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One day I'll hurt you, I promise.
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Of course, she's his sister. Her dark hair, body tone, and eyes were same. I could tell Andrew was more intense than she was, though not making her any less powerful.
Her eyes wandered over me and I became self-conscious about my body and appearance. I wish I could've had a bit more of a warning to look better, but Andrew seemed just as surprised as I was that she was already here. Andrew stepped away from me so his sister could have more access, his body and stature still protective and ready as he stood apart from me.
Brooklyn studied me some more, occasionally tilting her head to the side for a different angle. I felt like an experiment. "She's very beautiful Andrew. How did she find you?"
My cheeks heated at such a compliment.
Andrew smirked, crossing his arms over his chest as he responded. "I found her, actually."
Brooklyn chuckled. "I thought you told James and I you were done looking for 'the one'?"
The man beside Brooklyn, James, was tall and had beautiful black skin he showed off proudly by rolling his sleeves. He nodded in agreement beside Brooklyn with a small smile on his lips.
"I felt her presence, my beast had went into a frenzy and - " Andrew cleared his throat beside me, his eyebrows were knitted together. This was a very embarrassing topic for both of us.
"I bought her at an auction."
"Auction?" Her nose wrinkled at the thought and she began to sympathize with me. She was highly intelligent, Brooklyn's mind working to pick apart every detail. "You poor thing, I know that must've been hard for you to go through. Alphas wouldn't sell pack mates, not even if you were a rogue." Brooklyn examined me again, the shake of her head as she tried to fit me into a catagory. "She isn't a rogue."
Andrew nodded his head, his head moving slow with eyes glued to his sister trying to find any hint that she was catching on to what he had just said.
James noticed our unease first, reaching for Brooklyn to pull her backward and away from me.
"She was being sold." She repeated, so lost in her mind that she couldn't even properly react to James moving her away. Brooklyn reached for him, her hand resting against his arm as she stared into my eyes, maybe even noticing me completely. She noticed my height, my lack of muscle, my appearance.
Her eyes drifted to my foot, the ankle wrap slightly hidden from my socks and shoes. She noticed, her nostrils flare as the doctor's had. I retreated to Andrews side and wrapped my hands around his arm. Andrew looped his hand around my waist, ready to put me behind him if necessary.
She knew. She knew what I am.
A growl erupted from her chest and she pointed an accusing finger at me. "She's human."
James growled lowly and pulled Brooklyn completely away, his lip pulled back to show pearl white teeth. They contrasted beautifully with his mixed skin tone and his bright eyes. It was a shame he was growling at me with a murderous look. "How did this happen? What did you do?"
Andrew shrugged his shoulders and folded his arms making me lose my grip on him. I laid a hand against his torso, feeling more safe if I were still touching him. Andrew exposed his muscles and dared James to test his patience. "I don't know how this happened. I don't know why we're different. But I'll be damned if you think you will threaten and talk about her this way. She's not a fucking parasite." He let Brooklyn and James take in a few deep breaths to calm themselves before saying anything else. James backed away and left Brooklyn's side and took a seat on the entry furniture. Brooklyn couldn't meet Andrew's eyes. Andrew reached for my hand which I gave to him without hesitation. I couldn't imagine how Andrew was handling this. He must be so ashamed of having me here with him.
"You think that again and I'll take you up to my bedroom and show you just how much you 'shame' me."
I looked to the floor and felt my neck grow red. "What are you going to do if they don't accept me?"
Andrew looked down at me, a slight shade of sadness covering his eyes. "I will - I'm losing my sister."
"Andrew, you can't do that!"
"What am I supposed to do Emily?" His eyes were wild and his fingers squeezed mine, his head turning to look in my direction before our eyes met. "I'm not giving you up, you're just as much of my family as she is."
"How? The way you protect her - she is your mate isn't she?" Brooklyn looked between us, the shake of her head in disbelief only made my guilt worsen. "This hasn't been heard of. A human with a wolf." Her eyes were wide with curiosity rather than anger. She turned on her brother to fire her questions. "What did you do?"
