Chapter 48 - Healing the Broken Alpha

Lenora

“What the hell did he do to you?” Jenson snarled, as he paced back and forth in my grandfather’s office. He seemed sober, for a change, but he still smelled like an old, musty bar.

“River didn’t do this,” I said dully. “Can I go get cleaned up before you start the inquisition?”

Jenson’s eyes bugged slightly, as though he were shocked that I had actually talked back to him. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since I’d done anything but submissively agreed to everything he demanded. “Fine!” He snapped. “Pops won’t be back for another hour anyway.”

I cringed at the disrespectful way he referred to our alpha grandfather as “Pops.” I was very sure he never called the man that to his face. However, I took advantage of the opportunity and slipped out of the office, still only covered in my brother’s oversized jacket. I hurried down the long hall that led to the room I had occupied since I was a toddler.

Down the hallway that I had dreamed of, hundreds of times.

When I pushed open the door, I found that someone had started to use the space as storage. There were some dusty boxes, an old vacuum cleaner, and a plastic tote full of old sheets piled on my bed. But luckily, I still had some old clothes stuffed in the closet, things that were too raggedy and too old to even bother carrying with me to Blackstone when I left. I pulled down a t-shirt that was all stretched out around the collar, and a pair of jeans with one leg that was so ripped out at the knees it was almost shorts on one side. I even dug some old, holey underwear with no elastic left out of my dresser and headed across the hall to the shower.

I locked the door and twisted on the water, letting the steam fill up the small room. Some Alpha’s daughters lived lives of high luxury, but my life had always been on the miserable side of normal. I had shared this small bathroom with my brother and some of the other ranking members who lived in the packhouse on this floor. Luckily, they had left some of their soaps and shampoos on the side of the tub. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if I borrowed enough to scrub my body and wash my hair. The water pressure was lacking, and I knew I had to hurry, because the old water heater wouldn’t last long.

I used a clean washcloth to scrub away the dirt and the grime. There were a lot of scratches on my body, but nothing serious.

I knew I was lucky, I had escaped not only one madman, but two.

Dan might have saved me from Asher, but nobody was there to save me from Dardanos when he went mad.

I recalled the way he had spoken to me, not the slow, innocent voice, but the sharp, hissing voice that had made my blood run cold. For some reason my fingers automatically went to the long slashing scars that covered my torso. They were so far apart that I couldn’t fit my fingers into the grooves.

That’s why my father said it wasn’t a wolf’s claw that slashed me open. I had to have been cut with a machete or a knife. The attacker had just slashed me several times, making the four broad cuts across my chest and abdomen. My father had always insisted it was just a rogue, armed with something sharp.

It was a rogue who murdered my mother, and left me for dead.

I died that night.

But my father denied that too.

And in all my nightmares it was always a great beast with massive, razor sharp claws that ripped me open. Not a mere rogue with a machete.

Why did that sharp, serpent-like voice make me think of that monster?

That poor, unfortunate madman couldn’t have been the beast that killed my mother. I had seen him shift, and he was just a wolf. A large, powerful wolf, but still, just a wolf.

I twisted off the water which was already changing from hot to luke warm, and reached for a towel. Who was Dardanos anyway? I didn’t care what River said, the family resemblance was too striking to be a coincidence. Not to mention that the big, black wolf I had seen was clearly of Alpha stock. Could Dan be some dirty family secret? An illegitimate son, perhaps? Had they been so ashamed of his mental condition that they had left him out in the woods to die alone? Except, he didn’t die, he managed to fend for himself in a half-feral state?

The idea made me feel sad. If the Blackstone family had done that to one of their own, they ought to be ashamed of themselves. This wasn’t the dark ages! There was all kinds of help and treatment for children and adults with special needs! They should have taken care of Dan, enrolled him in special education classes, helped him to find a purpose and live a good life, despite any perceived limitations.

I remembered the strange shifting sensation behind the man’s green eyes. What was that, really? Multiple personalities? Schizophrenia? Well, there were psychiatric hospitals for that. Places where Dardanos could get help, so that hopefully he could live a normal, peaceful life.

