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Chapter 34
For the first few minutes of my rest everything was relaxing, but then I saw the man's sneering, lustful face looking down at me. I bolted up, and my mind was wide awake again. Would this happen every time I tried to close my eyes? I hoped not. I gave my head an instant shake. I pulled my knees up onto the seat, and rested my head on them. I really hoped not. I already lost enough sleep over everything else.
I turned my face to the window and watched the night life. It was Saturday night, so there were tons of people walking out of bars, and clubs. About half an hour later we pulled up into a medium sized house. Cole went in, and told me to wait in the car. As he reached the door, his hand shifted to the back of his pants. He was inside before I could see him pull out his gun. After another five minutes he came back out, and tucked the gun back in. The lights were switched on in the house.
He and I both reached for Jace, and carried him in the same way we did before. Cole led us to a bedroom with a queen sized bed. Cole got him into a pair of his shorts that he had in the dresser. He checked over Jace's wound. He gave a weird look, before shaking it off.
"Eliana could you go into the hall, and right by the bathroom is a closet. Inside there is our first aid kit. Grab that, a bottle of alcohol, and a clean washcloth," He ordered me, still looking at Jace's bite marks.
I ran out the bedroom, and walked down to each door. There was a room for each one of Cole's room mate, but little space for the rest of the house. This house was set up weirdly, so at the end of the hall I found the bathroom. I opened up the closet, gathered the stuff, and ran back to give it to Cole. He poured the alcohol on the rag, and started cleaning all of the cuts and gashes. He dipped the needle into the alcohol. Then he started to stitch. I looked away, and just watched Cole's face.
"You can go to sleep if you would like," Cole said interrupting the silence.
"I can't sleep."
"Ok, then you can tell me what's really going on."
"On second thought I'm kind of tired," I said sheepishly.
He didn't look up at me.
"Eliana."
"Cole," I mimicked back.
"You promised you would," He said.
"And I will, just... I need to take a shower. You know, get all this blood off of myself."
"Fine. You can get a clean shirt of mine from the second drawer. There should be clean towel on the counter."
"You don't by any chance have any shorts that would fit me, do you?" I asked. I didn't have any underwear now that they were ripped to shreds.
"Nope, but I can bring some of your clothes from my apartment tomorrow," he offered.
Because of how often I stayed there, I ended up just keeping some pajamas, and a few outfits there.
"Ok," I said and left to go wash off.
About half an hour later my body was so raw from my scrubbing, I was surprised it wasn't bleeding. I felt disgusting, so I just scrubbed it all. I tried to wash off everywhere that that man had touched. It was tender to the touch, and I'm sure there was no trace of him on me, but I could still feel it. I could still feel his wandering hands. I also washed out my mouth with about a quarter of the bottle of mouthwash. I could still feel his disgusting, slobbery, needy mouth on mine.
When I came back into the room, wearing Cole's over sized t-shirt that reached just above my knees, Cole was just finishing up. Cole got the gashes on his shoulder, thigh, calf, head, neck, and side. He just finished the last stitch, and looked up at me.
"Why do you look like an oompa loompa?" He asked.
I pursed my lips, and narrowed my eyes at him. He understood I wasn't going to answer him.
"You're turn."
"Huh?" I asked confused.
"I need to stitch you up to."
"No, I'll be fine. So about what you wanted to know..." I trailed off trying to change the subject.
"Nope! You need to be stitched up first. How about this, you tell me while I fix you up," He said. If only he really could. He could fix the physical, but not the mental.
"That's not fair. You can only get one. Stitches, or info?" I asked. I wasn't too sure which one I wanted him to chose.
"Stitches," He chose immediately.
"Fine."
He moved us out of the room to the couch. That way we wouldn't disturb Jace. He handed me some pain medicine. I swallowed it, and within a minute I felt like numb. Wow that was strong. I didn't like the way it made me feel. I felt like I could only move slowly, and it was hard to focus. Cole got a new wash cloth, and started cleaning my wounds. He disinfected the needle, and then started at my shoulder.
"Ok, so are you going to tell me?" He asked.
My mouth felt like it was full of cotton balls, but I managed out a stubborn nope.
"Fine then just listen to me, because I think I might have figured it out. But no laughing if I'm totally off."
I nodded my head, and listened. This has got to be good.
"So your boyfriend... he has some weird stuff going on with him, right?"
I nodded.
