Charity Moon (10 page)

I jumped as the doctor interrupted us. “Excuse me, Levi, but I need to finish wrapping her if she’s going to start healing.”

“Of course, Doc, please continue.”

“Thank you.”

I winced as he wrapped me tighter and tighter. And again Levi winced in response.

“That should do it. You can pull your shirt back down now, Charity.”

“Thank you, Doc. So, are you a werewolf too?”

“Yes I am.”

“So, who bit you?”

He laughed. “No one bit me. I was born a werewolf.” He chuckled again to himself.

Did I miss something
? “Oh,” was all I could say.

“I’ll send someone back with your pain medicine. Sleep well, Charity.”

“Thank you, Doc.” He was still chuckling as he excited the room.

“Did he mean I’m staying here tonight?”

“Yes. It’s too late to take you home, and besides we have a lot to talk about.”

“Actually, I have a lot of questions.”

“I bet you do. But first let me take you to see Ashley.”

“Ash! I almost forgot about her.”

I followed him out the door and down the hall until we stopped in front of another door. Levi knocked.

“Come in,” Ashley called. She sounded fine, good actually. We both entered a lovely bedroom decorated in red.

“Charity!” She ran to me and wrapped her arms around me tightly.

“Oww,” I groaned.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Josh told me you were injured. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Are
you
all right?”

“I’m great. Wasn’t that exciting earlier? And can you believe this room? Isn’t it beautiful?”

“Yes, it’s beautiful.” I looked at her as though aliens had invaded her. Why was she so enraptured? We were surrounded by werewolves, for Pete’s sake, but then I realized—she didn’t care. She was just excited to have a beautiful room.
Like I said earlier—so annoying
.

After visiting with her for a while, we said our goodnights, and Levi escorted me to my room, naming off the different wings as we passed. It was quite overwhelming.

“This is the A Wing, or Alpha Wing, which houses the alpha male and alpha female’s private quarters, along with his offices.”

 He opened a door and ushered me in. “Wow, it’s beautiful, Levi.” It was a totally white room with a lovely canopy draping elegantly over and around the bed.

“I thought you would like it.”

“Does this room belong to someone?”

“Um, no. It’s intended for the future bride of the alpha male, but since there is no future bride yet the room’s vacant.”

“And who is the alpha male? Have I seen him yet?”

“Yes, you have. You’re looking at him.”

“You?”

He nodded.

“Aren’t you a little young for such a responsibility?”

He shrugged.

“I’m sorry, Levi. I’m sure it’s a heavy load to carry all by yourself. How long has it been?”

“Since my eighteenth birthday; the same week I transferred, but I’m not alone. I have great people around me to help. The guys I hang out with at school are what I call my elite, my top guys. They watch my back.”

“How big is your pack?”

“There’s about twenty male werewolves, though not all active, and some of them are married and have children, so around fifty in all. Though this facility can easily house twice that many.”

“So, is that why you transferred, because you became alpha?”

“Yes, but it’s a long story, one we’ll get into tomorrow. You need your rest. My room’s directly across the hall if you need anything.”

He started to leave when I put my hand on his arm to stop him. “Levi, can I ask you something?”

He turned to face me, his eyes melting into mine, and I knew instantly that my simple touch had affected him. “Yes, of course,” he answered, his voice suddenly deep and husky.

“What were you and Wesley fighting about tonight?”

“Well, I’m not sure I should answer that.”

“Please.”

His gaze grew intense and he reached, taking my hand in his. “We were fighting over you.”

My mouth fell open in disbelief.

He continued. “It seems we both have an interest in you and, when a werewolf finds a woman he wants, and the feeling’s mutual, he then has to claim her as his own, otherwise someone else can still claim her. However, once he does, then she’s completely off-limits to the others. It’s kind of like a territorial thing.”

“Wow. Your society is so weird. And exactly how does a man in your society claim a woman?”

“He marks her by taking her as his mate, therefore making her his bride. It used to be that the mating process
was
the wedding ceremony, but in these modern times, with humans occasionally becoming part of our pack, we now perform the ceremony first. Once the two are mated the male transfers his scent to the female, thus protecting her.”

 Things were all of a sudden clear. “So that’s why Wesley said that you hadn’t claimed me yet and there was still hope for him?”

“Yes. Wesley’s senses told him you were untouched and that I hadn’t marked you. And now he wants you for his own.”

“But don’t I have a say in the matter?”

“In a normal situation, yes, but not according to Wesley. He wants you, and he’ll do whatever he has to do to get you.”

“But why didn’t he try anything on our dates? He barely touched me.”

“He was most likely trying to win your trust and to get information about your relationship with me. Didn’t he ask you questions about our relationship?”

“As a matter of fact, he did.” I gasped as the realization hit me. “Can he get me here?” As I asked the question I fought the tears forming in my eyes.

He reached up to stroke my face, his blue eyes piercing. “No, you’re safe here. He can’t cross the boundary line into my territory. It would be considered an act of war. I won’t let him take you, Charity. You’re in this mess because of me. I have a responsibility to protect you and that’s what I plan to do.”

