Chapter 10: Chapter 8

Adam woke up with a jerk when he heard a loud scream, followed by whimpering. He looked around his room with confusion, wondering why he was on the floor and not his bed.

“Mama, no!” A soft cry broke through the silence.

He looked towards the sound in the dark room, which seemed to be coming from his bed. Adam rolled his eyes at himself as he remembered the day before. When the cry repeated, he quickly stood up and sat on the edge of the bed, his hand hovering over the small female’s shoulder.

Should he wake her? She was obviously having some type of nightmare. He’d never dealt with that type of thing before.

He was sure his brothers had had bad dreams, the younger ones at least. He had a few when he was a small pup, but his mother had been around then. His father never got involved with this type of thing.

“Papa.” The pup whimpered.

Taking in a deep breath, Adam slowly dropped his hand. His face was clearly giving away his apprehension in doing this, thankfully his brothers were not around to see him being weak.

Ivory awoke with a start from the worst dream of her life when she felt a heavy weight pressing on her arm. She gasped for air, feeling as though she had just emerged from being underwater for far too long.

The room was too dark to see much of anything. Even without the light, she could tell this was not her bedroom.

For one, the bed did not feel as soft as the one she was accustomed to. The blanket on top of her was also missing the silkiness of her own blanket and sheets.

Adam’s hand squeezed lightly on her shoulder. He could see her eyes open in the dark. It wasn’t hard to miss her, especially in the dark. Her hair was like a beacon calling to him. He could even see the corner of her pale green eyes.

She reacted to his touch by pulling away from him quickly, stifling a startled scream. She tried to roll onto her back as she moved away, letting out a painful hiss when her back touched the bed.

Why did something so natural hurt so much?

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. You’re safe here. No one is going to hurt you.” A rough, deep, voice told her.

“Who...” Ivory’s voice came out hoarse. How long had she been asleep? She cleared her throat, noticing how dry and raw it was.

“Here.”

As her eyes adjusted, she could see the outline of a male, older but not by many years it seemed.

An arm lifted what was possibly a cup.

She gingerly sat up, feeling a good deal of pain and stiffness now. She took the cup and very slowly placed it against her lips.

Ivory started with a small sip, just in case it was anything but water. Satisfied that it tasted normal, and relishing the feeling in her throat, she tipped the cup and started guzzling in a very unprincess-like way.

The bed patting dipped on the side as Adam sat down next to her. He swallowed the chuckle back when the female pup practically moaned as she drank the cup of water.

Dean was right, she was thirsty.

Before bed, Dean had brought up a pitcher of water and a cup. He hypothesized that the ocean water would have dried out her throat while she floated.

Ivory lowered the cup, feeling embarrassed. “Sorry.” She whispered.

Adam let the chuckle out this time. “No need to be. We had a feeling you would be thirsty when you finally woke up.”

Finally? We?

“How…” She cleared her throat again. Adam took the cup and began refilling it. “How long have I been asleep?”

He frowned, not that she could see it very well. “I’m not really sure. You were already out when we found you. That was midday, yesterday.”

Ivory looked towards what she thought was a window. The coverings blended into the dark of the night, but there were subtle hints of moonlight coming from their edges.

She’d been asleep for a long time.

She looked back at the male and took the cup again. This time she drank it slower, keeping in mind that she was not alone.

“Who are you? Where am I? And what happened?”

“My name is Adam. You are on our family farm. My brothers and I found you while we were fishing off the pier. All we know is that you were floating in the water, unconscious. You have a gash in your head and your back is covered with cuts and bruises. We might have missed you altogether if it hadn’t been for the dolphins. You were covered pretty well in the seaweed.”

“Dolphins?”

Adam huffed. He hadn’t seen them of course, but the young pups had talked about them all through dinner the night before.

“Yes. From what I hear, they were pushing you toward the pier. Almost like they were helping you.”

The thought of her fish friends brought a small smile to Ivory’s lips. Every year she played with them. A few times her parents let her swim with them. The dolphins always liked to play. They had only shown up a few minutes before… before… no. That was a dream. That wasn’t real.

None of it was real.

But how else did she end up here?

Adam grew uncomfortable again when he heard the soft sniffles coming from the female. He could almost see the tears silently cascading down her pale cheeks. He lifted a hand, wanting to do something. Then dropped it back on the bed. He had no idea how to comfort a crying female, or if she would even welcome it. If she was smart, she wouldn’t. He was a stranger.

“What’s your name?” Adam asked. He really needed to be able to call her something besides “the female pup.”

Ivory bit her lip, wondering if she could trust a stranger with her name. She didn’t know him. She didn’t know who attacked her family.

Her name wasn’t any odder than her hair though. If they hadn’t figured out who she was by that, then maybe the farm was hidden enough from the world that she would be safe there.

“Ivory.” It was barely a whisper but with his wolf hearing, Adam caught it.

