Chapter 38

When Nellie came out of the bathroom, Earl was waiting for her like he had promised, she had expected he would be sleeping at least. He sat there, waiting patiently for her.

"You are done" He flashed her a gentle smile.

"Yes, you should be sleeping" Nellie was fully dressed in the night dress she had taken into the bath.

"I told you I'll wait for you"

That made her feel those stupid butterflies, she thought. Why was he being all sweet to her? It was unlike him to not taunt her.

"Thank you" She smiled up at him, "Would you like a bath yourself?"

"Yes. Would you help me wash my hair?"

Her heart sank in her chest, to wash his hair? In a bath… together? That was not ideal for a gentleman and a lady. Nellie had to remind herself that they slept together in the same room, on the same bed and they were not even married.

"That… is not ideal for a noble man" She looked away as quickly as she said it.

Earl chuckled, "But we literally live together, Nellie. We sleep together"

"We sleep on the same bed, not together" She chipped in.

"Oh. What's the difference?" Earl's grin was not disappearing.

"There is a big difference. Sleeping together… has a deeper meaning" Nellie's cheeks flushed as she said it.

"Tell me about it"

He was not giving up, was he? Nellie ignored him and made for the bed, he was clearly in a mood to taunt her and she was not prepared for that. When she lay on the bed, Earl was still standing there unmoving, watching her intently.

"I'll wait here for you, but I can ring for a maid to help wash your hair if you want."

"I don't need a maid. I want you, Nellie.

What the hell was he doing talking to her in that manner? Even if he was standing a few feets away, Nellie knew he was watching her, that only made her flush in embarrassment.

"You really need to learn the use of words, Earl. I need to sleep"

He only chuckled, she heard him go into the bathroom and breathed a sigh of relief. The day had really been an eventful one, even though they nearly got killed. How had Charlie and Kayel known they were in danger, was it something about being a demon?

It was indeed strange to Nellie that she was living amongst demons and even having near death encounters with Zinns. Back in her own pack, it was rare to see Zinns, maybe because her pack was a smaller pack but her father had set quite a lot of things straight before dying to help make her rules easy. The only problems she encountered a few times were the internal problems of the pack, trespassers that only needed a few warnings and redirection, or a few stubborn ones who she had to imprison in case they were spies.

Becoming a ruler at such a young age must have been difficult for Earl, she thought. At sixteen, she had joined the royal army of the park and learnt everything there was to be a Luna from the tutors her father hired. She had fought in the royal army a couple of times to ward off invaders and strangers, and when her father died three years later, it was not difficult for the pack to accept her as their Alpha.

Nellie wondered how it was with Bella as the new Alpha, and Piere, was she being a good ruler? Had she and Piere gotten married already? She shut her eyes tightly. If only she had insider news on how the pack was running. There was no doubt Bella was power intoxicated, the pack might suffer a lot from her hands but somehow, she thought they deserved it, for sending her away and believing he was a witch after several years of her dedication to her people.

A part of her wanted to go back, to save them. If she could convince Earl and his pack to help her save her pack from Bella, the Blood pack was obviously a very powerful one and having them as an ally would go a long way for them in the future. It hurt Nellie, surely Earl will be willing to help her?

Maybe when he got his Luna back? Nellie felt a knot tighten in her chest at the thought of Earl getting back his Luna. Did he plan to? Why was Konarh so convinced that Ina, Earl's Luna, was his true mate? He would have taken her back to his pack or wherever, simply to spite Earl.the thought of that made her feel goosebumps, how would she have survived amongst those ancient wolves. She muttered a thank you to Kayel and Charlie for coming when they did.

Back when she was a girl, this would have been a very nice story to run back home and inform Bella, she could imagine how Bella's eyes would have lighted up when she heard Nellie had met a good demon. They had all heard and learnt that demons were bad creatures who lived in hell, from bible stories to their teachers and literally everyone believed demons were bad. But here, she had met a demon who was not just interested in shedding innocent blood. He joked, played and ate like a human and contrary to the popular belief, he was amongst the most beautiful men she had ever seen.

Her mind drifted to Piere, she couldn't help but wonder if he and Bella had gotten married already. Bella could still remember vividly, the night she had caught them on his bed. Her bed friend and betrothed, naked and making love. The farthest she had ever gone with Piere, the only man she had ever known was kissing, but Bella had seduced him, she was sure of that and he had fallen for it. Nellie wondered if she would ever forgive them, not when they had no remorse maybe?

The sound of the bedroom door creaking open brought her out of her reverie, she heard Earl close the door just as quietly as he had opened it. Nellie shut her eyes tightly, she shut her mind as well not wanting him to know she was still awake. After a while of silence, she heard the bed sink beside her.

"Nellie, are you awake?" Earl called softly.

Nellie grunted and stirred like a very tired sleeper, Earl chuckled and pulled the covers over her. She held her breath for a second when she heard him shift closer to her, was he doing?

Just when she was about opening her eyes to push him away, she felt him wrap his hands around her and pull her close. Earl packed a handful of her hair and inhaled deeply, when he finally let go of the hair, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and almost immediately, Nellie could hear his breathing become steady.

