Avoiding Alpha

Chapter Fifteen

                He thought she wouldn’t say anything. He heard her sniffling and the sound of toilet roll being used. No doubt she was wiping at the tears on her face. The tap was running and he imagined her cleaning her teeth after being sick. It took a long time until at last the door opened. He moved back hastily so she wouldn’t walk into him. She would hate that.

                Her face was tear stained but her eyes were dry. He could smell the mint of her toothpaste and her hair was messy but it had been pushed back to resemble some sort of minor order.

“Tendra.” He held out his arms and she looked to him in that moment. That little moment of indecisiveness made her look vulnerable. She walked into his embrace and let her tears flow again, “I’m scared Ray.”

“I’ll protect you. I promise.”

“But what will you want in return?”

“I want nothing. Absolutely nothing. You are my mate, and to live without you would be hell. I will not see you taken, nor hurt again. Trust me Tendra. In the end what’s the worst that can happen?”

“You betray me.”

“Your father would use you as a bargaining chip any day of the week I’m guessing. True?”

                He waiting until she nodded her head in agreement. “The worse that can happen is I betray you and your life becomes a repeat of what it was before. Nothing major, nothing different. But I am not like that. Imagine the protection and the lack of debt you would owe if you trusted in me.”

“What do we do now then?”

“Nothing for tonight. I must explain this fully to Nancy. She needs answers.”

“She’ll hate me.”

“She’ll understand. She isn’t one to hold a grudge. Take Tim, play with him in our room for this evening, I’ll speak to Nancy. Go on.”

                He shouted Tim to follow her and departed himself for the kitchen - that was just a little too quiet to be normal. Nancy was still sat in her seat, her plate infront of her but her meal was untouched. She was staring into space but as he walked in she spoke.

“He’s dead isn’t he?”

“I’m sorry Nancy, I don’t know for sure but that is a possibility. There was blood at the scene. Quite a bit of it.”

“Why the Sanguis pack? None of us have crossed them.”

“Let me make a cup of tea for us both… and then I’ll explain.”

Tendra watched Tim play with some toys in the corner of the room. He had taken one look at her face and knew he had to play on his own for a little bit. He was too young to understand death. Too young to grasp fully the extent of the grief but, she wondered at what exactly he did know and understand. He had already shown her today he was no little boy; he was older than he should be.