I sat with her as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She kept murmuring under her breath that the 'others' were coming and she needed to move before the soldiers got there.
Only then did I realize she was a high-ranking military officer, and I honestly don't know how. She is still so young. I can not be more than five years older than her.
George assured me that she was alright for now and she just needed a lot of sleep for the next few weeks to recuperate her strength and powers. He gave her a few shots and she did not even squeeze my hand when he said the one will burn like hell, so I might have to hold her down.
I notice a few scars on her legs and George pushes my hand away from her dress as I push it up. I look up at him and I'm ready to explain it's not like that, I'm not some freak, but he spoke first,
"She has a lot of those. Her life has been…"
I watch as he tries to find a word for her life,
"hell."
That's the best word he can come up with to explain her life? Not hard or rough. No - hell. I have had glimpses of hell and I don't think he has any idea what he is talking about.
I look at the massive rock again and still can not believe that she amplified Leo so much that he could pick it up and throw it over the road into the garden.
I stand and walk back into the ballroom, where I can smell Leo,
"I have chosen my mate,"
I tell him and he turns to me. I was expecting him to be happy, but he was pissed.
"Choose someone else. Anyone else,"
I shake my head. I have made my choice and everything tonight just showed me that she is the one. Even if I ignore this strange one-way mating bond, she is strong and a fighter. She is funny and she cares about others. She might or might not have stinky feet and she is so tiny, but she is so perfect.
"Bella is not meant for someone like you. She has been through enough in her life. She needs someone that will love-"
I shut him off as I raise one hand and she walks past us.
Did he just say her name is Bella? My wolf purrs and he wants to rub up on her. I can not believe I did not even ask her name. I guess her name really did not matter to me—just her.
I try to hide my purr with a cough, but the twins clearly hear it as they snicker behind me like two school girls. Fuckers.
She walks over and gets her friend and I start to walk over to her, but Leo grabs my arm and I am so ready to punch his face in.
"What do you think you're doing?"
he whispered and I remember her hearing,
"I'm going to tell her,"
"like hell you are. Do you want-"
he sweeps his hand over his face,
"You can not just tell her something like this. She is not like other wolves. Let me lock you in a cage with her and then you tell her. That seems to be the best solution to all my problems."
He has lost his fucking mind. She is a good fighter, and yes, her powers are strong, but she is only 5′3 and weighs barely anything soaking wet. Why the hell is he so scared of her reaction?
"I will have her, and I'm taking her right now,"
Leo and his second step in front of me,
"We can tell her in a few hours. Give her some time to sleep,"
I look at my little Bella and I almost purr again at the thought of her name.
I stand there and watch as she walks away, dead on her own two feet and still helping her friend over the rubble. Now, if that is not a Luna, I don't know what is.
My heart sinks again as I remember the way she clung to my hand as she went in and out of consciousness. Her little hands fit so perfectly into my hand. Her skin was so soft against my calluses.
"Follow them in wolf form and make sure they get home safe,"
I order the twins and they sprint out to follow their new Luna home.
"Since you're so dead set on her, let me show you exactly who you are choosing as your mate. Maybe then you will realize that she is better off with us and a mate that is soft and gentle,"
I can be soft and gentle, I think. I can be whatever Bella wants and needs from me.
I follow him down the hall to his office, but he doesn't offer me a seat. He only grabs a key and then we walk back down the stairs. We pass the main floor and down a staircase that looks like it will give in at any moment. Listen, I'm a big male and don't weigh 'nothing'.
"This way, Max,"
Leo urged me, and I followed him down a long, dark hallway. If this is where his cage is, I have another scenario for him. He will end up dead in that cage and I will pretend like I have no idea where he is.
"This is it,"
he says, pressing his hand against a monitor and the screen lid up. A door slid open and the room lit up. There were a lot of files in the room and I followed him as he walked towards the back.
"From here,"
he taps on a steel cabinet and walks past 4 more,
"till here,"
he says, holding the key out for me to take. I watch him walk to a small table in the corner with two chairs,
"Wake me when you're done."
"What is in this cabinet?"
I ask as I tap the cabinet. He smirks,
"No, Max. All 5 of those cabinets are hers. You will especially like her military record. Maybe you can understand what they say with all those black lines,"
My eyes widened, and he just chuckled before he lay down on his arms and actually took a nap.
All these files for one little she-wolf? What game is he playing? I smell the papers, and they don't smell new. They smell a few years old.
I open the top file and I feel the corner of my mouth tilt up when I see a fat little baby in a hospital bed, still pink from birth. Name: Elizabeth. Birth: 13 January, and I see that she is almost 24 years old. Just two years younger than me. She was born in the Blue Moon pack and raised here.
I started to scan through the file and quickly realized her life was hell. Broken bones and arms, neglect and dehydration were just some of the highlights on her medical report as a child and then it all stopped when she turned 5.
In school, she did well. She is brilliant and looks like she is also good at sports. I do notice she has quite a few absent days every year and I wonder if the abuse at home stopped or did she just get better at hiding it.
I quickly make my way to her military records and shake my head at the files, which are mostly all blackout.
'The she-demon ------ has completed ----- mission. All ---- targets eliminated within ---- minutes.'
'Mission completed by, she-demon —- —-- —--- the —-- —-- in —--.
All of the papers looked like this. Three cabinets worth 'this' and 'in' and 'that'. The only thing I can see is that all her missions were completed. She was sent out on over 90 missions in 2 years and then she came back.
As I put down the last paper, I see it's already 8 am and I still want her. Whatever Leo thought these files would do, it did not do that. So, her parents are poor, and she was in the military and a little prickly. I don't see one damn thing that would deter me.
"I'm done,"
I say, and Leo wakes up. He shook his head,
"you're still here?"
he asked, shocked,
"Let's go and get my mate,"
he sighed deeply,
"May the goddess protect me and my pack today as we enter the den of the devil,"
he murmured.
"shower and get yourself presentable. I will take you to Bella at 8 am,"
I look at my watch, "it is 8 am,"
"Well you look and smell like shit. Get cleaned up and then we can go."
I shower as fast as I can and get dressed. As Leo suggested, I wear jeans, a black T-shirt, and army boots. 'We might need to fight her,' His letter said with the instructions that were left in my room while I was in the shower.
I look at the clock. I only took 5 minutes to get ready. I pace the lobby as we wait for Leo. The Luna comes storming over to me,
"choose someone else,"
she says with tears in her eyes. I shake my head,
"I want nobody else,"
she touches her belly, and I smile. She is with pup. My mate saved the Luna and her pup.
"Please, I'll give you anything in this world. Just choose someone else. Take Bella's best friend, take our most beautiful woman, take two, take 5,"
she begged me,
"Sorry, Luna. I want her,"
she covers her face with her hands and starts to cry,
"Is there nothing else we can offer you for her?"
Leo tries again and I shake my head.
"I want her. Only her. Nothing and nobody else, and if one more person asks me, I will rip their heads off,"
I am so confused by all the huff and puff they are making about her. It's by far the lamest excuses and attempts I have ever seen. Do they think they can deter me from her? Leo chuckled,
"you hope you still have hands to rip heads off after this meeting,"
The Luna came with us, and I was pretty surprised. She seems like a gentle soul, and nothing about this meeting seems gentle to me.