How dare I make you wait this long. Sorry! (TW: death)
C H A P T E R
T W E N T Y T H R E E
A D E L A I D E
The rest of the week moved on like normal and soon, the pack dinner was starting. Which meant it was time for me to get to know the pack and members of the pack could get to know me.
I imagined the dinner being in a large dining hall, but instead Leo decided that it would be more enjoyable if it was a massive barbecue, plus the weather was going to be incredible. So he had everyone that knew how to grill bring theirs to the backyard and serve up an array of incredible grilled foods, like hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, chicken breasts and wings, and even some fish.
As one could imagine, the whole area was smelling incredible by the time I emerged from the house with Leo. I squeezed his hand tightly as nerves ate at my stomach, a lump forming in my throat.
"Alright, gorgeous," he murmured to me. "I know you're going to hate this, but we need to split up. So people will feel comfortable enough to approach. Sometimes my presence scares them."
I gripped him even tighter. "What? What if someone is mean to me? I can't handle that on my own."
"You won't have to. I have a couple of my men and women that will be keeping a close eye on you. They will be lurking around to make sure that if anyone dares to disrespect you, they are taken care of. But if you get upset, come find me."
Leo peeled my fingers from his arm, cupping my face gently before kissing me on the corner of my mouth. "You'll be fine. You're a smart, kind, wonderful girl. Go have fun."
I sighed sadly, nodding slowly. "Okay. But don't go too far."
"I won't."
- - - -
The first few minutes were quite uneventful. I shook hands with close to ten people and hugged a few women, just doing basic introductions before someone else would pull me away. So far, everyone was polite and it didn't seem forced. LIke they were making themselves be nice to me.
"You are so beautiful," one elderly woman gushed to me, straight up grabbing my face and pinching my cheeks.
I giggled. "Thank you," I responded.
"Don't you let that man forget how lucky he is to have you, you understand?" she told me. "And that goes with everyone else in this pack. No matter what anyone says, we need you."
I grinned at her, almost feeling myself get emotional. "Thank you, ma'am. That means so much to me."
"You remind me of my daughter, you know. She was born without a wolf and did what you did - left the pack. She lives in Los Angeles and is an incredible graphic designer. But she never visits anymore. Too painful, the girl tells me," the sweet woman said.
My heart went out for her. Of course I felt great empathy for this situation. How could I not? "Did the pack mistreat her?" I asked softly. "Don't hold any details back."
"Some of the kiddos were a bit nasty, but no. The torment came from within herself. So to best survive, she had to move on. And I don't blame her for that."
This discussion stayed with me the rest of the night.
Even as people deliberately avoided my gaze or my path, something about what that kind old woman said kept me going with a smile on my face. Plus, I didn't really blame some of the people that really didn't want to speak with me. I was a stranger to the pack that had voluntarily left my original pack, which wasn't usually a great indication of character. I had to remind the part of myself that was angry and hurt by these people that they didn't know me and more importantly, I didn't know them.
Hopefully in time, we could all learn to coexist.
After an hour, I started to notice that I had run out of people to speak to. And Leo must have been watching me and the people I was meeting too, because he intercepted my path, wrapped his fingers in mine, and pulled me away from the group and towards the trees.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"To be alone," he answered with a wicked little grin.
Leo paused shortly to kiss my cheek. "I'm not going to have sex with you in the forest," I told him.
He dramatically sighed in disappointment. "I guess we should call the party off then," Leo teased. "I actually just wanted to give you a break from all that. Even though it didn't look like you needed it."
I smiled to myself. "You think I was doing alright? I was trying. But some people still didn't really want to talk to me, I could tell," I responded. "I tried though."
Leo pulled me close so we were walking with our sides pressed together. "You were doing so well. I could tell, I promise."
"Good. I met a super cute old lady-"
"Sherry? Yes, I saw that. After she stopped speaking with you, she came to me and threatened me within an inch of my life," he told me with a chuckle. "She's like everyone's grandmother here. I'm sure we'll be seeing her in a couple days."
Leo paused to help me over a fallen log on the pathway we were walking before continuing to hold my hand. "So... where are we going?"
"Just a little further. I want to have peace and quiet so we can't hear the party," he explained.
A couple minutes later, Leo stopped walking and pulled me into his embrace tightly. I returned the hug and let out a deep breath of relief. "I hate parties," he mumbled into my hair.
I laughed. "Then why did you throw one, you big dummy?"
"I had to. It's tradition. And don't call me a dummy, dummy."
Previously, if Leo had pressed me up against a tree and attempted to kiss me, I would have pushed him away. But there was something in the air that night that had me pulling him closer, wrapping my arms around his neck and moving into his deep kisses.
My confidence in what we had was normally quite shaken.
And yet there I was, making out with the man who had put me through a lot of pain in the past, pinned against a large tree in the darkening night sky. Where anyone who came down the trail could see us.
