All Is Fair Ch. 08

Brooks woke up with a face full of hair. Instead of rolling away from it he inhaled deeply. Helena smelled intoxicating. He was on his side with his arm around her waist. He kissed her shoulder and noted that at some point during the night she put his t-shirt back on. Brooks hoped her modesty was not on his account. She let out a small sigh and raised her arms in front of her, stretching out her muscles.

"Good morning," Brooks said.

He continued to kiss her shoulder, covering the area with small kisses. She pulled forward and then spun herself around to face him.

"Hi," she said.

Brooks took her chin in his hand, pressing his lips against hers. She didn't return his passion, but didn't pull away either. He hoped she wasn't regretting anything.

"Morning breath," Helena said as if she could read his mind.

She pushed herself up before Brooks could tell her he didn't care.

"Where are you going?" Brooks asked.

"Bathroom," Helena said.

He started to get up from the bed.

"Please don't follow me in there," she said. "I will keep the door open. You can talk very loudly to me and I will respond."

Brooks didn't think she should ever be alone, but he didn't want to pick a fight first thing in the morning. Besides, they had three weeks of this. He decided it was better to test her limits early so they could plan accordingly.

"Are you feeling any differently?" Brooks yelled.

"About?" Helena yelled back.

He licked his lips, remembering the taste of her last night. Being my mate, Brooks wanted to say.

"Agreeing to the change," Brooks said.

He got up from the bed and pulled on his pants.

"It's the logical thing to do," Helena replied.

He heard the sink turn on and assumed it was safe for him to go into the bathroom. She was brushing her teeth and Brooks joined her, hoping that once they were done a repeat of last night could occur.

"You need a shower," Helena said with a mouthful of toothpaste.

He watched her run the brush up and down her tongue, scrubbing her back teeth. He had never seen a hygienic act in such an erotic way before.

"Care to join me?" Brook replied.

She spit out the white foam and shook her head. Brooks spit out his toothpaste and took the cup of water once Helena was done with it.

"I already took one last night," she said. "Remember?"

Brooks felt a shudder go through his body. Her senses weren't heightened yet, but that meant that every wolf would be able to smell him all over her. That was enough to placate him for now.

"Don't leave the bathroom," Brooks said.

"Why not?" Helena asked.

"Too dangerous," Brooks said. "I want you to sit on the sink the entire time I am in there. I meant it."

He watched Helena look his face up and down, knowing his glance was one that did not encourage an argument.

"Okay," Helena said.

She turned and propped herself up on the sink. Brooks dropped his pants. She closed her eyes. Brooks walked over to her and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. A smile spread across her face, but she didn't open her eyes.

"Get in the shower," Helena said.

Brooks turned around and opened the stall, hoping she was taking a peek. The warm water felt good against his skin, but not as good as her body had.

"What are we doing today?" Helena asked.

"Is there anything you would like to do?" Brooks asked.

"Nope," Helena said.

"No desire to..."

"Stop," Helena said. "When I want to speak with Rebecca I will let you know."

That wasn't what Brooks was going to ask, but she did bring up a point he wanted to discuss.

"I think it might be good for you," Brooks said. "Maybe she can fill in some holes in your story."

"There aren't any holes in my story," Helena said.

"I mean with your parents," Brooks said.

"Abe told me everything I needed to know about them," Helena said. "Just drop it okay?"

Brooks finished up his shower and turned off the water. Helena handed him a towel, taking away some of the fun he was looking forward too with walking out naked. He settled for drying off and wrapping the towel around his waist, extra low. He opened the door, letting the steam flow out around him.

"Wow," Helena said. "Laying it on a little thick huh?"

Brooks smiled.

"Would you rather I did this?"

His pulled the towel up and wrapped it around his chest.

"Do you have a spare for my hair?" Brooks asked.

Helena was in hysterics. He started to strut out of the bathroom.

"That doesn't even cover your ass," Helena said in between giggles.

A knock on the bedroom door didn't even stop her laughter.

"I'll get it," Helena said.

She started skipping to the door. Brooks tried to put his towel back to normal before she answered.

"Good morning," Cecilia said.

"Hello," Helena said.

"We have some deliveries for you," she said.

