Blood Melody

by Val St. Crowe

  We could get them both free.

  I wanted this more than anything.

  Landon didn’t want to talk, though. He stood in my living room at the window, fingers pressed to the pane, facing away from me. “That’s why I need to leave. So that I can go and find this bloodstone, whatever it is.”

  “Please sit down,” I said. I was in a comfortable easy chair, and there was another one right next to me. I wanted to look into his eyes when we spoke.

  “It’s not as if you can leave your pack to go looking for it.”

  “Why not?” I said. “I’m the alpha. I’ll do as I please.”

  “I just… I need something to do.”

  “So, go and look for it, but come home to me at night.”

  “This isn’t my home.”

  “You don’t have a home.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So, this could be your home. I could be your home.”

  “And you’ll explain that to Desta, when we take her from the city? That you and I are… what? Roommates?”

  “Mates,” I said.

  He turned away from the window. “You’re not letting this go.”

  “You won’t at least try it?” I said.

  “I guess you just have silver chains lying around?”

  “Actually, they keep them in the jail in town,” I said. “If they have to subdue a werewolf for whatever reason, silver’s the best way to do it.”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “You didn’t break out of the chains until after you came to, Landon. The whole time you were raging out, they held.”

  He sighed. He came over and sat down heavily in the chair. “Look, you don’t know what you’re asking. When I rage out like that, I’m gone. I have no memory of it. It’s like something else savage takes over my body.”

  “I know that,” I said.

  “Oh, right, you know all about it,” he muttered.

  “I don’t know all about it,” I said. “There are things I don’t understand. Maybe we could talk about it, just to try to figure out if it would even be possible.”

  “It wouldn’t be possible.”

  “You keep saying that, but I—”

  “But you just ignore me.”

  “You kissed me and it didn’t happen,” I said. “You watched me shift back and forth bunches of times, and it didn’t happen. But I pull a nightgown over my head at Viggo’s place and boom? Why did it happen then?”

  “It was what he whispered in my ear,” Landon said.

  “What did he whisper in your ear?”

  Landon shifted uncomfortably. “Just… he was graphic. Detailed. He used… words.”

  “Oh, really, he used words?”

  “Vulgar words.” Landon’s shoulders hunched up, as if he was trying to make himself disappear. “Talking about this isn’t going to help. It’s dangerous to even talk about.”

  “Why?” I said. “How does it work? You rage out if you have one thought about sex? Or is it a physical thing? Like, if you have…” I took a deep breath. I could talk about this. I could. “If you have an erection, is that what does it?”

  He flinched. “Do you have those chains handy?”

  “Why?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. If you’re going to be saying erection a lot more times, it might be better if I was chained up.”

  “I thought that was a good clinical word,” I said. “What would you rather I say? Hard-on? Boner? Stiffy?”

  “Camber, hell.” He started laughing.

  I started laughing too. I was blushing like crazy.

  He took a deep breath. “Maybe just say, uh, reaction. Physical reaction.”

  “Okay,” I said. “So, the rage mode gets triggered when you have a physical reaction.”

  “Yes,” he said. Then he considered. “No. I mean, it’s not just that. I’ve never switched over without a, um, reaction, but I’ve had one and not flipped out.”

  “So, see that’s promising,” I said. “Maybe you could hang onto yourself long enough for this to work, then.”

  “For us to…”

  “Mate,” I said.

  “No,” he said. “No, no way. The minute that, uh, started happening, I would be gone.”

  “But if you were in the chains, and we had your arms tied down and your neck tied down, and you couldn’t hurt me, then could you finish?”

  “Finish, as in, uh…”

  “Climax,” I said. “Because that’s what triggers the mating bond. The male’s climax.”

  “So, you don’t have to?”

  “No.”

  “That’s bullshit,” he said, rolling his eyes.

  “I know, right? Way to enforce the uselessness of the female orgasm where nature is concerned.” I made a face. “But, in this case, it works in our favor. And then you’d be part of the pack, and this would be your home, and it would repair the spell.”

  He rubbed his forehead. “I don’t know, Camber.”

  “I know you’re hesitant about trying it,” I said. “I know you don’t want to hurt me.”

  “I mean that I don’t know about the climax part,” he said. “When I come back after raging out, it’s not like I’ve gone around looking to see if… I mean, you know what I mean?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I get it.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “I know,” I said. “But could we mess around with the chains at least? Just to see how secure we could make them?”

  He chuckled darkly. “You make that sound dirty.”

  I picked up a throw pillow and hurled it at him. “Shut up.”

  “Seriously, I’ve never been into bondage.”

  “Landon.”

  “Sure, fine, whatever. You get some chains, and I’ll let you chain me up, mistress.”

  I threw another pillow at him.

  He caught it, laughing, his blue eyes dancing.

  * * *

  “You need to secure these to something stronger than the headboard to the bed,” Landon was saying. He was lying on top of the quilt on the bed in my bedroom, and his arms were chained above his head. He was tugging at them, testing their strength.

