by Hannah Pole
‘Don’t forget these mirrors you’re looking through go both ways.’
She even gave him a little wave.
Suddenly Alison’s black eyes started to glaze over, the darkness rapidly retreating to where it came from. The energy in the air abruptly died, leaving only the cool air-conditioning in its place. The female’s own blue eyes began to make an appearance, bright and terrified. Tamriel felt drained, weakened. It was if all the power, the energy, that kept her alive had been sucked out of her.
Leyth caught her as she fell; she looked around in time to see Julian run to his sister’s bedside, clutching her hand as she cried on his shoulder.
Leyth propped her up in a chair at the side of the room.
‘What the hell was that? How did you do that, Tamriel?’
‘I don’t know, I really don’t. I could see him, Leyth, I could see the man who was controlling her. He’s gaunt and bony. He had dark-purple eyes.’
‘Magi generally have purple eyes when they’re using magic,’ Julian said from the far side of the room, watching her. ‘But how could you see him? Only magi can tap into a magical field. You are wolf.’
‘I don’t know. I just looked at her eyes,’ Tamriel choked out. God she felt exhausted, drained. She felt like she had just run for miles after not sleeping or eating for days. It took everything she had to stay sitting.
‘How did you do that? Are you a traitor? Are you working with them?’ Julian snapped, fear and confusion hardening his voice.
‘No!’ Alison squeaked from his grip. ‘Thank you,’ she said weakly. ‘Thank you for making them leave.’
Chapter Thirteen
Doc quickly ushered them out, telling them to go and wait in Leyth’s room. When they were finally alone, Tamriel was sat on his bed watching him pace back and forth.
‘How did you do it?’ he asked her for the hundredth time.
‘I don’t know.’
‘You can partially shift, you can tap into a magical field and you can see through the eyes of a magi,’ he pointed out.
‘Look,’ Tamriel snapped, tired of the conversation already. ‘I don’t know how I did it. I don’t know why I can do that, when no one else can. If you want me to leave then fine, I’ll go. Just stop interrogating me. I have no more answers for you now than I did an hour ago.’
‘Then maybe you should. It would make things a hell of a lot easier.’
She couldn’t stop the flood of tears over her. She couldn’t believe how ridiculous life had gotten over the last few days. She turned her head, she didn’t want Leyth to see her cry.
Pulling herself together, she stood up. At least she could walk out with her pride intact.
‘Fine. I’ll go then,’ she said, surprised at how even her voice sounded when really she was shaking to her very soul.
‘Go,’ he hissed. For a split second he glanced at her, his eyes meeting hers for the shortest of moments, but then he snapped his gaze away so quickly that she found herself wondering if she’d imagined it.
‘I can’t even look at you,’ he muttered. Perhaps she wasn’t supposed to hear, but she did; her keen senses picked it up with ease.
‘You bastard,’ she raged, anger roaring to the surface. ‘What the hell is this? Was I just an easy toy to play with? The scared half-breed, let’s play with her for a little bit!’ OK, so maybe that was a little harsh, but he had to know he was hurting her.
‘I’m a bastard? What about you? You asked me to kiss you. You paraded yourself in front of me like a whore. Maybe you were trying to seduce me to glean information for the Circle. After all, you were there when Alison got kidnapped. You were there when we found her.’ His sharp tone held an edge of coldness that brought even more tears to the surface. How could he even think that? How could he think that she would even consider working for the very people that kidnapped her? The people that wouldn’t hesitate to kill her now she knew who they were? How could he abandon her when she needed him most? He never wanted you. You knew that from the start.
Heat broke out from her core, making her skin burn. It wasn’t the same heat her wolf brought; this was different; the same power that washed through her in the clinic. The energy spiralled its way through her, making the air around her seem to crackle with power.
She scrubbed her hands against her leg, and her skin seemed to scald under her touch; she bit back a yelp as she glanced down at the blue flickers that spread from her palm. Goddamn it.
Batting away fear and confusion, she forced the feeling away, locked it in a box at the back of her mind to be looked at later. Leyth thought she was weird enough already without seeing blue flames spitting out of her palms.
Fighting against the tears that threatened to spill, she struggled to regain control over herself. She allowed herself one last look at Leyth; his broad shoulders, beautiful eyes and scruffy black hair. She would miss every inch of him and she knew she would never be able to move on from him; he was it for her.
But she had to leave, and do it knowing she would never see him again.
She had only known him for a matter of days, yet this man was her heart and soul and her wolf howled at the very thought of leaving him.
Slowly she walked towards the door. She didn’t know where she was going to go, how she was going to live. But she would find a way. She always did.
‘Tamriel.’ She didn’t look at him as he said her name, just kept walking, out into the hallway and toward the stairs. ‘Tamriel, wait—’
The tears were flowing steadily now, running down her face in a constant stream. Her heart was breaking, her soul tearing itself apart.
