“I will.” Then I left him, too.
Mary stood at the pump, washing dishes. Grey leaned against the wall near the door, no doubt our guard.
“There’s a plate on the table for you,” Mary said.
“Thank you. Did Ann get a plate?”
“Yes, Leif came for hers.” Leif and Ann mostly kept to their room whenever there were more than a few men around. Leif protected Ann well.
I sat and ate a cold carrot from one of the two plates waiting on the small table. It was heaven, and my food disappeared too soon. As I brought the plate to the sink, the bathroom door opened.
Thomas stepped out wearing a clean pair of pants. His hair was still damp, but the rest of him looked dry. He followed me to the pump and reached under the trough for the bucket Mary and I used to empty the tub. We usually just emptied all the water through the trough, which ran out clay pipes into a low spot behind the building. It was a lot quicker and safer than walking around the buildings.
“It’s all right. Leave it for now,” I said. “When Mary and I finish with the dishes, we’ll empty it. We don’t want to mix bath water with dish water.”
He straightened, nodded, and went to eat his own plate of food. As soon as he finished, he brought the plate to the sink then left with Grey.
Finally alone with Mary, I asked what I’d been wondering since the fight ended.
“Mary, what did that man mean about Thomas only being able to hold so many?” I asked, trying to speak softly.
Mary grinned and shook her head. “Don’t worry. It’s no secret. Every leader has a limit on the number of members he can hold in his pack. Winifred says it’s like how much a person can lift. It’s different for everyone. The connection I have with Thomas doesn’t feel strained. Adding two more members shouldn’t be a problem.”
I nodded and began to dry the plates.
“Winifred has no limits, though, right?”
“No. But, she doesn’t really hold our kind together like a pack leader does. She says her role is a bit difficult to explain, and she’d rather do it in person.”
“There’s no need. Tell her I was just curious.”
I put the dried plates on the mantel and pulled the pots from the stove. Mary had already filled most of them with water to make cleaning easier. Once we had the roasters washed, I started filling the pots with water for our evening meal.
“Do you know what kind of meat we’re getting tonight?”
Mary was quiet for a minute.
“Thomas is sending the new pack members out to hunt something big.”
“Big?”
Mary nodded slowly, a slight frown growing.
“There are quite a few new members. Thomas wonders if we can make enough to feed twenty.”
We’d been feeding twelve, sometimes a few more, when he only had nine members. I looked at the pots on the stove and the supply cabinets.
“Yes,” I said firmly. I put two pots on the stove. I emptied a large bag of beans into one. If they weren’t ready for tonight, they could soak overnight for tomorrow. Carrying another pot to the pump to fill for wash water, I thought of the meal we’d just eaten and wished we had more fresh vegetables. “Do you know where the carrots came from or who might have gotten them?”
Mary shrugged.
“They weren’t from one of the pack, so I’m not sure.”
The door opened, and I turned from the pump to see Thomas and Grey stride in. Thomas seemed frustrated. His eyes didn’t give him away; it was his hands. He tapped his middle finger on his leg as he walked. He made his way to the table and sat. I noted a dark slash on his pants and knew he’d bled a bit more after putting the clean pair on.
“Is everything all right?” I asked.
“Everything’s fine. I sent all of the new members out to find bigger game since they feel it is now their right to eat at a table.” He ran his hand through his hair. His fingers lingered at his temple.
“Headache? I’m not sure if medicine will work the same on you, but there is some pain reliever left.” I made to move toward the cabinet, but he stopped me.
“It won’t help.”
“What will help?” I asked.
“Cooperation.”
I studied his face. He looked tired, which I would expect after the morning and afternoon he had. But there seemed something more weighing on him. His weary gaze held mine as if begging me to help.
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“Eight more have joined my pack...eight angry men with the single purpose of pulling my pack apart.”
“Why let them join, then?” I asked, leaning back against the trough.
“Several reasons. As a member of my pack, there is little any of them can hide from me; and when I command them, they must obey. That means more protection for us from those who still want to cause trouble. But, it also means resistance because the new members are doing things they don’t want to do.”
“Like what?”
“Leaving these buildings to hunt for food to feed the pack. They would rather stay and make nuisances of themselves, in hopes of making you leave. Their resistance to my command...” He rubbed his head again. “Imagine I’m holding one end of a rope, and the other end is held by a member of my pack. We are both pulling to keep the rope taut. When the member cooperates in holding their end steady, it requires very little effort on my part to keep the right tension in the rope. However, if the member pulls, I need to use more force to pull back to keep the member from pulling away completely.”
It sounded a lot like how I controlled a human’s will.
“Now imagine sixteen ropes. I hold the end of all those ropes in one hand, and each member holds their own end. If one of those members pulls hard enough to jerk their rope from my grasp, I lose hold on all the ropes. The pack will fall apart. A leader can only hold so many ropes here.” He tapped his head. “And the more ropes he holds that resist him, the harder it becomes to maintain control.”
“So you need their cooperation.”
“Yes.”
And he didn’t have their cooperation because of my presence.
“Do you want me to leave?”
He gave a weary smile and shook his head.
“No. I want to know how I can Claim you. As my Mate, they are less likely to resist you. As my Mate, you could help me hold the pack together.” He sighed, his expression rueful. “I want to keep trying, Charlene. I promise I won’t hurt you again.”
I couldn’t believe he was asking.
“Does your neck hurt?” I asked.
“A bit.”
“Good,” I said. He exhaled a laugh, and I put my hands on my hips, annoyed with him. “It’s not fun being bitten, is it?”
“If you were doing the biting, I’d think it very fun.”
My stomach pitched wildly, and heat rose to my face.
“I’m tempted to bite you just to prove it wouldn’t be.”
He stood suddenly and crowded me until I backed up against the pump. The sound of a door closing distracted me, and I pulled my gaze away long enough to note we were now alone in the room.
“Do it,” he said, reclaiming my attention.
He tilted his head to the side, daring me with his eyes to follow through with my threat.
“Perhaps when your neck doesn’t look like raw meatloaf,” I said.
“My neck hurts. My ribs hurt. My head hurts.” He sighed, again, and leaned down until his forehead rested on mine. “May I sleep in your room tonight?”
I knew he was playing on my pity. Yet, I didn’t want to say no. Why should I? He promised not to bite me. He wanted to stay in my room to protect me. And he was asking permission instead of assuming. He was respecting every condition and limit I’d put on our relationship.
I pulled back and focused on his eyes. Relationship? Mary was right. For saying no to Thomas, I did have a soft spot for him. But was it any different than Anton? I thought so. The sight of Thomas made my heart race and my stomach stir.