"Legna, come on babe. Get up."
I glared up at Camdyn and stood, brushing off my butt. "Well, maybe if you didn't scare me, I wouldn't have lost balance and fallen!"
"You must always be prepared for anything in battle. Now, give me ten laps around the territory. And no werewolf or vampire help."
I scowled and took off running. My oh so lovely mate had woken me up at five to get me training. It was nearing noon now and I was ready to knock him out so that I could go get some food. My feet pounded on the ground as I ran the ten laps. Camdyn was leaning against a tree as I ran past him the final time and collapsed on the ground.
"Okay, now you're going to-"
"Eat! And don't you dare try to stop me! This is torture and if it doesn't stop soon, you'll find yourself in the hospital, Mister!"
Camdyn growled lowly and stalked forward. "Is that a challenge."
"You bet it is." I shot to my feet and leaned against a tree. "Too bad you can't fight me, cause I'd get hurt. And we all know that one can't hurt his or her mate."
"That doesn't mean you're going unpunished. I am your Alpha, and your mate! You will respect me!"
I gave him an incredilous look and then turned my back on him and walked off towards the house. The feral growl behind me reminded me that to turn your back on an Alpha is a serious act of disrespect. I cursed under my breath and turned back to face him, holding my hands up.
He was in front of me in a second and grabbed onto my ponytail, yanking my head back and his teeth repunctured his mark. I gasped and fell against him, clutching his shirt to try and keep me upright on my feet.
"You will learn your place, Legna. You may be my mate, but until the bond is complete, you are just another ordinary wolf in the pack. Do I make myself clear?"
I weakly nodded. With a low growl, he pried my hands off of him and stormed towards the house. My legs crumpled and I sank into the grass. I gently raised one of my hands to his mark, wincing when my fingertips brushed over the wounds. There was something warm surrounding it and I pulled my hand back to see blood smeared over my fingers.
"That fu-"
"Mommy!"
"-dge covered walnut!" I amended my words as I saw and heard Hunter running up to me. There was no way that I'd be the one to teach him foul language. I'll save that for my stupid mate.
"Mommy! Guess-" He stopped right in front of me and frowned down at my neck. "What's wrong, mommy?"
"Nothing's wrong. Don't worry about me, okay?"
He nodded but his eyes were darkening as he stared at the blood. I stood and picked him up, settling him on my hip, one hand clamped over the healing mark. Hunter's body started shaking and I stopped walking, looking down at him.
"Hey, buddy, it's okay. I'm not that-" My words cut off and I felt like face-palming. He was half vampire, of course he'd react to blood. "Hunter, listen to me. I get what you're going through, but just ignore the blood, okay? Just focus on my face. That's it. See, you're okay."
He had torn his dark blue eyes off of my mark and looked into my eyes. As he calmed down, his eyes lightened back to his normal icy blue color. I felt the mark heal completely and I wiped away all the blood, wiping my hand on my thigh. I was going to shower anyways, so it wouldn't stay for long.
"Now, what were you going to tell me?"
His face brightened and he grinned widely at me. "Guess what Uncle Leb said!"
I chuckled at the nickname he had given Caleb. Of course, if irritated my brother to no end that Hunter refused to use his full name, but he wasn't going to yell at him. If he hurt my baby, he'd be digging his way through six feet of dirt. "What did he say?"
"He said Daddy was pissed and went to his office to let it out!" He giggled before leaning in closer to my ear and whispering. "That's not the bathroom! Daddy peed in his office!"
The mental image of that popped into my head and I snorted, then laughed loudly. Oh the joys of a child's mind. Hunter clutched onto my shirt as I fell against a wall to catch my breath. Camdyn would be so flipping mad if anyone dared step foot in his office without his permission, but for him to pee in it? That thought sent me into another fit of laughter.
"Mommy! I'm hungry!" Hunter wiggled until I set him on the ground. He ran off to the kitchen, with me following behind him, all laughter forgotten since remembering the incident on the field. Bastard was starving his own mate, I thought, but then froze and looked down at myself.
Was he doing it on purpose? Training me endlessly and not letting me eat, was that his way of saying he thought I needed to lose weight? Doubts plagued my mind now and I rushed to the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me before stripping and looking at myself in the mirror.
