We didn't run fast, we didn't need to as they were on foot, instead we made our way slowly and carefully through the forest. Reece stayed a little deeper in, the growth a little thicker around him, so that his blonde-brown fur wasn't standing out as much. In this dark night, with the moon hidden behind the clouds, it shouldn't have mattered so much but I knew after what he'd seen he wasn't leaving anything to chance.
He followed my lead, followed my pace, happy to let me be the one giving orders now. I traced them, their scent blown to mine through the rain, ears swiviling around so they were locked on our targets.
When we were close enough, I lowered myself, slowing down to a slow crawl, Reece right beside me, keeping deep in the bush. The voices were angry, annoyed, arguing.
Something about a nail in a tire that was now competely flat. He nudged at me at that, a soft chuff, and I knew who'd been responsible for it. It explained why he'd been a little slower to attack than I expected. They were calling for help- another car had dropped the doctors off, a taxi, and it was coming right back. I licked Reece for that, and he nuzzled against me, clearly pleased with himself for that.
We should have been close enough for Demetruis's instict, at the very least, to notice something. Notice Reece's scent near the car, perhaps, or on the tire. But he didn't seem to see us, didn't seem to hear or smell us, and I wondered just how much he ignored the side of him that was werewolf. If he was bitten it may have happened against his will. He never seemed interested in this side of him, except that it was a weakness in his sons, and hadn't even thought to check for scents without checking with a more experianced mutt. This world, this werewolf world, it clearly wasn't his. He even had his back to the forest.
I didn't let my guard down though. Reece didn't either. Inexperianced mutt or not, he was still dangerous, and Reece was following my lead in this. I knew he was confused, or maybe he was trusting me, but when I heard where they were going, I wanted them to go there first.
They were going to Forestwatch. Demetruis was going to find out who'd taken the twins. And if he didn't, at least he'd smell for himself that it wasn't me who'd hidden them, and would give me an advantage. So it wasn't him, or he hadn't been informed of their reappearance yet, I wasn't sure which it was. It wasn't time to think. The taxi pulled up in the darkness, headlights bright and cutting through the rain, the two of us slinking back so our eyes didn't reflect the light, and
Reece slid closer, the two of us watching as all five of them tried to crowd into the taxi. Then it took off, slowly, and we took off after it.
We didn't follow the road. We went through the bush, racing hard now, the pain in my back paw nothing in my anger and determination to hunt him down. I'd never run like this in my life, never attempted it or needed it, but we ran fast, streaking through the thick bush, leaping over fallen logs, around trees, ignoring the startled flutter of birds, the swooping of several owls out of our path, breathing fast and controlled. Reece took the lead again, leading through the bush, and I was close behind him. Nearly tripped over a third startled owl as it took off with a hoot, an upset mouse in its claws, but it wasn't important.
The only thing important was the man who'd just pulled up at Forestwatch and who was breaking the front door down.
We slinked closer, the back door to the laundry open a fraction from Reece's attempt at rescuing stuff, and made our way through the back as he moved upstairs. Moments after we'd entered, feet came around, backs turned to us to watch the forest.
Now all we had to do was isolate Demetruis. With two of us, this wasn't so tough, their backs turned to us now. The tough part was doing it quietly. Reece and I slid across the edge of the house inside. Demetruis was upstairs, we'd have to hurry, and I heard Reece go through the house to care of the front. The taxi was gone again but only a few hundred metres. I wasn't sure if we could chase it off or not.
No time to think about that though. I slid across the floor on my stomach, making my way for the back door, aware that my only job right now was to get these extras done and out of the way. Heart hammering, I approached the first, their attention on the forest with the flashlight...
Only to be pushed aside by Reece. He pushed me to go back in, to go outside, and pushed at me again till I got going. So he wanted me to get Demetruis? Fine by me.
I made my way back into the dark house, hearing and smelling more than Demetruis now as he knelt, hearing the sniffling of someone I did not want to hear crying. Dominic. I inhaled, slowly, and understood why Reece had been so insistent I come in.
Was it another illusion? I didn't know. Didn't care. I heard him try and push the bedroom door open, which wasn't happening when the roof was more or less flopped over our bedroom, the unsteady hallway floor creaking and threatening to break under his feet.
Each paw carefully found the stairs, one by one, low, the unhappy wood groaning under my weight as much as it was under Demetruis. I could see him now though, see him kneeling, trying to sniff the ground. Beside him a small toddler sat, crying, and whoever he tried to get up, Demetruis just pushed him back down without so much as an annoyed glance at him.
"Shut up, kid, and just sit still."
Dominic didn't answer. A lifetime of adoring pack and suddenly someone was treating him like this... he looked so hurt, so upset, and I growled without thinking.
Demetruis's head swung up and he snatched up Dominic, who jumped, standing up. "Shouldn't you be at home? Grieving?"
I saw Dominic right there. I didn't know if it was an illusion or not though. I stood up straighter, as Dominic spotted me too, his arms coming for me as he tried to get himself free. He knew Mama wolf when he saw her. Demetruis scowled, as I slid closer, teeth baring, fur rising up. I wasn't just going to kill him...
I changed my mind as I lunged, changed what I was aiming for, not just because he held Dominic in front of his throat with one hand, using the back of Dominic's Pjs... but ...he wasn't worth my efforts. Much more valuable and fun to us alive. Instead of going for a throat, I went for one of his hands. Clamped down on it, growling, pulling him hard, my teeth going right through skin, muscle, crushing the bone there. He screamed, Dominic screamed, and I grabbed the wrist, doing the same thing to the muscle and nerves, cutting them, destroying them.
It was a promice of what I'd do later, as a human, that a 'fast death' was no where near good enough for this bastard. Demetruis kicked at me, trying to get me off, and I tried to go for his other arm.
"Try it and I'll drop the child over the banister." He hissed. "This one isn't an illusion."
He held Dominic over the edge, Dominic wriggling, squirming, the Pjs cutting too much into his neck for my liking. What if... it wasn't real? Dominic's smell filled my nostrils, the distress of my puppy filling every fibre, every nerve, and I growled deeper, the rumble vibrating throughout the hallway.
He was moving sideways, close ro the banister, as I stepped closer. Reece appeared, stinking like blood, his blonde fur speckled with blood. I hadn't even heard it myself.
