couldn’t identify.
“Is this medicine, Sir?” I asked as I lay back.
He nodded. “Something that will hasten your healing. I can’t continue to train you if you’re so easily broken.”
He continued to tend to my wounds, wiping the blood away as well. Thankfully, he did not touch me in a way I knew would make him hard between his legs. He only seemed to care about my well-being and I wondered if he was as mean as I had originally thought he was. Maybe he was just trying to scare me?
“Rest now,” he said, then rose, taking the bowl and cloth with him. He returned with a blanket, draping it over me.
I watched him leave the cottage and I turned my attention to the fire crackling in the fireplace. It was almost hypnotic the way the flames danced on the logs. The heat radiating from it warmed and comforted me, relaxing me. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to rest. It was the smell of food cooking that woke me up and also the need to relieve my bladder. I climbed off the sofa and made my way outside to piss on a nearby tree. When I returned to the cottage, Winston was setting the table in the dining room for us. I entered the bedroom I shared with him and put on my gown before returning for supper.
He was already sitting down eating when I joined him at the table. This time, it was venison, roasted and seasoned succulently. My mouth watered at the anticipation of a delicious dinner. One thing Winston could do very well was cook. I had enjoyed every meal he’d prepared for us and this was no exception. My mouth was greasy as I chowed down.
“It’s time you met your pack. We have a meeting tomorrow morning. Now that the war is over, everything is settled. It’s time for our Alpha to assign districts to his Beta Capos and you need to learn who they are,” Winston said, then took a swig of his wine.
I did the same, enjoying the flavor. “Are there a lot of Beta Capos, Sir?” I asked.
“That depends on your understanding of ‘a lot’. I am one of ten.” He paused and pursed his lips. “Well, eight now, but I’m sure that will change soon.”
“My father was a Capo,” I said.
Winston’s eyebrow quirked and he smirked. “Not much of one.”
I stopped eating mid chew at the insult. “It took more than one of you to kill him.”
Winston’s smirk grew into a large smile. “There’s that boldness again.” He laughed and shook his head. “It really didn’t.”
“There were at least five of you who attacked my home,” I shot back.
“There were only four of us, and it took only me to rip your father into two pieces. Even in his full wolf form, he was no match for me. Your pack was young, full of inferior wolves, none over half a thousand years. Hell, your Alpha was only three centuries old. No wolf that young can ever run a pack. Frankly, I’m surprised the dragons bothered to leave your pack alone when they could have easily taken it just like we did.”
“You said you lost a lot of wolves, that means that we were stronger than you admit,” I shouted. I could feel my fury rising as I didn’t appreciate him talking so disrespectfully about my parents and all of our friends.
What came next happened so fast, it left me reeling as I was knocked from the chair to the floor with a powerful backhand. My mouth was filled with blood as one of my teeth rattled around inside. I spit it out along with the blood and looked up at Winston as he glared at me from his sitting position. My jaw ached where he’d backhanded me and I could feel the bruise swelling.
“I may like the boldness in you, Deacon, but I will never tolerate your insolent tongue. You don’t ever raise your voice to me, or your hand,” Winston said, and his tone was so measured in calmness, it sent chills down my spine. There was threat in his tone, one I knew would result in my death if I ever dared to challenge him again.
“I am… I am sorry, Sir,” I apologized. Not because I meant it, but because I wanted to survive.
“Sit down and finish your supper,” Winston ordered.
I climbed back into the chair and finished my meal, even though it was hard for me to chew