Curse Of The Marhime

by Dayana Knight

  She rested her head back down onto the cool damp grass and noticed something else. She lay sheltered in the underbrush instead of the open meadow where she had attempted to protect Tomas. Someone had moved her. Where is everyone? Tomas, is he okay?

  Rustling sounded from the darkened meadow, then a low rumbling growl sounded nearer to where she lay.

  “Pita?”

  Pita sighed as the velvety voice filled her head. “Here.”

  Niko’s amber eyes and light-colored fur came into focus a few seconds later. He lay down beside her snuggling his snout against her neck just behind her ear.

  “You okay?” Pita asked.

  “Am I okay? You’re the one with a shrapnel collection.” The smooth timbre of Niko’s voice comforted her. “Are you okay is the more adequately the question.”

  “Hurts bad.” An attempt to change position caused another lightning bolt of agony to shoot into her right front leg. “Tomas and my father, are they okay?”

  “Yes, they will meet us back at the cabin. Are you able to stand? We’ve got to get you home.”

  Pita attempted to get up onto all fours but failed. Niko wedged himself under her left side so she could use him to help her to stand. Finally, with his weight pressed against her good side they managed to get her up. She found she could put no weight at all on her right front paw. That side felt warm and sticky and the sweet coppery scent of blood surrounded her. Not realizing how badly she’d been hurt, Pita glanced down at her shoulder and leg now covered in dirt, debris, and slick with blood, black against the darkness. Light-headed she swayed, but Niko’s solid weight supporting her left side, kept her upright.

  “Pita, you won’t make it. You’ve lost too much blood. I must shift so we can get you back to the cabin.”

  Pita tried to respond, so many questions, but a wave of dizziness slammed into her, she felt herself falling, and then blackness engulfed her once again.

  ****

  When she came to again, she found herself lying across the tattered bench seat of the old truck. Niko, did his best to drive slowly in an effort to keep her from jostling about as the old truck navigated the raw, uneven roadway. Another thing she noted, Niko wore nothing but an old rag he’d thrown across his lap.

  Pita attempted to pull herself up into a sphinx-like position but her snout brushed against Niko’s thigh. He glanced down worry etched in his face.

  “Hey…you’re awake. How do you feel?” He gently stroked the fur on her snout and ran his hand down her side.

  “Pain is less.” She shifted around until she got herself in the position she’d wanted.

  “Yes, that is good. You will heal much more quickly than is normal. That is why you must not shift back until we get to the cabin. The longer you can stay in the beast form the better for the healing process. When we get home, you can shift. We’ll clean your wounds and get the shrapnel out, then you’ll feel much better.”

  “Tired…so tired.” Pita’s head dropped down to rest on her front paws.

  “You rest, now. We’ll be home soon.” He said stroking her head.

  Pita closed her eyes and fell into darkness and oblivion once again, but this time she welcomed it and felt peaceful bliss in its embrace, secure with the knowledge she had her Niko back safe and unharmed.

  Chapter 42

  The murmur of hushed voices lulled Pita back to consciousness. She blinked her eyes open then closed them against the brightness of the artificial light. A dull ache throbbed in her shoulder and her mouth felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton.

  “Water, please.” She croaked, squinting in an attempt to allow her eyes to adjust to the light this time.

  A stranger bent down holding a cup with a straw poking out and helped her to raise her head up enough to take a sip of the water.

  “Thanks,” she said her voice a hoarse whisper.

  “You’re welcome.” The stranger smiled a wide crooked grin framed in a heavy, graying mustache.

  “Niko?”

  “I am here, iubita mea.” He sat down on the bed, pulled her tenderly into his arms and whispered, “The translation is ‘my love.’” Answering the question she’d asked with her eyes, then added in a normal tone, “This is Dr. Renescu. He has cleaned your wounds and given you a tetanus shot and antibiotics.”

  Pita gazed at the older man who stood beside the bed. “Thank you,” she said again.

  The doctor smiled at her. “You will do just fine. Your wounds have just about healed. I will leave you now and see you again in a week or so.”

