They moved into the tent, lying close together as they faced each other. They had come a long way since the full moon they were bonded, or at least it seemed that way. Carefully, she moved even closer to him as he pulled a blanket over them, resting a hand around his waist and tangling her leg between his. He smiled into her hair, and she felt it. She ignored her discomfort, she needed to be near him, moving so there was barely a hair’s breadth between them now. He didn’t seem to mind, needing to be near her as much as she did. They slept like that, wrapped into each other that neither could truly tell where one ended and the other began, and they didn’t care.
***************
The snow, the fresh white laid out like a blanket Artemis had set before them. The trees, bare of leaves, except for short pine trees dotted amongst the others. She was running, faster than the other three she was with. She would reach the stream first, she would beat O’Connor this time.
‘Keep up, slow poke!’ She called mentally to them, glancing back with her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Faust had already given up it seemed, as he slowed. But the brothers O’Brady and O’Connor kept chasing her.
‘Fen, you know you’re no match for us!’ O’Connor had called, barking at her. She gave a little howl to show her amusement.
‘Oh, but I am! Don’t you see how I am besting you!’ She loved teasing these brothers. She remembered when she first met them. They were the first pair of males to hang around each other like that. Faust was the newer edition to their pack, but she trusted them all. That was why she had called for the Goddess to begin with.
‘Enough fooling around, we should be getting going,’ Faust said gently. They were approaching the stream now, she could smell the water. Had she not been about to slow to answer Faust, the brothers wouldn’t have snuck up on her. O’Brady leapt toward her, which she easily dodged, but she wasn’t quick enough to dodge the second. O’Connor came from nowhere, easily tackling her to the ground and pinning her down.
‘Got you!’ He was huffing in a wolfish kind of laughter. She rolled her eyes as she nipped at him to allow her up. He kept huffing as he allowed her to get to her feet again and make the last few steps to the stream. She looked down to get a drink, admiring her two color eyes. One silver like the moon, and one amber like the sun above. The Goddess had praised her for her eyes when they had first met, before she had the ability to become a human. Her eyes were the reason she was so blessed in the way she was. Someone saw something in her that her own pack didn’t.
‘Everything alright, Fenrir?’ O’Brady had reached them, ducking his head to show submission to her. She nodded and he lifted his head again.
‘I’m fine, thank you. Let us go and meet with the Goddess, we have gifts to accept.’
***************
Chapter Thirty
Waking up that morning curled up with Nick after what felt like years was amazing for her. The rest of the day, however, would not be exactly what she had planned for the trip back. She unwrapped herself from her mate and stepped outside the tent in bare feet as she tried to run a hand through her tangled hair. She really wanted a shower, but that would have to wait since they were still camping out in the middle of an abandoned water park. She walked away from their tent, and into the quietly speaking pack members as the dream slowly returned to her memory. She’d nearly forgotten about it, but the smell of food cooking lured her to the campfire that some of the early risers had set up. As soon as she was spotted, the few wolves that were awake and unhurt stood just to kneel down before her. She was about to ask what they were doing when she realized exactly what they were doing, greeting their Alpha Female.
“Please, don’t do that. Stand, it’s fine,” she assured them. They looked at each other, thanking her and offering her food for herself and Nick. She was going to decline, not wanting to take their meal, but then her stomach growled. Her cheeks warmed as Edward handed the plates to her. “Thank you. How has Jen been holding up?”
He blinked in surprise. “I’m surprised you remember her Alpha, but fine last I saw. She is back with our pups, since we both couldn't go searching for you. She will be happy you are returned to us safely, and Candice too. They were friends before she went missing.”
“I am glad you came back alive and unharmed. Take care of yourself and return to your little ones safely,” she said through a smile. They said their goodbyes as she took the plates and began the short walk back to Nick. She rounded a corner and nearly bumped into him. “Nick! You’re much too quiet sometimes, you know that?”
“Hmm, seems so. Is that for me, or are we sharing?” He chuckled at her glare as she shoved him a plate. She walked back towards their tent, not wanting everyone rising now to see her just walking around in one of his shirts. They ate in a comfortable silence, her mind distracted by thoughts of her dream last night and having more questions now than ever.
She had dreamed about running in that same woods, with the Three Purebloods and a fourth wolf named Fenrir, and she was that fourth wolf. Those different color eyes were hers, not the O’Connor wolf like the story said. What reason did she have to doubt an ancient story told for thousands of years before she was even born? Maybe she just wanted to seem important to someone. But she was, she realized. To Nick, to Camila, to Ginger and, apparently, to Jeremiah’s “Master”. Now she had to add the entirety of Beatrice’s pack since it was no longer her pack, but her and Nick’s. And today she would be returning to claim that right to be Alpha Female. Her wolf, though groggy, seemed to like that idea. At the rising emotion her wolf gave off, Nick glanced at her.
“Liza? Everything okay?” He questioned.
“Yeah, just… How am I supposed to be Alpha when I am barely able to be a werewolf?” She let her fear seep into her words. She never wanted this, but once again she was chained down to something so much bigger than her.
