Dark Swan

by Yumoyori Wilson

  I found the exit door and sighed with relief. “I made it,” I muttered under my breath.

  I pushed the door open and braced myself for an alarm or something, but nothing happened. There was no curfew here, so it didn’t make sense for someone to monitor the doors, anyway — unless something sketchy popped up on the surveillance screens that I knew got checked on a frequent basis.

  The air was crisp and hit my cheek with a sting. I propped the door open with a rock and edged out a few feet. I glanced behind me to make sure that the door wasn’t going to slam shut in the wind.

  When I was satisfied that it was going to stay open with the weight of the rock holding it in place, I wandered out a little farther, but I kept my eye on the door to make sure no one else, predatory or not, was going to gain access to the main stairwell.

  I knew that I was participating in a dangerous investigation, but I couldn’t help myself. I felt drawn to Cameron and I just wanted to make sure he wasn’t in distress out here.

  I wrapped my arms together in front of my chest as a breeze came through, prickling my skin with chill bumps.

  That was when I found Cameron. He was still out there, pacing and dragging himself through the shadows. He began twitching and convulsing in jerky twists that seemed a little unnatural.

  I was stunned at the sight in front of me, so I kept myself secluded behind the girth of a thick tree until I could better assess what Cameron was up to.

  But I made a crucial mistake. I was a rookie out there in the world. I hadn’t been on my own enough to learn the ropes and season my survival skills. My foot crunched on a twig, snapping it in half.

  The sound startled Cameron and he spun around in a circle, eyes darting all around. They were large and were flickering with madness. I bit my tongue to suppress a scream. He lunged toward me.

  I shrieked and tumbled backward, but I managed to grip a low-lying tree branch to prevent myself from collapsing to the cold and damp soil.

  “What are you doing out here?” he said in a gruff tone that made me cower back even more.

  “I’m…. sorry,” I stammered, barely able to form a sentence through my fright.

  He stopped walking toward me. He stood there and I noticed a flicker of remorse in his eyes. His features softened slightly.

  “Look, you really shouldn’t be out here this time of night.” He was still huffing, but his tone was a little more apologetic.

  “I just wanted to check on you…” I began and faltered. “I was in the kitchen and I saw you out here all alone—”

  “You don’t need to worry about me,” he interrupted sharply and then spun around on a heel with his back facing away from me.

  Then out of nowhere, he took off like a bolt of lightning. He had disappeared into the woods with no reasonable explanation offered. I was left in his wake feeling baffled.

  I had almost forgotten about the propped open door leading back into the bunker. Before I had a chance to scurry back there on one decent leg, I felt the weight of an enormous hand clutch my shoulder from behind.

  The sound of my own shrill scream erupted through my ears. My body instinctively tensed up to the point where I felt anguishing pain in my muscles.

  All the air in my lungs became suspended a I braced myself for what I was certain would be an attack.

  24

  James

  Sophia must have jumped at least an inch or two in the air after I lightly grazed her shoulder with my hand.

  Her body looked like it was going to collapse in on itself. She spun around with an intensely stressed expression on her face and her eyes were glazed with shock.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said and instantly tried to recover from the damage I’d caused. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” I felt remorse ripple through me.

  I noticed that she wasn’t really putting weight on her injured leg, but she didn’t appear to be as wobbly as she had been in the days leading up to now. Her features were milky under the light of the moon and I still admired the graceful fluidity of her movements. She definitely had a dancer body, there was no denying that.

  Sophia pressed her hand to her chest. “It’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting you, that’s all.”

  “No, really,” I said in an as apologetic tone as I could give her. “I shouldn’t have walked up behind you like that and touched you without warning first, especially with everything that has been going on lately with the Masters, guards, and uprisings.”

  “And it’s the middle of the night,” Sophia chuckled. The rosy tint to her cheeks began to come back and she relaxed her behavior slightly.

  “Which leads me to my next question,” I said with a sideways grin.

  “Why am I out here alone?” She asked the question for me.

  “Right.” I nodded and chuckled as I studied her behavior. “I suppose you probably knew that was coming.”

  “I figured,” she said. She still seemed a little rattled by my sudden appearance, but she was recovering quickly.

  “Are you feeling a little better?” I asked her after she still didn’t provide me with a reason why she was outside in the dark seclusion of the woods alone.

  The door leading out to the bunker had also been left open, propped up by the weight of a heavy rock. I could only hope Sophia had done that sloppy work. I would have to talk to her about that, but I would wait until a more appropriate time when she didn’t seem so paranoid of her surroundings.

  “Yeah. Uh-huh.” Sophia nodded absentmindedly but wasn’t really making eye contact with me. Her eyes were darting toward the tree lined horizon.

  She seemed distressed. She folded her arms over her chest and then quickly dangled them by her sides again.

  Her expression was distracted, almost as if she had forgotten that I was standing next to her.

  “Sophia?” I asked and raised an eyebrow as I stared at her expectantly.

  She turned around and gazed at me with a blank expression. “Yes?”

  I chuckled nervously. “Are you sure that everything is all right with you?”

