Luminous

by Noelle Marie

  Serena watched her struggle to somehow open the jar with her forearm for less than a minute before intervening. “Here, let me help,” she said, reaching for the jar. She hesitated, however, before taking it. “Well, as long as that’s okay with you,” she hedged.

  Katherine pursed her lips, but nodded.

  Serena, exhaling in apparent relief, grabbed the jar. She opened it with a quick flick of the wrist. “Your hand?” she requested.

  Katherine hesitantly held it out. The flesh of her palm was pink as new skin began to emerge where her old skin used to be – so everywhere, basically. Serena dipped two fingers into the jar of salve, and scooping a large portion out, she began spreading the clear jelly generously over her palm, making sure to cover every last inch of the wound. She took the time to carefully rub the soothing salve into Katherine’s sensitive skin.

  “Opal – she’s the pack’s healer and brews all our medicinal potions and creams– said the salve should ease the pain of the burn pretty much right away, and that it reduces the chances of scarring.” Serena’s eyes jumped up to Katherine. “Not that I think it will scar,” she hurried to add. “It already looks much better today.” She glanced over at Gerard who was watching them intently from his seat near the fire, but not interfering. “Not that that makes it okay,” she added pointedly, lowly enough so only Katherine could hear. Then louder, she said, “There. Feel better?

  Katherine knew Serena felt guilty for her thoughtless comment the evening before – it was demonstrated clearly enough by the way she’d been hovering over her like a mother hen since – and staring into her hopeful, imploring gaze, Katherine was tempted to throw her a bone and end the silent treatment.

  She didn’t forgive Serena exactly, but she understood her. In a very real way, Serena was as trapped there mentally as Katherine was physically. It didn’t help that the girl strongly reminded her of Caleb – not in the looks department, of course – Serena was as dark as Caleb was fair – but in their matching nurturing demeanors.

  Katherine sighed. “Yes,” she finally said, “it does feel better. Thank you, Serena.”

  Serena seemed startled by her response, like for a long moment, she couldn’t believe that Katherine was speaking to her again. Then her eyes lit up as brightly as the angel her parents always topped the Christmas tree with, and Katherine couldn’t help but feel a little remorseful that she’d stopped speaking to her at all – even if it had only been for less than a day. She knew Serena probably didn’t have too many other people she could talk to within her “pack.” She was probably the girl’s only friend, if they could be considered that.

  “No, thank you,” Serena blurted. Then shook her head, like she was trying to regain her bearings. “I mean, that is, what I meant to say is... I’m glad you’re feeling better.” I’m sorry.

  Katherine softened further. “I know you are.” It’s okay.

  “Serena!” Gerard barked, pulling both girls from their coded conversation. “We need more firewood.”

  Serena glanced at the substantial pile of wood near the fire. She furrowed her brow in confusion. “But-”

  “Did I stutter? Now.”

  Serena offered Katherine the same regretful look she’d been treated to so many times in the past, before nodding at Gerard’s order. “Of course,” she said, standing and hesitatingly shuffling out of the room.

  Katherine didn’t blame her for leaving, but that didn’t stop her stomach from churning with anxiety over the fact that she was being left alone with Gerard. She didn’t think anyone could fault her for feeling that way. The last time Gerard had sent Serena out of the hut, he’d ended up shoving her hand in the fire pit, after all.

  Her already frayed nerves stood to attention when the man slowly made his way over to her usual hang-out in the corner of the hut. He stopped directly in front of her, staring down at her with his arms crossed over his chest. “Do you really think I don’t know what you’re doing?” he asked.

  Katherine frowned. “I’m not doing anything,” she argued, using the wall as a crutch to pull herself to her feet – not out of respect or anything like that, but because she didn’t like the perceived power imbalance of him standing over her. It made her feel smaller than she already was.

