“Your parents were my Alphas, and when they perished, you became my Alpha and that has not changed.” Her shoulders squared and her back was straight as she spoke with true conviction.
Vasile picked his mate up in his arms and stood. “Then lead the way.” He made eye contact with his top three and motioned towards the inside of the house. They knew what he was asking without the use of words. They would clean up the cottage and have the bodies cleaned and prepared for burial so that Alina could say a proper goodbye.
Auriel pushed the door open to her small home and entered not waiting to see if he followed. He had to duck his head as he walked through the front door and turn just slightly to get his wide shoulders in.
“You can lay her in there,” the female said as she motioned to a small bedroom.
Vasile laid her on the small bed. He brushed her long hair from her face and ran a finger softly down her pale cheek. He mentally begged her to open her eyes, to smile at him, or to snarl, anything just to show him she would be alright. But the only movement was the shallow rise and fall of her chest.
Auriel walked in and reached for Alina’s shoe on the foot closest to her but her hand never made contact. Vasile had grabbed her wrist as soon as he saw her intent. “No one will touch her but me,” he said firmly.
“But, you are not yet completed the bonding ceremony; it would not be right,” she stumbled over her words as her body shook with fear.
“My mate was violated by a male in her pack, was that right? Was that proper?” His voice was cold and harsh.
A tear slid down the female’s cheek as she shook her head. “I am only trying to protect her.”
Vasile shook his head. “I am the one she will never need protecting from.” He released her and stepped back. “Please get me the things I will need to clean her and clothe her. I will not trust anyone to touch her, not when there are so many traitors in this pack.”
Auriel did not argue this time. She simply scurried from the room and did not return until she had everything Vasile had asked for. She shut the door behind her after having laid everything on the small dresser across from the bed. She had even brought him a warm basin of water.
Vasile took the blanket at the end of the bed and pulled it up to Alina’s chin. He would protect her modesty as much as possible. He removed her shoes and stockings. Then with the blanket still covering her, he reached beneath it and beneath her to undo the button on the back of her skirt. He pulled it off of her without ever removing the blanket and tossed it on the floor. He would have it burned because he would never smell another male on his mate’s clothes if he could help it. Next he began to raise her shift but then after a moment’s thought decided it would just be easier to tear it. He was careful to go slow and keep her covered. Finally, she was fully undressed and he began to wash her. He wiped her arms and legs and then gently cleaned her face and then her neck. He growled low as he wiped the blood from the now healed wound where Serghei had pierced her beautiful skin. He wanted to roll her over so he could wash her back and get that male’s smell off of her, but he decided to wait until she woke.
He tucked the blanket in around her to keep her warm and then pulled the only chair in the room up next to the bed. He sat and leaned forward until his head was by hers, and he closed his eyes as he breathed in her scent. It calmed him like nothing else could. He reached up, without opening his eyes, and took her hand in his intertwining their fingers. He knew he needed to check on his warriors and figure out if anyone had run off to tell Emilian of his arrival, but he could not bring himself to leave her side. He needed to hear her voice, needed to see her eyes open and full of life. So he sat with his head next to hers, breathing her in, allowing his wolf to take solace in the feel of her skin on his. He pushed away the rage for now and simply focused on her.
“Luna, come back to me,” he whispered into her mind through the bond that had grown stronger since he had completed the Blood Rites. “We have so much living to do, beloved, and so many things to see and experience. I have yet to even taste your lips and you are finally of an appropriate age for me to do so. You have to come back to me; I need you. You have to come back so we can build a life together, heal our pack, and see what adventures the Great Luna has in store for us. Please, Mina, hear my voice and obey me. Come. Back.” He could feel her spirit slipping away not to death but to a place where there was no pain, no fear. Her mind and body were trying to protect her by keeping her unconscious, and he could not allow that. He gathered his power, called on his pack―those loyal to him―to share their power with him, and then he pushed it into his mate. She would hear him and answer him because any other outcome was not acceptable. She would not leave him while he had to watch her body whither as her mind stayed shut away from him. She was his and just as he would give her every bit of himself, he would demand the same of her.
