by K. R. Smith
When I eventually came out of the bathroom, I heard that Grant was in the bedroom, waiting for me in bed with his bedside lamp still on. I didn’t feel like going to bed and lying down beside him. I knew he would instantly put his arms about me and right then, I didn’t want him to touch me anymore.
Instead, I went downstairs and opened the front door. I walked out into the cold air, as I stood on the small veranda and looked out into the night. It was almost the full moon, I observed.
However I also noticed that the moonlight made my heart pound. I had to suppress the urge to throw off my robe, jump of the veranda and run into the woods! I wanted to hunt and make a kill. The very thought made my stomach rumble. My eyes fluttered closed as I sniffed the night air.
Predominantly I could smell vegetation, but there was the scent of something warm blooded…something that I could hunt…something that I could chase…something that I could kill…something that I could feed on…I could smell the dangerously tempting scent of human again.
This human was a townsperson from Alma which was 7 km’s away. As I sniffed the air again I pictured this human, who smelled Caucasian. Instead of being safely ensconced indoors, this human strolled down the street of the township. I could smell the delicious hormones indicating he was male and he could possibly be large, which meant he would be strong.
Good - large quarry. The greater the challenge, the greater the satisfaction would be over the kill. I licked my lips as I closed my eyes whilst enjoying the sensation of my teeth turning sharp as they grew elongated. My nails hardened into claws and I could feel my body change in excitement!
When I opened my eyes again, the night was lit up as clear as day thanks to my Werewolf sight. With my glowing turquoise eyes, I saw into the dark corners and crevices of the woods as clearly as if it were bright and sunny.
“B.”
Grant’s voice startled me and I whipped my head around to see him standing in the front doorway. He was watching my changes warily. I forced my claws and teeth to retract, as my glowing turquoise eyes dulled to their human dark blue.
“Come inside please.” He said firmly, stepping aside. But I remained where I was, as my predator instincts made me eye him up and down, judging the chances of taking him on. His eyes narrowed as he sensed this. His voice dropped warningly, “B, come inside.”
My rational human brain knew that Grant wasn’t some ‘wife beater’ as I knew he wasn’t about to grab me by the hair to drag me in. However my Lokoti Werewolf instincts also knew that he stood tense and ready, waiting to see if he would have to chase me down if I made a run for Alma.
I knew that it was for the safety of the tribe that my husband would have to stop me, just as it was for the safety of the tribe that Declan stopped me on the boarder. It was for the safety of the tribe that Dad locked me in the bathroom afterwards. It was for the safety of the tribe for the next two nights after it, I was drugged with DYSTAR as well as locked up. If Alma was attacked by a Lokoti Werewolf, the pack as well as the whole of the Lokoti Tribe would suffer for it. It was why I was married off to another Lokoti Werewolf, to prevent this from happening.
“B?”
“I know!” I spat out in frustration. “Hunting human is bad and hunting animal is good! I’m just standing here -”
“Bianca Elm!” He growled out in his rumbling Werewolf voice.
When I turned my head in his direction once more, I saw his glowing silver eyes, glint dangerously. His partial change both excited as well as frightened me.
I could feel it in my blood what Grant was trying to do. He was trying to exert his influence as my mate, over my mind and body; by using our biological bond as my leash. I could feel the pull of his will on my mind and on the blood in my veins, which again divided me into two. One half wanted to obey as the other half wanted to rebel and kill something!
Then I realized something else about my new husband that he was far more cunning than I gave him credit for. While I had been inwardly tossing and turning, he had sidled up and now was firmly holding onto my wrist to prevent my getaway. I may be faster than him, but he was stronger and his grip on my arm was ironclad.
“Let go of me!” I roared in my Werewolf voice.
“Not likely!” He growled back.
Whilst one hand was wrapped around my wrist, his other arm wrapped about my waist. He picked me up and didn’t put me down again until I was inside the house with the front door closed behind.
