*Natalie*
It had taken me about an hour to get ready and to eat breakfast, and the food that Lucas made for me was delicious. Now we are on our way down to his office to meet Kaden, Oliver, and Nathan. During breakfast Lucas told me that they were at his office waiting, but that I was not to rush. This right here just made me want to hurry up and eat that way they did not have to wait that long for us. And Lucas made sure to remind me that they have to wait for me, not the other way around, and that I am no longer going to be waiting on people like I did at River Rock.
I know it is going to take me some time to get used to this new life that I have been blessed with, but right now my head and my heart are at odds with each other. My heart is telling me that I need to be cautious about everything, and then my head is telling me that I am finally free. Then there is the fact that I got nightmares after Midnight and I did the control switch. I practically relived everything that was done to me, and I could not wake up because I was so exhausted. I am just hoping that Lucas does not find out and think that I am a freak or something.
I am broken out of my dark than normal thoughts by Lucas's hand on my shoulder. Due to being in my own head and not realizing where I was at first, I flinched and immediately looked down to the floor.
"I'm sorry Lucas, I did not mean to flinch." I said in a low voice.
"It is okay baby. I know that it will take sometime for that reflex to go away." Lucas said softly pulling me into a hug. "I just seen that you were here but not here, and I got a little worried. Well that and the fact that we are almost to my office."
"Oh, well, I just got lost in my thoughts a little. How much further till we get to your office?" I asked as I looked up at Lucas. When my eyes met his, he smiled. There was so much adoration and love in his gaze that I almost started to tear up a little, but I managed to keep those tears at bay.
"Well, we are passing Oliver's office right now," he said as he pointed to a dark oak door that had a golden door knob. "Up next is Kaden's office, his door is the one that is light oak." He continued as he pointed to the door he was describing. "Then my office has the mahogany door."
"Alright. Question though, do I have an office?" I asked.
"Well you do, but I did not know how to decorate it, and did not know all the things you liked. So, when you are fully settled in and comfortable you can decorate it however you want." He replied looking down at me as we came to his office door. "Come on, the guys are inside."
As Lucas opened his office door, I could see the guys coming into view. Kaden was in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, Oliver was wearing a blue button up t-shirt and dark jeans, then there was Nathan who was in a black tank top and black jeans.
Once Lucas has his door fully opened he motioned for me to enter first. Since I felt sort of comfortable with theses guys, I walked inside the office. Once Lucas was inside the office space, he closed the office door.
"Good morning guys. Sorry we are a little late." I apologized to them. Which in my surprise had Nathan looking to his brother with a scowl.
"You did tell her not to hurry right?" Nathan asked Lucas.
"Yes Nathan, I told her not to hurry, and not to worry about you guys sitting her waiting." Lucas told Nathan with a deadpanned look.
Nathan looked at me then and said, "You do not need or have to say sorry to us for that. You are the future Luna, in my opinion you apologize to no one."
"Okay. Now are you going to say good morning back or what mister?" I asked with puppy dog eyes. I had to hide my amusement something fierce when his eyes got so big that it looked like they were goint to fall out of his head.
"No, no, no, not the puppy eyes of death. Lucas get your mate, she is making me feel bad." Nathan looked to Lucas for some sort of assistance while Kaden and Oliver were doubled over laughing.
"Dude, you are on your own with this." Lucas replied with his hands up in the air.
Me: is there away to amplify the puppy dog look
Midnight: just wait until he looks over here
Not knowing what she meant, I waiting with the puppy eyes still plastered. When Nathan finally looked back at me, it only took a second before he gave in.
"Good morning Natalie. You do realize that that was totally mean, right? Like, you have not known me that long, how in the world did you know that puppy eyes are my weakness?" Nathan complained, reminding me of a little child.
"Lucky guess. If you do not have the "Puppy eyes of death" as you called them, again, then it is always good morning first before you lay into me." I told him playfully. "Now, let's get to researching otherwise we will be here longer."
"Yeah, she is right. If you need paper and pens, they are in the library on the shelf in the back by the desk. Natalie, when we get in there go ahead and sit down, get comfy, because you still need rest. I will bring you some books you can search through." Lucas said as he went to a side of his office that had a empty area against the wall. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but as soon as he touched the wall a door opened.
"Lucas, I think you broke her." Kaden said to Lucas with a chuckle.
"Hey, it is not everyday I get to see a magic door appear on a wall that did not have a door before." I said with a blush creeping up on my cheeks.
"Come on guys." Lucas said while walking through the door to the secret library.
Making sure to follow Lucas's rule about resting, I first made my way over to where he said the paper and pens were. I grabbed a few pieces of paper, a pen, and a clipboard that was on the desk. After grabbing what I needed, I made my way over to a bean bag chair in the corner of the library and sat down. While she was making sure she was comfy, she was thrown into a flashback.
*Lucas*
The look on Natalie's face as she is looking at all the books and scrolls in the private library is priceless. I never really thought of it as "cool" but now I am trying to imagine it through her eyes. Once everyone was in the library, we all split off. There are a lot of materials that we are going to have to go through, and I know that we may need the help if we do not find something soon.
I made sure to grab a cart that I can push in front of me since I am getting materials for both Natalie and myself. It has not even been five minutes and I already have a lot of stuff that we can go through, so I made my way back to the main area where all the chairs and tables are. When Natalie came into view I made my way over to her. She looked gorgeous sitting on the bean bag chair Indian style. Although, her eyes are not right, they look so dull and lifeless. What is going on?
Dom: Get over there, something is wrong.
That is all it took for me to go to her. When I got to her, she did not even react to me.
Me: How am I supposed to help her?
Dom: Pick her up and put her in your lap. Midnight is also trying to help. Evidently she is in a flashback of a beating she got when she was younger.
Dom sounds so angry and sad at the same time. Angry that she ever experienced this pain to begin with, and sad that we did save her from this. Doing what Dom suggested, I put my hands on her hips and picked her up. Then I moved to sit where she was previously sitting, and put her on my lap. I still have not gotten a reaction out of her, so I proceeded to put her face in the crook of my neck and rub her back.
"Everything okay Lucas?" Kaden asked me, causing me to jump since I did not see him come towards us.
"She is having a flashback from what Dom and her wolf Midnight are saying." I said looking at Natalie with concern.
"Just keep doing what you are doing. Fair warning, you need to be ready to comfort her when she does come out of it…she may freak." Nathan said walking up beside Kaden.
"Thanks guys, go ahead and get started on trying to find anything pertaining to Natalie and Midnight. Once she is all set we will start on the materials that I got us." I told them with gratitude shining in my eyes and through my voice.
It takes about 10 minutes before Natalie comes too. Then it is about another 15 minutes before she calms down enough to tell me about the flashback, and what had caused it. And let me tell you, I should have killed Beta Moore when I had the chance. He actually went to her school and dragged her out of the building just to take her home and beat her for a mess that he had just made. Like how in the world was she supposed to know that there was a mess to begin with when she was at school trying to get an education?