by A. M Martin
"Who's this?"
I can’t help but smirk when Court shows her jealousy.
I watch my brother step around Avery going to Courts side, while Aden and Cam move closer to Avery and me. Us three boxing Avery in. Better safe than sorry. Courts known to wolf out over everything and the last thing we need is that happening.
"This is Avery. Jeff’s niece." Nick says.
I watch as a smile stretch across Courts face, “The loony one."
A growl rips from my throat before I realized what was happening. Oh well.
Avery is mine to protect. I knew it on some level as soon as I caught her cold winter scent and with Court being here. Near Avery. My protective instincts are calling out. But what it means for me is another question.
Is she my mate or will she become my empath? Only time will tell.
I can’t help but notice the quiver that goes throughout Avery’s body at the sound of my growl. I smile on the inside quite happy that she reacts to me in that way.
"Umm...So where are you guys going?" Court asks her eyes anywhere but on the more dominant wolves.
I watch as Avery moves around Court and Nick with a predatory grace. She’s so cold, the way she looks, the way she walks. I need to know why she is the way she is and how I can bring a bit of life back into those dead blue eyes of hers.
"What?" I snap out to Aden.
"Were you not listening?"
"No." My eyes narrow as Cam and Nick jog to catch up with Avery.
"Kayden." I look back toward Aden. A small growl is vibrating my chest.
"Court said Deans at the beach fighting some of the others. Now personally I don’t see what the problem is, but Jeff might."
I snap my teeth at a smirking Aden. Some days I could very well ring his neck.
Shit. Avery can’t go down there.
"No. You all go back. I didn’t ask for any of you to come." Avery’s cold voice causes me to tense up.
I try to hide how my body trembles from the sound of her voice. How I react to her.
Even if one of them could convince her to go back to the house, which is highly unlikely it would be too late.
I watch stiffly as Avery pauses on the beach. Her body relaxes a little bit as she looks out towards the lake. Too bad it won’t last long.
"What are we going to do?" Cam whispers, over the top of gnawing on his fingernails.
"Nothing,” Aden answers earning a frown from Cam.
"Look." They turn their gazes toward Avery.
Her head is turning to the left, her body tensed. Tight with coiling tension.
Dread bubbles up in my gut. This is not good.
"Ah. Damn." Cam whines.
I move fast letting some of my wolf bleed into my body, catching up to Avery walking on her right side. I watch her face as she passes through the group of six guys, barely noticing them or me for that matter. She looks mesmerized by something, and I don’t think it’s Dean or Jimmy.
She stops right in front of the two wolves. I stay right beside her. My legs slightly bent ready to act within seconds of something going wrong.
Surprise rushes through me as I watch Dean back away with a whimper, ears flat and tail tucked. That’s a first. Either Jeff makes him stop or winning a fight does. Not a five-foot slight of a girl.
"What’s she doing?" Hearing Nick, I pull my gaze from Dean and back on Avery. She's squatted down beside Jimmy; her arm stretched out. Her emotionless eyes are flickering around her slender hand following something.
"I don’t know." Aden barks out visibly aggravated.
I watch those cold eyes of hers, the only thing that is giving something away.
Her gaze moves to her hand, up her arm, and towards her chest. But there’s nothing there.
"She’s taking his pain away,” Cam says to no one. A small tremor in his voice.
"That’s not possible." Aden snaps, his arms crossing staring at Avery.
"Well, she is." Cam hisses.
I gasp, reaching out to Avery as she falls backward pulled by invisible strings.
"Don't!" Cam cries, stopping my hand that’s a mere inch away from touching Avery.
I watch with horror-filled eyes. My breathing is panicking gasp as Avery’s mouth, opens in a silent scream, her eyes wide and glossy.
"Damn it. Cam, what in the hell is going on?" I growl out, my hands hovering over Avery as her body starts to seize. Should I touch her? I don’t know what to do, and it's sending my wolf into a frenzy.
