Chapter Thirty-Eight
Rebecca made the decision to close the kitchen down for dinner that night and to cancel breakfast the next morning. She thought it would be a good idea for Catherine to have some time to get settled. With any luck Graham would be home by dinner time and she’d be able to cook for him.
The thought of Graham made her stomach clench. She’d been able to stifle the pain of their separation for the most part until the debacle in the kitchen. She needed her mate badly and his absence felt like someone had ripped a part of her soul from her and carried it across an ocean.
The luna only had one more thing to show her before letting her have the rest of the day to prep for the next. She led Catherine out of the packhouse and around the garden to the training building. As they entered the main hallway they passed a door that made her steps falter. She closed her eyes and inhaled the apple and spice scent that was her mate. The hole in her soul expanded and she placed a hand to it.
“Graham’s office,” Lucas told her over her shoulder.
She chuckled softly. “I figured.”
“You want a quick hit?” he asked, giving her his charming smile while tilting his head to the door.
She blushed crimson but hesitated. “Maybe later.”
“Just let me know, Chica,” he said, walking past her.
Catherine tore her gaze from the closed door and followed everyone down the hall and into a large gymnasium. The gym was quiet as they crossed the wooden floors to another hall. What were they doing there? Catherine knew there couldn’t possibly be any food-related business to attend to here. At the end of the hall, Rebecca opened the door and ushered Catherine inside. She took a few steps and halted.
own, still Alpha Jensen was on the other end of the room, stretching his arms. She’d seen him numerous times at this point but his eyes, mirroring her caught her off guard. The familial bond tugged at her chest but behind it swelled anger. This was the man who refused to allow her into the pack. The one who kept her from being fully bonded to her mate. The man who’d abandoned her as a baby, unknowingly or not. As if sensing the tension radiating off her, Lucas gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
Rebecca walked toward her mate and gave him a quick peck on the lips. She whispered something in his ear that made him frown deeper and deeper. Catherine wondered how the luna was able to speak at a decibel no one but the intended could hear. Was it a lycan thing or a luna thing? She gave him a meaningful look before kissing him again. She came over to Catherine and brushed some hair behind her shoulder.
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think you’d come. He just wants to help. Give him a chance, okay? If you need anything, just call me. Lucas has my number,” Rebecca assured her.
“Thank you for everything. And I’m sorry for the trouble earlier,” Catherine whispered.
Rebecca waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t apologize. I’ve been needing to do some weeding,” she said with a wink before leaving them alone. Lucas chuckled.
Catherine faced her father who looked nervous now that his mate had left the room. She crossed her arms over her chest. “What is this about?”
“You’re angry with me,” Jensen stated.
“That would be a massive understatement.”
“You’ll get over it. I’m your father. You have a destiny that both you and Graham seem to think you can run from but there’s no way away from it.”
“And you’ll force it on us? Does that make you the Moon Goddess?” she spat.
His lips curved up in a smile. “You’re just like your mother.”
“I wouldn’t know.”
This statement seemed to bring him up short. He rubbed his forehead. “I didn’t bring you here to hash out past history.”
“It doesn’t seem like you have any intentions of confronting the past at all.”
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Chapter Thirty-Eight
He sighed. “I am here to help you.”
“You want to help me?” she asked, taking a few steps in his direction. “Lower your command on my mate. You want me to respect you? Take ownership of how you abandoned your first love and child. You want to train me? Prove to me you understand half of what I’ve been through the past 26 years when I’ve been doing everything in my power just to survive.”
“Sit down,” he ordered.
Unable to resist the command of a fully matured Lycan Alpha, Catherine immediately obeyed. What good was it to be kept a “stinking” rogue if she couldn’t defy his orders. She huffed and folded her arms again, directing her glare anywhere but at him. She heard him step closer and sit down across from her.
“What do you want?” she hissed after several minutes of silence.
“Shift,” he said.
“Oh, is that all?” she asked, looking at him with a raised brow.
“You want me to prove I know what I’m doing? I want you to shift. I want to see it.”
