by CC Solomon
“I didn’t ask for your help. Let go of my wrists.”
He removed his hands. “You have a dependent until you find Ella. Having your name and face out there might put you in danger. Chelsea and I simply want to protect you. You can still have a say behind the scenes.”
“Sounds like crap to me. Who told you to do this? We didn’t even talk about it?”
“Chelsea cares about you.”
“It was her idea?” Why would she suggest that without telling me? Something was wrong. Was Phillip lying? I’d feel it if he were. Wouldn’t I? What was Chelsea up to? Was this some elaborate plan to turn me against Phillip so she could get her revenge on him for killing her boyfriend? Now that would make sense. It still didn’t explain why Phillip was being so gullible.
He was a smart man. Smarter than me, and I hated to admit it. He also knew me well enough now to know this plan of his wouldn’t fly. Again, this was all assuming he was really taking this action to protect me. It just made no sense he wouldn’t talk to me about it.
Had Chelsea bit Phillip and placed him under her control with her bite? Vampires could do such things. However, it wasn’t a long-lasting control unless the vampire bit the person again. But Phillip was strong; even her bite shouldn’t have been enough to control him. I was going to have to confront Chelsea.
Before confronting Chelsea, I needed to donate my blood. Phillip offered to help me, but my anger at him prevented me from wanting his assistance. Instead, Carter volunteered.
We headed back to my apartment, so I could lay eyes on Erik and avoid him sending out a search party for me since I’d forgotten to email him when I arrived back into town.
“How is Raya doing?” I asked along the way.
“She’s doing okay. Some days are better than others, but she hasn’t gone off the deep end so whatever Phillip did is working. He’s really turning into an all right dude,” Carter stated.
I side eyed him, struggling to keep a neutral face. “Yeah, I guess.”
We continued small talk as we headed to my apartment. When we got off the elevator and headed to the apartment, we found Brandon sitting on the floor outside of our place, his knees gathered close to his chest, and his hands covering his ears.
I squatted down to face him. “What’s wrong, Brandon? Why are you out—”
A loud, wall shaking thump, like furniture being thrown, interrupted my sentence. Brandon shook, and I stood up, grabbing him by the hand and taking him with me. I moved him behind me and stood back from the door.
“That came from inside,” Carter moved closer to the door.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Another loud thump.
Carter scrunched his face. “It smells like urine.”
I looked to Brandon, who looked up at me with wide eyes. “He did it,” the little boy said in a soft voice, eyes wide with fear.
I looked back to the door.
“It’s from a were,” Carter said before grabbing the doorknob. “Keep Brandon back. I’m opening the door.”
I pushed Brandon further down the hallway, noticing for the first-time open doors as our neighbors peeked out to investigate the commotion.
“Is there an attack?” An elderly were-puma named Elaine asked. I recognized her as a daycare provider for the town. She was fiercely protective of the little kids and surprisingly strong for her age, but I attributed that to her paranormal ability.
“Ms. Elaine, can you please go inside and watch Brandon?” I begged her with urgency in my voice.
She nodded and reached out for Brandon without question. I also gave her the bag of blood bags to watch, which she didn’t question.
“No,” Brandon cried, shrugging away from Elaine and clinging to me. “I want to stay with you.”
I sighed before turning back to Brandon and kneeling back in front of him. “Listen, honey, I need you to go in with Ms. Elaine and be good. I need to help Carter. Do not leave this apartment for any reason. I will come straight here when we are done. You understand?”
The little boy pouted but nodded his head.
I waited until the two of them walked back in her apartment, closed the door, and clicked the lock before I raced down the hall back to my apartment.
Once inside, I looked in shock at my place. The apartment looked like an indoor tornado had hit it. Furniture was tossed and broken. The walls were marked and dented, and the hardwood floor was scratched. I looked at the kitchen and saw it wasn’t much better off. Dishes were broken, and the cabinet doors were hanging off the hinges.