  “Yeah, okay, that makes sense,” I said. I was kneeling next to the bed, holding the ends of the chains, which was making me feel a little lightheaded. Silver was not great for werewolves. I set the chains down on the floor and took a deep breath.

  Landon looked over at me. “Hey, you okay?” His voice was soft.

  “Yeah, fine,” I said. “Just the silver. It’s not a lot of fun to handle. Makes me feel out of it.”

  “Well, don’t push it,” he said.

  “I’m wondering if we should do this here,” I said. “Maybe we should try it at the jail or something, where they have hooks for the chains.”

  “That makes it kind of public,” he said. “I’m sure your pack is not going to be on board with the idea of you taking your life in your hands to screw me.”

  “That’s a good point,” I said.

  “For that matter, I’m not really on board with it.”

  “I know,” I said. I tapped my lower lip, trying to think of a way to secure the chain. “Look, maybe if we just chained your hands together behind your back and then chained your feet it would be enough.”

  “Behind my back?” He furrowed his brow. “How’s that going to work? You want me to lay on my back with my hands underneath me?”

  “Maybe?” I said. “If there’s discomfort, that’ll make it harder for you to be fully, uh, excited, right?”

  “True,” he said. “Okay, makes sense.” He wriggled around, trying to move his hands.

  “That’s not going to work,” I said. “Let me undo those chains up there.” I stood up and began unwinding the chains around his wrists. When I did, he winced a little.

  “Do these chains hurt?”

  “The silver stings a little after its on my skin for a while. Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “S
orry,” I said. “We don’t have to keep at this. We can stop.”

  “If we stop now, are you going to give up on this whole idea?”

  “Well…”

  “You’ll just want to try again, right?” he said. “Might as well get it over with.”

  “Okay,” I said, and I got the key for the shackles at his hands and removed them.

  He sat up, putting his hands behind his back. “Chain me back up, baby.”

  I snorted, and snapped the shackles back into place. Then I wound the silver chain around and around his wrists, making it travel up his arms to his elbows and then back down again. “Okay, lay back,” I said.

  He did.

  His pelvis was unnaturally thrust forward.

  I stared at him there.

  He cleared his throat.

  “Are you, um, having a physical reaction?” I murmured.

  “Apparently, being chained up gets me hot,” he said in a rumbly voice, winking at me.

  I giggled.

  “It’s probably just how close you are,” he said. “Give me a minute. It’ll go away.”

  “Okay.” I set down the chains and rolled my head on my shoulders. Damn, that silver wasn’t fun. I looked back at him, and I felt a little surge go through my own pelvis. Something about him lying like that… He was so strong, but he was tied up and at my mercy. I licked my lips.

  “Hey, don’t do that,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “Is it going away?” I said.

  “Uh…” He swallowed. “You know, maybe you should leave the room. Or the house. Or the continent.”

  “Why? Are you close to losing it?”

  He sucked in a labored breath. “I…”

  “I better chain your feet,” I said. “Roll onto your side.”

  He did. “Hell, Camber, this was such a stupid idea. How did I let you talk me into this?”

  “Shut up,” I said. “You think unsexy thoughts right now. Like, um, baseball. Or-or your mom. Your dead mom.”

  “What the hell are you saying that for?”

  I stretched the chain down from his wrists to his ankles where I began to wind it around his ankles as tightly as I could. “Is it working? Is it going away?”

  “Actually, yeah,” he said in a tight voice. “Thanks.”

  “Any time,” I said. I ran out of chain, so I got another length of it from the floor. I attached the current chain on Landon to the shackles. I put the shackles on his ankles. Then I wrapped up the rest of the chain. When I was finished, I attached one end of the chain to the other, so that he was chained in place.

  I stepped back. “There.”

  He rolled back onto his back and wriggled. “It’s pretty strong. I mean, I don’t feel like I can get free. And even if I got off the bed, I’d have to slither on my stomach to get anywhere.”

  “Good,” I said.

  “But it doesn’t do anything about my teeth,” he said.

  “Well,” I said, “do you think you’d be able to bite me?”

  “Definitely,” he said.

  I climbed onto the bed and straddled him.

  He sucked in a sharp breath. “Whoa.”

  “Try it,” I said.

  “Try what?” His voice was strangled.

  “Try to get your teeth in me.”

  “Did you just say the words ‘in me’?”

  “Landon.” I seized his chin and made him look at me. “Focus.”

  His breath was growing labored.

  I positioned myself against his hips. And I could feel that his, uh, reaction was back. We’d have to be quick. “So, I’d be like this.” I let go of his chin. “If you could keep yourself together long enough for me to get in, um, position, and then you lost it, could you—”

  His hips flew up, bucking me off him. His eyes clouded over and he let out a guttural sound.

  Oh, hell. He was losing it now.

  He snarled, his eyes going bright yellow.

  I scrambled away from him, letting out a little yelp.

  He flopped over, coming for me, all semblance of sanity gone from his expression. He was nothing but rage and hunger and motion. His teeth snapped closed, and he growled.