Helena held open the door and Brooks watched as Cecilia brought in several boxes. She gave Brooks a nod and he responded in kind. He was happy it was a female delivering Helena's clothing, but didn't know why a Beta was tasked with something so simple.

"Thank you," Helena said.

"It was my pleasure," Cecilia said.

She was looking at Brooks. Helena followed her stare and dropped her smile.

"Can I bring you anything else?"

"No thank you Cecilia," Brooks said.

She did a curtsey and walked out of the room. Helena closed the door behind her.

"What was that all about?" Helena asked.

She went to the boxes and started opening them, not waiting for Brooks to respond. Helena's spurt of laughter was over.

"That was Cecilia," Brooks said. "One of the female Betas of the pack."

"Beta?" Helena said. "Doesn't that mean she is a level down from Alpha? As in she should be doing more important things than delivering clothing?"

Brooks was impressed that Helena was that intuitive of pack dynamics. She would make a fine Alpha one-day by his side.

"She probably wanted to get a look at you," Brooks said.

"It seemed like she was more interested in getting a look at you," Helena said.

Brooks strolled over to Helena. He put his hands around her waist. She continued unpacking the boxes. Brooks put his mouth right next to her ear.

"Is someone getting jealous?"

"No," Helena said.

She rolled her shoulder and Brooks backed away, but didn't release her.

"What's wrong?" Brooks asked.

"Nothing," Helena said.

"Don't make me beg," Brooks said.

"I just...," Helena took a breath. "Last night was something special for me. I've never done ANYTHING like that before, and now I am realizing that I don't even know you."

Brooks was taken aback. Of course she knew him, they were mates. She stopped unpacking her clothes.

"I mean," Helena said. "How old are you? When's your birthday? Do you have any brothers and sisters? What was your childhood like? How many sexual partners have you had? What are your hopes and dreams?"

Brooks noticed the sarcasm in her last question.

"For a girl who doesn't like to ask questions you suddenly have a lot of them," Brooks said. "Which question is really on your mind?"

"I'm serious," Helena said.

"It was special for me too," Brooks said.

She turned around to look at him, he kept his arms around her waist and tucked her long hair behind her ear.

"More than you realize," Brooks said. "There were girls before you, but there will never be one after you."

Helena gave a smile and dropped her head.

"What if I don't survive this?" Helena asked.

"Don't say that," Brooks said.

"I got into this mess because people ignored what ifs," Helena said.

"If you don't survive this then I don't survive this," Brooks said.

Helena rolled her eyes and turned back around.

"That doesn't add to the pressure," she said.

"Hey," Brooks said, pulling her closer. He put his mouth next to her ear and whispered. "If you weren't on this earth my soul would ache until you returned to me."

She turned around again and put her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. Brooks rocked back and forth and rubbed her back. There was a huge change in her, and Brooks hoped he was the reason.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Helena realized the sleeveless khaki dress she had on cost more than one month in the cheap motels she was used to. It made her a little uncomfortable, but everyone here, even the drop-dead gorgeous girl who dropped off her clothes, was dressed in similar finery. Brooks wore dress pants and a shirt. She was shocked her didn't put on a tie.

"You sure you want to do this?" Brooks asked.

"I've kept you from your duties long enough," Helena said. "I want to see what you do."

They were about to leave the bedroom. Brooks led the way to the door, then stopped and turned to look at her.

"I have to warn you," he said. "I may have teased you about your jealousy, but really it's me."

"I hadn't noticed," Helena said.

"I'm serious," Brooks said. "It's my wolf. If another male comes near you my instinct is to rip their head off."

Helena winced at his choice of words.

"Sorry," Brooks said. "I didn't mean anything by..."

"I know," Helena said. "Continue with your point."

"If a male comes into my office today and I sense you paying any extra attention to them, I may not be able to control myself."

"You did fine last night," Helena lied.

She had picked up on his growls and over protective touches. Brooks didn't respond. He turned around and opened the door leading her into the hall. He reached down and grabbed her hand, her instincts told her to pull away, but she forced herself to ignore them. They were so screwed up lately she couldn't rely on them.

Helena thought about last night. She was struggling against them the entire time Brooks was touching her. It was only when she was able to block them out that she experienced pleasure. A shiver made its way through her body.

