The Black Forest's Beta

Chapter 12

Waking up I felt horrible. All my muscles were in pain as I tried to move them, I felt like bawling anytime I moved a part of my body. The only relief was feeling the sparks of the mate bond that radiated through the right side of my body. I stayed still, trying to keep from hurting myself. I listened to Beta Raphael breath deeply as he slept. It was nearly an hour of throbbing pain until my mate began to wake. I giggled lightly when he stretched out and made a small groaning noise. He stilled for a moment before he practically crawled on top of me. “Guten morgen.” He said in a raspy morning voice. His breath was horrible as it hit my nose, I’m sure mine wasn’t going to be any better. 

“It hurts when I move.” I told him, after I moved a smidge and winced in pain. 

“Hold on a second.” He kissed my cheek before he rolled off of me. He came back and put something in my mouth. I swallowed the bitter pill and sighed as I waited for it to kick in. My eyes scanned the unfamiliar room, the walls were a light grey color and the furnishings were a dark ebony color. I found myself finally looking at Beta Raphael who was smiling down at me, his dark brown eyes were filled with warmth and the strange look I had seen only a few times before. 

“Where’s Ozzy?” 

“HERE I AM!” Beta Raphael and I both laughed as Ozzy burst into the room once I said his name. “I’ve been waiting for you two to wake up for at least three hours.” I sat up while wincing seeing as the meds hadn’t kicked in yet. He sat on the side of the bed while my mate sat propped himself up beside me and wrapped his arm around my back to my waist. 

“What time is it?” I asked my brother.

“The clock in the kitchen said 7:00 when I woke up.” 

“Kitchen? Where are we?” I asked, not realizing we weren’t in a hotel. 

“Welcome to the Dark-moon pack Emmaline, and welcome to your new home.” Home, one word. I suppose one word should not be associated with such weight. For a word to have weight it needs to have meaning. 

What is home, is it a place? A feeling? Is it the closet you climb into when thunder cashes in the night? Is home the berry bush you would pick snacks from because you needed to eat, but weren’t allowed? 

I never had a home before. Living in Cold-stone I was always filled with fear. I read about people calling where they lived home, but I never had a home of my own. Until Beta Raphael brought me to his home, his place of solace and shared it with me. For the first time in my life, a warm feeling radiated through my bones, my soul soared and my heart fluttered. Millions of butterflies flapped in my stomach as a small laugh escaped my mouth. A lone tear rolled down my face as I turned into my mate, ignoring the pain that spread through every nerve my body had. 

He put his large arms around me as I cried tears of happiness on his tattooed chest. I felt Ozzy place his hand on the back of my head and smooth my hair as I sucked in a deep breath. “I’ve never had a home before.” I whispered once I finally stopped crying. Beta Raphael kissed my forehead gently as he ran his hands up and down my back. “Thank you for giving us a home.” 

He used a finger to lift my chin so I was looking at his amazingly sculpted face. “You will always have a home with me Emmaline, you and Ozzy. You are MINE miele, and that means you will be cherished like the treasure you are.” His dark eyes were warm and held the truth of the words he spoke. The urge to pull myself up to his lips was the strongest thing I ever had to resist. I let out a deep breath as my final tear rolled down my right cheek. I heard the door as Ozzy left the room giving Beta Raphael and I some time alone. 

I laid my head back down on his chest as my arm circled his waist. I closed my eyes for a minute and I looked back into the depths of my head where Cassie was laying in the darkness, oblivious to what was happening. When I came back I looked at Beta Raphael, he kissed my forehead as his expression went from soft with that strange expression he seemed to keep getting, to concerned. 

“What’s wrong miele? Why do you look so upset?” 

“I want to shift.” I said looking into his dark eyes. “Cassie is really weak, I don’t know if she has the week Doctor Walter said I needed.” He sighed and put his hands on both sides of my face, cupping it before he placed his forehead on mine. 

I felt myself get stronger as he lent me a lot of his strength. I looked back at Cassie as I transferred the power to her. She lifted her head and yipped lightly before she stood, I wanted to cry in relief. She looked 10 times better than she had in a long time. Her silver eyes glistened in the dark as she offered me a wolfish smile. 

