Travis took me to a house secludedly nestled deep in the woods about a mile from my house.
I stared around in wonder as I looked at the houses in front of me. The one large house in the middle was surrounded by a bunch of other smaller ones. He headed straight for the largest of the group. It was an older looking house, it was made of wood logs and siding, and built 3 stories up. The houses looked like they'd been around for generations. Built with the blood and sweat, by the hands of hard workers.
Travis trotted up to the front door which was partially propped open. He led us inside to where the house opened up into a large living area with plush leather couches, high vaulted celinings with wood fixtures, making it look like a cozy cabin in the woods, which it certainly was. Last but not least, there were 5 kerosene heaters splayed about the room on full blast. Part of me was glad for the warmth, since ice was starting to seep into my bones, but the other part of me felt wind blown from the power of the heaters aimed at us.
An older woman, who looked to be in her 70s, or 80s, sat on one leather couch soaking up the warmth emmiting from one of the heaters.
"Doc." I heard Travis' deep gruff voice from behind me. I turned to see a jean clad, shirtless Travis standing behind me by the front door.
My eyes widened at his large muscular chest. He must have changed back right after we walked in and I stepped off his back, but I was too busy noticing the wood fixrures to hear him changing back into his human form.
"Alpha, glad to see you both made it back safely." She smiked warmly at the two of us.
"Did you ever doubt me?" He asked with a laugh.
"Of course not." She replied back. "Luna, lets take a look at you."
"Please, its Krystal." I replied looking down at myself covered in a bloodied sheet. Miraculously the blanket didn't fall while I was clutching on to Travis' back as we ran through the woods.
The Doc motioned over to the couch she had been sitting on. "Come, sit." She guided me into a sitting position. She knelt down in front of me, "Can we take away this sheet? I'd like to have a look at your wounds."
"Umm, I'm okay..." I lied. The pain in my side was still throbbing from where Dom had stabbed me.
"Krystal please, Doc's been healing my pack for generations. She knows what shes doing. Let her take a look at your wound." Travis pleaded from beside me on the couch.
Doc put her weathered hands on the edges of the sheet surrounding my naked body. I could feel my cheeks heat up to a bright red from the embarrasment of being naked in front of a stranger and Travis. I cleared my throat and raised my eyebrows at Travis.
He responded with a chuckle and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll just stare up at my celing, which you were admiring before." He said as he laid his hand on my thigh and gave it a squeeze before looking up at the celing.
Doc smiled at me again and then opened up the sheet, looking down at the wound under my ribs. I was afraid to look down, but swallowed my fear and peered down at my side. Blood was crusted atound the jagged edges of the wound opening, and new blood was still falling slowly from it.
My eyes widened in horror and my stomach churned as I assessed my wound. I was no Doctor, but it didn't look good.
"Honey, he got you pretty deep, but you'll heal fast once I put a poultice with some crushed herbs on it. It should help the swelling goes down, and the bleeding will stop. You've got Alpha blood in you. You'll nstart healing within the hour. Now let's lie you down and get you cleaned up."
Doc had shooed Travis out of the room so she could start cleaning my would with some witch hazel and rose water. At first it stung and felt like my skin was burning all the way to my intestines, but then started to cool off and feel better. Doc then added a warm cloth pouch to my skin over the stab wound. Once my side was cleaned and taken care of she handed me a seeming cup of tea. "Lemon, Camomile and Lavender tea, to help you relax and get some rest."
It tasted sweet and soothing, and the aroma of the herbs and the warmth of the poultice quieted my brain and all the stresses of the day and started to lull me to sleep, until darkness overtook me.
***
I woke up what could have been hours or days later from a dreamless slumber. My mother, grandfather and brother were sitting across from the bed I was on.
Wait? Bed? I thought I was on Travis' couch.
And why was my whole family here? I bolted upright. "Mom?" I croaked out with a dry throat.
"Shhh, honey, you've been through a lot, rest your voice. Travis told us all about it. You've been out for days. Here's some water." She said as she handed me a glass and sat at the edge of my bed stroking my hair, a calming gesture she did to me as a child.
