you?”
“I’m fine,” I said even though I wasn’t. I didn’t think I was going to die or anything but I certainly wasn’t completely ok either. “I need to know what happened.”
“At home. We need to go.”
I don’t remember the trek back home but by the time we got there, I was feeling more like myself. We all fell into our house then moments later Emmie burst through the door. She moved from one of her children to the next checking them out and giving instructions to the less injured on how to clean the wounds to stave off infection. Mostly there was nothing major.
Until she got to Karina.
Getting my first really good look at Karina’s legs made my stomach turn. There were three very long, very deep scratches up her calf.
“This is going to need to be closed up.” Emmie glanced up to Antan who moved as if he’d been given instructions. “Roman, go get your wife some clothes ready.”
He shot up from the table sounding like he took the steps two at a time into one of our spare rooms. I could hear drawers opening and closing then he was back.
“Everything’s ready.” Roman glanced from his wife to me then back. There were questions in his eyes just as their father came back with, what looked like, a doctors bag.
“She saved me,” Karina said then hissed as Emmie poured antiseptic on her wounds. “She stabbed one of them in the back when both were going for me. Then she threw herself on top of me like an idiot because she said they couldn’t hurt her. Since they want her for breeding. She killed him, too.”
Orin tensed beside me. “Why would you do that?”
“Hey,” Roman stepped forward. “That was brave, Lizzie. Stupid but brave. And thank you. I’m kind of attached to my wife.” Karina snorted behind Orin’s shoulder.
“It was true. They couldn’t kill me. The other guy even said so.”
“He did,” Karina agreed. “Can someone tell us what happened? We were kind of busy so we didn’t see much after Gunther said something about the taste of your wife.”
“Disgusting beasts,” Emmie shook her head and continued working on Karina’s leg.
Finally, they told us. Orin lunged after Gunther’s comment about me and a full-on brawl erupted. By the way, the brothers talked, I knew they were keeping details out of it. They fought as men, shifted into werewolves. Blood was spilled on both sides. In the end, a couple ran off but the majority of the Balodis pack were dead.
“Gunther included.”
“Yes, I had the pleasure of taking care of him.” Diana stood. “Now, I’m going next to door to bathe their disgusting blood off me.” And she was well covered. I hadn’t noticed before. Daniel and his wife then Ivan and Nell followed her out leaving Roman, Orin, Emmie, Antan, Karina and me.
When Emmie finished wrapping Karina’s leg, she came over to me, taking my face gently in her hands turning it gently to take in my own injuries.
“Come, Dukra, let me clean you up as well.”
I let her lead me to a chair where she gently washed each scrape on the side of my face while my eyes stayed locked with Orin’s. I’d be taking a bath anyway, but Emmie removed a few pieces of bark then dropped the antiseptic on the wounds making the air hiss between my teeth. It was the most care anyone had given me other than Orin. My eyes burned with tears, ones that I couldn’t let fall. that would show my weakness amongst their strength.
Then Orin and I were alone. Roman had taken Karina upstairs so they could each wash the day away as soon as her leg had been taken care of.
“They’re done now so we can head up.”
“What does dunka mean?” I asked before I got up from the chair.
“Daughter.”
That did it. There was no holding in the tears that had been brimming from Emmie’s kindness. Big crocodile tears fell down my cheeks which brought Orin to his knees in front of me. His hands clasped my cheeks letting his thumbs swipe away the tears that were just replaced by more.
“Please don’t cry, Lizzie.”
“It’s just… ” I took in a deep breath so that maybe I wouldn’t sound like a sobbing child. “My own father, my flesh and blood, barely called me his daughter unless he needed to remind me to obey but you’re mother… she doesn’t have to refer to me that way.”
“Oh, baby, she wants to. You’re one of us. You put yourself between a couple of werewolves. that means something to us.”
My voice no longer worked. Instead, I just nodded as more tears fell.
I let him guide me, did what he said as the new information settled in my brain and I became more comfortable with the idea that I had a family. A family that would protect me and I would protect them. One where some members loved me, some respected me and some would probably never even like me. that seemed pretty normal.
Clean and completely exhausted from the day, I crawled onto the bed. It welcomed me in a way it never had. Orin dropped beside me then pulled me in close.
“Let me know if any of this hurts you but I can assure you that I never want to sleep without you as close as possible.”
