Wild at Heart

I thought for sure Nick would be there by the time it took me to walk home from my bar, but the house was empty. A part of me wanted to go find him, but my other half told me he was okay, and I should wait. I still smelled of blood and death from the war and the dress I wore to celebrate Daniel and Alex’s big day was as ruined as the wedding. I didn’t even try to be careful as I pulled the fabric from my body and threw it on the tile in the bathroom. I would have to burn it, there would be no saving of the dress. I took a moment to look my naked self over in the mirror. The skin that wasn’t covered by the silky fabric was splattered with blood, and the skin that was covered was now painted with purple and blue bruising. Especially the right side of my rib cage where the West Alpha’s elbow connected. I’m sure they were broken, but after a few shifts in my wolf form I knew they would be back to normal. I turned on the hot water of the shower and just barely added the cold. The heat of the water would loosen my aching body and cleanse the filth of war from me.

I air dried my naked body while I toweled my long hair. The fresh scent of my shower filled the bathroom, but I ached for that wonderful pine scent of forest to fill my nose; telling me my mate was home. I slipped a robe over my body and secured the tie around my waist loose enough to not disturb my ribs. I reached for my cell phone, only to find it dead. I guess charging the damn thing wasn’t on my mind as of late. I walked over to the nightstand and plugged my cell phone into the cord, watching the black screen slowly become lighter until it had enough juice to turn back on. I jumped and dropped my phone at the sound of the front door slamming shut. Before I had a chance to react, Nick opened the bedroom door and froze as he stared at me, waiting for my reaction. But I had none. I stood just as still as him, and damn was the silence awkward. He was no longer covered in blood and the sweats he was wearing after battle were replaced with new ones along with a loose-fitting t-shirt. He must have cleaned up somewhere before coming home.

“Nick—”

“Emma—” We spoke over each other, and I bit my lip and found my eyes falling to the light gray carpet across our floors. “You’re angry with me.” Nick broke the silence again. I looked up at him to see the shamed look on his face.

“I am.” I admitted.

“I never wanted you to be upset with my decision.”

“I’m not mad at the decision, Nick, I’m mad I was in the dark.”

“I need you to understand why I had to leave it like that.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Why you couldn’t include me? Nick, I have this overwhelming feeling of power that I don’t know how to—” I took a deep breath.

“Emma,” Nick took a few cautious steps towards me.

“You’re the only one that feels like this. I know you do. The power we have after taking over the East is deafening.” My hands began to shake, I didn’t know how to feel normal again.

“Emma, I know.” He said as he reached for my hands. The second our skin made contact I felt the shaking of my skin halt. “It will go away.” He whispered. “It won’t last for long, just enough for your wolf to accept it.”

“How do I accept it?” I asked.

“By understanding it was the only way.” He reached up and brushed a strand of damp hair out of my face. “I couldn’t tell you, I wanted to tell you, I was dying to tell you, but Octavia made it difficult.” I whipped my head up to his and took a step back from him.

“What does Octavia have to do with this?” Does he know where she is?

“Octavia is very close with a witch.” My jaw dropped at the statement my mate just made. “She’s been dabbling in witchcraft herself, but as a werewolf she’s already a supernatural being. She can’t be a witch and a werewolf, so she isn’t able to do spells.”

“Spells?” I repeated. “I’ve never heard of any witches being real.”

“You’ve never met one, does that mean they don’t exist?” He questioned. “You’ve never met a human before either, are they real?”

“Nick, I’m not standing here to have you mock me.” I snapped.

“I’m not.” He held his hands up defensively. “You know this is true.” He continued. “She sent you to another world to visit the dead, Emma, that’s a form of witchcraft. Those herbs her sister handed Derek to save your life was magic, Emma.” He reached for my hands again and I let him, not having the energy to pull away again. “The East pack has always dabbled in magical herbs because they can’t practice magic, but you saw those books in her room. I held you all night when you came back from that place in her room and I saw them too.” She did have witchcraft books, she told me she was holding them for a friend.

“What does this have to do with killing Reginald?” I asked.

“I asked Kendrick about the books. He knew I didn’t trust her, and he wanted me to, so he told me about Holly.”

“Holly?” I questioned. Was this the friend she was holding the books for?

“She’s a witch.” Nick said. “She’s been on the run from her coven for years and when she gets herself in a pickle, she comes to Octavia for help.”

“She gave the books to her to keep them safe from the other witches.” It was all coming together now, and Nick’s nod only confirmed that for me.

“I know you became close with Octavia and I couldn’t risk her witch casting a spell on you for information. I had to keep you in the dark so no one would know what I was going to do.”

“But why, Nick?” I asked. “Octavia wanted him dead, she would have been glad you did what you did.”

“Are you sure about that?” He asked me. “Where is she now?” I was hoping he knew, but the fact that he didn’t only made my worry for her whereabouts grow. “Can you tell me with a hundred percent certainty that you can trust her? That whatever you would tell her, she wouldn’t tell her sister? And if she did, can you trust her sister as well?” I hated that he was right. I hated that keeping me in the dark was the right decision. I bit my lower lip and gave him the answer he needed. “I’m sorry I had to keep it from you.” He brushed the back of his fingertips across my cheek.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be there for you.” I responded.

“Daniel knew.” Of course, he did. “He didn’t know it was going to ruin his wedding, but he knew the plan.” I nodded.

“So, what now?” I asked Chloe’s question. “What will change?”

“I went to the training center after you left, I got cleaned up and I spoke with the Omegas. We’ll take the East pack’s Omegas in and get their training up to par with ours. Daniel will still be my Beta, and Kendrick will be second to him. Kendrick will live in the East territory and report to me. Once the Omegas are trained to my standards, the ones who wish to continue living in the East will go back and defend that territory in rotations just like ours do here.”

“And we’ll stay here?” I asked.

“If you wish.” He said with a smile. “We can stay in this home forever, we can build a new home closer to the borders, we could build a home in the East. Whatever you want to do, Emma, I will make it happen.” I smiled back and him and began to feel the power in my body not feel so overwhelming.

“And Octavia?” I asked. “Where is she?”

“That, I don’t know, little wolf.”