  “I….” she trailed off. She abstractly pointed off in the direction of the thicker part of the woods leading away from the bunker. “Well…”

  “Hey,” I whispered softly as not to alarm her. She already seemed to be skittish enough as it was. “What is going on? What happened? Why are you outside of the bunker all by yourself? You are incapacitated. Someone could find you and take advantage of your current condition.”

  Sophia’s eyes softened. “Thank you for worrying about me. It’s just—”

  “Just what?” I pressed.

  Sophia took a deep breath, inhaling sharply. “One of your friends from the bunker was acting a little strange so I decided to follow him out here. He was twitching and growling. As soon as he saw me, he bolted off in that direction.” She extended her arm and pointed her finger ominously into the blanket of shadows.

  “Who?” I narrowed my eyes, but I had a feeling I knew exactly who she was referring to. I didn’t want to give out the name before she said it first.

  “Cam-Cameron…” she said and trailed off. She was still looking over her shoulder with paranoia flickering in her wide blue eyes.

  “Cameron?” I asked.

  “Yes.” Sophia nodded assertively as if there was no mistaking him as the culprit. “He was out here behaving so peculiarly. He was pacing around as if he was worried about something. He kept glancing at the moon.”

  “Did he see you?” I asked.

  “Yes.” She nodded and I noticed her breathing had intensified. “He yelled at me. He roared for me to get away from him. He told me I shouldn’t be out here by myself in the dark.”

  I softened my features. “Well, he’s right…”

  Sophia glanced down at the ground, looking suddenly sullen as she crossed her arms protectively over her chest.

  “Cameron is a werewolf,” I explained.

  “He’s a werewolf? So that explains why he was acting so odd?”
>
  “Yes,” I said reassuringly. “He just didn’t want you to see him turn.”

  Sophia frowned. “Why not?”

  “He becomes extremely aggressive when he turns,” I said. “He can’t be trusted in the bunker. He has to roam the woods alone until dawn.”

  “Oh, that’s so sad!” Sophia exclaimed as if it were a tragedy.

  “It is indeed.” I nodded somberly. “It’s a curse. One of the oldest in the book. His Master had one of Cameron’s fellow shifter slaves place the werewolf curse on him as a punishment for something that Cameron doesn’t ever want to talk about. It was sinister, dark magic. He shifts at midnight and there is no way to reverse the magic until daylight breaks across the sky the following morning. We have all tried to help Cameron, but no one has figured out a solution yet to lift the curse itself.”

  Sophia’s eyes were wide with sympathetic horror. “So, he basically turns into a ferocious animal?”

  “He would rip us both to shreds, unfortunately,” I said bleakly. “He’s still in his right mind, though. He stays around the perimeter of the bunker, but he doesn’t go inside. It’s an added protection for us, just knowing that he’s out there waiting to claw anyone to death who tries to enter the bunker without invitation.”

  “Wow.” Sophia’s features shaded with sorrow. “That is terrible.”

  “The Masters are horrendous,” I said with a shrug. “Unfortunately, at this time, there is nothing we can do to help him until someone figures out how to reverse the spell. We don’t have anyone here in the bunker with us who has that ability.”

  Sophia nodded, looking as if she wanted to help but didn’t know what to offer.

  “Why don’t we go inside?” I suggested after seeing my breath puff out and plume in front of me. “It’s getting frigid out here and my muscles are stiff.”

  Sophia nodded approvingly. “Yes, that sounds like a good idea to me too. I spent enough time outside shivering in a tent with my Master and his caravan.”

  “I hope that you never have to do anything like that ever again,” I said and gave her a smile that I hoped she would read as sincere.

  “Thank you.” Her eyes twinkled in the glow of the moonlight.

  She was simply stunning. It was difficult for me to resist the temptation to lean over and kiss the softness of her full, round lips. They looked delicious and sweet. Maybe she would accompany back inside, and we could talk and get to know each other a little better.

  “Come on,” I said with a warm smile, gently persuading her back in the direction of the bunker door by touching the small of her back. A surge of passion and desire nearly floored me. “Let’s get you back inside where it’s nice and warm and cozy.”

  “I would love that,” Sophia said with a contented sigh. “I’m glad to know that Cameron’s beastly behavior has a reason and a background.”

  “Yes, well, don’t worry about him. He’s a little on the shy and reserved side but once he opens up to you, I’m sure there will be a blossoming friendship.” I lightly touched her arm.

  “I certainly hope so too,” Sophia said and smiled as she peered up at me. I was at least a foot taller than her. She was so slender and petite, like the ballerina that she claimed to be.

  I would love to see her gracefully floating around the room and fluttering elegantly on top of me as she danced and made my cock throb.

  I cleared my throat and smiled. “After you.” I stepped aside to let her inside the bunker stairwell first.

  “Thanks.” Sophia looked slightly sheepish. “I’m sorry, this might take me a while…”

  “I can carry you back to the main level,” I suggested. She was dainty and I knew she would be light as a feather.

  Sophia looked embarrassed. “Oh, that’s not necessary—”

  “I insist,” I grinned eagerly. “It’s no trouble at all, really.”