Andrew rolled his eyes, "I didn't do anything this time, I swear. Why is it so hard to believe that I have a mate who is human?"
"You must've done something." She paced the tile. "You've made the Moon Goddess angry with you. There's no other explanation I can come up with on why she would give you a human."
Andrew growled. "I don't care what she's done. I'm happy with what I received and I'm sick of you acting like she's a plague you're forced to carry! Nothing about Emily concerns you." Andrew was getting really upset and I tried my best to keep myself looking calm from beside him. "If shit hits the fan, run to Dameon. He's lingering around waiting for you in case."
"You're only happy with what you have because of the bond! Otherwise you'd be able to realize what position you're actually in." She rested her hand on her hip and pointed an accusing finger at Andrew. "Don't you dare say this doesn't concern us. She concerns all of us brother! She's a risk to our kind and could have us all hunted if we are exposed."
I didn't like the way Andrew was being blamed, and how nonchalantly he was taking the accusations. Had he been blamed before like this?
"Who could I tell that would believe me?" My voice wasn't very strong, but their heads all turned my direction when I began speaking. "I'm not even allowed to leave, there's no other place I can go, and I haven't had a decent conversation here with anyone besides Andrew. There's no one for me to tell." I voiced, my own frustrations rising to the surface after listening for so long.
"You humans have a way of ruining things. It's in your nature." She scowled, the rumble in her chest a bit lower this time when she spoke to me. I straightened my back a little, to stand next to Andrew and not look so cowardly. "You could be no different and have my people destroyed in a blink of an eye. My family, my traditions, my history. Humans have done it before and will do it again."
"Watch your tone if you know what's best for you." Andrews voice was low and he held my hand from behind him. "You're speaking to my Luna. You will show some respect."
An awkward silence filled the room and I prayed that Andrew had still called for help or something to take me to my room while he handled it. Dameon didn't come, and neither had Cantu.
"Well - how is it? Are you happy? Are you able to mate?" Brooklyn straightened herself from her lean against the wall, walker a bit closer to James who coughed beside her and mouthed an apology.
"No. The doctor said she would need to get her body ready before we mate." Andrew looked down at me as he sadly examined, making me feel extreme self consciousness. "Right now, if we tried it would kill her. We don't know the percentage of probability for pregnancy but she already has low percentage of success."
"Of course it would kill her, look at her! She already looked so drained. How are the shared emotion and communication going on? Are you using it a a lot?" Brooklyn fretted over me with the shake of her head, looking back at James as she had a memory. "You don't want to hurt her, but I mean - the first time James and I mated, it lasted for about a week or so and I was down for a month. Sex with beasts is dangerous Emily, and it can cost you your life."
"I'm sorry about my mate. Brooklyn doesn't have a filter." James reached for her and pulled her closer to him so he could have a hold on her.
"Don't apologize for me!" She slapped his chest lightly, her eyes peeking out from underneath her lashes to see if we were embarrassed.
I laughed too thinking that could totally be Andrew and I too, teasing each other and happy. Andrew reached for me, pulling me to his side too and holding me there. Finally, everything was beginning to cool down and there was no longer so much tension. Andrew calmed too and began to embrace conversation with the two. James was an actually, really calm person.
When they weren't trying to kill me, they were perfectly partnered together. Her stubborn-ness was equally matched with James calmness. I relaxed when everything seemed to have had finally calmed and blown over. They were enjoying themselves.
Would Andrew and I ever get this close?
Brooklyn studied me again, now not holding back her examination knowing what I was.
"You need to tell the pack, Andrew. They won't like it when they find out, but once you start to expose her safely they'll come around. It will keep you safe from other packs who may hunt for her."
"Apparently I'm not hiding her scent very well. More wolves know about it than I would like. However, I've planned to reveal it at the Lunas arrival." Andrew sighed and shook his head at the mess we were in.
