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That night, I slept in Dale's arms, though, sleep may be the wrong word. Tossing and turning, I fought Malcolm off over and over again in my head. The next morning, before breakfast, Dale took me back to the cottage and stood me over Malcolm's body.
"He's dead, Vera. He can never hurt you again. You need to see this, let it sink in." Dale stepped back from me. "Do what you need to do to make it real for you." While Dale giving me space, but he was paying attention and staying close if I needed him.
Tears fell down my cheeks as I stared down at the body. Years upon years of pain and fear. "He said it wasn't all bad. He said until my pheromones became too much, they were nice to me."
Staring at Malcolm, painful moment after painful moment got washed away to one moment. It all came down to one horrible deed. "He raped a fourteen-year-old virgin and acted like I should be grateful. Every time he touched me, he was raping me all over again, for years, and he convinced me that this is how it is. That this is what it is like for women."
Dale growled, a thread of his fury whipping through the room, but I didn't cringe from it. Dale's anger no longer terrified me, it soothed me. Feeling his rage at my experience, reassured me that it wasn't the typical male mentality.
"I know I'm not the first, and I won't be the last. Human or otherwise. It should never happen. What it does is more than physical. It lasts longer than the act takes for him, and it's more than forcing you against your will."
My fingers were cramping as the pain and torment of that one unforgivable deed called my hate to the surface. With a scream worthy of a horror film, I lunged. Clawing at his face, his chest, gouging out his eyes, ripping his heart and lungs from his chest. Tearing away his sense of self like he did to me.
I wanted my hate to stain his soul. For Malcolm to know how it felt not to be able to breathe around the anguish of you, as a person, not mattering. For him to experience being a body, a piece of flesh for amusement.
There was an unsatisfying lack of blood - since the body exsanguinated the night before. Still, the ruined body, his torn-up face, his sightless eyes, it didn't take it away. Nothing ever was going too.
Closing my eyes, I cried for a minute. My claws cramped, and I stretched them as they returned to human form. Washing my hands and face, I stared at the scarlet veined webbing of my shattered mirror. Bob nearly died protecting me.
"They are not all bad, but they aren't all good." My eyes drifted to the corner where Howard's body was still slumped. "Even amongst the good, there are the rotten." Sucking in a breath, I walked out to find Dale struggling to control his emotions on the back veranda. Tears stained his cheeks, and it made my heart skip a beat that his empathy extended that deep.
"It's devastating, and the effects will last a lifetime. It is like having your entire self, body, and soul, eviscerated." I considered the backyard. "He never got that. I doubt he cared enough to even try."
My sense of Dale evoked torn emotions. He wanted to wrap me up and assure me that would never happen to me again. He also accepted touching me right now may not sit well with me. Another part of him wanted to go back in and finish maiming Malcolm's body. Dale wanted to throw the body to his pack and watch them play tug-a-war with it, ripping it to a thousand pieces.
As voices approached from the forest path, Dale lifted his head to watch the Liderii arrive. There were strange wolves with them. Moving to Dale as he composed himself, I used my sleeve to wipe the remnants of his sympathy away. Threading my fingers with his, I gazed into his eyes. "That was my past; you are my future."
Smiling, Dale cupped my face and kissed me. His eyes looked between us, then back to meet mine. "I have to tell them."
Understanding it was necessary, I nodded. "I'm going to go back to the house, check on Bob, and cook him something special for breakfast."
Clamping my hand in his before I could walk away, Dale collected his phone, texting as he talked. "Greet them first, it is important. Jeremy will come down to walk you back to the house."
More than happy to not be alone right now, I stayed close to Dale's side. Last night, Dale told me that from now on, if he was in the city, so was I. Since, I didn't like being away from him, I didn't mind.
We greeted the Liderii as friends. Quinton was very concerned with my wellbeing. "I hear congratulations were in order before this sadness? The Goddess asks her chosen to endure so much, but the happiness she grants them as a reward is beyond compare."
Thinking back to the story of Luna and the tragedy that befell her before she found her mate, it made me hope. Cerese was beside herself with the idea of an Alpha trying to steal another Alpha's mate. But it was Ralph who got down to business.
"We will need to notify his pack. By law, you should be their new Alpha, Dale."
"I didn't kill him; I can't take the credit."
"Who's…?"
"Vera can shift, to both beast and full form. She protected her new packmate, she saved Bob's life."
The Liderii stared at me. Thankfully, Jeremy arrived at that moment. "I need to rest and check on Bob. I will make you all morning tea for when you finish."
"Vera is an accomplished chef. It is worth experiencing," Dale encouraged.
"I look forward to it," Quinton replied. "I would also like to see you try and teach Cerese to shift, as you did your wife."
"Could he do that?" I whispered to Jeremy.
"He is a strong alpha. It is worth the try. If he can teach Cerese, he might be able to teach Alexia and Hymn, and then the other half-breeds."
Considering what it would be like for all these girls to find their wolf after all this time. "That would be pretty awesome."
