TW: Description of DV abuse
Ivan
"Not really much out here, is there?"
We were walking down the quiet street to Nefretiri's house, the desert eerie and more barren than I was used to. Manitou Springs can be just as still, but the mountains have a different feel. The stillness here was heavier, which wouldn't be bad, but it made the silence between us much more obvious. Nefretiri hadn't said much on the drive, staring out the window, and I hadn't wanted to push her more than I had. We both had a lot to process and trying to get to know each other wouldn't help.
"Not really," she'd asked me to park in front of the dollar store instead of her house, and I hadn't argued. However, she refused to let me carry her. Now, she was limping up the hill, and I was fighting my wolf and myself not to do something about it. "Aztec isn't as big as Farmington…"
"Right…" I had so many questions for her, but I didn't want to sound like a guy on a speed date. "So… Nefretiri… Where's your place?"
"It's just up here… And you don't need to use that name if it's too hard. You can call me Diana… Everyone else does." There was a hint of bitterness, as if she was used to no one bothering to say her name properly, which annoyed me. I loved her name.
"Why Diana?"
"It's my middle name."
Well, Yaya was going to die from happiness. My mate, her future Luna, held one of the names of the moon. She'd say it was destiny, and I was inclined to agree, but I wouldn't disrespect my mate's name. Nefretiri was unique, just like the woman who held the name. Why would I use something ordinary?
"No, I like Nefretiri… Nefra…" I don't know why the nickname came to me, but I liked it. "It's… less formal, but still your name."
She didn't respond, but I caught the shadow of a smile. I'd take that as a win. Nefra was even more guarded than I was, hiding so much of herself under the water's surface. The fact she'd broken down at the store wasn't something she'd meant to do, and it showed how much pressure she'd been holding onto. I needed to be patient, something I didn't want to do, but I would for her sake.
"Can I ask you something?" I needed one important question answered. The rest could wait.
"I guess."
"How… do you know about us?"
Nefra stopped, turning to face me. Her long calico hair hid some of her face, but I didn't miss the moment of panic and then resolve. The question might sound simple, but it would give me a lot of information. Humans don't know about us—not the real version. We make great fiction and conspiracies, but they don't understand how our society works. But Nefra had known, and she'd known what to look for.
"I'm a sorceress."
I was not expecting that.
"Well… now I feel a little deflated… I'm just the Alpha of a pack." I meant it as a joke, but inside, I was panicking. Shit. Now what? Nefra was a sorceress? How did I handle that? The pack might not take that well. Fuck, what about the other tribes?
"It's not a big deal," Nefra shrugged and kept walking, her head down. "I'm not powerful."
'Nice going, Ivan. You made your mate feel worthless!'
She moved faster, not wanting to talk, and I kept kicking myself. Magic was complicated for my people. We had a bad history with it, but that wasn't Nefra's fault. I'd thought like an Alpha, not like a mate, and she'd sensed it. Now, I'd put a wedge in an already complex situation. How would she feel safe enough to come back home with me if I couldn't see past what I'd been raised to believe?
'Shit.'
Nefra's house was a one-story red brick ranch that wasn't nearly good enough for her. It was a nice enough house, but the Luna of a pack should live somewhere that reflected her status. This was too ordinary and didn't fit Nefra at all. Werewolves choose their permanent homes based on their mate's desires. Like wolves, the female selects the den for her comfort and security. I didn't have to know Nefra well to know she didn't feel either of those things here.
"You don't have a key?" Nefra took me to the back of the house instead of the front, which was suspicious enough, but then I saw all the bars on the windows. That would make sense if we were in a denser populated area, but not out here.
"Not for the front," she admitted, crouching beside a potted plant, pulling out a key. "Ricky doesn't know about this one."
I already hated this guy.
