Chapter 31: Rage and Murder

CLARA

I shook my head, unwilling to say anything in case the neighbor could hear us through the walls.

They ~were~ paper-thin, after all. And the last thing I wanted was a gun-wielding werewolf maniac shooting me through the apartment wall.

“I can’t tell you. Not here,” I whispered, pulling my shirt from his hand.

I patted his pocket where I could see the bulge of his keys, and he seemed to get the message.

Without another word, he gently took the shirt and pulled it back down over my head. As if I were a child, he helped me put my arms through the sleeves and fetched my shoes.

He was absolutely ~fuming.~ I could see it in his eyes and in the way he gripped things much harder than he needed to. He wrapped me in my coat like a blanket rather than giving me time to put it on, then ushered me out the door.

We moved silently across the hall to the elevator, down to the ground floor, and across the parking lot to the Jeep. Once we were inside and the doors were locked, Elias turned to me again.

“Tell me who did this to you,” he spat.

“M-my next-door neighbor,” I stammered, my entire body suddenly trembling again. “He’s one of Xavier’s wolves. I caught him and Marius in the hall. Marius ran off, and the neighbor beat me for exposing his cover.”

The words got easier to spit out with each one, until by the end of the sentence my voice had regained some semblance of steadiness.

“He probably threatened you too? Cowardly bastard! Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him.”

He wrenched open the car door, and I grabbed his hand, which already had tufts of fur sprouting from the knuckles.

I shook my head vigorously and pulled him back into the car.

“No, Elias! Don’t do anything rash! Use your brain for a second. Do you really think that rushing into my apartment complex in full wolf form, beating down my neighbor’s door, and committing murder is ~really~ the smartest move?

“Because I can see it in your face that that’s your entire plan.”

He ripped his arm out of my grasp. When I tried to calm him through the link, all I felt was a brick wall of rage. The fur continued sprouting, and he exploded into his full wolf form, letting out a furious howl.

All I could do was lock myself in the Jeep to make sure his rampage didn’t backfire.

To my relief, instead of the bulky werewolf smashing into my apartment, he disappeared into the darkness in the direction of the forest.

The winter air soaked into my bones, leaving me trembling with fear and cold. But I didn’t dare leave the Jeep, not knowing where Elias was or what was going on.

No matter how many times I reached out over the link, Elias was still nothing more than a flaming inferno. He’d warned me that this could happen, but I never thought I’d see it.

All I could do was pray that he’d run off his anger instead of turning into the murderer he swore he’d never be.

In the back seat, I found a blanket. I wrapped myself in it and leaned the seat back.

My eyes closed as I took deep, calming breaths and eventually fell asleep.

***

I was awoken by slamming on the window.

I screamed and hid under the blanket until I heard Elias’s voice.

“Clara. Unlock the Jeep, my love.”

To say I was relieved would be an understatement. My shoulders relaxed, and I hit the unlock button.

Elias leapt over the ~top~ of the Jeep—show-off—and wrenched the door open.

“It will be taken care of.”

“Do I even want to know?” I asked.

Elias shook his head.

Okay, fair enough.

Elias kicked the engine to life and peeled out of the parking lot. His knuckles were white with how hard he gripped the steering wheel, and his driving was anything but smooth.

I placed a hand on his knee, hoping he’d calm down just a little bit—I didn’t feel like being in a car crash tonight.

I had no idea where we were going, and I wasn’t convinced Elias did either. Mostly because we backtracked multiple times and circled town pretty aimlessly.

At least as we drove, his massive form began to loosen. After an hour or so of useless wandering, he dropped his right hand from the wheel and I threaded our fingers together.

“I’m okay, Elias. I think I’ve broken my bruise record, but the better part of a week has passed and I’m already healing. This is far from the first time I’ve dealt with this kind of thing.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” he grumbled.

Okay, he had a point there.

I stared out the window into the darkness, not feeling like I could meet Elias’s gaze right now.

The shame I’d felt right after the assault welled up again, as did the tears. I fought valiantly to keep them from making an escape but eventually lost the battle.

Elias pulled off the side of the road and gently brushed the tears from my cheek.

“Hey. Don’t cry, beautiful. I’m sorry I failed to protect you. This kind of thing isn’t supposed to happen to ~my~ mate. But it’s all taken care of. That coward will never hurt you again.”

“I’m not going to have to write an article about you and the rest of the pack being arrested for murder, am I?” I asked, my voice shaky. “I really don’t want to have to interview you in jail.”

