Chapter 13
Abraham returned and took a seat near Del. He fiddled with the strings on his black acoustic guitar while his sister plucked a few chords.
“You have a song in mind?” she asked.
He shot me a quick glance and turned back to his guitar. “Let me back you up first, and then I’ll play after you.”
Del nodded and adjusted her fingers on the strings. She took a deep breath and strummed a steady beat. After a few moments of Abraham watching her movements, he joined in with perfect synchronicity.
Delilah’s voice was high and clear, with beautiful pitch, and perfect control. The first few lines of the song sounded familiar, but it wasn’t until the chorus that I recognized Sheryl Crow’s “If It Makes You Happy”. A small rasp deep in her throat gave the song some dimension and grit. She was amazing.
Soon, my foot was tapping in time to the beat, and I was mouthing the words along with her. When she got to the second chorus, Abraham lent his voice, and I was astonished at the clarity and tone. Both siblings were incredibly talented.
I watched Del lose herself in the song. She sang as if she’d lived the words and composed it herself. In the dim light, this spunky woman’s passion shone brightly, and I could see how much music meant to her.
By the third chorus, most of the pack had joined in to sing with them, myself included. I’d never sang in public before, and if there weren’t dozens of other voices to drown mine out, I wouldn’t be. I felt strangely at ease with these people. Besides Clyde, Beatrice and Peyton, everyone had welcomed me with a warmth I hadn’t expected.
The song came to an end, and we all broke out in cheers and applause for the duo. Del’s eyes glittered, and when she looked over at her brother, the happiness on her face doubled. “Your turn?”
He nodded and rearranged his fingers on the strings. With eyes closed, the first words of the next song confidently slipped from his lips. Before when he’d sang with Del, I wasn’t able to hear the full depth and timber of his singing voice, but now with him center stage, I was transfixed.
The words he sang sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place the melody. After a few lines, I realized he was singing a slow and stripped down version of the classic Beatles song “I Want To Hold Your Hand”. After a while Del began to sing backup, but her voice barely registered with me.
When he reached the second verse, his eyes found mine with pinpoint precision. His laser focused eyes gleamed in the moonlight, drilling straight into my soul. I was lost as his deep voice hollowed out my center, refilling it with a yearning I didn’t understand. I wasn’t sure what was happening, or what I was feeling, but I couldn’t deny the delicious warmth that spread from my chest to every corner of my body. I was slowly being filled up by this man, and in very real danger of overflowing.
With the third verse came the climax of the song, and Abraham sang it flawlessly. I felt like a passenger he’d taken along on this ride. He’d driven me up this incredibly high mountain, and coaxed me back to the ground, ending the song on a prolonged note that swirled around me, and dissipated into the warm evening air.
The pack erupted in cheers and chants, but all I could see was Abraham, his eyes locked on mine. The breath in my lungs froze as my heart galloped ahead. My brain was past all functionality. If it hadn’t been, I know it would have told me to run as fast as I could away from this man. Because the look in his eyes was unraveling my well-constructed world, and if I didn’t watch my step, I’d entangle myself in the loose strands.
My staring match was interrupted when a thin, dark-haired woman stepped in front of Abraham, cutting off our connection. I took my first real breath since he’d started singing, and felt my tightly wound insides recoil, and reconfigure themselves into the order I’d learned to master.
“Oh my god, Abey, that was amazing!” A high-pitched voice rang out above the cacophony. It was Beatrice’s friend, Peyton. My stomach pinched sharply for just a moment before I shook it off. Peyton was none of my business. Abraham was none of my business.
I turned to Evey who was surprisingly quiet beside me. Her eyes narrowed in the direction I’d been looking, and in that instant, I liked her even more.
“Do you sing too?” I asked her, desperate for a distraction from the annoyingly flirtatious voice I couldn’t seem to drown out.
Evey scoffed. “Girl, I couldn’t carry a tune if I had a bucket with a lid on it. I’m afraid our parents’ gift for music didn’t make it down to me.”
