Chapter 37 What we’re missing
Dravik's pov
“Has he said anything yet?” I ask, still looking down at the man lying on the snow.
“No,” Brandon answers. “He put up one hell of a fight so we didn’t risk questioning him. We brought him straight here.”
“Good.” My jaw tightens. “Take him to the dungeon and lock him up. The council will be here soon and we need to prepare. We question him later, until then, this goes no further.”
“What about Auren?” Brandon asks.
I turn sharply. “What about her?”
He hesitates, his eyes flicking to Garrick like he wants backup.
“Take him to the dungeon, Brandon.”
I add enough hardness to the order to make it final and he dips his head, signals to the men, and they haul the chained body back into the vehicle. Tires crunch over snow as they pull away while Garrick stays behind with me.
“You think she looks like that?” he asks quietly.
Of course it’s him. Trust Garrick to always ask what everyone else is too afraid to say.
I face him. “We don’t know anything yet. Don’t say a word to anyone, especially Hope. Do you understand?”
He nods once and I turn walking back towards the house.
She can’t look like that Shadow murmurs. “She just can’t.”
I ignore him and take the steps two at a time.
Dravik? Why are you not saying anything?
I still say nothing, my mind and thoughts racing all over the place. Everything is starting to line up.
The reason Silverveil hadn’t really come to my attention till I got the information that led me there. The reason they keep disappearing from time to time. The reason Auren has never seen their wolf and the reason they shift when they’re eleven. All the wolves I know only passed through transformation when we reached the maturity age of fifteen to sixteen years.
This is probably what we have been missing, they go up the trees and remain there where they know we can’t find them.
Is that what she becomes?
Does it matter?Shadow growls uneasily.
I stop outside the bedroom door.
Does it?
I push the thought away and enter quietly. She is curled on her side, her breathing uneven, her lashes damp. I sit in the chair beside the bed and watch her until sleep finally drags me under too.
—
The sound of running water wakes me up.
My eyes snap open to find the bed beside me is empty. Clothes are scattered across the floor leading to the bathroom. The door is half open and steam curls into the room.
“Auren?”
No answer.
I cross the room fast and enter through the open door. She is sitting on the shower floor, her knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around herself. Water pours over her head and shoulders like she is trying to scrub something invisible away. Her hair clings to her back and her body is shaking.
“Auren.”
Still nothing.
I yank the glass shower door open. She flinches and finally looks up at me. Her eyes are red and swollen.
“I don’t remember my parents,” she whispers. “Not really. But I remember their faces that night.”
I pause.
“My father’s head…” her voice breaks. “It was torn open, blood everywhere. I was covered in it. I remember my mother had her throat turn open and there was so much blood pouring out of it. She was still breathing but just barely. She looked at me. She looked at me when she took her last breath.”
She folds forward with a sound that is more animal than human.
I and Shadow have been so wrong.
It wasn’t a delayed reaction to the rejection bond. She has been crying because she has been reliving the brutal sight of her parents death.
I strip my shirt off and step into the shower, water soaking me instantly. I sit and pull her naked body onto mine carefully, wrapping my arms around her. Just enough to hopefully give her the feeling that she isn’t alone.
Her head drops and rests against my chest. Her heart is racing at first and slowly, inch by inch, it begins to slow. Her breathing evens out and the shaking fades.
Her hand slips from her leg and curls around my waist tightly, like she needs something solid to stay anchored.
We stay like that for a while with water pounding down on us until my body starts to react to hers and I start to feel a stirring down there.
Her naked ass is resting directly on my hardening dick, soft and inviting. I really wanted to fuck her and I know this is partly Shadow’s doing.
I grit my teeth.
“Let’s get you out of here and dressed,” I murmur much to Shadows annoyance.
Spoilsport he mutters.
I ignore him, lift her easily, and carry her out of the bathroom. I set her on her feet and wrap a towel around her and she stands there quietly while I rummage for clothes.
“You said the contract is void, right?” she asks softly behind me. “The one you have with my uncle.”
“Yes.”
“So that means I’m free to go? Without you hunting me down?”