“I was just standing outside!” I raged whilst trying to pull away but he wouldn’t let go.
“You could smell the human male walking the streets of Alma over 7 km’s away!” He snarled.
My eyes widened in surprise, “you smelled him?”
“Of course I smelled him!” He hissed. “I can control my bloodlust so I may smell him but I’m no longer tempted by him!”
“If you can smell him and I can smell him, then why don’t we both just have him?” I tried to loosen his grip. “We could carry him out of the town so fast that nobody would see us! Nobody would know!”
“Because that man could be somebody’s mate!” He said strongly. “Because that man could be somebody’s brother! That man could be somebody’s father! I lost my father when I was 10 years old and I would not put that on another child’s head!”
That worked…his words hit home. I stopped trying to wriggle out as my face fell and my guilt overrode the bloodlust.
Grant pulled me close as he growled softly in my ear, “it will become easier, B. It will, I promise you.”
I trembled with the excess energy of the bloodlust which wouldn’t go away. I felt like it was pushing me closer and closer to the edge of insanity. I cried out as I tried one last time to pull myself free!
Then to the both of our surprise, I momentarily glowed! It wasn’t just my eyes glowing turquoise, but my skin lit up with a whitish light. I even looked a little blurry as well as bright, as I started to realize that this is how Mum and Gran looked when they went into phase. When a Circulator phased through time or moved in light speed, their biological bodies were for all essential purposes, turned into light.
I almost phased out of his grasp, but his will overrode my concentration. His mind made my mind cloud over, so I couldn’t continue to put myself into phase. Grant was holding onto my wrists more firmly than if they were in handcuffs. His physical strength wasn’t just the only thing holding onto me nor was his will, but his scent suddenly became overpowering too.
“Listen to the sound of my voice B and concentrate on my scent. Don’t listen to the bloodlust but listen to me. It’s why you’re angry just as it’s why you’re restless and hungry, even on a full stomach. Stop fighting me and as soon as you do, it will start to become easier.” He spoke in his deep, supernatural voice which rumbled out like thunder.
I turned from his earthy herb garden smell, as I tried to edge away from him.
“Listen to the sound of my voice. You can hear the sound of the Lokoti Wolf in my voice. Listen to what the he’s saying to you. It’s telling you to be mindful of your people, of your tribe, of your family. By hunting human when it’s not in battle, you are putting your people at risk. The Lokoti Wolf created Aru the first Lokoti Werewolf to help his tribe - your tribe B.” His voice permeated through my body.
“No!” I growled angrily, leaning as far back as I could.
“Listen to me B, listen to my voice, it’s the voice of your mate. My blood is inside of you. You have my scent so concentrate on it. All you have to do is stop fighting me. Stop pulling away, B. All you have to do is stop resisting and the rest will come easily. The rest will come so easily to you. Rest B, rest now.”
His deep Werewolf voice rumbled through my head, making my mind spin, along with his hypnotizing scent.
“No! No!” I started to feel my bloodlust die down, as my physical and mental resistance began to lower.
“You see? Do you feel it, B? Do you see how easy it is? All you have to do is stop fighting me. Stop
fighting and you will be rewarded. Listen to my voice, inhale my scent and I know you can feel my blood inside you. It’s what’s telling you to trust me.”
“No…!” my arms flopped downwards against my control.
Grant pulled me to him as he let out a deep sigh of relief whilst he held a more pliable wife in his arms. The tension completely slipped away from my back and my shoulders as my hardened Werewolf muscle bulk slipped away. Whilst I morphed back into my human softness, he growled tenderly as he ran his hands up and down my back.
I felt him revert back into his smaller human shape, as he began to gently kiss my neck again. I closed my eyes as I inhaled his strong scent whilst I let go of the last of my misgivings.
“Shhh…shhh…rest B…rest now.” He whispered in my ear.
He began to lead me away from the door towards the staircase. The fog that had drifted over my mind now began to blur my eyesight as I felt myself half-carried up the stairs.
