Chapter 14

Elijah - Chapter 14

Noelle was going to kill someone. She really didn't care who it was at this point, but she wanted someone to pay. She glared at Trent when he laughed. Again.

"You can't make him wake up by being all pissed off. Maybe, as I have suggested several times now, you should go down to the kitchen and get you something to eat. The baby needs it." She huffed. "And that won't work either. You're supposed to be in awe of me, not mean."

"You're a prick. And he's been out for three days. I want him to wake up now. The rest of you got up quickly." She'd never been so terrified in her life when the door she'd been trying to open for twenty minutes suddenly did as she wanted and tossed her back on her ass. Then something—she was still trying to get that answer from someone—had hit her. Hard. "I'm supposed to go and talk to Howard today. And I'm meeting Ron and Daniel for lunch afterwards."

"I can stay here with him." She told Trent she wanted Elijah to go with her. "I'm not sure that's going to be possible. He's still resting."

If she could have gotten away with it, Noelle was sure she could have easily murdered Trent right where he sat. She glanced at Elijah again and wondered what he'd think about her being in prison.

"He will be fine." She asked Trent how he knew. "Because the rest of us are. And he saved us all by doing what he did. I'm still not sure about the tree, but I guess he'll explain it to us when he wakes up."

"Noah told him to ask for it. He told me yesterday that it had been Elijah's idea to have a tree to swing his children on. When I asked him what that had to do with the earth, he told me that the oak has a deep root, much like the one in his family. That we get our strength much like the tree does from the earth. Asking Richard for the oak and to keep it safe for all of us said to him that we were going to be here for a good long time, long enough to make sure that we hold him to his promise. I guess even with him being a demon like he is, he is a man of his word." Noelle thought of something else that Noah had told her. "He knew who he was. Noah knows Richard. Not as a demon, but I guess they ran into each other many years ago and Noah knew what he was. I guess few can recognize a demon when they see them. Noah did."

"I heard him telling Grandda that there was a connection between the two of them, and that Richard vowed never to hurt such a creature as Noah. I wonder if that is the reason." Noelle said she wasn't sure but supposed it could be. "Noelle, I promise you, I can hear Elijah's heart beating normally, as well as his breathing is fine. He will wake when he wakes."

She knew, deep in her heart, that he was going to be all right. But that didn't lessen the fact that she wanted him awake, holding her in his arms, loving her.

"I talked to Sterl yesterday. He said that he's never felt better. I guess he's enjoying his painting too. And I'm helping him find a staff. Alta said that she can't keep picking up after him and feeding him well too. I think he's eating better as well." Trent nodded, and she stood up to walk to the window. "Have you messed with the power that we got? I mean, even to see what we can do?"

"Some. When we shift, we're dressed as we were before we changed. I can bring things to me with just a thought. Also, I have this ability to read the mind of some of the pack…not all, but a few. Mostly it's when they're hiding something, like they've no money for a bill or that they're without food. Joe and the others can as well. It's come in handy when we go to see people around the pack land." She nodded. "What is it you have figured out?"

"I can feel my child. Not just when it moves, but hear it talking to me. It's strange to feel...I can feel that I'm having twins too. A boy and a girl. I've not told anyone but you, so if you could just not say anything for a few more weeks, I'd appreciate it." Noelle watched the oak sway in the yard. There was a big fully grown one in each of their yards, even the cabin in the woods that Trent and Joe stayed at sometimes. "Yesterday when I took a walk in the yard, a sapling fell from the tree. Not a seed, but a sapling. When I took it in the house to see to it, I had the feeling that it was to be planted near the pond, and that your grandma was to help me do it."

"She told me that you and her planted one of the trees. Do you know why?" She nodded. "If you know that she's to pass and that you wanted to have this tree, please don't. I love her too much to let her go now that she's back here."

"No, nothing like that. But did she tell you what she told me when we were finished?" Trent said that he wasn't sure what she meant. "When we had the tree in the soil, we stood back and watched as new branches formed over it and leaves began to uncurl. Jasmine took my hand in hers and told me that when she'd been younger, a man had come to their land and had been upset that some of his sheep had been killed. He must have guessed what they were, she told me, and he accused your grandda of killing them. The man said he was going to hang Trent Senior from the tree and had put a rope around him to do so. She said that she'd not been able to shift, she'd been so afraid that he'd kill them both. Jasmine was carrying your dad at the time. But he only got your grandda in the tree when it broke. The branch fell and hit the man on the head and killed him."

