Alerted, she whipped her head around in the direction of the driveway just as two bikers pul ed in. Torin’s friends.
Perfectly horrible timing.
Dismayed, she turned back to Torin and met his gaze.
Her heart leapt in her chest. His eyes. His face. It wasn’t him.
She pushed herself off of him. Dread shot through her veins like sheets of ice. His mouth. She scrambled to get on her feet. He reached forward – trying to steady her. “Get back,”
she hol ered.
Awareness spil ed across his dark features, “Lexie wait – I can explain.”
Her body shook as tears fil ed her eyes. She jetted
backwards. She needed a way off the roof.
“I won’t hurt you,” he insisted. “Don’t get near the edge!”
Before he even said the last syl able, she felt the cracked shingles breakaway under her feet. Losing her balance, she flung forward and grabbed the smal railing at the edge.
As her ful weight slammed into the rotten wood, she could feel the piece in her grip tear from the frame and she plunged right off the edge.
She clamped her eyes shut; her scream frozen in her throat, expecting to hit the ground.
Strong arms crushed around her mid fal . Opening her
eyes, her brain couldn’t process how Torin was holding her.
He was standing on the ground ten feet from the house. His eyes and coloring were back to normal, but his incisors stil protruded.
“Are you okay?” he demanded.
She clambered from his arms and stumbled backwards.
She glared over at Braden and Teagan who just sat
watching them. Turning back on Torin, she begged, “What are you?”
Torin’s shoulders heaved, “I’ve been trying to tel you.”
His arm was soaked in blood, but it wasn’t hers. The
wooden rail she broke off the roof was lodged straight through his bicep. She pointed at it in horror. “You’re hurt.”
Torin grimaced as he inspected his shredded muscle. His cousins dismounted their bikes and strol ed over. Lexie couldn’t stop her body from trembling as they approached.
They know what he is, they aren’t even concerned.
Teagan let out a whistle. “That was a close one. Good thing you caught her in time.” He laughed and gave Lexie a wink.
“Just kidding. We knew he wouldn’t let you get hurt. He’s too quick.”
“I thought you might be here.” Braden’s expression was cautious as he regarded Torin and Lexie. “Things get out of hand between you two?”
“I would never hurt her,” Torin looked down at the ground.
Lexie eyed them as her paranoia grew. They are all the same. Even though they al had different coloring and facial features, there was something about them that was different just under the surface. An energy or something, she didn’t know why she never realized it before.
Braden inspected the entry point of Torin’s wound. He
placed both hands on the railing piece. “Teagan, hold his arm down.”
Teagan chuckled. “Wel , guess we can final y say Torin got wood – goes great with the fang-erection.”
“Shut up.” Torin muttered.
He let out a groan as Braden yanked the lodged wood from his bloody arm. Lexie watched in wonder as Torin’s wound sealed in front of her. It was impossible, even a surgeon couldn’t close up such an injury. She glanced up in
disbelief.
Torin had never taken his eyes off her the whole time. He eyed her beseechingly as he reached out to her.
Lexie stepped back, shaking her head no. She couldn’t
touch him right now. Not until she could think things through.
She darted over to Teagan’s bike. “I want to go home.”
WOLF
The wolf’s muzzle searched the smel s around the den.
The others had been so close, leaving a trail of their musk over the pine needles, rocks and limbs.
His anger flared that they stole his trophies – taking away his kil s. The carcasses were his. He hunted the feeble prey down until they could run no more. He granted them death.
To celebrate, he marked them as his, spreading his
secretions over them in an arousing display of his mastery.
He was the superior.
His head popped up, his hackles stiffened as he listened to the distant sound. She was on her balcony crying again.
Her tone carried through the woods to him like a mournful howl. His eyes narrowed, he knew the pack was waiting for her to come around. They would dominate her and make
her submit, but she was for him.
He was in the yard when she returned from being alone with the freak’s cousin. He would have torn the red head’s throat out on the spot if the moon was up. He could tel the boy found her attractive although he didn’t linger around. If he had – the fool would have ended up like the bitch he found in the woods.
The officer had no right entering his territory and opening her big mouth.
The wolf paced with his tale horizontal and ears back. He could smel the alpha pair as they mated. His tongue could taste the pheromones omitted during the act. He hated that it aroused him, but it did. He would service the old female if he could.
He thought of copulating with the whore at school. He didn’t care who she blamed. She was prey like anything else.
He hurried deeper into the woods, staying along the
perimeter of the town. He didn’t care to wait any longer for the rest of them to join in the hunt. His knew who to pursue this night.
TORIN
Torin felt miserable. Sitting on his bed, he peered around the smal carriage house he had been staying in after
graduating boarding school in Nova Scotia. None of the large room’s contents held his interest. He had been given a good life. His parents were wel off enough to provide him with whatever indulged his hobbies over the years. He had shelves of music, books, camera equipment, and his paints. None of it meant anything to him.