A burst of crippling pain and brain-numbing pleasure blasts me to my knees taking my breath away. I groan and moan all at the same time.
Shit. What was that?
Getting my bearings, I raise my head that feels like it weighs a hundred pounds. Everyone around me is either unconscious or on the ground like I am.
Cam looks to be doing a little bit better with Aden’s hand clamped on his wrist, but Aden is sweating up a storm and seems on the verge of passing out.
"It was her." Cam wheezes.
"How?" Nick barely get the word out through gaps of air.
"Her shields are down." Cam groans causing Aden to tense and grind his teeth together.
I look over at Avery. My heart is thudding in my chest. Her eyes blink once a soulless look to them. Her harsh pants are moving her chest up and down rapidly.
“Does this mean she’s an empath?” Nick mumbles dazed.
"Is she ok?" I snap worriedly.
"I think." Cam screeches as he falls down face first into the sand, taking Aden down with him.
And Avery God Avery. Her body comes off the ground like something unnatural. Her body is bending and bowing like in that movie the Exorcism.
I tremble, my fist clenching as I watch Avery.
The sound of her bones snapping jolts me more aware and out of the pain, pleasure-filled haze.
"Do something." I snarl at Cam watching as another bone breaks inside of Avery’s small body. This can’t be happening.
"I can’t." Gasp. "She is projecting,” Cam grunts out the last part as he falls face forward in the sand once more with an agonizing groan.
Aden is passed out, and so is Nick. Only me and Cam are still conscious,
barely holding on by threads.
It feels like a lifetime as I watch helplessly on as Avery’s body bends, bows and her bones break. The sound is echoing like thunder in my sensitive ears, pulling a whine from deep within my chest.
At last, she falls back on the ground, no longer moving.
I’m so pissed. I couldn’t help Avery. I didn’t know what was happening to her to help.
My skin ripples and rolls.
That’s a horrible feeling watching her body bend and her bones to snap into pieces and me being able to do nothing what’s so ever to stop it.
"Kayden. Don’t touch her." Cam whispers out, panting for air.
I grind my teeth together as I crawl the short distance separating Avery and me.
That’s all I want to do. Need to do. Is to touch Avery, grab her up in my arms and never let go. Whatever is going on with her damn well needs to get fixed.
I scan her body with my horrified gaze. One would think she was dead if it wasn’t for her shallow breathing that hardly moves her chest. In a panic, I cock my head listening for her pulse. God, it’s so weak.
Her eyes are vacant more than usual. Like empty blue glass. It looks like she checked out of her body.
I don’t know what to do. My hands are hovering over her, my fingers flinching but not touching. I feel tears start to pool in my eyes. I feel numb and utterly helpless.
The sound of painful groaning has me looking over my shoulder.
Cam’s sitting up, slick with sweat. Aden is still knocked out beside him, and Nick is slowly climbing to his feet.
"Go get help." I snarl at my brother. My wolf is coming through my voice.
I turn my glowing green eyes back to Avery. She’s so still. Lifeless. It causes something between a whine and a growl to
pass from my clenched lips.
I feel useless. Utterly useless, it’s something I’ve not felt before, and I sure as hell don’t like this feeling. A sickness boils in my stomach. I never want to see something like that again. It’ll haunt my dreams and waking hours for years.
"Is she okay?" Cam asks in a tired, strained voice.
"I don’t know." It comes out as a terrified whine.
"I heard her bones break," I whisper.
It was the gravest sound ever. I can still hear it echoing in my ears. In my head. This time both me and my wolf both whine.
Avery
It’s dark and cold here. Wherever here is. But peaceful. Oh, so peaceful and completely silent.
My body is still humming and throbbing from those black ribbons. I never knew that I could absorb them. That the ribbons were more than what I thought they were, visions of people’s emotions.
That there was a reason for being able to see them. It makes me feel less like a freak and more human knowing that the ribbons have a purpose. What purpose, I don’t know?