He was already in a deep sleep.
••••••••••••••

Ariel's legs were still wobbling by the time Charlie picked her up from the cold floor, he cussed silently when she wrapped her hands around his neck to steady herself. He had to do something, she was losing more blood than he had envisaged. He had never deflowered a girl before but he knew the amount of blood was never this much.

And a girl's first time was supposed to be special, you idiot! He cussed himself again.

What had he done? The punishment was a little too severe, he had to admit. He liked his women experienced enough to pleasure him, he wasn't one for commitments and he had never been married- or betrothed and he had no plans to be. What was this girl doing seducing him? Well, she had gotten more than she bargained for.

Carefully, he dropped Ariel in his bath and let the water soak her, was he supposed to bathe her? Would she like that? Charlie splashed water on her face, she was still unmoving. He splashed it again, her eyes blinked several times before she finally made an attempt to open it but shut it immediately.

He tried to look away from her naked body, even if he just had her a few minutes ago, his body was still reacting to the feel of her bare body in his hands. To help him, Charlie made sure there was no source of light in the bathroom, not even his eyes. He worked his hands on her body as quickly as he could, ignoring the heat that threatened to take over him as his hands explored her soft skin.

When he finally took her out of the bath, he picked a towel and dried her body, all this he did with no light. What was she going to wear? He had ripped every piece of clothing she had on in two halves! Cussed again, Charle opened his wardrobe, he picked a tunic he hoped would be long enough to cover her.

When he had made sure she was fully dressed, he placed her gently on the bed and pulled the covers on her. Her breathing was steady, sometimes it would hitch like a child who had been crying, other times she'd just stirr on the bed, a few times she even shook her head as if trying to deny a reality that was glaring at her, was she having a nightmare?

Charlie examined her features as she slept, he had to admit to himself that she was very beautiful, quite too bold and courageous but indeed very beautiful. She looked so peaceful sleeping there, there was no denying she made him feel things, things he didn't want to feel. She had made him take her, in the worst way, he thought. Would she hate him now? He hoped she would, because somehow, he knew his wolf wanted her, his wolf had tasted her and he didn't seem to have enough of her.

'You have to sleep too' Charlie chided himself.

He made for the bathroom and washed himself very quickly. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he didn't bother dressing up, he just picked a pair of trousers and wore them loosely. He met the shock of his life when he turned and found Ariel sitting on the bed, staring back at him with eyes he couldn't read.
He didn't know what to say to her as she just say there, staring back at her,

"Why are you awake?" He finally asked.

"You don't expect me to sleep in your chambers, do you?" Her voice was tired and barely audible.

"It's not a taboo… you know" Come on Charlie, be nice!

"You can at least ask nicely" She said it with a glint of hope in her eyes, what hope?

"Ask what?," Charlie gave her a skeptical look. Just a few minutes ago she was lying there, almost lifeless, bleeding and now she was up and full of life again.

"Nevermind. Thank you for tonight" She brought her hand up to her neck and rubbed a spot on it gently, as if feeling it. Charlie thought he saw disappointment in her eyes but it was immediately replaced by a fake smile.

Charlie just stood there, looking at her. Was she not supposed to rest for a while? At Least till the morning. "I really do not mind you sleeping on my bed till morning, Ariel" It was an attempt to sound nice and he hoped she would take the bait.

"That is very kind of you," Her voice was sharp and dry, "But I'm afraid I'll have to decline your kind offer"

She made an attempt to stand up now, but fell back almost immediately. Charlie rushed to help her but she held up her hands for him to stay away, he stopped his track and just stood there, watching her keenly.

Ariel tried again, this time she held onto the bed rail to steady herself, when she didn't fall this time, she looked up and smiled at Charlie, one of the fakest smiles he had ever seen on her face, "Goodnight, My Lord"

"Surely you can't walk like that, Ariel. Why don't you stay for the night? You can barely stand on your own as it is" Charlie only hoped that did not sound so bad.

"I am fine" She said it in a tone that indicated there was no room for further argument or suggestion from him.

When she made the first attempt to take a step, Charlie saw the pain in her eyes as she shut it tightly. He clenched his fists quietly, why was she so stubborn? As if reminding herself she could do it, Ariel breathed in deeply and tried again, this time she limped her way to the different places Charlie had flung her tattered pieces of clothes.

She collected each piece and took a minute to recollect herself, when she was done, she headed for the door.

"You don't intend to walk out like this, do you? The guards will definitely see you and someone else might…"

"You don't have to worry about your reputation, Charlie. Did your guards see me when I came in?"

That was true, Lance and the other guard had told him they did not see her return, but she did. "But…"

"Goodnight, Beta. And thank you for tonight"

Charlie opened his mouth to say something but before he could get it out, Ariel was gone. He was sure she had not opened the door, she just… vanished, did she?

'Come on Charlie, you had a little too much to drink' Did he? Had she just vanished? He didn't hear the door open, but she had left the room, how did she do that?

Above all these questions, the only one that seemed to live in his heart was, was she mad at him?