“This feels perfect.”
“Everyone will rest for a while. Then soon the others will go home.”
“Will we?” I asked quietly. I hadn’t given moving a thought but it wouldn’t matter. Where Orin went, I went. I had nothing here without him.
“We are home.” He grew quite. “Unless you want to leave. I can arrange that.”
“No,” I shook my head. “I’m comfortable here.”
“So we’ll stay. I have a feeling Roman and Karina will be moving in next door.”
“I’d like that,” I said with a yawn.
“I love you, Elizabeth. My entire life changed in the best ways possible the night I
went to that ball. I watched you with Olivia spinning and dancing, turning down other men who asked but I had to meet you. It was more than the pull of the pack. You are beautiful and more open than anyone I’ve ever met. You and I are forever.”
“I love you, too. Forever.”
He pulled my lips to his, kissing softly as if I were fragile and might break if he was too rough. When we pulled apart, he tucked me into his side so he could rest his chin on my head and wrapped both arms around my body.
We fell asleep like that. It was the deepest most needed sleep of my life.
And I wouldn’t have wanted to share it with anyone else.
My husband.
My protector.
My heart.
Epilogue
The summer heat had finally started to retreat leaving us with lovely fall weather. The leaves were turning and everything seemed to have returned to normal. Orin’s parents left a couple of days after the fight with the other pack, taking Diana and baby Ruby with them then Ivan and Nell followed half a day later. Nell and I had come to some sort of understanding that I didn’t fully get but no one had tried to kill me in a month so I was more than all right with it.
Daniel and Aras waited a full day before going home. I think they didn’t want it to seem like they’d rather chew their arms off than be where I was, doing whatever they could to get away from me. I didn’t care either way.
Just like Orin said, Roman and Karina decided to stay in the second house Orin bought next door. I couldn’t have been happier with their decision. In Karina I had more than a friend, I had a sister. but I also couldn’t deny that I was over the moon that we had our house back to ourselves. Being alone with Orin was the one thing I loved above everything else.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen Olivia much since everything happened. This wasn’t too surprising. I wasn’t part of her world anymore. She wasn’t part of mine. My husband wasn’t in her husband’s circle so she had to move on to bigger and better things. I didn’t blame her but, if I’m being honest, I still missed her and the years we’d spent together. Once upon a time she’d been my only friend.
Stepping out into the cool afternoon air, I did something I would never have dared in my previous life. I bit into a bright red apple right there in the street. Father would have lashed me for something like that but I was hungry and no longer cared about being or appearing proper. I was the town girl that ran off with a man her father did not choose nor approve of. Who cared about the other stuff?
“Don’t you look lovely today, Mrs. Vilkatas?” Orin’s deep voice came up behind me right before he slid an arm around my shoulder. A gesture like that was something I’d seen often from people not of my father’s class but never from his people. I preferred it this way.
“Thank you,” I smiled up at him. I was wearing trousers a lot more often and found them so much more practical than skirts. but truth be told, my own style was still evolving. “Have a nice run?”
“The best. I love this time of year.” He slowed his pace to match mine because we really had nowhere we had to be. This was our life. We didn’t hurry anymore or rush from place to place. Our day wasn’t a plethora of scheduled events, though there were some of those because I wasn’t ready to let everything from my old life go.
“Is it a full moon tonight?” I asked.
“Yes. Are you keeping track?” Shrugging, I tried to keep any trace of a smile from my face. “Oh don’t start blushing now. I know exactly why you like the full moon.”
“I’ll admit to that,” I finally said. “But I like that whether the moon is full or gone completely.” He pulled me even closer so he could kiss my forehead. “I went to my father’s today.”
“Lizzie, I said I’d go with you. I don’t trust him.”
“Actually it was pretty good.” The skepticism was all over his face. “Really. I just gave him the journal back. He seemed surprised but I told him I always planned to return it.”
“Is that all?”
“No,” I sighed. “I asked him why he kept my mother’s sister from me. Why he never told me.”
One of the biggest revelations from my mother’s journal was that the fourth non-shifting female was her sister. Now, she referred to them as a family not a pack and never mentioned being a werewolf but she did say that she and her sister were born without an important family trait. that they were hated and had to disappear though did mention the sister’s last known address.
I’d taken a chance and written a letter that found her sister, Audrey.
