EL'S P.O.V
It had been two weeks since Kedian had taken her virginity. El kept waiting for the overwhelming flood of regret but it never came. She also waited for him to pack up and leave her with not so much as a good riddance but instead they had fallen into a comfortable routine.
This was strange to her. She felt energized and ready to fight demons and dragons when they woke up at one in the afternoon. Yet as the day progressed she would feel sleepy and, by the time she was ready to go to bed, she could barely snuggle in and say goodnight before she drifted to sleep in Kedians arms. Tonight was no different. She was scrubbing the bathroom floor with a mop and bucket filled with cleaner. It was all she had to do, then she could clock out and get into Kedians car. He would then take her home were they would go to bed right away.
"Hey! Ready to go?" The voice was almost familiar but she couldn't quite place it. She turned hoping it was one of her regulars talking to his girlfriend, after all it was closing time. But what she saw almost made her start swinging.
A very large and somewhat familiar man stood almost on top of her. It was the stranger from the other day. The one she felt uneasy about but couldn't quite understand why. He stepped into her, pressing her back against the wall. She could feel his muscles through his white button down shirt and his large boner through his black dress pants.
"Um.... I'm fine. My boyfriend is waiting for me in the parking lot." She smiled politely at him and tried to push past him to leave the bathroom, but she had no luck and her attempts only made him push her harder to the wall. She was pressed so tightly to the cold unyielding wall that she couldn't even get a breath and this worried her.
"You fucking whore!" He snarled as he looked down at the left side of her neck. He was furious about what he saw there. Her vision began to blur and she saw spots erupt across the room. She closed her eyes and images of a little boy screaming ran through her head.
"FIIIIIIGHT!!!" She swore she could hear his voice shouting in her head. But it was deep and harsh. Before her very eyes the boys formed blurred and she saw a beautiful jet black wolf where he had once stood. She instinctively knew that if she could not fend off her attacker the child and the wolf would die with her. She struggled even harder to free herself again. But her body was no longer able to obey her comands.
Fear gripped her as her head began to spin uncontrollably due to the lack of oxygen in her lungs. 'Oh God! Someone, ANYONE HELP!!' The thought ran through her head and just then the door burst off it's hinges. Suddenly she felt the pressure of his body leave her and heard glass shatter somewhere in the distance as she collapsed, coughing and gasping for air on the floor.
"Luna! Luna! Please say something!" Someone close by almost screamed.
"My baby!" She sobbed weakly as tears started to flow down her cheeks. "He tried to kill my baby!" Shocked silence followed her declaration as the two wolves in the room processed this information. As for El, she slipped into unconsciousness not knowing if what she said had even been heard.
El woke up sometime later in her bed. Kedian watched from the door as Cadrian held a stethoscope to her lower abdomen, listening intently. The light from the hall was the only source of illumination in the room. "Wh-what happened?" She asked as she looked at Kedian for the answer.
"You got lucky." Kedian almost growled as he turned away from her. She could feel a strong sense of pure rage. Why would he be angry if he hadn't even been there? There was something different under that rage that she couldn't quite name.
"Kedian?" She called to him gently but he did not respond. "Why are you really angry?" Cadrian stopped and looked at her surprised by the fact that she was calling out the alpha.
"Cadrian?" Kedian asked by way of answer.
"I don't know what you're expecting. I mean she is pregnant but I can't gage if the baby was hurt by the attack." He sighed heavily and rubbed his hands over his face. "I can schedule an ultra sound tomorrow at eleven am and we can tell more then."
"We don't wa-"
"Eleven a.m. it is. Thank you for your time Cadrian. I know you probably were sleeping when you got the call." She smiled gently at him. She hoped that the doctor would take it as a dismissal. Thank God Cadrian was more observant than Kedian. He packed up his stuff and left with a good night. The one known as Keskian, or Gama Keskian depending on who you asked, was typing in his phone. "Did you get that, Keskian?" He nodded.
"Ultra sound. Eleven a.m." He muttered.
"Good. Now do you mind if I have a conversation with Kedian in private?" Kendrelous grabbed his older brother by the arm and pulled him out the door. Once they were alone she stared at him.
"It's fine, El. I guess it turned out okay."
"Why are you angry, Kedian?" She asked again more firmly.
"I should have been there to protect you." A sharp wave of guilt stabbed at her and she knew it was his. El was getting used to understanding the emotions of the wolves she came into contact with. She still hadn't asked about it because she hadn't thought to. But then it occurred to her. She hadn't recognized either of the two werewolves who had come to her rescue.
"Wait, weren't you in the parking lot?"
"I sent two warriors to collect you tonight. I had something I had to finish in another town. You broad cast a cry for help on the pack link and they rushed to your side instinctively."
"Pack link? What's that?" She was very confused.
"Well, now that you are marked as the Luna you can access any mind that belongs to one of our pack members. Or you can access the link that we use as a general broad casting system. which is where the whole pack heard your howl." He shrugged. "Everyone has been trying to link you to check if you are okay."
"Okay. Is that because you are the alpha?" He sat on his side of the bed and took off his shoes.
"Yes. And no." He thought for a second and turned to look at her. "It's because you are the true luna."
"I don't understand."
"If the alpha is the strength of the pack, the Luna is the heart. If the heart is not correct the body weakens and eventually dies. But if the heart is correct the body gets stronger and thrives. Make sense?" She nodded and he smiled gently at her. He pulled off his shirt and dropped it on the floor, much to El's annoyance. She huffed and he threw the shirt into the laundry hamper. El grunted in approval at this.