Furious with himself, his shoulders slumped and his head dropped into his hands. Why did he put her in that
situation?
When he decided to share his favorite place with her, the last thing he wanted to do was frighten her. Braden warned him that she wouldn’t be ready – that they needed more time together.
From the look of horror on her face, that was an
understatement.
Reaching over to his bedside stand, Torin grabbed his
ragged copy of Atlas Shrugged and pelted it across his room, splintering the plaster as it slammed against the wal .
He ruined everything.
How could his features have transformed while kissing her?
Was he so lost in her that his body revealed his needs?
The sensation of her touch and taste was al he could feel.
Seeing his inner monster – no wonder she wouldn’t stay.
Torin walked over to the indentation in the wal . As he trailed his fingers over the damage, he remembered seeing his father’s face change for the first time. He was six years old – unaware of the curse that set his family apart from others.
He had been sitting down by the water, playing with his plastic dinosaurs as Endel ion worked in her garden. A midsized black bear came scampering out of the forest
right at him. Usual y the animals avoided humans, but
adolescent males could get carried away with their
curiosity. He just stared in wonder as the massive beast began circling, not recognizing the imminent danger.
Endel ion let out a piercing scream as she ran towards him with her garden sheers swinging in her grip. Through his young eyes, he recognized her fear but not the cause. It was then that his father burst through the air, landing between him and the bear. Donovan’s eyes were no longer their twinkling blue. The
TORIN
iris had changed to bril iant white, contrasted aga
inst his dilated black pupils. Frightening him more were his father’s sharp teeth.
He used them to tear the predator’s throat open. His father didn’t resemble a man.
What did Lexie see when she looked at him? A monster?
Their shared dream entered his mind. After discovering Catherine Barry’s remains in the woods, he feared
whatever creature stalked the forest could be the source of Lexie’s danger.
It was me.
He was the reason she turned and screamed each time
they found each other. She could see what he was. He
didn’t want her to be scared of him, even if the rejection kil ed him.
He could head north. Maybe in time the magic they shared would fade and she wouldn’t dream of him. She would
never slip from his consciousness though – he wouldn’t want her to. He looked at the overstuffed duffle bag on his bed, packed with the bare necessities.
I don’t want to go.
He asked her to trust him. How could she if he didn’t trust himself, at least not completely. She was strong – the tragedy of the accident would have destroyed anyone else.
She had forgiven herself and wanted him to do the same.
As he listened to her, he began dreaming that he could believe in
himself with her by his side as their futures unfolded together.
She made him feel human and alive.
While remembering Lexie’s beautiful innocence as she
explained it was after the accident that he entered her dreams, something Endel ion said earlier clicked in his mind. His mother suggested they were both in need of one another. Was he looking at it wrong? Maybe the
powerlessness he experienced trying to save her in the dream was because she was rescuing him instead.
He bent over and picked up the heavy book that skidded under his bed. It had been a gift from his father. Donovan was a voracious reader and always passed down his
favorite novels.
Quoting Rand’s famous work from memory, he whispered:
“In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and the not at al , do not let the hero in your soul perish and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but never have been able to reach. The world you deserve can be
won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.”
He stood and placed the book on his stand before stuffing his duffle bag back into the closet. He wasn’t going
anywhere.
He wanted a life with her and would die protecting her if need be.
Lexie sat alone on her balcony al Saturday morning. It was the one place she could be outside of her home without her brothers chaperoning. She desired the solitude, the breeze and gentle rustling sounds of the animals. She needed to be in nature, around a world she understood and could live with.
Before dawn she was awake, using the stil ness of the
morning to settle her thoughts. Every moment with Torin replayed in her mind, from the night they met and shared their first kiss, to the day at the lake when he admitted he liked her.
How did those precious minutes with him fit in with what she had seen yesterday?
When she met him, she felt like she was final y home.
Deep within her, where her heart and spirit merged, she found a connection with him that she hadn’t ever
experienced. That was
why she believed dreaming of him was magical, that
something greater than themselves brought them together.
They were meant to be.
Now, she didn’t even know what he was. How could she
reconcile her feelings and not be afraid? His eyes – with their sweeping lashes and depth were so easy to get lost in, but they changed and she didn’t know who he was.
Never had she seen eyes that were completely white with just a black rim around the iris with liquid pupils. Equal y upsetting was how his complexion faded and his mouth
revealed the teeth of a predator.
His usual sweet smile was replaced with fangs. She didn’t believe it.
Al night she had tried to convince herself that it was trick lighting or a bad prank, but she couldn’t deny how he flew through the air, capturing her when she fel . People can’t move like that. Just like they can’t have a have rotten piece of building material impale their arm only to have it fuse together in seconds. But Torin did.