“No Grant, no!” I whimpered, as I futilely tried to shake off his will over my mind, just as I tried to shake off his physical hold.
“It’s time to sleep now, B. It’s time for you to rest.” He guided me into our bedroom.
I had never seen a bed look so welcoming before with its snuggly quilt. I slid in between the clean sheets, stretching out into the invitingly warm space before I tucked my face into the pillow. He instantly hopped in behind as he ran his warm hand up and down my back.
“Sleep now, B. You’re tired and you need your rest.” He spoke softly whilst smoothing back my hair.
Grant’s influence functioned like a light switch inside my mind; I ‘clicked’ from a state of consciousness into one of unconsciousness…
…
… and when I opened my eyes again? For a first in the past three days, I woke up alone. He wasn’t in bed, nor was he in the room.
I raised my head to look about, thinking that things looked a little brighter than usual. Hang on, what time is it? I turned my head towards the digital clock on his nightstand which read 10.33 AM. I’ve certainly slept in! Usually my body clock woke me up at eight as did Grant’s so no wonder he’s no longer in bed.
When I sat upright, I paused. My keen hearing picked up somebody talking downstairs and I recognized it was Grant.
“Last night was almost a full moon and B changed to go gunning into town again.” I heard my husband say unhappily.
“And how has she been besides last night?” I heard Grandfather ask, indicating he was downstairs too.
“Fine,” he answered, “she had been adjusting to the transition just fine, until last night.”
“Tell us what happened.” I heard Dad’s voice, showing he was here as well.
“We had dinner and then we did the dishes. We had a slight…well, I wouldn’t call it an argument but she got annoyed. She went for her evening shower then after the shower instead of coming to bed, she went downstairs to stand on the veranda. I sensed her bloodlust begin to boil, so I came out. B could smell a townsperson in Alma and when I asked her to come inside; she became confrontational. I had to use my will on her to muddle her mind which bought me time to bring her inside. Then she begged me to let her go or even go with her after the townsperson. I had to use every bit of will power I had, to calm her down enough to put her to bed.” He told the older men.
Dad sighed out, “that’s the Circulator in her. Whenever Jess gets angry, she gets itchy feet. The Circulator way of tackling a problem is to run away from it. It’s why B went outside.”
“She probably went out on the veranda to look at the stars.” Grandfather added on. “Arabella likes to do that. I think it’s because they’re Light People who come from the place of light, just as they’re destined to return to that place.”
“Jess enjoys that too…stargazing. Circulators belong to the space time continuum however it sounds like the Werewolf part of B kicked in, when she smelled the townsperson.” Dad said seriously.
“Bianca isn’t ready to go hunting tonight.” Grant proclaimed.
“But this will be her second change!” Dad objected. “She has to start learning to hunt animal instead of human.”
“Last night when B changed, I nearly lost control of her and it wasn’t yet a full moon. With tonight being the first night of the full moon, I don’t think my will alone can hold her. I don’t think I can steer her towards animal flesh yet.” He sighed disappointedly.
There was a minute’s silence before Grandfather said concerned, “I’ll get Arabella to bring back more DYSTAR from Circulate HQ on Mars.”
“Does your bathroom lock on the outside as well as the inside?” Dad asked Grant.
“No, but that fact will change today.” My husband promised. “Can a wooden door hold her even if it’s locked?”
“With my back against it, it will.” Dad said determinedly.
“No Hunter,” he interrupted, “I’ll stay with her tonight.”
“I think we’ll ALL stay with her tonight and tomorrow night and the night after it.” Grandfather declared. “When the full moon is over, I’ll teach her how to control her changing as I start teaching her to hunt animal.”
“To prepare her for the next full moon?” Dad guessed his plan.