"While I was stitching him, he was healing quickly. Cuts that would have taken weeks to fully heal were already turning into pink lines. Almost all of his injuries look like bite marks. There was missing flesh in some places, like it was ripped out by an animal. That would have definitely taken a month or so to heal, but the skin is already starting to reform, which is why I was able to stitch them up. He is healing at an extremely rapid pace. There was fur all over that clearing, and chunks of flesh just like the ones missing from his body. Coincidence?"
I shook my head. He continued on.
"The scar on your other shoulder looks like a bite mark," I looked over and saw that the sleeve was slipping down my shoulder, revealing it. "There are two deeper wider marks, marks that are caused by canines. Now how did a girl that lived with a normal family get that?"
He didn't continue on, so I knew he was waiting for an answer. I just shook my head, still watching my hands in my lap.
"Also your brother Philly, when we were at the mall he looked ready to kill me for touching you. His eyes turned black, and he really did look like he was ready to bite my head off. And that's not just a figure of speech," He paused and looked over at me. Something on my face must have told him what he wanted to know.
"I'm guessing your human, right?" I nodded my head.
"Then there is other stuff, that I don't know how they connect, but they do somehow. When you touched Jace back in the clearing his breathing evened up. When you left the room to go get the medicine, and take a shower his breathing would become pained. He started to move around more, but as soon as you returned he relaxed. Like he knew you were in the room. Also your story. It just doesn't make sense."
"I want you to say it. I've connected all the dots. I know why Jace is healing so quickly, why Philly's eye turned black. Jace's and that man's eyes probably do too. I know why there were bite marks all over Jace, fur in the clearing, and a bit mark on your shoulder. I know why it looked like there were two wolves," I shuttered at the word. He knew. "in that clearing, but instead there were two people. That's because those two people are those two wolves. Or rather were, for one of them. Now I want you to say it. I want you to say what they are."
He knew. He wasn't supposed to. He was supposed to stay in the dark. Now he could get hurt just for knowing, like I did. The word formed on my lip, but I didn't want it to pass. Cole and I had a stare down. We just looked at each other stubbornly. Neither of us wanted to give in. I looked into his eyes, and realized that I owed him the truth. After all he had done, I owed him this much.
"Werewolf," I whispered.
He looked shocked. Wait, I thought he knew. Then his eyes glimmered. That was when I understood why he looked shocked. I gave in, and said the word. He beamed over at me. He was probably proud of himself for figuring it out.
"Now, would you tell me everything?" He asked.
I nodded, and swallowed. I looked away before starting.
"Werewolves can heal at a quick speed, as you had guessed. They have super strength, speed, and senses. Whenever they get angry, or extremely stressed they can lose control, and shift into an actual wolf. Not that weird half wolf half human thing. At the age of 16 they will have their first shift. It is extremely painful, but very few had ever died from it. They will be given what people call their wolf. It's like an extra soul inside of them. That is why when they get really angry they will shift, because their wolf will surface. When their wolf surfaces, their eyes will darken, and if they get too angry they will shake until that they shift. A werewolf can also shift even if they aren't mad or stressed. Like if they just want to go for a run, they can. When they are in wolf form they don't go all animalistic, they can still be themselves inside. Any questions so far?" I asked him.
"Yeah, so he won't eat me if his wolf takes control, right?" He asked, eyeing Jace.
"No just another myth. So there are packs, a group of people. Wolves want to join a pack. Once they join a pack, they are loyal to it. They will try to protect others in it. There are a lot of packs out there, and the two in this town are the strongest, but we will get there. There is an alpha, the leader of the pack, that's what Jace is, or will be. You are born into the alpha position, or you overthrow the old one. There is a Beta, the second in command. There are also rouges. They don't belong to a pack. That's what that other man was. When you are in a pack, you have a mind link with everybody else in the pack. You can block them, but apparently it's hard. All clear?" I asked again. He nodded his head, so I continued on. He finished with my shoulder, and was starting on my head.
"Then there are mates. It's a bit of a hard concept to grasp, but that's what Jace and I are. It's like what you would call soulmate. Fate has destined one person for you. You will feel the urge to be with that other person. You will only want to be with them, and nobody else. Your wolf will be fiercely protective of that person, and will do anything to keep them safe. But sometimes one of them will reject the other. It hurts like hell, and you'll feel broken. You feel like your heart had been ripped out of your chest, set on fire, and placed back into your chest. It will keep on beating, but you feel like you just want to die. You'll do anything to get back with that person, even betray your family for your mate..." I had to stop and gather my thoughts before I continued going on and on about this.
"Sounds like you're talking from experience," Cole said.
