Victoria tried her best to keep up with the other wolves but she knew she was slowing them down quite a bit. After twenty minutes the former Alpha growled at her in annoyance only to have Asmund snap violently at him. It almost resolved into a full blown fight but she had pushed her way into the middle of them and licked Asmund's face to calm him down.
After the near fight Asmund had snorted at his father and nudged her in the direction of their clothes. She whimpered apologetically at the former Alpha and went with Asmund. Once they reached the pack house they shifted. "I'm sorry I'm so slow." She said weakly as she tried to fight back the tears. "You and your father got into a fight because of me."
"We didn't get into a fight because you are slow. He's in trouble with my mom and likes you more than he likes me. Says he already considers you a daughter and if I hurt you I won't live to regret it." Asmund thought for a moment longer. "No what we were fighting about was the scars. He was demanding I tell him where they came from and it's not something I am okay talking about."
"He was trying to link you to make me tell him but there's no link for him to use. He was getting annoyed thinking you were ignoring him and when he growled it caused Caldrell to snap. I'm sorry you had to get involved. I know that wasn't how you wanted the run to end." He said hoping she would hear the remorse in his voice.
"I'm sorry it ended that way. I know Alpha's need more time than just twenty minutes to appease their wolves."
"If you'd like we can go for another run later. Just the two of us." She was dressed now and he pulled her in close again. So that she wouldn't see Drake coming across the pack house lawn towards them.
"I'd like that. If you're not too busy later." She smiled at him and it was as if every missing piece of him had fallen into it's proper place.
"It's settled. You and I will go for a run after dinner. I know just the spot to take you to. You'll love it." He leaned down and kissed her her lips one last time just as Drake reached them.
"Alpha? There's a call for Victoria from her old pack." He informed them as he extended his arm.
"You can take it if you wish, love." He said gently. She reached out and took the phone in Drake's hand as if it was a venomous serpent about to strike.
"Hello, this Vi....." She paused, unsure of why Asmund had touched her arm. He mouthed the word Luna and she remembered that she was Asmund's mate. That made her the Luna. "Luna Victoria, how many help you." The caller was silent for a short time.
"Luna Victoria?" Victoria went pale when she heard his voice. Thousands of miles away and he could still make her tremble with fear.
"Want do you want, Marcus?" She asked coldly as she searched behind her for Asmund's shirt. Her finger caught his belt loop and she clung to it as if it were the only life line in a vast storm cast ocean. He put an arm around her waist and squeezed ever so gently.
"I just wanted to make sure you made it okay. Is that so wrong, Victoria?" She could hear the brokenness in his voice and she didn't care. He had spent years breaking her down to nothing. He didn't deserve a chance.
"Do not call me again Marcus. I want nothing to do with you." Her voice trembled as she said the words and she didn't wait for him to respond before she ended the call. She handed the phone back to Drake and swiped the tears away as the former Alpha stepped out of the woods.
"Victoria? Sweetheart what's wrong?" He asked as he started towards them.
"No-nothing. I'm just tired. It was a really long journey."
"Maybe you should lay down for a while." Asmund suggested. "Come on. I'll show you where you'll be staying.". She nodded and followed him into the pack house. They walked in silence as he led her to her room. When he pushed open a door on the top floor she was surprised to find it smelled just like him.
His strong masculine scent of pine smoke and something she couldn't quite place mixed with the scent of soap and after shave. She wanted to drown in his scent. She sat on the bed realized that he had brought her to his bedroom. 'He wants us to sleep in his bed." Cameron purred happily. 'Get naked so I can roll in his scent!' she tipped excitedly.
'Cameron! Stop! We just met him today! He's already asked me about my bra size and has seen us naked! He wants to fuck me and if I'm naked in his bed....'
'He will fuck us. I want him to fuck us. I need him to use that massive tool on our body to claim us as his.'
"Stop Cameron!" She half screamed as she leapt to her feet.