I pulled back and looked at Beta Raphael who was giving me a questioning look. “How is she now?” I pulled myself up and kissed his cheeks, he smiled and pushed some hair from my face. “I’ll take it that Cassie is doing better.”

“Thank you.” He smirked and pulled back the blankets as he got out of the bed, not looking any worse for wear. “How are you not drained?, that was a lot of energy.” 

“It wasn’t mine, Silvio gave Cassie around half of what he had.” I shrugged, his wolf only gave half of his strength meaning he would still be able to fight if he needed to. Which reminded me of his strange wolf human shape. 

“Beta Raphael?” He came out of his closet and gave me an annoyed look. “Sorry.” I hadn’t meant to annoy him already. The bed dipped as he placed his hands on the mattress, he leaned over as his eyes stayed on my face. 

“Emmaline.” I looked at his extremely serious face while my eyes watered. He was already annoyed, I would have to be a better mate. His expression softened as he reached over and wiped a stray tear away. “You don’t have to use my title when you say my name.” I blinked in confusion. “You are my equal and my mate, no more Beta Raphael, just Raphael.” 

“Raphael.” I repeated his name and his body trembled as he licked his lips. My heart thudded once and my emotions quelled. 

“That’s better.” He said lightly before brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “Now what was it you wanted to ask?”

“I forgot.” The thought left my head the second I thought he was annoyed. It was like my head now held a void where the question had been. I sighed as I tried to remember, I knew it was important but for the life of me I couldn’t think of it. 

“I’m sure you’ll think of it later.” He said as he pulled me out of the bed, my muscles and joints still ached but not nearly as bad as before. “Let’s get you dressed.” We went into the closet where all my bags from shopping were. Half of the room was filled with his expensive wardrobe, I went through my bags and pulled out one of the cute dresses I picked out at old navy. I grabbed the sandals I had worn the previous day along with a pair of nude panties and a matching bra. 

I went into the other room next to the closet which was a master bathroom. I pulled off the clothes I was wearing and put on the new outfit. I cooed when I found out the dress was actually a romper. Two thin straps held the romper from falling down my thin frame. I put on the sandals and walked out of the room finding Raphael waiting for me while fixing a watch on his left wrist. 

My mouth watered as my eyes roamed his body. He had on a pair of dark navy slacks and a white button up shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to his forearm, seeing his bare skin reminded me of a thing he said and I felt my stomach twist and my thighs tingle. His eyes went dark as he smelled my arousal. “Emmaline….” He growled deeply. 

“I want to see them now.” He raised one of his eyebrows as his body tensed, he was fighting his urges, and I could see he was on the losing end. “Your tattoos.” I clarified. “You said I could see them once we got back to Germany.” 

“Tonight miele.” He said as his eyes lost a bit of their luster and his muscles relaxed. “I will show you every last one of my tattoos tonight.” I felt myself growl unhappily, waiting was not going to be easy. Raphael chuckled at my frustrated state, he walked over to me and kissed my cheek before he led me from the room and down a set of stairs to the kitchen Ozzy was sitting in. 

He was talking to a plump woman with dark grey hair and green eyes. Her skin had a plethora of wrinkles and spots that showed she was old. Her grey hair was pulled into a bun and her clothes looked rather fresh and new. She wasn’t an omega, at least she didn’t look like any I had ever seen. 

“Emmaline this is my great grandma Rosina, Nonna this is my mate Emma.” The woman’s olive green eyes lit up as she walked around the counter and pulled me into her strong arms. 

“It’s about time this boy found his mate.” She said once she had hugged us both, her eyes falling on me as she looked my body over. “You look like a twig, come here and eat.” She cooed pointing to a plate that was untouched. 

“Thank you.” She gave me a warm smile as I sat down and began eating. I was hungrier than usual so I got a second plate with a bit less food for seconds. 

“I can’t remember the last time I ate this much.” I said after I swallowed the last bite. My full stomach was ready to burst as I leaned back in the tall chair. Raphael put his hand on my full stomach and squeezed the still tiny and flat extremely hard surface. 