God the pain, though. It was monstrous and staggering. I’m sure more than one bone broke in the process. But the pleasure.
It was something else entirely. I’d endure a thousand broken bones just for a hint of that marvelous pleasure. Not only was it emotionally good and physically sensual but it seemed to feed me. Fill me up from my toes to my head. I’m floating gloriously on a pleasure filled high.
I still don’t know where I am. It feels like I’ve walked for hours. Nothing but pitch black all around me. So, dark I can’t even see any part of my body.
A smile graces my lips as an aftershock of that pleasure filled haze rolls through my body making me tremble. God, it feels so good. Addicting.
I feel free. If that makes any sense. I was always on guard. Always aware of my steel walls that lockout everything. Making sure they stay strong. Keeping away from others and their emotion inducing touches.
I'm not now.
I’m adrift in this endless darkness. I should feel terrified, but I’m not. I feel like I’m finally home. I feel free. Finally, unrestricted from everything. I never want to leave this beautiful dark world.
Maybe I’m dead?
It could be a possibility. Maybe this freeing dark is my heaven. It would make sense in a way. And could be why I haven’t run across any people with their wall shattering touches.
It would make it an almost perfect heaven for me. Only one thing is missing. Daddy.
If this were my dark heaven, he would be here with me. Then everything would be right in my world.
But he’s not here. Making me think I’m in some limbo or somewhere else entirely. Oh, and the tingles. Those damn feel good tingles that run across my skin whenever Kayden is near. Those wouldn’t be part of my perfect heaven. My body pulses with them even now.
My legs are tired, and there’s no end to this darkness. I lay down and curl into a ball. Coolness seeps into my body. It’s comforting. Much better than walking when there’s no end in sight.
Kayden is moving away. The tingles aren’t as intense. Once he completely leaves I can relax more. My body will be at rest, possibly to drift away in the dark. I could do that. Nothing is keeping me here. I’ve lost all that matters to me.
It makes me happy thinking about drifting away. Like a feather in the wind. Nothing to worry about.
An electrical jolt runs throughout my body. I jerk. It’s stronger than the pleasure that the black ribbons brought me.
I concentrate on the electric feeling. The more I focus on it, the more it feels like Kayden.
What is he doing to me?
My head shakes. No. I don’t want this. This feeling is coursing throughout my blood. My very soul.
I whimper.
Make it stop. Make him stop. I just want to drift. Drift away in my dark world.
I gasp and grab my chest. It feels like my heart was trying to rip its way out of my body at the thought of leaving. No, the idea of Kayden leaving.
Leave me alone! Go away. I scream it out over and over.
I wiggle backward across this dark void, wanting to run away from all of this.
Why do these things keep happening to me? Can’t I ever just be at peace.
A small pinprick of light out in the void halts my wiggling, causing me to sit up on my butt. It’s a beacon in the darkness. Like my very own sun. But what is it?
It’s just a speck out in the distance that blazes like a thousand suns making my eyes water. It shouldn’t be here in my dark world. This is a place I’m supposed to be free and able just to drift away.
The light gets brighter as it slowly glides closer to me. My water filled eyes narrow. It’s a person bathed in a brilliant golden glow. They are ruining everything.
Real tears start to fall from my eyes. I don’t want them here. Him. It’s a guy. He’s a dark shadow in the brilliant glow, shattering my very own darkness.
My eyes pinch shut, head laying on my knees and I start to rock back and forth. I can feel him now. That guy in the light. He’s getting closer, warming my whole body from his glow, covering me in his brightness. I don’t want it. None of this. I thought I was finally free. I just want to be able to drift away and leave all this madness behind me.
But we never get what we want, do we?
Scorching heat blisters my forearms followed by big rough hands. He wraps his hands around my arms and doesn’t move. Neither do I. The shock of him touching me jerked my rocking to a halt. He’s not welcome here in my dark void of nothingness. This isn’t right.
