by Ovidia Pike
“That’s a good idea. I’ll tell the princess she should do the same. Maybe we can find out where they’re going.”
I nodded.
“What about the lion attack in the woods?” I asked him.
“I’m looking into it. I’ve run into more than one lion who thinks and calls us dogs. I didn’t know there were so many in the caves who thought that way.”
“What about the royalty?”
“They were welcoming. Princess Elina was really pissed when she found out that one of them threatened me. I don’t think they have anything to do with it.”
“Maybe you should talk to them about it. They might have leads.”
“I will the next time I get an audience with them,” Jackson said. “We found out who the man was who did it. Caught his scent in the woods over there and it brought us to what looked like a meeting place. I think I’ll stake it out tonight, see if anyone shows up.”
I nodded.
“How’s the doctor?”
“The doctor is fine,” he said, his voice sharp, almost bitter. I didn’t ask what was wrong.
“Okay,” I said after a moment. “I will see you when you get back.”
“Yes, sir,” Jackson said, and then he was gone, leaving me alone with Sophie. This time, I didn’t let myself look at her, but stood up from the table.
“I need to get dressed,” I said to her.
“I’ll wait outside,” she said, and then disappeared as I got ready to go out into the woods. I went outside where she was waiting and we started to walk quietly through the village.
“How are you, Sophie?” I asked, needing to break the silence. She shot a look at me as we walked.
“I’m fine,” she said shortly.
“You really want to dig up these graves?” I asked. “I can have Harley do it.”
“I want to see what’s going on,” she said.
“Why do you feel the need to be a part of everything even if it’s a danger to you?” I asked her.
“This isn’t dangerous. Digging isn’t dangerous, Gabriel.”
“Being out in the woods is,” I countered.
“I don’t really trust you to make the right choices for your people,” she said. “Somebody has to look out for their best interests.”
“You think I don’t?”
“Of course not,” she said. “You only look out for yourself.”
“What do you think I’m doing right now?” I asked her.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“You don’t know as much about me as you think you do,” I said. She looked over at me, peering at my face.
“I know that you’re cold and empty,” she said. “You don’t have a heart or a soul.”
I stopped her with my hand on her shoulder, turning her to face me, looking deep into her eyes.
“If I don’t have a heart, then why does it start pounding every time I see you?” I asked her. “Why can’t I think of anything else?”
“Because you want to get your dick wet and I won’t have you,” she said. “So you think it’s a fun little challenge.”
“You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about,” I said. “I don’t want to fuck you.”
“No?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“No,” I said.
“So what do you want, Gabriel?” she asked. “Really?”
“Depends on the moment,” I said to her.
“And right now?” she asked, a hopeful tone to her voice. I wanted to give her what she wanted but had no idea what that was.
“I just want to stop arguing,” I said to her.
“Is that all?” she asked. I took a deep breath, thinking for a moment, wondering if I should tell her that all I really wanted in the world was to kiss her at any given moment, wrap her in my arms, take back the things I had said to push her away from me.
“Yes,” I said instead, knowing it was the right idea. She stared at my face for a moment, a hint of disappointment in her eyes, then turned away.
“Where are the bodies buried?” she asked, her voice blank again. I felt frustrated as we continued to walk, feeling stiff as we walked up to the burial site. I was glad to see that shovels were left there lying in the dirt, and quickly picked one up, moving to one of the graves.
“Wait,” Sophie said, putting her hand out to stop me from digging. She knelt down next to the grave and peered closely in the dirt, tracing a faint symbol, the same one we’d been seeing around. She looked up at my face and nodded to indicate that I should continue. I started to dig while Sophie went to check the other graves, each one marked with a log, names carved into the bark. She started to dig with her hands and ignored me when I offered her the shovel, taking giant scoops from the earth with her fingers. I continued my excavation, unsurprised to find that there was nothing there, no matter how far I dug. The soil was still loose and not quite packed into the hole, but I could tell where the grave had been made. I looked over to see Sophie still digging.
“Body is gone,” I said. She nodded.
“I thought so—” she said, cutting herself off, her eyes widening as she looked over my shoulder.
“Gabriel,” she said. “Watch—”
She couldn’t finish her sentence before I was thrown to the ground from the back. I didn’t have time to respond before I felt a searing pain, the feeling of claws deep in my shoulders. I winced and shifted, bursting out of my clothes, but was thrown to the ground again with a hiss. I looked up to see that two more lions were closing in on Sophie, and all at once I felt something pulse through me, a powerful energy all throughout my body. One of them leapt at her and my vision went white as I managed to flip out from under the lion who was pinning me. I snarled at it, charging into the beast, barreling into it with my shoulder. I wasn’t surprised when the body flew backward and I took the opportunity to lunge at him on the ground, sinking my teeth into his face and tearing it apart. The lion made a gurgling noise before it died but I didn’t stop. I pivoted to see Sophie on the ground covering her face, and raced over to them, diving at the one who was on top of her. I bit into the back of the lioness’s neck and jerked my head backward, pulling her away from Sophie, pulling the animal’s head back so hard that I heard her neck snap, dead before she hit the ground.
