by Lee Morgan
As she squeezed the top of his hand he communicated back with humor. “I wasn’t playing with you. I remember what happened last week.” With his right hand he rubbed the back of his head where she hit him with a metal spoon when he wasn’t being nice. Her actions were justified.
“I’m glad that you have finally learned your lesson.” As his predatory hazel eyes turned to look directly at her she said “Good. Go find me some apples. They sound good right about now.” Right on cue, her stomach rumbled loudly.
Connor’s face softened as he laughed quietly through his nose. As he stood to his full height, Kara interrupted with annoyance in her tone. “Will you two quit that already! It gets a little annoying when the two of you do your telepathy thing and leave everyone guessing on what you said.” Sarah turned her head and Kara’s quicksilver eyes were staring right at her. “What are you up to?” Her silver eyes narrowed even more.
“He’s getting me some apples. Remember that I’m having certain cravings?” She said while crossing her left leg over the right.
Kara grinned provocatively and arched a delicate eyebrow. “If you would have had your cravings under control, you wouldn’t be having these new ones.”
Sarah felt her face instantly heat, but she had a bullet left in the chamber for just such a conversation. She arched an eyebrow of her own saying “My cravings are under more control than yours are apparently, little sister.”
Kara face went scarlet, but not from anger. She unintentionally glanced at Mark and just as quickly found her hands quite interesting. Mark started laughing as did Connor at Sarah’s instant jab. Mark said to Kara quietly “Don’t forget that I have cravings of my own as well, Sweetheart.”
Her eyes went wide as she looked back up at him. Her hands covered his mouth. She said in an astonished voice “Don’t say things like that with my brother in the room or you could be in serious danger.”
Connor walked up, holding a bowl of red apples. “Nah, I’m actually more worried for his well being. I grew up with you so I know how energetic you are.” He smiled then looked back in Sarah’s direction with mirth. His body looked menacing, but she knew the soft and pleasant side that those rugged muscles also held. He towered over her as he handed over the fruit bowl and sat down next at her side. He is tall and has more muscles on his massive frame than anyone she had ever met. Even through the black sleeves covering his arms she could tell that his biceps were far thicker than her thighs and as hard as steel. As he sat up straight in his chair she saw his overdeveloped chest rise and fall with each deep breath. Each of his leg muscles were almost as thick as her petite torso. And his calves Sarah shook her head to keep those thoughts at bay. She instinctively felt drawn to him as she took a loud bite out of an apple and felt her shoulder brush against his left arm. The silver armlet that wrapped around his upper arm is easily felt, even under his sleeves. Suddenly the weight of the anklet hanging on her left foot seemingly increased.
Connor made her not only this perfect cottage, but also handcrafted both pairs of the exquisite pieces of jewelry. When he revealed his painfully acquired tattoo that had been branded on his chest, and she found it perfect, he went off for a month and did all this. His flat armlet holds a pentagram that is the symbol for the five elements; Fire, Liquid, Terra, Pressure and Metal. He unintentionally made the banner of the Balancers, but he added his own little spin to it. For each element he made a corresponding representation inside the pentagram. He made a flame for Fire, a tear drop for Liquid, a perfect circle for Pressure, two snowcapped mountains for Terra and finally the symbol of iron for Metal. And the circular and smooth anklet he designed for her had crossing, eternally linked black lines which represented the black X that had been seared into his sternum. Each tattoo line on his body started at each shoulder, then the lines intersected in the exact center of his sternum and finally ended at the base of his ribcage.
She then noticed Connor watching her intently. He smiled her favorite smile which always sends her hear racing and scattering her train of thought. “Do you like what you see, Princess?” He said almost seductively which made her heart race yet another marathon. She has always hated endearments people give, except when it comes from her mate’s lips.
They are enchanting and gives her hopes for her recently awakened sexuality.
She finally swallowed the bite of apple and chirped “Always have and always will!”
