Lockwood City: The Tale of Eloise

Four

Pierce The Viel- I Don't Care If You're Contagious

Elias:

Sitting in my room feels surreal. I feel like I've never been here before and yet, my walls are covered with pictures of my childhood. Group photos, trophies, and toys. Things I've collected over the years. My room looks exactly as I do. Living. Despite my being gone for so long. Even my scent clings to the edges of this room.

That tower. That f*****g tower has everything but any sign of a living person. The only pictures are the Luna's paintings. There aren't any awards or pictures anywhere. No sign of interests. Everything is perfectly curated a certain way. Even the way she writes has no character to it. Her handprint is perfect. Like a font rather than handwriting.

"Hey, I came as soon as I saw the alarm go-" my dad stopped at my door. I haven't been here in years. I moved out as soon as I graduated high school. I stayed in the dorms before getting my loft downtown. "What's going on?"

"I met her," I say looking down at the picture of my mate and me when we were kids. She had been my best friend. We were always together and then she was gone. Even after they found her, I never got her back. I won't ever get her back.

"Eli," he sighs coming over to me. He sits down taking the picture frame from my hand. "How is she?"

"I've-" her scent clings to me. Something sweet, like burnt sugar and vanilla. My mouth fills with saliva and my wolf revels in the memory of her scent. Images of her wolf scenting us. "She's my mate,"

He nods as if he expected such.

"Did you go up to see her?" he whispers.

"No," I shake my head. "I went down to the Tower and as I was patrolling the area for rogues, I found her outside,"

"Outside?" he asks. "She came out on her own?"

"Alpha Tec got her a wolf. A pet. She said he told her that he found it last night. She was playing with him,"

"I see," he nods. "Have you spoken to her?"

"Yeah, we spent the morning together," I take a deep breath and let it out as slowly as I can. "She is not in good shape, Dad. She's barely alive. The way she shifted. She's afraid of what she is,"

"With good reason," he whispers. My eyes shoot to his.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Elias, when we found her-" he pauses taking a deep breath. "When we found Eloise," he closes his eyes tightly and tears slide down his face. "Killing her would have been merciful,"

"Dad-"

"No," he looks up at me with tears pooling in his eyes. "What they did to her down there, no baby girl should ever endure. What followed was something out of a f*****g horror movie," he stands up wiping his face. "Her shift was violent. She destroyed the entire clinic and nearly tore through the concrete walls. She killed Doctor Garret Stronghold and three nurses who had been taking care of her for months.

"She rampaged for six days straight. We couldn't get her to shift back. It was like she wasn't there. We contemplated putting her down. Once the wolf tired herself out, she gave her back. I've seen some f****d up s**t in this city but never like that. Never like that," he shakes his head. "Her instincts are sharp. She's aware of her surroundings like nothing I've ever seen before. Rapunzel is feral, Elias. She's broken on the inside, son. Incapable of making a connection,"

"We don't know that," I stand up. "I can help her,"

"Maybe," he nods. "Maybe you can get her to leave the tower. Help her reconnect with her people, but anything other than that. She's not going to give you, Elias. You must know that,"

"Then I help her reconnect and get nothing else out of it," I say. "She's my mate and she belongs with me. Even if she can't offer me what I want. There will never be anyone else,"

The words hang heavily between us. I know exactly what he means. There will never be an heir to our legacy, to theirs. Lockwood City will go on without a Lockwood alpha after we're gone. The thought of that hurts, profoundly but there is no way in hell I can ever give her up.

Eloise Lockwood has an ice-cold stare. Her beautiful body trembles with trauma. Every move she makes is carefully calculated. I don't think she knows that. I don't think she knows just how dangerous she is to herself and those around her. She's holding onto the idea of who she was before all of this happened to her but once she realizes she can never go back, it's all going to shatter.

Jax is standing in front of the elevator when I arrive the next morning. Victoria and Margarita are down here with him. Only then do I notice that Victoria is holding her arm. I go over to her to see her arm is wrapped.

"Alpha Tec and Blitz are trying to calm her," Jax informs me. I pressed the button and waited for it to open. Victoria grabs my arm shaking her head.

"She's not all there, Elias," she chokes out. I pull away and enter the elevator. The thing shakes when the ping goes off and the door parts.

"Eloise!" Alpha Tec shouts. "Get behind me, Blitz," he pulls the dark brown wolf behind him. He's bleeding. "Eloise!"

"Shouting at her will only make things worse," I walk past him. There she is again. The huge black wolf standing in front of the whimpering pup protectively. "What happened?"

"The wolf attacked Blitz. She got defensive," the alpha is panting. There's a huge gash healing across his chest.

"Sir, permission to engage,"

"She can kill you, Elias," he began to shake his head.