I feel him. In my muscles, through my blood. It’s like he’s a part of my damaged soul. He’s scared. Worried. Lost. Angry. Then there is this love. It bulldozes over everything else Until even the blistering heat is just a faint memory.
Who is he? This alien invader in my world who seems to love me more than he loves himself. How could that even be possible?
“Avery.” His deep husky, sensual voice crashes over me like a tidal wave.
I shiver.
“Kayden.” I breathe his name like he’s the very air I need to breathe. Why I don’t know. It feels right; him being my reason for breathing. How can that be, he’s a stranger to me? I just met him a day ago, and yet I feel if I lose him it’s something that would ultimately devastate me. There would be no coming back from that kind of loss. Not in a million years.
I slowly raise my head. Raw tears are dripping down my cheeks. That light is him. It’s a soft glow now. Warm and comforting, wrapping me up in a bubble.
He’s kneeling right in front of me. My breath catches as I consider his otherworldly green eyes, which seem to glow with specks of yellow.
“Why are you here?” The words catch through my tears.
He shifts closer, a soft smile covering his scruffy face, “You need me, Avery. I need you.”
I shake my head no. Hard and fast. I don’t need him. I don’t need anyone. Not here or out there. I just need to be left in peace. He needs to go.
He catches my face with his rough hands. I gasp as he cups my cheek, thumb stroking away the tears.
I don’t know why I do what I do. I lean into his left palm, rough against my face. My eyes close loving the feel of his callous hand on me. The smell of his rain storm scent.
He scoots closer, wrapping me in his powerful body, smothering me in fresh cut grass and warmth.
“Yes, you do Avery. Let me help you.”
He begs in my ear. His breath is sending chills down my neck.
I don’t want his help at least I don’t think I do. I want this darkness. My never-ending blackness, I want to drift, just drift away in this void.
“Don’t you feel it. This live wire between us. We’re two halves of the same whole.” He murmurs in my ear.
How I’d give anything not to believe him. But I do believe. The words he said feel right. Us, we feel like missing pieces of the other half, finally whole and wondrous for the first time.
“I don’t want to leave.” I whimper in his arms, “To go back means never being free. Never being at peace. I can’t.”
He lifts my chin up with a finger. Forehead to forehead he stares intently into my eyes, “You have to Avery. This place isn’t real.”
“It is. It’s real and nearly perfect.” I panic with wide eyes. He can’t take this from me.
“No.” He barks out making me flinch.
A frown pulls at my lips. It is real.
“I can help you, Avery. In here you will waste away into nothingness. Out there, in the real world, I can help you.”
“No.” I cry out, struggling to pull myself out of his arms.
I’m just so tired of always being on guard. Of being cold and callous. Of not being normal. Here I can only exist. That’s it. Exist.
“Please come with me.” He pleads.
A shudder runs through my body. Come with him? Why can’t he stay here? He can’t leave. Just the thought almost splits me into pieces.
“I can’t stay here Avery.” His soft lips touch my forehead. It lingers for minutes. For days.
“Trust me.” He breaths out. My stomach clenches.
Trust him. Can I put my trust in him? I don’t even know him, but the thought of him leaving me takes the air from my lungs, takes the beat out of my fractured heart.
“Okay,” I whisper considering those loving eyes.
A gorgeous smile breaks across his face, and my heart skips a beat. Then his cool lips touch mine.
It’s an explosion of everything and nothing at the same time. Something exciting and real. Butterfly’s rumble through my belly and my blood smolders.
I melt into Kayden. Into this perfect kiss. Sensual and sweet that has my toes curling and stars flashing behind my closed eyelids.
As I feel his rough tongue start to dance with mine, warmth soars through my very being. To my core. This here is my heaven. Him. And I never want to leave.
Kayden
It feels like weeks have passed, but it’s been only minutes when I sense my brother, Jeff, and Shelly.
I pull my penetrating eyes from Avery’s prone form, looking up. They run down the beach, kicking up sand in their wake.