by Leia Stone
I grinned. “Alright, see you tonight, then.”
She nodded and stepped back into line with Walsh behind me, back on guard duty.
Now that I’d shifted, I was feeling confident that Sawyer’s plan tonight would totally work. I would stay in my apartment while he took my wolf on a run with the pack. Maybe this freak creature that I was didn’t need to be a bad thing. Maybe I could have the best of both worlds…
Later that night, when Sawyer knocked on the door a little earlier than planned, I was nervous but ready. I’d just been adjusting the aperture setting on my camera to practice shooting products.
Opening the door, I grinned at him. “Hey.”
His face was stock still, no emotion. “Hey.” He was hiding something behind his back.
Flowers? No. Not with that face.
“Everything okay?” I hedged, my eyes going to Walsh in the hallway.
You rat! Probably told him I almost shifted in public today.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
I stepped aside, letting him fully into the apartment.
“Look, I know today wasn’t ideal but—”
“But you almost showed everyone what you are,” he growled as I shut the door behind him.
I frowned, suddenly getting pissed. “What am I, Sawyer? Because I can’t seem to figure it out seeing as though all of the books are missing from the library and you won’t tell me what the fuck is going on!”
He sighed, pulling a torn book page from behind his back and handing it to me. “I remember reading it when I was twelve. It scared the shit out of me. Gave me nightmares for weeks.”
I grabbed the torn paper with a shaky hand, stroking the image stamped on the upper half of the page. It was a girl on her knees, screaming up at the moon while a wolf crawled out of her chest.
“I think this is what you are,” Sawyer said, and reached up to stroke my cheek. “If anyone were to find out about this … about you…”
I grasped the page and started to read.
The Cursed One is a creature born of the werewolf race, who goes through a trauma so severe it causes a soul splice.
The soul splice is a process that happens to a werewolf creature when they go through a disturbance so horrifying in human form, that their wolf splits from their soul, standing outside the human’s body so that they don’t have to experience or remember it.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I swallowed a sob and kept reading. My rape. My soul split so that I didn’t have to experience the full extent of that night.
In doing so, this creates a magical vacuum, sucking into itself all kinds of magic from the ethers. When the wolf re-enters the human, they are never fully fused, now able to split shift, stay human and wolf, walking side by side. But eventually the magic the creature has taken in starts to express itself. Mental compulsion, telekinesis, strength and speed ten times that of a vampire—
My eyes darted to the final line. The word death pulling at my attention.
These creatures are like a powerful drug to all six types of the magical races. If their essence is fed upon, they give the feeder extreme strength, speed, and all of the powers they possess. It has been determined that they are too strong and dangerous to be allowed to live. They would be hunted their whole life, which is an inhumane way to exist, and no one should have that much power. It is recommended by the Magical Creature Council that they be put to death, and is referenced in werewolf bylaw 390.01: Any Split Shifter Cursed Ones discovered will be put to death.
I dropped the page and it fluttered to the ground like a delicate feather and not the dangerous and heavy thing that it was. My hands shook as tears lined my eyes.
Sawyer stepped closer to me, still one arm behind his back, and held me as I sobbed into his chest.
“Demi…”
I pulled back and looked up at him, his expression painful. “Did … something traumatic happen to you when you were younger? Something like the book says?”
He was trying to figure out if I met all the requirements of this cursed creature.
I just nodded, and his shoulders sank.
My mind was playing catch up. “Our kiss. The vibrating … the light.”
He gulped, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I think the vibrating was your essence. I think I accidently…” He released a shaky breath. “Fed on you.”
“The prime minister…” My voice trailed off and he nodded.
The fey must have sensed what I was and tried to…
I shivered thinking about it.
“I’m never going to let anything bad happen to you. Do you understand me?” His voice was a low growl and I nodded.
I believed him. By some trick of fate, this dude liked me and wanted to protect me.
“The light?” I asked him, so completely lost.
A slight smile pulled at his lips as he stroked my cheek. “That was something else.”
There was a knock at the door, pulling us from this moment. “Everyone is ready to run! Meet us outside,” Sage shouted and then retreating footsteps could be heard down the hall.
His lips turned into a frown. “Remember when I said I was going to have to do something you didn’t like? But that I needed you to trust me?”
My brows drew together as I looked up at him and nodded.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered as the bite of steel came around my left wrist.
No.
Before I knew what was happening, he reached out and slammed a cuff on my right. Searing green magic flared up my arms as I fell to my knees, gasping.
He … he caged me. Imprisoned me all over again, I couldn’t believe it. My wolf rattled against me, shaking my chest as pelts of fur rippled down my arms, but it was no use. She was trapped. There was no electric shock so these cuffs must be different, but it didn’t matter, they were still cuffs.
A sob caught in my throat as I looked up at a tortured-looking Sawyer. He looked on the verge of tears, holding the sides of his face like he couldn’t believe he’d just done this.