"Let me guess. Cameron is your wolf." Asmund was smiling at her in amusement. She nodded. "And she is saying very vulgar things about what she wants from me and Caldrell." Again she nodded as his smile widened. "It's okay. She is allowed to voice her wants and needs. Takes the guess work out of it."
"Even if she wants...um......you know......me to.....uh....for me to...you know...". She gestured uselessly at the bed which only seemed to amuse him more.
"No. I don't know. Spell it out for me love." He said as he put his hand on her waist and pulled her towards him again. It wasn't fair for him to keep doing that when it fogged up her brain and she found herself hoping he would kiss her again. She liked the way he had kissed her before their run. It had been dominating and passionate. It left no room for argument or rebuttal. It had been raw and primative bordering on animalistic. She had felt his need in that moment and had surrendered to it.
"Roll...roll naked on the bed?" She murmured so embarrassed by what Cameron wanted. He burst out laughing.
"Sure. if that's what you want to do, go ahead." He finally managed to get out between laughs. "I'm guessing that's the tamest thing she wants to do." Victoria just nodded as she hid her face in her hands, humiliated by the whole situation. "Okay, well, I can't garrentee that she won't get what she wants if you do roll naked on our bed. But I can promise that you will enjoy it if I do lose control of my more primative urges again." She whimpered softly as she pulled away from him.
Victoria wasn't sure of what she wanted. Just a week ago Cameron was begging her to forgive Marcus for tormenting her. Now she wanted to strip naked and present her ass to Asmund for through inspection and fucking. She felt like she was getting whip lash from the back and forth. One thing was sure though. Victoria wanted Asmund to hold her in his arms and tell her that everything would be okay now.
"I'm sorry for laughing Victoria. You just have a way of making me see good in the world again and it's made me and Caldrell very happy. So what do you want?" His earnest words caught her off guard as she crossed to the vanity. "And I don't want to know what Cameron wants when I ask that."
"Honestly?" He nodded as she turned to face him and he saw the taers welling up in her eyes. "I feel confused." She admitted in a trembling voice.
"By what babygirl?" He asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. "It's okay you can talk to me. I won't get mad. I promise."
"Last week, when I found out that Marcus was my mate, I was terrified. He tried to pull me close to him and I just wanted to run. Then we talked about forced markings in health class and I couldn't help but wonder if he had planned on doing that to me. " She was shaking with fear now and she could see concern on his face. "I-I-I was terrified and sickened and I was glad I had rejected him because what kind of monster can do that to someone they are supposed to love? And Cameron was begging me to forgive him and I couldn't bring myself to let him have even half a chance to do that to me."
"I understand why you are upset by everything that's happened, Victoria. Just dealing with your wolf for the first time is difficult enough. I can't imagine living in fear that someone you are supposed to trust will hurt you." He said gently. "It's even worse when you're afraid that your wolf will let them hurt you. It's a terrifying thought." She nodded as she held herself tightly. Afraid she might rush over and bury herself in his arms if she didn't. The tears began to fall down her face as she was tempted to let him hold her. "Did you tell all of this to your parents." She shook her head as she remembered her mother's parting words.
"They only cared enough about to tell me not to leave the house without permission because they didn't want me in the warriors way while training. I wouldn't have survived my first shift it it wasn't for Alpha Samuel.". She sniffled pathetically.
"You mean if you had told what had happened between you and Marcus and his attempt to forcefully mark you..."
"They would have called him over and let him into my room. They might have even left the house so he could have privacy to do whatever he wanted to me."
"No wonder Samuel gave you to us for a bargain.". Asmund muttered.
"What do you mean?"
"He was trying to protect you from his son. He may have been aware of the attempt at illegal marking. And his solution to the problem was to send you away as fast as possible."
"Illegal marking?" Victoria had not been aware that forced marking was illegal.
"Yes. Illegal marking. Forced markings take away a person's attonamy. It's the same as raping somebody. Difference is that you can rape the person over and over again and justify it as part of the mate bond. It's a crime punishable by death in most packs."
"I- I didn't know that." She stammered out.