"You think I didn't know what that witch was doing?" Demetruis snapped, angry, holding Dominic so hard that Dominic's eyes filled with tears. "She did it to my son. I'm not an idiot like him. I made sure we got the real one."
I growled, moving closer, and he held Dominic so hard that he burst into tears.
"You want to risk it, bitch?" He snapped. "Risk that it's another spell, after I easily noticed the first? Change. We talk. Or I kill it."
I changed. Right in front of him. I didn't care, didn't care what he thought, Reece standing guard as I did, letting him see the transformation, the contorting, my focus only on Dominic's crying and not on anything else.
When it was done, I stood up slowly, Reece helping push me up, standing right beside me. I narrowed my eyes at Demetruis who'd watched the entire thing without flinching, disgust clear on his face.
"You don't want to kill him." I said, softly, a trace of a threat in my voice. "You should be protecting him."
"Tell me why I should be doing that." Demetruis snapped. "He's nothing."
"He's your son's older brother. The only one most suited to guiding your son through his first changes." I was bluffing, I lied easily, the more important thing right now being Demetruis's attention. Reece started the change as I talked. "The pack doesn't do this. The werewolf closest to his age will. Dominic will guide Reece, with Logan helping, because he is the closest in age."
"Bullshit."
"Don't you remember how the change was?" I did. Madness, pain, blood, all of it. I remembered and I'd seen so many girls go through the early days of the bite, that I knew it wasn't just me. "How hard it was? There's a day when your son, Reece, will face that. He will either survive, come out of it with a madness, or he'll believe he's a wolf and never return to human. Or even the possibility that he'll get stuck halfway through the change. There's only one who can guide him properly in the pack. It has to be Dominic." I said softly. Calmly, a calmness I didn't feel as I saw Dominic thrash and cry and try and grab for me. "They've met. Bonded. Logan is only a fifty fifty chance that the change will be successful without madness. I've got less chance again. And you... I imagine your sons were much more stable before their first changes, weren't they?"
His inexperience with this was starting to show again. This time there was no mutt to consult. "What are you offering?"
"You've betrayed our trust. Over and over. You told me you don't betray allies, and I was willing to work with you and share them with you, but you tried to kill me. I'm offering nothing now. You're the one who should be offering something.." Voice still soft, but threatening, while I took a step towards him.
"I didn't try and kill you. We had an agreement. The only point I would have tried was at the end of it." He snapped. Stepped back, the hallway shaking under the two of them. "That wasn't your trick to get out of the agreement? Use the sorcerer to escape harm?"
"Lucas isn't full strength. He got the disease." I knew I was putting Lucas at risk here. Knew that'd piss his father off. But I had a child right here to protect and if he didn't like it, tough. "We almost got crushed. He couldn't help. Give your son's brother. Stop fucking around."
He glared at me, but he was uncertain now, and it showed. "You didn't cause the explosion?"
"Are you crazy? We would never risk exposing ourselves so close to home. In our own territory." I snapped. "The pack's been here for generations."
"I didn't cause it. You didn't cause it. So who caused it?"
I didn't answer. I didn't believe him. I lunged at him, snatching Dominic up as the floor gave way beneath Demetruis, and held him hard against my chest as he cried and clung to me, his breathing hard, backing up, Reece standing up, panting, and hurrying ahead of me. He grabbed something out of a locked drawer as he went past the linen closet, snapping the lock, and I was horror-struck to see a gun. In my house. In with my towels. No time to snap at Reece, he did something with the object and jumped right down off the stairwell, buck naked, blocking Demetruis off, the gun pointed right into his chest.
"You don't want to go just yet." He said, smoothly, standing up straighter.
He shot a look at me. "Let me out."
I replied, soft, dangerous, leaning against the wall heavily as my bad foot refused to hold me up any more. "We're not letting you leave for a while."
"I thought werewolves were beyond guns?" He snapped, snatching for the gun, and a gun rang out, a loud shocking noise that frightened Dominic into silence, that echoed throughout the house, that echoed around my head with the unexpected noise of it. Demetruis went down hard, breathing hard, his eyes squeezing shut as he grasped his leg with his last good hand.
"Werewolves can adapt." Nick said, casually, as he lowered the gun and moved out of the shadows, Lucas and Jeremy right beside him.
I stared at Nick, standing there like he'd been there the whole time, Lucas right beside him. Nick shrugged at me. "Elena's orders. We were watching this house."
Jeremy and Lucas grabbed Demetruis, tying his arms back.
"This my real baby?" I asked Lucas, who glanced up, and nodded. I sighed, tightening my arms around Dominic who was still wailing his head off, kissing him gently. "Shh, baby. No one harms you. Nick?"
Nick had been standing there, eyes fixed on Dominic, frozen like a statue. He flinched when I called his name, stepping closer. "Is he hurt?"
"I'm going on a diet." I commented, as Nick's eyes traced up and down my naked body, tightening my grip on Dominic. It was a bizarre statement, maybe, considering the situation... but I knew Nick's reaction so well to this idea, as I'd had it more than once after being called a 'plus sized woman' more than once in shops so... I had to wait and see it.
"Why?" Nick blinked at me, genuine bewilderment as his eyes went over my naked body, his frown line appearing as he saw the really bad state of my foot. The bandage was now blood red, and I'd left a beautiful trail of red footprints down the stairs. "Was it that bad when I left you? Come here, it's okay." He came across, lifting Dominic out of my arms, stroking his back gently, exactly the way Dominic loved it. I sighed, relaxed somewhat, and tried to calm down. Tried to release the blood lust.
"Tell me something only you know." I added, quieter, and he glanced up.
"Your left nipple causes panic attacks, but your right one..." Nick got cut off when I shoved at him, face going red and he grinned a weak grin. "There's sixteen scars on your back. You believe in aliens. And our last cuddle lasted seven minutes."
Reece snorted, beside me, and Nick kicked at him.
Jeremy stood up slowly, once Lucas had Demetruis bound, and made his way over. "You dislocated your shoulder, your first time in your cage." He said it, before I could ask, and knelt to check my foot. He inhaled slowly, eyes narrowing, prodding at the bloody foot. "What happened?"
"Demetruis happened. It can wait, Jeremy, Elena needs you. His pet mutt was a bit rough." I pulled it out of his way. Jeremy glanced up, nodding, and standing.
"I decided to not kill him." I said, softly to Reece, who nodded a fraction. "Clayton's going to want to have a word with him."