I dried myself off, and then used the towel to wipe the condensation from the mirror. I cringed when I saw the reflection. My skin was cross-hatched with all kinds of angry red scratches, but at least I hadn’t been seriously hurt. I didn’t care that much about what happened to me, but now I had someone more important to think about. But I put my hands over my lower belly, creating an upside down triangle between my fingers and thumbs.

I still hadn’t had a chance to verify, but my heart already knew. I was pregnant with River’s baby.

I was just pulling on my old, but clean clothes when I was startled by heavy pounding on the door. “Lenni! Hurry up! Grandpa is home, and he wants to talk to you!”

“I’m coming,” I shouted back, finger combing my hair away from my face. The baggy clothes had at least covered a lot of the scratches, but there was one welt across my forehead, and some more on my forearms. Still, looking at my reflection, which was a bit drippy from the condensation, I looked like the old me.

Except I wasn’t the old me any more, was I? I was the luna of one of the largest, most prestigious packs in the region. I was assistant to the Alpha CEO of Blackstone Innovations. Granted, I was pretty much a luna in name only, but my brother didn’t need to know those private details. He started to pound on the door again, and I yanked it open and gave him a glare. “Do you mind?”

He looked taken aback. A year ago he would have slapped me for speaking to him like that, but now he looked confused, like he didn’t know what to do with me. “I told you to hurry up,” he grumbled. He pushed away from the bathroom door and headed down the hallway back toward the office. I followed him, making sure to keep enough space between the two of us, in case he changed his mind about trying to give me a slap.

My grandfather was sitting at the desk with his shoulders bowed. Somehow he looked even older than he had the last time I had seen him, at my Luna Ceremony. The lines on his proud face seemed etched deeper, his snow white hair seemed a little thinner than it had been. “Lenora!” He stood up when he realized I had entered the office, like my presence had shaken him from deep thought.

I went to him and gave him a hug, just as I had since I was a little girl. “Hello, Grandpa,” I said.

He hugged me back, tightly, almost fiercely, before he let go and pushed me back so that he could get a good look at me. “What’s this I hear about Jenson finding you naked and bleeding on the side of the road?”

“Why don’t we sit down,” I said, slipping out from under his hands and taking a seat without being invited. “It’s kind of a long story.”

Jenson rolled his eyes and slouched into his chair. He didn’t have a drink in his hand, but I figured that was a momentary aberration. My grandfather sat behind his desk, and I began my narration, starting with how the Alpha’s brother tried to assault me in the alpha’s chambers.

“Yeah, yeah, so he chased you into the woods, then what?” My brother asked impatiently.

Suddenly, I didn’t feel like telling my brother or my grandfather about Dardanos. “Yeah, well, he was chasing me, and when I nearly couldn’t run anymore, we ran into another wolf in the woods.”

“Who?” My grandfather asked, leaning forward in interest.

“I–I don’t know. I’d never seen him before and I didn’t wait for introductions. While they fought, I ran away, looking for the road. I shifted back into my human form, when I thought I was a safe distance away…and that’s how I ended up all dirty and scratched.” I looked at my brother, “So you see, it wasn’t River’s fault at all.”

“The hell it wasn’t!” My grandfather practically exploded. “It is his job to keep you safe! He left you alone and vulnerable!”

I felt my hackles raise. It was partially true, what my grandfather was saying. River had walked away and left me alone. “He left me in the safety of the packhouse,” I said, still defending River, even though his actions that morning had hurt my feelings. “How was River supposed to know his brother was going to…” I swallowed hard, I couldn’t even bring myself to say the words out loud.

“How indeed,” Jenson snorted. “Lenni was probably leading the poor brother on all this time. Hell, maybe she was already doing Asher on the side–”

Before I knew what I was about, I flew out of my chair, jumped toward my brother, and drove my fist straight into Jenson’s throat. He choked and sputtered and grabbed his neck as tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes. “What the f.uck, Lenni!” he gasped when he could get air through his injured windpipe.

“Say it again,” I said, my voice low and threatening as I grasped the arms of his chair and leaned closer to him. “I dare you.”