Before Jen could hear the answer, the door to the suite flew open and slammed into the wall. A frantic looking Drake came barreling in with an equally upset looking Decebel right behind him.
“Where is she?” Drake practically snarled. Jen knew he was just responding to the emotions he could no doubt feel coming from his mate and so she excused his tone. Instead, she pointed to the door.
“She went in there to take a bath. As far as I know everything was fine.”
“Her stomach was hurting before I left,” Drake said as he stepped up to the closed door and knocked in a surprisingly gentle way. “Bethany, love, are you okay?”
Jen turned to Decebel and met his eyes. “We might need Rachel. Can you get her?”
Decebel nodded. “I’m on it.”
Jen turned back to Drake as he banged on the closed door. After a few moments he paused and there was silence. Then they both heard Bethany whimper, “There’s so much blood.”
Drake felt the wind being sucked from his lungs as her words penetrated his mind. Blood. She’d said there was so much blood. “Bethany, what blood? Why is there blood, baby?”
He could feel her confusion and he wanted to reassure her, but he didn’t know what was wrong; he didn’t know if everything would be alright. What he needed to know was where the hell the blood was coming from.
“Bethany, please unlock the door so I don’t have to break it down,” he said to her through the bond, hoping it would jar her into action. She seemed to be frozen.
“I don’t want to get blood on you,” she responded and her voice sounded far away as though she were in a trance.
“Did you cut yourself shaving? Is that why there is blood?” he asked. There was no response. After several seconds Drake lost the little patience he was clinging to. “Jen I’ll replace the door.”
He grabbed the door handle and started to twist it but stopped when Jen’s hand landed on top of his.
“What are you going to do once you get in there?” she asked him quietly. “She’s probably naked as the day she was born and not in her right mind. Are you just going to barge in there and see her in all her glory?”
“I don’t give a damn if she’s naked or dressed in a potato sack. I want to know that she’s okay,” Drake bit out.
“Let her keep some of her dignity. Don’t let the first time you see her be like this.”
“Do you honestly think I really give a damn about how she looks?” Drake knew he needed to bring his temper down, but it angered him that Jen could imply that he would take advantage of the situation. “All I want to know is why there is blood, how much blood, and how to stop it. I want to keep her safe!”
“Good,” said a new female voice. “Then let’s figure out what’s going on so that we can accomplish that.” Rachel, the Romania wolves’ gypsy healer, was calm and collected not only in her words but also in her appearance.
“Perfect,” Jen said in a completely different tone than she’d been using with the angry wolf.
He frowned at her. “You were stalling me.”
His Alpha female nodded. “Yes, yes I was. If you want to break in now, by all means,” she said, motioning toward the door. “Go ahead.”
“Maybe let me or Jen enter first, okay?” Rachel suggested.
That was fine with Drake; he just wanted the door removed from in between him and his mate. He twisted the handle of the door until he heard an audible snap and then slowly pushed the door open, not wanting to startle her.
“Jen, myself, and Rachel, she’s one of the gypsy healers, are coming into the room,” he told her, hoping that explaining what was happening would keep Bethany from being startled. Regardless of how badly he wanted to see her, Drake didn’t want to frighten her more than she already was, so he pushed the door open slowly. Rachel started to step around him but was stopped by the projectile body flying at him. Drake immediately opened his arms and found them quickly filled with his towel-clad, crying mate.
Her arms had a death grip on his neck and she’d buried her face into his shoulder. Drake rubbed a hand down her back trying to calm her. “Shh,” he soothed. “Calm down, love.”
He didn’t pay attention when Jen and Rachel both walked around them and moved further into the bathroom. He also didn’t pay attention to the silent hand gestures and soundless words coming from Jen. It wasn’t until Rachel tapped him on the shoulder that wasn’t currently occupied by his crying mate that Drake finally gave anyone else a second thought.
He turned his head to look at the healer. “It would probably be best if Jen and I handle this one.”