Maybe it was just the mark speaking but something about that made my lower stomach burn with an unfamiliar feeling.
My fingers crept into Leo's hair and the man hummed in content. He stopped kissing me to trail his lips down my throat and give attention to the mark.
"We shouldn't be away for too much longer," Leo murmured between soft kisses, his hands gripping my hips like he was afraid I'd move away.
My head hung backwards and my eyes shut as Leo gently nibbled on the flesh of my throat before soothing it with his tender, plush lips and tongue.
"Uh huh," I responded breathlessly.
"We shouldn't go much further," he clarified, but didn't stop his actions.
I used one of my hands to tilt his head up so I could meet his gaze. His eyes were glowing with need, which frightened me a little bit. Did I trust him not to hurt me? I did, right?
"Calm down," I murmured. "Don't lose control on me."
Leo nodded slowly before pressing a chaste kiss to my mouth. "I want to try something tonight."
"What do you mean?" I whispered, my fingers tracing along his jawline absentmindedly. There was a little scar that cut into the left side of his jaw and I found my thumb pausing there to inspect it. I wonder what happened. "What's this?"
"My Family dog bit me when I was a child. She took enough skin off that it didn't completely heal, which is rare."
I leaned up on my tippy toes to brush my lips against the small indentation. He made a noise like a purr and embraced me tightly.
"Let's not go back," I said quietly. "Let's just hide out here until they're all gone."
Leo chuckled, his hands playing with the hem of my dress at my thighs. "I'm sorry, gorgeous, but we can't."
Pushing him away playfully, I started to back away towards the denser part of the forest with a wicked little grin. "You're going to have to catch me to drag me back there," I claimed.
The man rolled his eyes. "They're going to think we are making love in the trees, Angel."
"Ugh. I hate that phrase," I complained. "I prefer the term frick frack. Or better, frick frack patty whack."
Leo gave me a look that said it all. "You are bizarre," he commented, starting to follow after me.
"I just don't like parties. I got used to never attending them," I explained, skirting around some particularly thick bushes.
Leo sighed. "Come on, Addie. Don't make me chase you. Let's go back."
"Just a few more minutes of fun. Before you throw me to the wolves." At my clever pun, I gave Leo the finger guns.
The man narrowed his eyes at me. "You are in a silly mood, princess. Don't tell me you-"
"I had a shot of something from that table," I answered. "But only one."
He rubbed his temples with a light laugh, wagging his head. "One of those is worth four shots of human vodka."
"Well... I feel great," I stated, throwing my arms out.
Suddenly, Leo's amused expression fell and his whole body tensed up. "Something's not right," he muttered. "Come here."
I stopped moving and listened. There were distant sounds of the regular woodsy-type. Nothing seemed amiss. The scents in the air were normal. "I don't sense anything," I told him.
"Mine are more heightened than yours," Leo said seriously, holding an arm out to me. "I think we should go back."
My shoulders slumped. "Are you playing a game to force me back to the party? Not cool, bro."
I started to back up again. "Come chase me. Let's play."
"Adelaide, I am being serious. Somethings wrong."
"Why do our moments always have to get ruined?" I groaned, still walking backwards. "I was starting to think maybe you could have some fun every once in a while."
"Adelaide-"
I cut him off with a little yelp as I tripped over backwards on what I originally thought was a log. I tumbled backwards, with my legs coming to rest over the object that tripped me while my back was on the ground.
One would have expected Leo to come rescue me instantly, but he seemed frozen stiff, staring at my legs. I was about to call him a pervert when I noticed the "log" was made of the weirdest texture.
It was kind of soft, but still firm. And it had shifted a bit when it fell over t. Even weirder, there seemed to be cloth on laid over it. My calves and thighs started to feel moist, like some liquid was transferring off of the log.
Prepping myself into my hands, I slowly lifted one leg to inspect it just as Leo let out a string of colorful curse words.
Even in the darkening environment, there was no denying that what I thought had been a log was a decaying body.
It's head was tilted towards me, eyes wide, lifeless. Mouth was open and it appeared like some of its flesh there had been nibbled at by forest creatures.
I didn't scream. I couldn't. It was stuck in my throat as I realized parts of the man's decaying body were sticking to my legs and that's why I felt wet.
A small shriek finally escaped as I scrambled backwards, trying to distance myself from the body.
Leo still hadn't moved, but he was staring at something behind me. "Adelaide, come here. Don't look behind you. Just come to me, okay, baby?"
My heart was pulsing in my ears. I could hardly hear what he was saying. But the temptation was too much.
Turning my head over my shoulder, my gaze followed Leo's which was directed at a tree about a dozen yards away.
Halfway up the massive tree was a branch that had been sharpened to a needle point. The limb was several shades darker than all the rest. Towards the base of the tree, lines of thick, darkish brown had previously dropped down. Following the lines upwards, a dark form was speared onto the sharpened tree limb, slumped forward.
Impaled.
And my screams of horror were finally released.
***
Who done it?