Drake didn’t seem to have a choice in the matter. Where one minute he’d been a wolf, the next he was a completely naked man. To her surprise, neither Jen nor Drake seemed bothered by the nudity. He picked up the sweats he’d been wearing before and slipped them on and then took a step toward Bethany, but his eyes remained on the Alpha.
“She has needs, Drake, and it is your job, as her mate, to make sure those needs are met. Right now, she needs to pee. She also needs a shower, and, bloody hell, maybe, just maybe, she needs a break from your growling, feral, overbearing ass. You have my word as your Alpha that she will not go near any males. I will take her straight to the bathroom and bring her straight back. Please don’t make me drag Decebel into this and have him restrain you.”
Bethany looked at Drake. Their eyes met and the intensity of the emotions swirling in his gaze caused her to catch her breath.
“I’m sorry.” She heard his voice in her mind. “I know you need to take care of things. But because my wolf is nearly in full control, I can’t think beyond the need to keep you close. Go,” he said suddenly, both in her head and out loud. “Go. But please hurry back. I’m sorry to ask that.” Drake reached out a hand to her. She stepped close enough to touch it. The skin on skin contact seemed to bring both of their anxieties down ten notches.
“Let’s go Bethany, or you’re going to pee all over the floor, and I’m sorry, but my hospitality stops just before the peeing on the floor mark.”
Bethany let go of Drake’s hand and felt the anxiety rush forward again. She gritted her teeth and pulled back her shoulders. She wasn’t a coward. She could walk away from him long enough to get cleaned up and take care of her business. As soon as the door to the room closed behind them, Jen grabbed her arm. “Run,” she said just as a loud banging sound came from the room behind them.
Bethany started to turn around but Jen jerked her forward and up the stairs. “He’s going to go berserk no matter what. His wolf is feral, Bethany. He can’t stand being separated from you, especially when he knows you’re in a mansion full of other dominant male werewolves.” They sprinted up the stairs and down the hall together, but Bethany continued to hear Drake’s roars coming from the floor below. He sounded not only angry but anguished as well.
“Here’s the bathroom,” Jen said pulling them to a stop and pointing to the right. “There are towels on the counter and all the necessary items a girl needs when she finds herself having a been underground for a decade kind of day.”
“Does that kind of day happen often?” Bethany asked, her brow raised.
Jen smirked. “Too damned often, little wolf, too damned often.” She pushed Bethany toward the door and started to pull it closed. “Oh, and only open this door when you hear three knocks, a pause, and then three knocks again. I’ll bring you some clothes.” She glanced over Bethany’s body. “Once we get some food in you and some meat on your bones, you look like you’ll be about my size. So the clothes are going to be baggy for now.” She started to close the door and then stopped, holding up her finger. “Oh, one more thing, when you look in the mirror, don’t freak out, and whatever you do, don’t scream.”
Bethany locked the door as soon as it was closed and then turned to look in the mirror. She froze. She couldn’t have screamed if she had wanted to because there was no air in her lungs to create the sound. The last time Bethany had seen herself in a mirror had been eleven years ago when she’d been seven years old. She had expected that her body and face would have changed. She wasn’t stupid. But knowing it and seeing it right in front of her…well that was two very, very different things.
Her hair was long, dark, and an unruly mess. Her eyes looked too big for her thin face. Her nose was okay she supposed. It was a nose; how great could it really get? Her lips were pink and full, but they seemed to stay in a state of perpetual droopiness. Bethany pulled her lips up into a smile. Creepy, she thought. Who would have thought you’d need to practice smiling?
After staring at her face and overanalyzing every inch of it, she started to remove her clothes. The first thing she noticed about her body was that it was basically a skeleton with skin on it. Attractive, she thought.
Reluctantly, she began to turn. Bethany twisted her head so that she could see her back in the mirror. For the second time since she’d looked into the mirror, she lost her breath.