Drake started to pull away but Bethany just held on tighter. When he looked at Rachel again she nodded her understanding and leaned forward to whisper to the young girl. Drake tried really hard not to listen despite his excellent wolf hearing, but he wasn’t able to tune it all out.
He got bits and pieces, the main one being about the bleeding. He felt her stiffen in his arms as Rachel’s words began to register in her mind. Clearly, the girl was embarrassed. Just as she was about to scramble out of his arms, Drake held her tighter and pulled her back to look down into her aquamarine eyes. “Never be embarrassed with me. You’re safe with me. In all ways, you’re safe.”
She held his stare and finally nodded. “Okay.” Bethany wiped away some stray tears as she continued to look at him. “I think you should probably wait outside.”
Drake’s lips lifted ever so slightly in a small grin. “I’ll be waiting for you when you’re done. Take your time.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then set her on her feet and quietly left the bathroom, pulling the door gently closed behind him.
As soon as the latch caught, Drake let out an audible sigh.
“Everything okay?” A deep voice asked. Drake turned to find Decebel and Gavril, Rachel’s mate, standing in the living area.
He nodded. “Getting there.”
“Good, now let’s go for a run while the females deal with female stuff,” Decebel said in a much quieter voice than his usual.
“I can still hear you, you big fur ball.” Jen’s voice came calling out through the closed doors. “And by all means, go! We would hate for some of our icky female stuff to somehow infect you.” She paused, but the she-wolf wasn’t done. “Oh and don’t come back unless you have chocolate— lots of it. Toodles.”
“She could have told you all of that from here.” Drake tapped the side of his head.
Decebel smirked. “She could have, but then she wouldn’t have had the pleasure of baiting me in front of other males.”
Drake gave him a questioning look.
Decebel shrugged. “It’s her idea of foreplay.”
Drake decided not to touch that with a ten-foot pole. Instead, he sent a parting thought to Bethany so that she’d know where he was and then followed the other two males out of the mansion and into the surrounding forest that they called home.
Bethany was pretty sure she was going to be the first person ever to die of embarrassment. If such a thing was possible, it was about to happen. She’d freaked out, plain and simple. She’d seen the blood and all those years—all the horrors she’d endured—came rushing back and she’d simply lost it. If Drake didn’t see her as helpless and delicate before, he probably did now after that little display.
“Hey.”
Snap, snap. Fingers were suddenly thrust in her face and they continued the snapping until she finally met the eyes of their owner.
“You were seven when they took you,” Jen said. “How could you have known?”
She was referring to the aforementioned bleeding. It had been her period. How do you like them apples? she thought to herself. She had freaked out over her period. No, she’d never had one before, but she knew a little bit about them from the snippets she remembered her mom telling her when she was a child. But over the past eleven years, that knowledge had slipped away, locked behind survival instincts and fear.
“Bethany,” Rachel’s gentle voice drew he
r attention from her thoughts. “I’m not a doctor, but I have spent years studying the body, both human and werewolf. Your body was in survival mode for such a very long time and, it’s my bet that because of that trauma, your menstrual cycle was delayed. Your body is finally returning back to normal after your ordeal.”
“Yeah, now that you’re no longer on the let’s try and stay alive wellness plan,” Jen continued for the healer. “Your body is remembering that it actually serves a purpose more than just taking up oxygen.”
Jen stepped out for a few moments and then returned with an array of products meant to aid during the monthly cycle. She laid them out on the floor before Bethany. The Alpha female was kind enough to explain to her the pros and cons of tampons vs. no tampons. It was all quite informative, but still didn’t take Bethany’s mind away from the fact that she’d have to face Drake again soon, and she was sure her face would end up ten shades of red.
“So this should stop in seven days or less?” Bethany asked Rachel.
“Yes. It varies from woman to woman but a typical cycle is seven days or less.”
