Chapter2
1149 Words
Chapter Two
Avalon knelt next to Ella as she lay passed out. His wolf, Kris, got all excited inside him.
She's our mate! Our mate! We found her at last! Kris yelled in Avalon's head.
Be quiet, Avalon told him inside his mind, though his heart beat fast at what they'd found.
He reached out and softly moved a bit of dark hair from Ella's face. She looked pretty even though she still looked scared. He wanted to see her well, to remember every little part of the woman meant just for him.
Just as his fingers touched her cheek, her eyes opened a bit. All of a sudden, she was awake—confused and really scared. Before Avalon could say anything, Ella did what came naturally when scared. She bit his arm hard, making it bleed.
Avalon said with a hiss, pulling his arm back right away.
Ella took her chance. She got up fast, holding her jacket tight around her like it would keep her safe, and ran into the dark woods.
"Stop!" Avalon yelled after her. "I'm the one who helped you!"
His voice bounced off the trees, but she was already running away into the shadows.
"You're making her more scared by yelling," Kris told him. Go after her! We didn't get to see her face well. If we don't know her smell, we won't find her again.
Avalon said a bad word under his breath and stood up. He was about to follow when his phone made a buzz in his pocket. He stopped, looking at his phone and then the way Ella went.
"Dammit," he said, taking out his phone. It showed his second-in-command's name. His stomach felt sick—Sean wouldn't call unless it was terrible.
"What's wrong?" he answered, sounding mad.
"Alpha, the Air Wolf pack, attacked our land on the east side," Sean's voice sounded tight and worried. Three of our pack were really hurt. We need you here."
Avalon's jaw got tight. "I'm coming now."
He looked one more time to where Ella ran off, his wolf crying inside as he turned away from their mate.
"We'll find her," he promised Kris. "But right now, our pack needs us more."
Ella burst through her apartment door, breathing hard. She leaned on the wall, sliding down to the floor, still holding the stranger's jacket around her. The rush that had helped her run through the forest and town was going away, leaving her shaking.
"What the hell just happened?" she whispered to herself, touching where her cuts had been. Somehow, like magic, they were gone—no pain, no marks, just normal skin.
After sitting and breathing deeply for a few minutes, she dragged herself to the bathroom. In the bright light, she hardly knew the wild-looking woman in the mirror. Her hair had leaves and sticks in it, and even though her wounds were gone, dried blood was still on her skin.
The hot shower washed away the dirt from the night, but the memories stayed—the half-wolf man, the fear, and the guy who saved her. She felt bad now for biting him and running. Fear had taken over her brain.
With a towel wrapped around her, Ella walked to the small kitchen. She saw the jacket she'd thrown on a chair. She picked it up, feeling the nice clothes. It smelled like pine trees and something wild—like woods after a big storm.
"I'm sorry," she said to the empty room. "You saved me, and I bit you." She shook her head. "Real nice, Ella."
She hugged the jacket. "I didn't even see your face well... just the back of your head." She touched the collar, thinking. "If we meet again, I'll thank you, right? Hopefully without biting you."
Suddenly, someone banged on the front door, making her jump and drop the jacket. She heard keys and someone stumbling that she knew too well. It made her blood feel cold.
Paul was home. And drank again.
"Where are you, Ella?" His voice was loud throughout the small apartment. "You better have my money!"
She tied her robe tighter and got ready as her fake dad showed up in the doorway. His eyes were red, his clothes messy.
"There you are, you little b***h," he said, not talking clearly, leaning on the wall to stand up. "How much did you get for your daddy today?"
Ella felt herself getting smaller, years of bad treatment making her body curl up by itself. "I... I had some trouble today. I couldn't go to work."
Paul's face got dark. "Couldn't go?" He laughed, a mean sound with no fun in it. "Couldn't go?"
The beer bottle in his hand broke on the floor, glass going all over. Ella jumped back, but not fast enough as Paul came at her, grabbing her shoulder hard enough to hurt.
"You piece of s**t," he said with hot, bad breath in her face. "How am I supposed to live with no money? Maybe you should just kill yourself if you can't help out."
Something in Ella broke. Maybe she was almost dying earlier, or maybe it was just all the years of being hurt, but suddenly she had enough.
She pushed him back hard. "Get your hands off me, I'm not your slave!"
Paul stumbled, surprise taking over his anger for a second. Ella used his shock to keep going, saying things she'd kept inside for years.
"My whole life," she said, her voice shaking, "I've been raised with your hitting and making me feel bad. "I've been cold and hungry while you spent every penny I saved for school on betting." Tears ran down her face, but her voice got stronger. "You don't deserve to be called my dad. I'm grown up now, and if you touch me one more time, I swear to God I'll put you in jail."
Paul's face got all twisted with anger. He grabbed her shoulder again, his fingers digging in and hurting. "Are you threatening me? "Who do you think you are?" He shook her hard. "You're not a princess, Ella. You're nothing. You'll be my slave forever."
Her phone started ringing, cutting through the fight. Ella pulled away from him and grabbed it from the counter.
"That's the lawful place in New York," she said, backing away from him. They've been thinking about hiring me. I won't let you hurt me anymore."
Paul grabbed a broom from the corner. "A lawyer's place will call you in your dreams," he said, meanly, raising it up over his head.
Ella got ready for him to hit her when a clear voice came from her phone.
"Ms. Winters? This is Margaret Chen from Donovan & Pierce Law in New York. I'm happy to tell you that we've said yes to your job
application for the junior lawyer position."
- Writer
