by Lee Savino
His head dipped lower and I almost gave up fighting. But my body was sore from our lovemaking. My neck throbbed as if it’d knotted up while I slept.
The rest of my body ached, especially between my thighs, but it was a good ache. It felt right.
The warrior’s beard brushed my inner thighs and my cunt clenched even as I protested, “Siebold, no. I must rise.”
“Why?”
“People expect their herbs and remedies,” I explained. “They depend on me."
Siebold lifted his head and frowned. "After the way they treated you? You are not going back to that village."
His edict got my hackles up. In all my life, no one had tried to command me, save my mother. “Think you my lord and husband now? I gave you no vow."
Siebold’s grin was wicked and confident. "Yes, you did make a vow. It was when you screamed my name and begged me to take you, to claim you as my own.” His gaze dipped to my neck.
Had I said that in the throes of passion? The sound of my hoarse vows, creaking from my cries of passion at this man’s hands, blared in my mind. I did say those words. But I did not mean what he thought I meant.
I felt the dread creeping over me. I had hoped I’d imagined it. That it had only been a fevered dream in all the ecstasy.
I remember my pleasure had begun and then his kiss at my neck. When his lips had pressed into my flesh, my pleasure had spiked anew. But it wasn’t a heated kiss. His fangs had pierced my skin.
My fingers traced my neck. The raised skin of the mark was plain. All would see it.
“You bit me,” I choked out.
“I did.” He was still grinning. He didn’t understand what he had done.
“You marked me.” Marked me as his. Marked me as a witch.
I could no longer hide.
“Why would you do this?”
Siebold’s gaze turned serious. "You soothe the beast in me. He wants you for his own."
"I belong to no man."
"I'm not a man. And you're no ordinary woman. Show me your power."
"No."
"Why do you deny this beautiful part of yourself? You were made for me, and I for you."
"No," I insisted, wrenching away from him.
Siebold snarled. “You are mine, Meadhan. Forever.”
“I am no man’s,” I spat, shaking. “Least of all yours. Never yours.”
A flash of hurt crossed his face before his expression turned grim. I didn’t care.
“Get out,” I snapped, and shouted when he did not move. “Out!” I jabbed my finger towards the door.
“Meadhan,” he moved towards me. I didn’t think. I didn’t speak. I raised my hands and my power was there. It blasted him across the room. The door flew open but he fought, grabbing the frame.
“Out,” I roared into the rising storm. A great wind rose up like a giant hand and wrenched him from the hut, tossing him into the forest. I stomped after him, arms outstretched as if pushing him away. The trees shivered and shook in the rising storm.
Meadhan, Siebold's voice in my mind was faint.
Out! With a huge blast of power, I forced him from my mind. Clouds covered the sun and a fierce wind whipped at my skirts. I stumbled. My hands hit the dirt and I retched as my power took hold, scouring my insides. The world seemed to rage with my anger until I felt hollow inside.
When I rose, my head ached. Wetness trickled from my ear. I touched it and my fingers came away red. Blood. But my mind was empty and so was my garden and the forest before me.
Siebold was gone.
24
Siebold
I ran through the forest, blind, my legs pumping and my feet striking the ground. Branches whipped my body and I welcomed the pain. Each step took me away from Meadhan. The beast howled and howled in my mind.
She’d taken me in. I’d held my mate in my arms. But now she cast me out. And I would be forever alone.
I’d rather die than lie with you. Another woman, long ago. Laughing, pushing me away. I’d rather die.
I scratched my face, drawing blood. The memories came too fast. The woman laughing, leaving me for another. The beast taking over. My mind consumed. The violent buzzing, like a hive in my skull.
I didn’t want to remember. But I couldn’t stop myself.
I’d rather die than lie with you, the woman in my memories said. And everything went black. And when I woke, her blood stained my hands.
I’d rather die, she’d said. And she did. I killed her. My beast took over, and when I woke she was dead.
I would always be alone.
Get out! The woman became Meadhan. My mate, my own. She cast me out. Just like my Alphas. Just like my pack.
Get out, Samuel had said. You are no longer welcome here. The pack had converged on me, wolves and warriors, warriors and wolves. Ready to rip into me, drive me out.
I would always be alone.
My paws ripped at my face. I was a wolf, and not a wolf. A monster. I threw back my head and howled.
The Change had come and I would never be the same.
25
Meadhan
A howl echoed in the forest and I shivered. The storm had died but the clouds had not left the sky. I felt cold, but not only because the sun had not come out.
Siebold was gone. I’d cast him out. Just like his pack had.
“Good riddance,” I muttered and stomped back into my hut, ignoring the nice new roof the warrior had built.
The mark on my neck throbbed and I covered it with a hand. He marked me without my permission. He deserved my wrath. I was right to cast him out; I should have never let him in.
But instead of angry, I only felt sad.
I puttered around my hut, tidying away bundles of herbs, building a fitful fire. But Siebold was in my every waking thought. In my blood. His bite mark pulsed on my skin.
Should I stay or should I go? I leaned over a water barrel to study the mark at the junction of my neck and shoulder. Perhaps there was a way I could cover it up. Continue to hide.