‘Tamriel!’ he shouted after her. She broke into a jog, down the stairs and out of the door. The day had turned to night, the sun dipping slowly below the horizon. The sky was grey, rain hitting her face hard as she ran.
‘Tam…’ Leyth’s voice echoed behind her, scarring her heart as she ignored him.
Into the woodland she ran, towards the town.
He’d made it clear to her before now that he didn’t want her near his pack and she had to go and try to get involved with him anyway. Goddamn, she was too stubborn to step back and look at the facts; he was fighting this thing between them with everything he had, and she just went ahead and pushed it anyway. She had been hurt so many times in the past because she had gotten carried away with her heart and given it to someone who didn’t want it. So, Leyth didn’t want it. Even if there was some serious passion between them, he’d still tried to fight it, tried to push her away and she needed to let him go, let him get on with his life and she needed to try and get on with hers. Without him.
Leyth cursed as Tamriel flew out of the door. She ran into the rain without hesitation and he followed her out but, by the time he’d reached the steps, she was gone, disappeared into the night.
He swore again, scrubbing a hand through his ratty hair. He was such an idiot.
You paraded yourself in front of me like a whore.
Shit. He didn’t even think that, and if he was honest with himself, he had no doubt whatsoever that she was telling the truth. Christ, he loved this female with everything he had and his cold fear of those feelings had led him to say such spiteful words that they would haunt him for the rest of his life.
He’d fought to keep her and, as soon as he had her, he pushed her away. That was such a typical thing for him to do. And his father had left his mother and his siblings because of the same fear.
He came from a family of deserters. Everyone of them ran when things got too hard. His own sister had run from the pack not long after he had. And look where it landed her.
In a body bag, at the hands of a tomb. Damn it, Jessica.
He cursed again. For once he was not going to leave, he wasn’t going to run at the slightest hint of trouble. No. He was going to fight for her.
But she’d already gone. She’d left him twice now.
Hell. He had to at least try. He stripped off quickly, not caring where his clothes land
ed and called to the wolf inside him. The animal came roaring to the surface, cursing him for being an idiot and letting her go. He quickly shifted, his bones breaking and reshaping, his skin stretching and reforming. It was the fastest he’d ever shifted in his life and it left him feeling more than a little dizzy. He pushed those feelings aside and sniffed the ground for her scent. It was raining, the water hitting the floor and washing away the traces of her quickly.
He found it though, her chestnutty scent hit his nose, and he launched himself after it. Following it into the woods, past the trees, around the camp of the half-breeds, and deeper into the dark forest.
The trees surrounding him became denser, the pitch-black woodland deathly silent. Eventually he came to a river; she’d obviously walked through it.
The rapid water washed away any further trace of her. He padded his way through to the other side, nothing. He checked and rechecked, there was nothing; the rain had washed what was there away, leaving nothing but the scent of mud and trees behind. He’d really lost her.
Where would she go? How was he ever going to find her? The answer was clear. He wasn’t. He was going to let her go and build a life for herself. Let her live out her days without an arsehole like him in her way. He was going to spend the rest of his days walking through life alone, without his female.
As his heart broke at the thought of his lost female, he sat back and looked up at the trees, wishing he could see the moon.
Taking a deep breath, he threw his head back and let rip the longest, loudest howl he could manage; it was the sound of pain, of sorrow. Tears ran from his eyes and through his fur and he howled. He did it for her, for his heart and for his broken life.
She had left nothing but pain in her beautiful wake, but he wouldn’t trade one second of that for the world.
After hours of singing to the moon with all his might, Leyth lost his voice. He blinked away the remaining tears, and hauled himself up. There was nothing left for him here. Plodding along with the river, he found himself replaying every second he had had with her, every smile.
The way her hair shone and the way her mouth moved when she laughed.
As the river opened out into the large lake at the bottom of the pack-land, he found himself crying again. It didn’t matter though. He dipped his head down to the lake’s edge to take a drink of water.
As he sank down, he scanned the area, and came to stop at something on the other side of the lake. A red wolf sat staring back at him.
He didn’t hesitate, just ran around the lake towards her. She bolted towards him, tripping as she went. As they rounded the corner, they came together with a thud, two wolves, coming together as one.
They piled into a bundle, licking and nipping one another, rubbing noses.
They stood together facing the lake and as one they began to shift, bones breaking and cracking, skin tearing and re-knitting, stretching until finally he and Tamriel stood naked at the water’s edge, staring at one another.
‘I’m sorry…’ she croaked, her voice hoarse.
‘Tamriel…’
‘Leyth…’
‘I’m so sorry, Tam. I shouldn’t have said that. I was just scared, of you, of us.’ As the words left his lips, he looked her straight in the eye, bracing himself for the enviable rejection.
He didn’t care though, he wasn’t running any more.
‘Scared of how you make me feel,’ she said, echoing his own words.
‘Exactly. I’ve never—’
‘Felt like this before,’ she finished for him.
‘I’m so sorry, Tamriel. I do believe you. I know you’re good, you’re better than good. I know you could never work for the Circle, and that you are still new to all this,’ he stammered. He was just so damn glad he’d found her.
