Chapter Twenty-Two
It’d been two weeks since they had returned from New York and two weeks since she’d been free of Clarissa.
And she had Adir to thank for that, otherwise Clarissa wouldn’t have let her go so easily. She also had the new house, thanks to Adir, too. As compensation for turning her against her will, Clarissa had made her a millionaire. And, for harming a Pack member, Clarissa had also compensated the Pack as a whole.
The Pack wasn’t hurting for money, now that the embezzlement had stopped, but the extra money that Clarissa had given them was more than enough to expand the search for Erzsebet. She still hadn’t shown up at any other Packs, but there had been a sighting in Northern Canada and Andras and Hunter worked hard to get more leads on her whereabouts.
Hunter was convinced that if he could just talk to her, he would be able to convince her to come home. He thought that if she knew what the Vampire had done to her hadn’t been her fault at all, that she would forgive herself. Adir had found out that the Vampire who’d preyed on Erzsebet had been one of the two that had escaped from the rogue Vampire group that had attacked and killed their parents. The Vampires had wanted to get back at Andras and his dad for virtually wiping out their clan. Adir, with Andras’ help, searched for the last one, to bring the Vampire to justice.
“Hm.” Ash leaned on one leg and tapped a finger to the side of her mouth.
The other Vampires she’d known wouldn’t have stood as she did or even fidgeted. They stood stone still.
Luckily for her, being human was still ingrained in her. She breathed because she thought she had to and shifted in her seat out of habit. She also groaned, grunted, laughed and talked under her breath, and even had phantom itches on her palms when she knew she couldn’t be feeling any sure thing. And when she thought that she was acting too Vampire, she did something human for Hunter’s sake. He knew what she was doing, because obviously Vampires didn’t need to cough or sneeze and also didn’t need a shoulder rub and back scratches, but he didn’t comment about any of it and obliged her with a smile when needed.
“I don’t know. It really doesn’t look good over there.” She mulled over the placement of the new sectional that had been delivered while she’d slept.
“Babe, I’ve moved this couch to just about every corner of the den. I’m tired. It stays here for now until you make up your mind.” Hunter pulled away and twisted from side to side, seeming to relieve the sore muscles in his back. He hadn’t been lying. For the past hour, she’d made him move the couch, recliner and coffee table around the room of their new house.
“I just want it to look perfect,” she said.
“Why does it have to be perfect? It’s just furniture. Put it where it makes sense and where we can get a good view of the television and we’ll call it a day…er, night.”
She shook her head. “It’s not that simple. I want people to be comfortable when they come over.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “If they come over.”
He walked over to her and rubbed her arms. “Is that what has you worried, love?”
“No one has come to visit,” she whispered. “They’re all afraid of me.”
“Honey, it’s not that at all. Andras is making everyone stay away to allow us time to get to know each other. It’s a honeymoon of sorts.”
“That’s just something you’re telling me to make me feel better.” She pouted. “I know everyone is staying away from the ‘blood-sucker’ Pack member.” She bared her small fangs.
He chuckled. “You’re family.”
“Not by choice. I’m bound to them because your wolf decided to imprint on me. They didn’t choose to saddle themselves with a Vampire. Hell, for that matter, you didn’t choose to, either.”
“You’re right.”
She inhaled a sharply.
“Kristof didn’t plan on imprinting on Trudy and Lajos hadn’t planned on imprinting on Meisha,” he continued. Then he shrugged. “But that’s the way of it.”
“It still doesn’t make it right. To have something as big as bonding for life be left up to a feeling. You should be allowed to choose who you tie yourself to.”
He pulled her into his arms. “If I had a choice, it would’ve still been you.”
“You’re just saying that because you want to get lucky tonight.”
“And tomorrow night, and the next and the next.” She punched him in his stomach. “Oomph!”
“You have to work on your flattery.” She tilted her head to the side. “Someone is coming up the driveway.”
He pulled away from her and rubbed his stomach. “I’ll see who it is while you figure out where you want that couch. I want to grab a second plate of steak and potatoes anyway.”
She watched Hunter leave the room and shook her head. It was a good thing that she had the stamina of a Vampire—had she still been a human he would’ve worn her completely out.
She’d been getting to know the man and the wolf and found she adored them both.
She belonged to someone else, and someone belonged to her. It was a triad, much stronger than a single connection. They talked to each other without saying words. She knew how he was feeling and he, her. They made love for hours on end and afterward stayed wrapped in each other’s arms. At night, his wolf stretched his legs by running for miles and, thanks to her new abilities, she had no trouble keeping up with him. Wild and free, they were like teenagers loving life and loving each other.
She heard Hunter open the door and close it behind him as he went outside. Her hearing was beyond good, but she didn’t want to eavesdrop on his conversation. Andras, Kristof and Lajos came by often to check up on them, but they had never come inside. She didn’t know if it was because of what Hunter had said, or if they were afraid that she would suddenly attack them.
She really couldn’t blame them for wanting to keep their distance. From what Adir had said, new Vampires were unpredictable and spent the first few years in uncontrollable blood lust. But she didn’t feel any of that. Well, not anymore. Hunter grounded her. Every night when she awoke she fed on him and went on about her business. She didn’t think about blood at all.
