The Last Spirit Wolf (Elena Norwood)

-Vera-

I stay by Violet, observing her, as she's enthralled by the sight of Lucas. Her friend has separated from her and is looking at her questioningly; then, she follows her line of sight. She looks back and forth between Lucas and Violet, realization crossing her expression. "Oh no..." she whispers. Violet does not move an inch, but Lucas is striding across the courtyard, past Noah, past Cecil, past Eli, directly to his mate.

He kneels in front of her, placing a delicate palm on her cheek and looking at the faint scar my spear left on her face. She's healed by now, of course, but the scar might take a few weeks to disappear; at least I was delicate enough to make the wound very shallow. He turns to me to throws a sour look my way.

"I thought you weren't going to hurt her," he says in a low, grave voice.

"Well, she gave me a run for my money," I lie.

"You promised," he says, his lycan eyes swirling as he stands up to face me.

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He squares up to me and just as he's about to turn into his beast, a deafening growl comes from right behind me, sending chills down my spine. Before I see him, I feel him; Noah's vicious aura almost makes my knees buckle.

I turn back to look at him. His eyes are fully black, his lycan making its presence known. Everyone behind him, including Caleb and Eli, have taken an involuntary step back. Cecil is paralyzed, her eyes wide with fear. "Touch her, and you die," he says, his thick voice homicidal.

Even Lucas, with the courage and momentum provided by his mate bond to Violet, has to take several cautious steps back, his eyes back to normal. Instead of defying him, he unconsciously bows his head.

Violet and her friend are frozen in place, looking at Noah in absolute horror.

I place a gentle hand on his chest, getting on my tippy toes to kiss his chin.

"It's alright, Noah," I say.

Even if I feel his aura as much as the others, it doesn't exactly have the same effect on me.

He calms down instantly, his eyes turning back to normal.

He smiles down at Violet and her friend, trying to ease their fear.

"Well, I think that settles it," he intertwines his fingers with mine and kisses my hand. affectionately, "shall we? I need to take a closer look at those wounds."

I nod, happy to be done with all of this.

When we make our way past Cecil, he turns to her; she still hasn't taken her eyes off of Noah

once.

"When you feel up to it, Cecil, there's a matter I'd like to discuss with you," he says, nodding in the direction of Lucas and Violet, who are now looking at each other adoringly.

Cecil follows his gesture, her expression difficult to read; she simply nods at Noah, absentmindedly.

Noah guides me within the manor to his room, which is thankfully a rather short walk compared to the Castle. When we get there, he closes and locks the doors behind us. I step further into the room, admiring its quaint decoration. It's very simple, with only the necessary furniture and light fixtures, but it's quite cozy; I like it better than the King's bedroom back at the Castle.

"I'll run you a hot bath," he says, disappearing into the bathroom.

I keep walking around the room, admiring the paintings hanging on the walls; most of them are of nature and beautiful, relaxing scenery. Making my way to one of the windows, I notice it's in the direction where I saw the greenhouse and it makes me consider what to do with the girl witch.

"Hey," Noah comes up behind me, "what are you staring at?"

"What would you say if we ask that witch to come with us?"

"I would tell you that if there's one thing I've learned these past months, is that your gut is never wrong." he says, massaging my shoulders.

I let my head lull back, resting it on his chest.

I moan.

"If I get this treatment every time I have to fight for your hand in marriage, it'll be worth it."

He chuckles and kisses the top of my head.

"Come, the bath is ready."

He guides me to the large tub in the center of the bathroom. For some reason, unlike the bedroom, the bath is actually luxurious; it's clear where the priorities lied when this manor was built. "According to Cecil, this used to be her husband's favorite room when he was still alive."

He starts to take off my top and sports bra, followed by my leggings. I wince as the fabric of the leggings grazes my wounds.

He stops.

"Is this okay?"

"Yeah." I say, closing my eyes, "just get it off me."

He hurries and does as he's told, offering his hand to me as support as I step into the bath.

I sink in, the warm water offering immediate relief to my sore muscles. Some of the water turns pinkish as the last unhealed areas of my wounds are still bleeding.

"Aren't you going to join me?" I ask him.

After a few seconds of consideration, he smiles at me and begins taking off his clothes.

I scoot forward to make room for him; even if the tub is enormous, I still want him close to me.

He sits behind me, letting me place my back to his chest as he continues to rub my shoulders, back, and nape.

"I didn't think that little girl could be so aggressive," he comments.

"I don't think that was all her. There are some roots that can be used to make someone much more aggressive, even raise their stamina. I'm guessing her witch friend had something to do with it."

"I thought all witches were gone,"

"For the most part they are, according to my grandmother. Some have remained here to try and live out their normal lives; but that girl is different, she's young, and I don't just mean her looks. Most witches appear young, but they can be hundreds of years old." "You're joking," he says, stopping his massage to raise a brow at me.

"I wish. My grandmother doesn't look a day over thirty, same as my aunt. That witch I killed? Mehra? Her body looked more like a corpse when I went to burned her, meaning she was way older than she looked."

He sighs and continues massaging me.

We don't say a word for a while, both of us deep in thought.

"Noah?"

"Yeah?"

"Your aura... it's getting a little out of control."

He doesn't say anything.

"The guys have begun to notice," I continue, "it's the second time in this trip that you scare them half to death. Back in the forest I thought it was because of our dry spell... but today..." I drift off, not wanting to pressure him into talking about it if he doesn't want to. "V, I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean."

I turn around to face him,

"What do you mean you don't know what I mean? Did you not notice Lucas lowering his head just now? The other guys took several steps back too, not knowing what to do. Even Violet and her friend were about to cry because they were so scared."

He genuinely has no idea what I'm talking about, judging by his expression.

"Noah, what did you feel when Lucas was about to attack me?" I ask him.

"Anger, naturally."

"Yes, but what besides anger? The need to submit him? The desire for him to obey you?"

He considers this for a few seconds.

"No, none of that, I just knew that if he touched you, I'd cut his hands off."

I frown, not really knowing how to continue on this conversation. If he has no idea what I'm talking about, he can provide little to no insight into what this is.

It feels exactly like an alpha wolf aura, and the reaction from everyone around him is the reaction every wolf would have to an alpha, but now, I'm second guessing myself. I know alphas use their aura willingly to submit others, make them bend to their will, but Noah is doing it unconsciously. It's both impressive and incredibly worrying that he has no idea what he's doing with such impressive presence.

I bite my lip.

"You look worried," he says.

I shake my head,

"No, I'm just thinking."

There is really only one person who could offer some insight, and that person is Sophia.

I turn my back to Noah, once again letting my body rest against his.

Even with all the thoughts and worries in my head, soon after our conversation is done, I am half asleep. Fighting Violet and Cecil has drained me.

After a while, I feel Noah lift me off of the bath and carry me to the bed. He lightly dabs a towel all across my body as I drift off to sleep.

I open my eyes slightly. It feels like I've slept hours already, but I need more. Something woke me up.

"Hey, it's just me."

It's Noah making his way across the bed to me. Soon, I feel his large arm come over me, cradling me to him. He kisses my cheek gently, then my forehead, then my nose, and then my shoulder.

I sigh in complete contentment and quickly go back to sleep, lulled by Noah's warmth.