“It’s okay. I can handle most of it, I did follow my father for a long time and he was Alpha to my family’s pack den. They were all Connor’s, in one way or another, and all had varying levels of that power of fire. You can imagine how he handled that.”
“With water always handy?” she offered, much to Nick’s enjoyment as he laughed and, she decided, there was no sweeter sound.
“You could say that. So you just keep being you, keep being there for me and our friends and we’ll be fine. Come on, we should start packing up to leave. If we leave now we’ll be back in time for lunch, at best, and with Beatrice still back there, the sooner we arrive the better.” He leaned over to leave a lingering kiss on her lips, one that made her whine a little when he pulled away. Desire rose to his eyes, but he clamped down on it, and his rising wolf, for her sake. She was still healing, he would not weaken her further. He could wait.
She stood then, cleaning up their trash and heading back to the campfire while Nick folded up the tent. Most of the wolves were up now, some still eating. Feeling a little more than self conscious, she surveyed the area. Wolves cleaning up, changing bandages, packing up, she kept track of it all. She was good at that as a human, and better as a werewolf. Colin was giving some orders to a few strong-looking wolves. He must have sensed her stare, because he turned towards her and waved with a smile on his lips. She waved back and made her way over to him, careful not to impede anyone on the way.
“Morning, my Sister, I trust you are feeling better today?” Colin sketched a bow to her, glancing up at her giggle. “My brother is around somewhere too, I’m sure. Probably ordering more wolves around, eh?”
“He should be by soon. He was packing up when I left him. Are you heading back with us, um, sir?” She wasn’t sure what to call someone from another pack, especially considering his rank as cousin to Byron the Land Alpha.
“Oh, do call me Colin, after all we are nearly family. To answer your question, no I’ll be taking those back, along with my wolves, to Byron.” He motioned to the Berserkers and Jeremiah. She looked at the snarling beasts wrapped in heavy chains with flowers around their n
ecks.
“Will they be able to break out of that?” The chains looked surprisingly thin for such strong monsters.
“Nah, those are steel chains dipped in silver and the flowers are Wolf’s Bane.” At her confusion, he smacked his hand to his forehead, saying, “Ah, sorry. Forgot you were a Turned. The chains are coated in a layer of silver to make them harder to break, and more painful. Artemis hunted O’Connor with silver arrows, those weapons being the first thing to harm the first of us, it’s a weakness we’ve carried since. The Wolf’s Bane won’t kill them, either, but it will calm those savages down quite a bit. It looks like they have given in to their wolves, and it’s quite terrifying.” He shook his head as Nick walked up to meet them.
“There might be something else you can bring back with you. Down where I was, there was a case that Jeremiah held the potions. I think I saw three vials, but he only used two. One on himself and… the one I broke,” she whispered, glancing away. Nick placed a hand on her shoulder, letting her know she was safe now and they would never be parted.
“I’ll send someone to grab it, don’t want you to go back down there. Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.” Colin spoke with Nick a while, but Elizabeth was distracted. Her mind went back to the dream again, she felt it was important but not sure why.
Nick shook her out of her thoughts, calling her name. “Huh? Sorry, what were you saying?”
“You seemed distracted, are you alright? If you’re still weak, I can carry you back so you won’t have to shift,” concern in his voice as he watched her reaction.
“No, I should be fine to shift. I think. It’s just the dream last night was-”
“Another dream? About Fenrir again?” At her nod, he sighed. “We will have the Lorekeepers search the records, see if anyone has heard about Fenrir or of power over cold. For now, we have to focus on getting home.” She was about to respond, but someone came up to speak to Nick, since he didn’t seem to need her, she sought Camila. She found her friend easily, helping with those still wounded.
“Hey hun, how are you feeling? Want me to check your bandages?” Camila stopped tending the wolf she was working on, sending them on their way as she approached her friend.
“Sure. Can I talk to you a bit, Nick is a little… busy,” she answered with a sigh.
“Yeah, the life of an Alpha. He fits the role really well, surprisingly. What’s on your mind?” Camila set to work changing her bandages while Elizabeth explained the dream from last night and the new details it had given her. It looked like her friend wasn’t listening at all, until she said, “Well, I can see why that would shake you up. So it seems this Fenrir was a part of the Three’s pack, so perhaps that has something to do with it. Maybe you are related, distantly, to one of the Three.”
“But that would be forbidden,” a deeper voice said. Both women looked up, startled, as Nick joined them. “Why did you leave my side? I was worried.” He knelt down next to Elizabeth as Camila finished her bandages.
“Sorry you just seemed busy and I didn’t want to bother you.” She tried to look away, but he caught her chin and brought her face around to look him in his azure eyes.
“You are never a bother to me. I need you to remember that, always.” The depth of love in his voice and through their bond was almost too much for her to bear.
“Alright you two, get a room. Wait, no, I kinda want to go home today.” Camila stared at them and Elizabeth had almost forgotten she was there. She smiled at her friend while Nick stood up and glanced around, his cheeks darkening slightly. They were both still newly bonded after all. “So,” Camila continued, “being with humans has been forbidden for a while now, but when was that put into place?”
