by Ashley Marie
“Help.” I gasp
“Wow. What happened here? Did you guys have a party without? And why would you want to get out from under that?” Cammie appears above me her eyebrows wiggle.
“Not now Cammie.” I snap out with little breath.
“Help me.” I screech.
They jerk back a little. Surprised maybe. I don’t know. I don’t care. They just need to get him off me. Right freaking now.
Aden comes over to my left side and grabs a hold of Deans right arm. He pulls making Dean roll off towards him and I roll right. I scramble up to my feet, stomping, yes stomping like a mad two-year-old, towards Cam, and I slug him right in the face.
It didn’t even register on his shocked body, but it made me feel just a tiny bit better. Seeing his eyes still focused on the bite mark. My hand moves back up, folding over the wound.
It makes me self-conscious. Him staring at it and I don’t even know why.
“What did I miss?” Cammie chuckles.
“That’s Dean,” Nick says looking at my hand.
“Dean? The black wolf. My oh me. Isn’t he something to look at?” Cammie pops her gum looking in Dean’s direction.
“What was that?” Aden chuckles, looking at Cam’s reddening face.
I whirl around narrowing my eyes. He’s laughing. Laughing. Who would have thought that Aden had that ability?
“He bit me.” I screech at him. “Did you bite Cam?”
“What? No.” A frown forms on Aden’s face.
“He bit you?” Cammie gasps.
“Yes!”
“Why did he bite me then?” I snarl at Aden.
“How am I supposed to know?” Aden sneers. Ah, there he is. The normal Aden.
“You were in the Rage and Cam brought you back. Why shouldn’t you know?” I snap.
I’m confused and hurt. And Dean freaking bit me.
“I don’t . . . Umm. I’m calling Jeff.” Cam stutters, disappearing into the house.
Aden and Nick start to follow, “Hey stop.” I call out.
They both look at me and it has me shifting from foot to foot.
“Um. You can’t just leave him there.” I point a finger at Dean not daring to look in his direction. Cause you know, he’s still very naked.
“I don’t mind the view.” Cammie purrs.
My teeth grind together. I don’t like her looking at him.
A small smile comes on Nick’s face, “Your worried about him.”
My eyes go wide. Am I? How can I be worried about him with blood still slipping between my fingers? Is Nick, right?
“Why do you care? He bit you.” Aden sneers.
“I’m not worried. It’s just.” I wave my hands in Dean’s general direction.
Nick nods like he knows what I’m talking about, “Come on.” He says to Aden.
I nod my head. Yeah okay. Time to get to a mirror. You can do this. It’s just a little bite mark. Nothing to worry about. I say to myself standing in front of the mirror in the down stairs bathroom.
It’s a rather cute room. The walls painted a sky blue with black bird decals going up around the circular mirror and a very neat shower curtain. It’s white with a black tree, the branches running across the curtain.
I take a deep breath and look back at the mirror. My ice blue eyes seem brighter. Like they hold a power of some kind. I don’t look like a zombie any more either. Which I take as this place might be good for me besides the biting part. I look down through the mirror at the dried blood smeared at the crook of my neck. It doesn’t look that bad.
Grabbing a light blue wash cloth, I get it wet and gently start to wipe away the blood. And I just stare. What the crap.
From the pain, I was sure he took a chunk of flesh out of my neck. It did not feel like two tiny holes with teeth marks in-between the small holes. It’s already healed with a silvery gleam. What is going on? Does it have something to do with my cursed blood nature or is something else at work.
I move closer to the mirror. My lips and nose bump into the glass as I look closer at the bite mark. My eyes go wide and my mouth becomes parched. Right there. Between the small holes is Dean written in flowery cursive, no bigger than an inch. You’d have to be right on top of me to see but I see it. It’s right freaking there. May as well be blinking and singing. Cause I see it. Right there, a gleaming silver, glowing like a neon sign to my eyes. My heart beat floods my ears.
