Ivan
"There's not really anything here, is there?" I scan the street, noticing how quiet it is. But, of course, I'm used to that. Where we live is the same, but this feels more barren.
Nefretiri asked me to park at a discount store a minute from her house. She didn't tell me why, and I was unsure whether to ask. We hadn't spoken on the thirty-minute drive, but I wondered how the fuck she managed to walk all that way with as hurt as she seemed. There's no one around, and the silence isn't comforting like I'm used to. There's only stillness and the sense of the desert.
"No." She won't let me carry her, so we're going at her pace. Nefretiri keeps her arms crossed, scanning the streets like she's expecting someone to come driving by. I'm reminded of a deer who's listening for the wolves.
"Where's your place?" I have a million questions I want to ask her, but I know I need to wait. It's challenging for me to be patient.
"It's just up here." She points to the end of the block and starts moving a little faster. "It's not far."
"So, why Nefretiri?" Goddess, I'm not good at this. I have no problem with seducing women, but I don't want to do that with her. I want to get to know her.
"Uh, I'm not really sure, but you don't have to use it. Everyone around here calls me Diana. It's my middle name, and it's easier to say." So my mate had the name of the moon goddess, too? Gladys was going to have a heart attack when she found out.
"No, I like Nefretiri... Nefra." The nickname felt natural, and I liked it. From the corner of my eye, I catch the quirk on her lips, and I think she likes it, too.
"So, Nefra... can I ask you a question?" We turn the corner, and there's even less down this road than on the other.
"What do you want to know?" She raises an eyebrow, moving a little slower up the incline.
"How do you know about us?" That gets a reaction. Nefra's whole body tenses, and she stops. For a second, she becomes withdrawn, unwilling to look me in the eyes. "Humans don't just say that they know someone's a werewolf. So I'm a little curious about how you knew."
"Um... Well, I'm a... sorceress." Nefra seems almost embarrassed, chewing on her lip like the confession makes her uncomfortable. "At least that's as close as I can guess. I... I don't really know what I am."
A sorceress? Goddess, Nefra was full of surprises, wasn't she?
"Well, I suddenly feel inferior. I'm just the Alpha of my pack." Nefra stares at me, obviously not seeing my words as a joke. She looks me up and down, clearly uncomfortable again. "What kind of magic do you use?"
"I'm not really good at it. Just a little bit of energy manipulation... I only have a little power... Come on. It's just up here."
As Nefra said, her place was close to where we were, and I wasn't impressed. The house wasn't ugly, but it seemed ordinary for someone like her. It was a one-story brick house with a two-car garage. There's a narrow path from the driveway to the front door, but she doesn't take me that way; instead, she goes to the side of the house. The thing that stands out right away is the windows. They all have bars on them, like a prison.
"No security cameras?" I scowl when I try to spot one we should be wary of, but she shakes her head.
"Ricky doesn't believe in them. They make him paranoid."
We walk to the back of the house, and Nefra stops at a potted plant, reaching for something inside it. Then, she continues to the back door, swiping a key card on a keypad and typing in a code. What sort of property has passwords and bars on the windows? This area doesn't need it. The security is meant to keep something inside, not others out. Finally, the keypad changes from red to green, and the door unlocks.
Nefra let me go in first, and the smell instantly assaults me: chemicals. The most pungent smell is bleach. This was the laundry room, but the smell wasn't coming from the metal shelves of cleaning supplies. Goddess, they had a lot of bleach.
"What time is he supposed to come back?" Honestly, I want to meet the guy. So does my wolf, so we can tear him to pieces.
"I don't know... Probably after midnight." Nefra walks out of the room into a den that opens up to the rest of the house. There's still only the scent of chemicals here, and I'm surprised to see everything as spotless as it is. There isn't a spec of dust, and it's impossible to smell anything.
I follow my mate through the house, trying to get a feel for who she is from things that might be hers, but I don't think any of this is her. Then, finally, she opens a door at the end of the main hall, and I'm hit by something other than chemicals. The smell of a male, and I can't help the growl. It's the same male I smelled on Nefretiri, but it's much more potent here. Unfortunately, that isn't the only thing I can detect; it only makes me angrier.
Females.
Not Nefra. Her scent hardly registers when I walk into the master bedroom. It's like she doesn't sleep here. No, I smell at least six or seven different females and their arousal. What the fuck?
"Just grab some clothes for today and tomorrow. I'll buy you some new stuff." I watch Nefra enter the walk-in closet and return with a duffel bag. "Just take anything you want to keep with you."
