You Belong To Me

Chapter Twelve: Wren

Gene lets me play music while we cruise down the I-90 with the roof down, our hair blowing about in the South Dakota breeze. Rehan and Maddox are in the back, with the latter dozing off on the former's shoulder, snoring gently. I can't help but notice that they smell of each other, like they'd spent the night really getting to know one another properly.

If you know what I mean…

Gene had woken me up just before five, and I'd gone back into my room to shower and change before we all met in the dining room for breakfast.

She sat beside me in her black romper, and I couldn't resist the urge to tell her how beautiful she looked. I'd never seen her blush so hard that her cheeks had actually turned pink.

We'd eaten in relative silence, each couple too engrossed with the other person to notice the other much.

Now we were headed home, and I couldn't help but wish we could stay away a bit longer. I wanted to get to know her without the pressure from my parents, or the scrutiny we were going to face from the pack.

While I had told her we'd face whatever challenges we were presented with when they happened, a part of me was worried I might not live long enough for that to happen.

While my ego wasn't bruised by her saving me, it was a little chafed by the fact that I'd nearly died so pathetically while trying to defend someone else.

Our lives may all be in danger at the moment, and I didn't want to be a liability when the fight finally came. While I'd learned to fight early in my life, I was nowhere near as good as Gene was.

I was driven by rage, while she was led by experience and skill. The guys I'd fought so far were werewolves like me, but they had no training either.

We were in the big leagues now, and if I didn't learn how to defend myself, it would cost me big time.

So I presented the idea to Gene when we went inside to get a few snacks. I grabbed a packet of Cheetos, some Skittles and a can of grape soda while Gene opted for water and a few muffins. Maddox was at the cashier paying for his water and hotdog while Rehan filled up the car with gas.

"Really?" she asks, looking at me above the frame of her glasses.

"Well, yes. If ever there was a time," I reply.

"Okay. But you can't hold back if you want to do this right. We go all in, okay?" she says, her expression serious.

I pay for our snacks and we return to the car, where the other half of our party is waiting for us.

"The sun is killing me, Gene. Please put the roof up," Rehan begs.

"Agreed. My poor English complexion isn't used to such extreme heat. Now I know what croissants feel like."

Gene rolls her eyes, but she obliges them anyway. The last two hours of the trip go by so fast, I don't even realise we're home until Gene lowers the volume and drowns out Cigarettes After s*x with her voice.

"Mad, you're welcome to stay with me while you're in town."

"That's so sweet of you, darling, thank you. Wren, you don't mind, do you?"

I meet his knowing gaze in the rearview window, and he grins in amusement at the frown that suddenly furrows my brow.

"Don't do that," I warned quietly.

He raises his hands in placation, and Rehan swats at his arm lightly.

"We'll drive down after you're done with Russell's body, and have met with the council."

We pull up to the large gate, behind a sleek, black SUV, one that I think belongs to the Knights. We are allowed in ahead of them while they check their car for weapons and the like.

It's obvious that mother is tightening up her circle and eliminating potential suspects as she goes.

We get out of the car, Rehan and I grabbing our bags while the Knights pull up behind us. Gene slides her shades onto her face and slings her backpack over her shoulder, closing the door behind her.

We stop to introduce Maddox to Aurora and her father, who barely even acknowledge Maddox. Their attention, I notice, is fixed on the hand I have on the small of Gene's back.

My parents' arrival ceases any questions from Gregor and her daughter, and we all greet one another as if there isn't any tension between us.

Gene introduces Maddox to the alpha and beta, both of whom look at him with different expressions.

Maddox, however, is entirely unphased. He smiles at them both, bowing his head respectfully and behaving the way one is expected in the presence of alphas.

"Your Majesties, a pleasure to meet you. I hope that I will be of service to you," he adds, his voice deep with sophistication.

We all enter the house behind my parents, with Rehan taking Maddox's arm and leading him towards the library, their conversation striking up again.

My mother crooks her finger at Gene and me, leading us into a smaller, less frequently used office by the stairs.

I close the door soundly behind us, and turn towards the woman I both loved and hated. She's in a black dress today, with half-sleeves and a tight skirt reaching past her knees. The dress has a flattering white belt around the waist, as well as around the wrists and hem.

Her hair is styled in a dignified updo with no stray hairs around her face. As always, she looks absolutely stunning.

Meanwhile, Gene is dressed in a casual, black romper while I'm in a pair of jeans and a short-sleeve, white Henley.

"What is he doing here? He was supposed to trace the signature in London."

I hurriedly explain what happened, and my mother purses her lips at my words, then pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"If the pack finds out we brought a sage into this house, and that my son was seen snuggling up against him, they're going to be pissed."

Okay, what?

