Three days passed quickly. Victoria could no longer avoid Lancel. She spent the day in her room as was usual for her and then it was time to go to the appointment. She stood outside the door trying to get up the courage to knock when she heard an argument inside.
"Why did you have to make it today?" Erik was almost yelling.
"I told you that it's time she knows the truth!" Lancel Stated firmly. His voice was like honey in her ears. "She has been avoiding me though and I doubt she will come."
"It doesn't matter. She will come." Sean said calmly. "I am concerned about how she will react when the truth is revealed."
"It seems that night was the catalyst for everything. What happened after we split up?"
"I am not at liberty to say, Erik. Please respect that."
"But you will tell her?"
"I won't have to tell her. She already knows what happened that night." Lancel growled in warning.
"You're so sure she won't reject you-" Erik said snidely.
"Mind your place Beta!" The furious snarrel was accompanied by the loud bang of Lancel's chair hitting the wall behind the alpha desk. "You want to protect her? Keep your fucking mouth shut on that matter and you may live long enough to." Victoria didn't hear anything beyond that as a deafening clap of thunder shook the house. All she could hear was the beating of her own heart in her ears as she threw open the door and rushed inside.
Victoria almost ran to Sean but saw Lancel leap over his desk instinctively and changed course on a whim. She slammed into his hard chest and whimpered as she felt his arms wrap around her in a warm, comforting embrace. He smelled familiar, like pine and earth. But at the same time he smelled slightly forieng, like soap and aftershave, also something slightly minty. She didn't care. He smelled like home to her. She felt a sharp burning pain on the side of her neck. Like a white hot branding iron had been placed against her skin. Suddenly it all came back to her in a flood of realization.
They hadn't been camping that night. She had been kidnapped by another pack. Lancel, Erik and Sean had been sent to retrieve her. Erik and Sean had spilt off to lead their pursures away. She had been left alone with Lancel and he soon realized that the only way to get her back to pack territory was to go through the lake. The water had been freezing, all ice melt. She had been so sure that she would drown in ten foot waves but Lancel had stayed just out side her reach, encouraging her to swim for five more feet, ten more feet, three more yards. It had been a gruelling and terrible experience that she hoped never to repeat. The flash of lighting and clap of thunder all around her as Lancel shouted over the sound of the driving rain. "Five more feet Bitty bit! You're almost there!" And the way he had held her close in his arms as she shivered on the opposit bank. "You did it Bitty bit. You made it. But the night is far from over." She remebered the white hot pain in her neck when his canines had pierced her flesh as he had marked her. That was why he was given an ultimatium. Because he had marked her that night. His scent had masked hers and they had returned in the morning.
"AHHHHHHHH!" She became aware that she was screaming in pain just as darkness took hold and everything faded to black. Victoria was vaguely aware that she was falling but never reached the floor. As she sank further into the darkness she began to cry. "Lancel, why?" She whimperd as she clung to his shirt.
"I'm so sorry Victoria." Lancel said as he lowered her gently to the floor. "Please forgive me." He pulled her in closer and held her as if he might loose her in the next three seconds.
"What did you do Lancel?" Erik demanded as he saw the tears on Victoria's face.
"What had to be done." Sean stated. "What is done is done and we can't change it. You marked her that night, didn't you?" The accusation in his voice was almost too much for Lancel.
"You two are dismissed." He said sharply.
"You could at least try to deny it, Lancel." Erik glared. "Say that he is wrong. Say… something."
"I don't need to justify my actions to anyone!" He snarled back at his best friend. "Leave us. Now!" There was a moment of silence and then the door snapped shut. He would not deny what he had done because there would be no point in it. Perhaps he had been wrong to do it, as his father had never got tired of telling him. But what was done was done as Sean had said. He had his sweet mate back and that was all that mattered. "I'll never leave you again, Victoria." He reassured her as he lifted her in his arms and carried her up the hidden stairs to what was now their room. She stirred only a little when he set her in the middle of the large custom bed he had had delivered just the day before. As he watched her toss and turn on the soft comforter it occurred to him that she was uncomfortable in her clothes.
He reach out and undid her pale blue jeans. Then he wriggled them off her hips to her knees and freed her from their confines. She was wearing a pale pink lace thong that he couldn't help but admirer. Her shirt was a little tricky but he finaly got the buttons undone and the pale green top off her. Her bra matched her panties perfectly. 'They must be a set.' He thought to himself. He would have to be careful not to ruin them. They looked really good on her.
Once she was out of her bra he realized how much her body had changed in the last ten years. She now had large double d breast and perky nipples that he just wanted to suck on. Her waist was tiny and her hips showed that she was all woman. He wanted to pull off her panties and taste her so bad but he would have to wait until she was conscious again. Maybe she would reject him and he would end up dead on the floor. He wouldn't blame her if she did.