“Perfect.” His compliment brought a small grin to my face as Rosina began cleaning up. 

“So what is on the agenda today Raphy?” She asked as she took my empty plate to the sink. 

“I’m gonna show Emmaline and Ozzy the pack and explain our laws and traditions. Then we’ll head to the pavilion for the feast.”

“You’re going to have to deal with Teresa. You have missed quite a bit since you have been away, nipote.” Raphael sighed and stood up with a roll of his gorgeous dark eyes. 

“I’ll deal with Teresa later, my mate and my new little brother come first Nonna, not some whore.” I was gently pulled to my feet and Ozzy followed suit. As soon as Rosina brought up Teresa a pit began forming in my belly. 

The feeling was pushed to the back of my mind when we stepped out of the house and onto a little dirt path that looked like a road. The houses were mostly white with dark wooden beams, the roofs were dark shingles, some of them were so old moss was growing on them. I looked back at the house we had come out of. The outside looked almost the same as the others, below the window sills were small flower boxes that held small white and blue flowers. 

As I took in the tiny area Raphael took my hand in his and wove our fingers together. We began walking, going left. We went past one house and came upon a larger version of the rest of the homes. “This is the pack house, the one we just passed is Alpha Gunter and Luna Gisela’s home.” I nodded as he continued with the tour and led us into the pack house. The inside was glorious, just as clean and beautiful as my mate’s house. 

He showed us through the house and to his office before he took us around the small pack village we were living in. The important places like Doctor Walter’s office, the dentist, and Paige’s home, the pack’s very own witch, had small signs on their lawns. The market was a small building that was made out of red clay bricks. It looked old and the paint was beginning to fade. 

“Beta Raphael!” A nice looking man said. I noticed he had the same accent as Raphael, his hair was dark and he had a nice tan skin tone that went well with his white apron and black shirt. “È bello averti a casa.” (It is good to have you home.)The man’s dark eyes fell on me and Ozzy, he looked us both over before looking back at Raphael. “E chi potrebbero essere questi due?” (And who might these two be?)

“Max, this is my mate Emma and her brother Ozzy.” Max looked angry for a moment before he nodded and looked back at us. 

“It’s nice to see Beta Raphael has found such an adorable mate.” I blushed and looked away, bringing my eyes to a case of meat near the register. 

“Thank you Max, now we have to get going, there is still more they need to know.” Again my mate pulled us away, this time he led us to a field. I smiled nervously and licked my lips when I saw how many wolves were gathered in the open area. My hands got sweaty and my heart began to thump wildly in my chest. Raphael squeezed my hand as he led us to a bench which was far enough away from all the people for me to calm down. 

“That’s a lot of people.” I whispered lightly in his ear after we sat down. 

“They’re all good people.” He said back, he kissed my temple before sighing. “Now our laws. We don’t tolerate thievery, murder, abuse or rape. If you commit any of these crimes a trial will be held and Alpha Gunter will decide your fate. Each member of the pack is to contribute with a job once they turn 16, Ozzy you have two years of freedom left, enjoy them. Emmaline, your job as the beta female is to aid Luna Gisela.” 

“Alpha Gunter along with Gamma Elias and myself handle training, alliances and trials. Yourself and Luna Gisela, are going to be in charge of planning events, housing, keeping our pack in line and funding.” I tilted my head when he said funding. “We have many businesses that keep our pack funded. You and Luna Gisela are going to make sure we actually profit from our businesses.”

“What do we own?” He smiled and brushed some hair from my face. 

“Three prisons, the inmates of said prisons make products that we sell in those stores. As of three weeks ago the inmates moved from making cashmere sweaters to blankets seeing as winter is on it’s way. We also own a very large chocolate company, a toy factory and law firm.” 

“Beta Raphael!” The pit in my stomach returned as a woman with dark hair and blue eyes pushed a stroller over to the bench where we sat. “I heard you were home.” I vaguely heard her as I looked at the small child in the stroller. It was a little boy who looked almost exactly like Raphael. My heart felt like it was ripping in half, Cassie was yelping in pain as her heart was torn too. “This is Micheal, your son.”