Reiver

Chapter 10

I am drowning

in a sea of desire

and the only one

who can save me

is you.

Christy Ann Martine

After collecting a night cap at the bar, Annie and Hugh retired to his room. The bar was busy and noisy so they took their drinks upstairs. Hugh wasted no time in unzipping her dress, desperate to see her bare again. She undid the clasp of the halter neck behind her hair and holding the top of the dress up with one arm, removed her shoes with her other hand. She was feeling surprisingly shy but all the negative feelings melted away when a naked Hugh slid her dress down her body, undressing her until she stood naked in front of him. He worshipped her body, starting at her neck, working his way downwards pausing to kiss and nibble each n****e. Annie’s breath hitched in her throat as she felt herself turn to liquid, how could anyone make her feel like this? He didn’t stop until he reached her thighs before pressing his tongue into her most sensitive area making her legs almost collapse under her. Annie grabbed fistfuls of his hair as her head dropped back, her hips pushing into his face without her bidding. Hugh stood and carrying her to the bed he laid her on her back, climbing on top of her and nestling himself between her legs which she wrapped around his waist. Hugh growled in appreciation and kissed her, first gently and then ferociously as Knox pushed himself forwards. Annie gave as good as she got, wrapping her arms around him and matching his kisses with a strength of her own. She had always had to be cautious with her human lovers not wanting to hurt them with her exceptional strength, but with Hugh she could just be herself and let Sabine have a little more freedom, it was liberating for both of them. Unwilling to wait any longer, Hugh pushed himself inside her, relishing in her warmth as their gasps and sighs filled the room.

Annie woke as the morning light filtered through the curtains. She was hot and finding it hard to breathe. Hugh was holding her to his chest as they lay facing one another. Annie closed her eyes and took a deep breath of his scent, divine, she thought. She smiled as she thought back to the night before, they had enjoyed each other’s bodies in every imaginable position until they were exhausted, but now her bladder was screaming at her, stopping her from falling back into blissful dreamless sleep. She tried to extract herself from his hold but her wriggling woke him and he tightened his hold.

“I need the bathroom.” she whispered, stroking his face and he released her without opening his eyes.

“Don’t be long.” he whispered back, his voice thick with sleep.

Grinning to herself Annie dashed to the bathroom and after relieving herself, looked at her reflection in the mirror as she washed her hands. She was shocked to see her hair was a tangled mess and last night’s make-up was anywhere but where it should have been. Running her hands through her hair she pulled out the worst of the tangles and removed the make-up with the hotel's complimentary soap. Looking far more presentable, she quietly crept back into the bedroom and back into Hugh’s arms where they slept for another few hours, missing breakfast. Annie awoke with Hugh nibbling at his mark on her neck sending sparks shooting down to her core causing her to groan. She felt him smile against her skin. He looked at her mark and was pleased to see it had healed, a small tattoo-like mark showing a bee from the Crozier family crest with a Reiver broadsword behind it in deepest black. Knox growled his approval.

“We need to eat.” he murmured against his mark.

“I agree.” answered Annie as she tightened her hold on him and tried to doze again.

She felt Hugh’s chest rumble as he laughed, “Come on you, have a shower with me.” he said laughing, pulling her out of bed. Once they were dressed, it was decided that Annie was a little too over dressed for a cafe on a Sunday morning so Hugh donned his outdoor clothes then drove to Annie’s so she could change. After a change into hiking gear, Annie made them some scrambled eggs and toast while Hugh watched her from his seat at the dining table. He had never learned how to cook, he had never needed to, living the life he had lived meant he had always had someone else to do those sorts of things for him. He marvelled at how Annie did these tasks with ease and in no time at all, he had a steaming plate of eggs and a cup of coffee in front of him. He watched her while they were eating, he wondered how anyone could be as strong as she was, capable beyond belief, to have been through as much as she had and for it not to leave a mark on her was incredible and she was still so gentle and caring. She didn’t seem to harbour any ill will towards her previous mates for rejecting her and the pain it had caused her and this confused him. He would have been full of hate, he had been full of hate towards everyone when he first lost Aisling, even killing the ones responsible didn’t alleviate pain and the dark cloud had hung over him for years. Reivers would have killed for a lesser slight than a rejection, probably started a war with the offending pack, a feud that would last for centuries but not Annie, she just picked herself up and carried on. She was reliant on none but herself, and once again he considered the fact she didn’t actually need him but wanted him, and that thought made him feel good.

“You’re staring.” Annie mumbled between mouthfuls, her face flushing slightly.

“Just considering how lucky I am.” he grinned at her blushing cheeks.