  She was just about ready to say ‘thank you’ again when Niko put a finger to her lips effectively shushing her, then he bent and kissed her. “I have missed you.”

  Pita heard the soft click of the door closing as the doctor quietly left them alone.

  Pita nuzzled her face into the curve at his neck and shoulder as her emotional dam broke. “What happened?” She asked through silent tears. “How long have I been out?”

  Niko wiped her tears with his thumbs, gently holding her face in his hands. “We got you back here a couple of days ago. You lost a lot of blood and needed a transfusion. I donated my blood—we’re the same type. It helped to speed your healing and gave you the strength to shift back.”

  “What about the doctor? Didn’t he question…?”

  “Dr. Renescu is one of us and very adept at our needs. He helped you through the shift and kept you comfortable. We are truly Alpha and Lupa now. The sharing of blood stands as part of the union ritual. I hope that is okay. You have gained strength also through the mixture of our bloods. Look at your arm.”

  There were no bandages, stitches, staples, nothing. “Ohmigod! I am totally healed. That’s impossible.” She moved her arm up, down, and then rotated it. Just a residual dull ache persisted and minor discolorations where the buckshot had been.

  “No, not impossible.” Niko chuckled. “Since you are healed.” He turned so he sat beside her on the bed and pulled her into his arms. “I will never let you out of my sight again.”

  “What about Tomas and my father? Where are they?” Pita snuggled closer laying her head on his chest so she could listen to the richness of his voice when he spoke, and the rhythm of his heartbeat. As a second thought, she added, “and Dorina?”

  “They are fine. Tomas and Dorina left for the city yesterday. He will be back for the gathering. Stefan will be back later to see you.”

  “Ah… The gathering. Have you found all members of the pack?”

  “Yes, and the pack members we haven’t found will come. They will get the calling.”

  “How will they know?” Pita asked gazing up into smiling hazel and golden eyes.

  “Lunar draba. Moon magic.” He bent down lifting her face to his and kissed her, his gentle actions heating up as passion overtook them.

  Pita wrapped her arms around him. “What is Moon magic?”

  “The rising of the moon especially the full moon is our call. When it rises the wolves will sing calling to the others.”

  His hands slid down her sides and stopped at her hips while his tongue slipped between her lips in a deeply erotic kiss and moved into a slow circular dance with her tongue. Pita’s insides tightened and a warm tingling began to build deep within the core of her as the kiss deepened. She pressed closer against him feeling his need as well. “Niko, what happened at the camp?” she asked trying to keep focused. However, her body craved something entirely different. “After I got myself shot, I mean.”

  Niko raised himself on his elbow and played with her hair as he spoke. “We kicked their asses, of course.” He grinned. “You knocked the guy with the gun down, effectively knocking the gun out of the way, albeit not without getting shot.” He frowned. “With the gun out of the way it was a matter of three pissed off wolves scaring the crap out of them. We killed no one, but they will remember their encounter well. Gouged, bitten, and bleeding—all of them. We let the dog go.” He grinned. “Actually, the dog is here.”

&nbs
p; “Here?” Pita asked making lazy circles on his chest with an index finger. “You couldn’t leave him to fend for himself, could you?”

  “You found me out. Come here.” He moved over her and kissed her again. His hands moved down her sides and cupped her bottom pulling her closer.

  Pita nuzzled into his shoulder and nipped at his neck. He kissed a trail across her throat to the tops of her breasts. Her breath caught as his hands enclosed them and his thumbs caressed her already tightened nipples.

  “Niko, I want you,” she whispered.

  He pushed up balancing himself above her with an arm on either side and gazed into her eyes. “You don’t understand what could happen, Pita. We…”

  She put her hand over his mouth. “How bad could it be? You said yourself we were meant to be together. Your blood runs in my veins, Niko. I want to know all of you, even your beast. Please.” The last she whispered.

