by Marian Tee
I nodded. “Stefano’s comics. They’re about superheroes.” Sometimes, Stefano let me read them, when I wasn’t being “stubborn”, whatever that meant.
“I want you to read them, too.”
“Why?”
“Because their stories are just like yours.”
My eyes widened at Papa’s answer. “They are?” I glanced down at the comics he gave me, which were new and still covered in plastic. I realized then these weren’t actually Stefano’s. Papa had really bought them for me.
Thinking about his words, I asked slowly, “Are they also adopted?” Was that what he meant?
“Well, some of them are, but that’s not the point. You see, cub, they are all ‘different’ like you. Unique. They had…powers…abilities…that no one could understand. Even they didn’t understand their own powers at the start. So when people saw them using their powers—”
“The people told them to stop.” I remembered the boy’s mother screaming at me. She had told me to stop. She had called me a monster. “They thought I would…” I shook my head, confused. “They thought the superheroes might hurt them.”
“But they were wrong.” Papa’s voice was vehement. “The superheroes you read about in these comics…they don’t care what those other people say. All they want is to make the world a better place, and they sometimes need to use their powers to do that.” My father paused. Then he looked at me and said in a serious voice, “You are like them, Calys. You make the world a safer, happier, and better place for everyone. But your powers are very strong, too. So before you can help others, you need to learn how to control your powers. You need to do everything you can first without…” Papa stressed the last word. “—your powers.”
“Why can’t I just help them with my powers?”
“Because people are terrified of them. You can’t help other people if they’re terrified of you.”
I shook my head. “Even if I don’t use my powers, Papa, they are already scared of me.” I remembered how Papa’s guests had looked at me when they realized the boy had gone missing. They were all scared of me.
It took a long time for Papa to answer. “They just don’t understand you, Calys. That’s all. But you cannot let it stop you from helping others, and you cannot let what they think of you make you believe you are doing something wrong.”
“I’ll try, Papa.” I said the words because I knew it was what my father wanted to hear. But warriors didn’t lie. And so I added sadly, “But Papa, I’m worried. What if they will always be afraid of me?”
“Not everyone will be afraid of you, cub. And you know why? Because there are other people like you.”
“Like me?”
“Yes. Other kids who are also like superheroes. And they will be your friends – your best friends. They will never be afraid of you. Ever.”
Someone who wasn’t afraid of me…
Only Papa, my sister, and Stefano weren’t afraid of me. But they were different. They were family. But if I found another superhero, then I would finally have my first friend. Someone who would not be afraid of me…even during the times when I was afraid of myself.
****
Stefano was the first one to describe my incidents as “dark fits”. He was twelve when he invented the term, and back then he was very much into Stephen King. He said one of the author’s characters had a darker half who did bad things. Mine did bad things, too, but to bad people.
As time went by, I became more aware of what was happening when I had one of my dark fits. But awareness was all I could achieve, and even now, controlling what I did during my dark fits was beyond me.
“Stop.”
The word was spoken in a coolly commanding voice. It was the first time my darker half had heard a voice addressing her without fear. She looked at the person who spoke the word and was instantly besieged by emotions, so many of them, and none of them she had ever experienced.
Concern. Courage. And, strangely, anger…but not directed at her. It was, rather, for her.
All the emotions lent power to that one word, Stop.
And so my darker half stopped. In the middle of breaking the arm of one of the hyenas, she stopped by throwing him against the wall. He groaned as he fell to the floor. She ignored the sound, turning slowly instead towards the man who had dared to tell her to stop.
The Masked Wolf walked past my darker half, and she watched his every move. I sensed her amazement as he resumed the fight, not breaking a sweat as he methodically demolished those who stood against him.
Strange. Strong. Beautiful. Those were her last thoughts as she faded back into me.
She slept.
I woke.
And knew that I had found him.
My superhero.
Chapter Four
The first thing I became aware of was the bodies. Most of the hyenas had been knocked down to the ground. I could vaguely recall my darker half beating the hell out of them. The rest was his.
Crap, oh crap. It had been a long time since I lost control of myself. But…
It’s not my fault, I thought defensively. Butcher had shown me his…thing. It was a traumatic sight. Of course I’d freak out. And of course my darker half would freak out, too. She might act like a psycho most times, but she was an innocent psycho.
“I told you not to help him.” The Masked Wolf came to stand in front of me as he spoke.
I studiously avoided his gaze as I said, “I had to help him. My honor was at stake.”
“It was more like your virginity was at stake, you stubborn little hellcat.”
It wasn’t the cool fury in his voice that made me flinch. It was his last word. I wasn’t his little kitty anymore. Now, after what he had seen, I was…
“You idiot.”
My head jerked up, and my eyes clashed with his. First I was a kitty. Then I was a creature from hell. And now I was an idiot? He was no superhero right now. If anything, he was a super jerk.
Another second passed, and it hit me.
I paled.
Seeing it, he smirked. And then he said very succinctly, “You idiot.”
He was not scared of me.
No one who was scared of my darker half would have had the courage to call me a hellcat and an idiot.