Bethany turned to look at Jen who was already shaking her head. “No,” the blonde said, holding out a finger. “You are not going to hide at my place for the next week. He’s your mate. He’s going to have to deal with this for the rest of his life. You are going to have to get over it. Drake is like a millions years old…okay probably not a million, but I assure you he’s older than us. He’s well aware of what’s going on down there, I promise you.”
So, no help there, Bethany thought and looked over to Rachel.
“She’s right. You won’t hear me say that often in Jen’s presence.” Rachel shot Jen a grin. “But in this instance, she is right.”
“Maybe we should start singing some passionate ballad with a catchy chorus and belt it out at the top of our lungs. Then suddenly everything will be golden,” Jen suggests.
Bethany wasn’t sure what to say to such a suggestion.
“What?” Jen shrugged. “It works for all those Disney Princesses. They come upon a dilemma or difficult situation and then start singing, in which case animals almost always join in and then BAM!” She clapped her hands together. “World peace is accomplished and starving children everywhere suddenly have full bellies. I’m just saying we could at least give it a go just to see if the animals do indeed join in.”
“You really have nothing to be embarrassed about,” Rachel said turning back to Bethany. “All you have to deal with is your monthly menstrual cycle. Jen, well, she’s stuck with herself, so she’s dealing with a whole lot more than just a period. So you should be smiling.”
Bethany was smiling, but not because of what Rachel said. She was smiling because Jen was currently singing something about bare necessities and werewolves necessities. It was an interesting mix of lyrics and music. She floated past them, her arms stretched out wide as she sang. On her next pass by, she paused and looked at Bethany. “Okay, I don’t know what it is about this bathroom but it’s got some serious happy vibes. Maybe the air is thinner in here and I’m just experiencing a lack of oxygen to the brain.”
Rachel laughed and stood up, helping Bethany gather the plethora of feminine products she’d been loaded down with, courtesy of the singing Alpha female. Bethany found an empty drawer and stuffed it all inside. Along with the feminine products, Jen had also brought the younger girl a change of clothes. After pulling these on, Bethany was now wearing a skirt with a very high slit up the side and a dark blue shirt.
Just as they were about to exit the bathroom, Jen stopped in front of her. She grabbed the skirt and tugged on it until the slit was on her right side, clearly revealing the markings.
“It looks better with the slit on that side. On the other side, it looks like you have it on backward or something,” Jen explained.
“Okay.” Bethany shrugged. Bethany remembered how Jen had mentioned that males can get jealous when other males see the mating markings, but she figured that there wouldn’t be anyone in their suite so Drake shouldn’t have a problem with them showing. And she was secretly hoping that seeing the markings would distract him from the whole screaming over the period thing.
They stepped out into the quiet suite and Rachel gave Bethany a quick hug. “If you ever need anything and don’t want to deal with Jen, my door is always open.”
“Be glad you aren’t in my pack, female, I would so order you to be my sparring partner. Every. Damn. Day.” Jen bit out at the older woman.
Rachel simply pulled Jen into a hug and then on her way out looked back at her over her shoulder, “Remember that I’m headed back to the Romania pack mansion, so if you need me quickly you’ll have to send the fae to get me. Oh, and I’d wipe the floor with you, Alpha, no disrespect.” Rachel winked at her just before the door closed.
Jen was speechless. Bethany had a feeling that Jen was rarely, if ever, rendered speechless.
“Well,” she finally said after several minutes. “That was unexpected.”
Bethany laughed. “She tells you she can kick your butt and all you have is ‘That was unexpected?’ ”
“If a woman has enough backbone to trash talk me, then I will give her the respect she’s due,” Jen said as she headed toward the door. “My duty here is done. Jacque and I will be having hot chocolate and Oreos around midnight in the library if you’d like to join us,” she told her.
Bethany thought about it. It would be nice to get out a bit and stretch her legs. Midnight seemed late, but then again it wasn’t like she had to be up at a certain time the next day. “I might take you up on that.”
“Good, I’d hate to drag you from your room by your hair” —she opened the door and stepped out— “but I will,” she added just before pulling the door closed behind her.
