by Multiple
Ming gasped, blinked twice. Was he really upset that he hadn't killed as many Weres as she had? Did he feel like a lesser man because of that?
“Jason, I'm a Werewolf. You're a human man.”
“You're a woman, a nurturer. I'm a man, a protector.”
“You're a fool,” she blurted out, unable to stop herself. Feeling bad about his mother's death and not destroying his step-father while the monster was at full strength was one thing, a little understandable, even, but this?
“You killed two Werewolves, Jason, two! During the moon cycle, at that!” She paced back and forth, flinging her arms wildly, the stupidity of his self-doubt working her into a fit of fury. “No human man should have been able to take on one Werewolf the way you did—let alone two—and walk away! I didn't even have to help you, and you didn't have to use your magic!”
His features had started to soften, his muscles relaxing as she sang his praises, but the minute she said magic his eyes darkened, his mouth compressed into a thin line as he clenched his jaw tight.
“I don't have magic,” he ground out from behind tightly gritted teeth. “Getting the bullet out of you was a fluke.”
She frowned, clearly remembering the way he'd extracted the piece of silver. “How was that a fluke? You knew exactly what you wanted to do and did it.”
“I thought this was a dream so I tried it and it worked. I can't do it now.” He glanced down at his feet, twin spots of color dotting his cheeks. “I tried to use it during the fight with the Weres and nothing happened. I can't move anything with my mind.”
“Because you don't believe in yourself.” Now it made sense. People were more susceptible to believing unimaginable things while dreaming. When he'd thought himself in a dream, Jason's faith in what he could do was strong. But now he knew he was awake, he didn't have enough faith in himself to use his magic. “Jason, you have a powerful gift.”
“It's not a gift!” His eyes narrowed on her. “It's useless.”
Ming cocked her head and studied the tortured male before her. His entire body tensed, his breath came in quick, deep bursts. His green eyes barely contained fury as his nostrils flared.
“You tried to move something with your mind before, when you really, really needed to.” Her heart sank as the pieces started to come together. “Your ability failed you then and ever since—”
Jason shoved his hands into his front pockets and turned away. With head bowed, his shoulders sagged in defeat.
“What happened, Jason? What couldn't you move? Please tell me.”
“I tried to put my mother's body back together.”
She gasped on a sob as the image of his broken and battered mother slammed into her mind. She could see it clearly right down to the shards of bone protruding from the woman's scalp and the pool of blood beneath her. In the image, a younger version of Jason knelt before his deceased mother, trying desperately to fix her body with his mind, but the blood wouldn't seep back inside, her skull and skin wouldn't knit together.
She reached him a heartbeat later, and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek along the ridge of his spine. “Oh, Jason, I'm so sorry. You couldn't have saved her that way. It's not your fault.”
He jerked away, and Ming had to quickly right herself to avoid falling face-first to the ground.
“I told you what you wanted to know.” He turned to face her, his jaw set in rigid determination. “Now tell me where I am and how to get out of here.”
Dark fury rolled off him in waves, and Ming squared her shoulders, prepared for battle. “I can tell you, but you can't just up and leave.”
“I'm not staying.” He took a step closer, his features remained hardened. “I am not putting you in any further danger. Now tell me where I am so I at least have a fighting chance when I walk away.”
“Fine, I'll tell you and then you'll realize you have nowhere to go.” Ming tilted her head so she could look him dead in the eye. “Have you noticed we haven't eaten anything, yet you aren't hungry? The days and nights roll by quickly and you've not felt the need to use the bathroom in all this time?”
His brow furrowed and he blinked, clearly realizing these things for the first time. “You're right. How is that possible?”
“Because time and reality have been distorted in order to bring you here, now, and the only way you can leave this realm is to be released, or to die. And no matter what crazy ideas you have spinning through your mind, I don’t intend to let you die.”
Chapter Eight
“What the hell are you talking about? What realm am I in, and how did you bring me here?” Jason’s voice elevated with each word, his dark glare burned through her skin.
“You were brought here thanks to my big mouth,” Ming conceded. She scratched her head and wondered how to best explain the realm to Jason. “My brother was about to pick males for a pack fight. Whoever won would mate with me. I begged him to let me go and he got mad. When he demanded to know why I refused to mate freely each moon cycle like the others in our pack, I told him I'd already found my destined mate and if he'd let me—”
Warm fingertips touched her jaw and the words caught in her throat.
Jason's emerald green eyes hosted a variety of emotions as they stared down into hers. “Destined mate? What is that?”
She distinctly heard jealousy in his tone and fought down the wave of hope starting to flare to life inside her. They'd mated twice, during the week of the full moon, no less. Yet, he hadn't given her a vow and her brother was right. Receiving a vow on the night the moon was at its fullest didn't happen often, and when it did it generally happened between two Weres, not a Were and a human. She could kiss her vow goodbye.
“A destined mate is the one person you're designed for, a soul mate.”
His eyes widened, his fingers fell away from her face. “And you’ve found yours?”
