Repairs

The next few months were more of the same. My wolf and nightmares had no more to reveal to me about the night I ran. That cottage stuck in my mind.

Victor, Chase, and Huntley would drag me out hunting so forcefully that the hinges and bolts on my door and windows would now hardly close.

~It couldn’t withstand the Faber boys if they truly decided to come in~…

While they hadn’t touched me again, my wolf loved to replay the sensations for me. But as another Mating Moon was drawing near, I didn’t want to take any chances.

Besides my hut, the only other safe space in camp was Martha’s hut. That’s where several of the females went time to time for advice, supplies, and shelter from the males.

After washing before dawn in the river, I knocked on Martha’s door. Martha opened it, despite the early hour, with a cup of tea in hand. Behind her, Sara Jane and Laura sat at her small wooden table.

“Laura!” I hadn’t had a chance to speak to her since the Mating Moon. I was surprised by how happy I was to see her. I’d heard of our alpha’s brutality and felt a momentary flash of resentment toward him. Wondering how he could’ve hurt such a kind she-wolf.

“Sweetie!” She jumped up. We quickly embraced in a tight hug.

“Come in.” Martha invited me with a warm smile. Her gray hair peppered with dark spots from where she was once a brunette. Her soft, brown eyes always seemed to look at the rest of us like we were the same as her own children.

I walked in hesitantly, unsure how they’d all feel about me intruding.

But Laura urged me to sit down. “Come, Valerie. Stop looking at me as if I’ll nip at you.”

I realized I likely was, and walked in more casually. It was weird that she was the alpha’s mate now.

~Should I act differently around her since she’s our beta?~

Martha retrieved another wooden chair and dragged it toward the little wooden table so I could join them.

I rushed over to help her, not wanting her to exert herself.

She patted the top of my head as I began carrying the chair over for her. “You’re a good girl, you are, sweet one.”

I happily sat, touched by her words and feeling much more welcomed than I thought I would. She set a cup of tea before me. Then turned to make herself another.

“Oh,” I said and caught the acrid scent of the array of herbs in the cup.

“This is a special cup.” Martha scooted it toward me, her eyes keen.

“Thank you.” I drained the bitter liquid from my cup. I glanced at Laura. She didn’t have a cup in front of her and eyed my now empty cup.

“What can I do for you then, my dear?” Martha said, clearing away the remains of the tea.

“Might I purchase a basket and bolts?” Recently, a few rusted bolts had fallen out of the bottom door hinge, which made it far heavier to open.

“With what dear?”

I hesitated, chewing my cheek. “Perhaps I could work?”

“Do you know how to weave?” Martha asked.

“No. But I’d love it if you could teach me.”

She hesitated. “Perhaps I could use an apprentice. But for this there is no need.”

I shot her a quizzical look.

“Your boys came by with a deer hide as payment for them. I was in need of one.”

“My boys?”

“A couple of the Faber males.”

“Oh.”

~Chase and Victor?~ I chewed my cheek.

~Why would they do that? Especially when they know it is to keep them out.~

That made my heart drop.

~They know that no matter what I do, I won’t be able to keep them out. That’s the point they’re trying to make.~

Martha fetched a basket with a few long bolts sitting in the bottom and handed it over.

I walked out still feeling like I owed her something.

Laura walked with me back to my hut. I was glad for the company. I missed my friend and perhaps the Faber brothers would leave me alone if I was with our beta.

My stomach churned at the thought of me using her like that.

“How did you find Martha’s tea?” Laura asked evenly.

I swallowed.

“Wasn’t her finest cup.” I hated lying to my friend. But I didn’t know what else to say or how much Laura might already know about Martha’s foul tea.

~Isn’t she required to tell the alpha if she knows of something out of row in the pack?~

Laura gently placed her hand on my arm and we stopped behind my hut. She studied my face and guilt washed over me. While Martha’s tea was awful, it served a purpose for me.

“I’m sorry you were marked.” My grip tightened on my basket. I couldn’t imagine being tethered to another like that. Especially not on my own terms.

Laura squeezed my arm and gave me a meaningful look.

“The Mating Moon is only one night of many.”

I couldn’t unwind the meaning I felt under her words. My heart tightened.

Laura looked around us and leaned in conspiratorially.

“The males change for the pink moon, but ~after~,” she hinted.

I stared at her dumbfounded. “After…”

Laura rolled her eyes and gave me a small nudge. “After they are quite the opposite.” She whispered the last word so softly I almost didn’t catch it.

I shook my head. That went against everything Martha had warned me of and that I’d experienced from the Faber brothers so far. I couldn’t imagine something different.

My wolf stirred under my skin, sharing all manner of imaginings with the brothers.

~Stop it~. I shoved her down.

“So, Martha hasn’t said anything about her special blend of tea?”

I blanched.

In that moment I knew I couldn’t lie to Laura. I didn’t say anything.

We shared a quiet moment.

I was sure Laura was going to accuse me of knowing more. But she squeezed my arm before letting go and gave me a warm smile. Laura offered to help me secure my hut again, and I was grateful for another pair of hands.

When we walked around to my crooked front door, there was a small reed mat with meat on my doorstep. I sniffed, wondering if Huntley or Chase had left it for me. But looking around, they were nowhere to be found.

We set to work fixing what we could with the few supplies Martha had given me. I watched Laura, curious of the secrets she may know about the pack.