He turned his head to look at the healer. “It would probably be best if Jen and I handle this one.”

Drake started to pull away but Bethany just held on tighter. When he looked at Rachel again she nodded her understanding and leaned forward to whisper to the young girl. Drake tried really hard not to listen despite his excellent wolf hearing, but he wasn’t able to tune it all out.

He got bits and pieces, the main one being about the bleeding. He felt her stiffen in his arms as Rachel’s words began to register in her mind. Clearly, the girl was embarrassed. Just as she was about to scramble out of his arms, Drake held her tighter and pulled her back to look down into her aquamarine eyes. “Never be embarrassed with me. You’re safe with me. In all ways, you’re safe.”

She held his stare and finally nodded. “Okay.” Bethany wiped away some stray tears as she continued to look at him. “I think you should probably wait outside.”

Drake’s lips lifted ever so slightly in a small grin. “I’ll be waiting for you when you’re done. Take your time.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then set her on her feet and quietly left the bathroom, pulling the door gently closed behind him.

As soon as the latch caught, Drake let out an audible sigh.

“Everything okay?” A deep voice asked. Drake turned to find Decebel and Gavril, Rachel’s mate, standing in the living area.

He nodded. “Getting there.”

“Good, now let’s go for a run while the females deal with female stuff,” Decebel said in a much quieter voice than his usual.

“I can still hear you, you big fur ball.” Jen’s voice came calling out through the closed doors. “And by all means, go! We would hate for some of our icky female stuff to somehow infect you.” She paused, but the she-wolf wasn’t done. “Oh and don’t come back unless you have chocolate— lots of it. Toodles.”

“She could have told you all of that from here.” Drake tapped the side of his head.

Decebel smirked. “She could have, but then she wouldn’t have had the pleasure of baiting me in front of other males.”

Drake gave him a questioning look.

Decebel shrugged. “It’s her idea of foreplay.”

Drake decided not to touch that with a ten-foot pole. Instead, he sent a parting thought to Bethany so that she’d know where he was and then followed the other two males out of the mansion and into the surrounding forest that they called home.

Bethany was pretty sure she was going to be the first person ever to die of embarrassment. If such a thing was possible, it was about to happen. She’d freaked out, plain and simple. She’d seen the blood and all those years—all the horrors she’d endured—came rushing back and she’d simply lost it. If Drake didn’t see her as helpless and delicate before, he probably did now after that little display.

“Hey.”

Snap, snap. Fingers were suddenly thrust in her face and they continued the snapping until she finally met the eyes of their owner.

“You were seven when they took you,” Jen said. “How could you have known?”

She was referring to the aforementioned bleeding. It had been her period. How do you like them apples? she thought to herself. She had freaked out over her period. No, she’d never had one before, but she knew a little bit about them from the snippets she remembered her mom telling her when she was a child. But over the past eleven years, that knowledge had slipped away, locked behind survival instincts and fear.

“Bethany,” Rachel’s gentle voice drew her attention from her thoughts. “I’m not a doctor, but I have spent years studying the body, both human and werewolf. Your body was in survival mode for such a very long time and, it’s my bet that because of that trauma, your menstrual cycle was delayed. Your body is finally returning back to normal after your ordeal.”

“Yeah, now that you’re no longer on the let’s try and stay alive wellness plan,” Jen continued for the healer. “Your body is remembering that it actually serves a purpose more than just taking up oxygen.”

Jen stepped out for a few moments and then returned with an array of products meant to aid during the monthly cycle. She laid them out on the floor before Bethany. The Alpha female was kind enough to explain to her the pros and cons of tampons vs. no tampons. It was all quite informative, but still didn’t take Bethany’s mind away from the fact that she’d have to face Drake again soon, and she was sure her face would end up ten shades of red.

“So this should stop in seven days or less?” Bethany asked Rachel.

“Yes. It varies from woman to woman but a typical cycle is seven days or less.”

Bethany turned to look at Jen who was already shaking her head. “No,” the blonde said, holding out a finger. “You are not going to hide at my place for the next week. He’s your mate. He’s going to have to deal with this for the rest of his life. You are going to have to get over it. Drake is like a millions years old…okay probably not a million, but I assure you he’s older than us. He’s well aware of what’s going on down there, I promise you.”

So, no help there, Bethany thought and looked over to Rachel.

“She’s right. You won’t hear me say that often in Jen’s presence.” Rachel shot Jen a grin. “But in this instance, she is right.”

“Maybe we should start singing some passionate ballad with a catchy chorus and belt it out at the top of our lungs. Then suddenly everything will be golden,” Jen suggests.

Bethany wasn’t sure what to say to such a suggestion.

“What?” Jen shrugged. “It works for all those Disney Princesses. They come upon a dilemma or difficult situation and then start singing, in which case animals almost always join in and then BAM!” She clapped her hands together. “World peace is accomplished and starving children everywhere suddenly have full bellies. I’m just saying we could at least give it a go just to see if the animals do indeed join in.”

“You really have nothing to be embarrassed about,” Rachel said turning back to Bethany. “All you have to deal with is your monthly menstrual cycle. Jen, well, she’s stuck with herself, so she’s dealing with a whole lot more than just a period. So you should be smiling.”

Bethany was smiling, but not because of what Rachel said. She was smiling because Jen was currently singing something about bare necessities and werewolves necessities. It was an interesting mix of lyrics and music. She floated past them, her arms stretched out wide as she sang. On her next pass by, she paused and looked at Bethany. “Okay, I don’t know what it is about this bathroom but it’s got some serious happy vibes. Maybe the air is thinner in here and I’m just experiencing a lack of oxygen to the brain.”