Chapter 11
A brEATH OF FRESH AIR
NIA
The bed is soft and warm, and I roll under the covers, enjoying the weight of the duvet as it presses down on me. I’m well rested and it’s an absolute joy to stretch out, refreshed. My fingers graze my lips and I giggle, remembering the way they felt when Luke’s mouth moved over them.
The way my clit felt when his mouth moved over that.
I blush, embarrassed by the knowledge that he’s given me my first orgasm. With or without a man. I’ve always struggled and never got over the precipice, collapsing into a heap and never getting lost in the oblivion.
“Morning.”
I stiffen and throw the covers off, turning to face the man who’s rudely interrupted my leisurely start to the day. Cole sits on the sofa near the window, watching me instead of the world outside. He’s keeping his distance but after yesterday, he’s still far too close for comfort.
“Luke’s been called away and he asked me to take care of you.
” He glances toward the evergreen woods and his expression betrays more than a hint of his concern.
I’m certain something isn’t right with Luke and whatever’s taken him away is dangerous enough for his Beta to worry. “I brought you breakfast, Nia.”
I quickly take in the tray of food laid out on the coffee table, noting more bread, pastries, and fruit than I could possibly eat.
“I wasn’t sure what you like.”
I shrug. “I don’t.” Cole’s eyes narrow. “I don’t eat breakfast.”
“You do now.”
My eyes move back to the breakfast tray and I shake my head. “I’m not hungry.”
“I don’t give a shit. You need to gain some weight.” Cole shifts and his already dark eyes darken.
I scoff and my core tightens. “So I can give him strong children?”
“So you can take your proper place.” Cole tips his head towards the food. “Luke won’t respect you unless you’re stronger, Nia. You have two choices—you can eat breakfast, or I can ram it down your throat, with or without using a tube to force-feed you.”
My muscles tense harder, certain the asshole means it. I shoot him my very best thoroughly pissed-off expression and choose the path of least resistance, edging toward the table. The fruit is sweet and easy to eat, and I nibble at it, earning myself various disapproving looks from Cole.
“More, Nia. The doctors are adamant you need to eat.”
“I’m really not hungry.”
The bowl of fruit is more than my stomach’s used to at this time of the morning, and I might be sick if I eat much more. I stare at Cole and he isn’t impressed, pointing to some clothes piled by the bathroom door.
“Clean up and get dressed. You can have a second breakfast later.”
I glare at him and race into the bathroom, relieved to be out of his presence for a while. I lock the door and he doesn’t try it, leaving me alone while I take an unnecessarily long time washing myself.
My fingers scrub away the crusts of come dried on my skin and my heart races, as the memory of Luke’s touch heats my core again.
Shower water pours down me but I can’t wash away what happened, and I don’t know if I want to.
It’s confusing. Unsettling. It’s wrong but it felt right.
I shouldn’t have liked it but I did. I really did.
Fuck, I’m in trouble.
In so many more ways than one.
Luke’s made more than my head spin and my body aches, craving the ecstasy it’s never experienced before. I toss my head and scrub harder, irritating my skin while failing to erase the memories of yesterday.
I dress slowly, putting on the casual clothes that swamp my petite frame.
The joggers need tying around my waist and the cotton top is far too big, and I emerge from the bathroom looking and feeling ridiculous.
I’m like a child who’s wearing their parents' clothes, and Cole notices my discomfort in an instant.
“You need to eat.”
He hands me a pastry and I take it, reluctantly.
“I will force you.”
I’ve got no doubt about it. His tone is laced with threat and he’ll follow through without a moment’s hesitation.
Cole towers over me and I hate myself for letting him get this close, even more than I hate him.
I’ve made a stupid error and now the asshole will think I’m warming to him, maybe even beginning to trust him.
That might not be such a bad thing. It might let me gain his trust and use it to my advantage, but that won’t be an easy process.
It’ll take time and Cole’s not stupid, and he won’t fall for the act without a damn good performance.
It’ll take an annoying amount of patience and a great deal of perseverance, and it’ll mean I have to spend a lot more time in his proximity.
It’ll be unpleasant, but I don’t have any other choice. And it’s no more disgusting than spending time with Luke.
“Let’s go, trouble.”
I arch my eyebrow.
“The pack doctors say you need fresh air. You can eat that as we walk.”
My weight presses down as my feet weld themselves to the floor. “You’re not seriously going to let me walk around your pack?” I stare at him in disbelief. “Luke won’t like it.”
“He told me to take care of you. Let’s get going before I change my mind.”
Cole’s taking a big risk. I’ll be able to map out my surroundings, and once I’ve got my bearings I can start planning an escape.
I’ll be able to work out how big the pack is, and if I’m really lucky I might even start to get a handle on their strengths and weaknesses.
It’s a stupid thing for a Beta to do, and I shouldn’t have interrupted him when he was making a tactical error.
“The entire pack knows you’re to be taken down if they see you alone and they’ll be at least six fighters nearby at all times. You can try running, but you won’t get very far. You can try fighting us again, but you’re on our turf now, and you don’t have the advantage of surprise.”
I swallow and make the best of what he’s offering.
“Fine.”
“Good,” Cole replies, grinning. “After you, trouble.”
I grind my teeth and march through the door. “Can you stop calling me that?”
I hear the asshole shaking his head behind me before I see the men standing at the end of the corridor.
They’re big. Muscular. Fucking lethal and pissed as hell.
