Authors: Nicole Grane
“How would you like me to stand then?” He tilted his body a little, as if to pose.
“P…put some clothes on!” I turned my back to him. It didn’t help. The image of Damen naked, water dripping down his god-like body was forever burned into my mind.
“You act like you’ve never seen me naked before?” His words blew across the back of my neck. I cringed. He was right behind me.
“I’ve never . . .” I couldn’t even finish the thought. He had me completely flustered.
“I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable. I usually return home before I transform back into my human form.”
“What does that have to do with you being naked?” My voice was unusually high.
I could hear him smiling. “Phoebe, our clothes are pretty much destroyed when we transform.”
I thought about that for a minute—it made sense. “Oh.”
He laughed. “Are you going to keep your back to me for the rest of our conversation, or should I change into a wolf to ease your comfort?”
“No!” I spun around, my eyes involuntarily wandering. Every inch of his body was solid muscle, and was dangerously close to mine. “Not because I want to see you . . . uhh . . .” I couldn’t think; his eyes were dazzling.
“Naked?” he finished my thought.
“Yes.”
“You want me . . .” he breathed seductively into the side of my neck. I hadn’t even seen him move toward me. His scent was overwhelming, drawing me in.
“Yes. I mean no! No. I
do not
want you.” I stared at his lips, so close they were nearly touching mine.
His fingers ran down the side of my face, flustering me further. “It couldn’t be because you’re afraid of me, in my other form?” The corners of his mouth turned up.
I shifted uneasily.
“That’s it, isn’t it? You’re afraid of me as a wolf.”
I stood straighter, lifting my chin defiantly. I was not about to let him have the upper hand. “I’ve never seen you naked before,” I announced firmly, completely behind in the conversation.
Damen laughed heartedly. “You’ve seen me naked many times; you just don’t remember.”
“That was
not
me,” I clarified sharply. “I’m sure I would have remembered . . .
that
!”
“A technicality,” he grinned. “Let me ease your comfort.” He moved closer, our bodies were nearly touching.
“How is this easing my comfort?” I swallowed loudly. “You’re still . . . naked.”
“Yes, but it’s harder to see when I’m this close to you, and so much easier for me to finish where I’d left off—” Said the
Big Bad Wolf
. All humor was gone. “There is no other way, Phoebe. I’m sorry. One day you will see that I was right.” Damen’s voice was softer than before. A heavy look hung in his eyes. I knew he was torn by his love for me, and his duty. I couldn’t let him turn me. Not before I had a chance to warn Marcus.
I knew what Damen wanted from me, and I hated myself for giving in. Out of fear and sheer desperation, I lunged at him, wrapping my arms around his neck; I pulled him to me, meshing my body against his. I kissed him with as much passion as I could muster.
It took only a moment for his mouth to catch up. His hands gripped my waist, holding my body against him. His lips were soft, and despite the fact that we’d been in a freezing cold pond, his body was flushed with passion. He wanted me as much as ever.
I released him minutes later, breathless. We stared at one another. All time seemed to stop. Only the wind rustling the leaves in the trees overhead reminded us that the world was still spinning. And then another memory of Phoebe’s came to me—I’d kissed Damen like this before.
His chest heaved in and out as he panted. His eyes pinning me with their wild stare made his desire all the more clear. “My love for you hasn’t changed,” he said in a husky voice. “After all this time . . . you must know that.”
I stood there, incredulous. There were no words.
“You have to leave here Phoebe. I won’t be able to protect you.” He wiped the tears off my face, no doubt believing they were for him. Truthfully, some of them were. I felt like such a traitor. I’d betrayed Marcus, and now—Damen’s heart.
“Phoebe, if they find you, they will kill you. Your child can’t live,” he spoke earnestly. “You can’t ask me again to spare its life; we’re even now.” His words were chilling, and without question, I understood their meaning. He hadn’t spared Phoebe’s baby—but he had spared mine—a favor that would not be repeated.
“Thank you.” I threw my arms around him, hugging him.