I'd always thought I was on the skinner side, but I could now see that I had indeed gained weight since I got here. My self-esteem dropped as I turned on the shower before slipping under the spray. Did my mate not like my body, now that I'm more filled out than when I showed up? Has he lost interest in me? My wolf howled at the thought as I scrubbed my hair with my coconut scented shampoo, then washed all the dirt and grime off my body.
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself up in a huge fluffy white towel. Gathering my clothes, I snuck down the hall to my room and tossed myself onto the bed, still drowning in the towel. I guess I could lay off the food, and work more on the exercise, if it'll make him want me again. My stomach growled, protesting that thought, but I ignored it. What's a few skipped meals?
My door banged open and footsteps banged across the room towards me. Then I was staring into Caleb's angry eyes. I gulped. He was a force to reckon with when he was angry. Slowly, I sat up, adjusting my towel to drape over my shoulders.
"What the hell happened?"
"I don't- What are you talking about?"
"Hunter came into the kitchen smelling of your blood. The bathroom smells of your blood. So I'll ask you one last time, what happened?"
I shifted on the bed and clutched the towel closer around my body. "Camdyn was training me and I tripped, that's it."
He growled and got right up in my face, his eyes turning black, to those of his wolf. "You lie!"
I frantically shook my head while fighting off tears, refusing to even let them pool in my eyes, knowing that'd be a dead giveaway. Suddenly there was a loud bang and the bedpost next to me broke. I jumped and realized that Caleb had punched it.
"Dammit, Legna! All I ever tried to do was protect you, and this is the thanks I get? Lies? That means so much to me. Let's see if I ever-"
"Caleb! Enough!"
My eyes darted to the door to find a disappointed Serendipity standing there, arms crossed. Caleb whipped around, growling at the disrespect shown to him. The growls only pissed her off and she walked into the room, smacking him upside the head, causing him to stumble and growl loudly again.
"Don't you dare growl at me, Mister, or you're sleeping outside with the real wolves!"
His eyes widened and he started mumbling apologies before scampering out of the room. I stared, slack-jawed, in wonder at the woman before me. No one has ever had that much power over my brother. She was now officially my best friend and savior. The door swung shut as she kicked it with her foot before rounding on me.
"Okay, now that it's just us girls, tell me what's got you all tied up."
"He doesn't like me." I mumbled it, hoping she wouldn't hear it, but she did. Unfortunately.
"Camdyn?" She asked, wide eyed. I meekly nodded, feeling the prickling at the back of my eyes foreshadowing the tears that came flooding in. "Oh, baby, that's impossible! What makes you think that he doesn't like you? Hell, he's still mad at me for kissing you that one time when I was drunk!"
"He told me that I'm just like any other wolf until the bond is complete and he's been training me nonstop and on barely any food." I looked up at her, staring pitifully into her vibrant green eyes. "My own mate, practically starving me! That means he doesn't like me anymore. He probably thinks I'm too fat now."
"Fat? FAT?! Please tell me you're kidding." She searched my face, and then her's hardened. "Listen to me. You. Are. Not. Fat. Sure you might've gained a few pounds, but what girl doesn't when she has all the sweets on earth in the same house as her? Or what guy, for that matter? You are beautiful, and if you think that he doesn't like you anymore, don't starve yourself to 'look better', but instead, show him what he's missing."
I wiped at my face and she grabbed a cookie from a container resting on my nightstand. I eyed it but she yanked my chin down, shoved it into my mouth and forceably moved my jaw to make me chew, then tilted my head back and poured water down my throat so that I was forced to swallow. Coughing and spluttering, I now nervously eyed my best friend.
"Don't give me that look. If you ever refuse food, we're going to do that all over again, got it?"
I nodded my head and she grinned, then snatched my arm up and led me over to my closet, picking out a grey sweater that was high in the front, resting at my hips while the back of it drooped to just under my butt. Then she tossed me some black leggings and some grey ankle boots. She yanked the towel off of me and started rooting through my drawers for my undergarments.
After about fourty minutes, she sat back on my bed and grinned, eyeing me up and down in a pleased way. I had my hair straightened and was forced into putting on some eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss. Literally forced. The crazy woman fucking tied me to a chair!
