The Burning Claw
Page 10
Nissa raised her eyebrows and inclined her head toward Jeff and his warriors.
“You mean like them,” the girl squeaked, her steely resolve breaking. “A wolf?”
Nissa nodded. “Yes, you are part Canis lupus. That is why you were taken. I can take you to a pack that has a very powerful Alpha. They have experience dealing with dormants—that’s what you are called. I know that this is a lot to take in, but we really don’t have any other options, and you have to start somewhere.”
“Why aren’t you freaked out?” Jeff spoke up. His eyes were staring intently at the girl but she didn’t back down. She was not dominant—not exactly—but she had backbone. That was good because it meant she would fight to survive. The packs needed as many dominant wolves as they could get.
Her lips tightened as she met his gaze and held it for several breaths before finally dropping it. “I’ve spent the last seven years being snacked on like a box of graham crackers and you think learning that there are other monsters out there would freak me out?”
“I was speaking more about the fact that you are part monster,” Jeff said with a crook of his lips.
The girl shrugged. “I don’t care. I could be a damn troll for all I care, as long as I don’t have to be a slave to those bloodsuckers.” Her jaw was clenched and her fists balled up at her sides. Nissa wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d launched herself at the first person who made her feel threatened.
“Fair enough,” Nissa said. “Let’s go then. Vasile and Alina will want to meet you.”
“She could stay here,” Jeff spoke up.
Nissa could see the hope in his eyes, hope that she would be a mate to one of his wolves. Maybe she was, but she was not ready for something like that. She shook her head at him. “I’ve been ordered to bring any dormants that need sanctuary to the Romania Alphas.”
The Alpha’s shoulders slumped as he gave a curt nod. It was clear that he didn’t like that order one bit. But he wouldn’t challenge Vasile, not if he wanted to live, anyway.
Nissa took the girl’s hand and smiled at her. “Sorry if this makes you a little sick. Close your eyes and it won’t be as bad.”
The girl obeyed without question. Nissa bowed her head slightly to Jeff and then flashed, taking the girl to her new, hopefully vampire-free, life.
Decebel paced back and forth in the library as he held Thia in his arms. The girl had discovered that she could blow raspberries, and she was currently propelling spit all over him as she did it over and over, pausing to giggle in between each one. He was waiting on Jennifer to get back from helping Bethany. He was irritated because she wouldn’t let him go with her.
‘Drake will crap a cow if you come anywhere near his mate,’ she had told him pleadingly. Decebel had to give her credit for such a pleasant mental picture. So he’d let her take her bossy little butt down to a room that had a brand-new pair of true mates—unbonded, one of them feral, and the other clueless. He’d officially lost his damn mind. How the hell he let her talk him into stuff, he didn’t know, but it was sure to shorten his very long life span and give him ulcers and high blood pressure.
“Try to go a little easier on your mate, Thia girl,” he said as he bounced her gently in his arms. “He’s going to be clueless on how to protect you while also letting you be who you need to be.” He let out a sigh. “But really, you don’t need to worry about it for at least a century. Whoever your true mate will be, he’s going to need at least a hundred years to be mature enough to handle the daughter of my mate.”
“How many times are you going to tell her that she can’t mate until she’s, like, a hundred and something years old?” Jen huffed as she strolled into the room.
Decebel couldn’t help but greedily take her in, his eyes running over her from head to toe. She snapped her fingers at him and pointed up. “Eyes up here, fur ball.”
“I just want to make sure it’s clear so that there is no confusion later on.”
She laughed. “Dude, you’re like a freaking GIF, repeating yourself over and over and over. I don’t think she’s going to have the opportunity to be confused. You’re going to give her a complex.”
“How did it go with Bethany?” he asked her deciding it was better to change the subject, lest she begin lecturing him on how their daughter has the right to bond with her true mate when she meets him and blah, blah, blah. He usually tuned her out when she started talking nonsense.
“Well, she’s a sweetheart. Very ignorant on a lot of things, but she seems to be taking it all in stride.”
“And Drake?’
“Yeah, that wolf is bat-shit crazy.”
“Jennifer,” he growled. “Language.”
“What?” she shrugged. “I can’t sugarcoat something as serious as a feral wolf. Without Bethany right beside him, Drake will kill a unicorn, chomp butterflies to death, and pretty much attack anything with a pulse…and probably some things without pulses if he finds them to be a threat. I took her to shower, after using my Alpha power on him, and by the time we returned his paws were bloody from his attempt to dig out through the concrete floor, which now has more scratches than a Texas State Lottery card.”
Decebel felt his wolf stir. It hurt him, as Drake’s Alpha, to see one of his own in such a state. He didn’t know how to help him. He’d thought that finding his mate would quell the wolf’s darkness, but it was beginning to look like it was too late for Drake. What kind of life could Bethany have if she had to be practically locked up with her mate because his wolf couldn’t handle her being out of his sight or around other males? Could Decebel allow such a thing to happen? Would it be a better alternative to take Drake out of the picture and leave Bethany as an unbonded female with no chance of a true mate? Perhaps, then she could move on with her life, maybe even fall in love with someone else. That certainly wouldn’t be the same as if she was with her true mate, but maybe she could still be happy.
Jen narrowed her eyes at him. “I hear what you’re thinking, B, and you can’t. It’s not fair to either of them. Something so important needs to be decided by them, not by us.”
“Bethany doesn’t understand the stakes. How can she possibly make a rational decision about this?” he pointed out. Decebel wasn’t trying to be argumentative; he was simply playing devil’s advocate because he needed to see what Jennifer’s opinion was. He needed the wisdom of a female viewpoint, one that saw more than just a feral wolf.