Maybe in a few years the others will feel comfortable enough around me to come inside and visit.
She sighed at that thought. That was a long time to wait to feel welcomed into the Pack. But even still, when they did finally decide to visit her new house, she would be ready to receive them.
My new house.
She’d never had a place of her own. Someplace where she felt safe and protected.
When she’d lived with her mom, she had always been afraid of the different men parading in and out at all hours of the night and day. Then at the foster homes she had been well-aware that she’d been a guest and, at any moment, they could rescind their hospitality—which they often had. And even at Clarissa’s, she had never once believed that her house was their house. Everything had been Clarissa’s and she hadn’t even been a guest there. She’d been a servant.
But this place…
She looked around the room and let out a breath that she hadn’t needed to take.
This place was hers.
She went over to the sectional and picked it up with ease then walked it over to a different corner.
“Um…Ash, honey.”
“I know, I know,” she said to Hunter. “We already tried this corner, but I was thinking if we put the television on that wall, there won’t be a glare on the screen, so the couch would have to go here. What do you think?” She glanced at him over her shoulder. Her mouth fell open when she saw Trudy, Katalin and a petite woman standing next to him.
“You’re a strong one,” the woman said. The woman stood out—she had a caramel complexion and smoky, light-brown eyes.
Right. She did have a sectional hefted on her shoulder. If she’d still been human, this was where she would’ve blushed. Could she still blush?
She eased the couch onto the floor and used a foot to push it into the corner. “Hello.” Should she approach them? Shake their hands? Would they move away from her? Not knowing what else to do, she clasped her hands behind her back.
She had visitors! She had almost decided not to put on the brown contacts that she’d ordered online when she’d woken up. Hunter had told her that she hadn’t needed the contacts, but she’d put them on every night just in case someone had decided to stop by. She didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable with her freaky red eyes.
She blinked, probably more than she needed to.
“I hope you don’t mind us barging in on you two, but Andras said to give you guys two weeks of alone time, and, well…” Katalin said.
“The two weeks are up,” Trudy finished.
“So it was true?” Ash looked at Hunter. “I-I thought no one visited because…”
“Because you’re a Vampire?” the woman asked. “Girl, I wanted to meet you as soon as you touched down from New York.”
Ash didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. They hadn’t been avoiding her because she was a monster after all.
“Ash, this is my best friend, Meisha,” Trudy said, motioning toward the newcomer.
Meisha waved. “Nice to meet you.” She walked into the room and glanced around. “I like the digs. Furniture Haven?”
“Um, no. I ordered it from Lauson’s Furniture Depot.”
Meisha looked over at Trudy. “See, I told you that I should’ve gone there. They have a way better selection.”
Trudy rolled her eyes. “Lajos was tired of sleeping on a pallet on the floor. You didn’t have any more time to hunt around.”
“We did go there,” Katalin said, crossing her arms. “I took you there. But you couldn’t make up your mind about anything.”
Meisha humphed and fell into the love seat. “You guys think that picking out new furniture is easy. It’s not.”
“Right,” Ash said. When they all turned to her, she fidgeted with her hands. “It isn’t, especially if you’ve never had to pick out new furniture before. Like me.”
“Exactly my point!” Meisha said. “Lajos spends most of the night running around in dirt and he gets cranky because he has to sleep on the floor. I wanted the perfect bed.”
Trudy waved her off. “Don’t mind Meisha. Her mother, Katalin and I had to furnish her house because she couldn’t decide on what she wanted. But it looks like you’ve done a pretty good job here, Ash.”
“It was my house!” Meisha yelled.
“And thanks to me and Trudy you now have furniture,” Katalin said, lowering herself into the recliner. “Oh, this is comfy. I might have to get one like this.”
“Soo…I’m going to leave you girls to it, then. I have furniture in the guest room that I need to assemble.”
“Oh! That’s right. We’re getting another Vampire visitor,” Katalin exclaimed. “When is he coming?”
“He’s coming in another month,” Hunter said with a growl.
Adir had offered to send someone to help her get acclimated to the life of a Vampire and, to Hunter’s and her surprise, Andras had agreed to allow it.
“And hopefully, he won’t be staying long. He’ll see that I can control myself and I don’t need his help, then he’ll leave.”
“I don’t want another male hanging around my life-mate,” Hunter grumbled.
“Don’t pout, Hunter,” Meisha said. “It doesn’t become you.”
Hunter peered at Meisha. “Wolf-Shifters don’t pout.”
Both Katalin and Trudy rolled their eyes.
“Shifters don’t pout? Ha!” Meisha said while laughing. “I can tell you plenty of times where Lajos pouted. Why, just this morning…”
Ash slid onto the couch as Meisha began her story, her hands moving through the air animatedly while she spoke.
“I’m definitely not sticking around for this,” Hunter mumbled.
Ash gave him a wave as she listened to Meisha.
Hunter gave her a look. “Are you going to be fine?”
She bit back a smile when Trudy joined in with a story of her own about Kristof. “I’m going to be just right.”