“The only thing ~you~’ll be reporting on is a drug bust after I call the cops. As to where the drug dealer went? He probably shouldn’t have set up a deal in the forest at night. The ~black~ wolves out there have been particularly dangerous recently.”

I felt a shiver run down my spine at the chill in his words.

We returned to a scene of mass chaos at my apartment complex.

It looked like every single police cruiser in Melville was parked in the lot. Their flashing lights made the place feel like a crappy nightclub with none of the fun parts.

Elias parked the Jeep across the street, and we watched as four police officers and two K-9s exited the building. Two of the officers were escorting a body bag to the ambulance.

“Damn it, Xavier!” Elias swore, pounding the steering wheel. “You weren’t supposed to do it at the apartment, you idiot!”

He ground his teeth and snarled in the direction of the ambulance, but I took his hand and gently brought it to my lips.

“What did you do, Elias?”

“I told Xavier that his disobedient pup hurt you. I didn’t even have to demand that he take care of it. After Ezra, it was obvious he didn’t mind killing his own pack members if they crossed him.”

Elias looked at me with wild eyes, the anger still flashing as brightly in his irises as the police lights.

But I stared right back, gently pressing his mind with calm as I did before. My consciousness recoiled slightly at the heat of his fury, but I didn’t give up.

Little by little, the cooling presence of my calm put out the fire until Elias slumped back in his seat.

“I don’t understand how you do that to me,” he grumbled.

I laughed as I brushed his hand against my cheek.

“That’s what partners are for, right? To fill in our gaps. To be our opposites in all the most important ways. To keep us from doing stupid things that would get us thrown in jail.” I waggled my eyebrows, and Elias let out a deep sigh.

He pulled me into the center seat, and I reclined against his massive form until all the hubbub had subsided.

Only then did we climb out of the Jeep and head back to my apartment.

The whole building was buzzing with people standing in their doorways and gossiping about the night’s events. I tried not to listen, but my ears seemed particularly sensitive tonight.

“Mauled just like the others,” my neighbors exclaimed. “Inside of his apartment! Did you see anything?”

We finally made it inside, and I locked the door quickly. My muscles gave up, and I turned toward the bedroom. “I think I just want to go to bed.”

“That’s fine,” Elias replied. He stripped off his shirt and jeans and tossed them on the couch. “I’m tired too. Coming down from a frenzy is exhausting.”

I grabbed a pair of pajamas with long sleeves and long legs from the bedroom and started toward the bathroom to change. I didn’t particularly want Elias freaking out again by seeing the exact extent of the bruising.

But he had other plans. He gently grabbed my wrist outside the bathroom door and kissed my forehead.

“I know you’re trying to hide the damage. But I want to see. Please?”

His voice was so gentle that my resolve melted like snow before a flame. I nodded and began pulling my shirt over my head. I heard him gasp again as I revealed the black, blue, and green of my torso.

He tenderly ran a finger over my arm so lightly that it caused my skin to erupt in gooseflesh.

“He left a handprint on your bicep,” he whispered. “Can I see your legs too?”

I hesitated for a moment but didn’t stop his hand as it traveled to the button of my jeans and popped it open. He dropped to one knee and lowered my jeans to my ankles.

For a long time, he just stared at the shoe prints painted in purple on my skin. Finally, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against my thigh.

“I utterly failed you,” he whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me when it happened? I would have taken care of the problem that night instead of you having to continue living next door to your attacker.”

“There was no way for you to know this would happen,” I insisted, stooping down to lift his proud head. “There was no way for ~me~ to know. And I didn’t tell you because…well, I still don’t have the ability to trust anyone.

“I thought ~you~’d left the note, just like Xavier wanted me to. And I didn’t even consider asking for help because no one helped me for fifteen years. And I was ashamed of my weakness.”

Elias rose to his feet and scooped me up into his arms.

“Weakness? What weakness? The ability to withstand an attack that leaves you this badly injured and entirely alone is a strength that very few possess. But it’s one you no longer need.

“I would traverse the globe or fly to the moon if that’s what it took to protect you. You are strong and powerful, but let me be your safe harbor.”

I’d seen the very worst of him…but all doubt was gone.

Tears began welling up in my eyes, and I allowed my head to drop against Elias’s chest. He carried me into the bedroom and gently tucked me into bed before climbing in himself.

He slid his strong arms around me and for the first time I could remember, I felt ~entirely~ safe in a man’s warm embrace.