  “Well, I suppose it would be the easiest way…” Sophia trailed off as if the prospect of tackling the stairs again would be a daunting challenge in her current physical state.

  “Of course it will be,” I said and lifted her delicate body, cradling her in my arms. My assumption had proved itself accurate. She was positively light as a feather.

  I brought her down the hallway to the library where I loved to read and decompress. The library represented peace and quiet to me in a world filled with savagery and disorder. I already knew that this time of night, there wouldn’t be a crowd inside. I was looking forward to some quality alone time with Sophia so I could figure out what her interests were and determine whether we had any in common.

  As soon as we walked into the room, we were confronted with walls and walls of books lining the shelves as far as the naked eye could see.

  “This is incredible.” Sophia’s eyes sparkled with magic and wonderment as she slowly grazed the tips of her fingertips across the dusty, leather-bound spines of the books as she strolled through the rows in awe.

  “This is my favorite room in the entire bunker,” I admitted, walking a few strides behind her as I watched her glance around the room with admiration.

  Sophia turned around and gave me a mesmerized stare. Her eyes were radiant, almost glowing under the faint yellow light of the lanterns and chandeliers overhead.

  “I can see why. I love libraries too. I wish I’d had more time to spend browsing through them.”

  “Now you have all the time in the world,” I told her.

  Sophia appeared pensive. She turned back around, facing the opposite direction so it became impossible to read her features.

  “You certainly are getting more mobile,” I said in a lighthearted way.

  Sophia smiled but I could see the veil of sadness behind her eyes. “I wish I was healing faster.”

  “Just cut yourself some slack,” I said.

  I wished I had a magic cure, but that’s what the menders were for. They were doing everything in their power to speed up the process of her recovery.

  Sophia shrugged and nibbled on her bottom lip as if she were trying to suppress a sob, but her eyes didn’t appear to be wet.

  “I bet you are a beautiful dancer,” I said in an effort to shift her focus on a topic that brought her more joy than a broken leg did.

  Just as I had hoped, Sophia’s face brightened. She looked excited for the first time since I’d met her. “I love to dance. I have been doing it since I was a little girl. I used to perform as a ballerina in my village. My parents got me lessons. They couldn’t really afford them, but they spent the money anyway because they believed in me and knew that I was passionate about it.”

  “Your parents sound lovely,” I said.

  “They’re dead.” Sophia’s voice was flat as she turned her back to me again.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that,” I whispered gently and cupped my hand over her shoulder. “I haven’t seen my parents in a very long time…”

  Sophia faced me once again. She blinked as she looked into my eyes, searching for hope and meaning. “You haven’t?”

  “Not since I was swiped from them by my Master,” I said.

  My goal was to make her feel like she wasn’t alone with her sadness, that she didn’t have to be afraid anymore. I wanted her to know that she had people she could bond with who had also been through similar traumas in their lives.

  “Do you miss them?” Sophia asked as if her entire life clung to my response.

  “Every day,” I admitted. “My father and my uncle were jaguar shifters too. They would spend hours training me to defend myself in the event that I ever got taken by a master.”

  “Did the defense training work?” Sophia cringed.

  “Somewhat,” I said. “But there were too many of them. They netted me before I was able to shift and fight back.”

  “Magic and shifting were forbidden in the Master castle I lived in,” Sophia said. “Although sometimes people tried to get away with using it in subtle ways.”

  She flicked her eyes away as if she were guilty of the ve
ry thing she was describing. I smiled. She was so intriguing and I wanted to know more about her. She had captured my attention in the very best ways possible.

  As I looked into the seduction of her fierce blue eyes, I saw a fire blazing in them. A fire that desperately needed to escape. I knew without a doubt that this tortured soul of a woman was going places that none of us could even imagine.

  I just hoped I would be lucky enough to go along for the ride.

  25

  James

  “I must say,” I told Sophia as we strolled past rows and rows of books, slowly and side-by-side.

  Every now and then, her shoulder or her arm lightly grazed against mine and delight surged within me from the inside out. “I am so grateful that I finally found a shifter out there who shares my penchant for reading.”

  Sophia’s eyes brightened and there was a faint twinkle of charm in them. Her full red lips curled at the edges with amusement.

  “Me too,” she said. “Don’t you just love the smell of a library? It’s like every page has a history, a story to tell. I have always loved burrowing under a warm blanket by a crackling and cozy fire while burying my nose into a great story.”

  “It’s wonderful,” I said.

  Sophia’s features softened into something melancholy. “The last time I remember enjoying a moment of relaxation like that was before my Master took me.”

  “You can start your life over now,” I whispered gently and stroked her back. “You don’t have to worry about the monsters out there in the shadows anymore.”

  “Except for Cameron?” Sophia grinned, then her smile quickly faded. “I know. That one was in poor taste.”

  “No, it’s okay,” I chuckled. “We joke around with Cameron about his affliction sometimes. It’s like comic relief for the severity of the curse on him.”

  Sophia gave me a contemplative look as she pursed her lips in concentration. “I wish there was some way we could help him, something we could do.”