She stared at him for the longest of moments, before launching herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him long and hard. When they finally broke free of one another, they were panting, with the need for more.
‘Leyth,’ she whispered, her voice hoarse, ‘we’ll figure it out. As long as I’m with you. As long as we’re together, the rest will fall into place.’
His stomach dropped like a stone, his mouth hanging open as he stared at her. ‘You really want to give this a go?’ He motioned between them. ‘You will still be with me after how much of an arse I’ve been?’
‘Of course. I don’t know exactly what this is. But I’ll be damned if I’m not going to at least try and find out.’
He crushed her against him, kissing her furiously.
For all the lives he’d lived, all the people he’d met, no one made him more crazy than this female; she infuriated him, made him wild and even put the fear of god into him.
And he adored her for it; he couldn’t imagine living life without her.
After a while, she broke away from him.
‘What are we going to do about—’
‘We’ll work it out together.’ He cut her off, wrapping an arm around her. She leant into him, resting her head against his chest, angling her face to look up at him. With a cheeky grin she whispered,’Shall we continue this in your room?’
She laughed as he hefted her off her feet.
‘Tamriel, you are the most unique female I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.’ He grinned at her as he carried her through the woodland, back towards the mansion.
Leyth and Tam covered everything on their slow wander back to the mansion. Finally, there was no one in immediate danger, everyone was relatively safe and at home; for the first time, they just talked. Leyth found out how eccentric her mother was, and how distraught she was about her father leaving. How she’d battled through life, feeling like she didn’t belong. He truly felt for her, having been in that situation himself.
He told her about the days he was rogue, on the run from his pack and the Council. How Julian had found him and taken him on, training him to work with them. He told her about Jessica, and how her father had saved Jess’s life when humans had captured her to be used for research and how through doing this, her father had realised how dangerous it was to be supernatural in a human world. She’d cried quietly through this, swiping the tears away.
When finally the mansion came into view, they were walking in silence, hand in hand, naked through the woodland. When they left the shelter of the trees, she shied away, attempting to cover herself.
Thankfully, his wet clothes were still lying on the gravel. He wrapped his jacket around her and slipped his sodden trousers on.
Leaning into the camera, he scanned his face and entered. Strolling through the foyer, he led Tamriel quickly up the stairs to his bedroom.
‘Let’s take this slowly, OK?’she muttered, walking over to his bed and sitting down.
‘Good idea. Slow is good.’
‘I mean, you’re amazing. You’re the most amazing man, er, male, I’ve ever met. It’s just that you’re right. Whatever this is—’ She motioned back and forth between them. ‘It’s really scary.’
‘And we don’t want to move too quickly,’ he finished for her, seriously glad she was on the same page. ‘Now, let’s get you washed and dry.’
He grinned at her as he walked into the bathroom and turned on the taps.
‘And you can order food while I’m bathing!’
Once the bath was running, he walked back in to sit with her on the bed.
‘I was so worried about you,’ he whispered, running his fingers through her tangled hair.
‘Let’s not do that again, OK?’ she whispered back.
‘Agreed.’
For a while they just sat there, looking at one another in silence.
After a few minutes, Leyth got up and tested the temperature of the bath water. Turning the taps off, he came back in.
‘Would you mind if I undressed you?’
‘Not at all.’ She gave him a cheeky grin, shifting her weight so he could slide his heavy, wet jacket from her shoulders, exposing her bare skin.
Gently, he gathered her into his arms and lifted her off the duvet. He walked her into the bathroom and carefully settled her in the warm, soapy water.
As he turned to leave, she thrust a hand out. ‘Please don’t leave me.’ She looked so innocent, so lost, as she stretched her hand out towards him.
God she looked beautiful with her black and red streaked hair fanned out around the edge of the bath.
‘I should go,’ he said gruffly, kicking himself as soon as he said it.
‘Please,’ she whispered. He turned to face her and, damn, as hard as he might try, he just couldn’t leave her. He just couldn’t tear his eyes away from that green stare of hers.
Slowly he walked over, stripping off his jacket as he went. Carefully he lifted the sponge from the water and ran it across her collarbone, spreading soapy bubbles in its wake. She leant back to give him further access, breasts peeking out of the water. She was so stupidly beautiful.
He stroked a finger down her neck, then he gently pushed her forward, so he could wash her back.
Hell, he thought maybe not seeing her breasts would make this easier, but every part of her made him hard, his manhood punching into his fly as she moved, the water lapping gently at her beautifully pale skin.
Brushing her hair aside, he stroked her, gently washing away the dirt and blood she was covered in.
Once he was done, he tugged her backwards, carefully rinsing water through that long hair of hers. He massaged shampoo into it, trying to avoid looking at her very naked figure beneath the water. Once he’d washed the soap out, it thankfully covered the top of the water in a layer of bubbles, hiding her from view. Though part of him mourned the loss.
