Authors: Cassandra Cole
Their growls send shivers down Nadia’s spine, as she was barely able to watch. Suddenly, Amarog managed to bring down Edon and keep him pinned. He knew that this standing position he was in was a dominant one, but he made sure to keep his throat away from Edon’s snapping bite, which was biding its time. His eyes flared, all his teeth and even gums were displayed, creating a dramatically frightening image for the audience.
Amarog was about to go for the killing bite, as Edon’s body wriggled helplessly underneath his. Nadia saw no other way out but to interfere, rushing towards the mad animals and throwing herself on top of Edon’s wolf body.
“Stop! Please, stop!” She hugged the furry head, as Amarog hid his teeth and stepped down.
“He’s your brother! You can’t kill him!” Her head caressed Edon’s. “He just wants what’s best for the pack. You’re the Alpha, shouldn’t you want the same?”
Amarog just stood there. She didn’t expect him to talk. For the first time ever, she expected him to listen.
“Your men, your wolves are tired of your tyranny. They want normal lives, they don’t want to be isolated on this island, having to kidnap women and force them to have sex for procreation. Have you forgotten that sex is something we do for pleasure, too?”
Suddenly, the crowd started to voice themselves.
“Yeah! We don’t want slaves, we want wives!”
“We want to live like we used to, in the old days!”
“We want to live among men, marry their women because they want us to, because they love us!”
“We want off this island!”
“We want change!”
“Change! Change! Change!” People yelled in unison.
“Your people have spoken, Amarog. How will you reply?” Nadia lifted her gaze and looked at him straight in the eyes.
After a few painful, bloody minutes, both wolves were men again. Amarog knew what he had to do. Nadia didn’t expect any warm and fuzzy family reunions, or apologies. That’s not how men are. At least, that’s not how wolf-men are. She learned that much.
Amarog approached his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. They shared one long glance, in silence. The crowd knew it was time to be quiet. Even the birds stopped with their song, because of the solemn moment.
Lifting his brother’s arm high up in the air, Amarog yelled.
“You are our new Alpha, Edon!”
The crowd went wild. There was applause and whistles, sounds of approval and congratulations. She knew their world had changed forever, and somehow, she was the reason for it.
The two brothers hugged, and Nadia also knew that Amarog was a changed man. And one lucky gal will have him… but she considered herself the luckiest one. She trapped herself a keeper.
Edon approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“So, miss, what do you say to spending some time here, with us, on this paradise island, until we figure out what to do?”
She liked the sound of that. Somehow, someway, she knew Edon would make everything alright.
The End
HER BEAR GUARDIAN by Ella Hart
Since she was a little girl, Katie could remember feeling like someone was watching her. It was never threatening or scary, but she always seemed to experience the strange sensation of someone being just over her shoulder. It was almost as if whoever was there was keeping an eye on her and making sure that nothing bad happened.
The first time she was aware of it she was very small, living on her parent’s farm in Iowa. She was wandering through a field of wheat, her eyes trained on the tall golden stalks as she ran through them. She was playing hide and seek with her sister and thought that the tall sea of gold would be a good place to hide.
She was laughing and giggling, certain than her older sister would have found her but soon she fell silent, realizing that she was alone and very lost. Katie was only five or six at the time and the prospect of being lost in the wheat field was utterly terrifying. She felt her chest seize in panic as she spun around, trying to hear her sister's voice or laughter. There was nothing. She was alone with her fear.
Just as the panic truly started to set in she saw the shadow of a large creature moving through the field. It never occurred to her that she should be scared of whatever animal made it’s way into the field with her. She never considered that it might be dangerous. The only thing in her mind was that she should follow it. And so she did.
The shadow led her out of the long stalks and right out onto the road that she lived alongside. When she emerged from the wheat she’d found her sister, who was terrified and clearly afraid that she’d lost her sister during their game.
Her sister rushed over to her, gasping and throwing her arms around the smaller girl, exclaiming that she didn’t think she was ever going to see Katie again. Her sister cupped Katie’s cheeks and looked her up and down, asking her how she found her way out. Katie simply raised her hand and pointed to nothing. The shadow disappeared back into the field.
From that day on, there always seemed to be a presence that surrounded Katie and kept her safe. No matter where she was or who she was with. She couldn’t even begin to count the number of times the strange force saved her and she was always grateful.
As she grew older, however, she became more petulant. Like most teenagers, she believed she was invincible and the strange spirit struggled to keep up with her fast and loose lifestyle. It was always there, though and it always seemed to be there for her when she really needed it.
