Mountain Man's Proposal

by Lauren Wood

  “You are not a shifter,” the doctor said with a smile. “I ran some tests, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure that you won’t turn.”

  “How is that possible?” she asked in a small voice.

  “Jackson tells me that you’re an empath. What do you know about being an empath?”

  Natalie shrugged. “Not much. My grandmother was much better than I am. I just get a few faint traces of people’s emotions. Usually only when they’re strong.” She swallowed hard. “Although, now that I think about it, I feel some traces from both of you.”

  She turned to Jackson. “Why are you afraid?”

  He backed out. “I’m going to give you two some room,” he said quietly.

  “Jackson?” she turned to the doctor. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Natalie, has there been anyone you could talk to about this empathic ability that you have?”

  “No,” she said slowly. “My grandmother has been gone for awhile now, and my mother never had the ability. But she passed away a few years ago. Why?”

  “I just think if you knew more about your heritage, this might not have happened. You see, an empath isn’t just a psychic ability. It’s a type of witch.”

  “A witch?” Natalie recoiled. “I would know if I was a witch.”

  “It appears to be a recessive trait in you. When the shifter bit you, your body had to choose between one ability or another. And the recessive trait became a dominate one. It’s a good thing, too. It saved Jackson’s life.”

  Shifter’s hated witches. That explained why Jackson didn’t want to stick around. He’d never care for her now.

  Once again, she was alone.

  “Do I need to stick around?” she asked in a neutral voice. “Is it okay if I leave?”

  Gratsky frowned. “I’d like to keep an eye on you for a few more days, if that’s okay. I’ve never been able to examine a witch. It’s with your permission, of course.”

  Natalie nodded, but she had no intentions of sticking around. Being near Jackson and not having him would hurt. She already knew that. “I’m going to get you something to eat,” the doctor said kindly. “Any requests?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said honestly. She didn’t plan on being around to eat it.

  He exited the room. When she heard him leave the office, she immediately threw off the sheet on her bed. Stripping the bed gown off, she pulled on the pajamas she was wearing the morning of the attack and slipped out of the building.

  At least this time she wasn’t running for her life. That would, at least, make things easier. She could go back to original plan of going to the city and settling down. If she hid the fact that she was a witch, maybe she would blend in with society a bit better.

  “Always on the run.”

  She froze. Jackson stood under the tree outside the clinic and watched her intently. “I just thought it would be easier,” she muttered. “For everyone.”

  “You though it would be easier if you just ran away again? Is it that easy for you to leave me?”

  She turned away from him. “Look, I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me. I really do. You saved my life. But things are different now.”

  “How?”

  She cocked her head. “What do you mean, how? Before I was a human with some psychic abilities. Now I’m a witch. Everyone knows that witches and shifters don’t mix. I know you hate me now.”

  “Hate you?” in the blink of an eye, he’d crossed the small clearing and grabbed her wrist. “Why the hell would you say that?”

  She pulled out of his grasp. “Are you kidding me? You could barely look at me inside. It’s clear that you can’t stand the sight of me. Why are you fighting me on this?”

  He laughed hoarsely and pulled her into his grasp. “I definitely don’t hate you, Natalie. I failed you. I promised that I would keep you safe, and if it weren’t for your witch gene, you’d be a bear shifter. And you’d belong to Paul’s pack. I figured you’d hate me.”

  She collapsed against him. It was nice to feel his warmth again. “You didn’t fail me. Every time I was in danger, you found me. I don’t hate you,” she muttered. “I love you. You did save me.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I love you too, Natalie. I have from the moment I felt you enter my building.”

  “Even though I’m a witch now?”

  “You’ve always been a witch. Just because you’re more powerful now doesn’t change how I feel about you. And it doesn’t change anything about you. I don’t care if you’re a witch, vampire, or otter shifter. I love you. I love everything about you,” he whispered into her ear.

  And in that moment, she was happier than she’d ever been in her entire life. Jackson loved her. “What do we do now?”

  “You’re going to marry me.” He pulled back and searched her face. “You’re my mate.”

  She punched him lightly in the arm. “Aren’t you supposed to ask, first?”

  He shook his head. “And give you a chance to say no? Absolutely not. You’re mine.”

  “I am yours,” she said with a smile. “But what about your pack?”

  “They’ll love you. And no one is going to be upset with a witch by our side. But I have to warn you. I think something big is about to happen. And I’m not sure I want you in the middle of it.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not leaving your side. If you’re going to be in the middle of it, I’m going to be in the middle of it. That’s what marriage is. That’s what love is.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, and Natalie suddenly didn’t care about her being a witch or him being a shifter. She didn’t care about their past, and she didn’t care about the future. At that moment, he was a man that she loved. She was the woman that he loved. And life couldn’t be more perfect.