He wrapped his massive arm around her lower back with a playful smile. Heat from his flesh passed through layers of cloth and raised bumps where he touched. Suddenly he grabbed her bottom and effortlessly sat her on top of his left thigh. His masculine smell began assaulting her senses and it made her heart begin to pond behind her ears. Straddling his leg, she tried to get comfortable until he flexed his thigh muscles. That erotic sensation beneath her vee sent her body in an intimate and unexpected direction. Before losing control of herself, she entered his mind quickly before something bad happened and she would be unable to stop herself. “Connor, don’t flex your leg. I’m barely holding myself back from jumping you right now.”
His leg stopped moving as he understood her dilemma, but failed to hide his satisfaction. “Sorry about that. What about later?”
Sarah finally felt a more comfortable seating arrangement on his leg. She turned only her head to look at him with one eye. She arched an eyebrow saying “Then you can flex all you want!” She felt him shaking as he tried to not laugh.
Kara cleared her throat. She spoke as soon as Sarah’s eyes turned back in her direction. “You’re doing it again! Are you two going to come back to our world anytime soon?”
She cleared her out throat and cloudy mind. “Sorry about that.” Sarah took another audible bite of the apple.
“What’s on your mind, Kara?” Connor asked calmly from behind. When he spoke Sarah could also feel his vocal vibrations reverberating in his chest.
She took her feet off the table and sat forward. With her elbows on her knees Kara asked “I know you’re going to meet the Mélange to find out what makes the two of you so very unique. I was wondering if we could go with you?”
Sarah’s mouth spoke before her mind could stop itself. “I’m not so sure that would be a good idea.”
Mark remained as quiet, emotionless and still as a marble statue. He had his silver eyes plastered only on his young mate. Kara’s head tilted in confusion. “Why not?”
“I have never heard of Changers and Balancers traveling anywhere together, let alone going to the meeting. Our kinds are only able tolerate each other, and even that is pushing it.” Sarah said with a painful sigh and then took another bite of the apple. Kara’s eyes suddenly shifted. Sarah turned her head to see what she started looking at. She recognized Connor gazing upon the ceiling, but his eyes weren’t focused. Sarah knew that her mate was processing this new information. He then looked down at Sarah and smiled a smile that said he figured the problem out. Through their bond she could sense he found peace. She just had to ask after swallowing the chewed apple. “What did you piece together?”
He placed a hand to her lower back gently. “What if we’re not really Balancers?”
Sarah became stunned speechless at the audacity of that comment, but Mark wasn’t. Mark’s statue melted after Connor’s words sunk in. He leaned forward and spoke with intrigue. “Care to explain what you mean, Buddy?”
Sarah looked back at his achingly handsome grin as he spoke. “Technically, Sarah was a Balancer at one time, until I became her mate.” Her emerald eyes went wide. “The two of us are apparently unprecedented to everyone’s knowledge because of all of the special attributes that we share. Even with immortals who have centuries of experiences cannot seem to classify us.” Connor grabbed Sarah’s hips and pulled her higher on his thigh and shifted his bottom to better look at his silver eyed best friend. “What if we aren’t technically Balancers anymore? What if we are actually something else altogether?”
Mark smiled in intrigue as he clasped his han
ds together. “Where did you come up with this intriguing idea?”
Conversationally Sarah’s mate said “When I was human, I came to grips that Sarah was an honest to goodness Balancer who would live forever so long as an accident doesn’t happen.” He wrapped an arm around her belly carefully and her stomach held in thousands of butterflies. They just kept fluttering. “The moment we became one, somewhere deep inside me knew that we were no longer your everyday Balancer.” Connor smiled at his love for a moment and went on. “Since we haven’t a clue as to what we are that means…”
Mark finished his sentence. “That you are neutral territory and we can travel together.” He turned his smile to his silver eyed mate and sounded even more excited. “Until we know exactly what your brother is, we can do whatever we want together and not have to worry about what our kind might think of us! We’ll be exempt from many attacks because of an unknown being.”