  He eased himself down the bed and slowly lifted the T-shirt she wore, kissing a trail along her stomach to her breasts. Her breath quickened as his mouth kissed and licked each areola and tortured her nipples with gentle bites. Her fingers tangled into his hair. A new kind of fire burned through her body now, one of passion, need, and desire. Pita recognized the rising of her beast deep within her core. She pressed her hips into Niko’s pelvis feeling the thick hardness of him.

  “Niko…” Her voice husky, unrecognizable to her own ears. “Please.”

  He covered her mouth with his, slid his hands down her body, and tore her panties off. She tried to reciprocate, but sexual tension turned her fingers clumsy, and she only managed to get his zipper partway down. He deftly removed both jeans and underwear without interrupting their kiss.

  Pita moaned, desire building, threatening to peak as Niko rose up and entered her. She welcomed the full thickness of him as he gently pushed, pulled back and then thrust into her. Pita cried out in pleasure and clung tighter, welcoming him as her body sheathed him. Niko echoed her cry with a guttural moan of his own. Their fingers entwined and locked together as they became one.

  She met his rhythm in a growing sense of passion until she didn’t think she could stand it anymore, and then everything changed. Just at the point of fulfillment, she felt a separation within herself. She opened her eyes in fear. Amber eyes met hers, wolf eyes, then she realized this must be what was meant by the joining of their beasts, not in an actual shift but in a spiritual way. She knew without a doubt if she looked into a mirror, at that moment, she would see her eyes had changed too. The world faded out, and she felt the smoky wisp of her beast flow out of her body and watched as it seeped into Niko’s in a slow spiral dance, then the beast entities left his body and spiraled upwards twisting and joining in a sensual dance. They ebbed and flowed with such tenderness and beauty that tears filled her eyes. She glanced into Niko’s golden eyes as he thrust into her one final time. Their beasts intertwined and danced in a sudden flare of brightness, then finally faded apart and melded back into their respective hosts as the world burst into a zillion shining shards of color.

  Pita and Niko collapsed, sweaty and exhausted to lay breathless in contented bliss, wrapped in each other’s arms.

  Silent tears of joy slid from Pita’s eyes. Never had she experienced such passion or total opening of herself, her spirit, the very essence of her. It was everything and nothing she ever expected. She gazed at the beautiful man beside her and her heart swelled with a love she never thought she would ever know. Niko touched the salty wetness of her face, then licked her tears from his fingers and kissed her lips softly.

  “I love you, Pita. I am yours always.” He pulled her into his arms, caressing her until they fell into a deep comfortable sleep.

  ****

  Several hours later, Pita opened her eyes to a room shrouded in darkness. The only light, a tiny golden orb shining from a lantern turned low in the corner of the room on a small wooden table. She stretched languorously, feeling only residual soreness in her shoulder and arm, though in other, more private places, her body throbbed with the gentle ache of the most intimate sex she’d ever experienced. A smile crawled across her face. So it was real. She turned over knowing she lay alone in the bed and buried her face in Niko’s pillow inhaling his musky scent. Lying that way for several minutes, face buried in the scent of him, she reluctantly threw the covers back and sat up. The cabin seemed still, cloaked in silence but for the crackle of the dying fire in the main room. Its embers backlit the great room pale golden orange and red shone through the open bedroom door. As she turned to get out of the bed, a shadow crossed the doorway, and Niko stepped into the room carrying a tray laden with an earthenware pitcher of clay and two matching cups. Cheese and grapes circled the pottery. He set the tray on the bedside table and said softly, “And where were you going, my lady wolf?”

  “Nowhere, now.” Pita fluffed the pillows and leaned back against the age-dulled, brass headboard.

  Niko bent and brushed the hair back from his face, as was his habit, then kissed her soundly. “I brought a snack. Fresh goat’s milk, cheese, and fruit,” he said, pointing at the tray.

  Pita giggled. “I see that.” She tore a grape loose and asked, “What time is it?” then popped the plump fruit into her mouth. A burst of sweet juice filled her mouth when she bit into it.

