Chapter 6


    -Ignatius-


    My brief visit to Johan’s neighborhood hadn’t ended up very brief at all. I had only meant to stop by the


    college for a few minutes to catch up with my old friend..


    However, the moment I noticed the small crew of girls heading towards a solitary figure on the outskirts


    of the college campus, I knew something bad was about to go down.


    Spotting udia, Mavis’s top watchdog, amongst them only confirmed my suspicions. udia was


    ruthless and whoever she was after now was not in for a good time.


    I had already started towards the group when they began their beatdown. Breaking into a run, I could


    just make out a small figure curled on the ground and a shock of fiery red hair. Dorothy, I woulde


    to learn, was her name.


    Carrying her in my arms, I found myself enveloped in her scent. The smell of fresh air and gentle rain


    floral and enticing. I wasn’t sure why udia and her gang had chosen this particr slip of a girl as


    their newest victim but I was enraged at their brutality all the same.


    If I hadn’t had Dorothy in my arms I would have tracked them down and broken more than just a few of


    their manicured nails. Then again, considering the fragile allyship between their pack and ours, It


    wouldn’t look very good for the son of the Northern pack leader tounch an attack on a few


    Southerner girls.


    Gaging from Dorothy’s nonchnt reaction to the ordeal, it was clear that she bore the brunt of their


    bullying quite often. Often enough to get used to it. And then there was Johan, I had never seen him


    act so strange as he had, standing there in the parking lot.


    We had been fast friends for years. But around this girl, he had been on edge and angry – prepared to


    fight. We had fought often as children, even as young teens. But this Johan was different, territorial,


    and on edge.


    It wasn’t long after that when I learned why. Dorothy was his true mate. Thinking about it afterward, his


    possessive, primal attitude should have been a clear sign of that fact. He clearly wanted her. And his


    inner-wolf must have been seething at another man handling his mate. An Alpha at that.


    I had felt a pang of guilt at my own actions after Dorothy revealed the truth to me. I hadn’t intended to


    upset my friend or take what his inner-wolf demanded was his.


    –


    But with that being said, Dorothy was hurt and in need of assistance, and in that vtile state – Johan


    would have been no help in the situation at best and a danger to Dorothy at worst.


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    Furthermore, I was astonished at his rejection of Dorothy, albeit not an official one. I had met Mavis on


    multiple asions and while I could admit she was pretty, the venom in her eyes was clear as day to


    me.


    I couldn’t fathom rejecting one’s true mate for a woman so potently cruel. My heart ached for Dorothy. I


    had only known her for a few hours at most but I had been rocked by the urge to protect her from the


    moment Iid eyes on her brilliant red hair and caught her faint scent on the breeze..


    To lose a mate was an indescribable pain. I had felt it myself once. Unlike Dorothy, I hadn’t been


    rejected, but a stormy night and a fatal car ident had snat ched them


    from me. There is no pain quite like that of losing what you love the most.


    away


    The memory of that affliction was locked away in the furthermost corners of my mind.


    only to be carefully opened and examined over and over again in the quiet confines of my own


    bedroom in the dead of night.


    While I couldn’t entirely understand Dorothy’s pain, I could empathize. Watching her tears fall freely as


    shey on the bed in that clinic, I fought the overwhelming urge to take her in my arms again.


    It hurt to see her so clearly suffering. I wanted nothing more than to fix what was broken and witness a


    smile a real smile as I was sure it would be a beautiful one. Dorothy, however, was not mine to


    embrace. I was little more than a stranger to her.


    All the same, it was difficult to keep my distance and I reached for her small, slender hand. Dorothy


    refused to look at me for a moment, keeping her eyes trained to the fan on the ceiling and denying my


    sympathies with a tight-lipped frown. Her fingers, however, closed around mine and she gripped my


    hand tightly.


    We stayed like that for a good long while,forted by quietpany, before the healer returned with


    a handful of what looked like powdery sticks and a vile of inky ck liquid. Dorothy tried to get up and I


    propped a hand on her back, easing her into a sitting position.


    She gave me a small smile in response and blinked away the tears that had been building on her long,


    lightshes.


    “Now then,” the old bat huffed.


    “Take this three times a day!


    She held the vile to Dorothy’s face.


    Dorothy grimaced at the ck liquid sloshing inside the ss, “No more than one teaspoon, or you’ll


    knock yourself out for hours. And this-” She held up the powdery sticks and snapped them in half under


    Dorothy’s nose.


    A shimmer of gray and brown powder burst from


    spluttered as she inhaled it, “What – what was that!” she gasped h o ar sely,


    hand to her chest.


    “Sugersnap Thyme. Helps with pain.”


    ing


    The healer waved the sticks around a little more before tucking them away again, “It you a little drowsy


    and disorientated so I suggest you have your young, might make seaweed-smelling friend take you


    home.”


    She looked pointedly at me over her sses and I nodded in response, “Yes, Ma’am.” “Uh-Uh,”


    Dorothy piped up in protest, “not home. I don’t wanna go home.”