“You mean like them,” the girl squeaked, her steely resolve breaking. “A wolf?”
Nissa nodded. “Yes, you are part Canis lupus. That is why you were taken. I can take you to a pack that has a very powerful Alpha. They have experience dealing with dormants—that’s what you are called. I know that this is a lot to take in, but we really don’t have any other options, and you have to start somewhere.”
“Why aren’t you freaked out?” Jeff spoke up. His eyes were staring intently at the girl but she didn’t back down. She was not dominant—not exactly—but she had backbone. That was good because it meant she would fight to survive. The packs needed as many dominant wolves as they could get.
Her lips tightened as she met his gaze and held it for several breaths before finally dropping it. “I’ve spent the last seven years being snacked on like a box of graham crackers and you think learning that there are other monsters out there would freak me out?”
“I was speaking more about the fact that you are part monster,” Jeff said with a crook of his lips.
The girl shrugged. “I don’t care. I could be a damn troll for all I care, as long as I don’t have to be a slave to those bloodsuckers.” Her jaw was clenched and her fists balled up at her sides. Nissa wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d launched herself at the first person who made her feel threatened.
“Fair enough,” Nissa said. “Let’s go then. Vasile and Alina will want to meet you.”
“She could stay here,” Jeff spoke up.
Nissa could see the hope in his eyes, hope that she would be a mate to one of his wolves. Maybe she was, but she was not ready for something like that. She shook her head at him. “I’ve been ordered to bring any dormants that need sanctuary to the Romania Alphas.”
The Alpha’s shoulders slumped as he gave a curt nod. It was clear that he didn’t like that order one bit. But he wouldn’t challenge Vasile, not if he wanted to live, anyway.
Nissa took the girl’s hand and smiled at her. “Sorry if this makes you a little sick. Close your eyes and it won’t be as bad.”
The girl obeyed without question. Nissa bowed her head slightly to Jeff and then flashed, taking the girl to her new, hopefully vampire-free, life.
Decebel paced back and forth in the library as he held Thia in his arms. The girl had discovered that she could blow raspberries, and she was currently propelling spit all over him as she did it over and over, pausing to giggle in between each one. He was waiting on Jennifer to get back from helping Bethany. He was irritated because she wouldn’t let him go with her.
‘Drake will crap a cow if you come anywhere near his mate,’ she had told him pleadingly. Decebel had to give her credit for such a pleasant mental picture. So he’d let her take her bossy little butt down to a room that had a brand-new pair of true mates—unbonded, one of them feral, and the other clueless. He’d officially lost his damn mind. How the hell he let her talk him into stuff, he didn’t know, but it was sure to shorten his very long life span and give him ulcers and high blood pressure.
“Try to go a little easier on your mate, Thia girl,” he said as he bounced her gently in his arms. “He’s going to be clueless on how to protect you while also letting you be who you need to be.” He let out a sigh. “But really, you don’t need to worry about it for at least a century. Whoever your true mate will be, he’s going to need at least a hundred years to be mature enough to handle the daughter of my mate.”
“How many times are you going to tell her that she can’t mate until she’s, like, a hundred and something years old?” Jen huffed as she strolled into the room.
Decebel couldn’t help but greedily take her in, his eyes running over her from head to toe. She snapped her fingers at him and pointed up. “Eyes up here, fur ball.”
“I just want to make sure it’s clear so that there is no confusion later on.”
She laughed. “Dude, you’re like a freaking GIF, repeating yourself over and over and over. I don’t think she’s going to have the opportunity to be confused. You’re going to give her a complex.”
“How did it go with Bethany?” he asked her deciding it was better to change the subject, lest she begin lecturing him on how their daughter has the right to bond with her true mate when she meets him and blah, blah, blah. He usually tuned her out when she started talking nonsense.
“Well, she’s a sweetheart. Very ignorant on a lot of things, but she seems to be taking it all in stride.”
“And Drake?’
“Yeah, that wolf is bat-shit crazy.”
“Jennifer,” he growled. “Language.”
“What?” she shrugged. “I can’t sugarcoat something as serious as a feral wolf. Without Bethany right beside him, Drake will kill a unicorn, chomp butterflies to death, and pretty much attack anything with a pulse…and probably some things without pulses if he finds them to be a threat. I took her to shower, after using my Alpha power on him, and by the time we returned his paws were bloody from his attempt to dig out through the concrete floor, which now has more scratches than a Texas State Lottery card.”
Decebel felt his wolf stir. It hurt him, as Drake’s Alpha, to see one of his own in such a state. He didn’t know how to help him. He’d thought that finding his mate would quell the wolf’s darkness, but it was beginning to look like it was too late for Drake. What kind of life could Bethany have if she had to be practically locked up with her mate because his wolf couldn’t handle her being out of his sight or around other males? Could Decebel allow such a thing to happen? Would it be a better alternative to take Drake out of the picture and leave Bethany as an unbonded female with no chance of a true mate? Perhaps, then she could move on with her life, maybe even fall in love with someone else. That certainly wouldn’t be the same as if she was with her true mate, but maybe she could still be happy.
Jen narrowed her eyes at him. “I hear what you’re thinking, B, and you can’t. It’s not fair to either of them. Something so important needs to be decided by them, not by us.”
“Bethany doesn’t understand the stakes. How can she possibly make a rational decision about this?” he pointed out. Decebel wasn’t trying to be argumentative; he was simply playing devil’s advocate because he needed to see what Jennifer’s opinion was. He needed the wisdom of a female viewpoint, one that saw more than just a feral wolf.