"Are you cold?" Brooks asked. "We can go back and grab you a sweater."

"I'm fine," Helena said.

She squeezed his hand. He smiled at her and they continued the walk towards his office.

~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~

Brooks' office was large. His desk was big enough for at least two people to sit behind it, but she was surprised the set up wasn't intimidating. There were two chairs for people to sit and speak with him and then a couch set up similar to his father's office. Brooks went right to work and Helena took in the rustic décor.

"Is everything to your liking?" Brooks asked.

"So is this what you do on a normal day?" Helena asked. "Sit behind a computer?"

"Have a seat," Brooks said.

He spun his chair and pointed to one of the seats in front of his desk. Helena sat down.

"What can I help you with?" Brooks asked.

Helena tilted her head and gave him a small smile.

"I have an open door policy," Brooks said. "Any member of the pack can interrupt my work and see me."

"And what do they usually want?" Helena asked.

"It varies," Brooks said. "Every member has a job, usually they want to talk about moving up or trying out a different career. Sometimes it's a personal matter."

"Trouble with their mate?" Helena asked.

Brooks let out a small laugh and shook his head.

"Sometimes," Brooks said.

"I don't understand how you are the Alpha, but your dad is too," Helena said.

"I'm not the Alpha, I'm an Alpha," Brooks said. "My dad is the Alpha, but I am next in line so I take on some of his responsibilities. It gives him time to focus on the overall issues while I work on the day-to-day items."

"When will you take over?" Helena asked.

Brooks shrugged. Helena had a feeling she hit a nerve. She looked at the floor, trying to think of a question to change the subject.

"Not anytime soon I hope," Brooks said. "Earlier you asked me how old I was. I am one hundred and thirty two years old."

"You're kidding," Helena said.

"I hit maturity about forty five years ago," Brooks said. "There's not a magic number like with humans."

Helena thought about asking him his experiences with the industrial revolution, or his time during the world wars, but instead a more important question blurted itself out.

"How long will you live?" Helena asked.

"We don't have any average lifespan," Brooks said. "Normally mates will decide they have had enough of living like their human selves and stay in wolf form permanently. We turn back to our nature and leave the pack. Then live our final days in the wild. Some people think all wolves were at one time Weres."

"That's sort of romantic," Helena said.

"The oldest member of our pack is almost 1000," Brooks said. "But to a human he looks around fifty, and a good looking fifty."

"They haven't left yet?" Helena asked.

"His name is Donald," Brooks said. "He lost his mate. So he has no reason to move on to the next step."

"What happened to her?" Helena asked.

She realized from Daphne's comment last night that illness didn't affect the pack.

"It was before I was born," Brooks said. "But she was shot with a silver bullet. Silver is the only thing that can kill us."

"Now that's really sad," Helena said.

"It's not supposed to be," Brooks said. "He is waiting for her to return."

Helena gave him a strange look, but he didn't continue.

"And how many pack members do you oversee?" Helena asked.

"About 1800," Brooks said.

Helena was not expecting such a large number.

"Not all of them live at the lodge," Brooks said. "About four hundred live here, there are a few other lodges on the property and some live in the nearby towns."

"How do you support all those people?" Helena asked.

"Stocks," Brooks said. "Mainly, we own a large chunk of almost all the big ones. We also run a lot of businesses, in case the market crashes again. Financial security is not an issue for us as long as we maintain a close eye."

"But you're older than the stock market," Helena said.

"We're not the only pack," Brooks said. "Let's just say that pretty much every major invention has had a Were behind it. We all support each other."

"So you're not just Werewolves," Helena said. "You're communists?"

"Noooo," Brooks said. "We loan money between packs, and only if they really need it, not to maintain expensive wardrobes. How do you know about communism anyway? I thought you never finished high school?"

"My parents were crazy smart," Helena said. "I think by the time I was ten my brain was at the level of an eighteen year old. On top of that when you live with someone who is two thousand years old you learn a thing or two."

Helena gave Brooks a playful smile. She realized she had never talked so openly about her time with Abe. It was nice. She didn't want the conversation to stop, but decided it was best to focus on Brooks' life right noe.

"How many packs are there?" Helena asked.

"My quiet little mate is just filled with questions today," Brooks said.

"You're the one who told me to sit here!"