And then there were his cousins. They had to be like him.
She didn’t say anything to Teagan when he dropped her off in front of her house. She could tel he wanted to talk, but she hopped off the bike before he could. She saw Maxim waxing the Jeep and El a was shooting hoops with Nicolai, but she rushed
straight into the house without talking to any of them. She hadn’t left her room since.
Lexie studied the cel phone Torin gave her as it vibrated across the balcony’s old floorboards. She had forgotten he gave it to her until its ringtone startled her this morning. He had cal ed her three times but she didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure what to say . I’m okay, I just need time. I don’t know what I want. My heart wants you, but I am scared.
She picked up the phone and looked at the text he sent.
He wrote, “Please trust me.”
A tear slid down her cheek as she typed. “I don’t
understand. You said that there is such thing as magic – then why am I afraid?”
After she hit send, the phone rang back in reply. She
wanted to answer, but couldn’t talk to him yet. She needed more time.
She looked up as the gravel in the driveway grinded
together under the weight of Theo’s station wagon. Lexie was tempted to yel down to him that she wasn’t up for visiting, but couldn’t keep putting off her friends. She slipped down through the house and out the kitchen door just as he climbed from the driver’s seat.
Theo’s usual smile was missing, his olive toned skin was blotchy and his almond shaped eyes were red rimmed and puffy.
Had he been crying? He wrapped his arms around Lexie
and gave her a big hug.
“I’m sorry for just showing up like this,” he sniffled. “I just needed to talk to you.”
Lexie hugged him tighter. “What’s wrong Theo? You look like a wreck.”
He pul ed back and gave her a discerning look. “You are looking a little less than cheery yourself.” His face
brightened,
“Good thing I brought us lattes.” He reached into his car, producing a drink holder with two Styrofoam cups.
Once seated on the Adirondack styled chairs tucked in the corner of the yard, Theo declared what was bothering him.
“Have you heard what’s been going on around here? First, Cat Barry, the animal patrol officer has been missing since Thursday.” He nibbled on his nails in between sips of his hot drink. “Now, Courtney Parsons has disappeared.”
Lexie shifted in her seat. She hadn’t heard Officer Barry was missing, only family pets in the area. “When did that happen?”
“My dad is the county coroner – that is why we moved up here from Boston. I heard him talking to my mother about it.
Sheriff Timmons cal ed at three this morning, and my Dad left and didn’t get home until breakfast time.” Theo’s eyes were wide. “I heard him tel her that he couldn’t do much because
they didn’t locate Courtney’s body, there was just a huge blood smear leading from her bed to an open window.” He swal owed loudly. “But they found her foot – my Dad
bagged it.”
Nausea crept up from the center of Lexie’s bel y and
burned at the back of her throat. As much as she detested Courtney, she would never want to see her harmed in any way.
“Are they sure it’s hers?” her voice shook. “I mean, could someone else have been in the house or something?”
Theo shrugged his shoulders in confusion. “Sheriff
Timmons told Dad that her mo
m slept through the whole
thing.
She takes pil s and knew nothing about it until the cops roused her from bed. It was the neighbors that heard
screams. They cal ed the police.”
“What about her Dad?” Lexie couldn’t imagine what her
parents were feeling. Losing a child is supposed to be the worst possible grief experienced.
“He’s been sleeping at the Moose Tale for the last few months,” he said. “I kind of wish I at least tried to be tolerable of her.”
Lexie nodded. She didn’t realize Courtney’s family was so messed up. No wonder she was so demanding at school.
People like that wil look for negative attention when there isn’t enough positive supplied at home.
“But that’s not al .” Theo’s tears streamed down his cheeks as his face crumbled. “Last night Tomo kept jumping on my bed and licking my face. I got fed up because he would not let me sleep, so I put him out.” Theo kept trying to wipe off his tears with the back of his hand, but they flowed without ceasing.
“He didn’t come back. He never does that.”
Lexie wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulders.
She could feel his smal build shake with sadness. “Maybe he wil come back.” She hoped so anyway.
“The worst part is, I know who is responsible, but no one wil ever believe me.” His sadness was crushing.
Lexie wondered who Theo would suspect. Wouldn’t it be
the sick animals Officer Barry mentioned? Her mind
flashed Torin’s image with eyes glowing and teeth bared, but quickly dismissed it. She wasn’t sure what Torin was, but he would never hurt anyone. The realization sank
through her with powerful certainty. She believed in him.
Giving Theo a reassuring squeeze, she asked, “Who?”
As Theo gazed at her, he looked so young, his buoyancy missing. “It’s the aliens Lexie. They are taking our dogs so they can’t alert us to their presence.” As he tried to straighten himself in the chair, he used the back of his sleeve to dry his face. “It’s been on record for years that we have had actual abductions in this state park. It’s the only thing that can explain al of this.”
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