“Oh, so you’re protecting me out of guilt. Well, that’s nice to know,” I snapped.

“Charity, that’s—”

“You know what? I’m tired, Levi, so I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.” I pushed him gently out the door, shutting it behind him. So, he felt responsible for me. Levi didn’t really like me after all. I guess what he said that day at school was true. Suddenly I felt completely overwhelmed.

I went into the bathroom to wash up. Wow, a fully functional bathroom underground, and something I’ve always wanted; a claw-foot tub. How cool was that? Now if you’re gonna take a bath, that’s the way to go. After I came out, I looked in the closet, expecting it to be empty, and there hung some exquisite nightgowns, all in different colors. I thought Levi said this room didn’t belong to anyone. How odd. But I was too tired to wonder, so I grabbed a white one, pulled it on, and was about to climb into bed when I heard a knock at the door.

When I opened it, Levi was standing there with a bottle in his hand. He swallowed hard as he studied me. “Um, here’s your pain medicine.”

“Oh, thank you,” I said, taking the bottle from him.

“I’m sorry if I said something to upset you earlier.”

“No, it’s not you. I mean it’s not totally you. Okay it’s you.”

He smiled, looking down at his hands clasped.

“I guess I’m just a little overwhelmed by all this, and I’m tired. I’ll be fine tomorrow, I hope. Goodnight, Levi.”

“Okay—well, goodnight.” He turned reluctantly and crossed the hall.

I slept well, thanks to the pain medicine, until the nightmare woke me. It was about Wesley. He was in his werewolf form, attacking me, with claws ripping at my clothes and flesh. I jerked awake, screaming and confused, gasping for air. Suddenly, I felt two hands wrap around my shoulders. I screamed and slapped them away until the melody of a familiar voice soothed me.

“Charity, it’s me, Levi. It’s okay, it’s me.”

“Levi?”

“Yes, it’s me. I’m right here.”

Without hesitation, I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung myself to him just like I had the day he rescued me from Frank, my discretion once again eluding me.

“It’s okay.” He held me tight, his arms engulfing me. “I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you.” He stroked his hands down my back in a reassuring manner.

I have to admit it was a little unnerving being so close to his bare chest, but soon all was forgotten and, with the help of the pain medicine and in the security of his warm embrace, I drifted off into a sound and dreamless sleep.

When I woke in the morning, I was alone again. I washed up in the bathroom and got dressed, pulling my dark strands up into a tight ponytail. I decided to venture out into the hall. It was quiet. I somehow managed to remember my way to Ashley’s room, but it was empty, so I headed back down the hallway and out into a huge lobby. It resembled a lobby of a very expensive and elegant hotel. I stood dumbfounded, looking around at eight different wings of the facility with letters elegantly scrawled over each arched doorframe. I tried to remember what Levi said each letter stood for, but it was too much to process. I heard laughter coming from the left wing labeled D, so I entered it and walked until I came to a huge room filled with rows of long tables. It was a dining room, hence the letter D, and despite the number of tables, it was a very elegant room, decorated in deep red and gold.

“Charity!” Ashley called as she got up and danced to my side. “Are you hungry?”

“Are you kidding? I’m so hungry my stomach’s eating itself.”

“Good. Come and eat breakfast with us.” She grabbed my hand and led me back to the table where she’d been sitting. It was full of people, some of which I recognized.

I glanced around and noticed at the far end of the room was an open wall with people working feverishly on the other side, obviously the kitchen. They were sitting food trays out on the ledge like they do at a restaurant.

“Good morning, Charity,” Levi greeted me. “Let me introduce you to everyone. This is my father, Joseph, and my mother, Irena. This is my sister, Tara and her husband, Kevin. And these guys you already know from school, Josh, Jared, Jordan, Ian, and Cody. Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you. It’s very nice to meet all of you.”

Levi stood up and motioned to someone and in less than a minute I had a smorgasbord sitting before me with every kind of breakfast food you can imagine; a bagel, a blueberry muffin, two eggs, three slices of bacon, two pieces of toast, and every flavor of jelly ever made.

“Wow! I wish I could do that at home,” I remarked to everyone’s amusement.

I have to admit I was caught off guard at seeing Levi with his family. It made him seem so normal, and yet he was far from normal. I was puzzled by the idea that Levi was the alpha male when his father was still alive. I hoped he would explain it to me later.

To my surprise, I enjoyed breakfast a great deal. Everyone was very relaxed, even teasing and having fun. It was like an extra-large, tight nit family. I noticed that Ashley and Josh were holding hands and looked totally enchanted.
When did that happen
? Levi’s sister, Tara stared at me frequently. She looked to be about 22 and was very beautiful. The resemblance between her and Levi was undeniable. They both had those same beautiful bluish-purple eyes. Levi’s parents also watched me. It was as if they knew something I didn’t. They seemed very much in love, and held hands all throughout breakfast. They looked at Levi with great admiration—in fact, everyone did, just like at school. He has this great presence about him.