At age seventeen, she was in a car crash, but miraculously came out unscathed even though she’d wrapped the small sedan around a pole. Everyone seemed completely shocked since she probably should have been dead.
This presence helped instill that sense of invincibility in Katie and after the car crash she became even more reckless with her life. She felt she could do anything and if danger got too close, the spirit would sweep in and save her. Katie never told anyone about the thing that guided her and when she was asked how she always seemed to avoid danger, she’d just smile and say she was lucky.
The spirit couldn’t protect her from everything, however. The danger that would slip past was an older man who was entranced by Katie’s long blonde curls, wide hips and sky blue eyes. She was a stunning woman and received many offers but she often turned them down, except for who she thought was the right man . Katie set high standards and Michael fit right into those standards. He was tall, dark and handsome with a fit build and broad shoulders. He was everything she wanted but she eventually found that he he would be the worst mistake of her life.
They met at a local restaurant her senior year of high school. She was working as a waitress to save up for college. She didn’t make a habit of flirting with her customers, but Michael was different. She would always say that Michael was different because he was. He made her feel good and he made her feel special.
They eventually started dating and everything was going well. She moved out of her parents’ house and in with the older man. He convinced her to take a year off school so they could travel together and she agreed. It was her very first relationship and the beautiful woman was eager to please her new lover.
Their first year together was magical. They fell in love, went on dates and made each other laugh. Michael seemed to be the perfect man and Katie always joked with him that she would find out what his flaw was one day. She would never have guessed Michael’s true nature.
Soon after their one year anniversary, the beatings started. first it was just screaming but eventually progressed to physical violence. Anytime she made a mistake or said the wrong thing, he brought the back of his hand down on her cheek. He’d even managed to fracture her cheek bone. When the doctor or friends asked about it, she’d lie. She didn’t want anyone to know that her relationship with Michael was falling apart.
She was holding out hope that things would get better but that small glimmer of hope was slowly fading away. Katie slipped into a deep depression and would spend hours curled up in bed, crying and praying for the shadow that saved her so many times before to come and take her away from this place. She was wilting away to nothing and she didn’t know how much longer she could possibly last.
Michael never let her leave the house anymore and took the car, leaving her stranded and alone, staring out into the wheat fields. Katie considered running away sometimes and getting lost in that golden sea again but she knew she was already lost and she prayed that soon, the spirit would come and show her the way out.
*****
Katie leaned over the toilet once more, retching loudly as her throat burned with taste of bile and that morning's breakfast. She’d been suffering this sickness for nearly two weeks now and she begged Michael to take her to the doctor but he refused. He declared that she was fine and was probably just lactose intolerant or something. That was his professional diagnosis.
She wasn’t going to settle for that explanation. She knew it was wrong. The rolling in her belly and the constant morning sickness could not be attributed to a food allergy. That much Katie knew. She had an idea of what it might be but she would need more than a gut feeling to prove it.
Michael kept a close eye on their money and often spent most of it on gambling and booze. Then would tell her that there wasn’t enough left over for her to get any new clothes or makeup. Katie was sure that he would turn down her request for a pregnancy test so she snagged one at the local pharmacy while they were shopping, sweeping it off the shelf and into her otherwise empty purse in a single motion.
The very next day she found herself locked in the tiny bathroom, unsure of why she locked the door in the first place. Michael was at work and would be there for the rest of the day. She took a breath and glanced over at the little stick that was sitting in one of Michael’s whiskey glasses. The directions on the box said to let it sit for five minutes.
The blood rushing into her ears drowned out any other noise in the room. The constant beating of her heart was the only noise she could hear in the confined room. The walls seemed to be closing in on her and just when she thought she might have a total break down, the egg timer went off.
A cool sensation of relief filled her body as she turned and picked up the glass and plucked the pregnancy test out of it. She closed her eyes so tight her eyebrows knit together and when she opened them her heart fell into her stomach. The little blue plus sign on the stick confirmed every single one of her fears. She wasn’t lactose intolerant or eating too much, as Michael suggested...She was pregnant.
Katie always wanted to be a mom. The idea of having children filled her with joy when she was younger. She’d dreamed of becoming an art teacher so that she could be surrounded by children and help them grow and learn. All of those dreams went out the window when Michael came along.
Hot tears pricked the corners of Katie’s eyes and she swallowed thickly to keep them at bay. She refused to cry. It was one of the few things she was able to control and she refused to give that up. Every other aspect of her life was in Michael’s hands. She wasn’t going to give him this too. At the end of the day, Katie was a fighter. The abusive situation she found herself in didn’t mean that she’d given up. She was still here, alive and breathing and fighting for another day.