"Not just him." Reece agreed, tugging a sheet from the linen closet around him like a toga, and draped one around my shoulders. "Now what?"
"We have to get back to Stonehaven." I was worried about Elena.
Reece carted Demetruis out into the boot of the car. Then he piled on the dead bodies on top of him, snorting as Demetruis tried to say something, but someone had gagged him beautifully and he was stuck. The clean up would have to happen later.
We got into the car, Nick pulling me into his lap and wrapping his shirt around Dominic, kissing us both until Dominic had calmed down and had fallen asleep between us. The quick drive passed by in an instant, or maybe I'd fallen asleep, because when I woke Nick was trying and failing to lift me up. I got up, Nick carried Dominic in, and Reece helped me inside as Lucas hurried in.
Elena was sitting there, groggy, a blanket over her lap, and Jeremy went straight to her. I flopped into a seat, breathing out slowly, hoping to god that this wasn't another illusion. I was too tired to take it any more. Paige came at me, full of apologies, tears, saying that ...something about an illusion over an illusion or... I didn't know. Somehow they'd tricked her into thinking Dominic was safe when he wasn't or something. I shrugged her off and told her it was fine.
I kept my eyes on him while Nick helped me dress, leaning against Nick heavily, and Jeremy told him to get the bandage off and to rewrap it firmly till he could be sure Elena's arm was secure. Nick wrapped it too firm, Jeremy made him do it again twice, but when he kept doing it too tight, Jeremy told him to get me a strong coffee instead. Reece refused to do it, Paige was still horrified that Dominic had been in danger... and it was only Lucas in the end who could cope with the task, to my amusement.
I fell asleep, good leg curled up, Dominic safe in my arms. I woke to see them dragging Demetruis in, his body covered in the blood of the others, watched them take him downstairs as he pleaded to Lucas to be taken into custody by the sorcerers... but I had no sympathy for him. He was the perfect present for Clayton. I knew, knew that Clayton wouldn't have been surprised if I started without him, but somehow Demetruis just wasn't worth the effort. I deserved some sleep. He could wait till morning when Clayton showed up and saw Elena. Then I'd 'skip' on downstairs to the basement and then assist the pack protector if he wanted.
Not now. More important things to do. Like sleep, drink coffee, let Nick fuss over me. Explain why two of the beers from the fridge were open and why it was all over the floor. Nick was not impressed when he found that out and unwrapped the bandage straight away, trying to wash it clear, even if the blood had more or less gotten rid of the stinging alcohol.
Jeremy was coming over now anyway. Elena was too sedated to talk much, her arm wrapped up in a temporary splint and sling till he could be sure whatever they'd given her had left her system- he wanted to give her something for pain but couldn't... or something... and he got some sort of numbing cream on the foot and started to try and stitch up the damage done.
Reece went to make food in the kitchen when he started this, pale, and Nick went upstairs with Dominic after a few minutes of this. I listened, getting tense, some part of me afraid that ...I didn't know, the others wouldn't be there. But they were. I heard them wake, heard them try and talk to Nick, only to fall asleep again when he settled down with them and started to read them a book.
"I'll check Dominic in a few minutes." Jeremy said softly, as he squeezed tenderised skin, getting the fine wire through it. "Did he break something in your foot?"
"Sounded like it. Is Elena's arm bad?" My attention went back to her. She was curled up against the side of the couch, her arm in a sling, eyes moving fast under the eyelids. "I didn't protect her."
"The one responsible for her arm is Demetruis and the dead mutt." He replied, calm, relaxed. "Elena's not one who needs protection. We didn't expect him to harm her when he wanted that from her."
"He got pretty angry." Paige said, from the kitchen, the smell of coffee coming from the machine there. "With the werewolf."
"He withheld two months of treatment." I added, and Jeremy glanced up. "The werewolf pleaded and begged... like he was addicted." I remembered the look in his face, when he'd been punished, that horror, that side of his body screaming. I didn't know what Demetruis hooked them on but it clearly was addictive enough. "Do we know what drug they use?"
"Not yet." Jeremy shook his head. "People addicted to a substance can be unstable, unpredictable, so neither of you could have accurately predicted that the mutt would behave that way with a restrained captive. Usually, they'd be distracted by your scent, not breaking arms."
"Elena intended on catching them by surprise." Paige added.
They were trying to reassure me it wasn't my fault. I wasn't sure if it was. Maybe it wasn't as important as deciding what to do next.
"We heard every word you said with Demetruis in your home." Jeremy added, cutting the wire, and starting a new stitch somewhere else. "You handled it fine. Stayed in control. No one expects you to do everything perfectly."
I did, I wanted to argue, but I didn't. Instead I waited till he'd done that one. "Can you check Dominic now?"
"Let me do a few more." He hurried though, a little less neat than usual, and left Lucas to wrap it back up while Jeremy headed upstairs.
I drank the coffee as I waited. He came back down, reassured me that everything was fine except for some bruising, and Nick was going to use an ice pack to help reduce that. Nick came through, kissing my head again, before he vanished upstairs with the ice pack from the freezer.
"Don't forget to wrap it!" I called, as Jeremy returned to sewing up the foot.
Like it had when I'd first screwed it, it wasn't as bad as it looked, just a lot of blood and a lot of extra bruising and swelling. Maybe something broken or fractured. This time I was going to need the crutches, whether I liked it or not, and Jeremy would have to go get some new ones.
He only went downstairs to tend to Demetruis's maimed hand or gunshot when he was sure that the rest of us were fine, only when Jeremy had no one, pack or ally, to tend to. He was calm, cool headed, but I saw it, traces if an anger there he rarely let anyone see. Seeing a grown man do that to a toddler would make anyone ...it should make the entire world angry. Should make people pick up weapons and get ready for a war.
Reece helped me upstairs. Nick and the triplets were in the 'new Stonehaven's main bedroom', all three babies asleep now, Nick glancing up as Reece dropped me off in his toga.
"Get some clothing on." He called, Reece shrugged, kissing me as he ducked away with a small grin.
I crawled onto the bed beside Nick, groaning softly, and he crawled over to kiss me.
"So you were listening?" I asked, as he helped get me into the part of the bed not taken up by the toddlers.
:"Jeremy told me to stay quiet." He replied, head flopping down so his chin was on my arm. "Even while he was threatening ...he told me to let you handle it."