What now? What else could possibly pile up on me in my strange new life? I don’t need this. Whatever this is. And I’m hundred percent sure that I don’t need his name scared in my skin.
“Cam!” I scream till my voice is nothing but hoarse a whispered.
Never talking my frightened eyes off the letters. The name. His name. Dean. I’ve been claimed. The thought flitters in making me gulp. Making my eyes swell with tears.
Why does shit like this always happen to me? Can’t I get one little break before the next thing pops up? I haven’t even got control of my empath abilities yet and now this.
Tears of frustration make a path down my cheeks. It’s not the first time I thought of this nor will it be the last. Maybe I should have stayed in Green Bier.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Avery
GROWLS AND HOWLS echoes throughout the house. My gaze jerks to the bathroom door way. What now?
A grey wolf and a chocolate brown one barrel into the door way. Both have their lips pulled back, showing sharp white teeth. I stumble back, a squeak flings from my lips. The back of my knees hit the bath tub. I scream as I fall backwards landing on my butt in the tub, pulling the shower curtain down with me. A pain filled moan falls from my mouth as my head bouncing off the wall.
Ouch.
My eyes water from the pain. I blink through it looking at the two wolves still in the door way. They looked smashed together. Are they stuck? I twist my head to the side, watching them. A smile pulls at my lips.
The grey one snaps at the chocolate one then they both look at me with yellow eyes, large heads titled to the side, mimicking me.
Are they making fun of me? I narrow my eyes at them.
“Guys.” Cam’s uneasy voice floats from the hall way.
The grey wolf grunts. Cammie and Cam appear behind the stuck wolves. He busts out laughing.
“That is to funny.” He says giggling with a pointed finger at the wolves wedged tight in the door way.
Cammie chuckles, snapping pictures with her cell phone.
There’s a tight pull in the air. One moment its two wolves the next is two naked boys.
I groan and slip my hands across my eyes.
“What is with you people and being naked?” I mumble.
I hear footsteps coming towards the tub. It has me pushing back against the wall. I do not want any more naked boys near me
“It’s natural for us Avery. It’s just skin.” Nick says laughing, his voice fading.
“Avery.”
A hand touches my knee and I peek through my fingers. It’s Cam.
“Are they gone?” I mumble from embarrassment.
“Yeah. Here let me help you up?” Cam grabs both of my arms pulling me out of the tub.
I give him a sheepish smile that falls instantly from my face when I remembered why I screamed bloody murder in the first place.
I jerk my arm out of his hands.
“Why’d you scream?” Cammie asks sitting on the sink.
“Look. Look at this!” I point to my neck. My chest moving up and down from my fast pants.
Cam eyes me curious shuffling forward to look at my neck. Cammie peering around him.
A strangled gasp of air crosses my neck, “Oh my god.” He stumbles backwards wide eyed.
“Is that what I think it is?” Cammie asks, leaning closer. I push her back. Too many people have been in my personal bubble today. Way too many.
“What is this?” I say seething, staring at Cam.
It’s his fault. This whole thing is his fault. He gulps.
>
“A true mate tag.” He whispers griping his hands together.
“What?”
A true mate tag? I thought it was called life mate. I don’t understand. No one ever said anything about tags.
“How could Dean tag me if I’m meant for Kayden?”
My heart sputters at the thought. It’s not like I have feelings for Kayden. He’s been here since the beginning. He’s familiar and I was finally, slowly coming to terms with being his mate.
“I don’t know.” He says shaking his head, “But it’s there and its real.”
“True mate? Are you sure Cam?” Cammie crosses her arms, “True mates haven’t been heard of since the dark ages.”
Cam jerks, his eyes widen for a second, like he just thought of something.
He rushes forward, so fast it has my back hitting the bathroom wall. His fingers slip up under my top lip, pulling it back, as a feeling of another finger enters my mouth and slides across my teeth.
He smiles and backs away.