I blinked several times, wondering if after a few more blinks, he’d disappear. But he did not. Instead, he remained in front of me, tall, strong, and, like my darker half noticed, beautiful.
“You’re not scared of me?” I blurted out. I had to ask. I had to know. I had to be sure.
“While you did look, for a moment, like some damn extra for a Paranormal Activity movie, I hate to disappoint you, little kitty, but no. You did not scare me.” His face hardened. “But you damn well made me angry.”
In a second, he had hauled me to his arms, his mouth crushing mine in a rough kiss. I gasped against his lips, but that only seemed to inflame him more, making him pull me closer to him. This close, I could feel his heart beating madly. It took me a moment to understand that it wasn’t because he was mad. It was because he had been scared. For me.
Me. The Human Monster.
The thought was liberating, humbling, and electrifying. With a little moan of surrender, I gave myself up to his kiss, my arms going around his neck. I felt his body become taut just a moment before he released a low growl that had my toes curling.
His kiss became deeper, and his hands were suddenly everywhere, caressing my sides before they returned to my breasts. He groaned the moment he cupped my breasts, groaned with such longing it was as if he badly missed touching them.
Without breaking our kiss, he hauled me up, and my legs automatically went around his waist. He started walking and when my back hit the wall, he kept me up with just one arm while he used his other hand to take hold of my tank top—
Riiiiiip.
I let out a little gasp, unable to believe that he had ripped my tank top into two. But then his mouth was back on my breast, his lips closing over my nipple.
He sucked and sucked, with seemingly no intentions of stopping. He sucked my nipple so hard that I couldn’t stop my body from bucking against his, couldn’t stop myself from releasing these embarrassingly sensual moans every few moments.
When he let go of my breast, I couldn’t help but moan in protest.
He chuckled in response, but it was a pained sound.
I turned red, realizing how wanton I was being with him.
“You want me.” God, how his voice vibrated with sheer male satisfaction. It should have made me mad, but it just made me want to curl up and rub against him like a stupid little kitty seeking affection.
“Don’t you, little kitty?”
The words were whispered into my ear, and my body bucked against him again.
My telling reaction won a smile, and his voice was just as silky as he murmured, “And I want you as much.” He slowly slid me to my feet. Before I could figure out why, he had captured my hand and brought it to his cock.
I gasped, but my fingers instinctively tightened around the silken rod at the same time. It twitched in my hold, making me gasp again as my stunned gaze flew to him.
“That’s my cock, little kitty. Do you feel how much it wants you?”
“I…” I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was look at him, helpless with desire and excitement. It seemed to be enough because with a groan, he was kissing me again even as his hand covered mine, teaching me how to pleasure him.
“Suck my tongue,” he commanded huskily.
With a shudder, I did what he asked, and the pleasure of submitting to his command was nearly as great as the feel of sucking on his tongue and hearing him groan because of it. As I sucked his tongue, my hand didn’t stop moving, familiarizing itself with the rhythm and speed that his cock responded to the most.
“Fuck, you’re hot.” The words seemed to have been torn out of him. He took command of the kiss once more, and I gladly surrendered to his control. Passion had completely taken over me. All I wanted now was to do what he wanted. His fingers gripped my hips just before he hauled me closer so he could grind his cock against my belly. He began dry humping me, and I could have cried at how good it felt. Every thrust, rub, every moment of friction created by his cock coming into contact with my belly had me shuddering and writhing.
“Tell me your name.” His fingers dug hard into my buttocks just before he ground his erection against me, harder than ever.
I gasped, “Calys.” I looked up at him with dazed eyes. I couldn’t believe, after everything that happened, we were only exchanging names now. “A-and you?”
He said roughly, “Why don’t you find out for yourself?”
Another moment passed before I realized what he meant. My heart sped up at what he was offering, and my fingers shook as I reached for the strings that held his mask in place.
He squeezed my breast, hard enough for pain to become pleasure, making me whimper. “Go on, beautiful Calys. Find out who I am.”
With a little tug, the mask dropped to the floor.
I whitened. “You.”
He raised a brow, as if not knowing how to take my shock. “Me.”
Alejandro Moretti.
I couldn’t believe my superhero was none other than Alejandro Moretti. On one hand, he was everything I expected from one of the famous Moretti twins. Or rather, make that infamous.
With his mask removed, he made an even more alluring figure. Cute guys had never been able to turn my head, but Alejandro Moretti wasn’t cute. He was beautiful. Lethally so. Everything about his face was perfection. I wished I could say he was so pretty he looked like a girl, but he didn’t. He was all male, his face a picture of both strength and beauty.
No wonder I found him irresistible. Panthers in my pack talked about him a lot, not because he was the savior of shifter kind but often because he was bedding his way to becoming the most sexually prolific shifter in history.
The thought made my stomach turn even as I told myself I shouldn’t care about his past – or even his present.
“You are disappointed to find out I am who I am, aren’t you?”
His tone was bland, but even so, I couldn’t make myself admit the truth. It just wasn’t in my nature to say something that I knew could hurt another person, even if it was just his pride.