I breathed out, slowly, shutting my eyes at this news. Jeremy had trusted me enough to handle it, even though they could have easily taken over, even though they had Dominic.
"We helped Reece get rid of the other ones." He added, stroking my face, fingers rubbing my scalp as I tried to relax. "What you think of my gun skills?"
"The look on Demetruis's face..." My lips twitched, the man so used to us doing things in our set ways, suddenly faced with a pack who were willing to adapt. I opened one eye and admitted,"It was impressive."
Nick grinned. "Like my gun?"
"Your entrance was impressive. I'm not sure if I want a gun in my house." I yawned, curling up, Nick sliding a little so I could relax.
He didn't answer, just curled up beside me, the two of us laying there on the edge of the bed, my feet dangling over the side, Nick's arm over me, my hand against his chest. I didn't relax, no matter how many times he tried to stroke my back, I lay there. Waiting. Tense. It was only when Nick's phone vibrated and his awaited words finally came, "They're coming home now. The twins and the thieves. Clayton said everything's fine. You can relax," that my body released any last holds on conciousness.
I sunk, slipped away, Nick's hand stroking my back as I finally let myself relax.
My body was fucked. Exhausted. I didn't dream, I just slept, and slept, and slept, even as I heard a car arrive. No one tried to wake me, no one tried to make me come back or do anything else, they just let me sleep. So I slept.
It was lunch before I woke, the smell of food coming from the bedside table, and I opened one eye, groggy, seeing Jeremy coming in with a tray of food and a new pair of crutches. He smiled when he saw I was awake.
"Everything good?" I asked, trying to sit up, the triplets gone, Nick downstairs somewhere.
"Clayton's back."
"Matt?" I sat up straighter, then. "The babies?"
"Matt was hog tied, more or less, the babies were a little upset, have a rash from dirty nappies, a little underweight." Jeremy admitted. "Eat this and come down. They're being fussed over by everyone, you don't need to rush, we can handle it another few minutes."
I ate as fast as I could anyway, the soup thick, bread all fresh and crusty and covered in melting butter, but it wasn't good enough to distract me from what was waiting downstairs. , and then got onto the crutches and made my way downstairs. The problem of how to handle so many little ones with a bad foot was a problem I'd have to deal with later. Now was a bad time.
Nick glanced up as I made my way carefully down the stairs, eventually giving up on crutch-stair-descending, sticking them under one arm, and using the banister and hop-hop instead. Faster, better, but he looked so amused that I threatened to hit him with a crutch.
"Love you?" He offered, as I raised it.
Someone lifted me up from behind, Clayton's scent crashing into me with it, an arm looped around my waist and carting me down. Not exactly in the 'hero' sense, more in the 'it's in the way and I'm in a hurry' sense, which benefited both of us.
"Find your present downstairs?" I asked lightly as he dropped me back down, resting back on the crutches.
Clayton grinned, a small grin, with only a trace of worry about Elena showing. "I may have peeked. You forgot to wrap it. Found yours yet?"
I shook my head and he led me through the lower houses into Stonehaven's study. Like they usually would be if they were here, the twins had been set up in the quieter and safer study, both of them fast asleep in a cot. I thought they looked bony but that may have been my personal fears being protected onto them...
They seemed to wake up somewhat, as I came in, eyes finding mine and brilliant smiles shining up. Like nothing had happened. It was incredible, that they were fine like this, but maybe it'd been less distressing for them than it might have been for other babies. They did spend a lot of their early life around different people.
"So how'd you find them?" I found a seat and flopped into it, relaxing, glancing around. "Where's Matt?"
"Waiting for Elena's punishment." Clayton flopped down nearby. "Elena tell you we were trapping them?" When I nodded, he continued. "We got them at their meeting place. Waited for money to be handed around. Then Matt strikes, this little angry wolf, going right for their hamstrings all over again, and we nearly lost the contact trying to buy them."
"Bloody hell." I groaned softly.
"Exactly. So rather than tell him to come back, I pointed out the contact to him." Clayton's lips twitched. "He got the hint pretty fast. Disabled him while we came over. Fighting, spells, a broken rib, and then we've got them and the twins are safe. They hadn't slept. Probably kept awake all night by these two crying. One of the pair, the injured man, actually helped us. Said he'd had enough of it. Stealing babies was the last straw. Apparently his wife's just had a kid and no drug is worth stealing babies."
I had been so busy attacking him that I hadn't stopped to think about this. It was so easy to see people as 'good' or 'bad'. Truthfully, they weren't either, just desperate. I knew what it was like to crave a drug, crave it so badly that your entire history went out the window, your heart, your relationships, till the only thing that mattered was to get the stuff back inside you. I sighed. "Did you let him off?"
"He's downstairs. Jeremy may have spent a little more time on his injuries." Clayton admitted. "We're letting the Cabal decide."
"Serves other bastards right though." I muttered, glancing down, Rose going for the toy tied to the edge of the porta-crib as Reece went back to sleep.
Clayton leaned back, slowly, only showing the slightest hint that he was the one who might have had the broken rib. I wasn't sure if he did. "We let them spend the night in the boot with the nappies they should have changed. They're keeping Demetruis company. How'd last night go here?"
He probably knew but I told him anyway. He frowned, listened, didn't say a word.
"How's Elena doing?"
"Awake, Jeremy fixed the bone, re-splinted it. She should be fine in a week or two." He didn't mention the other thing and I didn't ask. I saw it in the back of his mind, just behind his eyes, just behind his calm face, like he was about ready to explode and he was saving it for a specific person downstairs.
"Sorry. I didn't plan on that happening." I said it, after a while, voice softer now. Clayton didn't answer, neither to reassure me I was right or wrong, just stayed quiet.
"You hungry?"
I nodded, the soup barely scratching it, and we got up and headed into the kitchen with the baby monitor in hand.
"Mutts on drugs. Fuck." He finally said, only when we'd sat down with food, and I'd gotten up to get bread.
"That isn't normal?" I buttered more bread, leaning on the edges of the crutches, and saw him shake his head.
"Waste of money." Clayton shook his head.
"You wouldn't see them work for any other race either, I bet." I muttered. Pride was a big thing... tying yourself like that, it was a huge blow to the ego for a werewolf. I made my way across, slowly, sliding into one of the bar stools beside him.
"No."
