Ch. 6

'What?!' I screamed at my wolf. Surely there was no way.

'Mate! He is also mate!' Praline began loudly howling.

Yeah, it made things make much more sense... but she had to be wrong.

Everybody around me spoke to him trying to get him to calm down, all attempts in vain. Even the voice of Gerwulf did nothing. He ran to the front where we were standing barrelling himself against it over and over again.

Julian's shaking figure breathed deeply. His warm breath looking like smoke in the cool night air. His yellow eyes glowed like a demon as he stared at me. I whimpered, feeling my heart rate speed up at his intense stare.

'Touch him. It will comfort him' my wolf urged.

I slowly reached out a shaking hand. Gerwulf was far too distracted to notice as he was barking orders to the guards to sedate him.

As soon as my palm touched his cheek his body relaxed and sparks once again erupted on my skin. He seemed to nuzzle into my hand. Everything went quiet as a loud cat like purr erupted from him. Gerwulf looked at the scene and yanked my hand away. I looked up at him as his eyes hardened and he shot daggers at Julian.

Julian's eyes darted to where Gerwulf was holding me and he showed his fangs starting to hiss. Gerwulf only pulled me closer, this time yanking me not so gently as he stormed away.

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"Is there something you need to tell me El?" Gerwulf's voice was hard and now full of authority as he yanked me back into the tent I had initially been in.

I began to panic from the look he was giving me. I had never seen Gerwulf look so intimidating. He seemed to almost loom over me as I felt waves of anger roll off of him. "What would I have to tell you?" my voice came out shaky and he took a step forward. I dropped to the ground, shielding my face and shaking hard. I felt like I was stood in front of Delmar once again and not Gerwulf.

He quickly grabbed my bruised hand, yanking me from the ground and looking at it hard before another growl escaped his mouth," did Julian bite you?! How did he even get this close to you?!"

I yelped at the sudden action, having to stand on my tiptoes from the length he had pulled me up," I accidentally cut my hand, he was only trying to help me heal! I think he was just too hungry. It sounds like you never feed the vampires here!" I screamed trying to distract him. I didn't find it appropriate to mention all the physical closeness that had occurred between the two of us.

Gerwulf let go of my hand and picked me up laying me onto the bed. He knelt down to be eye level with me," did anything else happen between you two? El please tell me you didn't let him touch you!"

The force of his words and voice made me flinch. He noticed and softened his face as he backed up only slightly.

"You can smell as much as anybody that I'm still a virgin, Gerwulf," I spat my words with venom.

"Eloise," his voice was thick with authority," I smelt him on you when they brought you back from the rescue mission. I thought maybe it was because he was in your backpack and house. Now I'm pretty sure it's for another reason." He tried to keep a hardened expression but hurt was clearly showing through.

"We kissed, okay?" My voice was sounding weak again," but nothing else happened I promise."

Gerwulf growled at me and loudly. His eyes blackened as his wolf was fighting to come through and I moved further away from him in fear of what would happen if he found out Praline was urging me towards Julian.

'Mate is very upset' Praline spoke in almost a whisper. She whimpered and howled in my head seeming to lose sanity at the thought.

'Maybe it's what we deserve. We're low... we don't deserve an alpha.' I couldn't think of any other way to explain it. She had been blinded by the instant love of a mate bond connection. She hadn't lived the life I had... not consciously at least.

Gerwulf never responded or moved. He stayed still until I had fallen asleep.

When I awoke there was a heavy fur draped over my body. I stretched out my sore limbs and didn't waste time as I peeked through the flaps of the tent.

People must have started packing early because nearly all of the camp had been torn down by the time I had awoken.

I awkwardly looked around for anybody I could recognize and failed to do so. A sigh escaped my lips and I ventured back into the tent putting on my shoes and gathering my backpack. It felt as if I had been rejected. Even worse was that I felt I had deserved it.

My eyes fixated hard on the ground and I took a few deep breaths before walking out of the tent again trying to find an exit before somebody could stare at me in confusion of who I was. Most people were thankfully distracted and paid me no mind.

I felt pathetic as I headed in the direction the cage for Julian was, only to find that it was long gone. Saying goodbye was all that I had wanted to do. Just to thank him for risking his life to save somebody like me.

"Why are you looking for him?" Gerwulf spoke from behind me. His voice was as cold as it had been the night before.

My body stiffened. Fear had started to creep it's way into my veins again. I took a big breath before turning to face him but was unable to meet his face," I just wanted to say goodbye... and to thank him for saving me yesterday... he wouldn't have been sunburnt if I hadn't panicked when Delmar tried to attack us."

"I was unaware of the exact events that happened during your escapade, however... " He stepped forward until in my view. His hand reached out, cupping my chin and making us lock eyes," Eloise... I just... I just am having some thoughts of you two that are hard to get out of my mind. Vampires don't just turn into giant kittens for people and start purring."

'We more than made him purr' Praline quickly interrupted, almost feeling spiteful towards her.