This time when he spoke to her, he addressed her wolf. “Wolf mate,” he rumbled into her mind and used the Alpha power bestowed upon him to draw her to him. He felt her wolf seeking him out, could feel her urgent need to get to him but she too was locked in Alina’s fractured mind. “You are strong, and sometimes it is necessary for the wolf to take the lead. She needs you, needs your strength, wake her up, mate. Call her back from the quiet place.” He probably did not have to put the command in his tone, but wolves like to know who is in charge; it makes them feel safe, and lets them know their order in the pack. Alina’s wolf would respond to his dominance and find security in his ability to take control.
“She fights me,” her wolf answered him softly. It was the first time he had heard Alina’s wolf speak. The use of words seemed foreign to her, and he could tell she was using what she had learned from hearing Alina speak. “Her human spirit is tired. She suffered much from the mongrel. We fought, but he was so strong. I could not save her. I tried, mate. I tried to save her.”
“Hush,” he purred as he felt his wolf mate’s frustration at not being able to protect her human half, and he was surprised when he also felt worry that she had disappointed him. “You both belong to us, to my wolf and to me. You have nothing to be worried about. You did what you could, and it is because of you that you are both still alive.”
“I long to be in my wolf skin, to be close to you in your wolf skin, to leave this place for a time and find a den to share, away from pain, away from deceit and those who would harm us.”
She was laying herself bare before him, acknowledging him as her mate, submitting to him, and it took his breath away. Never had anything so very precious been given to him. Alina’s wolf trusted him and his wolf to care for them, to provide for them, to protect them and love them. His own wolf was stirring at his mate’s wants and needs. He too wanted to be out, covered in fur, and free of the human trappings. He wanted his mate by his side, wanted to play with her, hunt with her, and curl his large body around her smaller one, wrapping her in his scent.
“Then wake her up so that we can do all those things you want.”
Vasile could feel Alina’s wolf pushing into her mind, trying to take over, to give her broken body strength. He sat patiently waiting with his hand still entwined with hers and his head still on the pillow. He had no idea how long he waited until he finally felt her stir. First she squeezed his hand and that little movement had him bolting upright. He looked at her hand in his and then at her face. Her eyes were fluttering as though she were fighting their desire to open them.
“Open your eyes, Alina,” he commanded. “I will not wait any longer; open your eyes.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you are a tad overbearing?” Her raspy voice hit his ears and it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.
“Not to live and tell about it,” he said and smiled at her as her pale grey eyes opened and met his. “There you are,” he whispered.
Alina stared at the man before her, desperately trying to take in every detail of his incredibly handsome face. He was more beautiful than she had remembered it seemed. When she realized his hand was wrapped around hers she pulled it to her face and pressed his palm to her cheek. The warmth of his flesh on hers nearly made her whimper. How she had longed for his touch, needed it, and at times even craved it. So many nights she had lain awake imagining what it would be like to have his arms wrapped around her, his lips on her skin, his teeth…and just like that the fantasy crumbled as she remembered just whose arms, skin, and teeth had been on her.
She rolled away from Vasile throwing her head over the side of the bed as she retched. Her stomach protested violently as her mind conjured up the memories of what had taken place in her parents’ cottage. Tears streamed down her face and she gasped for air in between the heaves. She felt a cool towel on her neck and a soothing hand on her back rubbing small soothing circles against her skin. She could smell Vasile, his scent mixing with the smell of vomit, and she felt mortified that he was seeing her this way. But then what did it matter, because surely he had seen the bite mark from Serghei. He could not possibly want her now.
“I will always want you,” he whispered as he pulled her hair back off of her skin allowing the cool air to touch her overheated body. It was then that she realized that under the blanket she was stark naked. She should care, but could not bring herself to.
“What he did,” she started but had to stop as the tears came again.
“He will die for touching you. But for marking you, taking something that is supposed to be beautiful and passionate and turning it into the equivalent of rape, for that he will suffer greatly before I grant him the gift of death, for that is what it will be―a gift.”
She finally felt as if she was done vomiting, and she pushed herself up and held the blanket to her chest, careful to keep herself covered. Vasile ignored her swatting hands as he scooped her up and sat her up against the headboard. She could not look at him now that she remembered. She could only imagine what he must think.