"I'd heard that before. When I was a child. Grandda said that since he'd not shifted to heal the numerous wounds that the man had caused, the law back then had ruled it self-defense and that there was never any mention of it again. Even his wife, the other man's, had said that her husband hadn't been right in the head for some time. Something about poor whisky." She continued to watch the tree. "They buried him under a tree. I'm betting it was an oak."

"It was." Turning back to Trent, she could see the confusion on his face. She was all right with that there; she'd been feeling a great deal of that herself. "I'd like to take a nap. With Elijah. If you'd just go away, I'd be really happy."

"Do you dislike me, Noelle?" She asked him why he'd ask her that. "I'm not sure. But lately, since we dealt with Richard and Helenia, I've had the feeling that you'd rather I wasn't around. Not just here, but at all. Why is that?"

"You should have taken the dagger." He said nothing, but stared at her. "Why was he the one that had to do this? Why didn't you do it if you're his leader or whatever you are to him? He's suffering because you didn't protect him."

Trent didn't move from the chair. Her heart hurt now for saying aloud what she'd been thinking for too long. When he did stand, she had a feeling that he was pissed. And when he stood in front of her, she could see his wolf as he moved along his face, and he was there in his eyes.

"Every moment of each day that he lays there, I wonder the same thing. I wonder why the dagger went to him and not me. Why he was the one that was to cure the earth and not me. And why he got the brunt of whatever happened and not me." She watched as tears rolled down his face, the same as they did on hers. "You think that it was my grand plan to get him hurt? It wasn't. I have no idea what happened to him that day, not a clue. But in a heartbeat, I'd gladly trade him places."

"I need him." Trent said that he did as well. "He's all I have in the world. The only person who has ever loved me, made me feel secure. And now he won't wake up for me. I need him."

"I'm sorry." Trent pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. Noelle felt the love then, the overwhelming sorrow coming from Trent. And when she felt herself go weak with the pain of all this, he picked her up and laid her beside Elijah. "I'm so very sorry, Noelle. But I promise you that he'll wake, and when he does, he'll tell you what both Sterl and I did. That we had nothing to do with what happened out there. That he was the one that the dagger chose, not me."

"I want him awake, Trent. I want to feel his arms around me. His love for me. I'm so afraid." He said that he was as well. "What if he never wakes up? What will happen to me and his children?"

"We will care for you as he would have. Love them and tell them about their daddy every day, and show them all the pictures that we have. But you won't have to worry about this happening. He's going to be fine. You have to believe that." She nodded, still hurt. "Sleep, love. Just hold him in your arms and sleep with him. You've not been resting well. Okay?"

As she was rolled to her side and a blanket laid over them both, all she could think about was her children, hers and Elijah's, and what she was going to do if he left her like this. Closing her eyes, she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, the sadness of being alone and all the other emotions that she knew were right there on the sidelines just waiting to make themselves known to her.

Just as she was ready to get up and pace again, she saw Noah. When he touched his fingers to her forehead and said "Sleep," there was nothing she could do but fall into the deep abyss he seemed to throw her into.

~*~

Every part of him was warm, almost hot. Elijah wanted to toss off the heavy blanket over him and reached out to do so when he touched his fingers to her skin. He knew that it was Noelle, knew the feel of her flesh as he did his own. Rolling to his back carefully, he looked down at her sleeping face.

"Do not wake her just yet." He looked at the chair next to his bed and saw Noah sitting there with the stupid envelope on his lap. "She's not been well, trying her best to will you to get better and wake up for her. I think she even told Trent to go away at some point."

"Is she all right?" Noah said she was all right now that he'd put her to sleep for a few hours. "How long have I been here?"

"Just a little over three days. I would have thought longer, but I'm glad you're awake now so I can speak to you. Helenia is gone." Elijah said he'd hoped so. "Yes, well, she's not dead, though I would bet she wishes that she was. Helenia is the fuck bitch for Richard and any other creature he wishes to share her with. I'm thinking that Helenia will receive the kind of hell that she deserves. Thanks to you."

"I only did what you told me to do." Noah nodded and smiled. "Was there a reason for the tree? I mean, you were so excited about it."

"Oaks are something that few know can kill a demon. Tossing an acorn at one will have them running in the opposite direction, despite their magic. And not just the wood, but every part of it. And the young saplings, they're the most toxic of all. If you capture a demon, build a box from an oak and he'll never be able to get out of it once you put him inside." Elijah asked him how that was to happen. "I never figured that out either, but I do know that they're deathly afraid of the mighty oak tree."

"And when I asked for it, I was telling him what? Telling him that I meant business, or that I knew about the oak and what it would do to him?" Noah laughed and said he hoped he thought of both. "Do you think he knows you're the one who told me that?"

