by Suzy Shearer
She put a hand to her lips, running her fingers across. His last kisses had tasted different. She still had a slight coppery taste in her mouth. She stiffened.
Julie remembered feeling him at her breast. She remembered his nails in her back, her mouth on his shoulder.
A flash of his hand.
The redness of blood.
Her mouth drinking, tasting him, relishing his blood.
She sat up, her mouth opened in surprise, eyes wide. She looked down at Tomas. His face was so open as he worried about her reaction.
“Iubită?”
Julie tried to examine her feelings. She felt no different. There was no sudden craving to run out and bite people. In fact, she felt no different than she had an hour ago.
“Please, iubită, talk to me.”
She could actually hear and feel the fear in his voice.
When he had spoken in her head before there had been no real emotion, now she could “hear” his emotions as well as his words. She knew he was frightened she would reject him, she could feel overwhelming love for her. This was overriding everything, his adoration, his love, his desire for her.
She looked at him with wonder. This man would lay down his life for her in an instant. He would love her until the end of days. With each passing day, each passing eon, he would love and desire her more.
So this is what it meant to be the partner of a Hunter. It meant pure love!
Julie felt her eyes fill with tears, and she smiled at him through them as they dropped onto his chest. He reached out and touched one as it rolled down her cheek.
“Iubită.” His voice was rough with passion and with fear.
Julie threw herself onto him and kissed his face, his eyes, his mouth, his chin, and between each kiss she was laughing and crying.
He started laughing with her, wrapping her in his arms, rolling them across the bed, kissing her back in joy.
“Iubită, I’m so lucky to have found you. You are wonderful.”
Julie could not believe how happy she felt. She worried a little that it was Tomas controlling her mind, but when she sent a tendril to seek his thoughts she felt him grin and welcome her.
Nothing was hidden, nothing was controlling her. He let her see his life, laid bare for her. The loneliness of the years, the love of his family, the horror of the strigoi. She saw his fear of what the vampire could do, would do to her, if it caught her. She saw how frantic he was when she ran away, his desolation when he thought he would never find her. She saw his fear, his overriding terror for her safety. She saw it all and realised exactly what it meant.
“Tomas! Tomas, I…I think I finally understand now. I understand your fear. Why you wanted to exchange blood at least once. I understand.”
His arms held her tighter, he gave a shiver of fear.
“Dragostea mea, to not be able to find you. To know that the strigoi may have taken you…” She heard the anguish.
“Hush, Tomas. Hush. I’m here now. We’re together. You’ve made one exchange and we can never be apart.”
It was her turn to comfort him. The pain of the last few days had finally caught up with him. She gathered him in her arms, held him as he sobbed and told her all his fears. Her tears joined his as he spoke.
Tomas told her of the panic he had felt when he found her gone. His anguish that grew heavier with each day that passed without finding her. Then, when he finally located her, to find a strigoi trying to lure her outside. He dreaded to think what would have happened if the creature had managed to take her. He’d had no way of finding her.
Finally, they were both cried out. They settled back down onto the bed, the covers pulled back up, Julie idly playing with his hair.
“If I needed you and you were on the other side of the city or in the mountains, how fast could you get here? I mean, do you just pop in and out like Michael and Louisa do?”
“Not quite. We travel about five kilometres when we dematerialise. On top of that, it drains us if we try to go further. Anyway it can become tricky—you wouldn’t like to materialise inside a rock.”
Julie thought he was joking until she looked at his face.
“So only short distances as long as we know what is in the area. I can also use your eyes to see through if something was threatening you. As for travelling, we tend to take the shape of birds and fly but we can fly much faster than the real bird. Sometime we take the shape of other animals, most Hunters like to take the shape of wolves.”
“Is that why you can talk to Milly? Why she seemed excited to see you all?”
“She sees us as Alphas, can feel the animal inside us. My surname mean wolf. I’m descended from one of the first twenty Hunters who called himself Lupei, wolf in Romanian.”
Her fingers twined in his hair, she asked. “Do all Hunters have long hair?”
“Most do. It is a sign of who we are. Those that know of Hunters can recognise us by our hair. Some younger Hunters chose to cut theirs but usually they end up growing it.”
Julie was finding this interesting, but she was also struggling to stay awake. It had been a long day and night. She smothered a yawn but there was no keeping secrets from her man. He grinned at her and told her she needed to sleep. He went to stand then sat back down on the bed.
Hesitantly he asked, “May I stay here with you? I’ll leave if that is what you wish. I wouldn’t force anything on you, iubită. But truthfully I don’t want to ever be apart from you again.”
She gave him a shy smile. “No, stay please. I’ll feel safe with you and with Milly. But truthfully, I don’t want you to go either.”
“Iubita, when you wake in the morning I’ll be asleep. Do not fear if it seems like I’m dead.”
Julie started laughing, “Already been through that scare. In the tent the morning I left. I had to lie with my head on your chest for about twenty minutes to convince myself you were still alive.”
Tomas laughed, then climbed back under the covers and kissed her. “Tonight I must hunt with Michael. We must find the strigoi who are killing the people in this area, but I’ll be able to ‘talk’ with you now even though we are apart.”
