Sworn to the Wolf (9 page)

“One day, after a fitting of my dress, Anthony came over to the bridal shop. He was tweaking. We argued and he beat me up pretty badly. My eye was swollen up and he actually fractured my arm in two places. The worst part is that he did it in a room filled with people and none of them did a thing to help me. My father came in and finally made him stop. He looked at me and shook his head and said, ‘Julia, this is what happens when you can’t keep your fiancé happy, don’t let it happen again’ and he turned and walked away, leaving me there. My aunt convinced them to let me go to the hospital and get treated. That’s what saved my life. My mom took me and they left us alone. She knew none of them—my father’s men—would come to the emergency room for fear of getting arrested. I got treated and my mother and aunt gave me all of their cash, my mom gave me some jewelry, the money she’d saved up, and they dropped me at the bus station with the clothes I had on my back, bruises and all and my arm in a sling.

“I walked in, bought three tickets, one to Salt Lake, one to Florida and one to Boston. I took the bus to Boston and got off halfway there and took the train out here. I never looked back.

“I call my mother once a month at the pay phone near her beauty salon. They’re tearing it out later this year.” Who knew how she’d call once that happened. “My dad doesn’t know where I am and I don’t know how long it will be before he starts to look for me. I think at first he figured I’d come back when I ran out of money. But I’m not afraid to work hard. My first few months here I picked apples in Yakima on weekends for extra money. I got the job at The Black Cat about eight months ago after meeting Harrison and Elton and moving in there. I have a small amount of cash, enough to split if I need to. I won’t go back but I can’t involve anyone either. My father won’t hesitate to hurt people to get what he wants.”

Still, she’d learned a lot about herself over the last year. She’d survived. She’d managed to build a life and while it had been lonely, it had been good for her confidence.

Now she knew she could make her own choices, follow her own path and actually not screw it up too very badly.

It hadn’t been the easiest lesson, but it had been the most important one.

* * *

By the time she’d finished, Laurent trembled with rage. The thought of anyone putting his hands on Rain, of hitting her so hard her bones fractured—it was enough that his wolf chafed to rise. He had to take a few deep breaths to drive it back down.

“Bet you’re sorry you met me now, huh? Listen, just drop me in town and I’ll get back to Seattle. Pretend you never met me. I’ll be gone in a day. I’ll choose another city and another name and be out of your life.” Her voice was forcefully cheerful and utterly fake. Her turmoil and loneliness salted through.

Frustrated that people had done this to her, Laurent must have shown it in his gaze because he looked to her and she flinched. Sorrow swamped him.

“Never fear me. I would never raise a hand in anger toward you.
Never.
My anger is about your father and this Anthony, it’s not toward you. I knew you were strong but, Rain, you’re amazing to have done all that on your own. You’ve been alone for so long, haven’t you?”

She choked back a sob. “Yes.”

“Not anymore. I’m your family now, Julia.”

“I’m not Julia anymore. Julia is dead. I’m Rain.”

“Okay. What made you choose that name?”

She smiled. “I got off the train at Union Station in downtown Seattle. I’d been on the train and panicked with fear. But despite being downtown, despite how tired I was, the rain hit my face and everything sort of washed away. The rain took the weight from my shoulders.” She shrugged. “It just seemed appropriate.”

He leaned in to kiss her temple. “I like that. Now we’ll all have to put our heads together and find a way out of this. You can’t live in fear any longer.” He threaded her fingers with his own.

They were sitting there, watching the light dim and the pinks and purples of the sunset stain the sky when they heard a quiet tap at the door.

Laurent called out for whomever it was to come in and the door opened to reveal Ryan standing in the frame.

“Is everything all right? Phillip and I brought Rain’s art supplies down for her. Shall we just leave them here in the living room?” Phillip came into the room holding the bag with her pads and Ryan put the case carrying the paints, brushes, charcoals and pencils down beside it.

“Thank you both, you’re very kind,” Rain said. “That’s an understatement but I mean it genuinely.”

“I’m afraid you haven’t been shown much hospitality,” Ryan apologized.

“Ah, well at least it wasn’t politics or religion, I guess. The rest of you have been lovely,” she said, getting up and stretching.