He fell to his knees before me, looking absolutely distraught. “I’m trying to keep you alive, if my father, or—”
“Fuck you!” I screamed, a half sob and half howl. Tears rolled down my face as the realization that I would be trapped as a human forever tore into me. But it wasn’t just that … it was that the man I’d been falling for had done this to me, without asking. Would I have let him if he had asked? No. My wolf wouldn’t have allowed it, but to not be given a choice…
“Demi.” His voice broke. “I like you so fucking much, I just—”
“Get out!” I roared, reaching out to plant my palms on his chest and shoving him backward. He landed on his butt and I sprang up to my feet, running into my bedroom and slamming the door behind me. What was the point of me even coming here? What was the point of him “freeing” me only to be bound once again?
It’s like I was back at Delphi, back inside a cage where I couldn’t be myself.
He knocked on the bedroom door a few times but I barely heard him through my sobbing into the pillow.
The next two weeks dragged on painfully slow. Everyone and their fucking mother had heard about Sawyer cuffing me. Rumors swirled about me not being able to control my wolf, or about me attacking someone and that’s why he had to cuff me. But the best rumor was that he had in fact found out that I was an assassin and I wore these cuffs to keep from killing him.
Fuck my life.
Sage was so confused, kept asking me why Sawyer would do that and pried for more information, but I was too depressed to tell her everything. If this was my life now, caged inside my body, I’d better get used to it and there was no sense in telling her now.
Sawyer had sent approximately one giant bouquet of flowers per day since he cuffed me, and it was getting to the point where I couldn’t walk around my apartment. He’d even been commenting all these cute apologetic things on my Instagram photos. Sage was ignoring her cousin in solidarity on my behalf, and I was
turning down date requests from him daily. Let him go out with the other nineteen girls; I couldn’t be with a man who wanted to see me imprisoned, even if it was because he thought he was protecting me. This was no way to live, especially after getting my taste of freedom.
Yesterday I’d found out that I made the top twenty.
Yay. Cue sarcasm.
“I’ve got a surprise for you tonight.” Sage turned to me as I pushed my eggs around my plate. Sawyer was eating breakfast with Meredith and Priya, while not so casually sneaking glances back at me. Today I was wearing a custom t-shirt Raven had made me that said Feeling Stabby with a little wolf cartoon holding a knife.
It perfectly displayed my mood. Raven and my parents sent weekly care packages with human candy I didn’t get in Werewolf City, and we talked often, but I was starting to feel lonely and homesick.
“I hate surprises,” I informed her as I watched Sawyer take a drink of his orange juice. Even his jawline was attractive.
Asshole.
Sage waved her hand in front of me. “Hello.”
My gaze snapped to hers. “What?”
“You’re going to like this surprise. Trust me.” She grinned. She was such a good friend, doing her best to take my mind off of the fact that I was a prisoner in my own body.
Giving her a weak smile, I stood. “Okay. Thanks. I gotta run. See you later.”
She frowned. “Yeah … later, Demi.”
When I got to class, I immediately threw myself into my art. Taking pictures was the only thing keeping me sane right now. I’d talked Sage into letting me do a series of four shots of her a few weeks ago and they all turned out amazing. Her vibrant red hair against the muted background I’d chosen was perfect.
“These are impressive, Miss Calloway,” Professor Woods spoke from behind me as I laid the prints out on my desk.
“Thanks. I was thinking of doing a nature series next.”
He nodded. “Well, you might just get your wish, because today we are all going on a field trip with Professor Hines’ class after lunch.”
Excitement thrummed through me. “Where are we going?”
Please say something cool like to snap pictures of a cemetery or something.
“The Dark Forest.” He winked and moved on to the next student.
It sounded ominous, but I had no idea what the Dark Forest was.
“Holy shit,” Chris whisper-screamed from behind me. “The Dark Forest? I wonder how the alpha approved that?”
I spun, stepping over to his and James’ shared table as I fiddled with my wide-angle lens. “What do you mean? Is it haunted or something?” I whispered back.
Chris chuckled. “Yeah, by wolf rebels and hybrids that want to cut our throats out.”
I froze, looking up at him. “What?”
Chris and James shared a look that said “Aww, the cute blond is an idiot,” before leaning back into me. “Seriously? Your parents didn’t tell you about the Paladin family? Or the Ithaki?”
The whati? Hadn’t Sage mentioned the Paladins at the welcome dinner?
I shook my head. “Who are the Paladins?” Sounded like some made up fantasy stuff to me.
Chris chortled. “The original alpha royals. Before the Hudson family stole the crown.”
James slapped him on the chest. “That’s not true, they weren’t royal, just badass. Back when you became alpha by fighting, and not by bloodline.”
My eyes bugged. “And they are still alive?”
James nodded. “They live in the woods like animals. I heard they don’t even have plumbing or toilets. They attack us every once in a while, but obviously our army is stronger.”
Holy crap. Between the vampires and these … Paladin’s, Wolf City was way more dangerous than I thought.
“And the other group? The Itakie?”
Chris laughed. “Ithaki. They’re worse than the Paladins, they—”
“Okay, class!”
Before I could respond, Professor Woods called our attention to the front and I pushed what James had said to the back of my mind.
