Chapter 3

"Excuse me," she said weakly as she approached the group. 

They turned to her in surprise, Elena couldn't meet their eyes. 

"Why do you not believe it to be true?" she asked curiously. 

Helen walked up to her and placed both hands on her shoulders, ignoring the slight flinch.

"My dear girl, we don't for one second believe it. It sounds ridiculous!" 

Elena looked up into Helen's kind eyes in shock, as tears started to fill hers. Helen gripped her fiercely, in the tightest hug Elena had ever experienced, as the tears started to fall. 

The four men watched the two women embrace, and Lucas felt lost. He wanted to hug her too, reassure her that they believed her but he knew it would scare her. The two women eventually broke apart and Helen affectionately wiped Elena's tears away. 

"I'm sorry," Elena apologised as she stepped away. 

Helen smiled warmly at her.

"No need to apologise, it's good to get it out when you're sad," she joked. 

"That wasn't why I was crying," Elena whispered as she wiped the tears away. 

The four men walked up to the two women.

"Why did you cry?" Lucas asked. 

Elena looked at all four men properly for the first time. Though they looked big and scary to her, their eyes were kind and gentle. 

"People, who have known me since I was a baby, believed that I would do that. Whilst, you, who do not even know me, won't believe it. You have only just met me. How can you be so sure of my innocence, when the village that raised me, thinks I'm guilty?" 

Elena couldn't understand how strangers could be kinder to her than people she had known her whole life.

Helen hugged her again, whilst Liam smiled. 

"Call it a gut feeling," he laughed mysteriously. 

Elena smiled weakly at him, as Helen released her. 

At that moment, her father came out, his demeanour changed when he noticed Elena talking with the young men.

"Elena go inside!" he ordered, and Elena quickly obeyed. 

The group had noticed the way she flinched when he shouted. He had handed him what they had paid for and told them to go away.

Later that evening, Liam and Caleb were with their parents at the inn. They noticed Elena's father drinking heavily at the bar. Sara entered the inn and walked up to the group with four young men following close behind her. Helen sat with Liam at a table whilst Shane, Lucas and Caleb stood slightly behind them at the bar.

"I do hope you gave the young men my warning," she cooed at Shane. 

Helen glared at her as Shane rolled his eyes.

"So, it was you was it? That told him that story," she accused. 

Sara was a little taken aback at the hostility in her voice, but she quickly recovered.

"Yes, I wanted to make sure your very handsome sons didn't fall for someone so ....." she spoke sweetly at first but faltered when all five glared at her.

"Someone so what!" Helen demanded. "Someone who you have personally tarnished with such foolishness. I have only met that young lady once and even I can tell she wouldn't shame herself or her family like that!" 

Helen's voice rose as she spoke, causing every head in the inn to turn their way. The innkeeper and his wife stood smirking as Sara shrunk back a little. 

"But ... But ... I witnessed it," she claimed weakly. 

Liam looked Sara up and down, he could tell her clothes were expensive as well as her jewellery.

"Might I be permitted to ask what a girl like you was doing in the forest alone?" he asked as he stood. 

Lucas and Caleb crossed their arms over their chests and smirked. They couldn't smell any hint of the forest on her like they could on Elena. Elena had reeked, in a good way, of the forest and the herbs she had grown.

Sara regained some composure when she directed her attention to Liam. She smiled as she eyed Lucas and Caleb lustfully out of the corner of her eye.

"I was taking a walk," she smiled innocently as she batted her eyelashes at the pair. 

Lucas and Caleb glared at her. 

"I find that very hard to believe," Caleb sneered as Lucas nodded in agreement. 

Sara was a little shocked, she had never been questioned about it before. Everyone had just believed her. It had helped that Elena hadn't shown up for some time afterwards. That had confirmed it in the stupid villager's minds. 

"I don't think you've ever set foot in the forest to take a walk." Lucas took a menacing step forward. "I do believe you witnessed something that day, but I think it wasn't what you claim. I believe it was something terrible for Miss Elena, and you decided to use it to hurt her further." 

Sara shook her head, as she stepped back. Two men stepped forward to defend Sara. Lucas's anger flared even more.

"What I can't understand is," Caleb started as he pulled Lucas back. "Miss Elena says she was raised in this village, that you have all known her since she was born, yet you readily believed this woman. Tell me, how long have you known the young miss here? Is she known to be trustworthy? Does she often take walks alone through the surrounding forest?" 

The advancing pair stopped and looked at each other. As did everyone else in the inn. Caleb could almost see the wheels turning in everyone's heads as they thought of his questions. 

Lucas noticed Elena's father was no longer sitting at the bar. He noticed the many cups left and he had a bad feeling.

Lucas's bad feelings became stronger so he left the rest in the inn and raced back to the blacksmith's house. When Lucas told Caleb of his bad feeling, he told his brother to go. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until he heard a strange thud.

He raced around to the back of the house, and the sight that greeted him stopped his heart. Elena was lying on the floor, bloodied, beaten and unconscious. Her father staggered over her, fists clenched. 

"Get up!" he ordered as he reached for her. 

Lucas called out before tackling him, they landed with a thud. Her father tried to fight Lucas off but he was at a disadvantage, he was drunk and Lucas was much stronger than him. Lucas quickly knocked him out and raced to Elena. 

"Elena!" he shouted, but she didn't move. 

Quickly, he picked her up as carefully as he could and raced back towards the village. His family was just exiting the village when they smelt blood. Lucas emerged with Elena. 

"What happened?" Helen cried as she looked her over. 

"Her father was beating her, he was drunk," he explained with a pained edge to his voice 

"Let's take her with us," she suggested as she instructed everyone to leave. 

Elena shook herself out of the memory as she watched Lucas race around the side of the cabin. She followed slowly behind with Helen by her side. 

Behind the main cabin, was a large clearing. Several smaller cabins littered around the edges. These housed some of the others in the pack. Elena's cabin was next to the main cabin, as the pack healer, she needed to be close to the alpha and his family. At least that was what Lucas had told her. 

As the two women made it around, Lucas was already coming out of her home. He smiled at the two and waited. Helen chuckled at his behaviour and waved goodbye to Elena.

Lucas followed Elena inside. Her cabin had two rooms. The main room tripled as her kitchen, living space and work room. The other room was her bedroom. Lucas leaned against the doorframe as Elena unpacked.

"If you keep staring at me, you will wear a hole in me," she chuckled which caused Lucas to laugh too.

"That's ok, that way I can tie a rope to you and make sure you never leave the pack again." he crossed his arms and pouted looking just like a child.

"That is very impractical, I can't walk around with a rope tied to me. I would end up getting it knotted up or tripping someone with it," she scolded him playfully.

Lucas walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her into a big hug.

"I missed you," he sighed as he rested his chin on her shoulder. 

Lucas was a foot taller than her, so this position wasn't hard on him. Caleb however, would have to rest his chin on her head. Elena leaned into him and smiled whilst gripping his hands. 

"I missed you too," she smiled. 

"Am I disturbing something?" 

They both jumped apart and Elena immediately started to blush. 

"Caleb! Typical! You show up when all the heavy lifting is done," Lucas accused playfully. 

Caleb chuckled and smiled, his eyes never leaving Elena. 

"I knew you could handle it. I came to see if anyone managed to steal you away from us?" he chuckled. 

Elena blushed even more whilst shaking her head and Lucas went to hit his brother.

"Why you ...." 

Caleb dodged whilst laughing. He moved around Lucas and hid behind Elena. Elena laughed at the pair as they raced around her kitchen. 

'It's good to be home,' she sighed.