I felt his arms around me once again, holding me close to him. He breathed in deeply, finding the strength to pull away from me. “Go!”
I stared at him, burning his face into my memory. I couldn’t move. I felt an overwhelming sadness as I looked into his eyes. He was letting me go . . . he loved me that much. This was not the Damen I knew, the Damen I feared. This was the Damen that
Phoebe
trusted once upon a time . . . the friend she’d loved—and yes, she had loved him. I was sure of that.
I reached out and held his cheek in my hand. I was afraid to leave him. Afraid of what might happen to him.
“It’s alright Phoebe, go . . .” He looked behind him. His face was suddenly panicked. A loud howling echoed not far away. “Quickly!” He urged once again. He jumped back from me. “Phoebe run!” His body exploded into a huge, growling beast.
I was too afraid to scream.
His yellow eyes gave me one last fleeting look before he turned and headed off in the direction of his pack.
I couldn’t move fast enough as I ran back through the trees. I was soaked to the bone, my body ached from being knocked off my horse, and the pain in my shoulder was unbearable. I reached up to hold it, the wet blood on my fingers, made my stomach convulse. I couldn’t let myself think about that now. I had to find Marcus.
I kept seeing Damen’s eyes in my mind. How terrified they looked all of a sudden. The realization of what had nearly happened was sinking in—Damen was going to turn me completely. I held my stomach as I ran. We weren’t safe here any longer—I’d have to leave.
I felt like I would never get out of the forest. The path kept stretching out further and further in front of me, and then I could hear my name being screamed—It sounded so far away.
I pushed myself to run faster. I could see Marcus running toward me now. His face looked as terrified as I felt. I staggered into his arms and collapsed, exhausted.
“Phoebe!” He pulled my limp body close to his.
“We have to get out of here!” I winced, trying to pull myself back up. I held onto his shoulders, staining his shirt with my bloodied hand.
“You’re bleeding!” Marcus hissed.
A loud howling pierced the forest.
“Werewolves!” I cried. “They’re coming!”
Marcus scooped me up in his arms and jumped into the trees like a cat. We traveled to the safety of his castle under a canopy of leaves.
Marcus didn’t bother with discretion, such as walking me through the front doors like any other normal person would have. He tried to keep to the trees as much as possible, but when it came right down to it, his worry for me outweighed his need to remain cautious. He flew right out in the open and through my balcony doors—luckily they were still open.
He sat me down as gently as he could, then grabbed a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around me, careful not to let it touch my wounded shoulder. I was convulsing uncontrollably. A look of sheer murder hung in his eyes
“D-Damen c-chased me o-out of the s-stables,” I stuttered involuntarily. “Only I d-didn’t k-know it was him. He was a w-wolf!” I blurted.
“Damen did this to you?” Marcus snarled, exploding with rage. “He can’t have gone far!”
“Y-you can’t leave me!” I lunged for him, grabbing his hand with the last ounce of strength I had left. “Please Marcus! I’m b-begging you!”
I could see the anger consuming him. His black eyes seethed with fury. “Phoebe. This ends now.”
“He let me go!” I insisted. The tremors had subsided a little. “H-he could have k-killed me, but he let me come back to you.”
“Not before he ripped you to shreds!” Marcus hissed.
“Rain! Where’s Rain?” My god, I’d forgotten about him.
“He’s fine. He came back on his own.” Marcus pulled the blanket back around me. His desire to chase after Damen was abandoned for the moment. “I shouldn’t have left you alone so long.” His eyes were full of regret.
I shook my head. “It’s not your fault. I don’t expect you to watch over me all the time.” The look on Marcus's face suggested that that was exactly what he should be doing.
“I need to take care of that,” he motioned to my shoulder, his eyes noting my hesitation. “I’ll be right back. I promise. I’m just going into the bathroom.”
Hoping I’d have the strength to jump up and grab him if he made the slightest move toward the door, I released him.
He went into the bathroom and returned promptly with a first aid kit. I braced myself. He tore the back of my shirt away, exposing the full horror of Damen’s claws—he gasped.