So I shook my head.
He said dryly, “You’re a bad liar.”
“No. I’m not.” But I couldn’t meet his eyes. In my mind, I could so easily imagine him surrounded by so many women.
Only a shifter living under a rock wouldn’t know that his pack’s name had been dragged through the mud. And he didn’t seem to give a crap about it. At least his twin cared enough to get into fights over it. But Alejandro? Every time I heard news about him, it was always in connection with some other woman.
But…there had to be a reason for his actions. Even superheroes made mistakes at the start, right? All of them had started flawed, but they eventually got their act together.
Looking at him, I said slowly, “I know what you’ve been through.”
A smile that didn’t reach his eyes started to play on his lips. “Do you?”
“Yes.”
He cupped my face.
Oh, crap. I had a feeling he was going to do something to shut me up. I said in a rush, “I know it’s unfair, what’s happening to your pack. I won’t pretend to understand—” I ended up gasping the last word out as Alejandro bent down to kiss the corner of my lip. Craaaap. Such a simple kiss, and yet my body was on fire.
Concentrate, Calys, concentrate!
“Go on,” Alejandro murmured before nibbling on my lip.
I shuddered. God of superheroes, save me. Lend me the strength to remind him of his purpose.
“You must remember that we all have our own trials to face, and we can’t blame fate for it…” As Alejandro started nuzzling my neck, I couldn’t help leaning to one side to give him better access. “All we can do is face our problems and find the courage to overcoooooome…” Oh my God, he was sucking on my neck and it couldn’t feel any better.
“So, I just want to tell…you…” I gasped as his hands reclaimed my breasts and my eyes squeezed shut in utter pleasure as he started pinching my nipples between his fingers.
“Tell me what?” He pinched my nipples harder. His nostrils flared as if the scent of my arousal was an aphrodisiac in itself.
Even as my body swayed towards him, a silent plea for Alejandro to continue pinching my nipples, I tried valiantly to reclaim my thoughts. “I wanna tell you that…you are no ordinary…Lyccan.”
Boy oh boy, but he wasn’t, not when he was so masterfully good at making my body melt. Those wonderful fingers of his were pulling on my nipples now, plucking and plucking them like a flower with an endless stream of petals.
I found myself gripping his shoulders. Hard. I had to. My knees had practically given out at his relentless attack on my senses. A whimper escaped me as Alejandro lowered his head. Oh, no. He couldn’t—
He did. His mouth replaced his fingers, his lips closing over my nipple like a favorite candy meant to be savored. It felt so good, but I couldn’t let myself be swept away by it. If I didn’t speak my piece now, I must forever hold my peace.
When I felt his teeth actually scraping against my nipple, I knew I was this close to losing my mind. The words tumbled out. “You can restore your family’s name. You’re not Alejandro Moretti for nothing. But you have to remember…aaaaah…”
He bit my nipple.
I gasped, “You have to remember that with great power comes—”
Alejandro stopped biting my nipple. He raised his head and asked, “Did you just quote Spiderman to me?”
Voices coming from another approaching group of shifters saved me from the embarrassment of replying. Before I could figure out what was happening, Alejandro had swiped my costume from the floor and got me into it. And then we were speeding away.
When he finally stopped, the world spun around me. Altho
ugh the shifters in my family could be as fast, I didn’t really make a habit of letting them sweep me into their arms and using them as mobile cars. When the world stopped moving, I realized he had brought me to my dressing room.
My eyes flew to him in surprise.
“I traced your scent back to this place,” he said simply. Looking at me with a hooded gaze, he said, “I’ll be your Cavaliere.”
That stunned me even more. “Y-you will?” He couldn’t even be bothered to defend his own pack’s reputation, but he was willing to give me his allegiance? It didn’t make sense, and I found myself blurting out, “Don’t you care that I’m…”
He raised a brow. “That you’re what?”
“That I’m…” That I’m a human monster, I wanted to say but couldn’t.
Understanding dawned in his gaze. “Do you mean when you transitioned from kitty to hellcat?”
I choked. Never had I imagined my abilities described in such a way.
“Am I right then?”
I nodded.
“If you want me to be honest…I find it a fucking turn on.”
My eyes widened.
He shrugged. “I told you, little kitty. You’re the kind of girl after my cock. You intrigue me.”
“A-and that’s it?” I asked incredulously even as I did my best not to blush at his words. How easy it was for him to say such things. “You’ll be my Cavaliere because of that—”
He said coolly, “I will not be for free, little kitty.”
Oh. He wanted money. I told myself I wasn’t disappointed. “You want payment.” I hadn’t heard any rumors about the Morettis being poor, but maybe he had been disinherited recently for his wrongdoings.
“Yes. I want payment. Every time I help you, I get to do whatever I want with your body.”
My jaw dropped. I waited for him to say it was a joke, but when he only continued to stare at me with those hooded green eyes, I shook my head in bemusement and whispered disbelievingly, “You’re crazy.” And good at turning me on. God, he was good! His words alone had desire rising inside me once more, but I fought hard against it.