Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny)

by Blakely, Noelle

  Alex and Aurora had been with a lot of people over the centuries, both together and separately, but there was no jealousy or anger. It was in their nature to use others for feeding or pleasure. Only another Vampire would trigger a possessive jealousy in either of them. That was also something instinctive, and they had little control over it.

  Alex and Aurora did make one agreement with each other when they said their vows and became man and wife. That single promise was that they would save the ultimate act of love-making only for each other. Nothing else was sacred to them, and they indulged in all other pleasures at will.

  So, as far as Alex and Aurora were concerned, Ryan was not off limits. Unfortunately, though, because Ryan was not human, feeding on him did not provide any benefits other than the enjoyment. So, for the time being, Aurora was not seriously contemplating any kind of tryst with Ryan. She had just been appreciating his attributes, and at the moment she was noticing Alex’s attributes much more.

  Aurora was leaning over Alex’s shoulder to see the map he was explaining. He wanted the group to take the horses into the Adirondacks. They had a little cabin in the West Canada Lakes Wilderness area that they hadn’t been to in at least 20 years, but Alex was hoping that it was still standing. The area was so remote that it was only accessible by a couple of Jeep trails that were far from easy. He felt, after seeing the destruction and violence in town, that they should find a safe place to stay, like a base of operations that they could work from to try and contact the Vampire council.

  Aurora listened to and agreed with the plan he proposed, but now he was just talking details and she had become thoroughly distracted by the feel of his shoulder moving under her fingers while he gestured and pointed. His hair smelled of the fresh straw they had been sleeping in, and his usually impeccable fingernails had dirt under them. She found that it was kind of a turn on to see him living rough for the first time in ages.

  She was feeling the stirrings of arousal, and she knew that the cause was partially due to Sara and Ryan. The pheromones emanating from the Were and the human were acting upon her senses like a drug. Weres were a bundle of instincts and emotions, and Ryan’s hormones would be screaming at him to mate almost constantly, so his affect on her was not only understandable, but practically expected. Sara, on the other hand, was a bit of a surprise. She was getting more intriguing by the day.

  Sara was leaning over Alex’s other shoulder looking at the map too. Like Aurora, she had her hand on his shoulder, but being so much shorter, she had to stretch further to see it, and her breast was planted firmly up against his back. She was also breathing in the scent of Alex’s hair and skin, and her breath was coming faster. She was flushed and hot and to Aurora, Sara’s arousal was exciting.

  If he had chosen to pay attention, Alex would not have been able to help but notice that Sara desired him. However, he was totally distracted with his own plans and did not notice her intimate proximity, even though he had always found her attractive for a human. He was worried because he felt responsible for them, and it was good that he felt that he was taking action finally.

  For the first couple of hours after Alex had returned bringing Ryan with him, Ryan had been telling them all what he knew about what was going on, and it only strengthened Alex’s determination to get them to the cabin.

  “It’s only been a couple of days, so I haven’t been able to get in touch with everyone I would like to, yet. I honestly just needed to see that Sara was safe, first,” he told them, explaining that this was the reason his information was incomplete and vague.

  “The whole thing started with sunspots,” he said.

  “We know the part about the coronal eruptions,” Sara interrupted impatiently. “Skip ahead.”

  Ryan looked at her a little surprised. “So, you got that the lights were the effects of the geomagnetic storms?”

  They all nodded. “Continue,” Alex urged.

  “As you could see by the intensity of the lights, those storms were a lot more powerful than they were predicted to be. The power grid was affected, and radio signals are completely disrupted. Even sat phones and such won’t work. It seems likely that the satellites, communications and otherwise, are fried.” He stood and paced. Gesturing with his hand toward the door, he said, ”You’ve seen what the weather is starting to do. The wind around here has been getting stronger, and more unpredictable by the hour, and I heard that there are storms, like rain and hail, in some places not too far from here.” He seemed to realize at that moment how agitated he was becoming, and he stopped pacing and rubbed his hands on the front of his jeans, over his thighs. “The earthquakes happened everywhere, and everything shifted all at once. I know people that are still trying to figure that one out. You saw what the earthquakes did to most of the buildings. I don’t know anything for sure, but, some of this information, like the stuff about the earthquakes, is reliable,” Ryan said.