Laurent laughed and Ryan and Phillip joined in. “You’ll fit in here just fine.” Phillip came over and hugged her. She realized they
felt
like family.

“I’m going to go out on the deck to sketch for a while, the light is so pretty right now.” She grabbed her watercolor pencils and a sketch pad and headed outside. Settling down into one of the big chairs, she tucked her feet beneath her body and flipped her hair back over her shoulder before getting to work.

“She’s gorgeous, Laurent,” Phillip said as they watched her sketch, totally lost in her own head.

“Spunky too. I imagine that since you’re still able to walk without a limp that you were able to explain the Paloma situation to her satisfaction.” Ryan wore a wry grin.

Laurent sighed. “Why on earth she’d be mad when she’s my Mate is beyond me!”

“Because if some man was on his knees in front of her, rubbing himself on her you’d be freaking out. Admit it. You can’t expect her to just know anything. And I seem to remember you telling Andreas all of this back when Kari came to us,” Phillip said, recalling those first days after Kari had come to the Pack.

“If some man rubbed any body part against her he’d lose it.” Laurent growled dangerously and Phillip and Ryan laughed.

“Kari and the others took Paloma aside earlier. I think she’ll be behaving. For the time being anyway. While it’s more diverting to have a few unmated females with us now, it’s also troublesome at times like these,” Ryan said and Laurent and Phillip agreed.

“When do you plan to tell her?” Phillip asked, meaning about being a werewolf.

“In time. She just told me the story of how she ran from her family and that’s enough trauma for a bit.”

“Bad huh?”

“I can’t talk about it right now I’m so angry. It’s bad, very bad. We’ll have to brainstorm to see what we can do to keep her safe later.”

“Okay. Don’t be late for dinner or you know you’ll have half the Pack down here.” Ryan and Phillip went back out the front door and he followed them, chatting for a few more minutes while the sun set and Rain finished her sketching.

Rain came back into the cabin and went into the bedroom to change her clothes. She put a bit of goo in her hair to tame the flyaways and keep the curl, dabbed on some lipstick and mascara and changed into a skirt. She opted for a pale blue dress shirt hanging in Laurent’s closet though. She put in some hoop earrings and used a tortoiseshell clip to pull some of the hair off her face, fastening it at the nape of her neck. That was about as good as it got—she didn’t wear a lot of makeup.

“Hey there,” she called out, joining the three of them on the front lawn. She paused a moment as she caught sight of Laurent and his friends. The moment seemed perfect. Tiny white lights lit the trees around the lodge and along the path. The moon was three quarters and hung large and low in the sky, painting the scene with silver and hues of gold. Laurent’s hair was loose, how she liked it, shimmering in the light.

Their united masculinity hung in the air. She could almost smell the testosterone between them all. She envied their connection to each other, loved the sense of brotherhood they seemed to have.

The best thing though was the way Laurent’s face changed when he caught sight of her. He made her feel like the most beautiful woman alive. How lucky was she? Suddenly everything seemed to be all right.

Because of how he looked at her.

Laurent turned and his heart stopped for a moment, looking at her. She was so feminine and soft and yet so strong. He smiled when he saw she wore one of his shirts. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his side.

“You look beautiful. I like this skirt a lot.” The skirt sort of wrapped around her, leaving a slit up the side. Nothing daring but very sexy. Her hair hung in curls down her back. He leaned in and breathed in her scent and calm overtook him.

“I like the shirt myself.” She gave him a sexy smile, eyes dancing with mischief.

“I like what’s under it,” he said into her ear and she laughed, a rich throaty sound that sent shivers down his spine.

“That’s enough, you two! As if Kari and Andreas weren’t bad enough.” Phillip chuckled.

“Let’s go up to the lodge, dinner’ll be ready soon. Would you like a drink?” Ryan asked, falling into step next to Rain and Laurent.

“Yes, please. A drink would be nice.”

“A celebratory drink, in honor of your show,” Laurent said and Phillip agreed.

“God, this morning seems so long ago.”

“I’m sorry that today has been such a trial. You’ve dealt with a lot.”

She shrugged and he wanted to make everything better for her. He would if it was the last thing he did.