  THE END

  KISS BY THE FORBIDDEN VAMPIRE

  The light of the moon rippled on the surface of the black water as Nera kneeled by the river bank and washed her clothes. The water was cool on her white skin, and she enjoyed the sensation and the low bubbling, sloshing noises as she dipped the clothes and took them back out.

  When she was finished washing, she beat the garments with loud slapping against a large stone in the riverbank to get the heaviest of the water out of them. She would hang them to dry as much as possible in the night air and then tomorrow she would have to find somewhere that would see the sun but from where they were unlikely to be stolen from. She slapped the clothes down hard once more, but suddenly she was aware within the loud smacking noise there was another noise, something moving nearby. She turned to face the oncoming threat too late, and she was bundled to the ground by two heavy men who carried a net between them. There was nowhere for her to go, and she was quickly wrapped up in the net until she felt so constricted that she could not move.

  “Got her,” one of the men laughed triumphantly.

  “What are you doing?” Nera demanded angrily.

  “Be quiet,” the man said, “You are going to start a new life in the court of His Majesty, Crown Prince Hassan.”

  “What are you talking about?” she spat at him. The two men laughed and ignored her.

  “Bring up the wagon,” the second one called out to someone unseen.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked as they lifted her and bundled her into the bed of a tired looking wooden wagon that was dragged to where she was by an older looking man with sad eyes, whom Nera took for a slave straight away, and in doing so felt she knew the fate these men had in mind for her. They didn’t answer her. She struggled against the ropes and threads of the netting but seemed only to become more entangled and enraged.

  They traveled overland and soon met up with some more men with wagons. In each wagon, there was a woman, sometimes more than one, lying or sitting and sad. Some were in netting like her, and some showed the bruises of resistance on their arms or faces. None of the women would return her gaze, and none of the men would answer her questions; they would look at her
appreciatively and say something like, “The Prince will be happy with this one!”

  It was clear that all of the women were attractive and would be used for the personal pleasure of the Court. This was not a new occurrence, but it had been a while since she had heard about it, and never this far from the Capital.

  Nera looked around as they moved into some sort of caravan and saw that they were taking the coast road. No doubt there would be a boat waiting for them at the harbor and then it would be a few days in the crossing of the sea. If she didn’t escape before they put her on the boat she wouldn’t be able to try again until they landed- and over there she would have no idea of the land or how to get back home.

  At the ship, they were all loaded on as they had been on the wagon. Nera’s net was torn slightly as she was carried aboard but it was such a small rip, and in a place that made it almost impossible for her to get at that she didn’t get excited about it. They were all put in a large hold with burning lanterns hanging from wooden beams and from hooks hanging from the ceiling. It was so bright in there that it hurt her eyes in contrast to the darkness of the night outside. Some of the women were crying, but no one said anything to their captors.

  A stocky man with a whip coiled at his hip came into the hold and looked over them all.

  “Very good haul,” he said salaciously, “His Majesty will be pleased.” Then to the assembled women he said, “You should all be very proud of yourselves. You have been deemed to be the most beautiful women in your region. The great honor or becoming part of Crown Prince Hassan’s harem will now be yours!” He spoke as though he expected a ringing round of applause, and she laughed at the silence that greeted him instead. He looked over them all once more and then left.

  One of the men who had captured Nera then came forward and said loudly,

  “You now have a few days to reverse your sleeping patterns! You will not sleep tonight but will be permitted a few hours come sun up.”

  “What is this?” Nera found her voice say before she had any control over it. The man looked at her and walked over. “Prince Hassan likes to sleep during the day, so from now on you too will like to sleep during the day.” He pointed a dirty stubby finger at her, and she was afraid of saying anything more to him.

  “What will he do to us?” another woman called out, the fear evident in her trembling voice.

  “Shut up!” the man barked at her, “You are not permitted to speak!”

  Nera looked at the woman who had spoken and saw her convulse in tears. Some of the other women looked about to one another in confusion, but Nera knew what she had been so fearful about. She had heard the rumors of the Prince’s appetite for human blood; something that up to this very moment Nera had believed for even a moment. She had always thought this was some propagandist story to scare his rivals and enemies, but, now they were putting these women on a sleeping during the day routine she was not so sure. Could it be that the Vampire of folk tales and stories actually existed?

  The crossing took several harsh days, and there were many times when the wind was up, and the boat would toss and tilt in the squall so much that Nera feared she would never see dry land again. When not killing themselves with work to keep the boat afloat the crew used all of their time into adapting us to the reversed routine that we would now be living. It wasn’t hard to stay awake with the level of fearful adrenaline that ran through all of the women’s veins, but there were severe punishments meted out for those who did not sleep when the sun could be seen through the boards above us. One woman was thrown overboard as a lesson to the rest of them, but Nera thought this act had the hallmarks of something planned and staged- that they had brought one extra woman on board just so as to make an example of her to scare the rest of them.

  They were fed decently enough and were given plenty to drink and twice a day, or should that be night, they were all paraded around the deck to get both exercise for their stiffened limbs and muscles and for some fresh air. They were, after all, going to the Harem of the Crown Prince and had to be in the best condition possible for this position.

