Chapter 11: Chapter 11

ELEANOR

It was past seven when Xavier pulled into his home’s driveway. I was about to get out when I felt his hand on my lap.

“Thank you for speaking up for us, Eleanor.”

“I was just doing my part.” I looked into his eyes and saw genuine gratitude. The feel of his hand burned on my thigh, and I decided I should change the subject quickly before either of us thought about the feeling for too long. “Have you found anything regarding my mother yet?” I asked.

“I need to find what these rogues are up to. I have a feeling they were responsible for your mother’s death, though I don’t know who specifically was involved yet. I’ll hopefully have an update soon.”

I nodded my head and got out of the car. As I walked into the house I felt someone trying to mind-link me, so I let it through.

“~Are you back home, Ellie?~” Marquez asked me as I made my way to my room.

I found it charming that Marquez already started calling me by my nickname. “~Yes.~”

“~Great. You have patrol duties with Ivan in thirty minutes.~”

“I’m on it. Thanks, Marquez.”

After changing into my workout clothes, I headed downstairs and immediately noticed how eerily quiet the house was.

Xavier must have left the house the moment he dropped me off.

I didn’t bother looking for him. Instead, I walked into the kitchen, grabbed the box of apple pie from the fridge, and headed out of the house and into the forest. When I reached the training grounds, I glanced around—but there was no sign of Ivan.

“Looking for me?”

My heart almost jumped out of my throat when I turned around to see Ivan snickering at me.

“That’s not funny,” I scolded him as I tried to calm my heart.

“You’re a werewolf, Miss Amato. You should learn to be more vigilant.”

“I know the rules, smarty pants. Shall we go?” I asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Ivan and I walked back into the forest, splitting off in opposite directions to shift. I quickly stripped down, tucked the box of apple pie beneath my pile of clothes, and closed my eyes just as the familiar pain hit—bones snapping and reshaping as my body transformed.

As I opened my eyes again, I was standing on all fours as I shook my fur out and walked back into the forest. I looked around and saw a white and brown wolf walk toward me with an awkward smile on its face.

“~You look so cute, Eleanor,~” Ivan mind-linked as he looked at me from head to toe. “~I have never seen a wolf with a cute sock on its front paw.~”

“~Shut up, and let’s go,~” I said, and we ran toward the border. It was nice running in wolf form. It’d been too long since I ran this way, and I reminded myself to try and get out more often.

“Let’s take a break,” Ivan told me , and we came to a stop.

I decided to use this time to get to know Ivan better. Our first encounter didn’t all add up, and with the way these rogue attacks were happening, I wondered if someone from the inside of the pack was involved.

“~So, do you have a mate, Ivan?~” I mind-linked him, and he shook his head.

“~No, but I’m still looking for her,~” he answered. I saw a look of longing in his eyes, which made my heart ache.

An unexpected thought popped into my mind: ~Why can’t Xavier think about me that way? ~I quickly shoved the thought away.

“~But I guess I still have some time.~”

“~How old are you?~” I asked him, and he playfully gasped at me.

“~You know, it’s rude to ask a guy his age, right?~”

“~Well, I think that applies to women~,” I said when he shook his wolf head and looked at me.

“~Okay, I’ll tell you mine, and you can tell me yours. How does that sound?~”

“~That sounds fair enough. I’m twenty-one,~” I told Ivan.

“~I’m two years older than you,~” he replied.

We continued our walk of the border as I considered how to find out more about Ivan without being too obvious.

“~You know you’re lucky to have Beta Costa,~” Ivan said out of the blue.

The night air cooled my overheated body as it drifted past, but I could feel a shift in the atmosphere.

“~What makes you say that?~”

“~I don’t know if you’re aware of this, Eleanor, but there’s been more than twenty kidnappings in the past six months. All of them were women. They’ve not even spared teenagers. Beta Costa will protect you,~” Ivan said.

He delivered the information like facts. I was hoping to hear some empathy in his tone so I could file him away as less suspicious.

These rogues clearly had a history of kidnapping. So maybe it was another group that killed my mother. Otherwise, wouldn’t they have kidnapped her?

“~Eleanor?~”

“~Hmm?~” I asked him as I turned around to face him.