They look as happy to be here as I am to see them and we eye each other with unbridled hatred, all of us annoyed we’re going through this.
“Nia,” Cole growls, grabbing my arm and marching me to the end of the corridor. “Stop being a brat and start behaving.”
“Speak for your-fucking-self.”
Cole stiffens and shoves me forward, growling at the werewolves we pass.
They stand motionless, staring at me with unconcealed rage.
I refuse to cower and walk past them with my head held high and they don’t like the way I manage to hold my own.
It might be only just, but it’s a victory and that’s the only thing that counts.
“Stop being unnecessarily difficult,” Cole says, marching me down the stairs and out the front door.
We’re moving too fast to notice every little detail but I count the steps we take through the clean and modern building.
At any other time, I’d admire the cool colors and warm wood decorating the interior, but this isn’t home and I dislike the way it feels like it is.
It's comfortable when it should be unpleasant, and I chide myself for letting foolish notions almost carry me away.
We step outside and the cool, crisp air hits my face.
It’s refreshing. Clean and crisp. It’s like a splash of cold water in the morning, except it’s a thousand times better.
The air is light and unpolluted, filled with the smell of fresh-cut grass and pine trees.
The rain still lingers and the stones beneath us release their scent, as the earth releases its joy into the world above it and I delight in inhaling the petrichor.
“Better?”
I grunt and Cole remains silent, the condescension written all over his face.
He waits, watching me take in the buildings in front of me.
Not all of them are small and not all of them are homes, but they are all away from Luke’s house and that means the Alpha likes to keep his distance from the pack.
It’s almost idyllic really. The mountains and the sky form a perfect backdrop to the small town laid out before me.
It’s clean and quiet, and the wooden buildings don’t jar against the nature surrounding them.
Everything’s peaceful as if it’s all in harmony.
It’s a contradiction, and I can’t understand how a place filled with monsters like Luke could be so heavenly.
I shake my head and I hear the smirk spread over Cole’s face.
“We’ll slip round the back,” he says, tightening his grip on my arm. “Not too far today, Nia.”
I frown.
“You don’t have the stamina and I don’t trust you.”
The other werewolves fan out around us and Cole leads me along the gravel driveway and onto a path that leads away from the town.
I trudge behind him, irritated that I won’t be able to get more information about the pack that lives here.
I need to know who I’m facing if I’m going to survive this, and so far, neither Luke nor Cole have volunteered any useful information.
They’re not from the Lightclaw pack, confirming that I’ve been taken by someone other than the pack we were fighting.
Luke’s pack must have allied with them and I’m betting I was part of the deal he made.
He’ll have sworn to help Lightclaw and taken me in return, and it’s another despicable act to add to the tally.
“Montana.”
I hum at Cole, and he looks down on me with pity.
“We’re in Montana, Nia. We gave you the tranquilizer to keep you safe on the way here.”
My jaw tightens. “You sedated me for your own convenience.”
He has the decency to nod. “Your safety too, Nia. You’d have fought tooth and nail on that plane. It was too dangerous to take the risk.”
The path leads to some gardens and they’re not that bad.
They’re not as formal as the ones I’m used to, and their relaxed, carefree charm is soothing.
The flowers and bushes have been placed with enough care to make them pretty but not so much that they’re formal, and a little wilderness creeps into the borders as the breeze catches the leaves.
Oranges and reds blend with whites and pinks and purples. The greens of the leaves shift from almost yellow to deep alpine shades as nature offers us the full spectrum of its palette. Colors clash against each other but fit together and the garden catches me off guard as it rattles my senses.
I’m alive.
I feel more alive.
It’s impossible to say how or why, or even what’s changed from a few moments ago.
The air is fresher. The colors are brighter.
My lungs feel fuller and my heart seems a little stronger.
My muscles too, and my brain is sharper.
As many thoughts spiral through my mind as before, but now they’re clear and more coherent.
The clouds covering my consciousness lift and the sunlight blazes through and I bask in the warmth of the light finally reaching me.
We walk until we reach a small wooden bench and Cole insists I sit, standing back so I can have some space to myself. It isn’t much but it’s much needed and I exhale far louder than I should.
My head snaps as twigs break to my left and I stare, catching sight of a deer.
It’s different to the ones back home, and just as beautiful.
My weight drops as I lean forward, tracking the doe’s movements, eager to hunt.
It’s unusual for prey to catch my attention, and even more unusual for me to be this eager.
Back home, I was a reluctant hunter, but not here, not now.
“Malcolm’s going to make damn sure we remember this.”
I turn to Cole and the Beta’s grinning from one ear to the other.
“He said you needed fresh air.” Cole turns as the deer startles and bolts, much to be annoyance. “He said you needed the wild and he was right. It’s a pity you can’t see yourself, Nia. You don’t even look like the same wolf.”
I snarl and he ignores me.
My temper flares and my stomach tightens, and I regret eating breakfast. The acid burns its way up my chest and the taste of bile catches at the back of my throat. I pant, trying to ignore the sensation building and my eyes lock onto Cole’s as I search for understanding in his dark brown irises.
His eyes stare back with none and he steps forward.
The world spins out of kilter and it’s more than I can withstand.
I’m dizzy as well as nauseous and I drop my head, retching until there’s nothing left in my stomach.
It’s a start but the sense of sickness sticks around and I sway, trying to focus on the ground ahead as the wave of unrest inside me starts to settle, letting me have a brief reprieve from whatever this is.