*** My friend SageTaylor has an amazing book called Broken, it is a Werewolf Romance and it has made me cry several times as she read parts to me (she is my room mate and reading to eachother as we get chapters done is just what we do) Please check it out!!! Thank you ***
IrishEyez
Chapter 19
While sitting with my mom, I felt the presence of someone that was walking up to us with very quiet feet. I turned to see Mathias and my dad standing behind us in only shorts.
My dad came up to mom and picked her up bridal style, carrying her back to the bunker. He was whispering into her ears and she just nodded her head in response. I could not hear what he was telling her, but I am sure that he was trying to reassure her that she only did what she needed to, to survive.
As I watched him walk away with her I felt a pair of muscular arms wrap around my waist and pull me back. “You alright my love?” He whispered into my ear.
I let out a deep sigh, closing my eyes and leaned my head back into his chest. “I just want to crawl into bed and forget that today ever happened.” He handed me the shirt that he had been holding and helped me slip it on.
“I will walk you back, and then I need to come back out and help with the clean up. Are you going to be okay by yourself for a while?” He asked as he took my hand.
“I will be, as long as you come back. A good shower and some sleep will do me some good, but all I really need is you there with me.” My voice was shaking and I could feel the threatening tears bubbling over.
He turned me and had a look of sorrow as he wiped the tears from my cheeks. “Ellis, you really did a wonderful thing here today and you should walk with your head held high. For generations to come, you alone will be known as the woman that took down a monster. Please, do not cry for any of this.”
I may have killed a monster, but at what cost? There were werewolf and human bodies littering the woods around us and it killed me to know that I had taken another life. Looking back up to him, I could not help but shake my head. “I… I… I killed Mathias, I killed three humans! I am a horrible person and I don’t know how you can even stand to look at me right now. I cannot even stand to be near myself, but I have no choice in that matter!” The more I spoke, the louder I got and all too soon, I was yelling.
He didn’t say anything to me as I screamed out my piece. When I finished he gently brushed a stray hair out of my face, then gently cupped my face into the palm of his callused hands. “If that were the case, then you would not be able to look at me for an eternity. Do you have any idea how many of them I have killed in my lifetime?”
“I really don’t think that I want to know Mathias, I don’t want to know how many lives you have taken.”
“I don’t see it that way Ellis, for every Hunter that is killed, there may be a werewolf that is saved. That is what has kept me sane every time I have had to kill one of them. They would not hesitate to kill us… remember that honey.” He pulled me into a hug and said nothing else.
He was right; I could not look at them as normal people that we might pass on the street. They had a vendetta against us that was unfair and made from lies.
I held him tighter and looked around again. There were many of us walking through the dead to make sure that they were not their loved ones. I saw a woman crying at the body of her dead husband. Her wails pierced my heart and brought fresh tears to the surface.
There were others mourning for their loved ones as the Hunter’s bodies were piled up and lit on fire. Last to go on was the body of Thomas, his eyes still open and seemingly staring at me. As the pyre was lit ablaze, I closed my eyes and turned away.
The urge to wretch was overwhelming and I had to run away as fast as I could. I didn’t make it far as I fell to my knees and threw up the little breakfast that I was able to eat before the Hunter’s showed up.
Mathias crouched down next to me and held my hair while I vomited onto the forest floor. He was rubbing small circles onto my back to try and calm my nerves. “Come on, I’m taking you back so you can rest.”
Like my dad had done with my mom, Mathias picked me up and carried me back to the Pack’s underground home. When we got into our room, he placed me onto the bed and headed into the bathroom. When he had the shower going, he came back out and lovingly took the shirt off of me.
Once I was under the relaxing stream of hot water, he helped me get cleaned up; making sure that every drop of blood and every speck of dirt was cleansed from my body.
My body and mind were so exhausted that I wanted to just close my eyes and fall asleep standing there. Mathias then wrapped a towel around me and led me to our bed. Without even bothering to put on any clothes, I laid on the bed and closed my eyes. It had only been about two hours since this all started, yet it felt I had just fought in the Hundred Year War.
My much needed respite was halted when my cell phone went off. I had not even bothered to check it at all since I arrived as I didn’t think that I would have reception here.
Looking at the small screen it read that Raven was calling me. I had not talked to her since the day I left and I really missed my best friend. “Hello?” I answered with a sleepy meek voice.
“Ellis! Why have you not called me? I heard what you did and all I can say is, that’s my girl!” She was practically yelling and I had to hold the phone away from my ear so she didn’t blow out an ear drum.
I rested my head back on the overly comfy pillow and tried to not close my eyes immediately. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you Rave, after everything that happened I needed to get some sleep. It was a very trying morning; can I possibly call you back later when I am more awake?” I left my phone perched on my ear and pulled the blankets carefully back up to my chin.
I heard a sigh on the other end of the line and what sounded like Alpha Marcus saying something to Raven. “Okay dad… Hey girl, dad says good job and we’ll see you soon. Call me when you are actually listening to what I’m saying and more awake… love and miss you hun.”