Brooklyn nodded, understanding the stress I had put us in. "I don't necessarily think it's her scent, but rather her appearance." She poked at my arms lightly, smiling when she did and Andrew didn't growl. "She's not very toned, or tall. Beautiful yet - there's something about her that keeps you on your toes."
Andrew didn't say anything, keeping his hold on me tight. We watched her make her last calculations before stopping in front of us and giving me an approving nod. "I think she is just the woman for you, Drew." Brooklyn smiled before asking for my hand. "Do you mind if I steal her away for a moment?" Andrew said nothing as he looked down at me for my answer.
Taking a deep breath, I nodded and followed her as she drug me away from his side and into the room over.
No one was in there except for us and I was instantly nervous, the tall bookshelves glaring over us dauntingly. Andrew wouldn't let anything happen to me. Would he?
"No Emily, I wouldn't. You give me the word and I will drag you out of there."
Brooklyn took a seat on the nearest chair, offering to let me explore the office for a moment while she rested herself. The room must've been around for while, Brooklyn knew exactly where this room was and chose it confidently, knowing no one would interrupt us.
The silence was thick and awkward, my fingers brushing over the shelves as I continued to look around. Sound needed to be filled.
"What happened to your ankle?"
I jumped at her first question, my mind making up something drastic that I needed to prepare myself for.
"A werewolf tried to snack on it when we were attacked. It's healed a lot though, thanks to Andrew's powers and the pack doctor."
"Ah, a rouge huh? I figured it couldn't have been a simple pack mate. Andrew wouldn't have let his pack get close enough to you to attack." Brooklyn had pulled a water bottle from a small fridge in a near cabinet making my suspicions accurate. This wasn't her first time being here, which means she knows her way around the house. Which left me to only wonder, who's office is this we sat in now?
"We'll, my first day here I had ran into some trouble with a mated pair who were arguing. I had a few scratches to prove it."
Brooklyn opened her water bottle, a frown on her lips reminding me a lot of her brother. "That's odd. I would've imagined my brother locking you away in a room for the first few days you've been here."
He did, for the most part. I had actually just gained some freedom to roam about and do what I wanted this morning, but I had worried - and found Andrew soon after I woke up and have stayed with him until now. The room was a little silent now that I hadn't responded, so I thought of a question I wanted to ask her.
"How did you meet James?"
She smiled at the memory and I moved to roam a little closer towards her so I could hear her answer better. I grabbed myself a water bottle too, taking a seat on a chair nearby.
"It was a battle between the Blood Moon pack and the Blue Water pack. Andrew wasn't happy with what was happening and ordered Blood Moon to attack."
Blood Moon? Shivers went up and down my spine. I hadn't realized the name of the pack was such a threatening one.
"The Blood Moon had started taking Blue Water's land slowly, by marking their scent over the other's territory. Even though I had argued with him and Dameon, there was nothing to control Andrew's temper back then. Blue Water's old Alpha refused to compensate Andrew's help in a small battle a few years before, and had requested warriors and land as compensation. Andrew was just getting his revenge, but that meant death a lot of times back then. I wasn't supposed to be out there with them, I was really young and hadn't even completed training. I remember following their patrol, Andrew and Dameon the last to arrive before battle would begin." Brooklyn smiled and cleared her throat, her face heating at the memory. "I was hiding in the bushes and keeping my scent blowing the other direction. James had found me, interrupting both of the Alphas to find me and reveal that we were mates. Andrew was furious, mostly that he could no longer fight them and my mate was an enemy in his eyes. But - despite everything, you can't choose who your mate is, and it turned out to be the best punishment I could have asked for."
She took in a deep breath the looked at me, her smile encouraged me that she was only hear to talk with me. I relaxed more in my seat.
"James was the Beta for his pack, so technically we weren't supposed to be destined pairs because I am an Alpha. Alphas mate with Alphas, Betas mate with Betas, and Gammas mate with Gammas. That's why I was so shocked that you were Andrew's mate."
