The muscles beneath his sweaty skin quivered as his human form tried to take control from the wolf. His heart rate was quick, blood flowing through his veins to circulate each limb as bones healed back into place. He kept his hazel hues on the young female as he rubbed his crimson stained palms against the dirt of the cave’s floor. Once his hands were significantly cleaner, he pulled his fresh jeans over his hips and buttoned them.
It had been a close call, and maybe he wasn’t thinking straight when he acted on impulse. All Dimitri could be sure of was that no more ursithropes deserved to die because of his alpha’s hatred. He’d failed to save Liam, but a part of him was grateful that he hadn’t allowed the same to happen to another innocent person.
Lifting his eyes towards the ceiling of the cave, Dimitri attempted to catch his breath. He should have known that Breslin wouldn’t stop after just one kill. His alpha felt threatened by the ursithropes and he wanted to ‘take care of the problem’. That’s how Breslin resolved everything; by murder, but sending his beta, Thomas, to carry out the act had been a stupid move.
Thomas should have known it would be a suicide mission. He should have realized I wouldn’t let it happen again.
Dimitri still felt that it was his fault Liam died. He never should have expressed interest in leaving the pack-but that was how a pack operated. If he wished to be with someone who wasn’t in his pack-and definitely someone who wasn’t a lycanthrope-he had to seek permission from his alpha. He never should’ve said a damn word.
Technically, Breslin wasn’t his alpha. Dimitri was more than aware that he was only adopted into the pack because he had nowhere else to go. His parents were killed when he was a young boy and Breslin took pity on him. Dimitri wouldn’t have survived this long if it hadn’t been for Breslin taking him in as one of his own.
It still gave him no right to kill Liam, he thought as he tugged a clean t-shirt over his head and glanced at the female.
They will come for me now, he frowned. Such betrayal is punished with death.
A part of him didn’t care. Death would be welcomed with open arms if it meant he could be reunited with Liam. He missed him so much. If only he’d been faster….
He eased himself down beside the girl, listening to her steady heartbeat as his head fell back against the moist wall of the cave. His elbows rested against his knees as he closed his eyes and Liam’s face came to mind.
“I want to be with you,” Liam murmured as he traced his fingertips over Dimitri’s jawline.
Dimitri touched his jaw, remembering how gentle his mate’s touch was.
“I don’t care what anyone else says, I love you. You’re my missing piece, Dimitri. Complete me, forever and for always.”
His brows furrowed as he felt his shattered heart throb with longing for the other male.
“I’ll complete you,” Dimitri promised as he rested his forehead to Liam’s. “Forever and for always.”
He could feel the burn in his nostrils as the onset of tears flooded his eyes. He kept his lashes tight against his cheeks as the hole in his chest expanded.
“Forever and for always,” he whispered.
Life for Dimitri had never been easy. He was so young when his parents died. He couldn’t even recall what they looked like. There were moments when he wished he could remember his mother’s smile or the scent of his father’s cologne-but when he tried to think about them, he could only draw a blank.
Breslin was the only family he knew, even if they weren’t related by blood. He gave him a pack to belong to, food, and shelter. There wasn’t much more that a wolf could ask for-except for one thing, perhaps. The one thing he’d found with Liam. The glue that brought all the pieces together and helped life to make sense. The reason for his existence.
Even the smallest of creatures could form a monogamous relationship that lasted for a life time. The termite, for example. The termite queen selects a king to help give birth to their entire kingdom, she remains faithful to him for the remainder of her life and he will do the same for her. Swans select mates to live out their days with, and penguins, too. There were a lot of animals in nature that lived for that one love. The one piece that completed their puzzle. Liam had been that piece for Dimitri. It didn’t matter that Liam was a man, or that he was an ursithrope. What mattered was how Liam made him feel.
It wasn’t fair.
“This isn’t natural,” Breslin growled as he stared at Dimitri from across the table. The rest of the pack remained silent as the alpha voiced his decision. “You are to breed with a female lycanthrope and continue this pack, Dimitri. I will not allow you to mate to a male, in which you cannot reproduce.”