    Her words slurred a little at the end as the old bat’s magic sticks seemed to be taking effect. She lolled


    forwards and I rushed to catch her, scooping her up and holding her against my chest.


    “Don’t wanna go home,” she mumbled into my neck and I could hear the stubborn pout in her voice as


    she said it.


    “That’s okay, you can stay at my ce for a little if you want.”


    I could see the old bat eyeing me suspiciously, “I’m staying at a vi for the weekend. Right up the


    road,” I continued as she narrowed her eyes at me. She thought it over for


    a moment.


    “Fine,” she eventually relented, handing me the bottle of putrid-looking medicine. “But be sure to let her


    N?velDrama.Org owns ? this.


    parents know. Their number should be in the books at the front desk. Everyone in the pack is.”


    I took the bottle and thanked her for all of her help.


    “And you be good to that girl,” she continued, “I’ll be checking inter,” I promised to be on my best


    behavior. Dorothy grumbled out a half-as sed thank you and something about a monster in the forest.


    After finding her name scribbled next to multiple home addresses and five different numbers in the big


    book at the front desk, I carried a very disorientated Dorothy to my car and somehow managed to get


    her into the passenger seat without bumping her rolling head on the way in.


    Climbing into the driver’s seat, I heard her say something about a creature in the dark. “What was


    that?”


    I leaned over to hear her better, buckling her seatbelt at the same time she wouldn’t feel her ribs aching


    right now and I didn’t trust her to not topple off the seat entirely on


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    the drive. Instead of answering, she scoffed at me and leaned her head against the window with


    drooping lids.


    “Alrighty then.”


    I spent the drive home calling all five numbers I’d saved on my phone, one at a time. The first three


    didn’t answer but on the second tost number a gruff-sounding woman told me to try thest number,


    exining that she had been Dorothy’s foster mom for


    a while.


    She also mysteriously griped about a pet frog and an expensive cheese tter before hanging up. The


    final number rang for half a second before someone picked up and I heard a frantic woman’s voice crac


    kle through the phone, “Dorothy?”


    “Not quite. This is Ignatius Aamodt. Dorothy’s okay, she’s just had a bit of a rough day.”


    “Ignatius… Elliot’s son?”


    It seemed the Southern Pack was well informed about their new allies.


    “That’s the one. Are you Dorothy’s foster mother?”


    “Anita, yes. Where is Dorothy? She was supposed to be back by now. Are you her mate


    She stopped herself, possibly concerned that she’d said too much.


    “No, I’m not. It would seem… Things didn’t really go to n for Dorothy.”


    “Oh. I had hoped… Nevermind. Where is she now?” There was genuine morosity in her


    voi


    She seemed to truly care for Dorothy and I found myself wondering if Dorothy herself was aware of


    that. I looked over at Dorothy, who was currently snoozing in her seat. She swatted the air with one


    feeble hand and then settled back into her dozing.


    “Currently snoring in my car. We’re heading to the Blue Vi Hotel on Fort Grayvill, I’ll let Dorothy know


    to call you when she wakes up.”


    After exchanging addresses with Anita and promising to be in contact I hung up and nced over at


    Dorothy again. She looked so tiny and fragile curled up there on the seat. Her hair was making a solid


    attempt to escape the braid it was caught in, cascading down her shoulder and sticking out in little


    curling wisps of red and gold.


    Her skin had a pale, almost translucent glow to it and she had the tiniest smattering of freckles over her


    nose. The tiny opal knotted on a thin string around her neck was the color of her eyes. Eyes that were


    now scrunched closed like she was fighting monsters in her dreams.


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    My thoughts wandered back to the nightmare I’d woken her from earlier. The creature in the woods


    she’d said, or something to that extent. Something about this girl had sparked my interest and I found


    myself wanting to know more about her.


    To get to know her. I wanted to know if she preferred strawberries or orange slices, winter or spring. I


    wanted to get to know Dorothy, although I wasn’t entirely sure why.


    I found myself so deep in my musings I almost missed the turnoff to the vi I’d rented out for the


    duration of my stay. I could have stayed with my father in the fancier hotel further on. But the thought of


    waking up to Elliot’s cold demeanor every morning was daunting and I was weak in that regard.


    I pulled the car into the parking area and tried to wake Dorothy up. Her eyelids fluttered and I caught a


    glimpse of those striking opal irises before she was out once more. Getting out and rounding the car, I


    unbuckled her and lifted her to my chest again.


    Dorothy wrapped both arms around my neck and sighed into my car, still half asleep and much less


    indignant about me carrying her than she would have been if she was awake. Her breath on my neck


    sent shivers down my spine and her scent was stronger than ever.


    The afternoon sun was sending  nted rays of light through the trees nearby and made her hair look


    even brighter, radiating in the golden glow. Turning to head into the vi I noticed another car parked in


    the empty bay beside mine. A familiar car. My gaze shot to the entrance of the vi where Johan was


    leaning against the door with folded arms.