She swallowed hard, searching for a way to tell him without making him run. “You, Jason. That's why I could always find you on the astral plane. Our spirits have been bonded since before our births, but—” His eyes continued to widen as she spoke, “—you ultimately have the choice and you've made yours. You didn't claim me.” She turned away, let out a sigh to calm her fragile nerves and take back the tears threatening to fall.
Her composure regained, she straightened her shoulders and faced him again. “I told Rong I'd already met my destined mate and if he'd give me the chance to be with you in the flesh—” Her cheeks flushed with heat, embarrassment swallowing her whole. “I just wanted the chance to see if I could get a vow before being forced to mate with the pack males. Even Rong can’t force a bonded female to breed with someone who isn't her true mate.”
Jason shook his head, rubbing his fingers along the frown lines in his brow. “So I'm this destined mate of yours, and somehow you and Rong brought me here to mate with you, thus freeing you from having to sleep with the pack males?”
“The White Wolf brought you here.” Ming shivered, remembering the beautiful wolf who'd appeared out of thin air, letting out the most hauntingly beautiful howl she'd ever heard.
“What white wolf?”
“The White Wolf,” she answered. “The only white Werewolf. She's sort of a spirit mother to all of the Were packs. She heard my plea and appeared before us in the clearing. She looked at us with those amethyst colored eyes of hers and seemed to stare right inside us. She made a deal with us, and once Rong and I finished stating our terms, she used her magic to distort time and brought you here through the Njeri realm.”
Jason cocked his head. “What is that?”
“It's a realm used by The White Wolf and very powerful sorcerers. It allows a person to be in two places at one time, and distorts time and reality to mask the effect.”
“That doesn't make any sense.”
“It's magic, Jason. Being a human, you search for fact and logic in everything. If you were a Were, you'd accept it easily.” She shrugge
d her shoulders, at a loss how to explain any better. “Just know that The White Wolf brought you here for a reason. She's not going to let you go if you leave me here.”
Jason let out a frustrated sigh. “How long will I be held here?”
“Until the moon cycle ends, we mate, or a male takes the place of Rong as pack leader. Whichever happens first.”
“We already mated.” Jason frowned, his eyes narrowed in obvious confusion.
“No. We had sex. Obviously, despite us being designed for each other, you don't want to be with me.”
He opened his mouth, but Ming held up her hand to cut him off. “It's fine. You can't force yourself to feel something that isn't there. I can accept it.” It hurt like hell, but she wasn't going to throw a tantrum about it. “Time moves faster with you in this realm, as you've noticed. You'll grow tired and sleep about the same as you normally do, but you don't feel hunger or thirst as much here. I think it has something to do with the fact that whatever happens to your body here, happens there. If you were packing in the food while in this realm, it wouldn't be good for your body since time is practically at a stand-still in the realm you live in. Eating three meals a day for a week could do some serious damage when, in reality, only a few minutes have passed.”
Jason placed his hands on his lean hips and cocked his head to the side. “If what you're saying is true, and I'm following correctly, my body is in a cell right now. I'm sleeping there while all this is happening here. Right?”
“Yes.”
“Why would I get tired here if I'm already resting there? We've slept twice.”
“Your mind is working hard here.” She shrugged, not fully understanding the reasoning, herself, but she was a Werewolf. She'd learned a long time ago not to question magic. Easier to accept it and go on. “I guess your mind can only take so much, so you have to rest here to compensate. The point is, leaving me isn't the answer. It won't help me at all if you go off alone.”
“No matter what I do, they're going to come for you.” His lips thinned into a hard line.
“Afraid so.”
“And they'll never stop?”
“Not as long as I'm not mated and Rong is in charge.” She stared at him, wishing the magic words, which would bind them together as one for all eternity, would spill from his mouth, but it seemed fate had played a cruel joke on her. She'd been given a soul mate who couldn't find it in his heart to love her.
She turned away and found a large rock to sit on. The sun had started its descent while she'd explained the Njeri realm to Jason, but her feathered friends hadn't sent her any warnings. She looked to the sky, searching for them as Jason sat next to her on the rock.
“I do care for you, Ming.”
But you don't love me. She sighed, hating the apology in his tone. “It's all right, Jason.”
“No, it's not. Look. If I was a different person, if my situation were different—”
“What are you talking about?” She gave up on her search for the hawks to face him fully.
“If what you say about this realm is true, I'm going to wake up in a prison cell after we—if we—survive this moon cycle here. I can't give you this vow you speak of. I can't ask you to marry me when my life, my real life, is going to be spent behind bars.”
Ming realized what he was thinking and smiled. “Jason, you don't understand. The moon vow is not something you decide to do. It's pulled from you during the moon cycle, ripped straight from your heart and soul, and you can't force it.”
“So it's a vow I can't even make the conscious decision to give?”
“Pretty much.” She let out another sigh, fighting the urge to throw herself a little pity party. “I'm not upset with you. It's not your fault the vow didn't happen.”
“Then why do I feel so damn bad about it?” He picked up a pebble and tossed it. “If we survive this moon cycle, and your brother lives, he's going to hunt you down while I'm locked away where I can't possibly help. Am I right?”
“Probably.”
“Would you hate me if I killed him for you while I'm here?”
