3. Aurelia

Chapter 3

Aurelia

T he pages of my journal fluttered before a burst of wind flapped the pages against my hand. My hair whipped around my head. I slapped my palm onto my notes before they could blow away and looked up from the little table at which I sat. Dark clouds boiled overhead, having gathered in the distance and raced closer. The first smattering of rain splatted against the wooden tabletop through the window of my room and pelted my forehead. The sounds of metal dinging and sails snapping overhead, billowing and straining against the rigging, filtered in alongside the rain.

Nervous flutters danced within my belly at the natural but turbulent violence quickly escalating around me. I'd never been on a ship before. I'd never seen limitless azure ocean stretching for as far as the eye could see, the land drifting away and leaving the vessel an isolated floating island. If something went wrong, no help could reach us in time to save us from a watery demise. We couldn't seek shelter or hide from the elements around us. At no time was that so evident as when the storm bore down on us.

Unable to concentrate, I shut the window and made my way to the deck. Crew members ran in all directions as they made ready for the storm. Someone groaned, and I twisted to see behind me. Hadriel clung to the railing, head hung over it, fingers white. There probably wasn't enough elixir in the world to keep him from feeling the roll and surge of the ship.

A streak of lightning cut across the sky, a flash of incandescent white-blue against the tempestuous shades of gray. I stood as a white-crested wave swelled in front of the ship. As the bow lifted and then plunged down, my nervousness turned into a tingling of fear. I braced my hand on the railing to keep from falling as a deck hand stopped near me.

"We're going to need you to go below deck," he yelled over the growing howl of the winds. "Let's get you secured."

I didn't respond to him verbally, still locked inside of myself as I processed my life and the feelings of betrayal against the woman who'd sheltered me.

Who'd used me.

The ship heaved as I turned and passed him, now using the railing to steady myself but unable to keep from looking at the surging, swirling waters. If I fell overboard, I'd be a goner. I knew how to swim, but not well. I wouldn't be strong enough to keep my head above those rolling waters.

Fear starting to churn now, I veered left as the ship pitched, stumbled right when it crashed down the other way, and worked my way back to my cabin. Weston wasn't there—he was probably checking in with the captain or making sure his pack was secured against the growing aggression of the storm.

I'd shut him out the past few days—I'd shut everyone out—because I needed time to figure things out. In this moment, though, I really wished he'd been waiting in here for me. I needed his confidence that we'd make it through this. That we weren't about to be taken by the waves and quickly sink into the depths.

I moved to organize the things I'd left on the table as the wooden world around me shuddered. In the next moment, the boat pitched forward and I nearly cried out. Lightning flashed beyond the windows and thunder growled in the air.

Terror bled through the numb fog of the last few days, gripping me.

I couldn't stay in here. I couldn't just sit and wonder if we were about to go down. I'd need to see it. I wanted to watch the wave that crested the sides of the ship and washed us all overboard.

Walking in zigzagging lines, I pushed out of the cabin and headed back for the bow of the ship. Spray slapped my face and a gust of wind buffeted against me.

My mother had made a voyage like this. She'd just been rejected by her lover and thrown out of her home. With little coin and a baby on the way, she'd crossed the ocean to a new and uncertain future. She'd braved just such a situation, but she hadn't had a powerful alpha who would protect her. She hadn't had a pack to talk to, or the promise of an animal. She'd been utterly alone. Magicless. Friendless.

She'd been courageous.

Her voice echoed in my mind.

Remember me.

Memories rose like the waves around us—her smiling face, her comforting voice. Reading to me, pretending and playing games with me, trying to give me the best life she could manage under such horrible conditions. She'd sacrificed for me, told me she loved me every day, tried to make me happy.

Granny had done none of those things. She hadn't done anything a parent would or should do. She'd performed the duties of an employer only.

Tears blending with the rain on my face, I edged closer to the bow of the dramatically pitching ship. Lightning spiderwebbed across the sky. Thunder boomed, making my heart sprint. Monstrous waves rose all around the ship, and men and women shouted and screamed as the captain barked orders. Hadriel was gone, probably seeking shelter.

What shelter? How could one secure themselves amid the power of the raging storm?