I nodded my head. "It's supposed to be this bad, so that the other will want to take the rejected one back. They usually don't want to see them get hurt. Their need for their rejected mate will increase. That's why Jace and I are back together. The reason why Jace calmed down when I was around him, is because not only does being by your mate give you strength, but his wolf isn't worried and anxious, so he can just focus on healing himself. Any questions?" I asked. I knew he would have one, but the one that he asked surprised me.
"Wait, if he is meant to keep you safe, then why would whoever that pairs up mates make a human part of this world?" He asked. Ok, I was definitely shocked he had figured that out.
"Well... Um actually we aren't supposed to happen. That's kinda why Jace had rejected me. That and who my family is. This world, as you had already seen, is too dangerous for humans. That's why I didn't want you to know. There has never been a recording of a werewolf and human being mates before. There are legends from ancient cultures that we are looking into, that says that a human can be turned by their mate. That's all that we have so far."
"Humans can't be turned into werewolves?" He asked.
"No, but if this legend is true, then they can by their mates. That's all that we have on human and werewolf mate thing."
"Do you... want to become a werewolf?" Cole asked.
I opened my mouth to answer no, but then realized I didn't know. I had always wanted to, but what if I regretted it in the end?
"I- I don't really know," I said.
A silence fell over us. He focused on stitching up my head.
"Well I think you should stay the way you are," he said breaking the silence.
"I'm not exactly me, and I don't think I ever will be again."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Ever since I turned 16 my strength, my speed, and my senses have changed. I'm stronger and faster then before. I can hear things that no human should be able to hear, like the thread pulling my skin together. I can see better at night. It's like fate wanted to make sure that I could survive in this world, by giving me an advantage. I'm not even close to being as strong or as fast as a werewolf, and my senses suck compared to them, but it's all more than a human," I confessed.
"You cheated!" Cole accused. I shot him a weird look, even though he couldn't see it, because he was behind me. "You used your superpowers to beat me in the alley."
"Hey! I could still beat you before I turned 16. I could beat my brothers before I was 16, and they are werewolves."
"But they weren't werewolves yet when you beat them."
"Nuh-uh. The twins were for the past two years, and I still won," I said back quickly.
"They probably let you," He mumbled.
I glared at the floor hard, acting as if it was Cole.
"Besides, if I hadn't beat you then I'd be dead," I pointed out.
A chill fell over the room. His voice lowered from it's fun teasing tone to a serious one, almost instantly.
"I wasn't going to kill you."
"You weren't? But you had a gun. What if I didn't cooperate?" I asked him.
"I wouldn't have killed you. I would have run off or something, so you wouldn't see my face. I don't like to hurt innocent people, let alone kill them. The gun is just there so I would be more persuasive."
"Why do you do it? You obviously have money, so why do you do it?" I asked.
"I don't know. For the thrill? Maybe so I have my own money that isn't handed to me by being a hit man? Maybe it's because I still want to make my old room mate proud of me? He had gotten me out of that place. I don't really know why," he finished.
I let that sink in. It was quite in the room again. He finished off on my head. He moved over, and sat in front of me.
"Are those the only places you needed to have stitched up?" He asked me.
I nodded my head, and muttered a yeah. He ran off and washed his hands clean of my blood. When he returned he wanted to know more, so I told him my story. I told him all about my family, about the two packs, about Jace, why I really went back to the adoption center. Then I told him about what had really happen tonight. When I was done Cole looked furious at Jace, my family, and the rouge.
"So are you going to go back to your family now that the rouge is dead?" He asked.
"No, that wasn't the rouge I had seen. My family's biggest fear was rouges coming after me once they found out, and that happen. Rumor must have gotten out that the two strongest packs had a similar weakness, and everyone wants to use me against them. They kill me and my family will be crushed. They wouldn't be able to function, and the pack will fall. Jace's pack wouldn't have a functioning alpha, so both packs would fall downhill fast. Other then Philly, my family doesn't know that this could also affect the Steffens," I explained.
"Well shouldn't they take you back, because there is nobody around to protect you now?" He asked.
"I'm guessing that the rouges don't actually know what I look like. So they are hoping to find a human with a werewolf family. I think the only reason the one tonight attacked me was because I smelled like Jace. They wouldn't think to look for me where I am surrounded by humans. It's like trying to find waldo, but you don't know what waldo looks like, and the only thing you have to look for is the smell, but you don't know that you should be looking for waldo with his scent, or in that surrounding. That's probably also what my family is thinking."
"Makes sense. So now that rumors out, will the attacks ever stop?" He asked.
I hadn't really thought much into this subject, because after tonight everything kind of changed.
"I guess not, or at least until I'm no longer a weakness. But knowing rouges, they won't stop even if I were to be turned into a werewolf."