I tried hard to ignore the pain. My skin felt as though it had been literally shredded. “Can it be stitched?” Somehow I knew that a simple bandage wasn’t going to cut it.
“There is nothing to stitch it to,” he replied softly.
I cried quietly into my blankets while Marcus diligently began cleaning my wounds. I was biting my lip, trying to keep up a brave front so Marcus wouldn’t fly out the door after Damen. My brave front collapsed when he applied the antiseptic—I screamed out in agony as I grabbed onto the sheets, trying to channel the pain from my body.
Marcus made all sorts of anguished noises. I knew it killed him to see me like this. He secured the wrapping then crouched down beside the bed. His hand gently smoothed the hair off my damp forehead—I was sweating profusely.
“I wish I could take the pain for you.” I knew he meant it. His eyes looked long into mine. “I swear to you: there is no place in this world he can hide. I
will
find him.”
I swallowed loudly. I didn’t doubt Marcus would track Damen to the ends of the earth to pay back the favor.
“Why
did
he let you return?” he asked a moment later, as if the question had just occurring to him.
I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to remember all that Damen had said. I explained to Marcus how Damen wanted me to go back home, that I wasn’t safe here with either of them. How the werewolves would be here in a day’s time working their way across England, and then through Europe . . . eliminating all vampires along the way.
Marcus stiffened at the news. “Only a day?” Clearly he’d expected he’d have more time.
I went on with their intention of killing Luther. How Aidric planned on using Luther’s love for
me
to force him to surrender and declare freedom to the werewolves. How I was to be Aidric’s trump card; he would use me as a bargaining tool. Aidric was confident that Luther would never fight his own daughter, even though I was a werewolf now.
“How would Aidric use you for leverage?” Marcus looked confused. He hadn’t connected the dots yet. “And, why would he say you’re a werewolf now? Surely he knows you haven’t been turned.”
“Damen said that I’m only partly infected, he needed to change me completely—”
“He was going to bite you again?” Marcus raged, jumping to his feet.
“Yes, but I . . .” I was afraid to tell Marcus what I’d done.
“You what?” His guard was up, eyeing me carefully.
“I sort of . . . blurted out that I was . . . pregnant.” I winced, seeing the expression of horror that now claimed Marcus’s face.
“You what?” he thundered. “Do you have any idea the danger you’ve put yourself in now . . . not to mention our child?”
“He already knew!” I defended. “I don’t know how, but he knew!”
Marcus looked like he was going to come unstuck. He ran his hands back and forth through his hair with such vigor, I wondered if he were going to rub his hair right off.
“I panicked, alright! He was biting my shoulder. Look!” I yanked my shirtsleeve up to show the impressions I could still feel in my skin.
Marcus roared. Then grabbing the vase of flowers by the bedside, he launched it across the room at the door—smashing it to bits.
Raymose burst in, his hair, for the first time looking a little disheveled. “You found her!” He stared at the shattered vase on the floor. “Thank you for letting me know.” He was clearly annoyed. He held up his cell phone and tilted it back and forth in his hand. “You could have called.”
I covered my mouth quickly, trying to suppress a giggle—it didn’t work. I had taken one look at Marcus and Raymose’s confused expressions and burst into a state of uncontrollable laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Raymose barked, sounding more than a little put out.
“Vampires . . . cell phones.” I laughed hysterically. I was finally cracking up.
“Phoebe?” Raymose’s voice was gruff. I looked up at him, still unable to stop laughing. His eyes were red as he sniffed the air. “You’re bleeding . . . a lot.”
Marcus had already positioned himself in front of me, his eyes watching Raymose carefully.
“I know.” My laughter had turned to tears. “Damen disfigured my back.”
“He what?” Raymose spat, all signs of blood lust gone for the moment.
“He disfigured my back,” I repeated a little louder through the tears. “I was just chased by a werewolf, knocked off a horse, nearly drowned, physically assaulted, and informed that I will be the downfall of the vampire civilization. I only escaped because I threw myself on his mercy and kissed him.” I buried my face in the quilt. Aside from my sobbing, the room was silent.