How could one secure themselves from the devastation I'd wrought at Granny's behest?

I felt just as powerless in this storm as I did in my life: I had no choice but to watch it bear down on me, to ride the waves and hope I made it through.

"Aurelia!" Weston's voice barely cut through the ripping wind and thrashing rain. The ship shuddered before pitching again just as I felt his strong arms wrap around me and pull me close to him. "Baby, what are you doing out here? It's not safe. Gods, you're soaked. C'mon."

I didn't hear a single quiver of worry in his voice regarding our surroundings, toward the boiling sea or the lightning striking ever closer. He gently but firmly turned me. His strong arm wrapped around my shoulders, grounding me.

"Are all storms at sea this bad?" I asked in a small voice as he helped me along the deck, stopping to brace as the boat pitched.

Somehow, he heard me above the crashing waves. "Some, but not all," he said, and I welcomed his unflinching truthfulness. "The captain has been through worse, as have I. He's going to steer us around it. It'll add a little more time to the journey, but it'll be safer. We'll be okay."

I bathed in his unyielding confidence as we made it to our cabin. He ushered me inside. He closed the door behind us before grabbing a large cloth and tossing it on the bed.

"We need to get you out of those clothes before you catch your death of cold," he said, wasting no time in stripping off my shirt. It wasn't even remotely sexual. He wasn't turned on; he was taking care of me.

Heat warmed my heart even as my teeth chattered in the chill of the room.

"What about you?" I asked as he pushed down my pants, and I noticed his wet clothes plastered to his delicious display of muscle.

He wrapped the large towel around my nude body, rubbing away the moisture.

"Don't worry about me. Here, hold this and I'll grab more towels."

I did as he said, drying the damp ends of my hair as I watched him hang up my wet clothes along the pegboard and grab more towels from the chest before returning to me. I shivered as he worked at my legs, blotting between my thighs and around to my butt without lingering. I found myself wishing he would.

"How do you feel?" he asked, peeling the towel away from my upper body just enough to see the continued bruising on my ribs. I closed my eyes as his fingertips gently glanced against my flesh.

"Much better," I murmured. "The elixir really helped."

He pulled his hand away and headed to the closet to grab some nightclothes.

"What if we need to swim for it, though?" I asked as he made ready to help me into them. I didn't mention that I had no idea where we'd swim to .

"We won't." There was zero concern in his voice. "We'll need to brave the rocking of the ship, that's all. It'll be a rough afternoon, but if we can hold on to our stomachs, we'll get through."

Gods, that confidence was so sexy. Fear still pinged along my nerves with each crashing wave, with each drop of the angry, pelting rain against our small windows.

He tucked me into my soft nightclothes, and I found myself wanting to say I was sorry. Or maybe just cry? Maybe scream. It felt like the storm was shaking something loose, as did the way he so selflessly cared for me right now. It was stripping away the numbness I'd wrapped myself in.

"Thank you," I said instead, slipping under the covers for a little warmth.

"My pleasure," he said, and meant it.

He pulled off his shirt and quickly slipped out of his pants. I could see the raised bumps along his skin, showing his chill. He dried himself quickly and shrugged into dry clothes before hanging up his wet items.

"The rest of the pack has already been seen to," he said. "Now all I have to do is wait it out like everyone else."

He approached the side of the bed, all business, before slipping in. He didn't scoot close, respectful of the distance I'd implemented these past few nights. And while I might need it again as I worked through the part he had played in all of this, right now, as my world tilted around me both literally and figuratively, I needed a strong body to hold on to.

Specifically, his strong body.

"My mom crossed an ocean," I said, reaching for him. I scooted a little closer.

He closed the distance quickly, pulling me onto his chest and breathing me in. His arms wrapped around me tightly, and I issued a sigh of relief, melting against him. Fuck, this felt so good. He felt so good. I hated that we had a muddy history between us. I hated that my mind and body always seemed to be at odds where he was concerned.

"That's right, I remember you saying that." His deep voice rumbled in his chest. Even though the ship tilted ever more to the right, the room now at an angle and my heart crawling into my throat, his heartbeat was strong and sure. He, somehow, was not worried. It made me feel a little better.