“What was that for?” I glare and rub my teeth against my lips. So, nasty having his boy fingers in my mouth.
“Making sure your teeth are sharp enough to bite him.”
Huh. What? Wait a minute.
“What do you mean bite him?” I ground out.
Cam grabs my hand pulling me out of the bathroom and down the hall stopping in front of the entrance to the den. I jerk my hand out of his grip.
“Cam, what do you mean bite him?”
“You need to bite Dean too. You have to tag him with your essence.”
What. Uh, I don’t think so. My hand comes up clamping on my neck.
“No Cam.” I shake my head, horror filling me to the brim, “I’m not going to do that. Bite him. Tag him. Whatever. I’m not. I already brought him out of the rage Cam. I won’t do it.” I say while backing up the whole time, down the hall way.
Cam looks sick, “You have to or he will die.”
This again. He will die thing. Why does everyone have to die if you don’t do certain things?
I shake my head no. I’m not doing it. They’re asking too much out of me at one time. It’s a never-ending maddening cycle.
“He’s linked his essence, his very life force to yours. You have to complete that link.” Cammie says softly.
“He’s a stranger. Who goes around biting some one? A crazy person that’s who.”
Or just Dean.
“Avery,” Cam takes a step towards me, “If you don’t finish the bond. He will die. With his death. You will slowly waste away till you join him.” He whispers with sad eyes.
I stop backing away. I look at Cam. See the truth in his eyes. The set of his face.
I start to cry. Why me? My emotions are a ragging beast. Beating at my insides. Fear. Furry. Guilt.
My heart thunders in my chest. This would be easier. Could be easier if I locked it all away again.
I look at Cam. “If I lock it all the way will it kill me?”
Fear fills his face, “You can’t do that.”
I unlocked everything, brought up all those hard and devastating emotions to bring Dean out of the rage and he freaking bit me as a thank you.
It should work. Locking it all away again. If Dean feels and we’re bonded I shouldn’t need to feel. It should keep me grounded.
“Will it work?” I bite out each word on the verge of yelling or crying. My mind seems not to be able to choose between the two.
He nods his head. And me I smile. I can be at peace again.
My eyes close and I start to build my steel wall around the willow tree in my mind. I don’t want my emotions to disappear entirely. I want them to be protected and safe. I build it strong and tight. An unbreakable force. Instead of last time, though, I add a door. A door just as strong as my wall, but one I can open easily if I need too.
My body relaxes. All the worry, the guilt, the anger, the emotional turmoil is gone. I’m blissfully blank and never felt better.
My eyes snap open and I see Cam flinch backwards.
“Where is he?” My voice comes out cold. Neutral.
I smile at the coldness of it. Finally, Cam pales, pointing behind him. Into the den.
“She flipped her switch,” Cammie mutters and Cam hushes her.
I start walking. It’s my turn to bite. To tag Dean with my name. My smile turns bigger.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Kayden
HE COULD NO longer take it. Standing there watching Avery form a bond with another.
Avery.
Bond with another. He knows it needs to happen. That doesn’t mean he likes it nor does it mean he needs to watch it. Thinking about everything that’s to come between Avery and Dean is driving him mad. He needed to get away. Run.
A pile of clothes is the only sign he was ever here at the house.
The soft dirt beneath is paws. The smells of the woods in his nose. He runs. Runs away from what he cannot stop. He runs for miles, sometimes chasing a rabbit or deer but never to kill. He’s not hungry now and he just loves the thrill of the chase.
He stumbles when a shock of pain zing’s through his body.
Avery.
He’s been feeling little blips now and again. He knew the process wasn’t going to be pain free. But this time it felt different. Something is different.
He slows to a stop. How far did he run? Kayden looks around at his surroundings for the first time. Panting, red tongue hanging out. He ran far. Too far. He will never be able to reach Avery in time.
The pack resides on over two hundred acres of woods and he’s at the very edge. No wonder his muscle feel tighter than normal.
Turing around he runs towards home to Avery.