“I do not want to be with a female,” Dimitri argued bravely. He could feel the eyes of the pack on him. They probably thought he was being too bold, but he would stand his ground. “I want to be with my mate.”
“I will not allow it,” Breslin promised as he straightened up in his seat. “You do not have my permission to mate with anyone outside of our pack and that is final.”
Dimitri was not willing to give up without a fight. Breslin could not run his life for him. The alpha was trying to force him into a heterosexual union and Dimitri couldn’t blind his heart for the sake of reproduction. He couldn’t do it for the sake of Breslin’s ‘laws’.
“I do not seek your permission then,” Dimitri stated as he stood from the table. “I love him. I want to be with him.”
“You dare to disobey me?” Breslin challenged. “After all I have done for you?”
Dimitri lifted his chin as he gazed at the older male, watching the anger brew in his silver eyes. “Yes.”
“Perhaps you did not hear me the first time, Dimitri. I will not permit you to mate with someone who is not from our pack, and I will most certainly not approve of another male.”
Dimitri frowned as he gazed at him and then he shook his head slowly. “It is already done.”
That’s where he had made his mistake. He never should have told Breslin it was already done. He should have left quietly and then asked Liam to run away with him.
Liam wouldn’t have run away though. Unlike Dimitri, he did have a family. A real family who cared about him and would miss him if he disappeared.
And now that family mourns for him and it is my fault, he thought sadly as he lifted his hand to run his fingers through dark red hair. It is my fault Liam is dead.
His train of thought derailed when he heard the soft whimper sounding from the girl and he immediately leaned over her with concern etched on his handsome face. He watched her eyes moving back and forth behind closed lids and he frowned.
“Hey,” he urged gently as he nudged her shoulder with his hand. “Wake up.”
She mumbled as she swatted at his hand, rolling onto her side. He lifted a brow as he nudged her upper back. “I’m serious. Wake up.”
He knew, deep down, he had done the right thing by saving her life. Breslin had made it clear that he would wipe out the existence of ursithropes in Tennessee and claim their territory as his own. The alpha was nearly psychotic when it came to marking his turf.
He knew that ursithropes and lycanthropes were supposed to be enemies, but if that was the case, he wanted someone to explain how he’d fallen in love with Liam. If it wasn’t natural, then how was it possible?
The soft groan sounding from the female pulled him from his thoughts again as he gazed down at her once more.
“You need to wake up,” he insisted as he moved his hand down to smack her cheek gently with his palm. “I’ve got to get you to a safer place.”
He watched as her eyes finally opened. They were as green as freshly cut grass in the summer time. He could almost see his reflection in her gaze as her eyes widened. She sat up quickly, nearly knocking him backwards as she looked around.
“What the hell happened?” She demanded as she moved her arms to hug around herself. “Who are you? Why am I here? I..” she seemed so confused as she lifted her fingers to the ba
ck of her head, wincing. “Ow.”
“You’re hurt,” he offered as he leaned around her to examine the back of her head. He didn’t see a wound, but there was dried blood that served as evidence to a cut that had previously been there. “You must’ve hit your head pretty hard, but don’t worry. It’s nearly healed.”
“Nearly healed?” She asked with a small scoff. “I’m not Wonder Woman.”
Dimitri pulled back to gaze at her again, lifting a brow. “No, but you’re an ursithrope, are you not? You heal just as quickly as I do.” He lowered his gaze to the gash on the top of his left hand. Thomas had taken a nice bite out of his paw before he managed to kill him.
“An ursi-what?” She asked quizzically.
Both brows shot up high on Dimitri’s forehead as he stared at her. She wasn’t serious, was she?
“Did you receive a concussion?” He pondered aloud as he shifted to sit in front of her. He kept his eyes on her face, already well aware that the only thing she was wearing was the oversized t-shirt that reeked of a male ursithrope. The scent was similar to Liam’s, and he was confident her mate was related to him.