He sounded so happy at the thought, and Julie had to admit she felt safer knowing if she was frightened she could contact him.
“Rest now, iubită, I’ll watch over you while you sleep.”
He gave her another kiss and watched as she slipped slowly into a deep sleep.
Chapter Nine
Julie woke the next morning around nine. Tomas was asleep beside her, his hair spread across the pillow. She lay looking at him, wondering what the future had in store for her. She got out of bed carefully. Milly was nowhere to be seen, so Julie wandered out to the back door and looked out the window.
There she was, prowling around, checking everything. When she heard Julie at the door, she bounded back in through the dog flap and gave her a doggy greeting.
“Good morning, Milly. Is everything safe?”
Milly gave a little bark, wagging her tail. Julie petted her head and gave her some breakfast before heading off to shower and dress. Julie looked at her face in the mirror, not that she expected to see she had changed, it was more to reassure herself that she had not.
Yep, her teeth looked exactly the same as they always did, she laughed to herself.
Gathering some food for the chickens, Julie went outside, Milly at her heels. She unlocked the fence door, then the door to the coup. She forgot about Milly until she heard one of the chickens making a ruckus.
Milly had followed her inside but was merely sniffing around. The chicken wasn’t sure that the dog wouldn’t eat her. Julie remembered Tomas saying that Milly knew not to hurt the birds.
She put down feed and changed the water. Milly tested the fresh water, declared it safe for the chickens, and lay down while Julie checked for eggs inside the coop. When she came out one of the chickens was sitting on Milly’s back.
Julie laughed aloud, scaring the bird. She wished she had a camer
a with her to take a photo. Milly looked so comical with the chicken on her back. They left the chickens in peace and went back inside.
Julie had some work to do. She checked to make sure Tomas was still asleep, giggling when she realised he wouldn’t wake until tonight. It felt strange to have a man “sleeping over” but at the same time she couldn’t imagine not having him there. She was so glad he had asked if he could stay.
She worked steadily through the morning, sometimes Milly lay beside her, and other times she wandered outside. It felt comfortable having her around. After a light lunch for them both, Julie decided to get some dog food and treats for Milly. She also needed some more food for herself. She remembered Tomas telling her that Hunters eat food but no meat, so she would need extra vegetables and fruit. She would also buy some sweet biscuits. If the Hunters drank tea then maybe they liked biscuits also.
She picked up her keys and Milly rushed around, thinking she was coming, “Sorry, Milly, I have to go to the supermarket. I’ll lock the screen door so you can get in and out. Tomas is here. You have to protect him. Do you understand?”
Milly wagged her tail and barked once. Julie thought she was slightly crazy expecting the dog to understand but Milly watched as Julie went outside and locked the screen door. She sat on the back step as Julie walked to the car and drove to the gate. She got out, unlocked it, and drove through, then locked the gate again.
Julie was away about an hour but Milly greeted her at the gate as if she had been missing for days. The dog jumped into the car and rode back with her to the house after Julie locked the gate.
She unloaded the car, with Milly sniffing everything. She had bought her a couple of doggy toys and balls. Milly got so excited when she saw them. After she packed everything away, she went outside to throw a ball around for the dog.
Around four, Julie started to wonder what time Tomas would wake. For some reason she was nervous. She guessed it was because it had been many years since she had a man in her life, in fact it was probably over twenty. She wondered if she should prepare food for the others as well, then decided it was easy to do it all now and if they didn’t eat, it would keep until tomorrow night.
Julie decided to make a vegetable curry, with spicy Thai seasonings and some Jasmine rice. Milly sat alongside her, tasting various vegetables. She seemed to like most, although the snow peas she held in her mouth reluctantly. Julie laughed at her and told her she didn’t have to eat them if she didn’t like them. She spat the pea out.
The pair of them enjoyed working together, Julie did the work and Milly did the tasting. Julie found herself talking to the dog, Milly was a great listener. She told her about camping, promising when things settled down she would take her. She told her about her fears for the future, she was scared to convert and scared not to. She told her that Tomas was stealing her heart as quickly as Milly had, telling her she had never felt this way about anyone in her entire life. “I think I’m in love, Milly.”
* * * *
Tomas woke and could hear Julie’s voice. She appeared to be having a conversation with someone. Tomas searched with his mind but could only feel Milly. Intrigued, he got out of bed and walked toward the sound of her voice.
She was in the kitchen preparing food and talking to Milly. He leant against the doorway, watching her work and listening. Milly looked over at him once but he told her to just listen and not come to him. Her tail gave a gentle wag as she looked back up at Julie.
Julie was scared about converting, even though she had not made any decision either way, she was worried about it. She was frightened at what she would become, thinking she would lose herself in the process. Tomas would need to reassure her that she would still be herself, just an improved, healthy version, with a few extra abilities.
He heard Julie mention his name, telling the dog that he was worming his way into her heart. She had never felt that way before, that she thought she was in love. He smiled at that. He knew she would love him, it was impossible for mates to not, but it was good to know that it was happening already.