I felt the third lion jump on my back as soon as the other was dead, saw Sophie scramble to her feet, whipping her shotgun from her shoulder. I flipped over as she aimed and the lion dragged its claws across my face, starting at my brow and ending near my chin. Blood poured into my eyes as the gun went off and the lion collapsed on top of me. I climbed to my feet, trying to wipe my eyes with my hands.
“Sophie,” I said. “Sophie, are you hurt?”
“No,” she said in a strained voice, wiping at my face with a piece of fabric from my shredded clothes.
“Your face,” she said, eyes wide and filled with fear.
“I’m fine,” I said to her, though I was starting to feel dizzy and weak. The next thing I knew I had dropped to my knees on the ground.
“No, no,” she said in panic, handing me the cloth. “Hold this over your face.”
“How—”
“I’ll guide you back to the village,” she said, helping me up by my arms, wrapping one of them over her shoulder. I did as she said, holding the towel over my face as we started back through the trees, Sophie guiding me with her arm around my waist.
“Fuck,” she said after a moment. “Alicia is gone.”
“There’s another doctor in the medical hut,” I mumbled, nearly sinking to the ground again. She tightened her grip on me, guiding me firmly through the trees and back in through the village. Each time I moved, a searing pain coursed through my back, and I remembered the cuts there, too. We got to the medical hut and were ushered in by the doctor.
“Oh, my god,” she said when she pulled the cloth back from my face, which had since stopped bleeding on our journey. “What happened?”
“Lions,” I grunted, watc
hing as Sophie pulled a chair up to the bed, sitting right next to me. She reached for my hand as the doctor looked at my face, lacing our fingers, gripping me tightly. She squeezed it whenever I winced in pain as the doctor started to clean at my wounds, the antiseptic stinging my skin.
“You won’t need stitches in your face,” she said. “It’s not as bad as your back.”
“Good,” Sophie said, her voice still anxious as the doctor started to clean and stitch up my back. Sophie met my eye and held it the whole time, chewing on her lip nervously. I didn’t feel anything on my back then, felt only her hand in mine, the caress of her gaze on my face.
“We need to have Dr. Thomas look at this when she gets back,” the doctor said. “But for now, you’re fine. I want you to stay here for the night. I’ll be back to bandage you up in a few minutes.”
“Okay,” I said to her. “Thank you, doctor.”
“I suggest you let him get some rest,” the woman said to Sophie, who shook her head.
“I’m staying,” she said in a firm voice. The doctor nodded and left the room, left us alone together as we stared at each other, her palm soft against mine.
“Your face,” she said in a choked voice, standing up, moving to stand in front of me. She leaned in and surprised me by pressing a soft kiss to the cut on my forehead.
“Please stop doing this to me,” she breathed, kissing my face again, then again in fluttery brushes of her lips. “Please, please, Gabriel.”
“I had to save you,” I said to her. She shook her head, tilted her face to kiss my lips.
“I won’t let you die for me,” she said. “I won’t let you die for anything.”
“It’s not up to you,” I said softly. She shook her head, kissing my lips again, and this time it lingered as I kissed her back, wrapping my arms around her to pull her close. I relished that kiss for as long as I could, knowing it wouldn’t and couldn’t last but not caring about any of it. She pulled back after a moment, touching her lips with the tips of her fingers, eyes traveling over my face.
“That’s going to scar,” she said, touching the cuts gently with her fingertips after pulling them from her lips, an indirect kiss.
“Am I hideous now?” I asked her. Her lips flickered into a smile.
“Definitely,” she said. “You were never very good-looking.”
I found myself laughing, a foreign sound, one I didn’t recognize.
“That’s so mean.”
“I’m just being honest,” she said in a teasing voice, still smiling. I was about to respond when the door opened again and the doctor reappeared, looking at Sophie.
“It’s time to go,” she said. “He needs to rest.”
“But—”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll see you later, Sophie.”
“Okay,” she said, meeting my eye one last time before leaving the room.
Chapter 9: Jackson
I stayed in wolf form as we made our way from the village to the caves, trotting beside Alicia, who walked quickly, never seeming to tire. I could tell she wanted to get away from the silence and I did, too, though I knew it would last for as long as we were together, even when I wasn’t in animal form. We walked for a long time, spending hours not saying anything, without Alicia slowing down for a minute. I didn’t hear anything in the woods surrounding, had no warning before I was frozen to the spot, staring at Alicia. She was frozen, too, her eyes wide looking over my shoulder. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t move, couldn’t turn to see what she was looking at.
“Hello, Jackson,” came a polite, reedy voice behind me. “Doctor. What a lovely evening.”
I tried to open my mouth to speak but couldn’t, feeling my nervousness grow as I felt something moving behind me. And then I could see him, tall and thin, with only a pale white blank where his face should have been. He was dressed in a black robe and regarding me carefully.
“You are the Alpha’s protector,” he said. “It’s really in my best interest to kill you.”
My heart sped up, the only part of my body that could move other than my lungs. I fought as hard as I could to be free from my paralysis, but nothing happened, nothing worked.