“Please finish up any work you have in the darkroom today and post your final pieces in the display cases out in the hall. The staff will be voting on who should be showcased in the end-of-year exhibit.”
We scurried to get our work together, James running into the darkroom and Chris mounting his photos to the blackboard. I snatched up my prints of Sage and slipped out into the hall to tack them up into the cases. I decided to keep them raw with no border or anything fancy, let Sage be the beautiful part of the piece.
Reaching the first case, I flipped the lock and opened it up, pulling some of the pins out and sticking them on the corners of the photo. I was halfway through my second photo when I smelled him.
My heart hammered in my chest as I ignored the footfalls and earthy scent of sexy almost-alpha male. I’d singlehandedly avoided being alone with him for two weeks, but I guess my time was up.
“Demi?” His voice held mock shock, “Weird seeing you here. We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
I positioned a pin between my fingers and spun, pointing it at him threateningly. “You’re pre-med. You have no classes in this building, which means you’re stalking me.”
His face fell and he sighed deeply as he stared at the cuffs on my wrists. “Demi, you’ve been ignoring me…”
I scoffed. “Sawyer, you imprisoned me!” I held up a cuffed arm and shook it in front of his face.
He stepped closer to me and I held the pin up, narrowing my gaze at him.
He produced his arm, shoving it right in front of my face. “Go ahead. Stab me if it will make you feel better.”
I snort-laughed, I couldn’t help it. He was funny and fucking adorable. “Eugene will kill me.” I gestured to the giant man standing thirty paces back who was trying to pretend he wasn’t looking at us.
Sawyer shook his head. “No. I deserve it. Quick, before I change my mind.” He mock flinched as if anticipating great pain.
Part of me really wanted to drive this pin into his fucking arm for what he did to me and my wolf.
So I did.
Without thinking, I rammed the pin into his arm, only stopping when he hissed. We both yanked back at the same time.
“Holy shit! You really stabbed me.” He looked at me with half wonder, half amusement.
I snorted, falling into peals of laughter, and looked at the end of the pin. “This has your blood on it. I could take it to a witch and make a nice voodoo doll to cause you even more pain.”
A seriousness clouded his face. “Oh, Demi, nothing would cause me more pain than knowing I hurt you and your wolf.”
My gaze went to the red pinprick dot of blood on his arm which had already crusted over and healed. He reached out, slowly, giving me time to back away, and grasped the bottom of my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Will you let me explain? Meet me for dinner tonight?” He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and I swallowed hard.
I knew what he was going to say, that he was trying to protect me. I’d read the book page. It said that I should be put to death; they even put it in the bylaws. But to have him force the cuffs on me, against my will, it was like being raped all over again.
“There’s more you need to know…” He looked over his shoulder to make sure we were still alone. “I’ve got one shot at picking the perfect mate and I don’t want to fuck that up with you.”
The air charged with electricity.
Wait, what? What did that mean? That he thought I might be the perfect mate?
My head spun with his words as he leaned in and whispered into my ear. “Meet me tonight? My dorm? I’ll cook for you. Don’t make me beg. I will if I have to.”
There was something so incredibly sexy about a dominant future alpha saying they would beg for you. With a shaky breath, I nodded and he started to pull away, which made me realize I didn’t want him to go. His smell, his heat, his everything. I needed it.
I wrapped my fing
ers behind his neck, crushing my lips to his. A moan let loose from his throat as I slipped my tongue into his mouth and stroked against his own. Reaching out with my teeth, I nipped his bottom lip harder than I normally would and then pulled back to meet his searing blue eyes. “If you ever force something on me again without talking to me first…” I shoved one of my cuffs in his face to indicate what I meant. “I’m done.”
His brow furrowed. “If it means I’ve saved your life, then it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
Now it was my turn to furrow my brow. Did he really think someone would kill me because of what I was? His dad, his sweet dad who I’d met and seemed as alpha as a stuffed teddy bear would kill me over some bylaw? But the blazing yellow protective eyes that stared back at me said yes, he did believe that, and maybe I should too.
Fuck.
I released him and he plucked the pin out of my fingers. “I’ll be confiscating this, Miss Calloway. No voodoo dolls for you. I’ll see you tonight. After Sage’s surprise.”
I grinned and watched him walk away, more confused than ever before. How did he know about Sage’s surprise? I thought they weren’t talking.
Maybe Sawyer knew more than he let on and maybe he had saved my life. Maybe binding my wolf had stopped the scent or whatever was leading the vampires to me. Shit, I didn’t know what to think anymore. But I couldn’t wait until dinnertime to find out.
The drive to the Dark Forest took about half an hour. It was beautiful to weave through the mountains, houses topped high on the hills, verdant green trees dotting the landscape. When we reached a small access road, the school bus took a hard left and I clutched my seat to keep from tipping into Walsh.
“Now, the waterfall assignment is broad. I don’t want to stifle anyone’s creativity, so if you want to hike to the top and take a picture looking down in a bird’s eye view or whatever, it’s fine with us.” Professor Woods looked at Professor Hines, who shared a conspiratorial wink. They would make a cute couple. Lord knows they were always batting eyes at each other.