She never uses common words like "pissed" or "snuggling" for any reason. Knowing her, she would've said something like, "If the pack finds out we brought a sage into this house, and that my son was seen being friendly with him, they'll be incredibly upset".

Something had to be wrong.

"Mother, are you alright?"

She sighs, and walks over to the scotch to pour herself a shot over some ice, which Gene and I both turn down.

"Not entirely. We just found out that Nikolai Volkov was almost assassinated last night in his home in Moscow."

"What?"

She nodded, then inhaled deeply before releasing. She closes her eyes briefly and I can tell her hands are shaking when she points at me and Gene.

"Nikolai will be visiting for a few days, at least until we figure out what the hell is going on. He should be here in a few hours, I think. The two of you will be in charge of tracking the signature. Once that's done, you are to find whoever is behind this."

My eyes widened at that. Gene and I glanced at each other in surprise, and then back at her.

"Your father and I have something important that we need to deal with that we believe is related to this case. You two will be taking over this. I'm leaving you in charge, Wren."

To say I was shocked, utterly bewildered, by my mother's words would have been a complete understatement.

Gene's phone vibrates in her pocket, and she looks awkwardly between my mother and I before she respectfully excuses herself and leaves.

My mother raises a brow at the door, then shifts her green gaze on me, her attentive eyes locking on mine.

She sweeps her gaze over me, and approaches me slowly, folding her hands behind her back.

"Did you sleep with her, Wren?"

"What?" I said, entirely at a loss for words.

She lifts both brows at me. "Should I take it that means you did?"

"Mother, please. That's not your business."

"It is if the people involved are my son and my bellatrix. Even I could see the connection between you two at the council meeting the other day."

I am quiet, my eyes narrowing as I try to understand what she meant by that.

"I just hope that your little romance won't get in the way of either of your duties to the pack. Gene's priority is protecting the pack from external and internal dangers, yours is leading it."

I stare at her in complete astonishment, my eyes wide in my face.

"You're okay with this?" I ask, just to be sure.

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have given you the lead on this. Your father and I think we should loosen the restraints around you a bit. After all, you are your own person."

I blink in surprise, and she glares at me with as much intensity as I'm staring at her. It occurs to me that this is her way of apologising to me for everything that she's done so far, and letting me know that she not only trusts me to handle this, but trusts my judgement as well.

"You do know I intend on making her my mate by marking her, right, mother? This isn't just a fling or some near-death dalliance with an attractive woman. Whatever it takes, I'm going to try my best to make things work between Gene and I."

She stiffens at the word 'mate', her grip on the glass tightening until I worry she'll break it. When she turns, her eyes have an almost vacant look in them.

"Even the greatest loves aren't meant to last a lifetime, Wren. You have hundreds, if not thousands, of years ahead of you. There's an entire world out there for you to see, a life to experience. Neither one of you will be the same person you are now, in a hundred years. Just because someone is tied to your soul forever, doesn't mean you can build a life together."

Her voice is barely a whisper, and the sadness on her features gives me reason to believe that she was speaking from experience.

"I take it, you know something about that?"

She nods, but doesn't say anything else.

"Whatever the world has to offer me won't be any less spectacular with her by my side," I say, my voice gentle.

"Spoken like a hopeless, naive romantic."

She slams the glass onto the table, then turns abruptly, her mask back on her face.

"Be careful, Wren," she says, walking past me. She leaves shortly after, her heels clicking loudly against the floor as she makes her way towards the conference room.

We wait to have our meeting until Nikolai and his sister, Mila arrive in Cennea. Gene takes me aside to speak with me in private, her face twisted in an expression I'd never seen before.

I'm surprised to notice that she's led me to the private gym in the north wing of the house, and that it's blissfully, perfectly empty.

"Why are we here?" I ask her.

"You said you wanted to learn how to fight, right? I figured this would be the only place we wouldn't be bothered by anyone until the Volkovs arrive."

She tosses a bunch of s**t at me: a change of clothes, bandages, a jock strap and a mouth guard.

I frown at the strap, and she smirks at me.

"I'm not going to take it easy on you just because you kissed me, bear," she says, nodding her head at the bundle in my arms.

"I'm pretty sure I don't need the jock strap or mouth guard," I tell her, putting everything aside except for the shorts.

I begin unbuttoning my jeans right in front of her, leaving them loose around my hips while I remove my shirt from my body.

Gene eyes me with heavy-lidded eyes, her gaze roaming over the hard muscles of my chest and arms, lowering to the deep V of my hips.

There's a bit of hair leading down into my crotch, where my bulge is hardening with each second she stares at me.

She waits until I've changed, then heads back to where she was to dig out a sports bra, tights and shoes for herself.

It's my turn to watch her change, and I groan with arousal and hunger when she bares her long, delectable legs to me.

I don't even realise I've started marching towards her until she stops me with a wag of her finger and a gentle tsk.

