Chapter 1 #2
Her eyes flew open, and her head lifted as her gaze flicked over my face. The years had thinned out her cheeks and formed her into a beautiful woman. She wasn’t done changing and maturing but she was endlessly amazing to me.
“And go where?” she whispered.
“To the sea. We can find a boat and sail away.”
“What about the dragons?”
“We’ll avoid them.”
“We don’t know where their island is.”
“No, but I’ll keep you safe.”
“What will we do on the sea?”
“Find an island to live on. Fish, swim, drink in the sun, make love, raise babies.”
She grinned at me. “You want to have babies with me?”
“I want to have everything with you.”
Emotion filled her eyes as she rested her hand against my cheek and kissed me. “You are my everything.”
I drew her close, hugging her against me as our kiss deepened into something else. When we parted later, she curled up against me again.
“Our parents will hunt us,” she whispered.
“We’ll outrun them.”
“And sail away.”
“And sail away,” I repeated.
“We’ll need supplies.”
“We’ll gather them.”
“Yes, we will.”
And so we did. Over the next few weeks, we slowly collected clothing, food, water, and enough supplies to get us through our journey through one of the kingdoms and to the sea.
I didn’t know where we’d acquire a boat, but I’d figure that out when we got to the ocean. I couldn’t solve the problem now and we couldn’t take a boat with us.
No matter what happened, I’d keep her safe. I’d protect her and love her until the day I died.
On the day when we were to start our new lives together, we met in the tunnel for the last time. She laughed as she ran to me, her eyes twinkling in the way only they could.
I lifted her off her feet and swung her around. We’d leave tonight, after sunset and under the cover of darkness.
When the time came, we’d slip across the desert and on toward the elf kingdom of Terra. We couldn’t be caught trespassing there, but we’d make it through.
Even though my animal had yet to emerge, my shifter instincts were getting stronger. My sense of smell, vision, and strength had all increased since I turned eighteen; I’d get Briar to the sea.
But we had to wait until nightfall before we could go anywhere and as I kissed her, I knew exactly how we’d pass the time until then. With Briar in my arms, I experienced true contentment and what it was like to be engulfed in love.
Within me, my animal stirred. I’d felt it many times over the years but never with such intensity. It clawed at my insides like they were a barrier to its freedom as it sought to take control.
But even as it rose, it fell again. I was still too young for my animal to take form, but it was getting stronger, and it wanted Briar so badly that my teeth shifted into something new.
With the tip of my tongue, I found two elongated canines and discovered that others had also altered their shape to become something new. My animal couldn’t break free yet, but it wanted to claim her as mine.
When my newly elongated teeth scraped her neck, her breath sucked in a little as she wiggled closer and craned her head to give me better access. She didn’t have to speak, I knew what she wanted; we were two halves of a whole, best friends, lovers, and soul mates.
I didn’t want to hurt her, but I couldn’t resist her longing, or the call of my animal. My lips skimmed back as I sank my teeth into her neck and collarbone, forever marking her pristine skin. Nothing could erase the mark of a shifter on its mate.
Within me, my animal roared with ecstasy and briefly surged toward the surface before settling once more. Knowing it had left its mark on her was enough to content it… for now.
Nestled in our cocoon of blankets, I lost myself to our love as I claimed her. I blamed that for the reason I never heard or scented them coming.
I was still inside Briar when someone grasped my arms, pulling me back. I shouted in surprise as Briar screamed.
Fury filled me; I kicked and thrashed against the hold before realizing it was more than just hands gripping me…
a mystical air also imprisoned me. It pinned my arms to my sides as it lifted me off the ground and floated me past the line of men and women, all dressed in black, and all eyeing my softening erection with interest.
I’d never met them before, but I knew what they were… dark sorcerers and sorceresses.
I’d heard tales of them, and known Briar for eight years, but this was the first time I’d seen and experienced their magic. I thrashed against the bonds they’d established on me, but my movements were useless.
“No!” Briar shrieked from behind me.
I floated to a stop before a beautiful woman with long, dark brown hair and ice blue eyes. Her etched features were similar to Briar’s but this woman’s were far harder and cruelty instead of love shimmered in her gaze.
“Well, what do we have here?” the woman murmured as her eyes raked me.
Trapped within the bubble of air, I couldn’t respond as she rotated her hand to spin me slowly around. I spotted Briar’s terrified face briefly before the other night casters swallowed her in their midst.
The rest of them watched me with a calculating gleam that caused my blood to run cold. I recalled the stories of shifters who’d disappeared while in Nightshade, the dark casters kingdom. While these eternals had no claim over anyone in No Man’s Land, they did have claim over Briar.
