ABBY

Chapter 18

Standing on the deck of the Black Swallow, Lawrence looks back to the harbour. His mother, father and brother are still standing on the dock. Lord Bolton joined them to say his farewell, but his mother hijacked the poor vampire king and is giving him an earful as well.

“She’s a feisty one, isn’t she?” The Captain’s deep voice suddenly speaks behind him. Lawrence shudders, but stands his ground. “Yeah, but she’s a good mother.” He smirks as he takes note of the look on Lord Bolton’s face, one of annoyance as the tiny woman stands next to him, pointing a finger up at him.

“I can tell.” Captain Davidson says as he takes his stand next to Lawrence with a side smirk on his face. The humour not reaching his dark blue eyes. “We can speak in my cabin tonight. I have some errands to run for this mission to be successful. If you don’t mind, I’ll be leaving you at your own devices. Word of advice. Don’t shift onboard. The space is small, and werewolves tend to be quite large in wolf form and stay out of the crew’s way. They are suspicious of newcomers.” He says calmly, yet his voice is stern. Lawrence nods his understanding as the Captain turns on his heel and is on his way.

The man he sees now is quite different from the one he met at the pack house earlier. The one earlier almost scared him, but this one is a decent man. One that is considerate and calm. He might just succeed in winning the Captain’s favour.

Turning, he makes his way to his cabin. He’s packed some books to read. Those ones that bought but time doesn’t permit reading them. Dinner is still a few hours away. Walking into his cabin, Lawrence is met by a richly decorated space. His bed is off to the one side and a small desk is on the other. A small nightstand is right next to the bed and a cupboard is behind the door. The guests and the Captain share a bathroom. The rest of the crew have their own bathrooms in their quarters.

On the nightstand, he finds a tray with some biscuits and hot tea. A welcome note from the kitchen is tugged under the tray. These might be hardened seamen, but at least they have a sense of hospitality. At least he thinks they do. Time will tell if this welcome is true or fake.

Though the day goes at a snail's pace, Lawrence makes sure he adheres by the Captain's rules and stays in his cabin. Reading and studying some of the medical books he's packed, Law's mind is also occupied by Abby. Her golden hair and bright blue eyes haunt him. The sadness they carry, bothers him. Her petite and vulnerability concerns him.  He may not be the fighter his brother is, but he can stand his ground. Defence training is part of every Lycan pup's daily life from an early age. That is why the Castelena Pack is still one of the strongest around. 

General Collard is not only a master in fighting, but he's also a strong leader and merciless trainer. He makes sure his pack is fit for survival. Financially and physically. Lawrence hated every moment of the training. Maybe not the mental discipline as much, but the physical. Being a Elemental Healer, you're athletic but not a strong fighter and doing harm to others, hurts you more then it does them. Fortunately for him, Dr. Hugh came to his rescue and started training him in the hospital and Maternity Home. He was able to evade General Collard's gruesome training.

His mind also wanders to the meeting between him and the Wanderer who accompanied Abby in the Hospital. How was it possible for him to walk into their territory without being detected? The huge warrior is piquing his interest. Is it possible that he might be an old pack member? That might explain why the guardians didn't smell him.  From the herbal scent that mixed with Abby's, he could tell that they might also have a Healer of some kind among them. A Warlock, maybe. There was faint werewolf scent lingering too. Since they came from a ship, anything was possible. There's an array of people and creatures sharing the small, cramped space on a ship and the smells and scents can be very confusing.

After he growled at Dr. Hugh, he was banned from seeing Abby again. The doctor kept him occupied at the Maternity Home or lab. The last he saw of his mate, was the white sails on the horizon and the faint Jasmine scent still lingered in the room the day she left Windy Acres. His heart broke. Dean howled in his head, whimpering in the corners of his mind for days. A part of his soul died, and he felt rejected. Dean went quiet after that. Even now, there is no indication that he even has a wolf. The only evidence he has that he is a Lycan at this stage, is his advanced senses, speed and strength.

A knock at the door, makes Law realize that it's already dark outside. Opening the door, Law is met by the First Mate. A rather short, robust man. Not human, though. Dwarf, but that likelihood is slim as dwarfs are land huggers and Sea Fay are tall and elegant ocean people. "Me mother was a Sea Fay and me pop, a dwarf. Now if ye don't mind. The Capt'n is waitin' for ya." The short man answers Law's unasked question as he turns and stomps down the somewhat narrow corridor to the Captain's quarters.

Closing the door behind him, a stunned Lawrence follows the man without uttering a word. Once they come to a standstill in front a heavy wooden door, the short man turns and opens the door for him. "Your guest, Capt'n." He says and steps aside to give way for Law to enter.

"Thank you, Wendal." Captain Davidson answers as Lawrence enters his room. The young man seems a bit out of place as he steps into the richly furnished space. Laughing to himself, the captain knew Wendal was at it again. Always intimidating his guests "My apologies for making you wait the whole day. Windy Acres was our first stop in three months, and we had to stock up. We had a bit of storage space problem, but that is now sorted, Thankfully." Sean explains as he pours himself some rum. Turning he offers Lawrence some too, but his offer is refused with a gentle shake of the head.

Turning, Sean invites Lawrence to sit. The table is set, and dinner is served. Roast beef with vegetable, rice and gravy. Fit for royalty. Sean can see the young man is nervous. “Relax, Lawrence. If I wanted to harm you, you would’ve been floating in the harbour. There is a reason why I am feared, but murder is not part of it.” He tries to calm Law’s nerves. Nodding, Lawrence takes his seat across from the Captain.

Eating in silence, Lawrence is trying hard to calm down. Why is he this nervous? It’s not like he’s asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Well, not yet anyway. “Let’s talk about Abby.” The Captain says as he puts his knife and fork together after eating. Lawrence swallows hard on that last pea.

He’s a dead man….