The rest of the day was spent hiking over the fells to Bleasdale. Annie found it much easier going having Sabine with her this time and she easily kept up with Hugh. She wasn’t sure why he wanted to see the circle, he didn’t seem the type to be interested in history, in fact, he didn’t even seem to know much about his own pack’s past. On the walk up there she told him what she knew of the Reivers, from their roots up to the present day. Hugh seemed genuinely fascinated and once they reached the circle she explained its history to him and its potency at full moon. He wanted to know everything that happened when she was here and she explained the best she could. If she was honest with herself, she had been quite spooked by what had happened, she had never passed out in her life and while the silvery voice was still fresh in her mind, she still wasn’t convinced it had really happened. She wasn’t in great shape when she was here last, maybe her sleep-addled mind had been playing tricks on her she decided. They climbed to the top of the Fell so they could look down at the arrow shape of the wood inscribed on the landscape, as well as taking in the breathtaking beauty of the land around them.

“What do the humans think this is?” questioned Hugh.

“They have a word for stuff like this,” smiled Annie, thinking back to a conversation she’d had with an archaeologist friend a few years back, “Basically, if they see something that was clearly important to the people who built it but have no idea why, they call it ‘ritual’. They always think it has something to do with the sun which makes me laugh as the wood has been there for at least four thousand years so the sun wouldn’t have been visible through the trees, they never seem to consider the moon though.” she mused.

“How many wolf things like this are there in Britain?”

“Hundreds probably, all mistaken for human-built sites.” smiled Annie.

Hugh looked astonished and he couldn’t understand why he had never heard about this side of his species. It seemed to him that he had spent his life burying himself in work, making as much money as possible both for the pack and himself that he had forgotten to look around and see what was around him. He had never really spent much time away from the pack territory, he only left if he had to do business in the city, thinking about it, he thought Lyall had probably never been off the territory at all. Their conversation was cut short as rain clouds started to roll in from the west so they decided to hike back down to the village before the worst of the rain began.

Hugh had already decided to stay overnight and drive back the next morning and was pleased when Annie suggested that he check out of the hotel and stay the night at her house before driving back early the following day. After a brief supermarket trip where Annie picked up some ingredients to make dinner and some wine, Hugh dropped her at home before going to the hotel to check out and pick up his clothes. As he was packing his toiletries, Hugh pulled his collar to one side and checked his own mark in the bathroom mirror. It was fully healed now and was the profile of a wolf with a crescent moon behind in pure black just like Annie’s. Hugh thought it was beautiful. Knox growled in approval as Hugh ran his fingers over the smooth skin. Knox wanted to be close to his mate the entire time so as soon as he returned to Annie’s house, his beast was pushing him to find her, Hugh let himself in and found her in the kitchen. She had already started making dinner and handed him a glass of red wine as he came into the room.

“Need any help?” he asked.

“Sure, can you peel and chop the carrots?” she asked.

Hugh set to work but when Annie looked round Hugh was still sorting through her collection of kitchen tools, wondering which one he needed.

“Have you ever peeled a carrot before?” she asked him, looking a little shocked.

“Um...no, not really, I’ve never cooked before.” he answered, embarrassed.

“You’re kidding, how the hell do you eat, you know, when you’re at home?”

“The omegas at the packhouse cook, or my valet.” he trailed off.

“You have a valet?” Annie looked surprised, one eyebrow raised.

“Who the hell in this century has a valet?” snorted Sabine.

“A very wealthy person.” thought Annie to Sabine. Annie was wondering just what she was getting herself into with this man, they came from very different worlds, in both wolf and class.

“Wonder how he feels about slumming it with us?” scoffed Sabine.

“Well, I suppose he will have to get used to it.” sighed Annie, “We are what we are.” she thought to her wolf.

Hugh didn’t answer so Annie continued, “Well, out here in the real world we have to do this stuff ourselves, you know, those of us who are not pack royalty and don’t want to starve to death.” she said with a smile. She handed him the peeler and showed him how to use it, letting him carry on she turned back to cutting the chicken for the casserole with a smile.

Once Annie was ready for the carrots she turned back to look at Hugh who was chopping them very slowly and with absolute precision, much to her amusement. She didn’t say anything although she struggled to contain a laugh, his concentration was unbreakable as he cut each carrot slice exactly the same size as the last. Once he was done he looked really pleased with himself. Annie suppressed a smile as she scooped them into the casserole dish with everything else, poured the stock over and placed it in the oven. Hugh sipped his wine as he watched Annie busy herself around the kitchen tidying up after them and extracting her laundry from the day before out of the machine. She went to hang the laundry upstairs so Hugh took the opportunity to look around. Her sitting room was spacious and furnished with elegant but understated pieces. Nothing was ostentatious but he could tell it was all antique and even he could see the quality. The book shelves were crammed with historic novels, history text books and archaeology reference books, classic vases and trinkets lined the mantel whilst old pictures in antique frames adorned the walls. Victorian rugs stretched across the floors with polished original floorboards visible at their edges. He sat on the sofa, which looked like it would have been quite at home in a country house somewhere, and looked back at the bookshelves, a title caught his eye and he tilted his head on its side to read it better. ‘Ancient Folklore N. Yorkshire, Werewolves, Fairies and Others’ scanning his eyes down the spine to the author he saw ‘A.Lovell’, he stood and crossing the room, pulled the book from the shelf. He had just returned to the sofa as Annie came in, her glass of wine in her hand.