  Niko crawled across the bed and propped himself beside her and wrapped an arm around her. “Little after 8:00. The moon hasn’t risen yet. Seems later, doesn’t it?”

  Pita nodded her head in agreement, munching a small chunk of cheese. She swallowed the food and turned to face Niko. “Will it always be like that? I mean sex…making love…you know what I mean.” She blushed at the way Niko valiantly held back the smile that puckered his face. Pita batted at him. “You let me keep going on purpose. You knew exactly what I meant.”

  “Yes and there is a sure fire way to find out.” He playfully pulled her into his lap. “I am teasing you.” Then in answer to her question, he said thoughtfully, “I’m not sure but I know it was something I have never experienced before.”

  “You haven’t?”

  “No. Why are you surprised?” He asked seriously. “I’ve never made love to my soul mate before, my Lupa. How would I have ever known what it would be like?”

  “Oh…” She hadn’t been thinking along those terms. She had to get used to this otherworldliness. She needed to wrap her mind around the extraordinary bond they now shared. This wasn’t just boy meets girl, and they fall in love. And it wasn’t just the wolf thing, but something even more complicated yet simple, a union of mind, body, and spirit. “I really haven’t grasped this spiritual thing yet, Niko. It’s so….deep.” She smiled and added, “But I know one thing for sure. I definitely want to do it again and again and again...”

  Laughing, Niko pulled her down to him and effectively quieted her with a soul-wrenching kiss. The snack tray lay forgotten as shadows ebbed and flowed in passion’s embrace on the cabin wall.

  Chapter 43

  The next morning dawned foggy, damp, and cold. Pita stepped onto the cabin porch and shivered despite wearing jeans and a heavy sweater. At only a few minutes after six, the sun had not fully risen, so a blanket of thick fog hovered over the mountains, hills, and trees. The visibility range only hit a few yards. Yet, the mist-shrouded forest claimed a beauty beyond description and the fresh scent of pine lay heavy on the damp air.

  Niko stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She leaned back against him and felt his voice rumble through his chest as he commented, “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” she said.

  “Your father will be here soon. Are you excited?” Niko asked resting his chin easily upon her head as they gazed out over the landscape.

  “Yes, and very nervous. There are so many things I want to ask, so many things I want to know.”

  “Stefan is a good man. He will do right by you, Pita.”

  “Why didn’t you bring me to him
right away? You knew, yet you let me find out through events rather than just telling me.” She turned to face him.

  Niko spoke gently but firmly. “Our situation is different, Pita, your situation is different. Not the typical adopted child who seeks out biological parents, but a woman who has an extraordinary gift. A gift you had no clue about and had no choice but to accept. You had to wrap your mind around your powers and accept this part of your life, before you could learn the full truth of your birth, the pack, and the Matriarch.” He pulled her close and held her. “Would you have been able to accept all this cold and unwarned?”

  She considered for a moment then shook her head against the warmth of his chest. “No. And I never would have known any of it if I hadn’t stopped in the grocery store that night.” She smiled. “That crazy Gypsy woman, Floricita, stalking me, insisting she had to talk to me.” She laughed. “You know I was going to dump her card in the power drink aisle.” Pita turned in his arms and gazed up into his gorgeous, open face. “And I would have never met you,” she acknowledged softy.

  “I would have found you, of that I am sure. And you would most definitely have known something was up when your body tried to shift. Lucky for you I had you on my GPS radar, iubita mea.” He bent and kissed the tip her nose. “Come, let’s go inside. You’re shivering.”

  ****

  Pita and Stefan sat before the hearth upon the worn sofa. She held a teapot and poured the steaming liquid into two cups. “Thank you for coming,” she said unsure what to say.

  Stefan stirred sugar into his tea and placed the spoon in a precise straight line on the serving tray, then seemed hesitant to take his hand away from it. “I must come. I must explain.” He attempted a smile but through his own nervousness, it turned out to be more of a grimace. “Where to begin?”

  Pita smiled. “The beginning would be good,” she suggested.

  Stefan smiled back at her.

  “Tell me about my mother. What was she like?” she urged.