But when I looked into the smooth surface of the water, it rippled and called my Sight. I Saw a blond wolf, running through the forest. Siebold. He was stumbling and blood trickled down his snout.
With a cry, I dashed a hand into the water, sullying the vision. I could close my eyes but red pain spread through me with every beat of my heart.
Power rippled through me, rising against the pain. It burrowed into my head, taking over. I fell to my knees, temples throbbing. I was in the grip of my Sight and nothing could stop it. I opened my eyes and Saw what it wanted me to see.
Not a vision. A memory.
I ran through the forest, briars scratching my face. Torches blazed ahead.
I flung myself to my belly and crawled through the thicket until I could see.
The men had come again. This time there were more of them. They dragged my mother to the rocky edge of a lake. She stood on the beach, bound, calm amid the violent mob. She was so small and frail beside the angry men. Her pale cheek was bruised where they’d struck her.
Some men stood with torches. Some passed around jugs of mead. Others argued loudly the best way to kill a witch. “Drown her,” one said, pointing to the lake.
“No, use an axe.” A man sharpened his blade with a whetstone.
But several men raced to the forest where they put axe to trunk and brought more trees crashing down. They were building a bonfire.
“Kill the witch,” they chanted. A priest stood to the side, praying loudly and urging the men to build the bonfire higher.
The power welled up in me. Light rippled along my skin. My hair crackled and rose off my back and neck.
“Meadhan, no!” my mother held out her hand. She looked straight at me, past the mob, past the trees where I hid. My skin prickled under her Sight. “Do not show yourself.”
Mother. My lips moved but the sound caught in my throat.
“I am lost. Do not try to save me.”
A man touched a torch
to the foot of the pyre and a line of flame licked up the side. Cheers echoed over the lake. A man splashed the content of a jug onto the wood and the fire roared in response.
“Kill the witch! Kill the witch!”
I could not see or hear my mother. But her voice spoke faintly into my mind. Run, my moonbeam. Run and hide.
I stayed in the forest, sheltered by the briars, my hands fisted at my sides. As the bonfire flames grew brighter, my power grew weaker and weaker. Trickling out of me. My legs gave out and I slumped on the forest floor.
It wasn’t until dawn that I found the strength to rise and slip away from the clearing and the evidence of horrible things all the men had done. I wandered through the woods for days, drinking from streams and eating nothing. Eventually I foraged and found the path that would take me over the mountains, far from the valley where my mother and I had lived.
I would obey my mother’s wishes and survive. Instead of using my power, I would hide. This was the final lesson she taught me and I learned it well. I kept my life, but I’d paid a terrible price.
Instead of saving my mother, I watched her die.
26
Siebold
The curse was upon me. In the distance, a swarm of flies was rising, filling the world with their buzzing. I could run forever and not outrun the evil within.
My hands tore at my chest, but they were not hands. They were giant paws. Clawed monstrosities fit for the monster I was. My claws ripped my own flesh but the magic healed me just as quickly. I could not even tear my own heart out. I raised my head to the rising moon and howled.
A shout ahead warned me I was not alone. Men were in the forest with clanking weapons and torches. Hunting.
I stood tall and waited. The first ranks who found me recoiled in terror, but their shouts drew the rest.
“There it is. Kill the beast,” they shouted.
I opened my arms and let them come.
I could not kill myself, but I’d let them try. I’d lost Meadhan, my own, and my reason to live was gone.
27
Meadhan
The memory of my mother’s death left my heart cracked open. I dragged myself to the water bucket and splashed the cool liquid onto my face. I averted my gaze before another vision took me, and guilt burned in my breast.
I owed it to Siebold, to See him one last time. To bid him goodbye before I packed up and fled like the coward I was.
The water stirred and offered up a vision. Not of Siebold but of the priest. Father Gerald was surrounded by many men. Armed men who carried torches. The priest was urging them on.
“The net is silver,” he said. “It will contain the beast.”
First they’d hunt him, then they’d hunt me.
My vision turned and twisted, and I Saw Siebold standing proud. He was a monster, his body huge and twisted. Half man and half wolf. The men shouted when they found him and spread in a circle around him.
I waited holding my breath for Siebold to snap out of his trance and fight. But he didn’t move. Not when they threw spears. Not when they rushed forward with torch and axe.
He stayed still and let them come.
Siebold, no! Fight!
Meadhan, his voice came clear into my mind. My love. My own. I felt his anguish in the bond.
I’m here. I snatched up my cloak. I’m coming!
No! Stay away. Do not come close.
But I could not stay away. They would torture him. He would heal over and over. He would allow them to do this, to protect me.
I could not hide any longer.
I raced down the path, my heart pounding in my breast. The magic pulsed through me, and my feet unerringly knew where to turn. My power was like a compass guiding me.
Run, Meadhan. Run and hide, Siebold’s voice blended with my mother’s. Hide what you are and survive.
“I cannot. I cannot hide any longer.” I whispered.
At last I came to the circle of torches. The men whooping and cheering, surrounding the beast. I burst into the clearing before I had a plan.