Bethany walked over to the couch and sunk down into it with a sigh. What an evening. She turned onto her side and shifted down lower until she was laying with her head resting on the end pillow. Her eyes began to drift closed and the events of the past hours slipped away.
Drake took in the sleeping form of his mate as he stood, freshly showered, at the doorway to the bedroom. The run had been much needed and he felt relaxed, or at least he had been. But as he stared at the exposed thigh bearing his marks, that relaxation was quickly turning into something else entirely.
She was lovely regardless, but she was especially lovely laying there peacefully asleep with her legs stretched out and the slit of her skirt falling open to reveal the creamy flesh. Drake felt like a creeper and yet he couldn’t look away. The markings called to him. They cried out to his wolf to come and lay claim to what was his. His feet were moving before he even realized it. He’d crossed the room in less than four strides and was kneeling next to his sleeping female.
Drake’s hand inched out, longing to trace the skin bearing his marks, but not wanting to cross a line she wouldn’t be comfortable with.
“You can touch me,” a breathy, sleepy voice caused his head to jerk up.
“What?” he asked, his voice barely recognizable as his wolf pushed to get out.
Bethany’s eyes met his. “I said, you can touch me.”
That was what he’d been afraid she’d said. She was giving him permission, but it still felt wrong. She couldn’t possibly understand what a simple touch could lead to, what he wanted it to lead to. And that made him sick.
He felt her small hand on his pulling it from his lap and lifting it until she could place it on the thigh that taunted him. Her flesh seared him and his fingers flexed against her. She felt like silk, warm silk. Drake knew he was playing with fire and oddly enough he wasn’t scared of being burned. Rather, he was scared of frightening his young mate.
“Bethany,” he practically groaned as he pulled his hand away. He felt as though there should have been some sort of applause or fanfare of music cheering on the amount of self-control it had taken in order to stop touching what his wolf believed to be rightfully theirs.
“Am I
repulsive to you?” she asked. Though her words were calm and seemingly asked without emotion, he felt her turmoil through the bond. “We are supposedly true mates, destined to spend our lives together. And I assume we are supposed to get married or whatever Canis lupus do and eventually have babies. But how can any of that happen if you won’t touch me?”
He didn’t know how to explain it to her without insulting her, but Drake could tell she wasn’t going to let it go. “You’re mistaking my reluctance with a lack of desire, Beth, and I assure you that I don’t hesitate because of lack of desire. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. I want you. By all that is pure and good, I want you like I’ve wanted nothing before but I don’t think you’re really ready for that.”
“How can we know that unless we try?” she pleaded.
“Try what?” Drake demanded. His words were harsher than he intended but he needed to make her understand. “Do you even know the things that happen between mates? Aside from kissing, Bethany, do you have any idea of the things they do together in physical intimacy to show that love to each other? Can you name one damn thing and if you can, can you say it without giggling or blushing or acting like a child?” Drake had stood up at some point during his rant and was standing over her. His need to dominate her, to make her submit to him, was riding him hard and it was only verification that he still wasn’t in control of himself. He took a step back from her and glared down at her prostrate form. “Do you have even the tiniest clue of how I want to touch you? I don’t just want to hold your hand, Beth. Mates do more than kiss and hold hands and usually it involves clothes coming off. Are you ready to take your clothes off in front of me? Are you ready to be touched somewhere other than your shoulder or back?” When all she did was stare up at him, mouth hanging open, it only made him angrier. “ARE YOU?” he bellowed.
Suddenly she was on her feet, all five foot nothing of her, and she was shooting him her own death glare. “Did the first man and woman created know what the hell they were doing? Did Adam have any clue how to touch Eve or show her how he felt about her and did Eve know how to reciprocate? Probably not! But they freaking figured it out because, oh wow, look around the entire world and see all of the people walking around. They all had to come from somewhere and, guess what, apparently they figured it out too. Do you think I am incapable of learning? Do I need to be talking to someone else about this? You are supposed to be my mate. Do you want some other male to teach me?”