#Chapter 13 Date Me, Justin
Helen POV
My parents were staring with their mouths open while my sister laughed outright, clapping her hands as if I had presented her with a new toy. I knew Diana was going to say something terrible before she even spoke. I only wished I could warn Justin, but all I could do was look at him with pleading in my eyes.
[I hope he doesn’t decide to hurt her,] Joy thought and I tried to tell Justin to keep himself quiet with my expression.
“YOU got a second chance mate?! Oh this is rich! I can’t believe it! Does he not own any clothes? I think that’s the towel we use to rub down after shifting. It smells very strongly of wet wolf.”
Justin, to his credit, didn’t do more than raise a brow at my family. I was balanced on a razor’s edge of anxiety waiting to see if he would explode all over them in rage, but he didn’t!
“We met during the full moon,” I explained as simply as possible.
“How?” my mother demanded.
I could tell from the stubborn look on her face she was going to insist on an explanation. My father saved me -and probably Justin too- by putting his hand over hers to still her mouth from spewing more venom on us.
“We were both called to our beasts under the light of the full moon. We met while running in the forest and knew one another by our animal instinct. Helen began her he—
I slapped my hand over Justin’s mouth to stop him from announcing how I’d gone into heat not once but twice with him in as many days. My face was aflame with embarrassment. I just went ahead and decided to say something which made some sense.
“Healing! I was a clumsy thing and tripped over a snare. It tore open my forepaw and Justin was kind enough to wait with me while I healed. I knew from the way he cleaned my wound he was my second chance mate.”
“Are you a healer then?”
My father sounded snide, his rude tone barely within the limits of civilized society. Healer wolves were rare though they weren’t Alphas; I realized my father seemed to know more about Justin than I liked though he wasn’t saying anything directly. But how?
The Devil had not been let out of his Lair in his adult lifetime. Alpha King Juden had kept Justin in chains since he was a boy. None outside the King’s own men had ever seen justin. How had my father recognized him if he had?
Our romp in the forest had left his hair messy with leaves and twigs clinging to him as well as to me. Streaks of dirt coated both our bodies. I wouldn’t have been surprised to find out we had mud caked on our backs, too.
“No, I’m not a healer,” Justin stated, continuing, “I’m better suited to causing injuries than fixing them. Helen has been good enough to stick with me in Fiery Cross territory, so I’ve had no reason to fight or deal with the fallout of fighting.”
My father puffed up at the praise. He always took responsibility for anything positive either I or my sister did. I thought it would have been worse if I had been given a brother, but what did I know? Maybe all fathers of daughters preened when their girls were praised. 1
“Helen is an excellent hostess. She takes care of all our guests here in the house. It’s her cleaning you can thank for the place being spotless.”
“Or it was spotless until the two of you rolled in out of the mud,” Diana sniped.
1/3
#Chapter 13 Date Me, Justin
+25 BONUS
Her sneer propelled me to step in front of Justin even though I knew it looked ridiculous for a woman my size to try to shield a male of his; I just didn’t want her judging him when his body’s condition was the result of my heat.
Justin would have been clean as appropriate of a King’s son if he hadn’t spent his full moon writhing in the dirt with me.
“Justin needs to borrow our shower. And a pair of pants. Hell take care of everything once he gets back to the hotel. Isn’t that right, Justin?”
Justin nodded once, saying, “Yes. I can take care of suitable repayment as soon as I get myself taken care of enough to go back to the hotel. They have certain standards as I’m sure you’re aware.”
I wondered if Justin knew how much it cost to stay in a hotel on private pack territory. We hadn’t discussed him at all during our drinking game. All his questions had focused on me and my traits.
I felt completely adrift as a result and vowed I would learn all I could about my mate as soon as I got the opportunity.
“I don’t know about pants which will fit you just right, but I’m sure we can find something to make you modest enough for the back door.”
“They only let omegas in the back door,” Diana quipped, making my entire family laugh as my face burned in humiliation of their ignorance.
Would this be what set Justin off? Would he tell them all of how I’d fallen into heat immediately upon meeting him? How he was the last Lycan? He was The Devil as they called him and I had been given to him as a tribute?
So many secrets and all of them would lead me to being humiliated before my family; Justin kept his mouth shut around all of them.
His only response was a small smile before he said, “Your courtesy won’t be forgotten. It’s rare to find true generosity of spirit among predators of our kind. It’s much more usual for us to prey on the weak, wouldn’t you say?”
My mother had the grace to look shocked by the bite in his tone, but Diana missed his meaning entirely.
I barely suppressed a shudder at the thought of my Lycan mate preying on my family. They were terrible, but did they deserve to face Justin’s wrath? 2
Scott only laughed which made him seem even more the clown. How had I ever believed I could love him? Even if he was my fated mate, Scott wasn’t a man worthy of respect or my time.
“We’ll go take care of washing up now.”
I hesitantly took Justin’s hand and led him up the servant stairs which led to my attie bedroom.
I swung the door open and ducked instinctively under the eaves -everything was slanted on one side as I slept under the roof directly- while I gestured for Justin to follow me as best he could.
My space was not meant for a male of his considerable size. He was stooped nearly double until he made it to the center of the attic where the roof raised highest. Even there, Justin couldn’t stand completely upright.
“This is my shower,” I said, gesturing to the washtub which had a shower curtain hung around it and a garden hose fixed above to act as a waterspout, “It’s not much, but we run hot and the water tends to be tolerable for me anyway.”
I didn’t point out I had never experienced anything else outside of the times my mother had deemed fit to bathe me with my sister when I was a pup.
2/3
#Chapter 13 Date Me, Justin
+25 BONUS
Justin had a look on his face which was a cross between wonder and pure astonishment. I couldn’t decide if he was pitying me or not and decided to cut him off before he could say anything else.
“You live in even more disgusting circumstances than I do. Your family should face justice for this kind of treatment,” Justin sneered.
“It’s the only life I’ve ever known. You should understand that,” I said quietly, not wanting to be overheard in case my family were eavesdropping.
Justin considered me for a moment before nodding once, “understand. They will have to change how they address you now you’re my mate.”
“I want to date you first!”
My face burned as I realized how ridiculous I sounded.
“I never got the chance to date my first mate and that ended badly. I’d like the chance to get to know you before being pushed into being your mate full–time.”
“Fine. We’ll discuss terms after we’ve bathed.” 1
At this moment, my father called from downstairs, “Helen!”
“Yes, Father,” I called back, going to open the door so I didn’t have to shout.
“Come downstairs as soon as you can. We need to talk about your competing at this year’s Wolfen Games!”
“What I cried, stunned speechless as I had never been offered a chance to attend the Games much less compete in them!