"She never mentioned a storm, though." I laid my hand against his warm neck. "She didn't say much about it at all. I think if I were to tell someone about my crossing, this would be the first thing I mentioned."

I tilted my face up, grazing my lips against his skin.

His breath hitched and his heart sped up.

My belly flipped. A vicious storm at sea didn't affect him, but a little kiss from me had this big alpha's body reacting. Something about that fact tightened my insides in all the right ways.

I sucked on his skin and ran my palm down his chest and to his stomach, heading lower still. Before I could reach his cock—I was now salivating to taste it—he flipped me, spooning me from behind and holding me there with his strong embrace.

"If you do that, my little wolf, I'll lose control and lock you up."

"Why is that bad?" I asked, my stomach flipping again as the ship tilted further still. I closed my eyes, but could still feel the angle. "I could definitely use a distraction. I do not like how far this boat is leaning."

"I think, instead, you could use some sleep."

"I will never be able to fall asleep in this storm."

"You will." His large hand drifted up my outer thigh before ducking under the hem of my nightdress. "I'll get you good and relaxed, and then I'll hold you tightly. You will trust me when I promise that nothing will happen to you."

His touch lightened, only a tease, drawing my focus. His lips skimmed the shell of my ear before dipping to my neck, taking little nips.

"Do you know how I'll get you good and relaxed?" he murmured, his fingers reaching my hips and then angling in and down, slipping beneath my panties. "I'm going to stroke this pretty pussy until you explode."

I could feel his hardness against my butt, and I tried to reach back for him.

"Ah-ah-ah," he chided, capturing my wrist with the hand that wasn't busy. He pulled it away and secured it alongside the other; both my wrists were now gripped in one of his hands. "You're being a naughty girl, Little Wolf. I'm going to make you beg."

He ran his fingers between my thighs, and I spread wider to give him more access.

"Mmm, you're so wet for me," he growled, dipping one of his fingers into me before circling my clit. "Do you like that?" He nipped my neck.

"I want to feel you inside me," I panted.

"I am inside you." He dipped two fingers into me roughly, stroking while the heel of his hand ground against my clit. "I can make you scream just like this."

His other hand tightened against my wrists and his strong arms created a tighter cage around me, dominating me with both his strength and size. I groaned as his fingers plunged inside me again, hitting the perfect spot.

"Move your hips, baby," he said, scraping his teeth against the sensitive skin on my neck. "Fuck my fingers with that wet pussy."

I whimpered at his dirty talk, eager to comply. I rocked my hips into him and was rewarded with that exquisite rubbing, the heel of his hand creating the most delicious friction.

"Good girl," he purred, and I lost all control.

I cried his name as I thrashed against him. I'd spent too many days in close proximity while denying myself the feel of his body and the sweet surrender of release. I chased it now, my pussy tightening around those thick fingers as he pumped them into me.

"Mark me," I begged, pushing back against his throbbing hardness.

He cupped his hand against me, rough and punishing and so fucking good.

"Please, Alpha, mark your Little Wolf."

He growled against the shell of my ear as he quickened his pace, finger-fucking me with abandon. He thrust his hard cock against my ass, dry-humping as though he couldn't help but chase his own pleasure.

"Yes, Weston," I said, stretching my neck to give him access, my world reduced down to this moment, to the feel of his body, the hard plunge of his fingers, the pulse of his hips. "Please..."

He bit into my neck, very near to my shoulder but just outside of a permanent claiming mark. I gasped as raw hunger lit me up and my whole being exploded. Pleasure tore me apart in the most glorious of ways; it felt as though pieces were scattered all throughout the universe for him to collect and puzzle back together. Waves of ecstasy shook my body as he shuddered, finding his release against me.

He kissed up my neck softly, breathing deeply. I settled against him, my eyes closed. All I knew was the feel of him, his arms around me, his face close to mine. Nothing mattered save his proximity.

"Sleep, baby," he murmured, relaxing against me, his heart still beating quickly. "I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you."

Defying all odds, I slipped into a comforting, dreamless sleep with the alpha's strength coiled around me.