Standing before me, in the middle of the living room, stood an almost eight-foot-tall monstrosity with golden fur, thick, black claws and wide mouth holding sharp fangs the size of my fingers. He was shaped like a human except for the fur, claws, and head. His head was that of a jackal, giving him the appearance of a less regal Anubis from ancient Egyptian mythology.
This was Erik in all his nightmarish werejackal glory.
Damn it. My heart stopped for the briefest of moments. This couldn’t be happening.
“Stay back, Amina,” Carter ordered with a careful voice, appearing by my side.
The thing that was Erik looked over to us with wild eyes, his irises no longer human but the orange of the jackal. Those eyes were alien to me, and not because they were no longer his human hazel, but because they were wild and confused. I’d never seen that in him before.
He was currently holding a dining room chair and, he ripped it apart as if it were made of paper, tossing the broken furniture pieces to the side before he looked for another item to destroy. He snarled and snapped at us and Carter threw out a protective arm in front of me in a weak attempt to protect me. Unless that arm was made of steel and could expand to cover my whole body, it would do nothing. Then again, Carter was a shapeshifter, so maybe it could.
“He’s sick,” Carter guessed.
“Don’t say that,” I still eyed my jackal. I wasn’t in denial; I was sure he was going loupe, but he was my mate and part of The Six. I couldn’t give up on him. I wouldn’t let Seth kill him.
“Others are coming,” Carter announced, hearing noise from the hallway.
“We can’t let anyone else see him like this. Tell them Erik got mad because he thought I cheated on him.” I walked around Carter’s arm and moved forward.
Carter frowned. “What? What the hell are you doing?”
I kept walking. “Protecting him,” I replied before whispering a teleportation spell and reappearing behind Erik. I touched his furry back and teleported away again.
Once we reappeared beyond the confines of the walled city in the snow-covered wooded area, I let go of Erik and ran back to what I’d like to call a respectable distance. However, I realized he could cover the distance between us in one leap. I’d need to teleport to even hope to get away from him, and there was only so much I could do then because teleportation was an energy zapping activity. Even if I teleported away, I would only be leaving him in the wild to either harm someone or get himself killed if the town found out. I prayed Carter had our backs and would stick with my lie.
I looked to Erik and gave my best glare. He was an alpha, but my five-foot-five frame could try to out-alpha him. “Erik! Calm the hell down.”
Erik’s snarling stopped, but he was still hunched over, breathing rapidly and ready to pounce. He glared at me like he wanted to eat me, which I suppose he did. That was not good. None of it was good. If Seth even suspected Erik had gone loupe or regressed, he would kill him. I couldn’t have that. We had to fix this and cure him.
How had I not known? Sure, I’d been spending most of the week away from him trying to find a cure, but when he seemed fine earlier except for a bit of cold. But it’d only been for a short while, and most of my time back had been spent with Brandon.
A sick feeling fell over me. I had to do something.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” I began. I opened my fingers and poured healing magic towards him. I couldn’t c
ure him, but I could calm him down and stop anymore progression, assuming there was any more to be had. “You’re acting like an asshole. You destroyed our place. You scared Brandon. Pull yourself together before I turn you into a frog and box you.”
He took a step towards me. Maybe insulting him wasn’t the way to go.
“Get it together, grumpy.” I continued to aim my magic his way, not sure if it was really working but beginning to feel a tad weak.
Erik kept his inhuman glare on me, but his breathing was slowing down.
He lifted his head towards the sky and sniffed the air. He then leaned towards me, still sniffing. What was that about?
His eyes were predatory now instead of consumed with rage, and I began to wonder whether our mate bond would really protect me. “Ok, Mister, snap out of it,” I shouted to my jackal.
Well, big surprise, my yelling did not get him to come to his senses. Instead, he rushed towards me in a blur of furry movement.
“Oh, shit,” I cried before rushing out the teleportation words.