"I'm teasing," Brooks said. "In North America there are only twelve packs. All over the world there are about fifty."

"So we are still in North America?" Helena asked. "I honestly don't know where we are."

"North Carolina," Brooks said.

Helena was taken aback.

"I know," Brooks said. "We went all the way to Wyoming to pick you up."

"That's not it," Helena said.

A knock at the door stopped Helena from continuing.

"Come in," Brooks said.

A man about Brooks' age with a shaved head came in first. Right behind him was none other than Helena's sister. She rose from her seat. Helena didn't know how to respond.

"Helena?" Rebecca asked.

Helena did not have time to speak before he sister ran over and put her arms around her. Part of Helena urged her to shove Rebecca away, but Helena decided to ignore her reflexes again and returned her sisters touch. Helena turned her head to get a look at Brooks. He wore a smile on his face and Helena couldn't help but think he had set this up.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The foursome had moved to the couches in Brooks' office. Helena made sure she sat as close to Brooks as possible. It had been five years, but Rebecca's face still looked the same. The small nose, big blue eyes, and thick eyebrows were a dead giveaway. There was one big difference though.

"You cut your hair," Helena said.

Helena's parents never let them cut their hair. Helena hadn't kept with that advice and made sure she had regular trims, but she still kept it long. Rebecca's was in a pixie cut now though.

"I thought this look was more fitting," Rebecca said. "I have missed you so much. I tried to find you after..."

"After you abandoned me in a motel room at sixteen," Helena finished.

"I know nothing I can say will make up for that," Rebecca said. "I was so young and confused. I assumed you would go back to the youth home. They would have been better guides to you than me."

Helena looked at the Brooks. She didn't want to say anything she might regret. Since she was certain Brooks set this up he should be the one to lead this conversation.

"I was hoping you could tell us more about your parents," Brooks said. "Helena was only ten when they died."

"You mean when a vampire killed them," Helena said.

"A vampire didn't kill them," Rebecca said quickly.

Helena turned to look at her. Rebecca's face turned to a frown.

"I mean," Rebecca said. "It was a suicide. There was no blood loss."

"No," Helena said. "A vampire told me he did it."

"I only found out vampires existed when Andrew told me about the situation they found you in," Rebecca said.

The situation. Helena looked away again. A situation she never would have found herself in if Rebecca hadn't left her. Helena realized that might have been her lack of a soul talking. There was a chance if Rebecca had stayed with her she would have ended up dead too. Helena needed to keep reminded herself of that fact. She turned back to her sister.

"I should have been there for you," Rebecca said. "I mean if I had just told Andrew about you, and we went back to the hotel you and Brooks would have met years ago. This whole situation could have been avoided."

There was that word again. Situation. Helena cringed a little.

"I am sure that Brooks told you," Rebecca said. "But Andrew and I want to start a family. It didn't feel right until I had you in my life again."

"You didn't even know if I was alive," Helena said.

"I did though," Rebecca said. "We're sisters. A big part of you had to feel me."

Abe. He was the one who kept telling her Rebecca was dead. Helena had never really given up on Rebecca. Still, this whole situation was making Helena feel uncomfortable.

"How did you end up here?" Helena asked.

"Well," Rebecca said. "I went out for dinner and met Andrew. It was love at first sight. I'm sure you can relate to that now. I wasn't thinking straight."

"No," Helena said. "I meant the..."

Before Helena could finish another knock came. Everyone turned to look at the door. Brooks took a breath, Helena was certain to tell the intruder to leave, but the door was already open and Daphne walked inside.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked.

"Not at all," Helena said before anyone else could interject.

Daphne walked over.

"I was hoping I could borrow Helena," Daphne said. "We're starting to make preparations for her turn. I think she should be a part of them. Don't worry, it's ladies only. Rebecca can come too."

"I would love to help," Helena said.

"We are sort of the middle of something," Brooks said.

"It can wait," Helena said.

She had never been happier to see Daphne in her life. That was saying a lot since the woman was never anything but perfect to Helena. Rebecca stood up.

"You're turning?" Rebecca asked.

Helena nodded her head.

"You should stay here," Helena said. "There is a lot for Brooks to fill you in on and I am so tired of discussing my situation. Soon we will have lots of time to catch up."