Chapter Five – Elena
The wall was perfectly even. Elena shifted her level to the next stud, nodding in satisfaction. She and Lukas had both moved into Will's house for the duration of this whole Geisterwolf Month, as she had taken to calling it, and the construction in the house was driving her crazy. It wasn't that it was badly built, just fairly old and in need of a few updates. Which was odd, considering Will was so rich. But apparently that was fairly recent, so maybe he just hadn't taken the time to get a new place yet.
Elena stepped back and admired her work. She was glad that Will had authorized her to do whatever she wanted with the house during the nights that he and Lukas were fighting off the Geisterwolf. Otherwise, she thought she might just go insane.
Drywalling and plastering was done. She wasn't sure what color Will had ultimately decided to paint it, but in the meantime, she could move to the next room.
A howl from outside the house had her running to the window. All around the house were dozens of Wolves, both from Will's and Lukas' packs. The Geisterwolf always followed the same routine every night. First, as soon as the sun set, it would appear just outside the house and go after Elena. Lukas and Will, together with a few Alphas from other packs, would drive it off. Sometimes it shook them of its trail and returned to the house, in which case the patrol would hold it off until morning.
As soon as the sun rose, the Geisterwolf disappeared. But in just a week that they had been following this routine for, Elena could see that it was a powerful creature. It took all the Wolves to protect her.
Every night when Lukas and Will disappeared into the darkness, chasing the glowing white specter, her heart nearly stopped. She told them she couldn't sleep because of the threat of the Geisterwolf, but the truth was that if she didn't keep herself busy, she would go mad with worry for them.
There was no sign of either the Ghost Wolf or her two Alphas–the, she reminded herself. Neither she nor Lukas had much of a choice in the matter (something that caused Elena's heart to twinge with a feeling that wasn't quite a pain and not quite despair, although it was close), but whether they could actually be 'real' mates was to be seen. It wasn't like he wasn't attractive, but she didn't want to be with somebody who didn't want to be with her.
And then there was Will.
Elena turned at the sound of footsteps and scowled when she saw the two Wolves who entered, both carrying a tray of food. One was blonde, the other a redhead. Will's old girlfriends.
"We thought you might want something to eat," the redhead said.
When Elena first found out about Catherine and Harriet, she'd nearly flipped her lid. In her rage, she told Will in no uncertain times that she wasn't going to be his mate, regardless of the politics or his insane amount of wealth, if he was going to have girlfriends on the side. He apparently broke up with them before that on account of her… But how long was that going to last?
"Thank you." Elena took the tray from Catherine. "Have you heard anything?"
Harriet was silent, the way she always was around Elena, but Catherine shook her head. "Not yet. But they'll be back soon. It's almost morning."
Elena sighed. She really didn't want to like either of these two, but Catherine was so shy and sweet that she couldn’t help herself. Harriet on the other hand… Well, she didn't say what she thought, but Elena knew the blonde didn't like her. Although there was something very satisfying about seeing that both of them had the curvy, maybe a little too curvy, figure that she herself had. Will's professed attraction to her wasn't a farce.
Although why they had to stay with her at night, she didn't know.
"Elena, I just wanted you to know that I don't bear any ill-will towards you," Catherine said. "About Will, I mean. I'm glad he found a mate. I always knew he would never choose me."
Elena flinched. She opened her mouth to remind the Wolf that she wasn't Will's mate, but Harriet beat her to it.
"She hasn't accepted him as her mate yet, Catherine. Who knows, she could be using him like he was using us."
For some reason, that rankled Elena. Not the accusation that she was using Will, but that he was using the two females. She set the tray aside. "As if you weren't using him. You look at him like a piece of steak. You don't love him. I don't think you even like him. You just wanted him for his position."
"That's not true," Catherine protested.
"Not you, maybe, but definitely Harriet."
Catherine shook her head.
Harriet's eyes narrowed. "I served the Alpha as was my duty. If I thought that perhaps I might one day be Alpha Female—"
"I bet you were just waiting for the other Alphas to start really bringing the pressure down on him to mate before you threatened to leave him if he didn't. How long was it going to be before you forced Catherine out?"
"She would never do that!" Catherine cried. "You don't know us. I'm willing to overlook this because from what I've heard your father is horrid, but you have to right to talk to Harriet like this."
Elena opened her mouth to snap at the redhead, but at that moment the door downstairs banged open and Will's voice came up the stairs. Elena's heart jumped to her throat and she raced from the room. She had to resist the urge to jump over the banister when she ran down the stairs.
Both Will and Lukas were in the sitting room. Will was laying on the couch, Lukas sprawled on the floor. Vivid black bruises were raising on various parts of their bodies. A third Alpha was with them, slumped in a chair. Xavier Knight, his dark skin gleaming with sweat. All three parties were stark naked, but Elena didn't care. Nudity seemed part of the parcel when dealing with Shifters and she was getting used to it.
"You're back," she said, standing awkwardly in the doorway. "Do you need water? Something to eat? I can throw something together quickly."
"Water," Lukas rasped. "Room temperature, please."
"Same," Will grunted.
Elena glanced at Xavier. "And you?"
"Please."
She hurried to get them all water, although by that time Catherine had joined her. Harriet was gone, presumably off to pout, but the redhead helped Elena carry the water back to the three Alphas. She took her glass of water to Xavier–showing Elena she wasn't stepping on her toes. Elena was grateful to that. All three had covered themselves by this time as well.
"How did it go?" Elena sat beside Will and he swung up to drink his water.
The tattooed Alpha grunted. "Could you head back upstairs? I really need a smoke… Ah, hell. Maybe I ought to give that up."
"You really are a miracle worker," Catherine said to Elena. "I always tried to get him to stop, but he never would."
"Thank you," Will gave her an annoyed glance. "You can go now, Catherine."
She nodded and skirted out of the room. Xavier stood. "I should be going as well. Amelia and Timothy are waiting for me. Apparently, the baby cried all night, asking for me. But as for you two, you have to remember that the Geisterwolf will only get stronger the closer we get to the time for the ceremony, and I won't be able to help you during the actual ceremony."
"Yep," Lukas said. "Thanks."
Xavier looked a little troubled, but nodded and took his departure. Now that they were alone, Elena started to feel a little shy about the Alpha's nudity. It wasn't that she didn't like to see what they had to offer–the problem was she liked it a little too much. And yeah, she was a virgin but that didn't mean she wasn't a sexual person. Whenever she started thinking of them and her, whether one at a time or both at once, a deep, aching heat began to build in her lady parts.
Kind of like it was doing right now.
But it wasn't right to act on it, not when the question of whether they were mates or not was still up in the air. Lukas didn't have a choice, but that didn't mean they couldn't find a way around it. And Will… well, it was hard to read him.
"Did either of you get hurt?" she asked.
"Just bruised. But they'll heal up in half an hour." Will set down his glass and gave her a cocky grin. "So now that we've returned victorious, is our lady fairy going to reward us for a job well done?"
"Reward—" Elena's jaw dropped. "You can't possibly have fought all night and still want to… you know."
"Claim you?" Will seized her around her waist and pulled her into his very naked lap. She gasped. "What do you think?"
It was obvious that he wanted it. His mouth caught hers hungrily, hands roaming her body. The spark that was already there flared, and she leaned into his touch, moaning with desire.