“~Shall we head back home? It looks all clear here,~” Ivan asked me.

I nodded my head, and we ran back to where we kept our clothes. After shifting and putting on my clothes, I walked out from behind the tree and saw Ivan was ready to leave.

“I brought some pie. We could eat it by the riverside before heading back.”

“That’s a wonderful idea,” he said and took the box from my hand. “I’ve been dying to have a slice of this, but my mother thought that it wouldn’t be a good idea to have her boy eating sugar every day,” Ivan casually said before he opened the box and took a bite from the apple pie.

“Wait, are you Mrs. Tanner’s son?” I asked him. Mrs. Tanner ran the bakery in pack territory, and I met her on my tour with Marquez the other day.

“Yep. Didn’t she tell you she had a son?”

“We only met briefly,” I answered.

“Typical of her,” he said. “Have you tasted her apple pie?” he asked me, but I saw that he was already halfway through the pie by the time we got to the river.

“No, but I don’t mind, I’ll buy some tomorrow,” I told him, but he shook his head.

“No way. Here, try this,” he said and brought it toward my mouth.

I took a bite. Mrs. Tanner wasn’t exaggerating about her apple pies. They actually were amazing. I pulled Ivan’s hand and took a few more bites.

“It’s like a piece of heaven, right?”

“It’s so good,” I mumbled with my mouth full.

We stayed there for a little while longer listening to nature when we finally got up and began walking back home.

“Aren’t you going to the pack house?” I asked Ivan when he began following me.

“I’ll drop you at Beta Costa’s house and then head back,” he said and a smile appeared on my face at his small gesture.

I hoped my suspicions were unfounded as I enjoyed seeing the thoughtful side of Ivan.

“Thank you,” I said when he nodded his head.

“So, when are you and Beta Costa having your mating ceremony?” Ivan asked me, and the question made me stiff.

Xavier and I had barely exchanged more than ten words—and even those were strictly business. I highly doubt he’d be thrilled about having a mating ceremony with me.

“Um.” I didn’t know what to answer. I couldn’t tell him about the contract.

“You should have it as soon as possible,” Ivan told me without waiting for my answer.

“Why do you say that?” I asked him, and I saw a dark look cross his face.

“Beta Costa is one of the best fighters and the second-best leader of this pack after Alpha. Which means you have competition. He has told you about his first chance mate, right?” Ivan asked, and this made me curl my hands into fists.

When I didn’t answer, Ivan continued. “Anyway, after that disaster, he started sleeping around. Jade’s his latest, and I’m pretty sure she has the wrong idea.”

“Wait, you know Jade?”

“Everyone knows Jade. She’s the one men call for a one-night stand,” he answered.

My nose scrunched up in disgust.

“But for the past few months, she hasn’t slept with anyone except Beta Costa.”

Thank god werewolves don’t get STDs, because she’d probably be the first person to die from that.

“And now she’s eyeing for the beta female role, and she will do anything to get it.”

“But that’s not possible while I’m here, right?” I asked him.

“It’s possible if Beta Costa were to reject you. I mean, she even rejected her mate in hopes of convincing Beta Costa. If I were you, I’d make sure the mating ceremony happens as soon as possible,” Ivan warned, and I sensed the genuine concern in his voice.

“Thanks for letting me know, Ivan.”

“It’s your right to know, Eleanor,” he said, and I thought about what he said.

I mean, this arrangement was going to be over in six months anyway, so why did I care? Xavier could have her after my time here was done. I felt Erica whine as I had that thought.

We walked through the forest, and while passing the training ground, I noticed there were quite a lot of men still practicing.

“Why are they training so late?” I asked Ivan.

“The rogue issues at the border are getting out of hand. So Alpha has commanded us to extend training hours. We don’t mind, though. We want to make sure we are up to our fullest potential if something were to happen,” he said, and we continued walking.

I was looking up at the stars in the sky when I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen. I doubled over and fell to the ground.

“Eleanor, what happened? Are you okay?” Ivan was quick to come to my side, but the pain was slowly increasing.

Tears started flowing down my cheeks, and I couldn’t hold my screams in anymore.