  Finally land was reached. Those who were asleep were woken by the bustling cacophony of the dock they had arrived at. There was a market just inland, and they could hear the hawkers yelling and the general bustling sounds of barter and trade. They could see that the sun was shining outside, and its heat seemed to permeate the wood around them, and they all ached to stand up and be allowed to walk on dry land once more. It was a wish that was to go unfulfilled as it soon became apparent that they would not be leaving the ship until night fall.

  “You should all be sleeping now!” the lead guard roared at us from the door above them. Nera went to the hull and looked out through the cracks at the town. It was not a big place, but it was very busy- the people must come from the surrounding areas to use the market here she thought. That could be to her advantage if she were to escape, there would be many people travelling the roads at the end of the market and it would give her more opportunity to escape. She could only hope she would be able to undo her binds in time. She set about this task and all afternoon she sweated in her labours as she ground the ropes against the edge of the wooden ribs of the hull. It was very slow progress, and she seemed to be doing more damage to the wood than to the rope but by evening fall she could feel a slight loosening at her wrists and she knew her work had not been in vain.

  When it was full dark, the lead guard appeared with some minions who lighted the lamps about the hold. The sounds of horses and carts being readied filtered in from the land.

  “I’ve been in this business for a long time,” the guard said, “And I know all the tricks so it would be in your best interest not to try to pull anything.” He looked about him menacingly. “Tie them all up with fresh rope!” he called out to his men, and he laughed heartily. Nera’s head sank with the wasted effort of her afternoon, and her spirits sank to their lowest ebb yet. She looked quickly around the room, and she saw that there was no way she was going to be able to escape with all the guards around and the layout of the boat was against her too. She sat resignedly as she was retied; she would have to escape at some other time.

  They walked through the dark in a single file of five caged carts with five guards around each carriage and some men both fore and aft of the convoy. Nera looked up to the high mountains where they headed, the blue night and the light of the moon made everything seems so clear and sharp. They could see the Royal Palace for many hours before they finally came to a magnificent stone bridge that held high over a deep chasm. At the end of the bridge was the rough, thick wood of the drawbridge that was open to their arrival.

  Despite her misgivings and abject fury at her abduction, even Nera could not help but be impressed with the high towers and walls of the palace. It was like nothing she had ever seen, or even dreamed of before. She could only imagine how amazing it must look in daylight. She looked down deep below and saw that without the drawbridge been down there was absolutely no means of either entry or escape. This was going to be even more difficult than she imagined.

  A guard walking along beside her pointed to the highest tower from which light emitted even at this very late hour and said,

  “That will be your new home.” He smiled with a sneering twist on his face as she looked up at it. She didn’t have long to look up, however, as the ear shattering creak of the drawbridge being pulled back up called all of their attention to them. Nera looked through the gap as it dwindled and wondered would she ever see the outside world again.

  The cages came to a halt inside a great hall that was well lit and had comfortable looking cushions and sofas all the way around the four walls. The walls themselves were draped with woven images of war and the victories of the Sultan. It was an impressive room, and there was the pleasant smell of food coming from somewhere very nearby.

  As the women were looking about the room they all failed to notice that the guards had not entered this room and were now gone, the doors closed beh
ind them. A woman appeared from a side door and came up and looked over the cages. She was not old but not young either, and she had a regal air though it was clear she was not part of the Royal House. She clapped her hands loudly and five young women came scurrying in and opened the locks of the cages. None of the women in cages dared to move, but Nera was very interested in this new development. She fancied herself in a fight with a man and now that there were only women to contend with here she felt her confidence grow once more.

  “Don’t be shy girls,” the woman said, “This is your new home, come out and enjoy the sofas and the hot food we have prepared for you.” She was smiling as she spoke, but it seemed pasted on and none of the women moved. “I know that you have not had a pleasant journey here,” she spoke up again, “But, that is over now, and you will be looked after here well from now on. We must have you in the best possible condition for meeting His Highness.” She clapped her hands again and more girls came out with small tables and set them with steaming dishes of various hot foods and drinks. The sight and smell of these things did at last being to draw the women out of the cages, but Nera was last leave, using her time in there to see as much of the room and the people who worked there as possible.

  The next two days were spent, as the woman had said, in the comfort of this great room. The woman were taken in twos and bathed and clothed in fine silken garments. They ate well and were promised a good life here once they did anything asked of them by the Crown Prince. Nera went along with everything she was asked to do. She could see through small windows that guards littered the area outside and should she try to escape now that would be as far as she would get. The bathing pools were in a room that was closed in completely, and the only door led back into the great hall. She heard some of the women who had come here with her ask the servant girls if any of the rumours about the Crown Prince were true, but the girls would only laugh as though the women were being ridiculous and continued on with their work. They were still kept to the night time routine, however.