by Lily Luchesi
I barked out a laugh that held little humour. “Your mother would never accept me in her home.”
“Then ...” She glanced around as though the forest held answers. “We shall go somewhere else.”
My abrupt halt almost sent us to the ground, and I swallowed hard before asking, “Do you mean that, Jem?”
She nodded, weaving a hand into my hair, and drew me in, kissing me with force. When she pulled back, she held my gaze. “I would go anywhere, do anything, if it meant I could be with you.”
Heart pounding, I stared at the fierce commitment in her eyes. “We will be together. I promise you.” I lowered her to her feet. “I just have to find a way.”
“There is a way.” She took her dress from me and fed her feet into the garment. “We leave. Now.”
I wanted nothing more than to gather her up, carry her off, and find a place where no one would find us, but the resistance of my instinct pulled too strong. “I cannot.”
With her dress hanging from her shoulders, she paused, her gaze upon me again.
“I cannot leave my pack, Jem, however much I wish to.” I brushed my hand into my hair, unsure how to explain, how to ease the creases reappearing upon her brow. “This is where I belong. I ... need them.”
A high shine visited her eyes. “And me?”
“I need you, also.”
“Just not as much.”
“Yes—more.” The passion in my answer deepened my voice, as I reached out to her. “The bond I have with my pack is a powerful one, Jem. Please understand, it is not something that can be easily broken. You cannot appreciate the lengths I went to, to defy them, simply to allow me time with you. To choose between you and my pack is an impossible decision for me. I want both.” Rubbing at my face, I shrugged my shoulders in frustration. “I need both.”
“But if your brother—”
I pressed my lips to hers. “I will find a way.” I stretched around to fasten her dress before kissing her again. “But you must hurry. Do not worry about me. I promise to meet you again.”
“Tomorrow?” she asked. “Do not make me wait a full week, Sean. Please, do not make me wait.”
Although unsure how I would achieve it, I nodded. “Tomorrow.”
9
I would have had a better chance of avoiding trouble—or even constructing a lie—had I made it home without bumping into James. Instead, I encountered him in the clearing Jem and I had recently vacated.
Crouched down, he sniffed at his fingers. “Blood,” he said, without looking up.
My step paused, but I remained quiet.
“Human blood.” As he straightened, his narrowed stare skimmed over my missing attire. “Belonging to a female. Is it hers?”
Still, I did not speak, merely kept my eyes focused on him.
“The forest stinks of her, Sean. Enlighten me as to your reasoning for bringing some human into my forest.”
“Our forest. And must you speak of her with such contempt?”
His head dipped, as his hands fisted. “How long?” When I frowned, he continued, “How long have you spent your time with her? For how many weeks?”
“Eleven,” I said, my voice low.
“End it.”
I shook my head. “No.”
When he took a step forward, I tensed for attack. None came, but the effort to remain calm showed in his taught muscles. “So, you break rules by bringing a human into my forest, and now you disobey me?”
“Our forest,” I said again.
His jaw tightened, as did his fists. “You must know you cannot continue to see her.”
“I intend to find a way.”
“Our world is no place for a human.” Lip curling, he spat out, “They are weak!”
My own hands clenched, as I shifted forward. “I will protect her.”
James’s laugh held no humour. “She will not always be within your sights.”
“I will ensure she is.”
“How? By taking her on a hunt?” He sneered. “Have you even thought any of this through?”
“Of course,” I lied.
“So, tell me, Sean ...” His direct stare appeared calm, yet I knew him well enough to understand what his tense stance could precede. “How would you keep your nature a secret from her?”
I failed to disguise my reaction. The jolt that shot through me widened my eyes before I could control it.
James flew at me. Fast. Too fast for me to take even so much as a backward step. Clutching at my shirt front, he shook my feet from the ground. “No!” He snarled as he shoved me back.
Bark bit into my shoulder blades, and the impact brought my skull crashing back, light exploding behind my eyes. I scrambled to find ground, as my feet left it again.
When James threw me to the side, I grasped hold of his shirt, hauling him down with me.
We hit the ground with a grunt, both spinning to face the other.
I threw my right fist at him, unbalancing myself, but gave only a glancing blow to his jaw.
His head jerked slightly before he turned back to me, his glowering eyes showing his outrage at my attack. The retaliatory punch he threw connected with my ribs and sent a loud crack echoing against the trees.
My breaths panted from me, as I dropped back to the ground, and before I could even capture my breath, he charged.
I rolled from his path, crying out at the pain caused by the action, and surged to my feet. At my pathetic attempt to catch him with a left thrust of my fist, agony erupted through me like lava upon ice.
He stepped back before I could retry, fury burning in his glare and a trail of crimson flowing from his lip. “You dare to challenge me, Sean?” He spat a glob of blood to the ground before turning back to me. “Over a whore?”
With a snarl, I flew at him, my shoulder smacking into his chest. The instant his feet left the ground, I drove him down hard onto his back. “Jem is not a whore.” I stood over him, swaying against the headiness of my pain. “She is my mate.”
