Ch. 31

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

~Avery:

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I heard the knock at my door. Lost room service? The bad guys who attacked before? No - professional killers wouldn’t knock, would they? But when his voice came through the door my heart soared with hope I didn’t want.

My knees quaked as I stood there, overwhelmed by it all. Questions raided my mind, my ears filled with the sound of my heart pumping blood, my breathing hitched.

When he spoke again I seemed to wake up from the panic, the relief, the joy - everything - enough to move again. My mind raced for something to hold on to. For something to carry me out of this. A flash of what we had done together out by the cabin came to mind, and it gave me my resolve. I needed to be strong, to be in control. I needed to push him away once and for all. For everyone’s safety.

When he looked at me through the crack in the door it took everything I had not to just rush him, pull him close. But I would not let go of what I knew to be right. The right road isn’t usually the easy one.

So he came in and I snapped, using my anger as a shield, keeping up appearances as best as I could. But he got under my skin, he knew what he was doing and I reacted anyway! And before I knew it I was fighting my magic, focusing on the pain in my palms to not let loose and hurt some nearby person.

I blinked and he was holding me. I stood in shock, thoughts spinning, my internal voice telling me to step away, to not let him cross this boundary, and finally my instincts reacting totally differently. I shuddered from our touch, and melted into him.

“Freckles, it’s going to be okay, just talk to me,” his voice rumbled through his chest and directly into my bones.

I blinked back tears not even knowing where they came from. Anger? Sadness? A mix of things?

He leaned back and examined my face, his hands cupping my cheeks and gently steading me to face him.

I looked back at him for a while trying to figure out what to do, what to say, how to feel about all of this. A brief memory of the Moon Goddess came to mind, what she had told me. Could it really be that simple? I blinked, absorbing the feeling of his attention and skin contact, so much so I closed my eyes to it.

He seemed to calm me and electrify me at the same time. I did a quick assessment of my body’s reaction to him. Could I really try this? Could I really risk this.

I felt his stance shift and warmth spread through me as he kissed me softly on my forehead. So different from his last possessive, greedy kiss. This was gentle and full of affection like I’ve never had before.

He let go and I opened my eyes to look at him. This time with new eyes. My mind still yelled at me to protect my heart, to shield the world from my dangerous emotions, but the voice got so small over the thrumming in my blood that pushed me to try.

Try.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say. His eyes scrunched a little, listening intently.

We stood there for two minutes past normal conversation timing. He wasn’t saying anything at all and the urge to fill the space built up until I spoke again, words rushing from my mouth.

“I’m sorry I left like that. I just - I always do that. It’s normal, it’s my life, what I’ve done for years. I run, I live alone, I do it again - I don’t know what to do with this,” I gestured wildly between the two of us. I rambled more as I paced the room, pulling on my hair. “It’s just all too much too fast, I thought I was the only one and then you come along and blow that all up, and I should have known that I wasn’t the only one - but okay sure, I could have met someone like me, but no, I met you. And then Beth’s guy said all these crazy things and you said intense things - and then those dreams - and how could I not have run?! I don’t even know you and it’s like the whole world is pushing us together! How can I trust that?!” the ending punctuated by my marching back over to where he stood.

“Okay, that’s a lot to unpack,” he said, dropping dramatically to the bed.

I crossed my arms at that.

He sat up and sighed, analyzing me for a moment. “I’m not sure we have time to go through any one of those, let alone all of them.”

His hand rubbed the back of his head, his nervous tick.

It was my turn to stand stoically and push him to fill the silence. I didn’t move an inch, waiting for him to give me some answer to something.

“Freckles, I’d love to figure all this out with you, but we really have got to get going. It’s not safe here. If I could find you, there’s no telling how close behind the Lycaon are,” he rested his hands on his knees, pressing them slightly, reminding me of how I clench my fists when I’m trying to hold something in.

“What are you holding back?” I asked abruptly.