I cried and cried. I’d been so scared to tell Marcus all the details of my close encounter with Damen. But somehow, I’d managed to blurt them out in almost one breath. By the sound of silence in the room, they were still trying to process it all.
I felt a hand on the small of my back. “You . . .
kissed
him?” Marcus had trouble saying the word.
I didn’t have the courage to look at him. I felt like such a traitor. “It was the only thing I could think of to distract him from biting me,” I admitted truthfully, my words mumbled into the quilt.
Marcus said nothing.
“He let you go?” Raymose asked a few moments later, breaking the silence. “Why?”
I lifted my head and met Raymose’s stare His eyes still held a trace of crimson in them. “He said he can’t protect me from the pack any longer. Not even if I became a full werewolf myself. They’d sense . . .” I bit my lip—stopping myself from saying too much. I could feel Marcus's body tense up beside me. I knew his mind. I knew it took all his control not to hunt Damen down and kill him like the dog Marcus thought he was.
“It was not without a price,” Marcus growled.
“Marcus . . .” Raymose’s tone was untrusting.
Marcus's eyes flickered to mine, and for the first time ever he looked afraid for himself. Then his face turned solemn as he turned toward his friend. “Phoebe’s going to have a baby.”
Raymose stared at Marcus with a look of disbelief before he turned to me, glancing at my middle. “She has werewolf blood in her . . . they cannot conceive. It’s not possible!”
“There’s never been another like her,” Marcus insisted. “We don’t know her limitations . . . and it’s more than possible. She’s still partly human.”
“How
careless
could you be?” Raymose demanded. His eyes moved from Marcus to me.
I started to cry again. Never had I been the target of Raymose’s anger.
Marcus put his arms around me, cradling me against his chest. “She doesn’t need to be attacked Raymose, especially by you,” he warned. “You have no right. If you must be angry, be angry with me.”
“Oh, I am,” he promised, stalking forward. “When I think of the danger she was in every time I left her alone . . . the danger she’s still in! How could you do this to her?” Raymose raged.
“I didn’t want her left alone,” Marcus snapped. “That’s why I asked her to leave. I didn’t want her here . . . vulnerable to an assault.”
“No. You wanted her half way across the world where Damen could have his way with her,” Raymose yelled. “She was safer here with me and you know it. She’s
always
been safer with me!”
Marcus rose from the bed, his posture becoming defensive.
“Raymose. Marcus. Don’t!” I beseeched them both.
“You had your chance,” Marcus hissed at him. “You turned your back when she wanted you. When she needed you!”
Raymose’s stare was deadly. “A mistake that will not be repeated,” he spat.
I tried to focus. There was more going on here than I understood.
“She’d have a better chance saving herself and our child than she did the last time,” Marcus growled.
Raymose froze. “What are you saying?” he asked cautiously.
“When Damen killed Phoebe,” Marcus’s voice cracked. “He killed my unborn child as well.”
“How do you know this?” Raymose eyed me carefully.
“Damen bit her,” Marcus explained. “She shares his memories. She has seen it through her own memories. The bastard has admitted it himself.”
Raymose scrubbed a hand down his face. He looked beyond his last nerve. “There has never been a blending of the species. Never!” His voice rose in anger once again. “Luther will not tolerate this. You’ll be lucky if he doesn’t kill you along
with
her. Blood
will be
spilt, Marcus!”
I slapped my hand over my mouth.
“I will kill anyone who tries to take them from me,” Marcus warned. “Anyone!”
I jumped up and ran for the bathroom. I managed to lock the door behind me and get to the toilet just in time . . . I felt like I was going to die. After several minutes of heaving my lungs out, I slunk to the floor—exhausted—waiting for death to take me.
“Phoebe? Darling, can you hear me?” Marcus spoke through the door. His voice sounded strained.
“Yes,” I moaned.
“Can you unlock the door, Love?”
“No.”
There was a moment of silence. Then, I could hear whispers.