"Trust me. Trust her. That's all she needs. She needs us to trust her," I step in front of him raising my hand in front of me. The wolf's eyes lock in on me and growls low. She lowers her body preparing to spring. "Hey, cutie," I whisper crouching down. "Remember me?" she backs away a little, her lips pulling up into a snarl. "I'm not going to hurt you or the pup. I want the same thing you do. I want to make sure Sasuke is okay. Can I? Can I make sure he's not hurt?"

"Elias," Alpha Tec reaches for me when I take a step forward. The wolf growls at him.

"It's okay. He's just a little scared. We all are. You remember me right, Rapunzel?" I take another step towards her. Her ears are pulled back but one of them lifts slightly at the sound of the name. "That's right, princess. It's me. We met yesterday. Out back," I take another step. She relaxes her lips enough to stop growling. "I'm Elias. Your beta. We ran together, remember that? You protected me. I protected you. I want to keep doing that,"

"f**k," Blitz groans behind me. I look back at them pressing my index finger to my lips.

"Rapunzel, can you bring her back? Eloise?" I whisper. She looks up at me with those big demonic eyes and then looks down at the pup. "We have to check on him. Eloise can help. I can help her," I look around to find a towel drying by the pup's bed. I take it and hold it out. "Please,"

The wolf lets out a whimper and steps away from the pup. There's blood on his leg and it's at an awkward angle. She lowers her body. The sound of her shifting back-fills the silence. I go over to her and cover her with the towel. A growl ripples out of her as she clutches the towel to her breasts.

There are deep scars all over her exposed skin. Her eyes are wild as she tries to take steady breaths. Those wild icy eyes meet my own and I hold them. She reaches out grabbing the bottom of my shirt. I kneel down in front of her. She's taking deep desperate breaths. She's taking in my scent to calm herself.

"I'm sorry," she chokes out. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she repeats over and over. "I'm sorry, Elias,"

"For what?" I ask her. She looks me over before pulling me to her. Before I can move to stop her, her teeth are deep in the nape of my neck. "f**k,"

"Elias," Alpha Tec rushes over.

"No," I put my hand out stopping him from pulling me from her. She lets out an ear-piercing roar and her father steps back understanding what just happened.

A coldness floods my body. It's numbing. Almost painful. Her tongue laps at the wound in my neck as she pulls me closer. I pull the towel around her as she leans into me burying her face in the crook of my neck as the claim on me settles.

"I'm sorry," she repeats as I wrap my arms around her feeling everything she does.

"Ah," I growl letting the coldness of her soul sweep over me. My body shakes with anger as I take all of her in. I can barely breathe in as the sound of heavy breathing echoes all around me. "No," I tighten my arms around her and she holds onto me as my warmth spills into her. "God, no,"

It's not just one voice. There are many. Different voices, and different sounds, but the feeling is the same. Everything they did to her. She's trapped there. In the cell, shackled to that bed as they use her. As they take away everything that made her innocent. Everything that made her who she was. I'd be feral too. I'd want nothing more than for it all to stop. For it all to end. Only then would I have found peace.

"You should have let me die," she whispers. "You should have let them kill me,"

"f**k," her dad steps back burying his hands in his hair like he doesn't know what to do or what to say.

"Get out," I growl at them. "Get out of here,"

"Dad," Blitz calls out to him.

"What if-" he starts. I look over at him with a glare. He nods. "I'm going to help the pup,"

"Take it," I agree. He pulls the bed the pup is in, and takes him and Blitz into the elevator. I release my hold on her and take her face in both my hands so she looks at me. There are tears streaming down her face but her eyes are distant. She's not here with me and I hate it. "Are you okay?"

"No," she shakes her. Her bottom lip trembles and a sob finally breaks through. She gasps for air as she puts her hands over mine. "I shouldn't have done that," she cries. "I'm so sorry, Elias,"

"I'm not," I swallow back the knot forming in my throat. I stand up taking her with me.

My body is hyper-aware of her naked skin as she lifts herself to wrap her body around my own. I take her up the stairs and I take her into her room. She continued to cry as I set us down on the bed.

"Elias, if you complete it. You'll feel everything," she shakes her head.

"I want everything," I whisper against her neck. She stiffens as I lean in licking her neck where I'm going to mark her. There are tiny crescent scars there where someone buried their nails into her skin. I kiss her lightly slowly making my way up to the scar on her face. "All of you. I don't care what it does to me, Ellie," her fingers dig into my back. "You're mine. You've always been mine,"

"Elias," she gasps for air again as if she's been drowning for too long.

"I'm taking you out of there, Ellie," I whisper as I kiss her jaw going down to the scar on the other side of her neck. My tongue goes over it. "You're here with me now. Just me. Do you see me?"

