Runt (Completed & Editing)

Don't Say It

Nova’s POV

“Shane. I’m not sure this is such a great idea.” I mumbled under my breath as he tried for the upteenth time to start the grill.

“Nonsense. I’m a man. Grilling is what men do.” He said confidently back as he laid on his back looking up at the underside of the Char-Broil grill.

“Okay. But when you burn your eyebrows off, I’m taking pictures and putting them on Facebook.” I said as I rolled my eyes before grabbing my can of Doctor Pepper and walking back into the house. Since I was released from the hospital Shane and I had been living at my house with Chris. I knew it was only temporary, but just being back in the territory made me nervous. There were so many bad memories here, so many things that I will never be able to escape from.

I shook my head trying to dismiss all the harassment and bullying that I had gone through growing up. I stood a little straighter and busied myself in the kitchen preparing hamburgers and brats for the boys considering I wasn’t hungry. As I laid out all of the toppings for the food I heard a loud wooshing sound followed by various loud swear words from Shane. I giggled and started to wet a washcloth. Moments later Shane came inside, his face was black with soot and his right eyebrow was still alight at the end. I pulled my iphone from my pocket and snapped a quick picture before holding the washcloth to Shane. He snatched it from my hand as I smiled resisting the urge to tell him “I told you so”.

“Don’t say it.” He said lowly, coming up behind me. “Don’t you dare say it.” I tried to smile because I knew he was kidding, but all that came over me was the overwhelming urge to vomit. I pushed away from the counter and past him to the bathroom down the hall. Even after leaving the hospital the vomiting still hadn’t stopped. “Nova!” Shane shouted through the door. I ignored him as my stomach emptied.

When it had finally stopped I disposed of it and slouched against the wall. “What is going on with you baby? You’ve been sick like this for two weeks.” Shane said as he pushed the door open to sit with me against the wall. I shied away from his touch, not exactly sure why, but I didn’t really want him to touch me right then. “Seriously Nova? What the fuck? You haven’t let me touch you since I marked you. What is going on?” He snapped, his temper flaring and I knew exactly why. I had been silent about what happened to put me in the hospital. I turned away from him even more, pulling my knees to my chest and hiding my face as the tears silently began falling. Shane huffed angrily as he sat beside me. I could feel his eyes on me, I hated it. I didn’t want him to touch me, I didn’t want him to look at me. I didn’t deserve him anymore. I didn’t deserve to see the love in his eyes anymore. “Nova..” He said quietly. I breathed deeply.

“Reggie.” I whispered.

Shane stopped for a moment before he asked, “What about Reggie?” I sighed before slowly whispering my story to him. Before I was even halfway through, Shane had lifted me into his arms and was storming out of the house. I shrunk into him trying desperately to disappear. Shane was starting to shake as he carried me to Alpha Don’s house. He kicked down the door without a moment of hesitation and went straight to the living room where Alpha Don was sitting with Reggie. Only when they noticed me lying in Shane’s arms did he put me down and push me behind him protectively. “If you touch my mate again, I will personally kill you. It will not be quick and it will not be pleasant.” He growled lowly at Reggie. Reggie didn’t take his eyes off of me as I cowered behind Shane. I pressed my face into his strong back trying to escape from Reggie’s haunting stare.

“That’s some threat-” Alpha Don started.

“If you knew what your son did to my mate you would kill him yourself. I can guarantee you that much. We are leaving now, and never coming back. I thought I was doing the right thing by bringing Nova back to see her family, but I guess not. I only put her in more danger, and I will never be able to forgive myself for that. It is a mistake that I will not make again. She is now under the protection of me and therefore my pack. We will not be returning to Whiterun territory again.” Shane growled even lower. I knew he was struggling to control his anger and his wolf.

He spun on his heel, picking me up as he did. Neither of the two had anything to say as we left. When we finally got back to the house Shane put me in the car and locked it before he went inside to gather all of our things. Not only did he bring out everything that I had brought with, but everything that I was unable to bring when I first left. The entire time Chris was shouting in his face trying to get through to the stone faced man that was partially tearing his house apart.

Chris stopped by the car several times to shout through the window at me in confusion but I remained silent. The only indication of my emotions being the tears that fell from my eyes without any sign of stopping. Shane finally put the last of my things in the backseat with his one bag and turned to Chris. “Your ‘friend’ Reggie assaulted your sister. If you would like to see her again you can come unaccompanied to my territory in Texas.” Shane said simply before getting into the driver’s seat and peeling out of the driveway.