Then she started telling the dog how handsome Michael was, how she was jealous of Louisa. Tomas gave a start. She told Milly how much she admired his face and his broad shoulders, that he was more mature than Tomas.
Tomas began to feel angry until Julie spoke again.
“I know you’re there. People who listen in to private conversations always hear bad things about themselves.”
Tomas walked into the kitchen and grabbed her around the waist, kissing her neck.
“You had me worried.” He twisted her around in his arms to face him. “You don’t really think Michael is better looking than me?”
He fretted. Julie burst out laughing and kissed him.
“Silly man!”
She looked down and realised he was naked and obviously aroused.
“I hope you are going to put some clothes on before your friends arrive.”
“Our friends, and yes. Watch.”
He stepped back from her, ran his hands down his body, and he was dressed.
“How…? You…” Julie was stunned.
“We can make our clothing from the elements around us, natural fabrics. We just image what item of clothing we want it, make it, or imagine it on us.”
“Wow! That would sure save money and time.” She giggled, “Now I know why you were wearing clean clothes after I cut the ones off you when I found you injured. It puzzled me.”
He kissed her again. Milly tried to wriggle between them, wanting him to acknowledge her. He got to his knees in front of the dog and greeted her properly.
“May I play with Milly?”
“Of course you can, why do you need to ask?”
“I mean play as in wolf and dog.”
“Oh…oh.” She sounded a little stunned. “Yes.”
Tomas looked at her carefully, he peeked into her mind and saw only curiosity. He took her hand and walked to the back door. Milly was jumping and prancing excited by the prospect.
“Okay?”
Julie nodded.
“I have to warn you, most Hunters love playing with dogs whenever they get the chance.”
“So I get to have two dogs instead of one.”
“Wicked woman! I’ll have to punish you for that comment. I’m a wolf!”
* * * *
Julie felt a tingle of excitement at the thought of Tomas punishing her, she had a feeling it would be a very pleasurable experience. Tomas quirked his eyebrow at her.
“I like that thought.”
“Damn! I need to learn how to block!”
Tomas just laughed and, before her eyes, changed.
Amazingly, there in front of her was a beautiful black wolf, his green eyes still Tomas, his black coat soft and silky. Julie ran her hands across his head. She sat on the back step and he came to her. She put her hands around his neck and hugged him, feeling a wet tongue across her neck. Laughingly, she told him to go and play.
Tomas and Milly didn’t need a second invitation. They began to run and chase each other around the yard, then around the house. Julie thought her wolf was the most beautiful thing she had seen. He ran like the wind, his fur streaming out from his bushy tail. Milly was barking in joy as they tumbled across the grass, pretending to fight with each other.
Suddenly two more wolves appeared. Another black wolf, similar in size to Tomas but more muscular, and a gorgeous, smaller wolf with a beautiful light coat. Milly went crazy with excitement.
These wolves had to be Michael and Louisa, at least she hoped they were. Julie sat watching with wonder. It was amazing to watch. They romped and played with abandon, just enjoying the moment. Julie felt envious.
After another ten minutes, her wolf came over, drank, then put his head on her lap. Milly drank and flopped down at her feet. The other two wandered over, had a drink of water and, as she watched, a naked Michael and Louisa appeared, ran their hands down their bodies, then came over to greet her fully clothed. She was not
sure she would ever get used to seeing that.
Hell, she was not sure she would get used to seeing any of this!
Louisa leant forward to kiss her cheeks, “Hello Julie, thank you for allowing us some playtime with Milly. It is such freedom to run as a wolf.”
Michael followed suit. “Come on, Tomas, get your head off her lap and behave.”
Julie blushed, for Tomas had been filling her mind with images of what he would do to her when they were alone. Julie realised she was broadcasting her own ideas. Tomas stood. Her naked Tomas was in front of her, his erection obvious as he, too, ran his hand down his body to clothe himself.
Michael roared with laughter.
“Come on, kid. Inside or I’ll hose you down.”
The four of them walked inside followed by Milly.
“Why does Michael sometimes call you kid?” Julie whispered to Tomas. Tomas joked loudly.
“Because he is so old and decrepit and I’m young and handsome.”
Michael cuffed Tomas on the shoulder. “Beats me where you got the idea you were handsome kid.”
Julie still didn’t understand until Louisa said, “With Tomas only being three hundred, the older Hunters look at him as a young child, especially Michael and Matei and Radu, Tomas’s brothers. They’re all over two thousand, they like to tease him.”
“It is a wonder he doesn’t get angry by it.”
“He knows how much they truly love him. It is really a form of endearment.”
Julie looked at them shyly. “Would you like to eat? I have a vegetable curry on the stove, I just need to cook rice and I have some fresh bread.”
“Wow, great! We didn’t have anything before we came.”
Michael grinned at her as he sat down on one of the couches.
Julie walked into the kitchen, checked the curry and put some jasmine rice on to cook. Going back into the lounge room, she saw Louisa was perched on Michael’s knees, her arms around his neck. He gave her a kiss and then spoke to Tomas.