"I'm sure of it. As I mentioned, few know much about demons and what it takes to harm one." Elijah looked down at Noelle and Noah cleared his throat. "You must tell her that you were the one to do this because of the dagger. She blames your brother for not saving you."

"I'll talk to her. She was there, just before I was taken under. I could feel her fear." Noah nodded. "Was there something else? Something that I should know right now?"

"Yes. The magic has been given to all of you. Including your grandparents and parents. Even I got a little. Myra said that Chris did that for all of you to be around for a long while. She said that she'd be back if you had any questions." Elijah nodded. "Noelle got a good deal more because of her breeding."

"You mean our child got some of it too." Noah nodded. "Why do I have the feeling that you're not telling me it all? And that when the time comes, you're going to be laughing your ass off when I figure it out?"

"I'm a jolly man like that, I guess." He stood up. "No one was harmed in this family. All of you, as I said, have a bit of it. You and Sterling, you both got the bulk of it. And so you know, he's going to be just fine now. Better, as a matter of fact."

"Good. If anyone deserves it, he does. He's been through a lot." Noah nodded. "Now, if there is nothing else pressing, I'd very much like to wake my mate and make love to her for a few hours. And if it's all the same to you, I'd rather you weren't here."

"I understand completely." Noah moved to the door and paused before turning. "Noelle still hasn't opened her settlement from her father. You should do that soon. There are things there that are going to make her very happy. You too."

"Is it more magic?" Noah said there was some, but not as much as they'd gotten from Helenia. He told him it was going to make them very rich, richer than they were at present. "Then it can wait. I need to be with Noelle now and then we'll take care of it. All right?"

When Noah left them, laughing, Elijah tried to decide the best way to wake Noelle. All sorts of delightful things came to mind and he got out of the bed. Stripping down to his bare skin, he let his wolf take him. Time for them both to have a little fun.

As he was pulling the blanket off her, she rolled to her back. He was glad to find her naked and warm too. Elijah hadn't thought of her position on the bed when his wolf had come to him. Leaping up on the bed, he sat between her legs and nudged her legs wider open with his nose. Her scent was soft, sweet smelling in her slumber. As soon as he licked her, he was surprised at how quickly she went from nothing to aroused. Christ, she was going to kill them both one of these days, he knew it. Lying down, his wolf licked her again, and when she moaned, he moved closer to feast on her more.

She tasted different to him. Not just the fact that she was carrying his child now, but there was something more, a hint of magic that he and his wolf could taste. Sliding his tongue deep into her pussy had her rolling her hips up to meet him, and Elijah knew it was only a matter of time before she woke screaming his name. The feel of her fingers curling into his fur had him watching her, and when she sat up, she fell over the edge as he took her juices into his body. His wolf growled low when his fur was pulled.

Come for us again, baby. We need more of you. She lay back on the bed, spreading her legs wide for them. His wolf moved closer, taking his time now with bringing her as much pleasure as he could give his mate. And when she cupped her breasts, pulling on the tight nubs there, he was hungry for a taste of her as well. When his wolf sat up and threw back his head to howl, every part of him felt it. And so did Noelle.

As soon as he was released, his wolf letting him have his mate, Elijah lifted her up to this mouth and devoured her, ate not just of her pussy but her thighs and hips, her navel as well as her ass. There wasn't a part of her that he didn't want a taste of, and when she cried out again that she was coming, he spread her nether lips open and watched as the cream flowed from her.

"Please, Elijah, I need to feel you inside of me." He moved up her then, slowly, nipping and tasting her flesh as he went. Her breasts were suckled, her nipples feasted upon. Even her throat felt his mouth, his teeth as he made his way to her mouth. And kissing her, sliding his tongue over hers, Elijah knew a new kind of pleasure. Her hunger matched his own.

Sliding into her heat, he paused. She was tight, her body milking his as he was poised to fill her completely. And when she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her legs over his hips, Elijah watched her face as he made love her to her slowly, pulling back out only to fill her again and again.

"I love you." She said that she loved him as well, with a catch in her voice that made him smile. "I can never get enough of you. I don't think I even want to try."

"Take me, Elijah, please." This time when he moved into her, he slammed forward. It took her breath away and his too. He fucked her hard now, each stroke a little harder, and each time he slid to his tip, he held her closer to him. When she dug her nails into his back, her nails cutting deeply, Elijah found her pounding pulse and bit down over it. Her second scream of release had his wolf snarling at him to take her again.

Pounding her now, taking her up and over several times as he drank deeply from her, he felt the moment that he was ready, that his cock and balls were full now to release. Lifting his mouth from her throat, he let his beast roll over him as he came hard and completely. Then he came again, then again as his body felt the need to fill her.