When he didn’t immediately speak, I took a step away—but I should have recognised the darkening of his eyes, before his lips drew back to release the building growl from his chest.
On his feet before I could retreat, he dived straight into attack and knocked me onto my back.
One fist struck my jaw, the next my nose; the first sent an explosion of pain through my skull, the second resulted in the collapse of cartilage.
I shoved at him with my hands, but rage possessed him, pumping the strength of adrenaline into his blows, and agony added to agony already present. Flecks of blood invaded my eyes, to haze vision that had already begun to blur.
A voice cut through the fog of my mind. “James, no!”
The raining pummels ceased, but James’s body still vibrated above me.
“You made the promise to your father, to protect him.” That time, I recognised Edward’s deep bass. “This is no way to treat your brother.”
Moments passed before the heavy weight shifted from my chest. Fingers circled my ankle, and a beat later, the hand’s owner dragged me, stones and twigs scraping against my bare flesh, as my body and mind attempted to register what had just happened.
I did not remember much after that.
***
I woke to pain. In my head, face, torso—everywhere.
It could have been a lot worse, and would have been, if not for my natural ability to heal faster than a human. That did not mean bruising would be absent—or other injuries, for that matter.
A lift of my knees had me groaning against the damage to my ribs, and the roll of my body had my eyes opening, when I realised my bed did not support me.
Bare walls greeted me with a glance to the left. The naked ceiling of the cellar loomed above.
I slammed my fists down upon the cold floor. “No!”
With a hand pressed against my torso in support, I pushed into a sitting position, before shuffling across the floor, teeth gritted, until beneath the door.
Footsteps circled the kitchen above me, followed by the quiet murmur of a voice.
James.
An involuntary growl rumbling from me, I dropped my head back against the unforgiving stone at my rear.
Trying the door would be a wasted effort. James would not have tossed me into the cellar if he did not intend to keep me locked up. Rather than wait, or do nothing, I pushed to my feet to check the extent of the damage he had inflicted.
As expected, my ribs did not rejoice in my altered posture, and my head filled with the abstraction that always followed a good beating. A touch of my fingertips to my face revealed puffiness, a result of swelling tissue, mostly around my right eye and nose—nothing I could not cope with.
I tested my legs with a handful of steps, relieved when they appeared unscathed. At least I had the ability to be mobile, and slowly pacing the room unknotted muscles stiffened by the hard floor. As I trod stone, I calculated—yet, even after what seemed half a day, my brain conjured no answers to my situation.
After all, what could I do from within the cellar?
But then, what would I do if released from there?
My promise to Jem would be broken, because James would never permit me to see her, just as he would never allow me to bring her to our home.
To bring Jem—a human—after our fight would surely sign her death warrant.
My step faltered.
I worked back through my musings, to find what had caused the stumble, but could not locate it before the door opened. An inhalation identified food and Giles, before he descended, and I breathed out my relief.
He paused on the bottom step, his headshake showing his pity. “Was she really worth it, Sean?”
“She is worth it,” I said, ignoring his chosen tense.
Nodding, he held out the plate of food. “Breakfast.”
“I have no urge to eat.”
He did not argue, as though I had given the answer he expected. “What do you plan to do?” he asked, placing the eggs and bread on the sole table.
I shrugged.
He came nearer, keeping his voice low. “You must have thought this through, Sean. Where did you see this ending? With a bride, children—a home of your own, perhaps?”
“This is my home. And, no, I had not thought that far ahead. I just know I need to be with her.”
“James will never sanction the knowledge of the pack being in the hands of an outsider.”
“She is not an outsider in my mind.”
He leaned his rump against the table edge. “However strongly you feel about her, she is not a member of this pack.”
I frowned, but as his words slowly sank in, my blood surged through me, my pulse picking up. “She could be.”
“James would never allow a human to enter the pack. Think on it, Sean ...”
My mind drifted from his voice as my thoughts whirled. No, James would never permit her access, not unless— “You are right.”
The erupted words cut his speech short, and he stared at me a moment, as though disbelieving the ease with which he had my agreement. “Good.” He patted my shoulder, and I hid my wince. “Now eat your breakfast.”
Stepping away, I shook my head.
“You must eat. Twenty-four hours is too long to go without food.” He leaned in close and lowered his voice. “I fear James has yet to finish with you. You will need your strength.”
Relenting, I picked up the plate, and when I shovelled in the first mouthful, he gave a slight nod and headed back up to the house.
***
I did not have to wait long for the cellar door to open again.
My chin lowered and shoulders stiffened, as my eyes trained on the entrance, and a conscious effort had to be made to control the rumble vibrating through me.
James halted at the bottom of the stairs. “Have you slept off your irrationality?”
I studied him whilst formulating a response that would get me out of the cellar, noticing his face bore no reminder of my blows. Ensuring my hands remained uncurled, I nodded.
“Good. You may join us, then.”
As he turned to ascend, I trailed behind.