“Your parents were musicians too?”
“Not professional or anything, but they played a lot of music when we were younger. That’s how Del and Abey learned. They tried to teach all of us, but only those two were ever any good. Bea wasn’t too bad on the drums and Callie played violin throughout school. I was always put on the triangle,” she sulked, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Don’t worry, I’m with you. I’m not very musically inclined either though not for lack of trying. The day I had to finally admit to myself I wasn’t the next Christina Aguilera was a dark one.”
Evey erupted in peals of infectious laughter. We were still giggling when Kyle found me.
“Elizabeth, is this a good time for me to take a look at your leg?”
“That’d be great, thanks.”
“Let’s move into the lodge so we have better lighting.”
“I’ll catch up with you later,” Evey said before disappearing into the crowd.
I began limping toward the house when Kyle tsked. and wrapped a thin arm around my shoulders.
“I’m fine,” I assured him.
He shook his head, a lock of strawberry-blond hair falling across his forehead. “You are not fine. You were bitten by a werewolf. One that has killed numerous other women. You’re lucky to be alive, and frankly, lucky I’m not making you use crutches until you’re all healed up. Now, cooperate with me.”
Feeling chastised, I grumbled, “Some bedside manner.”
The middle-aged doctor laughed heartily. “Werewolves are notoriously stubborn. I’ve had to learn to be stern, or I'd get nowhere with them. And although you aren’t a full-fledged werewolf yet, your stubbornness could rival even the prickliest of our kind.”
I wasn’t sure if I should take that as an insult or not, so I kept quiet. Minutes later, we were in a large, well-lit living room in the lodge. Kyle eased me onto a brown leather sofa and had me set my injured leg on a nearby ottoman.
“May I?” he asked, gesturing toward the gauze around my calf.
I nodded, and he gently peeled the bandage off. He studied the wounds, turning my leg this way and that to hit the light at different angles.
“Everything looks good. Thankfully the werewolf venom in your system is already helping to speed up the healing process.”
His words struck me. Although I’d been told my body would change, and that I’d eventually shift into a werewolf, the idea that there was already a physical difference drove that point home. I was no longer an average human. I would really turn into a werewolf someday soon.
“Now, what about that head injury?”
“Uh, it’s been fine, actually. I had a headache earlier, but it's gone now.”
He nodded, and reached out to touch my face, as he examined the cut.
“What’s going on here?” a deep, menacing voice interrupted.
I looked up to find Abraham in the doorway, shoulders tensed, fists clenched, and eyes bright with anger. His gaze raked my body, halting on where the doctor still held my face. The next minute he was standing beside Kyle with his hand gripping the older man’s shoulder. He yanked him backward, and Kyle almost lost his footing, catching himself just in time.
I struggled to my feet. “Abraham, what the hell is wrong with you?”
He ignored me. Instead, he placed his large frame between me and Kyle, and I watched his shoulders rise and fall with his rapid breaths. I peeked around him to see Kyle with his eyes on the ground, and his hands held up in surrender.
“I was just checking her wounds, Abraham. You heard me offer that earlier.”
“Why didn’t you come get me?” His voice was still deep, and deadly.
“You were busy, and I didn’t want to interrupt. I meant no harm. I was only trying to make sure she was healing properly.” He chanced a quick look at Abraham’s face. “You wouldn’t want her to have an infection that went untreated, would you?”
Abraham remained quiet for a few endless minutes while I watched the muscles in his back slowly uncoil, his arms falling limp to his sides. He ran a rough hand over his face and reached out to pat the doctor on the back.
“You’re right, friend. I apologize. When I couldn’t find her, I panicked. Forgive me.”
Kyle smiled genuinely. “There’s nothing to apologize for. After all, she is your m–”
“Newest pack member!” Abraham interrupted. “She’s my newest pack member, and you know how protective I am of them.”