Conversation ended and we focused on eating everything again, quiet, preoccupied with stuffing our faces instead. I wasn't entirely sure where everyone was, except that Nick was in the living room with the triplets, and wasn't as bothered right now. Downstairs was the only thing that had my attention.
"When are you going down? After lunch?" I glanced in the direciton fo the door to the basement, eager now to get on with it, the urge to ...I didn't know. Strangle him like he'd done to me, that'd be a nice start. Drug him. Something.
Clayton shook his head. "Na, no rush. Adam's sealed his gunshot, he's got some company, it could be well into the night before I have a talk with our guest. You planning on coming down?" He gave me a look then, a 'Who said I invited you?' look, and I resisted the urge to shrink back.
"Now and then." I admitted. "There's a lot of ...guests there."
"Not without my permission." The smile had faded now. "Don't care if it's ten guests. You're not stepping a foot down there till I say so."
"I know." Only when I slumped a little, did Clayton relax, and I prodded at the crumbs left behind at the plate.
"That being said, I got something for you." He stood up and went around to one of the locked drawers. Checking that the kids weren't around, Clayton pulled something out, long, metal, and round edged. "Ever see that movie about the dragon tattoo?"
"Girl with the dragon tattoo?" I was confused for a second. Just a second. Then I suddenly got it. The scene, after the man had raped her, where she'd raped him right back.
He pushed it back into the drawer and locked it. "See how much we can get him to talk once you've tried to get him pregnant."
I tried to not laugh, tried, but a tiny snort came out. I didn't enjoy torture, not at all, and I knew that Clayton wasn't going to let him feel everything... but damn. If there was anything a rapist deserved...
"You sure about that?"
"You got to put your reputation out there too, remember." Clayton flopped back down. "If you don't want to add that to your reputation, fine by me."
It would be pretty spectacular and would make any mutt really think twice before approaching myself or my daughters, I had to admit, but now that my amusement was gone, the reality of it was there. It hurt. It really fucking hurt to do that to a person. I should have known. "Maybe I'll drug him up a little." I admitted, very quietly, and I saw his face relax somewhat. While I loathed the guy, I wasn't keen on causing pain for the sake of it. It was more about the message than the pain. "So he feels it but doesn't ..." Scream in agony like I had? "I wonder if that drug he slipped me would work."
"Got it for you already." He fished into his pocket and pushed it at me. Tiny pills, horrible date rape drugs, the kind of thing that society should burn. "Nick doesn't want you to be there for most of it. But I may need your help once or twice. There's no rush with this."
"Actually..." Luca's voice came from the living room now, soft. "My father is intending on retrieving them by nightfall. You can probably buy some time with Demetruis but the rest, as they aren't mutts, are more or less facing his interrogation team."
Clayton swore softly and stood up. "I better get to work then. Was looking forward to paying with the kids today. Fuck. You- I'll come for you. Don't come down. No one comes down unless I say." That was an order, I knew that, and I nodded.
Instead of breaking orders, I popped my head into the living room to tell Nick I'd be with Matt, and vanisehd before the triplets could grab at me. Dominic wasn't as okay as Reece and Rose were, he only glanced up a second, I knew this was going to take some time for him.
Matt was asleep. He woke the second I slid inside the room though, a horrible looking bruise down one side of his face, an uneasy grin as he tried to get up. It looked like he'd gotten a bit beaten up too.
"I had to get the babies back." He said, defiantly, crossing his arms. I sighed. The kid was nearly ten now.
"Clayton said you followed his order well." I admitted, and he nodded.
"He just showed me who to attack so..." Matt shrugged, grimaced, and I made him sit down as I checked out the injuries. "It's just bruising. Jeremy said it'll heal soon."
"I know you want to fight too now." I said softly, as I tried to find each bruise, leaning on the crutches. "But it isn't just bruises when you fight. You know we got injured?"
"Yeah." He admitted. "Is Elena's arm okay?"
"It'll take some time to heal but she'll be fine. The point is, Elena's a skilled fighter, and even she gets hurt. I've been learning for a few years and I make mistakes too. I want you to learn. I know … the instinct, the wolf, it wants to do it."
"Why didn't you hunt them then? They hurt you and hurt your babies." He bared his teeth slightly, I saw it, the flicker of the wolf instead of the child. It wasn't a kid I was appealing to. It was the wolf, the instinct to fight, to hunt, to protect.
"Because Elena's in charge. Our Alpha. She had a different plan and it worked." More or less. When I was satisfied he wasn't falling apart I sat down beside him. "I wanted to hunt them. She needed them to think I was too injured so she could trap someone here."
He nodded slowly, leaning against me just a tiny bit. "I could help."
"You are going to help. My point is, we're learning, we've got years of it, and we're making mistakes. The mutts are grown men who'll happily kill. You need to learn before you take them on. Get bigger. Let your body grow up so it matches them." I tried to be patient, as he scowled. "They're going to get old and you're going to be young and fit."
"Like Clayton?"
My lips twitched at that. "Clayton's got control over his instincts now. He follows Elena's orders, like he followed Jeremy's orders, and he thinks."
"I did think." Matt said, softer. "They wouldn't notice me. Tiny wolf going at them. And they didn't till I got one."
"And you got hurt." I reminded him, pressing a bruise. "I promice. You're going to be able to do all of this when you get bigger. Kate and Logan are a year younger than you and when they start their changes, you'll be the best person to help them, and protect them. We'll all be there but you three are friends now."
"Best friends." He agreed, softer. "When do they start changing too?"
"I don't know." I admitted. "Elena can tell you. They'll be weak for a while though while it happens, I think, the mutts will notice. Esspically Kate. Her smell will start to ..."
"It's like a dog in heat." His knowlage surprised me, as he nodded gravely, though I wasn't sure why or how he got it. "Like Jess in Footrot flats."
Oh. I laughed, nodding. Susie had loved that comic and I'd gotten it for Matt's birthday several years back, and the movie, because it reminded him of her. "Exactly like that. So stop sneaking out, I don't want you to loose an arm or a leg from an angry mutt, and start training instead."
He sighed, flopped more against my side. "Am I getting punished?"
"Maybe tomorrow. I am glad you like those babies." I admitted. He grinned a little, up at me, big grin, dark red hair, freckles, the picture too damn cute to ground right now.
"Can I learn karate?" Matt asked, after a while. I stared at him. "Kids are learning it in school. Is that okay?"
"You might loose your temper. Can you stop the change?"