Kara looked at him and cautiously asked “Why would you care what the others think?”
Connor answered for Mark. “Because your kind runs more on primal instinct than we do. When an animal, especially a predator, senses weakness within their group the others will remove the weaker ones from the collective. Survival of the fittest. If the two of you are seen with us, it could be seen as a sign of weakness. Changer’s are truly the Apex of all predators.”
Kara only picked out a small portion of his explanation. “We run more on our instincts?”
“Yes. I have noticed that your fighting style has changed and became more slash and charge rather than stand in one place and hold your ground. That is your fight and flight instinct. When both you and Mark transform into your other shape, certain patterns started revealing themselves in your movements.” Connor’s explanation made Kara’s eyes more confused than ever, so he simplified matters. “When you attack, you charge at your opponent and make them lose their balance. Then you strike with your claws or teeth. Your sense of smell is unparalleled. You’re also using your advanced weight and intimidation to your advantage. When you turn into a Fwen, you dive bomb your enemy and disorient them to collide with the ground before they knew what hit them.” Connor’s voice softened. “Kara, your species relies on your natural instincts to win a fight. You’re now a predator and if you are, so too are other Changers and some are very old and probably rely on their instincts only.”
Mark gently touched her leg. “Sweetheart, what he says is all completely true. Some of us lose our humanity all together and to save lives they had to be put down. Some have a hard time balancing rational thought with instinct. At one time, in my younger days as a new Changer, I saw other Changers kill another of our species because he was in a fight with a Balancer and lost a leg. He didn’t have time to regenerate the limb and the others saw him as weak because a single Balancer won the fight. To our brethren, that cannot be allowed so they eliminated him before we would be considered weak. If we are challenged we will fight to the death, there is no other way as some of them see it. We are different because we embrace our human and animal aspects without sacrificing ourselves. And that might be seen as a weakness if we are caught associating with Balancers.”
Kara smiled vanished and suddenly her pupils began to glow. Her nails on both of her hands beginning to grow, lengthen, curl and sharpen at the tips. Her fingernails became lethal and dangerous claws. Her silver eyes seemed to darken and in a menacing voice she said “Let them come and see how Weak I really am!”
Connor, Mark and Sarah started chuckling. Kara’s features softened as Mark grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. Mark said in a light tone “With an intent that dangerous and menacing, the other Changers will quake in their fur.”
Kara’s eyes began glowing when she finally smiled in a feral, satisfied manner. As soon as she reabsorbed her claws back into her body she asked “Brother, when are we going to head out?”
Sarah finished another apple while Connor looked at the roof and formulated a series of plans. She glanced into his mind as he started formulating what needed to be done. She watched him disregard certain thoughts because they were worthless. Some thoughts he liked and stored them off to the side. When he had enough plans figured, he collected the ones he stored to the side and rearranged them in the best order possible. He thought through every angle and every strategy at his disposal, creating an intricate web of ideas with few ways to fail. The speed at which the information was utilized was nearly too fast to follow. She felt so proud to know she didn’t permanently bond to a blockhead of a mate and just go for his looks.
When his penetrating hazel eyes returned to the group he started off his mental itinerary. Even the guests were surprised at all they heard. “There will need to be a lot to do before we can just leave.” He took a deep breath into his massive chest and focused his sights on Mark. “Firstly, we need to call our customers and tell them that we will be gone for awhile and we’ll advise them upon our return. We will need to store up our energy and nutrient levels before we leave. Next we need to go shopping and buy new things because it will be a long journey to our destination. We will need supplies, food, clothing, and other essentials that will be required. We will need to let our family, friends and coworkers know that we’ll be gone for at least six months. Also we will need to make sure our homes are secure for our little excursion.” Connor turned his piercing eyes on Sarah. “Will we need a passport to enter into the Canadian territory?”