“It’s how my Grandfather taught me and how I taught Julian.” He told the younger men. “By teaching B how to control herself without the full moon making her bloodlust peak? She’ll be able to concentrate better. When Julian first changed, he wasn’t as fast as B, so I was able to take him on his first hunt immediately. With the will of the pack, we were able to convert his bloodlust from hungering human to craving animal. But I think because B is a Circulator and their bio-electromagnetic fields are different, it can disrupt our will so it loses its potency. That’s how B escaped the pack the first night she changed, as well as her running away at light speed.”
“My Dad taught me that way too.” My father agreed. “He taught me how to control my change in between full moons by taking me hunting when the bloodlust wasn’t at its peak.”
“And that’s how you and Ian also taught me when I first changed.” Grant said to Dad.
“Grant.” He spoke in a serious tone of voice. “What Em just said about a Circulator’s bio-electromagnetic field disrupting a Werewolf’s will is true as well. Jess is pretty good at deflecting my will over her from time to time. It’s how she managed to live away from me during those three months when she was pregnant. Jess became aware of what I was doing and it hardened her resolve. It’s why she purposefully avoided me by living and training in England. Jess started to become aware that when she was around me, my will could pervade her mind. B isn’t consciously aware of the Lokoti Werewolf will yet, so you have that going for you. But the more you’re around her, it will help increase your biological and mental meld with each other.”
“I won’t let her out of my sight.” My husband said firmly.
There was another moment of silence as I heard my grandfather and father walk towards the front door.
“We’ll be back at sunset.” Grandfather said as his farewell.
I listened to them leave the house, with Grant shutting the front door behind. Next, I overheard their car doors open as they climbed in to start up their engines. I heard both Dad’s and Grandfather’s four-wheel-drive vehicles roar to life, before they reversed out of the driveway. Lastly, I listened to the sound of their engines disappear down the hill.
My stomach sunk as my mouth fell open with dismay…I’m still a liability, even after this whole arranged marriage debacle. I’m a shame on my family because I’m still a killer. Mating me to Grant Elm wasn’t working - he said so himself! But what was more disturbing, was my own father and even my grandfather, were encouraging him to use some sort of mind trick on me!
Dad was even giving him frickin’ pointers on his technique, by using his own experience on my mother! This was so wrong, it was disgusting! It even sounded like Grandfather wasn’t above using it on Gran now and then! Well they
can all go to HELL!
I leapt out of bed to quickly change into my everyday clothes. However just as I sat on the side of the bed, to pull on my socks and shoes; the bedroom door opened with Grant carrying in a cup of coffee.
“Good morning.” He smiled cheerfully. “I thought I heard you were up, how did you sleep?”
I remained quiet as I finished fastening my boots.
“Oh.” His face fell. “Not well, huh? Um, I made you a coffee…” he walked over to put it on my bedside table. He watched what I was doing. “Er B, it looks like you’re going somewhere?”
“I’m going for a walk!” I stood up to march out of the bedroom.
“A walk?” He quickly followed after. “OK hang on a sec, I’ll just grab my keys. We could walk down to the general store if you feel up to it? I was going to go there anyways.”
“Why, to buy a lock to put on the outside of the bathroom door?” I flashed him a hurt look, before I stormed down the stairs towards the front door.
I marched off the veranda and down the driveway towards the road. I was stomping, full-steam ahead with a worried husband trailing after. Grant just managed to grab his keys, lock the front door behind us and then he followed me down the hill.
“Oh, you heard that, huh? Listen B, I can explain -” he tried to offer but I cut him off.
“I’m not listening to you!” I put my hands over my ears.
“Don’t be foolish!” He laughed as he easily fell into step beside my angry form. “You’ve got it all wrong -”
“Don’t follow me!” I whirled around to put up my hands to stop him. “Don’t talk to me and don’t be around me! Do you know what I want to do right now Grant Elm?”
“Er what?”
“March over to my grandmother’s as well as my mother’s house and tell them what I heard my father and even my own grandfather tell you!” I shouted . “Mind tricks?! Mind control?! What are we, frickin’ sheep?!”