"He... he... he, told you? What did he tell you?" I asked. Curious as to what story Travis must have concocted to make my skeptical mother believe.
"The truth." Came a gruff voice near the doorway. Travis stood there, leaving against the door frame in all his 6'5" glory in a fitted black shirt and tight blue jeans.
My brain went on overdrive and couldn't help but check him out from head to toe. He looked like he hadn't shaved or slept in weeks. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was sticking out in a million different places. But none of those things made my heart beat any slower. He was still the most mouthwateringly beautiful specimen of human male I had ever seen.
"Travis has not left your side. I finally got him to get himself something to eat right before you woke up." Said my mother.
"I wanted to be here when you woke up..." Travis groaned as he sat down in a chair next to my bed and took my hand.
"It's okay, you're here now." I replied. As I squeezed his hand back.
"Well, I think we will leave you two alone for a while." My mother said as she, my brother and grandfather followed her out of the room.
I sighed, and finally took a look around. I was in a large room with natural wooden walls, like the living room had, and lying in a huge bed with a white tulle canopy overhead, and covered in a red and gold comforter. I realized I was naked underneath the blanket, so I hiked it up to my neck, embarrassed, that Travis must have seen my body while I was unconscious.
I looked up at him through my lashes to see him blush. "No, I had your mother Belle and Doc get you into this bed. Doc figured you'd heal faster and be more comfortable without clothes to scratch you while you slept. So I didn't see anything."
My eyes widened as I realized he must have read my thoughts. "Soon you will learn how to block me from your mind, if you want to of course. It's not that difficult. You just need to picture a wall around your thoughts and keep it locked up... you'll get better with practice." He said with a smile.
"Where am I?" I asked, still confused as to where I was.
"You're part of the pack now. We are in my house, the one that I share with my parents and grandparents. It's the Alpha's house. And this is your room. I designed everything myself. I also have three other rooms for your family. The Luna, and Alpha's family all live together. Of course I have other houses in our territory if you'd like to get out of the house, or away from everyone, but to the pack, family is everything, so we stay together..." He stopped rambling and locked his vibrant blue eyes with mine. "I really hope you like it. This is your personal room, that you can do anything with. You can have an office in here, or an art room, or music room, or you can keep it as your bedroom... whatever you like."
"What about you? Where will you stay?" I asked, nervous and anxious with him so close to me as I laid naked under the covers. He smiled back at me. "In my room of course. Which you are welcome to stay in... only if you want to." He answered back hesitantly.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" I asked.
Travis sighed and took my hand again, to kiss each knuckle. "Haven't you learned by now Krystal, that I can't live without you by my side? Of course I want you to sleep in the same bed as me. But it's your choice. And I'll always be right down the hall. And if you do choose to stay in my room, this room will still be yours to do as you please." He smiled down at me from his perch on the edge of my bed.
"Well, Travis, I'd hoped you'd have figured out by now that I can't live without you either. 10 years have passed and I'm more and more infatuated with you with each passing day. Although, I didn't imagine you to be an actual man. I thought I just had some crazy weird obsession with a wolf." I laughed nervously, and could feel my cheeks heat up and burn with the embarrassment of telling him how I felt.
"So, am I as attractive as you'd have hoped your true love to be?" He asked with a goofy smile.
"Mmm... hairier." I responded with a laugh.
He chuckled. "Wow, the good looking huh?"
"More than you'll ever know." I took it upon myself to lean up closer to him. He took the hint and wrapped his arms around my blanketed waist, pulling me closer to his chest.
"And you my love, are the most beautiful Luna, this world has ever seen. A true goddess. And I'll love with with ever fiber of my being until the end of eternity." He leaned down to kiss me with lips full of passion.
I could feel my body heat up and ignite at his touch. Liquid fire spread through my veins from head to toe, making me press in closer to Travis.
His mouth dominated mine, not missing a single beat, or letting in a breath of air.
When we finally let each other take in a deep refreshing gulp of oxygen, I looked up into his crysa clear blue eyes, with my green ones and told him the 3 most important words in any lovers dictionary, before capturing his lips with mine again.
"I love you too, Travis."
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