  I fell off the bed, landing in a heap on the floor, gasping. I was a little bit out of it from the silver, and I was having trouble getting my balance. I stood up.

  Landon was on his stomach, shimmying across the bed, still snapping his jaws and snarling. His yellow eyes flashed.

  I backed up. Okay, this was bad. This was not good at all, but he was chained up, and he couldn’t really move, so I just needed to wait it out and stay far away from him, and—

  Landon let out a roar and yanked upwards with his arms.

  The silver chains snapped like nothing.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  I screamed.

  He reached for me, claws extended.

  I backed up. Where the hell was the door? Why hadn’t the silver held? Maybe the chains in Viggo’s place had been stronger? Or maybe Landon hadn’t been as worked up then? Maybe the physical closeness of us had meant he was more excited and therefore stronger?

  Why was I thinking about this?

  Landon launched himself off the bed and ripped away the chains at his ankles. Now on his feet, he ran for me.

  I turned and went for the door. I reached it and got my hand on the doorknob.

  He grabbed my arm and dug his claws into it, pulling me back toward him.

  I screamed again, kicking him, yanking my arm back at the same time. I got free, but he took big chunks of flesh as his claws raked through my arm. I dove through the door and shifted.

  Now in wolf form, I squared off with him.

  He came for me, snarling.

  I snarled back and leaped up to meet him.

  We grappled in the air for several moments before he got his claws into my left flank and then his teeth into my shoulder, and I twisted and got free, yipping in pain.

  No, I couldn’t fight him. He was stronger than me.

  I had to run. Hopefully, he would follow me and not go after anyone in the village. I ran for the door, which was in the kitchen.

  He was right on my heels.

  The minute I got to the door, I realized I had to shift to open the doorknob. I did it.

  And Landon tackled me.

  I was naked beneath him and he was on top of me, hissing. Saliva dripped off his teeth as he lowered them to my neck.

  He bit me.

  I shrieked. I sobbed.

  His claws were in me. He was ripping off my skin. Everything hurt. There was blood and—

  I shifted again, and everything healed. I sank my own teeth into his neck.

  He cried out and staggered off of me.

  I gathered up speed and leaped through my kitchen window.

  As glass rained down around me, I hit the ground running, heading for the woods. I glanced back to see if Landon was coming after me.

  He was.

  I ran as fast as I could.

  He was faster. He caught up to me in no time and he was on me. But we were in the woods now, free of the village. I fought back. I bit him again. This time, I went for his throat. I ripped it out and blood went everywhere.

  He stumbled forward, choking.

  I jumped out of the way. I’d ripped away enough of his skin to kill anything not supernatural, but Landon was harder to kill than that. Would he pass out now, like when Viggo had snapped his neck?

  Landon wavered on his feet for a minute and then fell down, face first, senseless.

  I panted in relief. I wanted to sob, but I was a wolf, and I couldn’t. I stayed in wolf form for a long time after, just to keep the sobs at bay.

  * * *

  Eventually, I shifted back into human form and went back to my place for clothes and a big sheet. I took the sheet back into the woods, rolled Landon onto it, and I dragged him back to my place. His throat was already practically healed. And I had shifted and healed whatever injuries he’d
inflicted on me.

  It was as if it had never happened, if you looked at our bodies.

  But I was shaken.

  I didn’t have the strength in human form to get him onto my couch, not after dragging him all that way, so I left him on the floor of the living room and covered him up with a blanket. I could have called Ewan to help me, but I didn’t want anyone to know about this.

  I felt acutely stupid.

  Everyone had told me that it was impossible for Landon and I to mate, and I hadn’t listened.

  The silver chains obviously weren’t going to hold him. It wasn’t going to happen.

  I gazed down at him, and I felt hollow inside. Hollow because I would never be able to mate with him and hollow because I would never be able to forget the way he’d looked at me while he was pressed into my nude body on my kitchen floor and he was using his teeth and claws to try to destroy me.

  I shuddered.

  Exhausted, I went to bed. I didn’t sleep in my bed, though, because I couldn’t handle being in the room where Landon had gone crazy. Instead, I went into the guest room and crawled under the covers. I had bad dreams of being chased through the woods by a beast man with yellow eyes.

  When I woke up, Landon was gone.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “The spell is already starting to degrade,” said Neil to the gathered council members.

  It was two days later, and it was the regular meeting of the council. I was here, Judah was here, and so were about thirty other members of the pack, who had all come to attend the meeting.

  Which was fabulous, because it was shaping up to be a meeting all about my sex life.

  “How can you know that?” I said.

  “I know that,” said Neil to me, “because I had members of the North pack try to come through the borders, and they were able to penetrate it in several spots. You’ve moved out of Judah’s house, and your bond is practically severed. There is nothing to keep the spell strong.”

  I rubbed my temples. This was horrible.

  Mary spoke up. “Maybe you could go back to the witch who did the spell and ask her for something to strengthen it?”