"Yes," she chokes out.

I reach for the towel between us. She pulls away from me holding it to her chest. The fear in her eyes makes me want to kill someone. Anyone. She shakes her head. I cup her face caressing her cheek and smile.

"All of you," I repeat. "You're mine," I pull the towel from her and she reluctantly lets it go. Her perfect round breasts are covered in bite marks and scratches. Deep wolf scratches. I lean in pressing a kiss to her lips and begin to work my way down to her neck. She lets her head fall back, her eyes close as I kiss the scarring on her chest. "These scars are mine," I whisper against her ivory skin. "You're all mine,"

She tenses up and reaches to stop me but I link my fingers with hers and put her hand over her head. She whimpers. A cold flash floods through me and I know what she must be seeing, the cuffs on her wrists but I need her to stop thinking of that. I need her to let me in if no one else. Me. I'll be whatever she needs me to be.

"Elias," she cries this time in a panic.

Her body is shaking as I open my mouth to take a peaked n****e in my mouth. She continues to cry and press her legs together as I suck on her, as I palm her other breast. I can smell her arousal, her fear, her pain. It's all over me. It's coaxing out my wolf in the most violent way but I keep him back. I keep him caged. This isn't about us right now. We don't get what we want until she gets what she needs.

"Say it, Ellie," I move my way up to her neck. "Tell me you belong to me. No one and nothing else. I belong to you, Elias. Say it,"

"Elias," she cries trying to push me away. I growl pinning her other hand over her head.

"Say it. Eloise," I demand.

"I belong to you, Elias," she whispers just to get it over with. That's not going to be enough.

"Again, louder," I lick her neck making her shutter.

"I belong to you, Elias," she repeats in a whisper again but her voice is less shaky.

"Again,"

"I belong to you, Elias," she sniffles. She's trying to control her breathing.

"Keep repeating it, Ellie. Repeat it for me, baby. Over and over again until there's nothing else,"

"I belong to you, Elias," she says closing her eyes.

The tension in her body begins to fade. I suck on her neck and she arches up pressing her body against mine. Using my claws, I tear my shirt off so my bare skin is against hers. I let go of her wrists. She wraps her arms around me as I lean in and kiss her.

Desperation almost takes over. Her scent is changing. The fear and the pain are giving way to desire. Her body is flushed against my own. We fit together like puzzle pieces. She's perfect. I don't care what was done to her or what she thinks of herself. She's mine and I want to show her that. I want her to belong to me and only me. My broken mate. My broken Alpha. Whatever she wants, whatever she needs. All she has to do is ask and I'll do it for her.

"I belong to you, Elias," she pants. "I belong to you,"

"That's right. There's only me," I say against her soft plump lips. I trail kisses down her face, her jaw, and her neck and stop at the base of her neck. She shutters. "I belong to you, Eloise. Everything I have is yours. It has always been yours and it will always be yours,"

"Mine," she gives into the wolf inside of her. Red is flashing in her eyes as she opens her eyes to look at me. There's no black. At this moment, it's just us two. The feral part of her is nowhere to be found. "You're mine,"

"I'm yours," I give her a nod. "You're mine,"

I lean into her neck nipping at the spot again. She lets out a low whimper as my canines elongate to claim her. She's right here with me. I can feel her presence. It's hot. My body is on fire. My heart is racing so fast, it almost feels like... terror. Like I'm being chased by death itself. No, like she's being chased by death and I'm trying to get her as far away from it as possible.

My teeth sink into her neck and the heat between us only intensifies. Her blood floods my mouth and I swallow as I pull out of her. The taste of her is rich. Pure. I gasped before licking the wound shut. I pull away from her feeling her soul entwined with my own. I put my hands over her head to hold myself up as the feeling floods my body violently.

I look down expecting to find those clear ice gray eyes of hers. When her eyes meet mine, my world shatters. Looking back at me is the girl who ran through the rain the night I thought my mother died. The girl that slept in my bed despite the nightmares. The girl that was strong for me when I thought nothing would ever make sense again. Her chapped lips are slightly parted as she breathes in and out trying to steady herself.

"Elias," she whispers my name like f*****g prayer before her demeanor hardens again. She pushes me back. I let her push me away as she reached for the towel. With one hand she holds the towel against her and with the other she rubs her face so hard it turns bright red. "Get out,"

"I'm going to check on Sasuke," I whisper. "But I'm coming back,"

"Not today," she pants. "Please, not today,"

"In the morning," I agree. If I come back I'm going to f**k her. We both know that and I don't think either of us is prepared for that. "I'll make your breakfast,"

"Go, please," she begins to cry. "Get the f**k out of here,"