He gave her a comforting smile and lifted his hand. She slid her small, dainty hand into his.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ivory.”

Ivory smirked in response. “Nice to meet you, Adam.”

Adam was still full of questions about who she was, where she was from, and what happened to her. He had a feeling she may not be ready for all of that yet, so he let it be.

“Why don’t you lay back down. Your body has been through a lot, you need the rest.” Even in the darkness, it wasn’t hard to see the fear in her eyes.

Ivory knew that if she closed her eyes, she would see that gray wolf biting down on her parents again.

“Hey, you’re safe here. I promise. No one will hurt you.” Adam repeated softly.

Ivory thought about telling him what she was really afraid of, but a Princess did not confide weakness to strangers. Instead, she nodded once and delicately laid back down.

Adam slowly stood back up, watching Ivory roll to her side again and hug the pillow. Her pain, both physical and emotional, made him feel... odd.

What was it about this female that made him feel so differently?

He had only ever really lived with males before. His mother and grandmother had been the only females. Maybe this was what having a younger sister would have been like. If that was the case, he was glad he only had brothers. He didn’t like the soft, mushy feelings.

Adam laid quietly on the floor for a while, waiting and listening. Eventually, her breathing deepened and slowed.

His wolf could feel dawn approaching soon, so he didn’t bother trying to go back to sleep. He would have to be up soon to prepare for his trip into the village anyway.

Well, that had been his plan.

The next thing Adam knew, Charles was shaking him awake. Adam looked at him confused for a split second then groaned when he realized what happened.

He rushed to get up, panicking at the late hour. They needed to get on the road.

Charles put a strong hand on Adam’s shoulder and pushed him back to the ground. His other hand held a bowl of oatmeal for Adam.

“Fitz and Gabe already loaded the wagon with everything you mentioned last night. It’s all set. Eat that. We polished off the last of the oats this morning. We’ll need to get more today. When you’re finished, we can go.”

Adam gratefully took the bowl then looked up, prepared to ask if they had made some for Ivory.

Charles, knowing his brother well, lifted a hand up to silence him, then pointed at the small table next to the bed. The water pitcher was no longer the only thing sitting there.

“The pups insisted we make enough for Snow too.”

“Snow?” Adam asked, standing up while he ate.

Charles looked bemused and his cheeks tinted a bit. “Yeah, Eric came up with it. Since we didn’t have a name, you know. They figured with that white hair it was perfect.” He ended with a small shrug.

Adam shook his head with silent laughter. He shouldn’t be surprised. The younger ones loved it when it snowed every winter. Well, at least they did for the first week. After that, they hated it. Especially when he made them shovel pathways between the house and the barn.

“Her name is Ivory.”

Charles tilted his head, asking the silent question.

“Snow is pretty. I like that name.” A soft voice said, followed by a groan.

Ivory had woken up when they started talking. She debated on when the proper time to let them know was. That seemed as good a time as any.

Moving made her doubt that decision.

Adam quickly reached for her bowl of oatmeal and handed it to her.

“It’s not much.”

“It’s perfect.” She corrected him.

As hungry as she was, she’d even eat her father’s version of an apple pie. And nobody wanted to eat that.

“Thank you.” Eh. She’d definitely had worse. “Are you going somewhere?” She asked carefully.

Ivory wasn’t sure what she was allowed to know and ask questions about. She rarely sat in on meetings with her parents, her official Princess lessons had barely started.

Her instructors all said that Princesses did not ask questions.

Her mother said that was hogwash.

Adam cleared his throat uncomfortably. From her manners and the way, she was sitting - or at least trying too - he had a feeling Ivory was from a higher status and accustomed to finer things.

“We are headed out to the market soon.” Charles took the decision of how much to say away from him.

Ivory’s eyes lit up with interest. “I’ve never been to a market before! Are you buying or selling? What’s it like? Are there lots of people? Can I go with you?”

“No.” Adam said firmly. The more time he had to think about it, the stronger the feeling was that what had happened to her wasn’t an accident. He wasn’t sure it was safe for her outside of his house.

But that was not what he said. She seemed a little happier right now, which would be easier to deal with than her sadness.

Adam softened his voice. “No. You need to rest for a few more days. At least until we take the stitches out of your head.”

Stitches? Ivory lifted a hand to where the pain was the worst. She only felt a bandage of some sorts.

She went further up into her hair and grimaced. If Angelica, the royal hairdresser, saw this mess she would have fainted.

Angelica had a habit of overreacting about things.

Adam grimaced with her. “Sorry. I needed your hair out of the way. That was the best I could do. When you are ready, one of my brothers will bring you a mirror and you can fix it.”

“Just how many brothers do you have?” Ivory had never met anyone with very many pups before. Two, three at the most.

Of course, she hadn’t met many people in general over the years.

The male standing next to Adam chuckled. “There are seven of us, Sn... Ivory.”

Her eyes widened. She never would have imagined that many was possible. She had to meet this mother of theirs.

