She fixed me with an angry stare. “Then you’ll take me home. NOW. Because if you don’t… If you don’t…”
Dexter chuckled and leaned against the couch. “You’ll what?”
Claire’s face darkened with temper and it made me proud to see. She wasn’t scared of us. Quite the opposite actually.
I glanced over to where Dexter leaned casually against the couch with his arms crossed.
His arms were huge, his biceps the size of Claire’s thighs. Did she seriously think she had any hope of fighting any of us off?
“I’ll never forgive you for keeping me here. If I am some special soul mate person to you, do you really want me pissed off at you for the rest of my life? And that’s if you can watch me twenty-four seven. When you’re asleep, I’ll run away. I can promise you that.” She was practically hissing now.
I couldn’t handle much more of this. I twisted around and stared at my Alpha and Beta, whose hackles were rising at the threat.
“Taylor, Dex, why don’t you go see your parents? Maybe explain about Claire, and come back in an hour? I need to speak to her. Alone.”
I didn’t assert myself too often in our pack. I didn’t need to. Dexter and Taylor did a great job of looking after us. But as I saw them register my words, I was glad I chose my battles. Because now they were listening to me.
“Ah…” Dexter began.
I tilted my head towards the door.
He backed away and my respect for my Alpha grew. He trusted me and I would make sure that trust was not misplaced.
They shut the door behind them as they walked from the room, and I turned back to our mate. Her shoulders were up around her ears and she looked far too stressed.
“Do you want something to eat? We don’t have a lot of your processed food, but we keep a good supply of meat and fruit and things here.”
I moved towards the kitchen, pulling out some berries from the fridge that were picked from our fields.
“Ah… um…” She stumbled towards the kitchen and pulled up a stool. “I suppose.”
She noticed the variety of berries we had, their colour and size not what normal supermarkets would carry.
“You grow everything here?”
I nodded and pushed the bowl towards her. “We’re pretty self-sustainable. We have to go into town for some things, of course, but we try to stay off the grid as much as possible.”
We had solar power for heating and electricity,
farmed fields of crops, and raised chickens and cows.
Our ancestors had done a good job of keeping our community safe.
Claire picked a berry up and bit into it. A soft moan surfacing from her lips made me groan in unison.
Her gaze caught mine and I shrugged. “Sorry. Your reactions are linked to mine. I can’t control it.”
She sighed, letting her shoulders fall. And when she looked at me, the sadness I saw on her face broke my heart.
“Claire, please don’t look at me like that. You’re not defeated, you’re not trapped. This is a blessing, and we all need to work out the best way through the situation.”
I hadn’t realised how hard it would be for a human to understand us. I’d never had to think about it before.
She looked up at me with pleading eyes. “Please, Jay. You seem to be the most sensible of them all. Take me home. Please. Drop me off at the hospital and I swear I won’t tell anyone what happened. Not about Dexter kidnapping me, or you guys turning into wolves. None of it.”
I smiled at her and then her eyebrows flew up, a horror-filled expression crossing her face.
“Unless… oh, God. Do you have to kill me now that I know your secret?”