Another shock hits him. He stumbles falling into a stream. The cool water shocking his heated body.
What was that?
Something inside feels broken. He snorts shaking out his rich chocolate fur. Getting some of the cold water out of his rich coat.
He runs. Heart pumping blood faster through his body as he pushes himself to the limit.
Something’s wrong. Very wrong.
It’s another long thirty minutes before he reaches the house.
He lets the shift come over him. Bones creaking and breaking. Everything reshaping into his human form once more.
Kayden jogs up on the steps stopping long enough to slip on his jeans and shoes. Shirt in his clenched hand he follows his nose through the house.
Cam. Aden. Nick. Jeff. Familiar smells of his pack. Cold snow. Avery. Something else.
Something almost covered in Avery’s scent. Drenched in her. It’s dark and old if dark and old had a smell with a hint of fresh rain. He doesn’t know how else to explain it. Dangerous and wild perhaps.
The smells lead him into the den. Kayden stops in the door way. Hard green eyes taking in the scene.
Jeff and Nick are standing against the built-in book case along the right wall. Cam is in front of the fire place along the left wall, with Aden is standing slightly in front of Cam. Body rigid. It sends Kayden on the defensive side.
Avery is in front of the couch, her back facing them all. Her scent is wrong. It’s covered in something dark yet familiar.
Stepping into the room a board creaks under foot. Everyone looks in his direction. Even Avery with blood highlighting her normal pink lips dark. He stops cold. A shiver racking his already edgy body.
A man is on the couch behind her. Kayden wants to growl. Pull her away.
Wait. The blood.
His eyes snap back to Avery. The line of blood slowly falling from her lips down her chin.
He looks up his eyes snagging on the tag.
A growl does burst from his lips then, loud and vicious. Kayden steps forward. His body vibrating with anger and pain.
Who would touch her? She is mine.
He snarls, stopping in the middle of the room when he finally tares his gaze from the crook of her shoulder. Her eyes. There’s no light in them.
&n
bsp; No.
His heart stutters.
Her eyes are vacant and cold once more. That smile that stretches across her bloody lips could make even the meanest of men have night mares for a life time.
“What did you do?” He snarls out at Cam.
His eyes never leaving Avery as she cocks her head to the right.
“I didn’t do anything,” Cam whispers like a scared child.
“Ahh, Kayden.” Avery sings, standing on the tip of her toes, leaning forward, “I can see your pain.” She breaths it out.
Kayden flinches at the devious note in her voice.
What did they do to her?
He watches her as if she’s in slow motion her head leaning to the right then to the left.
“Do you want me to take it away?” She sings out, right hand fluttering in the air. Slim fingers wiggling.
His mouth opens, but no words come out as he hears a grunt and a low growl come out from behind Avery.
He watches as her eyes light up. Not with the lightness that made them shine. No with a darkness that makes his stomach toss and turn.
“He’s up.” She sings, stepping out to the side. A hysterical giggle flushing her pale skin pink.
Has he lost her?
Chapter Forty
Avery
I PAUSE IN the door way, “Are you coming?”
“Umm.” Cam mumbles.
My ears pick up the sound of the front door opening and closing.
“I’ll go see who that is?” Cam says, his footsteps growing softer. A second set follows him.
Well, then. I cross the threshold.
Walking slowly to Dean, sprawled on the brown leather couch in the back of the den. A furry black blanket covering him from mid chest down.
I stop when the tip of my toes touch the couch.
All those pesky emotions from before are long gone. My body is so much more at ease. Twisting my head, I look at the shocking white of his hair and eyebrows.
It’s a curious thing. Him having white hair when his wolf is black as night. Does that mean something is different about him? Special even. Or was he just plain dirty?
My eyes roam down. Even his eye lashes are thick and white. The others don’t look supernatural in their human bodies, but he does. He looks so very different. Is that why I’m drawn to him more than I was to Kayden? Or is it something else that calls to my blood.