The Purest Heart iii

~ Covered in a cold sweat, Penny woke up from her nightmare. It took some time for the ghastly images to clear from her mind, and for her eyes to adjust to the dim light streaming through the windows into the room. This was not her apartment. She looked down where she sat on a bed that was not hers, wearing a shirt that was several sizes too big to be her own. Penny froze where she sat, panic tightening her chest. She moved nothing but her eyes now scanning the room, most of which was in shadows. To her left, the shadow shifted. Penny sat there staring into the darkness; she felt it staring back. Two eyes, the shade of pure gold, came from the shadows walking towards the bed.

What she saw confirmed that it had not been a nightmare. The whole thing had been real. He had been real. Penny was up and off the bed, running through the door that had been left ajar. Down the hall, down the stairs, and through the front door. Out into... the woods? Penny stood in the small clearing in front of the house spinning in circles. Overhead the clouds shifted, allowing more light to come streaming down. She was definitely in the woods.

Black came to the door of the massive log house and sat there. Cast in shadows, dim light at his back, all she could see were the glowing orbs of his eyes. He didn’t make a single move to come towards her, but she took a step back. From her right, the man emerged from among the trees. One step, two. Penny came up short when her back collided with the trunk of a tree.

Lochlan stepped out into the open, pushing the sleeves of his shirt up to his elbows. Penny noted his walk was strong. There was not a single scratch or bruise on his face. Maybe it hadn’t been his blood. Penny had an internal debate concluding that it had to be. Some of it at least. He had been hurt, and badly.

“You’re— alive.” Penny was not sure if that boded well for her, or not. So far she was still alive so she took that as a positive.

“So are you. How are your legs feeling?”

Penny looked down at her toes curling them into the moist earth. Gasping, she looked up at him. “I was paralyzed.”

To her response, he only smiled. “Come inside, it’s about to rain.”

He turned walking towards the door. As if on cue a drop of rain landed on her nose. Penny looked up as one drop became a steady drizzle. Setting aside the question of ‘how’, Penny spread her arms out, her face turned up as she laughed, the rain washing over her. It was the first time she had ever been so happy to see the rain. To be able to stand in it.

Drenched, and slightly shivering, she went into the house. Black sat up from where he had been sleeping beside the plush, cream sofa to look at her. She paused, not closing the door completely. Slowly she turned the knob, pushing the door to close it. Now she was locked up inside of a house out in the woods with a wolf and a werewolf. He hadn’t forced her to stay, not exactly. She wasn’t a prisoner— which was debatable. If he did tell her to leave all she would have been able to do was wander around the woods until she became a meal. And with her luck, she wouldn’t have to wander far.

The light was coming through an open archway to her right leading into another room. To get to it, she had to pass the wolf. Soaked, Penny started to feel chilly. She hugged her elbows keeping her position at the door. 

“You’re not going to hurt me, are you?” she asked of the wolf.

Black tilted his head to the side, his eyes never leaving hers. Penny hoped that was a no. Hugging herself tighter she walked towards the opening to the other room. As she walked past Black he got up walking beside her. The archway opened up to a massive dining area that flowed into a spacious kitchen. It was all hardwood, muted colors, and chrome. She jumped, a startled sound escaping before she could stop it as Lochlan draped a towel over her shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he walked to the other side of the island that was smack in the middle of the kitchen area.

“I-I’m ok.” Penny furrowed her brow frowning at the back of him. He seemed to be making a sandwich. “How - how are you?” She had to swallow a lump that was forming in her throat. All she could think of was that this had to be the most awkward situation she had ever been in.

Lochlan sent her a look over his shoulder just in time to see her wrap the towel tighter around her body. He could see that she was slightly shivering.

“I’m much better, thank you.”

Lochlan kept his back to her though he was finished with the sandwich. He wasn’t sure what to say, or how to handle the situation. Penny was still afraid of him. Added to that she would have questions he wasn’t sure he could answer in a...  light manner considering the trauma she had gone through. The truth was not naturally very light. There was a reason some chose to live with their heads in the sand, and why others killed to keep it hidden.

“Excuse me,” Penny said in a small voice.

Lochlan faced her, resting back on the counter. Arms folded, ankles crossed, he gave her his full attention. Penny looked away, clearing her throat. He could tell his attention made her - uneasy.

“You have questions.”

She looked back at him. “But I’m not sure I want the answers.”

“It’s up to you,” he said calmly. Waited.

Penny hesitated before she said, “Those — those men.”

“They took you,” his voice came out sharper than he had intended.

“Y-yeah, but why?” She took two steps forward. “I haven’t done anything. Nothing that I am aware of at least. Why did they—where are they?”

Lochlan tilted his head to the side, “You already know the answer to that.”

His eyes fell to her lips as she started to chew on them anxiously. Of course, she knew what had happened to them. She would have heard it all. She had seen him covered in blood; first as a beast, then as a man. Lochlan could see that she wanted to ask more, but there was an internal debate going on. Penny had a lot to take in, and though he didn’t want to rush her he figured she should know.

“Some of them escaped,” Lochlan added.

Penny couldn’t explain the unease she felt that some of her attackers were still out there. For her to be bothered by that more than the knowledge that men had lost their lives... Her hand went up to her cheek. She had been slapped when she tried calling for help. They had bound her hands, her feet, and eventually, they gagged her. Left her to lie on the bare floor of the van crying, leering at her. They had spoken to each other in a language she still couldn’t place. One minute they were driving and the next her body was being thrown around the inside of the van. Colliding with the men, limbs tangling, detangling. Her body slamming against the cold metal interior of the van.

The pain was hard to forget. Bones breaking, jagged pieces of metal digging and tearing into her skin. How was she even alive right now? Standing there, breathing. No pain, no scars, or bruises on her skin. She wasn’t the slightest bit sore. Penny felt like none of it had happened. But it had. She had seen things, heard things. Her mind started to unravel, real panic grasping hold.

“Breathe.” He was surprised his voice was so calm when his insides were shaking. Lochlan had to fight the urge to go to her. Penny stood there, looking at him with eyes wide with shock and questions. He could almost see the ghost of her memories playing over inside her eyes. He could have taken it all from her. Why hadn’t he?

“W-why am I here?” Penny hugged the towel around her tighter. “What’s g-going on?”

The questions. The ones he didn’t know how to answer. If he gave her the truth it would only make matters worse. Penny was strong, holding on to her sanity, he was sure, by a thin thread. But he couldn’t lie to her. Not outright. This was too important.

“You must be hungry.” Lochlan took the plate with the sandwich shoving it over to the other side of the island closer to her. He went back to his position leaning on the counter. Penny stared down at it. She was hungry, he could tell, but she was frightened.

Instead of taking the sandwich she only hugged herself tighter. “Thank you for saving me,” as she was sure he had no matter what he was. The question she didn’t want to ask was—did he save her to set her free or did he save her to keep her for himself, “but I should be getting home now. It’s late. I have work in the morning.” Penny braced for his response, her heart thundering its way up to lodge in her throat.

Penny was out in the middle of nowhere with a man who was a man, yet not. Who had a wolf that was much larger than the average she was sure from the ones she saw on television. Black was sitting a few feet away, his eyes intently watching her. There was nowhere to run. Not likely anyone close enough to hear her scream. Please be the good guy, Penny chanted to herself. But an inexplicable tincture of danger hung in the air.