“Judging by how much it hurts, I’d say I knocked the dickens out of it,” she muttered as she reached her hand back to touch the tender area. “Am I bleeding?”
Again, Dimitri leaned over until he could get a better look at the back of her head, even though he’d already done so once. “No, the bleeding’s already stopped.”
When she didn’t respond, Dimitri pulled away to meet her gaze. He wasn’t sure what to make of the expression on her face, but it was a mix of confusion and distrust.
“Who are you and why are we in a cave?” She asked.
“I’m Dimitri and I’ve brought you here for safety,” he nodded. “But we’ll have to move soon or else they’ll find us.”
“Who will find us?”
“My pack.”
“What do you mean, ‘my pack’?”
“My pack,” he repeated impatiently. “My alpha. My family?”
He could almost see the gears working in her mind as the girl’s mouth fell open and before he had a chance to say anything else, her fist found a good sized rock nearby and it was colliding with his temple.
Dimitri cried out from a combination of surprise and pain as he fell back, reaching his hand up to cradle the side of his head.
“Why did you do that?!” He asked as he closed his eyes, groaning from the splitting headache he’d just received.
“You’re the wolf!” She exclaimed as she struggled to stand up. “You tried to kill me!”
“No, I didn’t!” He argued as he opened one eye to look at her, feeling the hot blood that was trickling down the side of his face. “I saved you.”
So this was what he got for betraying his pack and saving an ursithrope? Pain pulsated through his head as he moved onto his knees, trying to push himself up with one hand as he felt his inner wolf desperately trying to resurface.
No, no. Stay calm! He pleaded as he steadied his breathing. She’s only frightened of us.
But the sudden kick to his ribs made the wolf howl with anger and Dimitri clenched his teeth as he fought the change. She was making it unbelievably difficult for him to protect her from his beast when she was attacking him.
“Ah!” She cried out.
Dimitri’s head lifted quickly, forgetting his own pain temporarily as he watched the girl fall to her knees. He could see the muscles tensing beneath her soft skin as her eyes widened to the size of saucers, but this time something else was scaring her. Her mouth fell open but no sound escaped as her back arched and a tear slid down her cheek.
Oh no. No, no, he pleaded silently as he kept his eyes on her. She was going to shift on him. It would be a recipe for disaster if she changed while he was battling to cling onto his human form. He had only been able to save her because he didn’t feel threatened at the time, but if he came face to face with her as a bear, the outcome could possibly be very different.
“Control it,” he ordered as he moved closer to her. “You can’t do this right now. Please.”
“Get away from me!” She shrieked before crying out in agony. “Get away!”
Dimitri’s heart was pumping more blood through his veins in anticipation of his change. He moved his hands to cup her face. “Please listen to me. You can’t change right now. You’ve got to fight it, do you understand? You’ve got to calm down.”
He watched as she gazed at him with such intense fear in her eyes. She reminded him of a puppy who just heard thunder for the first time.
“What’s happening to me?” She asked weakly as tears rolled down her reddened cheeks.
It was then that realization donned on Dimitri and his hands dropped from her face. A frown formed on his lips as he shook his head slowly.
“You really don’t have any idea what you are, do you?” He asked.
The girl couldn’t respond and he understood why. She was fighting the beast that longed to take control, and he knew all too well how hard of a fight that could be.
“Just focus on something else,” he said calmly as he reached his hand out to rest against her shoulder. He could feel her body as it trembled violently and the muscles beneath were tightening. He imagined it was painful for her.
“What’s happening to me?!” She screamed as she threw herself forward, fingertips digging into the dirt as she clawed at the ground’s surface. “It hurts!”
“I know,” he whispered as he tried to massage the muscles of her shoulder. He knew it probably didn’t help, but he was trying. “Just focus on something else. Something that will keep you grounded. What about your mate? Tell me about your mate.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” she gasped as the bones in her hands began to crack. “Make it stop.”
