Changing Appalachia

7

When Elijah arrived back at Lilith's, she was sitting on the porch. Her eyes widened slightly when he stepped out of her truck, his face was bloodied, his shirt ripped and stained with blood, some of which was not his. Elijah limped slightly towards her and without speaking put his arms around her. Her presence was exactly what he needed to soothe his troubled soul.

"Did this have something to do with your dad?" She began, her voice muffled against his shoulder. Lillith could smell the scent of another male that was definitely different yet somehow similar.

"I made him tap, Lillith." Elijah replied softly, but his voice held very little pride in what he'd done. He turned away from her for a moment then sat down on the top step. "I should have done this a long time ago."

Lillith offered with a soft hand on his shoulder. "Take it easy on yourself, Elijah. You were a kid and so was your brother. You'd have gotten hurt bad if you'd tried before now."

Elijah turned his head slowly to look at her, there was a pain in his neck. His body was starting to become sore and stiff now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Calmer now, he touched Lillith's face and smirked. "You know exactly what to say to make me feel better. You being here makes me feel better."

She leaned in to brush her lips across his. The words almost came to the surface, but Lillith stopped short of saying 'I love you' for fear it would scare Elijah; maybe it would scare her if she admitted she did love him.

Elijah seemed to read her mind. He paused, trying to decipher if what he was feeling was a true mate connection or just if he was still caught up in the lust they shared just hours before. He had heard wolves knew their mate on sight, and that he would know the instant he felt it. If that was true, Elijah thought, then this was it. "Lillith, I love you."

She blinked at him, words escaping her for the moment. "You know that's dangerous, Elijah."

Elijah wondered if he had made a mistake. "Do you, do you feel the same?"

Lillith felt the words bubbling to the surface, and she knew the moment she said them things would change. "Yeah. I do. I've felt it since we met, like we are supposed to be together."

Elijah smiled, showing off his sharp teeth. "Lillith, if I were to ask you to be with me-- like as a mate-- would you? I promise I will take care of you as best I can, I got a job. You can quit dancing and stuff- if you want, I won't make you. I'll make sure Michael ain't too annoying'--"

Lillith was slightly overwhelmed with his outburst, she held up her hand. "Whoa, whoa, I've never met your little brother. Are you sure he'd want to live with us?"

She hadn't said 'no', but she also hadn't said 'yes', Elijah thought. She was so hard to read, he couldn't tell if she was concerned about Michael liking her or her liking him. Slowly he found words. "I'm sure he'd be happy to live anywhere but grandma and grandpa's. I love them, but they're boring as shit. Their house is basically a museum and he's bored out of his mind. Are you okay with it? It's your house we'd have to live in and all."

"I've never been around many kids, I don't know what to even do with one." Lillith blinked at him, her hesitance showed in her eyes even if she was smiling.

"Michael's old enough to take care of himself for the most part. It's not like he needs changing or a bottle," Elijah chuckled. He realized he hadn't told her much about his brother and she was probably envisioning a toddler.

Lilith leaned against him, his scent reassuring her and calming her. Everything was happening so fast and somehow she still felt like it was the right thing. "If you're sure I'm what you want. I don't know what to say. I- I want to be with you."