The doctor looked confused for a moment before clarity washed over his features. He opened his mouth to respond, but I interrupted this time.
“Could you two stop talking about me like I’m not here?”
Abraham tensed, but Kyle only chuckled. “Good luck with your...newest pack member. I have a feeling you’ll need it.” With that cryptic remark, he took his leave.
Abraham released a big breath and turned to me.
“What was that all about? You could have hurt him.”
He shook his head slowly. “I know. I’m sorry. Like I said, when I couldn’t find you, I panicked. Then when I found you alone in here with him…” His voice trailed off, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
“I don’t understand you,” I confessed.
He chuckled darkly. “That makes two of us.”
He smiled and held out an arm. “Come on, let’s get back to the bonfire. I think someone brought out marshmallows, and I’m craving a s’more.”
Remembering the doctor’s threat, I latched onto Abraham’s arm, and let him lead me out of the room.
“I can’t remember the last time I had a s’more,” I told him.
We stepped out onto the back deck, and the sound of singing, and laughter filled the cool night air.
Abraham ducked his head and spoke softly in my ear. “Then it’s a good thing you’re here.”
I fought off a shiver, and nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Del was just finishing another song when we arrived back at the bonfire. Abraham found us two seats and tracked down the necessary s’more supplies.
While he speared a couple marshmallows onto the end of a long stick, I scanned the faces in the surrounding crowd. Some I could identify from the introductions Abraham had made earlier, but most I couldn’t. As I looked around, one thing struck me as odd.
“Do you not allow children into your pack?”
Abraham did a double take. “Why would you think that?”
“It seems like you have people of all ages here except kids.”
He stared into the flames that licked at the soft white puffs he held above the fire. “A pack is only as secure as their alpha.”
I waited a beat, hoping he’d continue. When it was clear he wasn’t, I spoke up. “And you aren’t secure?”
He met my eyes briefly and sighed. “There are tons of couples in the pack in their childbearing years, but they won’t feel comfortable having children until I do.”
I frowned. “Why do they have to wait for you? Is that some kind of weird wolfy rule?”
A reluctant chuckle fell from his lips. “No. It’s nothing like that.” He paused for a moment. “Werewolves are very protective of their young, and they’ll only bring a child into a pack if they’re sure it’ll be a safe place to raise them. The ultimate sign of safety is when an alpha has children of his own. If the alpha is unwilling to have children that signals to the pack that things aren’t stable enough for him. And if the alpha isn’t strong enough to protect his own young, the rest of the pack knows he couldn’t protect theirs either.”
I digested his words for a few minutes before responding. “So, you’re not willing to have children?” I wasn’t sure why that thought saddened me, but couldn’t deny that it did.
He shook his head. “No, I’d love to have children.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
His gaze met mine, the yearning clear even in the dim light. Without my permission, my heart beat faster. Deep inside, I had this undeniable craving to be or find or do whatever he was looking for.
“Just waitin’ on the right lady to come along.” The carefree words were at odds with his serious eyes. I cleared my throat nervously, and the browning marshmallows drew his attention again. “I’ve had my fair share of... options. Some folks think I should have settled for one of them.”
A sudden heat swelled in the pit of my stomach, and I clenched my fists in my lap. “Options?” I asked slowly.
“A few.” He shrugged.
I nodded and looked away. My chest felt tight as my insides churned. The idea of him with another woman filled me with an emotion I was having trouble identifying. I quickly reasoned that it was just the thought of him being pushed into a relationship against his will that bothered me.
Keep telling yourself that, Montgomery.
Abraham’s voice broke through the turmoil swirling inside me. “I’m glad I held out.”
I looked away, desperate to cling to anything that could keep my feet on level ground. But the dirt beneath me was slowly crumbling, and I knew it was becoming more and more unlikely I would escape this man unscathed.
“You are?” I asked against my better judgement.
He busied himself assembling the gooey confections and handed me one before finally answering. “I really am.”