"You don't have to get me anything." She mutters, getting on her knees beside the bed and wincing in pain as she pulls something out from under it.
"I want to," I observe her, seeing that she's grabbing a lock box. "I told you, I want to show you what we can have together."
Nefra tries to get back up but stops, grabbing onto the bed. Before she can do anything else, I'm at her side, picking her up and setting her on the bed. I touch the leg that seems to be bothering her, making Nefra wince in pain when I graze her shin bone. Unfortunately, she's in skinny jeans, so I can't pull the fabric up without ripping it. So, instead, I try to get her to open up.
"What happened to your leg?"
"Um... Ricky kicked me hard today. It's um... sore." She looks away from me, trying to play it off like it's less than I think.
Feeling impatient, I snarl at the jeans, grab the bottom, and rip upwards, wrecking the pant leg. Nefra yelps in surprise and tries to scramble away from me, but I hold her steady as I continue up her leg until I reach her hip. Before she could protest, I destroyed her jeans on both sides.
"Hey!" She snaps angrily. "Those were my best jeans!"
"I'll buy you better ones." Pulling the tattered remains out of my way, I snap my head up to look at her, and I watch, enraged, as Nefra pulls the comforter over herself to hide her body from me. the fucked up part is it's not out of modesty. It's to hide the violent purple of the bruises on her thighs. "Nefra, show me."
"No." She shakes her head, holding onto the covers more tightly. "Please, stop."
Again, I have no patience. Even though I should be far less callus, I can't stop myself. This went beyond a beating or even the word abuse. Grabbing the comforter, I pull it off her and hold her wrists with one hand before sitting her back up. She gasps at my strength as I pin her legs against me so she can't move. I lift her shirt with my free hand, but Nefra whimpers and shakes her head again. She doesn't want me to see.
"No, please." She whispers, but I can't obey her request. Instead, I tore the silky fabric off her, leaving her in her underwear. Usually, that would have me panting like a dog. Nefra's body was stunning, but that's not what I focused on.
"I'm going to kill this guy."
There are bruises all over her body. Some look older than others, but wherever my eyes stop, I find traces of them. She's definitely underweight. I can see her ribs, counting at least five cracked. I return to her leg. There's a clear sign that a piece of the bone was also broken, and I'm amazed she could stand, let alone walk as far as she did. No fucking wonder she's in so much pain.
There's a large bandage across her belly, and I have to stare at it for a second before I remember what she'd said in the parking lot. She had a C-section. It was the only legitimate injury on her whole body, and I'm trying to wrap my brain around how the hospital let her return to this.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Nefra demands after I take my shirt off and remove her shoes. She moves further up on the bed, but that only helps me when I crawl on top of her and kiss the first bruise I find on her stomach, running my tongue across it before she can say another word.
Nefra's hands grab my hair with a soft gasp, but she doesn't try to push me away. Instead, she whimpers louder with each bruise I attack, and I'm unsure if it's in pain or pleasure. Because she's my mate, I can help her, relieved when the purple starts fading away. Of course, this would be better with my wolf, but I can't trust that he won't go further than she's comfortable with. The last thing I want to do is force Nefretiri into something in this place.
I don't want to claim her here. What kind of bastard brings other women to their house and fucks them in the bed they share with their other half? What lie did he tell those women, and what threat did he use on Nefra to keep her quiet? No woman would willingly allow their husband to cheat on her in front of her without a serious threat. Did he make her hide or send her outside?
Pushing those thoughts aside, I move down her body, ensuring I don't miss an inch of skin. I won't lie. This isn't easy. She tastes so good, like dark and white chocolate mixed with strawberries, and it's becoming harder to control my wolf and myself. Especially with those delicious sounds she's making. But, goddess, what would it be like to do this without healing her? To hear her scream my name in only pleasure?
'She just had a baby.' That's the thought I have to remind myself of as my mind wanders. The smell of blood reminded me the situation wasn't straightforward. 'She isn't ready for all that.'
"This is going to hurt." Instead of focusing on what I can't do, I grab her leg and sit on my knees. This isn't something I'd typically do like this, but I don't want the bone to heal the wrong way or develop a fat embolism. Nefra nods and grips the bed. Then, with one quick push and a scream that Nefra covers with a pillow, I put the bone back into place and repeat the process of licking up her shin to her thigh.
'Goddess, fucking help me.'