“Love you too Rave.” We hung up and I didn’t even move the phone, I just let it slip onto the bed as I rolled over.
It was another few hours and I didn’t want to move but my bladder had other plans. I got up and made my way to the bathroom. While in there, I heard the door to the bedroom open and a knock at the bathroom door.
“Ellis, did you just wake up?”
I washed my hands and exited the bathroom and went right into his arms. Mathias swayed back and forth with me and rubbed his hands up and down my back.
“I didn’t want to wake you up, but it’s time for dinner and you have not eaten since breakfast. You need to keep up your strength.” He finished by planting a kiss to the top of my head.
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Almost 6 hours.”
“I cannot believe that I have been asleep so long. And I am starving, let me throw some clothes on and we’ll head down.” He released his grip on me and I made my way to the dresser, pulling out a pair of jeans and one of Mathias’s hooded sweatshirts.
“I’m gonna jump into the shower and be right out.” He made quick work of his shower and was back out in a matter of minutes. I wanted to take a moment to revel in his beauty, but my stomach objected. He threw on a pair of worn out and torn jeans and was looking through his dresser drawers when he looked at me with an exasperated look on his face.
“Have you seen… that’s my favorite sweatshirt you have on there.” He started walking towards me when I reached my hands into the slightly torn front pocket and felt a small hard object.
“What the?” I pulled out the small box and just stared at it for a moment and then looked up into Mathias’s eyes.
He took the small black box from my hand and smiled at me. “Well this is not how I wanted to do this, but we are alone, the war is over and I love you. So, why the hell not?” Mathias dropped to one knee before me and opened the box, revealing a beautiful pink princess cut diamond with a slim platinum band.
“Oh my god Mathias…” He put a finger to his lips and told me to shush.
“Ellis, I love you more and more with every waking moment and I know that this love is only going to grow as time goes on. So what if we have only known each other for a few weeks, so what if we didn’t wait to get pregnant. We are going to rock as parents and this baby is in for a world of excitement and craziness. I cannot picture my life with anyone but you, only you and our brood of little Ellis’s and Mathias’s. Let’s get this rollercoaster started and please say that you’ll be my wife.”
I didn’t even take a half breath before answering him. “Oh hell yes!” I yelled and he was up on his feet again in no time flat. He removed the promise ring from my left hand and moved it to the right. Then he placed the stunning engagement ring to my left hand.
Mathias grabbed me and pulled me into a hug that I may have needed the jaws of death to escape from. When his lips met mine, I knew that he meant every word that he just said to me.
“We are getting married Mathias and we are having a baby. Can you believe it?” I placed a hand to my stomach and he put his over it.
He was grinning from ear to ear. “I can, now let’s go and tell the Pack the great news.”
We walked into the dining hall hand in hand and as soon as we entered everyone stood and started applauding us. I felt embarrassed and buried my face into Mathias’s chest.
My dad walked up to us and enveloped me into a hug. “You did a great thing today Ellis and I am very proud of you. I know that what you did was difficult, but it was something that needed to be done.”
“I just wish that it was not me that had to do it. I know that it had to be done and that he was an evil man, but all three lives that I took today had someone that loved them and I took a loved one away from them.” I couldn’t even look him in the eye as I spoke to him.
“They took loved ones away from us too Ellis, it was a war, they lost people and so did we. War is never pretty and I am sorry that you were put into that position, but you did something that no one in this Pack will ever forget. You did a great justice for our Pack today and we are all very proud of you.” He kissed my forehead and brought my face up so that I was looking right into his eyes. “I love you baby girl and I know that one day you and Mathias are going to be great leaders of this Packs.”
He brought my hands into his and looked down them. The realization of my left hand made him freeze and then he looked at Mathias with a questioning gaze.
“I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you first sir, she found the ring and I couldn’t just not ask her when she did.” My dad smiled and shook Mathias’s hand.
“It’s not me that you have to worry about, I know that you are an amazing young man and you will be great to her. But you will have to explain this to her other mom and dad. I feel for you because I will not be there when you tell them.” He was trying to not smile as he seemingly told Mathias that he was ‘feeding him to the wolves’ as it were.
“You’re not coming back with us when we go? You’re not all staying here are you, the war is over and you can move on. You don’t have to live underground anymore.” I didn’t want to come across as if I was panicking, but I was. I needed my real parents with me when I told my other parents about the baby and the fact that Mathias and I are getting married.
My dad gently cupped my cheek as he spoke to me. “We will be coming with you honey, just not yet. We need to finalize everything here and then we will be coming. But, you and Mathias will be going before us. You have school to finish and we will be there in time to see you walk across the stage for your graduation. We have missed enough of your life and we don’t have any intentions of missing any more of it.”
“When are we going back?” I had already missed about two weeks of school between my heat and being here.
“Tomorrow morning, I have already contacted Jackson and Sandra. They will be meeting you at the airport.”
Tomorrow, I will be going home tomorrow and facing my other parents. I think I would rather just hide out in this bunker. Maybe forever.