390- Ashes Beneath the Snow
POV Seraphine Valerian:
It was indeed a plan with many flaws. And I was exhausted from thinking, rethinking, changing strategies. All in a latent desperation, fearing for the safety of my daughter, my pack, Seraphine. There was always some loose end.
Meanwhile, the attacks in the woods continued, stopping only at dawn.
When day broke, everyone went home. Only Lonut remained on guard duty. He would be replaced in the afternoon.
I left there anguished, volatile energies popping all around, rage still boiling non-stop. I wouldn’t be able to sleep, not with that accumulation of emotions expanding inside and outside of me.
I was reaching the gate when it opened and Seraphine came running out.
I saw her, and that — more than anything I had tried since the previous day — was what distracted me from the pain.
Her hair flew, her eyes searching for mine, as she jumped into my arms. I caught her in the air and lifted her, until her face was level with mine and her mouth fit against mine. She held me tightly, her taste and her smell shifting my focus to how extraordinary everything she made me feel was.
She held my head, resting her forehead against mine as we parted our lips. She murmured: “I was anxious. I heard you received worrying news about Adelina and that you were stuck in a meeting straight through.”
(...)
POV Viktor Averwyn:
“Were you waiting for me?”
“Yes. I was at the window, waiting to see you arrive.”
I slid her down against my body until her feet touched the ground, small and delicate, yet radiating strength to me. I kissed her hair and pulled her close again.
“Everything’s going to be fine.” She kissed my chest. “Come inside, eat something, take a shower. You need to rest.”
“No. I feel like I’m going to explode. Want to go for a ride with me?”
“Right now.”
“Come on, climb up here. Let’s run.”
Seraphine didn’t hesitate twice, jumping onto my back. Once I felt her secure and holding on tightly, I turned right, toward the cliffs. A path she didn’t know, climbing steeply through the woods, but with breathtaking, unique views.
I took off running, my heart pumping hard, muscles primed. I darted through curves and winding trails, leaving the village behind. The air became thinner, cold wind striking my skin. But it was exactly what I needed. To be with Seraphine and feel free like a wolf.
She clung to me, her face against my back, her breath brushing the nape of my neck. The warmth of her body reached me even through the coat.
I rounded the cliff at a safe distance and continued toward a large stretch of flatter ground, where tall, slender trees shared space with rocks up to three meters high, some massive.
I stopped there and helped her down. I noticed goosebumps rising on her skin and immediately removed my coat, draping it over her shoulders. She smiled at me.
“Thank you. Where are we?”
“Near the summit. Ever seen a landscape like this?”
She looked around, tilting her head back toward the long treetops and the towering stones, some round, oval, cylindrical, all with unique patterns.
“No! They’re so different! How beautiful!”
“They’re called Trovant stones. They’re rare, found only in twenty places in Romania. For years, people believed they grew overnight, reproduced, and even moved.”
“What? How?” Her eyes widened as she cautiously approached one.
“It’s not going to attack you,” I teased. “What looks like sudden growth has an explanation. They swell when exposed to moisture. After rainfall, their size and shape can change.”
“Do they really move?”
“No trolls or supernatural creatures are hiding underneath them.” I pointed at one shaped somewhat like an egg. “They’re actually formed from sandstone or gravel. They roll with the force of water, changing over time, because sometimes the moisture affects one side and not the other, creating pockets. Nothing supernatural about it.”
“After meeting you, I’d believe it if you told me these rocks breathe and have legs that carry them anywhere.”
She let out a soft laugh, her eyes shining at me.
“Am I really that different?”
“Completely. You’re unique.”
“No.” The hint of a smile tugged at my lips. “There are many like me in the village and around the world.”
“Not like you.”
The certainty in her voice, the admiration in her eyes, stirred something deep inside me. Impossible not to notice the feelings there, so obvious and so similar to mine that they mirrored each other. I’d bet she was crazy about me, just as I was about her.
“Viktor…” she said softly. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything you want. Except to leave.”
“You wouldn’t let me. Why?”
“I can’t even imagine you sleeping in another room, Seraphine.” Our eyes stayed locked together. “Imagine leaving this place. What do you want to ask?”
She bit her lip, my words making her blush.
“I want to see you as a wolf.”
That caught me off guard.
I frowned, watching her.
“Why?”
“I’ve never seen it. It’s so extraordinary! Unreal!”
That would’ve been easy to solve, yet I found myself hesitating. Thinking about the consequences. Which made her take a step closer.
“You’re hesitating. Do you think it could be dangerous?”
“It’s possible.”
“That you could lose control and hurt me?”
I knew I would never do that to her. Sex could be rough, bites could hurt, but always within a limit that excited her. Beyond that, I would never harm her, either as a man or as a wolf.
Still, every day it became harder to resist the urge to mark her. I thought about it constantly, fought not to do it, especially in bed, when my wildest side surfaced. Transforming into a wolf would give it even more power.
“Viktor?”
“I won’t hurt you. All right. It’ll be quick. You don’t need to be afraid.”
She nodded eagerly, barely even blinking.
I removed my shoes. I didn’t care about the biting wind up there, nor the heavy clouds overhead. I stripped completely, standing utterly naked while Seraphine followed every movement.
It was natural, part of me. My entire structure designed for it, for bones to shift into another form, a body built to adapt. Centuries of being one or the other, accepting my shapeshifting nature.
I stayed still, staring at her. And I let it happen, fully aware I would remain in control the entire time.
The claws and fangs came first. Then came the muscular contractions, nerves and tendons expanding, mass swelling. Fur began covering my face, my hair thickening. More fur spread across my body, black and dense.