“Around my father’s time, if memory serves. He told me when I was young that it had been forbidden since one of the Three mated with a human when he was less than fifty years old. The human, a female if memory serves, was mutilated one night after the male found out she was pregnant. That male was cast out and it was forbidden from then on and word passed on for all werewolves.” Nick scratched his chin, absently remembering the old story.
“Not something you usually tell young people about, huh?” Elizabeth nervously replied. Telling someone “young” about a mutilation was unsettling.
“Well the only way to scare little children into doing as they are told is to tell them scary stories, right?” Nick shrugged as if that was completely normal.
“Not really,” she said simply, watching Camila for her reaction. She shrugged too.
“Well anyway, everyone seems to be ready to head out. Not everyone is shifting, but most of us are. Liza, I’d like you to shift and run beside me,” Nick stated, opening his mouth like he wanted to say more but stopped himself.
Elizabeth nodded in response and, giving a hug to her friend since wolves couldn’t hug, started to shift into her wolf. The shift was easy as her wolf form took control and she found herself looking into her shorter friend’s eyes. This felt comfortable, felt right as her mate shifted beside her. She looked up at him, her eyes being around shoulder level with him while Camila’s wolf form was a head shorter than Elizabeth. The three of them shifted, they moved towards the entrance together and waited for the rest of the pack to fall in. Colin gave a wave to his brother and her as his wolves left, dragging caged Berserkers and Jeremiah behind them, the latter having woken up at some point and was cursing at them all.
‘Pack, let’s head home!’ Nick told the wolves, his command echoing in the mind of all the wolves around them. They howled in response. Nick and Elizabeth lead the pack, which was a brisker pace than she had run with him. Just when she had thought that she wouldn’t be able to keep up, Nick sent her a wave of encouragement, and she sped up. Sometimes Camila would bump her shoulder, urging her faster too which caused Elizabeth to snort at her, as the rust colored wolf huffed a few times in laughter.
They ran for hours, Nick in the lead with Elizabeth just a bit behind him. By the time the sun was hot and high in the sky, she picked up the scent of her pack’s borders. She breathed in the scent of what had become her new home while, despite the burning of her sides, joy filled her heart. She knew the way from here, but she still let Nick lead, smiling as she heard the happy barks of the pack behind her. He glanced back at her, his eyes as grey as the moon, showing his emotions of love and devotion as the same echoed through their bond. They would be back in the Pack-den within the hour at this pace she knew, and it was then that she realized she’d have another thing to contend with, Beatrice.
Upon reaching the Pack-den, Nick shifted into his Hybrid to greet the guards and lead the pack back inside. “You... go and get Dr. Gerald and have him bring some stretchers. Anyone you come across along the way, send them up here to bring their loved ones either home or the med ward,” he ordered. The female on guard duty nodded and hurried off to do as she was told. While the guard was gone, he put Ben on guard duty until someone came to relieve him, so the wolf moved to take up his post. Nick told the wolves to get tended to or get changed and to grab something to eat. Everyone was to be at dinner tonight. She stayed near Nick’s side, leaning against his side as he spoke with Dr. Gerald about the injuries and deaths of the pack members. Once the injured were on their way to be treated and the rest went to follow orders, Nick looked down at his mate, wrapped an arm around her neck, and led her into the Pack-den to go to their den to get changed.
Once they made their way to their Beta den, Nick waited outside their bedroom while she changed, talking all the while. “You know, I’ve lived in this den for quite a long time, but I think it’s time for a change of scenery. Right now, Beatrice is living somewhere she isn’t supposed to be, so we’ll have to take it from her and give her a single female den. She won’t like it, but we have to follow the rules.”
“Are you sure we can’t just stay here?” Elizabeth had moved a lot over the last few weeks, and it always seemed to be just as she was getting comfortable.
“Yes, I am. We are
the Alphas now, we need the bigger den. I might need to ask Candice if she is ready to be Beta again, with everything she’s been through it’d be understandable if she wasn’t ready for the role. That would open up a spot for Camila to take.” He was scratching his head when she stepped out of the bedroom. Her bandaged abdomen and thighs were exposed in the shorts and tank top, but at least she was comfortable in them now despite her mate’s stare. “I was so worried about you, I’m so sorry you got hurt.”
“It’s alright, it’s not your fault. I would never blame you for anything that happened.” He looked away from her, but she turned his face back toward her with a gentle hand. “I mean it. I don’t blame you for anything.” His smile and the waves of relief she felt radiating off of him made her smile too. She was leaning up to kiss him when there was a knock on their door. With a growl, he turned and threw the door open, nearly tearing it off the hinges. It was the Lorekeepers. With a deep breath, he calmed himself and allowed the twins entry, motioning for them to sit. The four of them sat, two on each couch with Nick touching Elizabeth’s leg for support.
Pureblood (Pureblood series) Page 29