Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Fuck,” she muttered, heaving after finally gaining enough distance.
She couldn’t keep holding her breath in his presence.
She was half supported by Evelyn.
“Yeah, fuck those ill-bred shits. They aren’t a quarter the Alphas they think they are–literally the lowest rungs on the fucking ladder. How do they think they can ju–.”
Laura cut her off with a hard squeeze.
She wasn’t sure if she was doing it right since she rarely, if ever, hugged anyone. Evelyn, outside of Michael and his family, was the first shifter to show such concern for her.
It gave Laura a good feeling.
Warm arms encircled her.
“I’ve been saying, you can come to me with anything.” Evelyn began patting her back.
“I know.”
It quickly became awkward with the height difference, but Laura felt she’d made her second friend in her shifter life.
***
After convincing Evelyn she was fine, Laura locked herself in her room, welting under hot water to drown the scent of Alphas.
She wasn’t looking forward to dinner.
She stared at the wall of the shower.
*How many bashes would it take to end it?*
She groaned, sliding herself from the shower before intrusive thoughts turned reality.
After dressing, she slid onto the bed and flipped open her notebook.
… But one could only stare at the same words for so long.
She snapped it closed, deciding she didn’t want to kill the hours laying in bed.
*May as well pick up a book.*
She cracked the door open. The smell of meat and fruit wafted from the direction of the banquet hall.
*Tsk.*
Her stomach rumbled. A string of curses followed, but it would have to wait until time.
She stepped out into the hall, a candidate, whose name she didn’t bother to remember, loitered nearby. She didn’t encounter anyone of note on her path to the library, as she approached its grand doors.
She cocked a brow.
It was decidedly more elaborate than the castle entrance.
From floor to ceiling, and with a width greater than ten of her bodies lying in a row, the doors–unlike the majority of the material of the infrastructure–were meticulously crafted from wood. Its three dimensional carvings jutted out like a forest that lacked a green foliage. The outer sides of the door were thick branches, woven and braided in a race to its arched peak. The face of the door was carved with images of–*you guessed it*–wolves.
The only reason she knew it was the library was thanks to a peek she caught inside from someone leaving.
Laura cautiously approached the door. She wished she’d caught the opportunity to slip in while it was open. It felt wrong to touch it, as if the moisture from her fingers would destroy the beautiful work.
She smelled him the same instant she felt him.
Distracted by the *do-or-don’t* of touching the polished surface, she didn’t pay attention to the scent approaching her–or rather whose scent it was.
A large hand shot past her, pulling the heavy door open with little effort.
Laura half shrieked for the sake of the wood, before noticing where the hand was pulling..
… A door handle.
Her face went slack for her wasted strife–and quickly shot up as she was shoved into the library, its door closing silently behind them.
After the shock of movement, Laura found herself pressed into a small enclave near the entrance.
The heat against her back moved, but only just enough to give her breathing room.
“Derek,” she spoke flatly, staring at the large leather-bound scripts that rested at face level–and his large left hand against them, locking her in.
“Laura,” he responded in the same tone.
“Were you expecting a certain Delta, perhaps?” He chuckled near her ear, earning a rumble.
“I can’t think of any reason for you to bother with me.” She refused to be provoked.
“And I couldn’t help thinking, what’s so different about our Laura?” His hand smoothed along the nape of her neck.
“The small pup living in the commons, who would cry and hide at the slightest disturbance…” He tugged at the tie holding her hair, causing her damp strands to spill from her crown.
He gently entangled a fist full.
“But that’s not the same pup who wandered in the wrong direction in the woods. No..this one talked back..was willing to fight back.” He pulled her hair harder. “It was so different, this pup willing to bark,” he spoke directly in her ear.
*One hit.*
“Was she finally not willing to take the pack’s shit..” he trailed off. She felt his head tilt as if truly considering his words.
“I couldn’t help thinking..how long would it take to break this pup to see the old one again.” The sound of leather against nails ripped over her, as his claws extended across the soft leather books.
He’d ruined three.
*Unnecessary.*
Her gums itched.
“But to see you today doing your best impression of a shrinking violet–did I imagine that confidence? Or was it just pure recklessness?” He pitched forward, giving her less room to move.
She choked on the snarl building in her chest.
“Cause you see,” he continued, “People change..but they don’t change that much. Perhaps you just need a little reminder…”
*Just one little hit.*
His scent encased her.
“It seems you’ve also forgotten about your beloved Deltas, and their precarious positions.”
Her gums burned.
*Fuck it.*
She rounded in his half embrace, adding weight as she launched an uppercut with her momentum for a satisfying crunch.
Or it would have been satisfying had she not caught air.
“This is quite unbecoming,” the amused voice stood taller than both her and the annoying Alpha dangled in its one handed grip.
Laura was frozen with her fist in the air. Finn Woulf stood in front of her, blond hair flying wildly–his face equally amused.
His eyes trailed lower, and a smile broke out.
She lowered her groin-aiming knee.
*Tsk.*
“If I were to shove an unwilling female into a side cut, and push myself against her, I don’t think I’d have the face to look at anyone.” He released Derek, whose face gave nothing as he brushed his attire.
Finn got in his face.
“That’s more like something a *man* would do, right? And you call yourself an Alpha.” He leaned back, giving way for Derek to leave–which he did, but not without a meaningful look at Laura.
They watched the door close behind him.