“I can’t!” she yelled at him. “I haven’t been able to shift under my own will since I was a child. I need the full moon to push the shift and even then…” Catherine looked away, tired of explaining her weaknesses.
“Even then it’s agonizing,” he finished. She raised her eyes to him and grimaced. “Close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Must you be so stubborn? Just do it!”
“Where on earth do you think I inherited that trait, father?”
His warning growl made the hairs on her arm stand on end. Afraid he’d command her to shift, she did as she was told and closed her eyes.
“Place your hands, palm up on your knees. Good. Now take deep breaths.”
“Shall I get some sage and turn on the yoga music, Alpha?” Lucas chimed in. Jensen growled again. Catherine exhaled, knowing full well he’d only said something to let her know he was still there with her.
“I need Catherine to focus. If you wish to open that smart-ass mouth of yours I believe the women’s front line is training down the hall.”
“Nah, I got some last night. I’ll be good for at least another four hours,” Lucas assured him. She heard the rustling of clothes as he sat down somewhere behind her.
Jensen sighed in annoyance. “For this to work, I need you to clear your mind and focus on my voice. Deep breaths, that’s it. Now, I want you to remember the last time you shifted on your own,” Jensen whispered.
Catherine’s eyes shot open to look at him. “I can’t.”
His brow furrowed. “You must. Whatever happened triggered a survival instinct in you. That trauma is what’s blocking your natural shift. Close. Your. Eyes.”
Catherine glanced back at Lucas who’s worried eyes flitted between her and the alpha. He gave her a reassuring nod before mouthing, I’m here. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath.
“Try to remember every detail. Nothing is unimportant. Think about how the air felt on your skin. Think of the ground beneath your feet, the scent in the air. Think of what was running through your mind… Remember the fear, Catherine… Remember the…”
Catherine was running. She didn’t remember when she’d shifted. It was the most natural thing. One moment she was human, the next she was running through the forest that bordered Moonstone Pack. She didn’t know who had caught her scent or why he was chasing her.
He, Something she’d forgotten. It was one man and he was getting closer. Catherine knew she needed to shift back. If someone were to see her as a wolf pup, barely the size of a two month husky puppy, she knew it would get her in trouble. She didn’t know why, but she knew she wasn’t normal.”
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Chapter Thirty-Eight
Coming upon a thicket Catherine shifted into her human form. Her small hands pulled the briars away from her and she climbed into the brush. She huddled down low, clasping her bleeding hand to her mouth to keep from making noise. The low rumble of a wolf came closer. His paws padded along the ground nearby as he searched for her. She heard the sound of bones cracking and then the low chuckle of a young man.
“Where’d you go little pup?” he asked. In the back of her mind, Catherine recognized the low timbre of his voice. She felt her heartrate quicken. Her breathing grew
labored.
“Don’t be afraid now, Catherine,” her father’s voice called from a distance. “Remember this is a memory. You are not alone this time. I am with you. They won’t hurt you. I won’t let them.”
He wasn’t here though. Catherine was alone and the man was getting closer. His bare feet crunched in the frozen pine straw as he stepped up to the brambles. Slowly the brush was pulled away revealing a younger version of the man who haunted her dreams. The man who’d left a mark on her soul and her thigh.
Dominic DeAngelo grinned down at her. His eyes perused her small body and became captivated by her eyes. “Well, hello there little pet. You sure are a special one. We’re going to have some fun together, aren’t we?”
Catherine’s body contorted and she was flung back against the padded floor of the Blackmoore training room. She screamed as her bones tried to realign. She felt hands on her arms and legs. Voices called out to her but she couldn’t hear them over her own cries of anguish. Her bones snapped back into place and then broke all over again. Her insides twisted and she jerked, throwing away the men holding her down. Their hands found her again as she writhed. Her torso lurched upward as her spine snapped in two. Her legs lengthened and then shrunk as both sides of her soul fought to keep control.
“Make it stop!” Catherine screamed as her bones continued to shape themselves to what she wanted.
All at once her bones snapped and she gasped, the air leaving her at the blinding bright fire of pain crashed over her. Then blackness came and she found relief.
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Surrendering to Destiny