Starting on her right hip, traveling down to mid-thigh, were what could only be described as intricate tattoos. She stared, trying to contort her body so that she could get a better look. With a sudden gasp she realized that she’d seen the markings before, very recently. They looked just like the ones she’d seen on the neck of the large werewolf currently trying to break through iron bars one floor below her. How? she wondered, gaping at herself in the mirror.
The markings were dark black and appeared as though they’d been expertly drawn upon her flesh by someone very talented. Her father had a tattoo and she remembered how the ink looked on his skin. These were much the same. Bethany ran her hand down her hip and thigh over the patterned skin. It was completely smooth. She grabbed a hand towel that was hanging by the sink, doused it with water, and vigorously began rubbing her thigh. The marks were unaffected, but she did manage to redden and irritate her skin with the friction. She immediately regretted this action. But could anyone blame her for trying?Vampires, werewolves, true mates, and now mysterious markings? She was tempted to say that life couldn’t get any weirder, but she knew that she’d probably be proven wrong. Bethany debated calling the abrupt blonde girl called Jen and asking her about the markings, but the thought of showing her naked body to anyone, male or female, almost made her retch. Deciding that there was nothing she could do about the marks for the moment, she took care of the things she could. First, she relieved herself and tried not to moan, as the pain that had been building in bladder eased. Then her eyes landed on the shower. A small smile crept onto her face. She walked over to the shower and twisted the knobs marked c and h. As Bethany held her fingers under the flowing water to gauge the temperature, her mind jumped back to a time when her mother had taught her how to do such a thing. She remembered that she had politely informed her parents that it was time for her to start showering on her own. She’d just turned seven and she didn’t want to be babied. She could run the water by herself, thank you. Their assistance was no longer necessary.
Bethany smiled at the memory. Her mom had been so patient with her. She hoped that she would be just as patient with her own child. Her heart skipped a beat. Was there even a possibility that she would have children? She’d given up on that dream somewhere many years ago, trapped in the underground darkness.
“Maybe, in the future, that is something we can talk about,” Drake’s voice spoke quietly in her mind. He sounded strained, as though it was difficult to speak.
She shivered. It felt weird having him talk to her while she was naked. “Could you give me some privacy?” she asked gently, not wanting him to feel like she was rejecting him.
“You are okay?”
She knew he really was asking, “Are you alone?”
“I’m locked in the bathroom by myself. I’ll be done as quickly as I can.” Bethany felt his presence in her mind lessen a little, like a glass being emptied. But she could still feel him there, hovering in the recesses of her mind. The feeling was both reassuring and terrifying at the same time. She climbed into the shower, feeling something that she hadn’t felt in more than eleven years—hot water flowing over her skin. Well, maybe I won’t be done quite as quickly as I thought. She let out a long peaceful sigh as years and years of grime, that had practically become a part of her skin, flowed from her body—cleansing her both physically and mentally.
Twenty minutes later Jen was beating on the door for her to hurry. Bethany was still in the shower and she didn’t want it to end. The water poured over her head, restoring a small part of her lost humanity. But then something other than Jen’s pounding pulled her from the paradise, and she sharply cranked the knob and shut off the water. A desperate plea had sounded in her mind.
“Please.”
It was one word but it was filled with such longing, such need. She felt his emotions briefly before he closed them off from her again. Chaos. That is the only word that she could think of to describe what was going on inside of him. His wolf wanted blood because someone had taken her from his presence. The man just longed for her by his side.
She dried off and wrapped the towel around her before opening the door just a crack. Jen was standing there with one hand on her hip and the other holding a bundle of clothes.
“What part of be quick did you miss?”
Bethany frowned. “You didn’t say be quick.”
Jen huffed and pushed past her while at the same time grabbing Bethany’s arm to pull her back into the bathroom. She shut the door, turned the lock, and then handed Bethany the clothes.
The blonde turned to look at herself in the mirror and started running her fingers through her long hair.
Bethany realized after several moments that the other girl wasn’t going to be leaving any time soon. She started to protest, but already she realized that this one was used to getting her way. No doubt her protest would only be met with a smart remark, causing things to be more awkward than they already were.