As he dropped down, his body no less spent than he felt like she was, he pulled her atop him and held her to him as his heart slowed and his mind didn't feel like it was running too fast. She was limp over him, and he used the last of his strength to pull the blanket over them both when she shivered. Elijah was sure that he was going to die now, that he'd peaked too soon. When she lifted her head up and looked down at him, he didn't even have any energy left to smile at her.

"You've killed me." Her giggle had him looking at her with one eye closed. "I'm not kidding. I think you've drained me to the very end, and then for good measure, you sucked all my good intentions out as well."

"What sort of good intentions did you have, waking me with your wolf eating me for his breakfast?" Well, he thought, she did have him there. "I've been really worried about you. Trent said you'd be all right, but I didn't believe him."

"He was worried as well. I think when the dagger came to me instead of him, he was ready to jerk it from me and do what needed to be done." She laid her head down, not saying anything. "Trent would have done it if he could have."

"Did you talk to him then? To Trent when you woke up?" He told her he had not, not yet. "I was mad at him before he left here today. I think I might have hurt his feelings."

"Just talk to him. He's not mad at you." At least he'd better not be. "Have you spoken to Sterl? I mean, since I've been sleeping my life away?"

"Yes. He's been in and out, all of them have. But he's been staying here too. Trent came in too every day, but your grandparents and Sterl have been staying here with me at night." He nodded. "I really like Jasmine."

"Jasmine? Oh, Grandma. I forgot...well, I never think of her as having a first name. She's always been just ‘Grandma' to me." He held Noelle, stroking her back with his fingers now that his strength was returning. "Grandma said that they wanted to hang around until the baby is born. She wants to knit things for it."

"Them." He asked her what she meant around a yawn that seemed to make him feel better. "We're having twins. A boy and a girl."

"What?" When she didn't answer him right away, he rolled her to her back and leaned over her. "Twins? You're having twins?"

"No, we're having twins." She took his hand down to her flat belly and put it over it. "Listen to them. You can hear them too, I bet."

Holding his breath, he felt her belly, the warmth of it under his hand. And when he heard the small sound, more like a chirping than a voice, he knew immediately that it was his daughter. The second sound, his son, was there too. Elijah kissed Noelle without taking his hand from his children and the connection he had there.

"I told Trent, I mean about the babies, and he promised not to tell anyone else." Elijah nodded, not caring who knew that he was going to have twins, one of each. "I thought it would be more fun for us to tell your parents and grandparents."

Elijah jumped from the bed and began searching for his clothing. A sock was under the bed; his pants were over the back of the chair. When Noelle laughed and asked him what he was doing, he told her getting ready to see his family.

"I'm pretty sure that we can wait for a little while. I mean, we have nine months." Elijah was so let down that he felt himself pouting. "Oh all right, you big baby, we'll tell them, but you need to shower. You smell of burnt dog."

"Will you join me?" He wiggled his brows at her and smiled when she laughed. "All right, I'll shower alone. In the big bathroom all by myself."

She was laughing when he turned on the water and looked in the mirror. The man staring back at him looked so much different than he thought he should. Elijah felt...older. Then he realized that wasn't it…he felt like his mind was stronger, along with his body. Like he'd been packed with a great deal of information in a short amount of time. As he stood there wondering where that thought came from, he saw the mark on his shoulder. It was a small bejeweled dagger.

Trying not to freak the fuck out any more than he was, he reached for Noah. He'd woken him, for which Elijah was sorry, but he needed to know what this meant. The dagger looked just like the one that had come to him.

It's saying that you survived a demon. Richard, as a matter of fact. And so you know, I spoke to him last night...well, the day before yesterday now, and he said that while you might be marked, he wasn't sure, he would not be able to find you. You and the rest of the Calhouns are untouchable to him and his kind. Elijah asked him what that meant. That no demon, or any product of a demon, can harm you. That you are as safe from them and their spells as anyone has ever been. That would include any and all children you take into your hearts too.

You mean adopted. Noah said that was what he figured, but hadn't thought to ask. I'm not sure what to think about this. I mean, does Trent or the rest of them know?

No. I figured if you wanted them to know, that you'd tell them. He could almost feel the other man's exhaustion. I must rest, my good friend. I have had a long day and a longer night. If that is all, I can rest and see you on the sunset.

Yes, that's fine. I'm sure that I'll have a thousand and one questions by then. The connection closed with laughter from Noah. Elijah took his shower and dressed. Really, clothing just appeared on him when he thought of them. That was the first question he was going to ask the man about.