“That would be boring. And your body will be useful to me—you look like a powerful man. Not as strong as the big one but fast and tough. I bet you fight dirty.”
He circled around us, looking us over with a blank mask, somehow giving the impression that he could see everything anyway.
“I’d rather save your body,” he said. “But you seem to like this one. I could take her from you, keep her alive if you kindly decide to stay away from your master.”
I felt a growl rising in my throat, stuck there, unable to escape my lips.
“I think I’ll do that,” he said, reaching his long arms out, putting them on her shoulders. “She lives, as long as you stay away from Gabriel Alarick. I want a path cleared to him. Of course—”
He paused, and I could have sworn that there was a grin on his flat face.
“I’ll have to find some way to prove to you that she’s alive. Maybe I will send pieces of her to you, a fresh one every week. A foot here, a finger there, maybe her tongue.”
His words made something surge within me, a bright light that filled me up. I strained and finally broke free of the hold, noted that he took a hurried step back, letting go of Alicia’s shoulders. I dove at him but all at once he disintegrated into hundreds of large black birds. They took off in a flock, soaring above the trees, and Alicia stumbled to her knees, gasping for breath, and I rushed to her and knelt beside her.
“Are you okay?” I asked, touching her cheek, tilting her face to look at me. I felt like I was glowing, radiating power. She had a stunned look on her face, and in a moment I had scooped her into my arms, beginning to carry her toward the caves.
“I can walk,” she said in a breathless voice, and I wondered if she was scared. There wasn’t fear in her voice, but wonder as she stared up at me while I held her tight. I looked down at her face for a moment, surprised to see desire there, written all over her features. The same feeling blossomed through me, filling me instantly with that familiar lust, despite my anger. Her lips were in a slight pout, eyes sparkling when they met mine. I had to pull my gaze away from hers as we approached the guards by the caves. I put her down and we climbed up the platforms, up until we reached our cave. I went inside and she followed me, giving me a curious look that was filled with heat.
I turned to her and pulled her to me, beginning to unbutton her shirt as I looked into her eyes. I didn’t even ask her with words and didn’t need to. She was begging me for it, and her expression didn’t change as she reached behind her after her shirt was off, unclasping her bra so that it fell forward to reveal large, full breasts with brown nipples that hardened as I watched. There was a shy look on her face as she stood there and I leaned in to kiss her gently on the lips, sucking the bottom one before pulling away.
“How did you break free?” she asked. “We were paralyzed, I—”
“You know the answer to that,” I said to her, cupping her breasts with my hands, playing with her nipples with my thumbs as she gasped.
“I don’t,” she said. “I don’t...understand.”
“The only way I could have broken through that is if my natural mate was threatened,” I said to her in a slow voice, letting the words sink in. She shook her head but didn’t pull away as I dropped to my knees and took a nipple between my lips just like I knew she wanted me to.
“That’s just for show,” she said, her voice coming out in a soft moan as I sucked on her breast, hands moving to her hips to unfasten her pants and pull them down. Her breathing was heavy and shallow as I teased her with my mouth, moving to the other breast.
“You know better,” I said to her, nuzzling her chest, shifting her body so that she was laying on her back on the mattress.
“I...don’t, I mean, how would I know?” she asked as I kissed a line down her stomach, spreading h
er thighs for me.
“I can prove it to you, if you trust me,” I said to her, looking down at her face.
“How?”
“I can make you cum,” I said to her. “You’ll feel it then.”
“What if you can’t?”
I laughed.
“What if I can’t make you cum?”
“Nobody ever has before,” she said. “I don’t know if I can from...that.”
“God, you’re going to kill me,” I nearly groaned. “I’ll take that as a challenge.”
“I just don’t want you to feel bad if I don’t,” she said. “It’s not you—it’s me. I think there’s something weird or wrong or—”
“I promise you, doc, there’s nothing wrong with you. Relax.”
“Okay, but...don’t get your hopes up,” she said, a pleading look in her eyes. I kissed her so that she closed them, tasting her mouth as I shifted my body onto hers. She squirmed beneath me, her hips grinding against mine as I aimed my cock into her pussy and pressed inside of her, filling her in a single stroke that knocked the breath out of her chest. I felt it right away, our connection, the bond between us as I started moving in and out of her, riding against her with my hips. She took several deep, shuddering breaths, eyes closed, head tilted back. Her hips moved against mine in perfect rhythm just as I knew they would, her pussy tightening around me, taking me as deep as she could.
“What do you think?” I asked her, taking her hands, pinning them above her head as I thrust into her, tilting my hips so that the head of my cock could hit the sweetest spot in her body. I knew when I found it because she let out a cry of pleasure and started to hump against me harder.
“I’ve never—I—” she said, unable to get any words out.
“Still don’t think I can make you cum?”
She didn’t answer but gasped when I started to fuck her harder, unable to hold myself back. I let go of her hands and brought one of mine to her clit, beginning to rub it in circles with the tips of my fingers.
“Jackson,” she said, hands going to my back, digging her nails into the skin there. The pain urged me on and I hooked her legs over my arms to pull her legs further apart, grinding inside of her.