“And?”
“He said that my mother only ever said she didn’t want me anywhere near her family so he assumed they weren’t good people.”
“Wow, he got something right.”
“Orin!” I slapped his chest. “She married a human just like you did.” His eyebrows shot up. “I received a letter from her today. She lives in Boston, has been married for fifteen years.” I took a deep breath. “She has children, Orin.”
His head snapped to me and his steps faltered to a stop. After glancing around quickly, he took my hand to lead me to the small park not far from where we’d stopped. We sat down on the closest bench. He leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. This had been an awkward subject for us even though we’d only spoken about it twice.
Half of me came from the Balodis pack. A pack whose women were dying off in childbirth or produced one offspring that never shifted. My own mother died giving birth to me. I didn’t know what that meant for the future of Orin and my children. If that was even possible. And neither did he. Though he did assure me that he could not care less whether our children exhibited the wolf gene. He just wanted them healthy and for me to make it out alive.
“How many?” He asked quietly. He didn’t like to admit it because he didn’t want me to feel responsible, but I knew he wanted children one day, not today, but sometime in the future. I was still too young he said. I’d been so oppressed in my father’s house, Orin wanted me to have a chance to live before I even thought about starting a family.
“Three. Not one complication. Her letter said she could explain everything so that maybe… maybe one day we… ”
“You know I love you regardless.”
“Yes.” I smiled. “I do know that. but I also know that I want a family. And I want it with you.” I fell silent before dropping the next bomb. “I want to go to Boston, Orin. I want to meet my aunt and hear stories about my mother from childhood. I want her to tell me why she didn’t die in childbirth but my mother did.”
He nodded softly. “It’ll take a few days to arrange.”
Orin was terrible at telling me no. Even more so since everything happened with the other pack.
“I think I can manage to keep myself entertained for a few days.”
That statement alone brought a big, beautiful smile to his face. I loved seeing him happy and carefree without worrying about me or that someone was going to try to take me away from him.
“I think it’s time to head home.” His voice was so low and husky that it made every muscle in my body tighten and relax at the same time. that was a reaction reserved only for him. but since the fight, he had made me feel loved and desired every single day. He’d done that before but I saw something different in his eyes now.
Slipping my hand into his, we stood and headed back toward the house. I wanted to run the entire way. Get there and out of my clothes as quickly as possible but I forced myself not to. To enjoy the quiet moments with my husband. To squeeze every second of build-up out of the experience knowing that there will be a wonderful payoff once we got there.
Things weren’t perfect. We didn’t know where the lost members of the Balodis pack disappeared to, though their numbers were so low that it would be suicide to try to take on our family, even with only three werewolves in town. Orin and I had resigned ourselves to the fact that having children of our own may be too dangerous for me. but we still had hope. I went from no family to more than I k
new what to do with and I determined to add to it. I hoped my aunt would have some of the answers. There was a time when I wanted nothing out of life. I didn’t dare to dream of something better. Now I wanted it all.
Things weren’t perfect. But it was perfect for us.
Because we were loved.
And we were together.
Also by Heather Young-Nichols
New Adult Romance
Courting Chaos
Something Irish
Cross
Harbor Point
Love by the Slice
Love by the Mile
Love by the Rules
Up for Grabs
Up for Grabs
Up for Forever
Up for Everything
Up for Grabs: The Boxed Set
Written with Amelia J. Matthews
Dirt on the Diamond
After Office Hours: Seducing the Professor
Young Adult Romance
The Grounded Series
Grounded
United
Acknowledgments
So Moonstruck began a long, long time ago. Now I can’t believe it’s going to be read by others.
I have to thank my sister from another mister. The woman who can see my covers in my brain without me actually having to verbalize it. She gets me. Nancy Colbert Hardy (Amelia J. Matthews) and I met in a really odd, random way. Which is how I make all of my best friends. I’m glad I got paired on that conference call with you and not someone else!
Another author friend, Sarah Zolton Arthur read Moonstruck in it’s first, most awful form and still talks to me so that’s something.
My family stands behind me, beside me, in front of me, talking when I’m working. Asking me for stuff. Telling me stuff. Making sure I don’t miss a moment of what happens in the house or their lives no matter how big or small. Sometimes this annoys me but honestly, I want to hear everything and am incredibly grateful that the teenagers still want to talk to me!
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