  Gerard was quiet for a moment as he eyed her up and down. “You know, Serena never used to question my orders before you showed up. Now, you’ve got her rushing to attend to your every need. Even going behind my back to feed you.” He snorted, shaking his head like he was amused by something. “You know, it’s not going to work.”

  Curiosity and annoyance battled for dominance inside her, but Katherine fought to keep either from showing on her face. “What’s not going to work?” she asked blandly instead.

  Gerard smirked. “Why, turning her against me, of course,” he explained. “Serena’s been under my thumb for as long as I can remember – for as long as she can remember. Poor girl doesn’t know any other way to be.” He said it like it was an accomplishment to be proud of.

  Maybe the full moon did make werewolves crazy, or maybe she just wasn’t up to playing one of Gerard’s little games after what had happened last night, because when Katherine opened her mouth to reply, she didn’t even try to hold her tongue.

  “You know, you’re pathetic,” she spat. “You really think that people can belong to you? You’re nothing but a bully who everyone despises. It’s no wonder why even your father didn’t want anything to do with you.”

  Gerard stiffened “What did you say?” he demanded lowly.

  Katherine knew it was stupid to antagonize the man, but she just couldn’t help herself. There was no point in taking the words back, anyway.

  “I said,” she repeated brazenly, making sure to enunciate each word, “no wonder your father wanted nothing to do with you.”

  Gerard didn’t immediately respond. He just stared. “Serena tell you that?” he eventually asked.

  Katherine shrugged, trying not to lose her nerve at the man’s strange non-reaction. “Maybe,” she admitted. She wasn’t giving away much; it wasn’t like anyone else could have told her.

  Gerard nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. “What else did she tell you?”

  Katherine frowned, but figured that the truth couldn’t dig her into any deeper a hole than she was already in. “That he was nearly as bad a leader as you are. That he killed her mother and father before you managed to take him out.”

  A smile slowly stretched across Gerard’s mouth until his toothy grin easily took up half of his face. He tipped his head back and laughed.

  Katherine gawked, the demented sound of his snickers all she could hear. “What are you laughing at?” she demanded harshly. She recalled the grief that had swathed her when she had thought her mom and dad were dead. Nothing about losing one’s parents was funny.

  Gerard wiped an invisible tear from his eye. “Oh, it’s just amusing is all. That she still thinks that.”

  Katherine frowned. “Thinks what?” she asked, frustration with the way he seemed intent on speaking riddles leaking into her voice.

  “That Dane,” he said, drawing out the name and pointedly refusing to call him his father, “killed her mother.”

  Katherine shifted uncertainly. “But he did... didn’t he?”

  “Nope,” Gerard replied, voice impossibly smug.

  “But Serena said-”

  “She said what she’s been told,” Gerard asserted, interrupting Katherine with a flippant wave of his hand. “What she thinks she knows. You see,” he said, his grin returning to his face – it looked as diabolical as ever – “it was I who killed my poor Auntie Sarah.”

  The air was sucked straight from Katherine’s lungs. “What?” she whispered.

  “Well, how else could I have orchestrated a fight between my father and hers?” he demanded, sounding suddenly angry. “How else could I have ensured Dane was worn down enough to take in an alpha contest? Her mother’s life was an unfortunate, but necessary sacrifice.�
��

  Katherine stared at the man before her, wading in a pool of disbelief that was threatening to drown her. “Necessary sacrifice? She was a person!” Katherine shook her head, utterly disgusted. “But I suppose you wouldn’t know much about that, would you? You’re not one; you’re a monster.”

  Gerard shrugged off the insult. “Call me what you want. I know what it takes to get ahead in this world. Not only did I prove my fool of a father wrong about me, I have everyone in my life exactly where I want them.” A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. “I admit that you’ve been a tough case, but I’m confident that soon enough I’ll have your stubborn little self right where I want it, too.” He leaned in close, his mouth a mere hair’s breath away from her ear as he whispered. “On your back, legs spread wide open, welcoming me into your sweet, little-”

  Katherine lashed out, punching Gerard as hard as she could in the chest with her good hand and attempting to push him away. “Keep dreaming, asshole,” she spat. “I will never willingly submit to you.”

