Howling Fury (Book 1) (Being Edited)

Chapter 11

Ester's POV 

My eyes slowly creek open, my body relaxing as I breathe in a familiar scent. Something cosy is draped over my body, keeping my naked flesh warm. I hear a soft sigh and tilt my head towards a desk situated at the far end of the room. I spot Mark sitting behind it, his head rested on his hands as soft snores come from his mouth.

I carefully stretch my body, swinging my legs over the side of the couch I am lying on. I must be in Mark's office. Well duh, I think to myself. The room is filled with his scent, plus he is sleeping not far from me, so of course it is his office. But how did I even get here. The last thing I remember is trying to get into my room, before the venom took over my body.

Sighing to myself, I carefully raise to my feet. A groan escapes between my lips as pain rakes through my entire body. My body stumbles, but I don't fall. Instead, I feel a warm pair of hands keeping my steady. I look up to meet Mark's deep, chocolate brown eyes.

"Hi", I whisper, stretching my body again to try and relieve some of the stiffness and pain. I look at Mark again, and spot a bandage around his shoulder. "What happened?" My hands carefully caress his shoulder. I would kill anyone who dares to lay a hand on a pack member. His big sad eyes meet mine and he smiles. Bags ride under his eyes, and I realise he has probably had very little sleep.

"We found you and took you downstairs. You woke up and panicked, your wolf taking over your body. You attacked, but don't worry," he says, seeing the concern in my eyes, "you never hurt anyone too seriously. Well nothing that a good nights sleep and perhaps a few shifts can't fix anyway."

Shift. Hmm. I suddenly have the urge to go out for a hunt. Besides, it would probably help my body heal. "Mark." I say in a sweet voice. "I think we should go out for a hunt, it's been a while and I am very hungry." I flutter my eyes at him, but he only shakes his head.

"Nope. You where just poisoned by god knows what, and now you are going to rest until your body has recovered from the damage. I'll just go and get you a burger or something." My shoulders drop and I allow a look of disappointment too pass over my face. I was very good at making Mark do whatever I wanted, despite him being the alpha. Perhaps it is because he found me alone and feels sorry for me.

"Ok. Well...it would be better if I shifted because my body would be able to heal and a greater pace, and besides, when was the last time you had anything proper too eat, or slept for that matter." I pause. "Oh and it was ghoul venom."

Marks face turns red. Great, so perhaps that's not the best thing to say at this moment in time. I watch as he pulls his emotions together and straightens his face. "Ok. I'll have to let the vampires know about the nest. I'm assuming it was a small, disbanded nest right?"

I give him a small smile. "Well. Not disbanded exactly. There was a queen and that's the ghoul's venom which was in my body." He tries to keep his emotions in check again. Ok, so perhaps now is not the best time to tell him that a human was there and saw everything. Well, with any luck, he will have forgotten what happened, what with the venom in his system.

I sigh, deciding to change the subject. "So, are we going out for a nice relaxing hunt?" I couldn't help but realise that he had avoided my question regarding the last time he slept and ate. Oh well. I could tell he was giving in. "Oh fine. Let's go then. You've beaten me. We can go out for a hunt."

 It wasn't begrudged, I knew. I could see the small smile playing on his lips. I give him a huge grin. "Well, perhaps I should go and get changed and stuff." He gives me a look, shaking his head. "There is no point in you changing your clothes if you are just going to have to get out of them to shift, when you could quite as easily just keep that cover on yourself until you change."