Chapter 7 She is not a maid

Dravik's pov

She is even thinner than she looks. My hand circles her body, taking in the lines, the hollows, the way her bones press tight against her skin. I only saw her in the semi-dark room before, back when I thought she was still a child, fragile in her own way. Now, knowing she is twenty years old, this is malnutrition, pure and simple.

Something like pain flickers across her face as my hand touches her stomach and she tries to hide it.

“I know you want to say something,” I say, stepping closer. “I don’t care how you were treated, what your alpha said, or what you think you have to do to survive. Here, you speak your mind. Got it?”

Her jaw tightens and her fingers twitch at her sleeves. She nods slowly.

“Are you injured?” I ask, scanning her closely.

She shakes her head, quick and defensive. Shadow growls in my head. He can smell that she is lying and I can smell it too. I can feel it in her posture, in the tension running through her body, even though a life of starvation, of being beaten into silence, has made her clever, guarded and impossible to read. She is going to be a tough nut to crack.

“You have to say something, Auren,” I press. “I can’t read your mind. At least, not yet. After we’re married and I mark you…”

Her eyes widen sharply. “Mark me?”

“Yes,” I say flatly, trying to control the impatience in my voice . “We’re getting married and I will mark you.”

She shakes her head, a mixture of disbelief and fear twisting her small features.

“I know we are going to get married, but is marking me really necessary? I’m… I’m a murderer. Surely you wouldn’t waste such an honor on me.”

She moves backward, wincing and hiding it like she has to. I caught the faintest flash of blood where my hands brushed her tummy earlier.

Blood Shadow growls.

“What is that?” I demand. “Are you injured?.”

My hands had barely touched her, barely a second…..fuck. Her first time here and she is already wounded. She hunches slightly, wincing and pressing a hand against the stain.

“It’s nothing,” she mutters. “Just a wound that keeps reopening. Forget about it.”

“Forget about it?” My jaw tightens. Is she crazy? “Why isn’t it healing?”

No wolf Shadow growls again.

Of course. Healing is tied to the blood and magic of the wolf inside us. Since she has none, it somehow affected her healing abilities. I will have to find someone or a way to get her wolf back quickly. It cannot wait and she cannot stay like this.

“Show me.”

She trembles, her eyes flicking around the kitchen, then back at me.

“Can… Can we go somewhere more private?”

Private. I look at her confused at the word. Wolves have never been private creatures and around here we change and shift in front of one another.

Take her to your office. Shadow mutters in my head.

“I was going to do that,” I snapped, mentally pushing him down.

I needed to concentrate and he wasn't helping, lucky for me over the years I have learned to control the creature inside me that isn’t quite a wolf.

I take her hand, walking out of the kitchen towards the sitting room where my office is situated across. We reach the sitting room, and I see Garrick hugging a woman while Jace is sitting on the couch laughing. “See who decided to grace us with her presence, Dravik,” Jace says lazily, looking up as I step in with Auren at my back.

The woman in Garrick’s hands looks up and her gorgeous blue eyes light up the way they always used to when we were kids.

“Dravik,” she breathes, letting go of Garrick. “You haven’t changed at all.”

She opens her arms before I can react and I move towards her. Garrick lets her go reluctantly, and she presses herself into my chest. I allow it, my hand settling briefly on her back.

“Cassy,” I say with fondness in my voice. “We’ve missed you.”

“Missed me?” she teases, pulling back, her eyes shining. “You forgot about me the moment I was sent off to marry that wrinkled old Alpha.”

Jace snorts. “She’s right. You didn’t even write.”

“I was busy rebuilding a pack,” I say chuckling.

My gaze flicks to Garrick who’s still staring at her like a lovesick pup. Poor bastard. He never got over her.

Cassy laughs, that rich, warm sound that used to echo through our halls when we were kids.

“Busy or not, you could have called.”

“Alright I'm sorry for being a brute. I will make it up to you” I say looking around. “Are you here with your husband?”

Her laughter fades. “No. He’s dead.”

I froze a bit and the room went quiet.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter.

Alpha Sheamus had been a dear friend of our father and will be greatly missed. She shrugs, trying to smile though her eyes betray a shadow of pain.

“Don’t be. The old man lived long enough. I decided I’d stay with my family for a while.” Her gaze softens when it lands back on me.

“Of course, you’re family. You’re always welcome here,” I tell her, touching her cheeks.

She smiles, “ Well enough death talk. What have you guys been up to? I heard the Bloodborns are doing well. You’ve made quite a name for yourself, Dravik. Fear runs before your shadow.”

A corner of my mouth lifts. “Fear keeps the peace.”

Jace chuckles. “That’s one way to put it.”

For a moment, the air is light. Cassandra talks, Garrick listens and Jace jokes. It feels like the old days……except it isn’t. My world has changed. I glance to my right where Auren stands half-hidden behind me, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. She looks so small in the grand sitting room, her eyes darting around as though afraid to breathe wrong.

“And who’s this?” Cassy asks, finally noticing her.

Before I can speak, she scoffs lightly. “Oh, I see. You’ve started keeping maids again.” She waves her hand dismissively. “Maid, get me a drink.”

Auren flinches at the command and I turn to her, taking back her hand into mine. Shadow pace restlessly inside me and I try to calm him down. It’s not a big deal, she doesn't know.

“She’s not a maid,” I say.

“Oh, you mistake Cassy,” Jace says, standing up and going to Auren's other side, his smirk wide. “This right here is Alpha Dravik’s new wife. Our Luna”

I felt Auren freeze as her mouth opened slightly, then closed in shock. She had not expected to be introduced like that.

Cassy’s head snaps back toward her, her eyes wide. “Your… wife?” She steps back, disbelief twisting her face.