She scratched her throat as she looked up herself to process his question. “No, because they will only slow us down. The path is in a direction that has very little population. Plus we can disappear faster than any officer can see us.”
Mark laughed. “I remember the last meeting we had a meeting, where I snuck up on some hunters during the winter and went ‘BOO! I’m the big bad wolf.’”
Kara asked in a lighthearted tone “Were you really in your wolf form?” He nodded and they all laughed and imagined just what happened. It would be rude to delve into a person’s memories without permission.
An hour later Sarah finished the bowl of apples as Kara stood and put the keys in her pocket. “It’s too late to get started on preparing tonight. What time would you like for us to meet up, Brother?”
“We’ll meet you at Mom’s around eight and we’ll go from there.”
She nodded and walked across the floor to slip on her boots. Mark followed her lead. When they zipped up their jacket she hugged both her big brother and Sarah. Mark and Connor balled up their fists and punched them together and Mark hugged her gently. As they left the cottage and headed back to their apartment, Connor shut and locked the door.
He turned and had a twinkle in his hazel eyes. Sarah knew what those eyes meant. He said in a seductive, husky voice that shook her very core “Ready for me to Flex?”
In her mind she said teasingly ‘oh no!’ His smile only widened.
Sarah giggled as Connor chased her into the bedroom and they flexed until finally calling it quits and needing to get some sleep.
Pack and Disembark
Sarah started in bed after hearing a strange sound. She looked out the window of their bedroom and saw that it remained dark outside. Warmth from winter was tempered as she remained cuddled up next to her mate as she tried to find the source of the disturbance. Then she heard it again and tilted her head up to peer at Connor’s shadowy face. His solid chest had long ago became a comfortable pillow and it proved difficult to leave the warm comfort of his flesh. She gently lifted her left leg off of his and rolled onto her stomach, to get a better look at him.
He was whispering something so quietly it became impossible to understand. His brow creased and seemed almost pained, but it looked as if he were strategizing again. He wasn’t moving or struggling with his body, but Sarah knew that he wasn’t dreaming for his bond revealed that he remained alert, but not to the outside world. His eyes were moving quickly under his eyelids and his lips were moving just as fast. In response to this development she closed her eyes and pus
hed with her mind as gently as possible so as to not to disturb whatever he was doing. Without him blocking, she easily entered his mind to see what he was doing inside his head. Sarah kept her eyes closed because she wanted to visualize what he was thinking about.
The moment her mind entered his, she gasped at what laid before her. A vast stone arena lay as far as the eye could see and had the distinctive feel it’s design of a huge square. Centered in it were two warriors who stood facing each other. One of them Sarah could recognize anywhere, but the other was just a dark figure that looked to be about the same build as his opponent. The two suddenly closed the distance and began to fight. When Sarah was able to get a closer look she bit her bottom lip painfully to stifle a worried cry in both the mind and real world. It was Connor, fighting for his life against an unknown and equally ferocious opponent. The two of them were moving too fast to be possible, but it didn’t feel wrong in the least. They were moving so swiftly that their movements were actually blurring together. Each blow that they landed on the other did major damage and blood spilled and sprayed droplets all over the white arena. Then the mysterious fighter got a hold of Connor’s left arm and ripped the limb right out of the shoulder. Then as the dark figure dropped the bloody trophy on the ground, Connor leapt and caught the dark figure’s head between his enormous legs. As the two of them tumbled to the ground Sarah saw her mate rotate his body in the air. With a sickening Snap Connor broke the opponent’s neck. As Connor manage to stand over his shadowed opponent Sarah finally saw who it was. His opponent was none other than himself. Sarah looked back up at the winner and saw Connor’s severed arm had completely recovered like nothing ever happened. It seemed so vivid and real that this world was nothing but imagined. The arena suddenly disappeared, leaving only the two of them staring at each other. When she opened her real eyes and focused back up into his, he was looking back at Sarah without expression.