"You. Are. PERFECT!"
I just stared at her, wondering when she lost her top, and what the closest asylum's number was. Hello? Please prepare a room, you're getting a new patient. I sniggered at that and she sent me a look clearly telling me that she knew I was laughing at her and to shut up.
"Okay, now, let's get you out into the world of love." She yanked me out of my room and started dragging me down random halls.
"I'm not going to be mating him. So don't get your hopes up."
"Aww, why'd you have to go crushing my dreams? I wanted to watch!"
I started to dig my heels into the carpet as I stared in horror at the back of her head. She looked back to grin and roll her eyes at me and I understood then that it was a joke. "That wasn't very funny."
"It was. You weren't the one to see your face after I said it."
She stopped suddenly and I looked around, gasping when I realized that we were in front of his office. Without any introduction, she grabbed the doorhandle, swung it open, shoved me inside, and then slammed it shut behind me. I turned, pounding on the door, only to hear her laughter and a very loud "You're not coming out until you've talked!". I frowned at the door and in the silence, I realized something.
It was too quiet. And it was an awkward, tension-filled silence at that.
Slowly, I turned around to find my mate sitting in his seat, staring at me wide-eyed in fear. Then my eyes took in the entire scene and my heart broke. No! my wolf howled, but I couldn't say I was surprised. I'd guessed it and apparently I'd guessed correctly.
There was some tall, skinny, red-head stradling his lap, her lips and his swollen from kissing and she was missing her top. My eyes watered and I looked away, taking a shuddering breath. I gathered up all my hurt and turned to the door, kicking it open and hearing Serendipity go flying down the hall. I ran out of the room, out of the pack house and into the woods, ignoring Cam's calls of my name behind me.
I showed up at a very familiar river from when I went to the vampire's castle. Standing at the edge, I looked down at my rippling reflection, letting tears stream down my face. I never should have let Serendipity take me to his office. But part of me had wanted to know if he actually wanted me as I was. How wrong was I? I laughed humorlessly.
"Hurts, don't it?"
My head whipped up to see Eric standing there, watching me carefully. I wiped away my tears, nodding my head. "I should've known. Why would he want the girl with all the baggage, the girl that is stronger than him? He'd be humiliated every time I showed him up."
"It's not your fault that you are who you are. And it's not your fault for his actions."
I then realized that this is Eric. Eric who doesn't care about my feelings. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
He shrugged, pushing off the tree and jumping over the river to stand before me. His hand cupped the side of my face and he brushed away a stray tear with his thumb. "I guess having a mate has softened me." A gentle smile came to his face. "She's made me realize that though I don't like the fact that you can kill my entire race in a heartbeat, you still are my niece, and I need to start treating you like family."
His cold, yet strong arms wrapped around me and I broke, sobbing into his chest while he soothed me. This should be our mate. Want mate. My wolf whimpered and retreated to the back of my mind. Even Lana was hurting, sitting in her own corner of my mind, sobbing bloody tears into her knees, as she'd curled up in a fetal position.
"So, as family, I'm going to offer you a deal. You can come live with us and forget about them, either literally or figuratively. However, you have to let them know what has happened to you. Your father doesn't want a war all because you now live with us and your pack has no idea where you are."
I considered my options; either go back and feel my heart break every time I see him, or go live with my father and uncle and not have to suffer the heartache I've been put through. It was obvious to me. Pulling back to look at my uncle, I sniffled and nodded at him.
"Please, take me home. I can't stay here. I'll write a letter to the pack when we get to the castle and someone can deliver it. But, please, let me bring my baby, Hunter, to the castle. I can't leave him there."
"Of course, we'll bring him back with the messenger tomorrow."
"Thank you."
He nodded and smiled sympathetically at me. Keeping his arm wrapped protectively around my shoulders, he led us back to the castle and immediately showed me to my room, telling me to get some rest before shutting the door softly behind him.
I pulled off my boots and slipped into the bed, snuggling into the pillows and blankets that cocooned around me. Tomorrow morning, I will write the letter. Right now, I need to forget, to clear my mind. I listened to the crickets chirping through my open window, their songs lulling me into a deep sleep.