"I could go outside. Or call you. You could stay in town while I do it." He was really keen, I realised, and I gave in again.
"I'll look into it."
"Can I go downstairs now?" He jumped up, looking bored, "Or to Logan and Kate's room?"
"Did one of the older werewolves tell you to stay here?"
Matt nodded, frowning somewhat.
"We have to follow orders. Remember?" I shook my head and he frowned worse, the smile vanishing from his eyes, flopping back onto the bed. "I'll see what Elena says in a few hours."
"Fine."
"Think it as part of your training." I offered, and he didn't look impressed at all by that, grump all over his face instead of that brilliant smile just seconds before. It was time to retreat.
I retreated, tempted to go downstairs, but instead headed for the room Nick and I would share. I wasn't sure why, somehow the sight of Dominic's haunted face was bothering me too much, I felt like if I saw it ...I would snap. Go downstairs, snap necks, I didn't know. To think that the man who injured my son, attacked my Alpha, and who haunted our steps was just down there...
It was driving me mad.
The only calming thought I had was that Clayton was right there with him.
I sat on the bed, the window open, letting the strong winds blow into the room. I could smell water, smell the promise of rain on the wind, knew we were in for another storm when I saw an anxious spider skuttle into the open window and sit in the corner of the room.
After a while Reece joined me, sitting down silently beside me, and we watched the clouds get chased across the sky by the wind without speaking for a long time.
"Sorry I was so slow." He said, finally, and I shrugged.
"You did good with his tire."
"I did." Reece agreed, grinned somewhat, and leaned against me. "You did good with his hand."
"I did." I agreed too, leaning back, sighing. I shut my eyes. "Bit of a mess though."
"Could have been worse." Reece shrugged this time.
I slid back, curling up on my side, Reece sliding over to join me. He flopped onto his back near me, finding my hand, and we lay there as we watched the sky. Cuddle time with the pack. With Reece, it seemed to happen a lot more, but this was because we were more or less in the same position in the pack. The young ones, the annoying ones, the ones that kept trying to overstep orders and take over things. Like Matt did, except that they struggled to ground us.
"You okay?" He asked, softly, and I nodded.
"Seen Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?" I asked, Reece nodded. "Clayton got a big metal dildo for him."
No need to clarify who 'him' was. Reece got it straight away. "Want some lube?"
"You have some?" I would have been surprised. I wasn't sure how often he got laid, if at all.
"Bought some. Just in case, you know, Daniella... never mind. It's useless now." His voice got a little stiffer, a little more controlled, but he squeezed my hand as he tried to shake whatever it was she stirred up free.
"Where is she?" I had the feeling he knew, even now, even as he was here. With us.
"Working. Elena let her keep working. She's watching New York while Antonio is distracted." Even now, even while he was upset, he did know where she was. "Think she'll come back?"
"To you or here?"
Reece didn't answer and I sighed, sliding closer, so my forehead touched his arm. He just breathed slowly, his heart fast, hand letting go of mine so he could drape it across my back instead.
I knew what her problem was with him now. I knew it, I felt her words in the back of my mouth, but I couldn't tell him. So I lay there, trying to comfort him by being here instead, as we waited for ...whatever was going to happen next. Dinner, torture, or a nappy, it was a pretty even toss up between the three possibilities.
Nick joined us after a while, crawling onto the bed, attempting to get between us. When Reece refused to budge, he growled, and flopped over me instead. Right over me. It wasn't exactly comfortable.
"Stop it." I prodded his stomach, as he grinned back at me, but he only moved when I smiled.
Nick shifted behind me, curling up around my back, Reece ignoring him. "Toddlers are getting fed by Jeremy and Paige. Babies are good. We're giving you a day off."
"I don't want a day off." I muttered. But I did, in a way, if only because I knew how I'd start to feel if I spent five seconds around my babies. Murderous. Angry. Blood thirsty. "Dominic's doing okay?"
"He's a bit quiet." Nick admitted against my shoulder. "He's okay."
"I was just about ready to rip heads off when I saw his face." Reece muttered.
"Me too." I agreed, and Nick sighed, tightening his arms around me, his thighs under mine as his legs curling into my back tighter.
"Is Clayton letting you go downstairs?"
I nodded and Nick sighed, growing tense now, but he didn't argue with it, just lay there. I added, "Just for a little while," which had no effect on his tenseness.
"He's told me to be there." Reece added. Also no effect.
"When?"
I shook my head, admitting, "I don't know," and Nick grumbled something under his breath I chose to not listen to. Instead I watched the first splatter of rain hit the window and the curtain, the wind blowing it in just slightly, not bothered at all that it was coming in.
Nick got up finally, but ignored the window, he tried to push Reece off the bed, and Reece held on. "Come on, let me have some alone time."
"Another seven minute romp?" Reece grinned at him, a big grin, and I rolled my eyes as Nick tipped him off the bed with a loud thump. His head poked up, scowling, rubbing his head. "Ow. That was violent. I saved your woman, you know."
"Pfft." I muttered. "I was about to save myself."
"Yeah, sure." He ducked as Nick kicked at him, climbing back onto the bed, jumping over me. "I could watch. Give you some tips."
Nick lifted me up off the bed, careful, handed me my crutches, and then advanced on the bed. I watched as he tried to trap Reece in the sheets, the two of them playing around, and rolled my eyes. While he was distracted I left. I tried to, anyway, the two of them changing their mind and dragging me back onto the bed. Funny, how one second the two of them were 'competing', then the next they were the best team.
"We could tie her up so she rests?" Reece suggested.
"You could let her go and let me get her tired." Nick suggested, narrowing his eyes as Reece refused to let me go, giving him a light push.
"Nope." Reece held on tighter, nuzzling against my side, giving Nick a look. "We've got to plan tonight. I was thinking good Aussie, bad Aussie. Leather. Heels. Whips. Glasses."
"We've got to fuck our brains out." Nick snapped, and Reece laughed as I flushed, glaring at Nick. It wasn't that I didn't like swearing, I did it enough, but ...that was pretty damn crude of him. More than usual.
"Nick, relax." I stroked his face. "Reece is teasing."
"I never said she'd be the bad one with the whip, did I?" He grinned as I laughed. That was the final straw for Nick though.
"Reece needs to get the hell out of our bed, our bedroom, and go get laid." Nick said, finally, frustrated, as Reece still refused to get out of the bed, tightening his grip on me.