'If there's no need for bars to keep people out, then he set them up to keep her in…'
This wasn't a house. It was a prison. Now, things were making more sense. Nefra's fear wasn't just because of a man hurting her. It was because that man was willing to go to more extremes. That still didn't explain everything, especially if she was a sorceress, but I'd be more cautious going in. Was he part of our world, too? That would make sense.
The security system looked sophisticated, but there weren't cameras anywhere. That made less sense. Shouldn't you want cameras, too, if you're paranoid enough to have a keypad to get into your house? Unless he didn't want any evidence of the things he was doing. Did this go beyond Nefra's safety? What was this guy doing?
"I'm guessing he doesn't know you know the codes." I stepped inside behind Nefra, and the unmistakable smell of bleach hit my nose.
"No, he doesn't know," she confirmed, carefully shutting the door. "The guy that set it up for him didn't know why he was doing it, so… he gave me a copy of the codes and the extra keys. The front and back doors are on two different servers… Ricky's not the greatest with technology… So, I take advantage of that."
"Smart," I wasn't surprised by that. I've always been attracted to smart girls. Of course, my mate was going to be brilliant. "That is… a lot of cleaning supplies."
We were in the laundry room, and even my packhouse wasn't as organized as this.
There were at least twenty bottles of bleach on shelves, multiple all-purpose cleaners, and even a few with no labels. Everything was spotless, nothing out of place, making it seem like a human hospital. Was that Nefra's need or the bastard who kept her prisoner? Nefra didn't seem obsessed with cleaning, but I could be wrong. Maybe my mate liked things organized, which would complicate things for us since I was good with keeping my office clean, but not the rest of my life.
"Ricky's OCD…" Nefra refused to look at me, turning on the light in the hall before leading me to the rest of the house.
"What time is he supposed to be back?" I wanted to meet this guy and introduce him to my wolf.
"I don't know…" Nefra turned on every light, revealing a normal-looking house that seemed too clean to live in. Did she have to clean this all by herself? "It depends on how pissed he is. If he comes back alone, it'll be about midnight. If he's… got company, then it'll be earlier."
"Company?" What did she mean?
"His mistresses," I was horrified by that, but Nefra said it like it was nothing.
"Wait, he has mistresses. As in plural?" I grabbed her arm, stopping her in the hallway between the main house and the den.
"He has a harem," she felt nothing, and it broke my heart. Nefra didn't care that the man she was with had other women and brought them to their home.
It's not in a werewolf's nature to cheat. We're the kind of creatures who mate for life. Sometimes cheating happens, but it's rare and becomes a massive scandal in a pack. This? This would disgust any wolf.
"Tell me you're kidding." I wanted it to be a lie, but I don't think she'd joke about something like this.
"I'm too cold…" A hint of bitterness laced her voice, but no genuine emotion remained. "If I was better at it, then he wouldn't need to find anyone else, but I'm too lazy to try and… I don't know how to treat him right."
"Bullshit!"
How could anyone think that of Nefra?
She was warm and passionate, and I would challenge anyone to dare say she didn't know what she was doing. All I'd had was a kiss, and that was enough to tell me Nefra didn't do things halfway. Fuck, I've never had a kiss like that. It was soft but demanding, full of fire and determination. Nefra kissed me because she wanted to, and it left me weak in the knees. She could've asked for anything, and I would've given it to her just to get another.
"I don't care… If they have him, I don't need to pretend I'm interested." Shrugging, Nefra moved away, opening the door to the master bedroom.
That's when I got my first hit of his scent.
My wolf growled, fighting me for control again, wanting to come out and confront a man who wasn't even here. He instantly hated him, and so did I. Something about him pissed me off, and I didn't understand it. Did I know him? No, but his scent fed me a lot more information about him, none of which I liked.
"What do you want to take?" I expected her to want clothes or documents, but from a glance at the bedroom, I didn't see anything that belonged to my mate. "Don't worry about clothes. Just grab something for a day. I'll buy you anything else you need."
"I don't need you to do that," she smiled, walking to the closet to grab a large duffle bag.