“You’re a shifter,” the woman said when she spun me around to face her again. She leaned around me to peer into the crowd. “You know the rules, Briar.”
“Mother—”
If this woman was Briar’s mother than that made her Queen Marina, leader of the night casters and one of the most powerful beings in the kingdoms. And I was floating before her like a bundled-up sausage waiting to be eaten.
“You know you’re supposed to remain pure until your needing,” Queen Marina continued.
“He doesn’t know that, Mother. He’s not aware of our ways!”
Except, I had known that. Briar told me that she was supposed to remain a virgin until she entered the harem and went through her needing. She’d revealed this after we’d already had sex. She’d worried about her mother finding out but said she didn’t regret her decision.
I’d worried about her returning to Nightshade, but I wasn’t going to let her go. And as the days passed into years, that worry faded. However, something had gone wrong.
“He doesn’t matter; not to you, not anymore,” Marina said sharply.
I squirmed within the confines of the air enveloping me but there was no breaking free of the spell holding me. Maybe if I was older, bigger, stronger, or able to shift, I could break free, but not now.
“He’s ours now,” another woman said.
The queen stepped closer as her head tilted to examine me more intently. “Yes, he is,” she murmured.
“No! Wait! He’s the alpha’s son!” Briar shouted.
The queen chuckled as she grasped my chin. She pinched it between her long, red nails. Blood welled from my punctured flesh and dripped off my chin.
When she released me, she licked the blood from her fingers. Her eyes narrowed on me as she tasted my blood.
“There is much power in him,” she murmured before licking her lips. “Take him to the harem.”
“No!” Briar shrieked. “No! Let him go!”
Her screams followed me down the tunnel as I floated onward. Briar’s fear bit into my bones and clawed at my insides.
I glimpsed Briar struggling against the sorcerers who held her. Her face turned red and the muscles in her neck strained as she leaned forward before tearing free of them.
When she raced toward me, her espresso hair waved like a banner behind her. She dodged the hands grasping at her and darted to the side to avoid others.
Fingers snagged in her hair; she shrieked before throwing herself backward to dislodge the offender. The animal that had surfaced to mark her roared back to the forefront. It raged and bellowed as it fought to break free of my magical confines.
I didn’t know what my animal was, but I’d felt it many times throughout my life. While I hadn’t transformed yet, I’d experienced my creature’s longing, anger, and knew how much of an integral part of me it was.
And right now, it sought to destroy anyone who dared to hurt her.
Briar’s hair tore free and strands of it still dangled from the man’s fingers as she broke away to close the distance between us. She flung herself at me; her cold arms wrapped around my neck, but I couldn’t feel her bare body as my invisible prison kept us separated.
Grasping my face, she kissed me as dozens of hands grasped her arms. “Do as they say,” she breathed against my mouth. “Or they’ll kill you.”
An arm wrapped around her throat, tearing her away from me.
“NO!” I bellowed as they dragged her away.
She kicked and thrashed against them, but there were too many of them and they quickly overpowered her. They were touching her, controlling her, hurting her.
Marina leaned closer to whisper in my ear. “Don’t let her screams fool you; we wouldn’t have known you were here, if it wasn’t for her.”
“Fuck you,” I snarled, not believing her for a second.
“He’ll be a delightful edition to the harem,” another one woman said. “Your daughter has wonderful taste, Marina.”
“She’s an embarrassment.”
The bones in my hand cracked as my animal surged to the forefront, claws extended and my jaw broke. They said the first shift was the most painful but once the animal broke free, and reformed my being, the following shifts would get easier.
However, the pain of my change was nothing compared to the anguish of having my mate torn away from me. I’d destroy them all for that.
“Look at this young animal trying to shift early,” Marina murmured. “We can’t have that.”
She rested her hand on my forehead and started whispering words that were either gibberish, another language, or unintelligible to my transitioning ears. As she spoke, something changed within me.
My animal roared to the surface as the air binding me squeezed tighter, crushing my ribs, suffocating my animal and shoving it back down, pushing it deeper… deeper… deeper.
I screamed from the pain of my breaking bones and the suffocation of my soul. The creature I’d always felt, but never met, shrieked as it was buried…
No, not buried… it was destroyed or at least that’s what it felt like as my animal slipped away and something else rose to the forefront.
I had no idea what emerged, but Marina sucked in her breath as her eyes roamed hungrily over me. “And what have we here?” she murmured.
I had no idea what she saw but the desire in her eyes made my blood run cold.
Briar’s words ran through my mind again. “Do as they say, or they’ll kill you.”
Back then, I didn’t know how many times I’d wish for that to happen over the years that followed. But while I continued to live and breathe, Seth died… and something new was born.