She was leaning against the yellowing wallpaper (that was her fault too since she didn’t clean enough), trying to catch her breath and calm herself down. She looked at the pregnancy test for a moment, reaching into the decrepit bathroom counter and pulling out a clean sanitary napkin. She wrapped the stick in the napkin and threw it in the garbage. Secrecy was going to be her best weapon in this situation.
The lock on the bathroom door clicked and she pushed the door open, ignoring the creaking sound as she made her way into the bedroom, stepping over piles of clean laundry that somehow mixed with dirty laundry. It seemed that every square inch of her home was either falling apart or needed cleaning. The crushing depression she felt on a daily basis rarely let her clean. Michael called her lazy but that wasn’t true. Katie was just sad and constantly filled with a sense of hopelessness.
Her bed was the only place in the house that wasn’t covered in grime and clutter. It was her sanctuary where she could clear her head. She fell into the clean, cotton sheets and sighed as she rolled over and pulled a little sketchbook from between the mattress and the box spring. If Michael knew there was something in her life that gave her joy, he would destroy it.
She leaned against the mountain of mismatched pillows that she’d managed to collect over the years and flipped the leatherbound book open to an empty page. Drawing was the best way to clear her mind. Katie never planned her drawings and just put whatever came to mind to paper. As her hand moved across the smooth parchment paper the outline of a smiling face started to form. What started out as chubby cheeks and bright eyes eventually became a drawing of an infant.
Katie pulled the drawing away and looked at it, feeling a swell of guilt fill her until it became difficult to swallow. She closed the book, not able to look at the smiling child’s face anymore. Katie knew that she couldn’t bring a baby into this relationship. She wouldn’t allow her child to suffer the way she suffered. There was only one option for her now. She was going to escape.
She turned her head to look out the tiny, dust covered window and saw the wind rustling acres of golden wheat that stretched on for miles. She always wondered what was on the other side. Maybe it was about time she found out. A grin spread across her face as she considered the possibilities of what might come.
If she was a fighter then it was about damn time she put up a fight.
*****
Katie’s hands were shaking as she washed dishes in the large metal sink. It stood alone, separate from the counter and looked like it belonged in a mud room rather than a kitchen. Her back was turned towards Michael who propped his pungent feet up on the coffee table while he drank beer and watching some sporting event.
The loud cheers from the TV drowned out the sound of the water running and Michael seemed content enough to stay where he was, which suited Katie fine. Tonight was the night that things would change. She was going to escape this god forsaken cage and she was going to run until she couldn’t anymore.
It was three weeks to the day that she’d tossed the pregnancy test in the garbage. Her little trick of wrapping it up in a pad worked like a charm and Michael was none the wiser to what was going on. That’s exactly the way she wanted it. She didn’t want him to know that he was the father of her child. Something in her knew that if he was made aware of it, he would come after the baby just to hurt her. Michael was a sadistic man with a mean streak a mile long and she didn’t want to give him any more ammo.
She glanced over her shoulder as the crowd on the TV roared louder and Michael leaned out of his chair, hooting loud enough for it to echo through the house. The sound bounced off the peeling walls and assaulted her ears. His hand flew into the air and he shook his empty beer bottle.
“Katie! Bring me another beer!” He barked.
She started to turn towards the fridge to fetch another beer and her eyes darted over towards a cast iron skillet that she’d seasoned perfectly. She’d never been a very good housewife but she could season a damn skillet and she was about to find another use for it that she was just as good at.
A jittery grin spread across Katie’s face and she reached out towards the skillet, pulling it off the cracked countertop. She nearly dropped it but managed to keep her hold on it as she took slow, tentative steps towards Michael’s chair. He’d dropped the empty beer bottle to the floor and it landed among the dozen or so others that he’d consumed that night. She turned her nose up at the pile of brown glass and her eyes darted back over to him.
Katie was right behind him with the skillet raised above her head, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest as she considered what she was about to do. She knew it wouldn’t kill him but the idea of physically retaliating against Michael still brought her an intense feeling of pleasure and even power. Both were things that she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
Right as she was about to bring the skillet down on his head, he turned around and his cloudy eyes went wide and finally landed on the skillet above his head. He made a drunken attempt to snatch it out of her hands but wasn’t quite coordinated enough. She nearly lost her nerve when he turned and looked at her, trying to get out of his chair.