“Can I borrow this?” he asked.

“Didn’t think that was your sort of thing.” replied Annie sitting next to him on the sofa.

“I’m getting interested after what you told me about the circle, it’s fascinating. So there are folk tales about us?” he asked, flicking through the pages.

“Yes, not just us, fae and other supernatural beings too, ever since history began really. Passed down by word of mouth originally and eventually scribes started writing them down. Some ancient texts survive, they mention us specifically.”

“So they knew about us?” said Hugh, clearly surprised.

“Yes, at least they did at one point, not sure when that changed or why if I’m honest. I guess if there are still any hunters left they know about us but as long we leave the humans alone, they leave us alone.” shrugged Annie.

Over dinner Annie wondered what had made Hugh suddenly so interested in history when he clearly had no previous interest. Sabine thought that maybe it was because of the mate bond and he was just interested in what interested her, however Annie noted that she had not felt any sudden compulsion to dash out and read the Financial Times and had no plans to. In reality, Hugh wondered if warriors, whose beasts had been weakened by silver in their pack wars, could be somehow healed in the same way Annie and Sabine had. The pack conflicts were just as violent as they had always been, ambushes were prevalent and many wolves got injured as old feuds were played out. Hugh had no idea how he would broach this subject with Alpha Armstrong without revealing Annie’s existence, but it was an interesting thought all the same.

Hugh left at six the following morning and as Annie kissed him at the front door they agreed that he would return the following weekend, Knox was sulky and quiet, pining as usual, he did cheer up however when Hugh pointed out that weekend visits would be a regular thing until they could think of something else.

“She wears our mark Knox, she is ours, that’s what you wanted wasn’t it?” thought Hugh.

“We must love and cherish her forever. We can’t protect her if she is not with us.” snarled Knox.

“She doesn’t need our protection, she’s tough.”

Knox snorted and went to the back of Hugh's mind to sulk.

Thursday

Hugh was woken by his phone at six thirty in the morning. Fumbling to grab the phone and pulling the charging cable out, he squinted at the screen, the number displayed was Alpha Armstrong’s personal secretary. Pressing the answer button he pressed the phone to his ear.

“Delta Crozier” he said, his voice croaky with sleep.

“Alpha Armstrong would like to see you in one hour.” an impersonal voice informed him. Hugh felt a sudden wave of panic, had the Alpha found out about Annie?

“Is there a problem?” asked Hugh, keeping his voice steady, wide awake now.

“No idea sir, he just said he wanted to see you.” answered the voice.

“Very well,” replied Hugh, “I’ll be there in an hour.”

‘Crap’ thought Hugh as he rolled out of bed and headed for the shower. Hugh could feel how pleased Knox was, Knox wanted to bring her here in the first place but Hugh wanted to take it slowly, let them get to know each other before making other plans. Secretly Hugh was concerned that if she found out how business was conducted by the Reivers she wouldn’t want him. He wanted their relationship to continue at a distance from his pack so she would never know what an arsehole he was to his business rivals, both wolf and human. His little escapes from pack life at the weekends had in the last two weeks become his solace, his escape from the murky deals and general scum he dealt with on a daily basis, her world was clean and pure and he wanted it to stay that way.

Driving to the pack house he tried to think of what he would say to the Alpha if he had heard about Annie. He could lie, say they were working on plans for her to become part of the pack, just some loose ends to tie up, perhaps he could say she had some property to dispose of, but it was taking time and then she would move here. Hugh pulled into the packhouse car park and found a space, his stomach in knots.

“I’m just going to have to wing it, I could really do with your help.” he thought to Knox. “We both know she will hate us if we have to force her.” Knox was silent but Hugh couldn’t feel any sort of rebellion from his wolf so he took a deep breath and climbed the steps up to the pack house door. An omega let him in and he made his way along the grand hallway and up the red carpeted stairs. Upon reaching the top, he turned left and made his way along the corridor until he came to a large set of double oak doors. He knocked straight away, if he had hesitated he might have felt like running but as soon as he heard the command to enter, he twisted the brass handles and walked in with an air of confidence that he definitely didn’t feel.

“You wanted to see me Alpha?”