My eyebrows furrowed as I had to quickly think of something to say," I know very little about vampires. You know as well as me that Harvest Moon didn't tolerate them. They were killed on sight."

Gerwulf's lips pressed into a fine line and he sighed, pulling me in to himself. He reached one of his big hands up and smoothed down my hair, " you will have to get used to them. There's a hive on my pack territory. They've never caused any issues... they even enlist to train with the army and fight with us."

Such a thing was a strange concept. The only stories you ever hear were quite the opposite. Being natural enemies meant we would only kill one another or sign treaties to keep at peace and avoid bloodshed.

"We need to get going. The drive home will be a few hours and we'll be lucky to make it back by dusk at this point," He spoke softly for the first time in hours. I slightly nodded and took his hand.

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The drive back to his pack was long and awkward feeling. Gerwulf and I barely talked. I just awkwardly stared at the black leather interior of this new smelling car. Every pack had something about it that was dated. For Harvest Moon it was that there were no cars. Sure the city layout was vast but everybody just walked or biked where they needed to.

So sad to say I was slightly nervous when climbing into the metal contraption. I had never been in one so I hadn't a clue what it was like. It was sleek and black with very darkly tinted windows. Something I'd only seen in movies.

I sat in my thoughts wondering where Gerwulf had even learned to drive. Maybe one day he could teach me? If he even kept me around at this point...

A hard sigh escaped my lips and broke the silence. Gerwulf slightly turned his head momentarily to look at me before staring straight ahead. "Look," he calmly commanded pointing to the right. My head shifted seeing a great stone wall.

"What is that?" I cocked an eyebrow and looked to him. "The border. It surrounds my original main territory. That's where the heart of the pack is. All the original members are there. It's where we will live," he causally tried to speak.

"Oh," I kept my response short. I honestly didn't feel like saying much to him considering we'd spent hours in silence and he'd used some hurtful words the last time we had spoken.

"Oh?" Gerwulf questioned and I just shrugged my shoulders in response. He sighed hard. I could see him rubbing his eyes in my peripheral. I probably only upset him more with the short response.

It didn't take long to get to the pack house after entering the town. There were only a few blocks of housing and the rest was mostly farmlands that were lush with growth. Livestock ran freely through it, only caged in with a small rickety looking fence.

We pulled up to a large brick and wood house. It almost looked ominous the way it completely blocked the light with it's size. Gerwulf got out of the car coming to my side and opening the door for me. I gave him a small forced smile and followed him inside as a few maids quickly ran out getting what little luggage we had.

Inside was brightly lit and incredibly modern looking with bits and pieces of what looked like artifacts and antiques. He turned a corner to a big kitchen where three men and one woman who was very pregnant sat down. The guys all spoke loudly, rough housing with one another.

Gerwulf cleared his throat and they all stopped, straightening up. He pulled me to his side, putting an arm around my waist. "I'd like you to meet your future Luna." His voice was staying neutral as if he was trying to force himself to not sound too excited.

One of the guys, who was sitting by himself furthest from the others laughed hard," yeah we know. You haven't shut up about her for years." His gaze landed on me and he winked causing Gerwulf to give him a warning growl," I'm Simon, the gamma." He had almost white blonde hair, his eyes looked a light pink with blue mixed. "Before you ask, yes I'm albino. No my wolf isn't white, and no I don't melt in the sun."

Gerwulf rolled his eyes as if having heard it much too often," this are my betas, Dietrich and his brother Vance. It seems we have the pleasure of seeing Beth tonight. She is the beta female. They're twins, only separated by a few minutes."

"I'm the best looking one, Vance," He smiled showing off very inhumanely white teeth. He had light brown hair and icy blue eyes. Beth smacked him on the back of the head causing him to whimper," you both look the same! If you didn't have different eyes I would have to hope the mate bond could help me tell the difference. between you two." She huffed, her cheeks turning a bit red in annoyance as she turned to give me a smile. I gave her a sheepish wave and looked to Dietrich realizing she was right, they were identical other than eye color. His were dark brown.

"I trust you all to help her adjust to life here. She is like all of us. Leaving a pack that never wanted us anyways," Gerwulf smiled down to me and I could only bring myself to give him another forced small smile. His eyes fogged over a moment before sighing," I have to go. Stay here with everybody. Simon will be taking you to our room if I don't return before you grow tired."

"Okay," I finally spoke and he hesitated to leave before kissing the top of my head and walking away quickly. I looked at everybody nervously about to walk over before I heard groaning and turned.

Julian walked into the kitchen, looking awful. his wrists and neck were deeply bruised from the shackles. He was heading to the fridge no doubt about to get some blood but I was too excited. I ran towards him at full speed, slamming into him and wrapping my arms around his waist. I inhaled his deep scent of rose and relaxed. He stiffened for a moment before it registered who was hugging him and he wrapped his slender arms around me tightly.

'Mate' Praline once again howled

Gasping filled the air as the table took in what was happening, nobody quite sure what to say as they watched the odd spectacle.