Sanctuary Killer: Home

Chapter Seventeen – Waking Up

I wake-up not sure where I am and I start to panic and I struggle to open my eyes. I hear the familiar voice of Porter whispering to me, “I am so, so sorry. Please don’t hate me, Little Bird. I had no choice. I tried to talk your father out of this. Just wake up for me.” Porter’s voice trails off at the end. I feel the sadness rolling off him in waves. I reach out to hold his hand.

“Wha-what happened? How did I get here?” I whisper as my eyes flutter open and realize I am in my room.

“Take it easy, Little Bird. It’s going to take a few minutes for your body to adjust. Birdy is trying to fight the effects of the Wolf’s Bane and doing very well I might add.” Porter says.

I slowly turn my head and see Porter is sitting on the edge of my bed rubbing a cold rag across my forehead. His eyes say everything I already know. I can see the anguish in his face.

“I don’t blame you Porter. It was my fault. I-I haven’t worked with Birdy like I should but...” My voice cracks as I choke back tears.

“Oh, Little Bird. I know you miss Griff and if I had any way to bring him back to you, I would” Porter says as he picks me up and hugs me tightly.

“Oh. Porter. That’s not it,” I pause. “I-I just can’t talk about it. I’m going to have to figure this out on my own,” I tell him realizing that I do already have feelings for Marshall and Birdy already sees him as our mate, regardless that he is human.

“Well, I’m here if you need someone to talk. You know that don’t you?” He says as he bends down to look at me at eye level. I nod yes, as he wipes the tears off my cheeks. “You are so incredible Raelynne. I know life has knocked you down and down hard but you’re one of the strongest people I have ever known and I’ve known a lot of people in this long life of mine. Whatever you are going through right now, it will get better. I promise,” Porter pauses.

“Now, you need to get yourself together. Your father expects everyone at the gathering tonight, including you. And even though you will be surrounded by the pack, I want you to carry protection. So, you know what that means. Take your time Raelynne, but once you are ready, come down to the south pavilion” Porter says as he rubs my back. “Now, I’ve got some other things to attend to so, I will see you later.” Porter stands and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

I lay in my bed for a few minutes not believing how this day went from bad to downright shitty. I roll over and notice some fabric sticking out from under my pillow. I pull on it and realize its Marshall’s shirt. The one he used to cover me up with last night. I bunch it up and push it against my nose and inhale deeply. It still smells like him. I close my eyes and feel the waves of desire wash through my body and a calmness soothe my mind. I can only imagine Birdy purring right now.

I don’t want to admit it to myself, but part of me already knows Marshall is my mate. There was no doubt about it once I looked into his eyes today. For that brief moment, the whole world stopped and time stood still. That’s the moment I knew. But does he know? Did he feel it too? How can a human be my mate? I don’t understand, it’s unheard of. What is my father going to say? Worse my mother. She wants to see me married off to the highest bidder. There is no way in hell or highwater, she can except anything less than a natural born werewolve married to her Alpha daughter, next pack leader of I start to feel dizzy with the zillion of questions going through my head.

“I don’t want a mate” I yell, as I wad up Marshall’s shirt and stuff it back under my pillows.

Part of me wants to just stay here and wallow in self-pity, but that’s what my father expects and I’m not about to give him that satisfaction right now. I know I should have had better control over Birdy so she couldn’t shift like that. And shifting on our mate, seriously! I can’t imagine what Marshall thought. There was a part of me that wanted to bite him but not out of anger. I wanted to mark him as my mate. Ugg. I need to get him out of my head.

I slowly get up and take a long hot bath. The combination of today’s twin sparring matches and the Wolf’s Bane has my muscles knotted.

After my bath, I go to my closet to get dressed. I grab a pair of lace panties out of my underwear draw then throw on my favorite pair of blue jeans over them. I put on a cheap white “husband beater” undershirt and my favorite pair of cowboy boots. I quickly braid my hair into a fishtail braid wrapping a small leather strap around the end as a hair tie. I pull it to the front hoping to hide the remaining hickeys on my neck. I take one last glance in the mirror and decide to at least throw on some mascara, white eyeshadow and pink lip gloss.

Remembering what Porter said, I go over to my safe to take out my protection. I grab my thigh holster and strap it on. I take out my Smith & Wesson M&P®45 SHIELD™ and make sure it’s fully loaded. I then go to the closet and grab my black leather jacket since I know it will be cold tonight, even with a bonfire going. Even though werewolves run on the hot side, without the connection with Birdy, at the moment I It’s not quite spring yet, so night do get chilly.

I begin my usual routine of checking my inside pockets for my Leatherman multi-tool and a lighter. Since I can’t mind link with anyone, I’ll have to stick to the old handy cell phone, so I grab it off the charger and stick it in the pocket of my jacket. I make sure to tuck an extra clip of bullets as well. Just in case; you never know. I then close my safe, take one last survey to see if I am missing anything. Satisfied I open the door and head down the hall.