His eyebrow raised, “What?”

“What are you fighting down?” I asked again.

His eyes flickered to black. “Me,” a voice said from Drake’s mouth.

But it was raspier, deeper than Drake’s.

“Your wolf?” I asked, my eyes narrowing, my feet moving on their own, closer to where he sat.

My curiosity got the best of me as I honed in on his black eyes. They seemed wilder from up close. His cinnamon smell seemed much stronger all of a sudden, making me feel like I was baking something myself. Our faces neared as I studied his predatory gaze.

“Your wolf can talk?” I asked breathlessly, our faces mere inches apart, his breath sending feelings to my every nerve ending.

“Dane,” his dark raspy tone corrected.

“Dane,” I repeated, my tongue tasting the name as I said it.

He surged forward then, pulling me to him, my nose grazing his, my legs somehow straddled around his torso. An involuntary gasp escaped my mouth. I couldn’t hear myself think over the rushing in my ears, the heat spreading from my abdomen.

He grinned wildly, “Yes my beautiful, vicious mate.”

I swallowed, unable to do anything else but breathe so fast - practically a pant.

Drake, or Dane I guess, grinned wildly like a villain hunting his prey. I’d never felt so terrified and turned on. I felt something hard in between us. The realization made me want to look away but I couldn’t, I was totally sucked in by those dominant black eyes.

He blinked again and hazel eyes returned. I couldn’t do anything but inhale again.

“As much as I really, really like this,” Drake started to say with pain in his voice, “we still have to go.”

His words struck me and my ‘right thing’ brain came into full force. I moved quickly off his lap, cheeks blazing red from embarrassment.

I looked everywhere but at him. It took me a moment to get my mind around what he was saying.

“When?” I breathed out huskily, still frazzled.

“Pretty much right now,” he said, stretching his words, unsure.

“And go where, exactly?” sharpness returning to my tone.

I looked at him again, piercing him, a flutter of a smile crossed his face. If I had blinked I would have missed it. But his face remained solemn.

“I’m not sure. Away. Out of country maybe?” he thought aloud, looking towards the door.

“So you have no plan and likely no way of accomplishing it even if you did have one?” I asked him, an eyebrow arched.

“Well I was hoping something would come to me after I found you,” he smirked, and added, “Or that my brilliant mate would think of something.”

I tossed my hands up in exasperation, “I don’t even really know what we’re dealing with. I don’t know anything about your world.”

He titled his head, accepting it. “Then that’s where I come in.”

“Okay,” I stretched the word as I thought. “I’m going to have to work on some stuff…”

I was waiting on a contact to text me back when Drake sat straight up from where he had been laying on the floor. He stilled, one hand holding him up as his eyes went black and he flew up to stand.

“Someone’s here,” he growled as he shifted into a wolf right in the middle of the room.

My magic flared in response, rising up so fast my hair and eyes glowed. I felt it then, dark auras in the distance. Four, five, more. I kept reaching until I hit my limit.

“There’s at least twenty. Eight are staying back,” I said my voice commanding without me realizing it.

Drake just huffed in response, exposing his teeth.

“Are they really making us fight out here? With all these people around?” I asked, my voice calmed once more.

He growled.

I guess that’s a yes.

I walked over to the door and opened it, Drake pushing ahead of me, trying to be first. I nearly stumbled from the way he pushed past me. I went to move forward but he stood in my way.

“Drake, you have to move,” I insisted, one hand lightly pushing on him.

His fur felt amazingly soft. The sensation surprised me. I expected it to be - I don’t know - rough?

He just growled lowly.

“Drake, I can take care of myself,” I insisted again. I pushed once more but he still didn’t budge. “Look I want to - I don’t want to kill them if I don’t have to. I’m going to try just putting them asleep. There’s too many people around and - and I don’t want to…”

He lowered his head slightly, hearing me. It made me relax my shoulders. That was until I felt a group of dark auras reach the motel grounds.