  “Where did you get all this?” Alex demanded.

  “Let’s just say that I have some military connections and leave it at that.” Ryan nervously glanced at Sara and then quickly away.

  Sara didn’t even notice, but Alex and Aurora both did.

  He’s definitely keeping secrets from her, Aurora thought.

  Alex looked on the verge of pushing it further, but stopped and said, “Fine for now, but we are going to talk about this again, soon”

  “This doesn’t change anything about the idea I’ve been thinking about this morning,” Alex said, changing the subject. That’s when he outlined his plan for them.

  They were all enthusiastic about it and began throwing ideas back and forth until they had all essentially put Ryan’s dire news aside to deal with later.

  Alex scratched the map on the floor, Ryan grew quiet and listened to Alex rehash the details, and the women became distracted.

  It was getting dark when Alex finally felt that they had covered almost everything. “There’s just one last thing,” he said quietly.

  Sara was lighting the lantern, and she carried it back to the others, who were all sitting cross-legged on the ground. “What’s that, Alex?” she asked, sitting back down.

  “I need to leave tonight and find a way to feed. Aurora should too. We’ll need strength to travel tomorrow.”

  “Find a way to feed?” Ryan quipped.”What does that mean, Alex?” It was the first time Ryan hadn’t called him Mr. Lake and he was feeling a little empowered. “There are no more blood banks and no refrigeration to keep your little bottles in. So, what exactly are you planning to do?”

  Sara scowled at her brother angrily. “That’s enough, Ryan. We are not having this conversation tonight. It’s none of your business. You don’t know anything about it,” she scolded. “And as for leaving, Alex, I already told Aurora that you two can feed on me until we figure something else out.”

  Ryan jumped to his feet and shouted, “What the fuck are you talking about, Sara? You are not bleeding for anyone! I forbid it!”

  “You don’t get to stroll back in here after two years and start telling me what I will and won’t do, Ryan.” She emphasized his name with contempt in her voice. “I am a grown woman, and I have been taking care of myself for a very long time. You would know that if you weren’t leaving all the time!”

  That last part stung him, and he reached out to pull her to him. “Baby, you don’t understand--.”

  She jerked away from him. “No! You don’t understand. You don’t know anything about me.” She looked to Alex and Aurora who were still sitting on the ground. “Alex and Aurora are trying to do what is right for me, for all of us. If you really wanted to help me, you could offer some of your blood so that we can all make it through this.”

  Ryan just stared at Sara, speechless.

  Aurora stood and walked behind Sara, putting her hands on Sara’s shoulders. Softly, she said, “He can’t.” She was talking to Sara but looking meaningfully at Ryan.

  He raised his eyes to meet Aurora’s, and there was anger in
them. She stared into his angry eyes, without blinking, willing him to speak, wanting to give him the opportunity to tell Sara the truth, to explain to her why he often had to leave her and why he was so secretive about where he went. She felt Sara’s pain, and she wanted Ryan to ease it, but he would not. He turned and stalked out of the barn, slamming the door behind him.

  Sara thought Aurora meant that it was too difficult for Ryan to overcome his convictions about live feeding, when she said that he couldn’t feed them. She had no idea what Aurora really meant and Aurora had no intention of explaining it to her. Aurora only meant to give Ryan the chance to come clean with Sara. She hugged the young women wanting to make her feel better.

  After a moment Sara pulled gently out of Aurora’s embrace and said, “I should go talk to him.” She followed her brother outside. He must have been close by because Aurora could hear them talking softly.

  She turned to Alex, who was watching her. “When were you going to tell me about this?” he asked without any anger, only curiosity.