“Seven brothers? Your poor mother.”

Both of the males’ faces fell.

Ivory closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. She put her foot in her mouth again. She needed to control herself and her curiosity. She normally did better than this. Her only excuse was that she was clearly out of her element here.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.”

Adam blew out the air from the gut wound he had just taken.

“Don’t be. We lost her years ago. She did not survive the seventh brother. It’s not something we speak of often.”

Ivory nodded knowingly. “We nearly lost my mother to the same fate once. She survived. My brother did not. After that, my father said they were done. No more trying. I was too young. I hardly remember it.”

She could remember something else though, but she really didn’t want to. Not right now. She shook off the dark feeling trying to creep back on her and looked at the new male.

“And what’s your name?” Ivory pulled out her royal side, putting on the fake smile she spent hours a day practicing. No one was to know the true thoughts of the royals.

He grinned from ear to ear. “Charles. And I am very happy to see you awake and talking, Ivory. You had us all worried.”

“I do apologize for that. I am eternally grateful to all of you saving me the way you did.” Her voice was so prim and proper, so different from what it had been moments ago, even the males caught on that she was putting on a front.

As a result, the room took on an air of awkward silence. Charles had a feeling he shouldn’t have brought that up.

Adam reached for her empty bowl and placed it with his in his hands.

“Ivory, we need to get going. Dean, Charles’ twin, will be up shortly, I’m sure. Most likely followed by the rest of them. Dean is the smartest of all of us. Always has his nose in one type of book or another. He’s read quite a few medical ones. So, he is running the show with your care. We debated calling the village doctor, but we weren’t sure if you would want that.”

Ivory shook her head quickly from side to side, then groaned and held it. Bad idea. That made her dizzy and sent waves of pain up her head.

Both Adam and Charles stepped forward, one hand each in the air.

“Are you alright?” They asked in unison.

“Yeah. Just have to remember not to do that for a while.” Ivory removed her hand and looked up at them, blinking her eyes to clear them. She nearly giggled at their faces, an exact replica of the other’s panicked expression.

“Thank you for not calling the doctor. I’d rather nobody know I was here if you don’t mind.”

“Why?” Charles asked. Adam shot him a shut-up look.

“I’d really rather not talk about it right now if you don’t mind. I’m not ready.”

Charles opened his mouth to speak again, but Adam covered it with his hand.

“I’m going to apologize now for all of my brothers, and myself. We don’t have many visitors and they rarely leave the farm. Charles and I take care of things at the market. Brian watches over the younger ones and the farm while we are away.”

Ivory looked down at the blanket and picked at it. “I wasn’t allowed out of the... house much either. I only spoke to those who lived closest to us.” As in, the castle servants and her instructors.

“Hey! If you guys are leaving, you better get going.” Brian shouted as he rounded the doorframe.

He ground to a halt when his brown eyes landed on light green ones. Brian completely froze, not expecting Snow to be sitting up and talking. Guess now he knew why they were taking so long. Adam was a stickler about getting to the market early enough to get a good spot every week.

“Hello.” She said with a half a smile. Ivory was trying not to laugh at the shocked expression on this new brother’s face.

Adam chuckled. “We’re going now. Ivory, this is Brian. He is the second oldest. Rest up and we will talk later.”

Ivory didn’t like the sound of that. But she guessed they would need some answers. Just like she did. She needed to know how long she could stay and where she could go after that. She needed to come up with some type of plan.

Adam tried not to read too much into her focused look and nod. He grabbed Charles by the arm and pulled him out the door.

Dean and the pups were at the bottom of the stairs waiting with expectant looks.

“Her name is Ivory. Try not to bother her too much.” Adam looked right at Fitz and Eric, mostly talking to them. “She is still in a lot of pain and needs to rest. We will be back this evening. Thank you for loading everything up.” He ruffled each of their heads on his way by, softening his words.

For most of the journey, Adam and Charles rode in silence. Halfway to town Charles spoke up about what was bothering him.

“Ivory doesn’t act like any female I’ve ever met.”

“No, she doesn’t. She has more manners.”

“Well, yeah, that too. But also... the way she sits. She sits so....”

“Straight?” Adam filled in the blank with a smirk.

“Yeah! What was up with that? I mean, I saw her back yesterday. Sitting like that couldn’t have been comfortable.”

“I think she is from one of the upper-class families.”

Charles snorted. “I ain’t ever seen the Baron’s wife sit like that, or even stand like that.”

“I think Ivory may be higher than them.”

They both sat in silent contemplation until they could see the first parts of the village.

“Don’t say anything about her while we’re here.” Adam warned. “I get the feeling what happened wasn’t an accident. There’s got to be a reason she doesn’t want anyone to know where she is. Keep an ear out for any gossip about a young female pup, gather what you can, but do not add to it. We had a bad day fishing, that’s it. Understand?”

Charles had an unusually serious look on his face, one that said he understood and would follow to the letter.