“I don’t know how to make it stop,” he confessed as he frowned. “Don’t you have a mate?”
“No!” She bellowed as she suddenly fell to the ground, curling up into the fetal position as the tips of her fingers broke open and long claws began to protrude through. “Oh God, make it stop!” She screamed. “What’s happening?”
Dimitri was at a loss for words as he saw the thick white fur growing on her arms. Her skin was beginning to swell and he knew the change was going to happen no matter what. He also understood it was partially his fault for not being able to keep her calm. He was messing up left and right, wasn’t he?
He’d almost forgotten his own battle until he felt his spine breaking and he let out a grunt, collapsing against the cave floor. He slammed his fist through a nearby stone and felt it break from the force. No, no. I have to stay human for her! He pleaded with the wolf, trying to reason with him as the bones in his legs began to break and shift. Please don’t do this. She’s not our enemy!
A low growl sounded from deep within his chest as he turned his head away from her, still clinging to the last bit of humanity in his mind as his incisors extended. He could hear the whines escaping from the she-bear as her transition neared completion and as much as he wanted to look at her, he couldn’t. He could still fight the wolf. He could still win.
Listen to me, he begged. She means us no harm. She is new to all of this just as I once was. She needs to harmonize with her beast as I have done with you. Give her the chance. Give me the chance to right the wrongs our pack has done against her kind.
I am protecting us, his wolf insisted. I cannot defend you if you keep me locked away. She isn’t able to control her urges.
He knew the wolf had a point, and it was with that reasoning that he finally allowed the wolf to envelope his soul. Within only a few seconds, the large red wolf was standing proudly before the white bear who cowered against the cave wall. She was much bigger than him, but she was terrified.
The scent of her fear was stronger than any other smell in the moment, which explained why Dimitri didn’t notice they weren’t alone. His ears perked up immediately when he heard the angry growls coming f
rom the entrance of the cave.
The red wolf turned his head to see the two enormous bears standing there, and they looked very, very angry.
Ten
This was not how Mrs. Bamey imagined Presley’s homecoming turning out. Her recent spike in blood pressure could most certainly be blamed on the tension between her husband and Arnold Goult, though she wasn’t sure why Arnold was so apprehensive about revealing the girl’s heritage to her. She’d been patient and understanding when Pierce passed away, and she’d been beyond livid when Caroline abandoned her only cub. What sort of mother could do that? Mrs. Bamey had never been able to come up with a reasonable explanation as to why her childhood friend had done such a thing. It was common for humans, perhaps, but never for an ursithrope. Cubs were the most crucial part of their existence. Charlotte would’ve never given up her boys.
Her precious boys. Her heart still ached for Liam and there was a sadness deeply embedded within her soul; a sadness that would never go away. Losing one of her cubs damn near killed her. Of course she was angry at the ones responsible for his death, but she had to remain strong for Lorcan’s sake. She couldn’t let her son see her be weak when he depended on her to be so strong. It was what a good mother would do for her child.
Their numbers had dwindled in Kadenburg over the last few years, and it seemed that only Charlotte and her husband were concerned about it. The ursithropes, at one time, flourished in the small town, but that changed drastically when the threat of lycanthropes became real. Charlotte had never gone head to head with one before, but she remembered seeing them at ‘town meetings’. She could remember the judgment in their eyes and how cold they had been towards her and her fellow ursithropes. She knew the dangers that always followed close behind the wolves, and she had hoped her sons would never have to deal with the brutal, blood-thirsty monsters.
Since their creation in the late 1800’s, the ursithropes decided to migrate in large groups to different parts of the world, where they could exist peacefully among humans and uphold the laws of Urseth. Unlike the bears that lived before them, they decided solitary lifestyles would be too dangerous for an individual ursithrope-either male or female. The continuation of their kind depended on families inhabiting the same areas, and mating their sons and daughters together.
The Truth About Kadenburg Page 8