  “I hadn’t decided if I wanted to take her up on her offer. I like her and I don’t want her to be hurt. I needed to know if she was really okay with this.” She sat back down with Alex and took his hand.

  “I guess telling her brother, means that she is sure about it,” he said, leaning forward and placing his lips to her forehead. “You have a tender heart, my love,” he said without taking his lips from her skin.

  “That’s why I want you to make it enjoyable for her, Alex.” She pulled her head back to look in his eyes. “I want you to please her, not because she wants you sexually, but because you appreciate her gift. I want her to know that it is a gift.”

  He nodded solemnly “What about you, darling?” he asked, brushing her hair from her face just to be touching her.

  “Tomorrow will be soon enough.”

  Aurora looked up as Ryan and Sara came back in. Sara gave her a little smile and nodded her head. Ryan looked like he ate something bad and went to go visit the horses, grabbing a brush as he went.

  Sara moved toward them and seemed a little awkward. “Well, then...” She clearly did not know what to say.

  Aurora touched her arm reassuringly and said, “Sara, why don’t you go to the cellar and find something for you and Ryan to eat tonight. Alex can go with you. He sees so much better in the dark.”

  She turned and watched Ryan brushing one of the horses at the other end of the barn. “Besides, I think maybe you two should be alone for this so that nobody’s feelings are hurt unnecessarily.”

  “Thank you,” Sara whispered.

  Alex grabbed a blanket and folded it over his arm. He put his other hand on her back at her waist as they walked together out the door. He glanced back at Aurora over his shoulder, and she just smiled at him.

  Ryan pretended not to notice them leaving.

  After a few minutes of silence Aurora walked over and leaned on the stall door where Ryan was working.

  “Why don’t you want to tell her?” she asked quietly. There was no need to explain who or what she meant.

  “I don’t think that she even knows that Weres exist,” he said without looking up from his chore. The horses had become accustomed to their scents and were no longer nervous.

  Aurora moved inside the stall and touched the horse’s head between his eyes. He nuzzled her shoulder a little but did not bite.

  “Sara is very open-minded and far from naive,” she said. “Why would you think that she would have a problem believing?”

  Ryan hesitated. “I just want to protect her,” he said, brushing the horse again with faster strokes, becoming a little agitated.

  The horse reacted by tossing his head and snorting. He back up a step away from Ryan. Ryan stopped brushing and stood there with his arms down to his sides and his head down.

  “Shhh Shhh Shhh, “ Aurora soothed the horse, cooing to him quietly. When he was calm, she looked at Ryan. His back was to her. “Ryan?” she demanded gently, still waiting for him to give her the real reason.

  His head came up, and he said, “I don’t want her to think I’m a monster.”

  He walked out of the stall and put the brush away. He started walking around straightening the barn, putting things in order. He wouldn’t look at her.

  She let him work out his frustration and eventually he sat down with his back against a post, drawing his knees up and resting his chin on them.

  She sat down facing him. “She loves you so much, Ryan. I don’t believe she would ever think you were a monster.”

  “Maybe you’re right, but I don’t know how to tell her. What would I say?”

  “I can’t tell you what to say, only that you should be honest with her. She’s going to be a little mad and hurt that you didn’t share this with her a long time ago. Why didn’t your parents prepare you both for this?” she asked, truly interested in the lives of these two young people.

  “I only found out a few years ago, that my Dad, a Were, was in hiding from some pretty nasty people, Were people. I met someone who was able to fill in some blanks.” He put his knees down opening up his posture as he began to open up and share with her.

  “Sara and I were little kids when our mom, Sara’s mom came and told us that Dad had been killed in an accident. Only now, after what I have found, I don’t actually think it was an accident. I think the ones that were looking for him, finally found him.”

  “That’s terrible. I’m sorry,” Aurora sympathized.