Ming sucked in a breath, her heart constricting, and gazed at the man who'd been the subject of her hopes and dreams for nearly her entire life. “I could never hate you, but I don't want you to feel the need to do something like that for me. You still feel guilt over killing your step-father though he deserved it. I don't want you to feel any worse because of something you’d do for me.”
Jason shook his head. “I feel guilt for not killing that bastard before he killed my mother, just like I'll always feel guilty if I let your brother do anything to hurt you.”
Ming bit her lip, studied the intensity in Jason's eyes. She'd wished for someone to overtake Rong and become the new pack leader, but she couldn't kill him. For one, a female couldn't lead the pack. If she killed him, the pack would disband and that wouldn't be good. Rogue Weres generally caused trouble wherever they roamed. Second, she couldn't do it. Rong obviously didn't care about her. He had killed their father for a taste of power, but she couldn't bring herself to kill her twin.
She couldn't ask Jason to do it, either, even if it would keep her from having to breed. “I appreciate the offer, Jason, but I'll handle this myself. I don't want you harmed because of me, physically or emotionally.”
“I've already lost my mother to one psycho. I'll never forgive myself if I lose you, too. That is what would hurt me, Ming. Regardless of this moon vow you speak of, I didn't lie about caring for you.”
He pushed a piece of hair away from her forehead and leaned in. His lips were soft on hers, but firm. Ming knew she should push him away, talk sense into him. She couldn't allow him to risk his life for her, especially when she wasn't worthy of a vow from him, but she couldn't break the kiss. She craved him too much and knew they wouldn't have many more moments like this.
The moon was at its fullest tonight. The chances of a vow given by a human to a Were under the full moon were next to nothing. This would be their last night together. If they survived, Jason would wake up in his cell in the morning, and he wouldn't remember a thing if he wasn't mated to her. Because she cared so deeply for him, she'd do the right thing and leave him alone.
She heard the snap of a twig and smelled Weres. But, before she could open her eyes, pain exploded through the back of her head, and she fell limply to the ground wondering why the hawks hadn't warned her and Jason that their enemies had found them.
Chapter Nine
Ming bit through cloth to grind her teeth against the pain throbbing through her head and side and opened her eyes. Her heart leapt into her throat as Jason came into view, bloody and battered, slumped on the ground, and bound by chains to the cave wall. His head hung forward, limp and way too close to lifeless for Ming's liking. She tried to call out to him, but couldn't get her voice past the rag tied around her mouth.
“Awake, I see.”
She jerked her head to the side to see Rong dressed in all black, with his long, silken hair tied at the nape of his neck. He sat at a small table, eating a piece of meat, complete with feathers. Oh, no.
“Your little friends are rather tasty.” He licked his lips before offering a devilish smile, and flung the morsel aside, allowing her former friend's carcass to hit the cave wall. “But a wolf can only eat so many birds in one day, especially when that day is rolling along at such high speed thanks to you and your lover.”
A tear trickled from Ming's eye as a bout of nausea rolled through her stomach. Her friends, who'd helped her unselfishly, had been killed because of her.
You sick bastard. I hope you burn in hell.
“Now, now, sister dear.” Rong wiped his hands on a napkin and stood. “Remember your loyalties. I am your pack leader, whether you approve or not, and if you didn't want me to kill your little friends, you shouldn't have used them to help hide you.”
Ming lunged for him, but couldn't break free of the shackles binding her to the wall opposite
Jason. Pain stabbed through her waist and she looked down to see Jason's silver blade lodged in her side. She couldn't even shift.
“You will obey me, Ming.” Rong snarled as he stood before her, just out of her limited reach. “And you will breed for the pack. Tonight.”
Never.
A knowing smile parted his lips and lent a spark of evil to his eyes. “You don't have a choice. I won. Your man did not give you the vow, and I am still in authority so when the moon takes position, there will be a pack fight between the strongest males. The winner will mate with you while I appease the losers by offering up a feast of roasted human.”
A growl ripped through the cave, and Ming glanced past her brother to see Jason rise to a stand, pulling against the chains with all his strength. His eyes held the promise of death as they locked onto Rong.
“How sweet,” Rong laughed. “Your little human wishes to defend your honor, yet can't muster up a moon vow.”
Jason lunged forward, but the chains wouldn't allow him to reach Rong. He struggled to talk, but his words were restrained by the cloth in his mouth. Only angry growls escaped it.
“It's almost time,” Rong announced, ignoring Jason’s growls and rattling chains. “I'll leave you two to anticipate the night's events.” With his back shaking in laughter, Rong stepped toward the mouth of the cave.
This isn't fair, Rong! I still have tonight's moon! I can still get my vow! Please, give me that chance!
No. Rong stopped at the exit to stare at her, his dark eyes devoid of empathy. I've won this fight, and with those gags in your mouths, there will be no vow made tonight, so don’t get your hopes up for your release. I’m doing this for you, so you understand your place, your duty as a pack member.
He turned and stepped out of the cave.
~~~
Evil bastard, Jason thought as he pulled against the chains. No use. He couldn't break the heavy metal.