"Keep it in your shorts, Princess. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be so sore, you'll hate me."

"I highly doubt that," I said, moving to the middle of the gigantic mat after her, stretching my muscles as I went.

After some stretching and a few minutes of warming up, Gene stands in a fighter's pose, her hands lifted up by her face with one leg about in front of the other, like a boxer.

She starts by teaching me a few basic attack moves, a bunch of different ways to counter each one, as well as defense moves as well.

I noted all of them, but I couldn't bring myself to attack first. Not when she was so much smaller than me. I knew she could hold her own, but hitting out at her, even if it was for training purposes, just felt wrong.

She has no qualms about hurting me, though, because she comes at me suddenly, moving so f*****g fast, I barely have time to dodge her right hook, which hurts like a b***h when it connects against my jaw.

She punches me again, then again, and when I bring my arms up to block, she drops unexpectedly, sweeping my feet out from under me.

I land like a pile of rocks on my back, my breath leaving my chest in a sharp exhale.

She leans down, holding her hand out so she could help me up. I take it, and she easily lifts me, before taking a few steps back.

"I also have something I need to tell you," she says, circling around me, her eyes scanning my body for weaknesses.

I'm a little more prepared when she comes at me again, ducking under her kick and blocking a left uppercut that would have grounded a small elephant.

"Nikolai Volkov? The only one who nearly died?" she begins, dodging a light punch and countering with an elbow to my temples.

My head spins from the blow, which she follows up with a knee to my gut, and another and another, then swings and punches me right in the jaw.

I staggered backwards, then fell to one knee in front of her. She seized the opportunity, kicking me so hard in the face, I fell to the ground.

I knew from the loud crack when she hit me that she'd broken my nose, and I kind of just lay there staring at the ceiling until she appeared in my line of vision.

"Well. He and I have a bit of a history."

I sat up at that, and she winced when I adjusted my nose in one, smooth nudge.

"What do you mean, history?" I ask, wiping at my lip with my arm.

"I mean that once upon a time he asked me out. I turned him down, because he's incredibly controlling and I wasn't up for being told what to do. Breaking up with him would've been a disaster," she says, helping me up again.

I dodge her kicks, dodge her punches and even manage to jump over her sweeping leg kick with ease. She starts coming at me harder, and faster, but I duck her attacks and manage to stay on my feet.

"He did kiss me a couple of times, though," she adds after she manages to get a punch in.

"How many times?"

"Three. And he gave me a gift."

I could feel the jealousy start to spark in my gut, but I push it aside to focus on her movements.

I take a chance, trying to pull her into a grapple by wrapping an arm around her neck, but she dodges easily, and kicks at my knee.

"What gift?"

Her foot misses my jaw by an inch, and I grab it while swinging upwards with an elbow.

I manage to get a hit in, but it's so light she barely feels it. She rears her arm back and punches me again.

"It's that blue diamond necklace in my vault."

I remembered what she was talking about, and how it had sat on a velvet bust, like a valued possession.

"Why are you telling me this right now?"

She moves again, and I move with her. I risk attacking first this time, rushing towards her as fast as I can with my body aching all over.

Her eyes widen slightly, and I actually manage to get two kicks to her legs and pull her into a grapple hold that she actually - I think - struggles to get out of.

"Because I want you to know everything. That's how these things usually work right?"

She somehow manages to use my weight against me, flipping me over her shoulder. I crash on the mat with a loud thud, and I let out a defeated breath.

Gene straddles me, placing both hands on either side of my head.

"You're scared to hurt me, aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

She nods, wiping carefully at my lip with her thumb, removing the leftover blood from there.

"This won't work if you don't fight back, bear," she says, planting a kiss on my forehead.

I lift my hands to her hips, holding her in place while I enjoy the weight of her body on me. She chuckles when she feels me getting hard beneath her, and she squeals when I roll us over so I'm on top, spreading her legs while my lips capture hers in a heated kiss.

She wraps her arms around my neck, arching into me, her legs wrapping around my waist urgently.

Nikolai, the fighting, everyone on the planet is forgotten at that moment. I use one arm to keep most of my weight off her body, and grab her thigh with my free hand.

I grab her ass, kneading possessively and groaning when she rubs her crotch against my erection

"So this is what you two get up to?"

I look up, my eyes locking on Lorelei's amused gaze. Her eyes sparkle with humour and warmth, and I blush before getting off her daughter.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Gene exclaims, fixing her clothes after I've helped her up.

"What are you doing, Genna?" she asks, folding her arms over her chest.

"I was teaching Wren how to fight."

Her mother smiles knowingly, then gracefully rolls her eyes at my awkward expression.

"Anyway, the Volkov's are on their way. They should be here in about an hour, so you guys need to get ready. Come on."