I felt it, Reece freeze, saw the hurt flash in his eyes. Before I could tell Nick off, Reece tightened his grip, snapping, "Yeah?"
"You might be less clingy with my mate." Nick crossed his arms.
"Well, maybe you better give me an idea as to who to lay." Reece snapped. "My mate is busy with other men, remember?"
"Maybe I better. Maybe I better share Liz with you. Then you can, how you Australians put it?, bugger off so she can sleep."
I saw it. Just for a second, just for a fraction of a second, this flash of a serious consideration of what he'd had just said. Nick actually was thinking that was a good idea.
And it suddenly slapped me over the head with the burning curiosity and question, what exactly had Nick done during his years of womanising? Sleep with women, that was obvious, and maybe several at once. What about guys? Had he done a three-way before with a guy there? Truthfully, this wouldn't bother me so much, but what bothered me was this giant elephant in the room that I had no clue what Nick's sexual experiences had been before me, except that there'd been a lot of them.
Whatever he'd done... I saw that look and I couldn't unsee it now. Holy crap. This was not a side of Nick I had expected to see today. Or ever, to tell the truth, he'd been so obsessively possessive when it came to other things. Other men. Even dancing with them.
I gawked at him, as he grinned sheepishly, and kicked Reece. Tried to hide it.
"Reece, I'll come down later and talk to you." I glanced at Reece, who looked a bit stunned, and he nodded, getting up and heading downstairs. Then I turned on Nick. "What was that? That face?"
"What face?" He blinked at me innocently.
I went to push him down, pinning him onto the bed, sliding a leg over him and moving up so I was sitting on his stomach. It was to keep him there, but it also seemed to bring back that slightly more hungry grin as he ran a hand up my thighs.
"The one you got when you told him you should share me." I leaned down to nip Nick's neck.
"Oh, that one." He reached up to undo the jeans, ignoring my hands as I pushed them away, so that he could run a finger down my lower stomach. Down the scar. "He was getting annoying. The guy needs to get laid and get over Daniella."
"So you were going to lend me?"
Nick shook his head, the smile fading somewhat, as he saw the disbelief in my eyes. Maybe he knew how dangerous ground he was treading right now. "Well, not exactly. You're not a watch I can lend. But ... pack sharing. Always seemed a little attractive. I used to think about Elena like that."
I couldn't believe it. Out of my entire expectations of Nick, this wasn't it. "What!"
"I may have hoped, you know, that maybe ...Clayton and Elena would let me in. Sometimes." He grinned sheepishly as I hit him, though not hard, grabbing my head and pulling me in for a harder kiss. "No pun intended."
"Let you in?" I said the words slowly, shaking my head as I pulled my head back up after the kiss, Nick's hands still tangled in my hair. "Into the cuddles or..."
"Hey, she smells incredible, looks incredible, it was a fun thought." He was pretty casual about admitting he wanted Clayton to let him get it on with Elena. "You have no idea how much it teased my instincts, to see her running around, tail barely covering her, that damn smell in my nostrils and then after to wander around with her buck naked, the left over urge to ..." He laughed, again, softer, shaking his head. "I kept in control. Now I get to pounce you."
"Clay know this?"
Nick shook his head, a hand sliding up my stomach.
I hit him, trying to get up, and he held me there.
"Come on, it's not that bad." Nick protested, sitting up, his legs curling around behind my lower back so that he had me pinned. "It's not that unusual any more."
Maybe not for humans. I didn't know. "Nick, how many men have I willingly slept with?"
"The entire pack?"
"Had sex with." I nipped him hard, which just sort of turned him on a little more. I wasn't sure if I was trying to turn him on or be annoyed. I was a little confused by what I'd just found out he liked.
"Me. Which is why I'd never make you do anything." His voice lowered, softer, serious now. Nick wrapped his arms around me, kissing my shoulder. "I just remembered what it was like."
"So you have done it."
"A few times. Yeah." He admitted. "I spent a while playing in a swinger's club for the hell of it. Nothing with a guy alone but a few times, with a willing woman, I tried it. I left when they started to get too attached to me."
"What else did you do?" The question was out before I could stop it. Nick kept coming up with new sides to him, things I didn't yet know, and I was endlessly hungry to know everything. Even the things that made me uncomfortable or that took some getting used to.
He told me. Nick did not forget a thing. It was pretty incredible, actually, that he was this experienced and settled down now with me. Me! The more he told me about what he'd done, who he'd done, I suddenly didn't feel quite so special. Wondered what it was exactly that he saw in me after all that. Or how he might have laughed when I was so bad with trying to do things to him, like the blow job, when he had so many who were experts. My face was red, face shocked, performance anxiety at an all time high.
"Bet those girls would do that with Reece and you." I muttered.
Nick shifted back suddenly, concern in his face, as he saw the shock there. Maybe worse than before. "Hey, it's not that bad."
"It's a shock... I knew you were a man whore but..." He nipped me at the word, not looking offended at all, and I added, "I guess I never thought about how you got your reputation." I admitted. I wasn't sure if I was glad I knew now or not. "I can't believe you got me after so many..."
"I can't believe I got you either." He didn't sound at all upset, a small smile returning, eyes trailing down my body with obvious approval. "You can do whatever you like with me. You don't need to prove anything against anyone else."
"You'd let me sleep with Reece?"
Nick frowned slightly then. "No. I'd let him join us. He isn't allowed near you without me there." There it was, what I needed to see, that possessive 'mate, and no one gets near her' expression, and I relaxed when I saw it, flopping against him. I loved Reece like no one else here, maybe because we were from the same place, but sleep with him?
I didn't know.
"What's it like?"
"For a woman? Don't know. I've never been a woman. For a guy, it's a bit strange. Watching another guy … takes getting used to." Nick admitted, Nick's hands slowly tugging my buttons out, palms brushing against the bare stomach. "It wasn't bad. Easier to get carried away though, when there's another guy there, easier to try and out perform him. Apparently it's fun."
I had this sudden mental image of Reece and Nick. Either side of me. Trying to outperform each other. They were bad enough with clothes on. Sex with the two of them? It'd be like a pissing contest with me stuck in the middle of it all. The image horrified me, I had to admit, any laughter vanished under waves of 'What the hell!". Not just about the image, but about Nick's ...fun. This was going to take some time to get used to. Knowing about his reputation and hearing about it in sordid detail two separate things. "I don't think I can process this right now."