I reappeared on top of a heavy branch of a giant oak tree. My heart beating loudly in my ears as I shook from the close call. He was inches from almost biting me. Clinging to the trunk of the tree and peering down at the ground, I’d hoped I’d lost him. Below, a massive blur of golden fur zoomed about the clean, white snow, and my heart leapt in my throat. Dear God, Erik was horrifying in his were form. I’d seen him this way so very rarely, just the way I liked it.
The ball of fur paused at the base of my tree, and I saw the golden jackal eyes peer up at me. My soul tried to rush out of my body, and I clutched the puffy fabric of my coat in a silly attempt to keep it in. Could jackals climb trees? I wasn’t even sure if humans could climb a tree this tall. But Erik wasn’t just a jackal, and he wasn’t just a human. He was a were, a lycanthrope, a freaking paranormal who was currently climbing a tree with eyes laser focused on me.
I waited for him to climb as high as I could stand, still pouring my healing magic out towards him before I teleported to another hidden spot in the woods. I knew it wouldn’t be hidden for long. He would sniff me out, and playing cat and mouse was only going to last so long with me. My magic had to work, but then again, why would it? It hadn’t for anyone else yet. I was being naively hopeful, but I couldn’t let go. I wouldn’t.
I held my breath, listening for the wild movements of Erik, the beast. Nothing. Not good. He was stalking me. I would peer around the tree, and he would be there to knock my head right off, then he’d realize what he did and be upset, Charles would be broken hearted and Phillip would try to kill him, assuming he survived. The first soulmates would win. It’d be a whole thing.
I shook my head quickly, eliminating that option from my mind and rolling away the cold creeping over me. My adrenaline wasn’t quite keeping me warm.
I teleported to the backyard of a dilapidated three-story house I was sure used to be a large, beautiful home once since this neighborhood was formerly upscale. I had to keep moving until I figured this all out. To stay still would make me a sitting du-
A large body from my right side knocked me to the ground, pinning me down with a massive arm across my chest. I looked up at the jackal eyes and screamed, sure this was it for me. I struggled beneath him and pushed at his arm, but it was like lifting a large barbell off my chest, I was surprised I wasn’t crushed.
He leaned in and sniffed my face, hair, the crook of my neck, hot air from his large nostrils blowing down on me. I shut my eyes and poured my power over him in a last-ditch effort to preserve my life.
A rough wetness slicked the side of my face, his tongue. “Please don’t eat me, please don’t eat me,” I murmured over and over again, squeezing my eyes even tighter. My magic had to work. He was my mate, damn it. I could teleport away, but he was connected to me, so he’d come with. I could magically control him to stop, but that magic didn’t seem to work on the infected.
Seconds passed and soon, I heard what sounded like a shifting of bones and other movements that my terrified mind could not make out. When I finally opened my eyes, I saw a very naked Erik crouched over me. He was back in human form, except the jackal eyes, claws, and teeth. Yep, still pretty horrifying.
He did not seem himself as his eyes roamed over me with a look that showed more than curiosity. There was a fire in his alien eyes, and my eyes snapped below his sculpted stomach to see he was definitely aroused. Oh no, he looked like he was in heat. We still had some time before the full moon. Was this part of the loupism?
He tore at my coat, trying to get it off of me and I swatted at his hands. He then yanked at the waistband of my pants, and I slapped him across the face. His upper lip turned up in a snarl, but he stopped himself, looking down at me with confusion and hurt eyes.
“You need to calm down,” I yelled in a stern voice, fully aware that telling someone to calm down had only worked in the history of never.
He moved in to kiss me or bite my head off, I didn’t know, and I pushed at his chest with my hand.
“Normally, I love kissing you and doing other things, but your fangs would probably rip my face off. Also, it’s stupid cold out here, and you are naked, you’ll get sick. Oh yeah, and you are kind of going loupe although you seem to be getting better. Let me pour some more healing magic into you. If you could back up just a bit so I can do my thing, that would be great.”