The kitchen offered brightness the dusty cellar had not, despite the rain pounding the window. Squinting against the light, I peered around the room at the rest of the pack, before, unbidden, my attention shifted to the back door, my mind instantly calculating how far away it stood, and what my chances were of reaching it before James could react.
“Sit.”
I switched my gaze back to James, but his narrowing eyes told me he had caught my deviant glance.
“I said, sit.”
The feet of my chair screeched against the tiles as I dragged it back, and my ribs protested against the folding of my body as I obeyed. I disguised my pain with a grit of my teeth, refusing to allow James to witness it.
“I need to discuss something with you.” He drew out his own chair to sit.
I have nothing to say to you, balanced on the tip of my tongue, but I held it back.
“You meet with this female each Tuesday, is that correct?”
My gaze darted toward the forest, at the thought of Jem waiting there for me and my broken promise to meet with her, before I dipped my head in admittance.
“How long has she known about you—about us?” He leaned back in his seat, most likely watching for any sign of dishonesty, or for the tiniest twitch of a lie.
“Not before yesterday.”
“Did you tell her, Sean?”
I went to shake my head but paused. If I told him no, he would demand to know how she had found out. Sharing the Wolfsbane information would bring certain death for Jem’s entire family. Holding my tongue, I sent him a nod.
“She could have imparted the information to others by now.” His quiet voice did not fool me into believing he remained calm.
I stared him in the eye. “She will not tell.”
“You cannot know that.”
“I know Jem. She is loyal to me.”
“Which is more than you have been to us.” James’s voice notched deeper, and a mumble rolled along the table, as Philip sounded his agreement.
Before I could snap out my opinion of his interference, I met Giles’s gaze. He gave a slight shake of his head.
“You will not meet with her Tuesday next.”
I spun back to face James.
“Leave it with me,” he continued. “I shall meet with her, and I will take care of this situation you have gotten us into—”
I shook my head. “No.”
“You have left me no choice. Tuesday next, I shall ...” He trailed off, as my focus flicked toward the forest, and when I looked back, his gaze locked onto me. “You did not plan to wait that long to meet with her ... did you, Sean?”
“I have only ever met with her on a Tuesday,” I managed, despite the roaring inside my head.
James’s chair scraped back, as he pushed to his feet. “Perhaps I shall see for myself.”
I remained rigid in my seat as he rounded the table.
He paused at the exit and turned back. My swallow sounded loud to my ears, as I watched him. In return, James’s gaze travelled over my body, across the tension in my shoulders, the prominent tendons even I could feel showing in my neck, to my hands, which tightened along with my jaw. With a small smile, he tugged open the door and disappeared outside.
Three pairs of eyes stared toward James’s departure. Only Giles remained facing my way.
I knew not what his expression intended to relate, but his slight head inclination toward the open door reminded me of the others’ distraction.
Without further consideration, I leaped onto and across the table. My chair toppled to the floor in my haste, and I threw myself outside before any of them had a chance to respond.
James had already hit the trees, his receding back visible amongst the bushes and leafy trunks.
Rain pelted me as I raced across the garden, adhering hair to my brow and sending my bare so
les slipping on the wet grass.
Pummelling feet followed, calls to come back echoing behind.
I ignored them and ducked into the forest, taking a more direct route than James.
Knowing where she would wait gave me an advantage—and not my only one. Wolfsbane had taught me that I could change whilst mobile, an ability none of the others had ever tried to master.
As my feet drummed the muddied ground, understanding my speed would be far greater as wolf, I called forth my change.
10
I soon left the others behind and, thankfully, did not cross James’s scent on my route to the fallen trunk. Although I slowed my pace before nearing, the consideration did nothing to eliminate Jem’s startled expression, upon seeing me arrive as a wolf.
She looked beyond me for a moment before turning back with a frown. “Sean?” The unsure smile she attempted reflected her confusion.
Head down, I padded toward her, the thoughts that had dominated my mind during the run continuing to scream. Yet, within seconds of Giles’s words, I had known I would do it.
She peered off again, as though expecting to see the reasoning for my form. “Are you in trouble?”
My attention did not leave her whilst I struggled to win my inner battle, but I had no choice.
I continued forward until close enough to touch.
Her head whipped back to me, and as I held her eyes to mine, she seemed to sense my uncertainty. She reached out a hand, offering comfort and convincing me further. “Sean, what is wrong?”
Her fingers pushed into the thick ruffle of fur surrounding my throat, and her frozen skin told me how long she had waited for me to come. I leaned into her, hoping to offer warmth, and she knelt before me, her arm encircling my neck as her face brushed my muzzle. When my canine purr kicked up a low tune, her other hand joined in the caress.
To be touched that way by her, whilst I stood as wolf, toppled my emotions over the edge.
My tongue tasted the pulsating flesh below her ear. I closed my eyes for a moment as I savoured her flavour in an effort to quiet my mind. I told myself that she would understand, and my resolve strengthened, more so as I recalled her words that she would do anything to be with me.