  Gerard easily caught her wrist, and then reached for the other so that he had them both captured in front of him. “Oh, lovely,” he said, like he felt sorry for her inability to keep up, “I never said that you’d be willing.”

  Before Katherine could absorb the implication of his words, Gerard crashed his lips onto hers. It was nothing like the times he teased her by pressing their mouths together. He mashed his lips to hers, invading the cavern of her mouth with his fat tongue. He was so forceful that Katherine nearly choked on it.

  Just because her hands were trapped between their bodies, however, didn’t mean that Katherine was completely helpless. He blocked her from kneeing him in the groin, but she managed to deliver a swift kick to one of his shins before he abruptly spun her around, twisting her wrists behind her back and shoving her belly-first into the wall.

  She cried out as a sharp spark of pain shot through her middle. Gerard ignored her, wrestling her wrists into one hand so that the other could begin working on the clasp of her jeans. Zip. The sound of him unzipping her pants was loud in her ears, his fingers dipping past the waistline of her plain, cotton panties.

  “Let me go!” she yelled, recalling her fighting lessons with Markus and Zane all those months ago, and throwing her head backward as hard as she could.

  “Damn it!”

  Katherine connected with something, and she assumed by Gerard’s cussing that it was probably his nose. The hand inside her underwear disappeared, winding itself in her long, dark hair instead. He pulled, using his grip on it to bend her head backward over his shoulder.

  He ran his tongue over the sensitive skin of her neck before sucking the lobe of her ear into his mouth. Then she felt teeth – sharp, inhuman teeth – scrape against the juncture of her neck, right where her claiming mark was.

  A scream was stuck in the back of Katherine’s throat, desperately wanting to come out, but much like she was, it was trapped.

  “Gerard! Stop!”

  Katherine didn’t immediately comprehend hearing Serena’s voice over the panic taking over her thoughts, but there she was, suddenly tugging on Gerard’s arm.

  Gerard released Katherine, throwing her roughly to the floor – somehow, she managed to get her hands out in front of herself in time to protect her belly from impact – then he backhanded Serena across the face.

  The force of the blow knocked the girl off her feet. A bruise immediately began to bloom over her cheek, and a droplet of blood trickled from her nose. She looked a mix of shocked and heartbroken.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Gerard demanded, voice laced with anger.

  Serena blinked. “I-I don’t...” she mumbled.

  He snorted. “You’re utterly useless. Never mind. You can make up for your indiscretion by helping me with her.”

  Katherine was still trying to catch her breath on the floor – she wasn’t exactly sure at what point during her ordeal that she had apparently decided to stop breathing. Alarm at Gerard’s words, however, had her scrambling to her feet. What did he mean?

  “What do you mean?” Serena asked slowly, voicing Katherine’s question aloud.

  Katherine flinched when Gerard reached out and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her over to the bed in two giant strides and throwing her onto the mattress. “What are you doing?” she asked, voice just this side of shrill.

  Gerard ignored her. “Get the rope that’s laying outside,” he told Serena.

  Katherine’s heart stuttered in her chest. Her escape plan. She tried to get up from the bed, but Gerard wrestled her down, ignoring the way she clawed at his arms and even his face. Ultimately, he was “forced” to sit on her waist, just below her protruding belly, and hold her hands above her head to keep her still.

  Serena stared at the scene with wide, tear-filled eyes when she returned with the rope. “Tie her ankles together,” he ordered succinctly.

  Katherine shot her a beseeching look, desperately wanting to tell Serena what she’d just learned about her parents’ deaths – specifically, who was responsible for them – but she didn’t dare do it in front of Gerard. It was too risky. For all Katherine knew, he’d kill Serena. Or her. Or both of them. So Katherine settled for alternately glaring at Gerard and shooting Serena pleading glances.

  “Now, Serena!” Gerard barked.