He laughed, kissed me, and threw the shirt to one side. "I didn't mean to shock you. Keep forgetting how innocent you are."
"Shut up." I bit him, shoving him back, tugging the bra off myself. "Not innocent."
"You are." Nick gazed up at me, cupping a breast, his hand drifting down my side slowly. He smiled somewhat, the hunger fading as the affection returned, and the wonder. "Still. I fucking love it.
As stunned as I was, I let him 'corrupt' it a little more, for as long as we could get away with being alone upstairs. This time we got a full half hour of 'corrupting' before we had to go back down, and by then we were falling asleep all over each other, having put so much pent up energy, stress and love into it, like we'd put everything we'd built up over the past day into it...
I knocked my foot a few times, much to Nick's horror, but it gave him another chance to be inventive. Never something he passed up.
"How do ...two guys?" I asked, words slipping out before I could think them through, breathing hard as he flopped against my back, and he laughed, kissing my sweaty skim.
"Still thinking about that?"
"You got me curious now. Shut up." I wished I hadn't asked. Of course I could guess. "I think I can picture it."
Nick laughed again, sliding onto his side beside me, raising an eyebrow. "Picture it, huh?"
"I mean, I can guess." I did see it, vivid in my head, but not Reece. Two of Nick? Fucking hell. One of him was tough enough work but... two? I got this sudden image of Nick, two of Nick, his sexy grin, incredible body, two pairs of hands, and suddenly that scene from Watchman took on a whole new meaning. Woah. "Never mind."
He opened his mouth to say something, probably more teasing, only to be cut off by a voice yelling down the hallway.
"MAMA." Lily. Looking for us, apparently, having escaped the clutches of her babysitters and having decided she'd had enough waiting for Mama.
"I'll show you videos." Nick winked, jumped up, and helped me dress. We let Lily in when we were half dressed, as she'd discovered us by now, and she watched with the annoyed expression she'd mastered so well.
"Where were you?" She asked, so accusing, her tiny voice so suddenly mature. "Where?"
"Mama hurt her foot, remember?" Nick pointed at my bandaged foot. "She was resting."
She had forgotten, it seemed, because she knelt beside it and inspected it very carefully. "Oh." When Lily had inspected it long enough, roughly three seconds, she turned to us. "When can we go downstairs?"
"Now." I tugged a tank top on, finding the shirt was missing a button, and grabbed the crutches. "Let's go downstairs."
Lily led the way, Nick close behind, and I followed on my three legged path behind them. I wondered if Nick would be as casual and teasing about this if one of his daughters ended up being interested in threesomes. I actually wasn't sure. Clayton, hell no, a guy would struggle just to hold Kate's hand, but Nick? He'd either be very supportive of them as teenagers, or he'd suddenly panic, remember his history, and throw chastity belts around.
Reece pulled me aside when I got downstairs, as Nick and Lily went on, voice lowered. He frowned. "Sorry. I got annoyed when Nick told me to get laid so I ...teased him back. I didn't mean to get you upset."
"I know. It's okay." I smiled weakly. "I just ... don't think about that kind of thing. I know guys apparently drool over two girls, I just didn't think about it at all."
"Hey, I didn't. Much." He grinned weakly, wrapping an arm around me.
"I don't think he meant to hurt you." I couldn't believe I was defending Nick. But then, there were a lot of things that I was struggling to come to terms with right now.
"I know." Reece lowered his voice then, glancing around. "Was he serious?"
I couldn't answer that. I couldn't tell him that Nick was actually half serious about his offer. I didn't want to lie either. I shrugged, not sure what to say, and Reece blinked at me.
There was an awkward silence, as he tried to get what 'shrug' meant, and then he blinked again, slowly. "Anne?"
"Come on. Lily will hunt me down again."
"That wasn't a no."
I didn't answer. Just headed into the living room ahead of Reece and flopped down with the safe toddlers. Crazy werewolves. Crazy society! Since when was it normal for girls to have multiple partners? I had no effing clue. It was confusing me and a bit overwhelming. I had dinner to think about, torture, preschool, twins getting into a sleeping routine, and how to get the cure freely offered to everyone, particularly my pack. I didn't want to think about Nick's sexual history for the rest of the day, as my brain threatened to do, or Reece needing to get laid.
Luckily, distractions came in the right kind, as a small parade of cars with dark tinted glass and a van rumbled right up to the house. Elena came down the stairs then, arm in a sling, looking a little pale but better than before. She smiled somewhat as our eyes met. No anger there, nothing, she wasn't angry about how it went badly.
Benicio Cortez got out of one of the cars, the usual picture of professional, right down to the perfect suit, sharp eyes, the kind of person who would instantly get awe without needing to work for it.
"Clayton?" Jeremy touched her arm as he came out of the living room, a plate full of tiny bowls on a tray, taking them into the kitchen. "Want me to warn him?"
"He'll know. Clayton will come up when he decides." She said softly to Jeremy, who nodded, and went across to the basement door. I heard him turn the key. Clayton could unlock it from the other side easily but for now, it was off limits to everyone. Especially our guests.
This was not something Cortez liked that much, I noticed, as friendly as he was, he was firm about wanting to get the job done. He waited impatiently in the kitchen, then he, Lucas, Elena and Jeremy headed into the study and shut the door behind them. In other words- it was discussion time.
It also left us alone again. I went back into the living room to see Reece and Nick talking, low voices, too low for me to hear over the sound of 'Big red car' or Lily and Susie's happy voices. They glanced at me, Nick grinned this smile that warned me he was up to something, but there was no time to attempt my first real 'lip reading' attempt. Dominic wandered up and asked to be picked up. I reminded him I couldn't walk- not without crutches- but this didn't stop him. For the rest of the afternoon Dominic followed me around like a shadow. He was quiet, which wasn't that unusual for him, but it bothered me now somehow. He didn't care about the TV much and didn't want to know the big bodyguard in the kitchen, not even when I suggested they shake hands, nothing. He just wanted to stay with Mama.
It was while the meeting was going on, and we were just about to take the triplets up to get ready for bed, that Clayton finally snuck out of the basement when the body guard went to the toilet. He gestured to me and Reece, who was sneaking a pre-dinner snack, and we glanced at each other.
"Hurry up before they notice." He hissed. "Bring towels."
We hurried, towels in hand, and headed down as Clayton locked the door behind us.