"So no Alpha has ever romantically been with a Beta before?"
Brooklyn waved her hand in the air to stop me. "Of course they have, we all like to experience different things. Somewhere down our blood lines, either my ancestors were Betas until someone challenged an Alpha and won, or Jame's ancestors were Alphas until they lost a challenge and became Betas."
I nodded, trying to understand everything. I took a drink of my water wondering how much time had passed already. I was worried about Andrew, but I didn't mind sitting with Brooklyn.
She was very stunning as well when compared to Andrew. She looked very much like him, her dark hair in loose colors though not so dark that you could lose your fingers through the scalp. Andrew's was darker, and more wild. Their eyes were similar, striking blue almost the same as his. Her skin was more tan than his, but still beautiful compared to her features. Brooklyn had noticed me looking over at her, and her eyebrows twitched. "Tell me more about when you met Andrew. I want the details, please."
I replayed the time in my mind, the auctions circling one another until we were all sold or thrown into a new bunch. I remember my father drunk and trying to beat me into the stupid auction clothes for the first time.
"Andrew and I didn't meet each other. He bought me and told me his name, but that wasn't introducing himself - that wasn't him. I was his property. He told me his name as a warning. We didn't meet until later that night, under different circumstances and with some distance between us." Closing the cap on my face water, I placed it to the side, wrapping my fingers together before backing up my story to the beginning. "My father and I don't have a good relationship, and unfortunately he was the only thing I had before coming here. Lack of money is what caused the auctions, and that's when the cycles began. I was put into auctions every night, tossed onto stages, in cages, in rooms for people to examine me. Like an advertisement for the big event." That part of me wasn't as bitter as it used to be, nor terrified. I had drowned that time deep within my other memories and no one would find them. "Andrew was there but I hadn't seen him yet. Everything was so daunting and different from the smaller auctions. I was sure I would die, so sure that I fought and ran away when I first saw Andrew."
Brooklyn listened, then looked pain for just a moment, sitting straight in her seat to recover. "My brother didn't - He didn't hurt you - did he?"
I smiled at her so she could feel relieved. "No, he just scared the shit out of me every time I spoke with him or saw him until recently." I looked at the door wondering if either of them could could hear us talking in here or if they were busy doing something else. "Actually he's been very kind to me. Likes to aggravate me but protects and defends me. He likes to make me feel safe - and wanted."
"Do you love him yet?" Brooklyn smiled, resting back in her chair before continuing. "It's okay if you don't or just don't know. James and I argued a lot when we first were together, a lot of it was because neither of us really wanted to leave our homes. It was me who decided to leave Blood Moon and join him. There was nothing left for me here and my brother needed to learn." She laughed a bit and lifted her finger to the ceiling. "However, this mate bond is serious business and the Moon Goddess made it especially tough to fight. I'm sure you know the effects."
I pondered for a moment before answering, considering my feelings for Andrew and the short amount of time we've spent together. Did I love Andrew?
"No." I whispered, how could I say this to his sister? "Andrew is important to me, and I've grown attached pretty easily. But that isn't love. Not yet."
"But there are feelings?" She encouraged, the bright smile on her face only getting more excited.
"Yes, there is some along with attraction." My face burned, I pulled my hands to cover my face as I hid the embarrassment.
Brooklyn laughed lightly, coming to sit closer to me as she rested a hand against my back. "I didn't bring you in here to embarrass you, I just wanted to know if you were safe and adapting." She pulled away from me when I sat up to look at her properly, a small smile pulling on my lips. "I know there have been challenges and struggles that you thought would break you - but I'd like to welcome you home. I wanted to see if you needed someone to talk to and ask about things to. Trust me, I know what it's like to feel completely alone too."
"I can talk with you about anything? Ask anything?"
Her eyes got excited again and she peeked towards the door before scooting closer. I prepared to in close my mind from any one around me who might hear my thoughts as Brooklyn held my hand. "Ask me everything!"