He didn’t move, only frowned down at me. I sighed and leaned up slowly towards him, catching a nice full view of his neither region which was still at full attention. Surprising, considering we were in the snow and freezing temperatures.
I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “Please, Erik. Let me help you.”
He rubbed his cheek against mine.
“Since you clearly aren’t trying to speak right now, I’ll take that as you’re fine with me working my magic.”
“Damn it, what the hell?” Came a familiar voice cry from behind Erik.
Phillip.
I peered around Erik and saw Phillip shielding his eyes with his hands. “I thought you were in danger. What did I walk in on? Some type of kinky sex thing? It’s too cold for all this shit.”
Erik turned towards him, still pinning me down, and growled.
“You okay?” Phillip asked me.
Erik let out another growl.
“I think so. You should go. I think you’re making him angry.”
“I heard there was some commotion at your place.” Phillip pointed to Erik. “He doesn’t look right.”
“I’m trying to heal him. You know, maybe you can help me?” Our soulmate magic together might help move this all along since my healing of Erik was moving at the speed of snail.
Phillip gave an exaggerated sigh and walked forward.
Erik stood up and faced Phillip, blocking me. He was ready to pounce at any moment, and I could tell it wasn’t so he could sniff him.
“You come at me, and I’ll set your ass on fire,” Phillip barked.
Erik gave another growl.
“Don’t you dare,” I demanded, getting up.
“I’m not dying for him, Amina.”
“I’m not telling you to.” I moved slightly from behind Erik, and my jackal moved back in front of me. “If you hurt him, I’ll never forgive you. I might even die.” I didn’t know if that was true, but since Erik and I were joined as mates, it was entirely possible.
Phillip rolled his eyes. “Fuck my life. Fine.” He threw out his hands, and I did the same as we poured our healing magic into Erik, who looked between us very confused.
“Thank you.”
“Healing would be easier if he had clothes on,” Phillip muttered.
I paused and conjured a pair of sweatpants, a shirt, and sneakers from Erik’s closet. I pushed them out towards Erik, who only looked at them before looking back up at me, eyes not giving away any emotion or recognition.
“Put them on, please,” I said, hoping he understood.
He didn’t move, only lo
oked at me with those animal eyes.
“He doesn’t understand you,” Phillip stated, his face in a scowl.
“Ya, think?”
“Let’s get this over with.”
I went back to pouring my power into the naked Erik, and we continued like this for several minutes. I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, I felt exhausted, and my body ached. However, Erik’s claws and fangs soon receded.
“I think he’s better now,” I stated in a quiet voice.
“How do you know?” Phillip asked. “His eyes are still all jackal. He could still be extremely dangerous.”
“He was in animal form earlier. I think he’s better.”
“He’s standing naked in the snow unaffected, and he can’t even speak. He is not better, Amina. He is infected and if others find out they’ll—”
Erik threw out a hand to stop us. “I’m fine, thank you,” his voice was hoarse. He lowered down and grabbed the clothes I’d given him, putting them on.
“Did we just possibly cure an infected person?” Phillip questioned, eyebrows raised.
I shrugged. “It might be because he’s part of The Six. We’ve tried to help others, and it’s never worked. Thank you for coming and helping us, Phillip. Can you do a bit of damage control with Seth? Use magic if you have to, I don’t care. Tell them that it was all about a love triangle feud. That’s what I told Carter to do.”
“I guess but,” Phillip started, looking over to Erik getting dressed. “This doesn’t feel right. He looks better, but I don’t know if he actually is. I can’t leave you with him.”
“I won’t hurt her,” Erik stated in a voice deeper than normal. “Whatever you both did, it helped.”
“Thank you, Phillip. You really came through.” Maybe he wasn’t as troubled as Ed and Mercy believed. He really was just infatuated with Chelsea. I hoped it was that way, but I didn’t really believe it.
“Any time. I’ll always have your back, Amina. I hope you know that.” His eyes were serious and sad. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” He glanced over to Erik.