Before I could think, my hands filled with light. I would not cower from this. These predators would find no prey here.
I had been at sea when a storm struck. I knew what it was like to have the wind and the waves bash against a boat until you think you might die. But now I was the storm. I was the wind and wave. I was the flood.
A great whoosh of power left me. A crack of light split the clearing and the men fell. People screamed, the wind howled.
But inside me there was peace. My power came when I called and there was so much more, and endless well deep within.
The thugs struggled to rise. I unballed my fists, preparing for the next attack.
The men were down, but they weren’t the only ones. Siebold lay on the ground, covered in a net. Bound and bloody with broken spears sprouting from his flesh.
Get up, Siebold. Heal yourself. You can do it.
“It’s the witch,” someone shouted. “This is her demon creature.”
“Kill them both! Kill the witch!”
“No,” I cried. I raised my palms to the sky and brought my arms down. Power whooshed out, knocking the thugs down again.
“Leave this place,” I ordered. And the thugs scuttled upright and ran. They would tell the village what I was, and they’d come for me. But at least Siebold would be all right.
I threw off the net, cursing when it caught on his wounded limbs, and he bellowed. When he was free, I sank to the ground, reaching for him. He shuddered in the dirt.
His wounds were healing, but his body was grotesque. Twisted. Half man, half wolf. All monster.
“It’s my fault,” I whispered. “I did this to you.” I tentatively touched his paw. His elbows tipped with fur, matted with dirt and blood.
Meadhan. Siebold’s voice moved in my mind, an intimate caress. You should not have come.
I had fought him speaking straight into my thoughts, but now warmth spread through me at the sound.
“They wanted to kill you. I couldn’t let them take you. I couldn’t let you die.”
He lifted one shoulder. Blood had trickled down his forehead, leaving a rusty trail. His wounds were slowly knitting but he ignored them, cupping my face in his monstrous paws.
“They would’ve cut off your head,” I insisted. “I couldn’t let that happen. I’ve seen it before. I’ve seen it--” my voice choked off.
“Shhh,” Siebold’s clawed fingers carefully wiped away my tears. “You stopped them. We are safe now.”
He was wrong. We would never be safe again, not until we packed up our lives and fled this valley. I’d done it before. I’d probably have to do it again.
But we were alive. We would survive.
Siebold kept stroking my forehead and cheeks as if reassuring himself I was really in his arms. “You came for me,” he murmured. “No one else has done that. No one else thought I was worth saving.”
“You are worth it,” I told him fiercely.
His mouth tipped downwards, but he didn’t contradict me.
“You are mine,” I said.
“I am a monster,” he said in his deep voice.
I stroked his face and spoke into his mind. There’s a monster that lives inside all men. Only a strong woman can tame it.
He rolled, taking me with him. His body settled over me. He lowered his head to my neck, licking and grazing the fragile skin with his teeth. You are my woman.
I reached down between us and circled his cock with my hand. Siebold growled even as his member throbbed in my palm. And you are my monster.
Siebold growled again. Heat broke over me. My cunt gushed with liquid. The warrior worked over me, rubbing his great body against mine, drawing my leg up to hook around his waist even as his hand fisted in my hair. I opened my legs and cried out as he entered me. He was thick and swollen, stretching me to the point of pain. I gasped and hung onto his shoulders. Slowly my body opened, easing his way. Pleasure ran like lightning up my back
, weakening my limbs.
Mine. Siebold surged between my legs. The coarse hair on his chest rubbed my soft skin. I twined my legs around his thrusting hips, tugging him closer.
Mine, I answered. I let my head fall back and loosed the power building inside me. Light flashed in the dark forest, rivaling the moon. My eyes and hands were filled with light.
I tugged Siebold’s head down and opened my mouth, sealing his lips against mine. I let my will out, let it surge into him. Power poured from my mouth into his until his eyes blazed like the sun. Light spread through his great body, seeking out every dark corner, every bit of rot. Driving out the curse.
I braced myself and rolled, bringing Siebold with me. His massive body lay under mine. I worked over him, my brown hands stark against his tan chest. My hips slapped into his. I fucked him hard. I claimed his body as mine. He belonged to me and I would not tolerate his body, mind, or soul enslaved by a curse any more.
Siebold blinked up at me. I rolled my body over his, stretching upwards, preening as his eyes lit watching my lush curves. His hands found my hips and he thrust upwards. My head shot back, light shooting miles high, a fiery arc. A comet born of our lovemaking. My climax blazing through me, unhinging my spine.
I collapsed and my power caught me. It lifted me and Siebold higher. The ground beneath us burst into flames, not born of flint or tinder, but magic. Phoenix fire, burning the world clean. Destroying the old, making life anew.
As we rode the air over a circle of flame, Siebold grabbed me. His claws ghosted over my skin, but did not slice me. I grasped him, pulling him closer. My thighs were slick with our lovemaking. My cunt gripped Siebold’s cock tight until he roared his own pleasure into the night.
I woke with a stick digging into my side. I rolled to my feet and turned in a circle. Here and there, a few final embers glowed. The wind caught the grey remnants of ash and carried them away.