"That is another thing. Since we marked each other we can feel each other's emotions and what happens to you I feel it as if it is happening to me." Realization hit her like a freight train.
"You knew he was suffocating us." El had meant it to be a question but it came out as a statement.
"I was told you said that he tried to kill our baby. That is why Sendra called Cadrian. She wasn't sure if you were delusional from lack of oxygen or if what you said was true." he stared at the sweatpants in his hand for a second longer than he should've.
"What is it Kedian?" El encouraged softly.
"I decided that I don't want to announce the fact that we are expecting a bundle of joy just yet and hope you understand." She knew he was stalling. He didn't want to say what was on his mind. He heaved a sigh and turned to face her finally. "You don't have to work."
"I do have to work or the bills don't get paid." She laughed humorlessly.
"Let me rephrase that. El I don't want you working at that bar anymore." Kedian said harshly. "I can pay the bills. Quite easily I might add."
"No Kedian. I will pay my own bills!" El snapped angrily. This was not the first time they had had this discussion. "I already told you that I don't need you to take care of me!"
"And I told you that it's in my nature to do so! El I don't think you fully understand what marking is." He growled.
"Then explain oh wise and all knowing alpha!" She snarled as she got to her feet and started to pull off her shirt.
"It's a wedding ring!" Kedian roared and El stopped half way through pulling off her pants.
"What?" She asked, not sure she had heard him right.
"It's the same as a wedding ring. And, El, we marry for life." He said much calmer now. "El I Know why you don't want me to take care of you. And trust me I get it. But you need to understand that I will never stop trying to take care of you. The fact is that when I sunk my teeth into your neck I promised to take care of you and, when you bit into mine, you essentially promised to submit to that."
"Kedian I-"
"Furthermore, you should have moved into the pack house with me the day after that. The pack is weirded out that you haven't yet. I am running out of excuses to give them as to why we are living here." He seemed annoyed with her and she braced herself for the slap that was surely coming. He saw her flinch back and snarled loudly as she closed her eyes.
"Why are you flinching away El?" He growled quietly. She wasn't sure why his quiet rage frightened her more than his shouting and snarling, but it did. She was shaking in terror when the door opened and Kendrelous stood there watching the interaction. Kedian looked at him growled and pulled a t-shirt over her head. Then he stor.ed out and she heard the front door slam shut.
"Are you okay, luna?" Kendrelous asked softly and she let ou a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"Yes." She said shakily. Keskian walked in and looked at her with concern written all over his face.
"Don't forget to set your alarm." He said as he put his hand gently on her shoulder. " You have that ultra sound at eleven." she nodded and crawled to Kedians side of the bed to set the alarm he bought that they never used. She heaved a shaky sigh and climbed into bed.
Are you sure you're okay?" Keskian asked. "I can stay if you want." She just pulled the comforter over her head and told them to leave her alone as tears started to run down into her pillow. She heard the door close quietly and settled into cry her self to sleep.
When the alarm sounded at nine thirty she rolled over crawled to it and smacked it off Kedians night stand aggressively. She snarled when it kept beeping from the floor and stormed into the bathroom to get a shower.
By the time she stepped out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later the alarm was still beeping. "I'm gonna smash it!" She half yelled. Suddenly it stopped beeping and she saw kedian sitting on the bed, dressed and ready to go.
"That isn't really necessary, baby." He looked at her and she could see sorrow and pain in his eyes. "About last night, I'm sorry."
l
"Well you're not wrong about the bar. It is not a good place for me to be working since I'm pregnant. But I have not been unemployed since I was fifteen and bagging groceries at the supermarket up the street. I don't think I can not work. I'd go insane!"
"I think I get that." He smiled sweetly at her. "But that's not what I was apologizing for."
"What else do you have to apologize about, Kedian?"
"Why did you flinch away from me, El?"
"I thought you were going to hit me." She said as she went to the closet.
"El, look at me baby." He said quietly and waited for her to turn around. He stood when he saw she was crying again and crossed the room to stand in front of her. "El, baby, I would never raise a hand to you. I would sooner rip out my own heart than ever hurt you like that." She could feel the sincerity in his words. He gently kissed her as she put her hands in his.
"Please don't hate me for think that of you." She said as she pulled out her new favorite sweat shirt and a pair of black wool leggings. she pulled them both over her under wear and pulled on her black socks and black hiking boots.
"I just want to know who made you see the world in such a way."
"My dad never allows discussions about what is acceptable and not. He usually wins arguments with forceful violent outbursts."
"Has he ever hit you three."
"Well I am his usual punching bag." She rolled her eyes. "The last time he hit Erza was six years ago. He never hit her again. And the first time he tried to hit Nathaniel.... Well let's just say that he is not the only one who is capable of violence. He was in the hospital for a week."
"Who put him there?"
"I did actually." She paused as he helped her into her coat. "To be honest I don't even remember grabbing the knife." Kedian pulled open the door and waited for her to step out. "Even more surprising is the fact that he told the cops he was jumped and didn't see who had done it." She shrugged as she climbed into the passenger seat of the black sedan.
"Well if he tries to hit you when I'm around I know plenty of places." He growled darkly.
"Plenty of places for what?"
"To hide the body because he won't walk away from that alive." He had gone back to quiet rage. For some reason it did not scare her this time.