"I want to… Like I said. I want to show you what you and I can be together. How can I do that if I'm not caring for you?"
The smells around us were agitating me.
Not only the guys', but the multiple females. There were at least seven different ones, but three were stronger. Nefra hadn't been joking when she said he had a harem. It disgusted me but also scared me. I wanted to judge this man, but my own history might ruin things for me. Would Nefra accept my past with what she'd gone through? Would she let me explain?
"Fuck!" Nefra fell on the carpet as she tried pulling something out from under the bed.
"Where?" Picking her up and setting her on the bed, I grab her leg, carefully examining it without taking off her jeans.
"It's nothing."
"It's not nothing," I growl, tired of pretending. "You're hurt, and I've tried to respect your boundaries, but this is serious."
"it's fine..." She tried pulling away, but that only caused her more pain.
I was done.
Nefra screeched as I ripped her jeans off. Her safety was more important than a pair of cheap pants I could replace tomorrow. That didn't stop Nefra from trying to cover herself up, which didn't work. I was faster, and she wasn't in any state to fight back. She didn't want me to see, and when I pulled the cover off the bed, I saw why.
"Stop..." Nefra tried to sound firm, but her voice sounded pleading, which didn't help my rage.
"I'm going to kill him," I promised, scanning both her legs and grinding my teeth as I counted every single bruise.
There were old and new bruises all across her shins, calves, and thighs, but the worst was on her right shin, where the bone was clearly broken. Nefra had been walking like this? I thought it was something easily fixed, not this. Fuck, I should've had Danny check before. I wouldn't ever let her go into the store like this. She must've been in so much pain.
"What are you doing?" Nefra demanded, grabbing the sheets in a desperate attempt to hide. "Please... stop!"
I was busy taking off my jacket and shirt and tossing them to the ground. That's not what Nefra was begging me for. She didn't want me to see any more of her injuries, which was concerning. My mate would rather I assault her than see the damage someone else had done to her body. I couldn't bear it. My mate, my Luna, was ashamed for something that was never her fault.
"I've got you," I promised, even as I ripped off her top, fighting the urge to snarl as the rest of the truth was exposed. "I'm not going to hurt you. I swear."
Though I doubt there was anything I could do that would hurt her. Someone else had already done that. Nefra was covered in bruises that made her legs look normal. The bastard was treating her like a punching bag. There were very few spots that didn't hold the memory of violence, and her shame became mine. This should've never happened. I should've protected her!
"Please... don't..." she begged, helplessly pleading with me to stop staring at her.
Without a word, I climbed on the bed, pushing her onto her back so she was pinned against me.
At first, I did nothing, just laying on her, letting my skin touch hers to ease the pain. Then, as she relaxed, I started working on her shoulder, away from her neck. My wolf was three seconds away from shifting, wanting to claim her. He kept insisting she'd heal faster if she was claimed. That was true, but we wouldn't be doing that here. All we were doing was helping our mate get some relief.
what are you...?" Nefra gasped as I kissed one of the bruises, letting some of my saliva coat the area. The effects instantly take over.
"Werewolves have some of the best healing properties in the supernatural world. Sharing it isn't hard to do... Hold still. This will feel weird."
Before she could protest, I got to work, pressing myself against her, kissing and licking every bruise I could before sliding down her body.
At first, she protested, which I could handle. We'd only met today, and this was intimate. It's why we didn't do it for everyone. However, as she felt the pain die, those protests became soft moans and sighs of relief. That was harder to ignore; my mind was going to places where I had no right to go. Nefra was my mate, but I'd never force her to do anything she wasn't ready for, and we were leagues away from anything that intimate.
If only my wolf believed me.
"This will hurt..." I breathed, finally getting off her when I reached her stomach. "I... need to set the bone."
"Okay..." her voice was just as shaky as mine, and it had nothing to do with the pain.
'Goddess help me...' I prayed, the smell of arousal hitting my senses. 'Give me strength.'
I think I was wrong.