"That's not fair. Why aren't you given a fighting chance?" He asked angry.
"It's hopeless. It's not like both packs can get rid of all the rouges. There is a lot out there. We couldn't eliminate all of them. Besides not all are bad, but they still know. We can't destroy knowledge," I said with strength, and my own anger.
He let that all sink in, but that didn't change the fact that he was furious.
"So what? You're stuck with this for the rest of your life?" He asked.
I nodded my head, not liking the answer. I tried not to think about it, because it wasn't very optimistic.
I let out a loud yawn, and Cole shot me a look I couldn't quite understand.
"Your exhausted. You've been through a lot, and very soon the sun will start to rise. I'm sure you would enjoy going to sleep when it's still dark. Besides I know enough that it is sure to keep my mind occupied enough for now. I don't need to know any more for now," He said.
He walked off, and got a pillow and blanket for me. He set it down on the couch, and I made it into a makeshift bed.
"Thanks," I said curling up under the warm blanket.
"No problem. I'm gonna go back to my apartment. I'll see you in the morning," He said before giving me a hug, careful of my stitches.
"Good night," I said.
He nodded his head, and turned off the lights. He left, and a silence fell over the house. The only thing to fill the silence was the thoughts in my head. Thoughts of what would now happen with the rouges, about the man that had tried to rape and kill me, about Jace, about my family, about what would happen if I told everyone about Jace and me. Let's just say even if my body was exhausted, my mind didn't let me sleep.
After a while I turned on the tv to fill the silence. I had absolutely no idea what was on, so I just watched the changing colors on the screen. The thoughts continued to fly around in my head. Each one taking the center of my attention for a moment, before another one would. Each one made me more worried.
Eventually I drifted off to restless sleep. The nightmare started immediately. I was leaning over a white crib, looking at a small sleeping baby. I looked down at it's soft rosy face with adoration. I felt protective over the small infant, so I knew it was mine. I was in a room with soft creamy walls. There was a window behind me that was opened up a crack, letting in a fresh breeze. I rubbed my babies soft smooth cheek, but suddenly the window shattered, and in leaped a large brown wolf. Somehow I knew it was a rouge. I grabbed my now crying baby, and fled.
As I ran with my baby, the walls slowly melted into trees, and I was once again running through the woods. I saw a large fallen tree, and was force to climb over it. I leaped off from the top, and as soon as my feet hit the ground I tried to run. I slipped to the ground, and saw the white rouge leaping towards me. I tried to get up, but my legs failed me.
The surroundings changed slightly, and the man from tonight reached for me, and threw me over to the side. I landed with a sudden jolt of pain, and gasped. The man stood above me, and said something, but I never heard it. He got on top of me, and started to kiss me. I struggle with him, but he refused to stop. He kept kissing me with that disgusting needy mouth. His hands started to wander my body.
That was when I realized I was reliving tonight. I tried everything to make it stop. I didn't want to have to relive it, but I never snapped out of it. It kept on going, until Jace snapped his head over to me. He was covered in the man's blood. That same look on his face that made me so afraid of him. He looked ready to attack and kill me. The same look that had been on the rouge's face. Everything slowed, and I could only see Jace and the dead mutilated body behind him. His fist slowly clenched, and I watched the muscles in his arms bunch up. His jaw clenched tighter, and his eyes slowly narrowed at me. They were as black and as cold as death itself.
I woke with a scream, and jolted out of my make shift bed. I looked around myself, trying to gather myself. When I realized it wasn't real I started to relax, until I remembered it was, just not this time. It had actually happen to me. I started to cry again. I tried to stop myself, but I couldn't. I got up, and got myself a glass of water to try and relax myself. I looked at the time, and realized I had only slept for an hour.
When I returned to go to bed, I didn't want to. I was going to relive it again. I knew where I could be where I wouldn't relive it. That killer picture of Jace flashed through my mind. It brought a chill that gripped my spine. I shook it off, and walked into Cole's room. I tried to block the image from my mind when I saw him. I succeeded, and quietly go into the bed with him. I snuggle into his side that wasn't injured, and let out a loud sigh. He moved over in his sleep, and pulled me closer to him.
I fell asleep listening to his steady breathing, feeling his strong arms wrap around me, and feeling his safety and heat radiate from his body and surround me.
So what do you all think?
But what do you guys think about her telling Cole? Do you think it was a right choice? Do you think she will ever get over what had happen that night? What do you think will happen with Jace and Eliana?
Let me know you guys! Thanks everyone for following, voting, and commenting on my story!
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