  “I’m convinced that Sara’s mom didn’t know he was a Were even though they were married four or five years. He was in hiding. He never said anything to me either. He must have thought that I was so young that I wouldn’t be able to keep his secret. Plus, he probably figured he had another eight or nine years to fill me in before I reached the change.” He shrugged.

  “So, you changed without knowing what was happening?!” Aurora was aghast at the idea.

  “It wasn’t quite that bad,” he told her. “I was going through the awful hormone thing, you know, the anger and wildness. I thought I was going crazy because you start thinking about killing people, animals, and whatever else, out of the blue. You daydream about ripping flesh with your teeth. I was trying to keep it from Sara and Mom. Then one day, at school, I was losing it in the lunch room. I didn’t do anything to anyone, but I was seeing the whole place covered in blood. It was all in my head, you know, but there were dismembered high school kids everywhere, and I thought I could taste their blood in my mouth. I think my eyes shifted and one of my teachers, Mr. Gardner must have seen it. He came at me, and I saw his eyes shift. I couldn’t help it, my teeth came down, but Gardner was right there by then. He knew what was going to happen if he didn’t stop it. No one else was even aware anything was going on yet. So, Gardner reaches under the table, where nobody can see, and he pinches my leg, the inside of my thigh, where it seriously hurts and he hisses in my face. At least it sounded that way to me, and he kept pinching me until all I felt was the pain and I couldn’t see the blood anymore. It hurt so bad that I made some kind of crying noise like a little puppy and the kids sitting closest to us were starting to look around. So, Gardner grabs my arm and marches me out of there like I was in trouble for something. My friends that asked me about it later, thought I got detention for spit wads in the cafeteria or something.”

  “That was lucky, considering how few people really know about Weres at all,” Aurora commented. “So, Mr. Gardner, what was he?”

  “Gardner was a Were, Panther Clan, but he knew how to get me to other wolves and so he took me to meet an Alpha who took me in. I had to disappear from home, and it was five years before I had control over my Change so I could come back. Now, I rarely Change completely, but for reasons I can’t talk about right now, I need to be in Shift mode a lot. So, I have pretty great control from all the practice.”

  Aurora knew that the Change was something that happened to Weres involuntarily during some lunar cycles, or extreme emotion or duress, whe
n they became almost fully animal. But usually the older the Were, the more they were able to control the Change so that they would not turn at all if they didn’t want to. It didn’t actually have anything to do with age, but it was the practice that was key and by virtue of their age, older Weres usually had more practice, hence more control. Shifting, on the other hand, was entirely deliberate and could be just a subtle shift toward their animal, maybe just the eyes if they wanted to see better. Shifting was always intentional and became easier with practice. The teeth, however, might drop when they were exited, Aurora knew from experience. She actually thought it was kind of sexy.

  “Great control sounds like a pretty big boast for a twenty-something Were,” Aurora teased.

  Instantly, Ryan’s eyes flashed from gray to a bright silver and Aurora knew that if they were in the dark, she would see them glowing. His canines grew just as fast and he gave her the smile, complete with Were teeth, which she had been wondering about earlier, and it was just as hot as she thought it might be.

  Just as quickly he shifted back and said, “I’m actually a lot closer to thirty.” He flashed her that handsome rogue smile sans Were teeth.

  Aurora’s eyes twinkled a little.

  Oh yes, this one is trouble in a pretty package. Mmm hmm! A very pretty package.

  Fifteen

  Sara was acutely aware of Alex’s hand in the small of her back. He made her skin tingle with electricity. The wind was still blowing, and she felt tiny drops of moisture strike her face as it started to sprinkle.

  They walked a little faster to the entrance of the cellar and Sara let Alex guide her down the steps. Aurora had found a small box with candles, matches, a flashlight and a radio down in this cellar the day before. She said it was probably emergency supplies in case the family had to shelter in the cellar from a storm. The flashlight didn’t work, and the radio made the same horrible squealing noise as the CB, but Sara put a candle in one of the empty Ball jars and left it on a shelf near the entrance. Alex lit it for her as soon as they entered.