“Rain, wanna play Chutes and Ladders with us?” Hellie asked as they walked into the house. She came to grab Rain’s hand, looking up at her expectantly.

“Oh yes. I love Chutes and Ladders! You’ll have to take it easy on me though, I’m sure you’re all very good at it.” She allowed Hellie to lead her into the great room where her brothers were gathered around the board already. She sat on the floor with them, playing for half an hour, laughing and letting them beat her. Laurent rested on the couch, his knees touching her back, and watched.

“Dinner is ready, come on in here!” Anna called out and Rain helped the kids put away the game. After a tussle and some negotiation, Tomas held her hand as they went into the dining room, little Devon on the other side, both gazing up at her adoringly.

“It appears that you’ve got some competition, Laurent.” Phillip chuckled as he watched Rain interact with the boys so easily.

Laurent laughed and grabbed the boys, one under each arm. “Sorry, boys, Rain is taken. You’ll have to find your own female.” They giggled at Laurent’s gruff growls.

The kids all had their own table next to the main table and Anna laid out a less ornate dinner of chicken fingers and mashed potatoes for them while the adults got chicken divan and rosemary-and-garlic-roasted potatoes and grilled vegetables.

Andreas stood up and looked down the long table, smiling and holding his wineglass aloft. “A toast, to Rain, on her first art show, and to Laurent, for being lucky enough to have been starving and having begged me to pull over at the next place, that place being the restaurant where he met Rain.”

“Hear, hear!” Laurent said and they all raised their glasses and toasted. Even Paloma, who still looked disgruntled.

After dinner they all sat in the great room and had drinks while talking and laughing. Rain drew funny portraits of the children, to their immense delight. Laurent loved seeing how well she fit into their family. He also made sure to sit curled around her all night and to avoid looking at Paloma at all.

“Time for bed, kids,” Kari called out, the children’s moans and protests meeting her pronouncement. Sean and Emma took their two home, saying they’d be back the following day. Alyssa and Jack followed with their two as well, leaving Kari and Andreas’s rowdy lot, who begged and pleaded until their mother allowed Rain to read them a story.

Rain went upstairs and after the children had all changed into pajamas and were tucked into their beds she sat in the middle of the room. But instead of reading she made up a complicated and action-packed story about a prince and princess who were really superheroes and traveled the universe saving people.

Laurent stood in the doorway with Andreas. He didn’t miss the way both his friends looked at Rain. His woman was something special. Kari’s eyes twinkled as the children laughed and gasped along with the story. The way to Kari’s heart was through the children. Rain was so naturally loving with them they responded back, sensing what a genuine person she was. Even Hellie who hadn’t had to share Laurent since the moment she was born seemed to adore Rain.

Once she’d finished up and had delivered hugs and kisses, she had to promise to see them the next day before leaving the room.

“You’re a natural with them. They’ll be so upset when you go back to Seattle.” Kari laughed as they went back downstairs. “You know, you could always move up here, heck, you could even have a cabin of your own for a studio for your art.”

Rain laughed and squeezed Kari’s hand. “Your children are wonderful but my life is in Seattle. I have a job and a place to live. I’m sure I’ll be back again.”

Laurent scowled at Andreas over Rain’s head. He was annoyed that Kari brought up Rain moving in so fast. He wanted to slowly introduce the idea of her moving to the lodge, not scare her even more. Andreas merely shrugged as if to say, “Hey, you know Kari, I have no say.”

“Come on, Rain, let’s go for a walk.” He flashed an annoyed glance at Kari, who raised one shoulder and grinned back at him.

“Sounds lovely.” Rain took his hand.

“I think a run sounds even better,” Paloma purred, giving Laurent a meaningful look.

“Isn’t it sort of dark for a jog?” Rain asked.

Phillip narrowed his eyes at Paloma and Skye grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room.

“What was that all about?” Rain stopped in her tracks, looking between the people left in the room.

“Nothing,” Laurent growled.

“She’s really going to jog at this time of night in the dark in the woods? And what’s with all the growling anyway? You all do it so much.”

“With Paloma who knows? She’s odd.” He avoided the question about the growling.

“You’re up to something, Laurent. I can tell when people are hiding something. What is it?” She cocked her head and put her hands on her hips.