  The girl’s betrayal stung when Serena, eyes carefully blank, did as she was ordered.

  “Cut it, then hand it here,” Gerard muttered when Serena was finished. Then, much rougher than his cousin had been, he looped the rope around her wrists – it scratched her burn with each pass and she desperately tried to hold back tears – before tying it in an intricate knot.

  When he was finished, Gerard lowered himself until his face was mere inches from hers, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes. “Surely you didn’t think I’d leave you free to roam about camp during the full moon,” he teased, patting her cheek condescendingly. “Oh, Katherine.” He leaned forward further, still, resting his forehead against hers. “You better hope I don’t come back to finish what I started,” he whispered. “After all, there’s no reasoning with the wolf when he’s in charge.”

  Leaving that one last disgusting threat resounding in her ears, Gerard stood. “Come,” he said, grabbing Serena’s arm. “The full moon is due to rise within the hour.”

  Serena, who’d been quiet ever since saving her from Gerard’s assault and getting backhanded for her efforts, allowed herself to be pulled from the hut.

  Katherine lay there, horizontal in Gerard’s bed, her wrists and ankles bound. Any chance at escape was gone. A violent storm of fury, frustration, and fear swirled within her.

  Katherine screamed.

  * * *

  Katherine screamed until her voice was hoarse.

  While she raged, she thought of Gerard. “I hate you!”

  Bastian. “Where are you?”

  Her pack. “Aren’t you looking for me?”

  Even Serena. “Why won’t you help me?”

  She didn’t stop until another spike of pain enveloped her belly. It was a stark reminder that there was another life at stake other than her own, and she needed to pull herself together. Katherine closed her eyes, willing a sense of calm to encase her.

  She’d been told that screaming could be therapeutic – that it was healthy to release one’s emotions that way. That it alleviated stress and would somehow cause tension to flow serenely from her muscles. But it didn’t do any of those things. All it had done was leave her with a raw, ragged throat and the sticky residue of tears clinging to her face.

  Katherine opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, tracing the crisscross pattern of wood as she begged herself to think of something – anything – to get her out of the damnable situation she found herself in. Unfortunately, she was basically immobile unless she wanted to try to roll off the bed, out of the hut, and into the snow outside. Which, as far as Katherine could tell, would be pointless, and risky to h
er unborn baby.

  She was concerned enough for the little one’s well-being after being shoved so roughly into the wall. Sporadic pain had been lacing through her belly ever since.

  Gerard’s parting threat was also present on her mind. Katherine didn’t want to think that the man was so depraved as to return to the hut in his wolf form and... well, and... like Katherine said, she didn’t want to think it.

  Unfortunately, there was nothing to do at the moment but overthink. And worry.

  She heard constant noises outside – trees and bushes rustling with what Katherine hoped were small critters and not werewolves roaming around camp. An intermittent howl would also reach her ears every so often.

  After countless hours had passed, however, and the animal skin door hadn’t so much as fluttered in the breeze, Katherine’s worry began to wane. Exhaustion – both physical and mental – replaced it. Eventually, it was this bone-deep fatigue that caused her eyes to slowly drift shut, and loll Katherine to sleep.

  Something startled her awake an indeterminable amount of time later.

  Katherine wasn’t sure what it was that awoke her, but the tiny hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end, and her entire body felt tense with something – anticipation, maybe?

  Katherine quickly glanced around the hut, but as far as she could tell, everything looked the same as it had before she had fallen asleep. The hut was still empty except for her, and the outside yet dark – she knew because there was no sunlight peeking in through the bottom of the flap door. It mustn’t have been much past dawn, if even that.

  Then a howl pierced the air. It was loud and commanding, filled with desperation, rage and penetrating intent. More than all that, though, it was intimately familiar.

  The sound was like an electric shock to Katherine’s heart. It began beating madly in her chest, throwing itself against her ribs in the vigor of its sudden liveliness. Could it be...?