Chapter 58
He breathed against my mouth. I didn’t want to let him go. In this moment, I could feel every part of our connection. Every part of him, inside and out. I knew him deeper than I ever had. I reached inside his soul, pulled out his essence, and observed it in my hands.
With his grip on my hips, he gave a push for me to stand. My legs were weak as they moved. He reached for my hand and cut the ropes from my wrists with the claws that were struggling to retract.
He was getting close to turning, the moon shining through the veil of water.
"Stay here for tonight. I’ll come get you in the morning," he told me, no emotions behind his words.
A part of me felt ashamed and it wrestled with the part that felt complete from no longer denying the bond’s pull. I reached for my clothes, the fabric ripped and ruined as I attempted to put them together with my thoughts alone.
Dominic gazed at me with a smile of triumph like he was happy to see me so helpless and exposed. I felt cold with the mist of the falling water and wrapped my arms around myself.
He pulled on his own pants, giving me one final look of satisfaction, from top to bottom, before turning towards the cliff edge and diving into the pool.
Alone, I played with the clothes, trying to wrap them around me in some way. Giving up, I laid out my skirt and sat on top of it. The ground was hard underneath me as I brought my knees to my chest and hugged them tight while laying my head down.
I closed my mind off, scared of where Grayson was and what he might be feeling. Running to him wasn’t an option now that Dominic had commanded me to stay in the cave. Tears fell from my eyes as I thought of not only what I had done, but what it would mean for Grayson and I.
When another crawled over the edge of the cave, I barely noticed. I felt nothing could surprise me anymore, like I was numb to the actions of the universe. An animal-pelt cloak was wrapped around me before Julien took a seat beside me.
His hand reached for my back, resting there with sympathy. His presence felt off, snapping me from my stupor. I turned my head towards him, the look he had making me tilt my head.
"You’ve been out there the whole time," I thought out loud. "You knew what was happening but you didn’t stop it."
He shrugged his shoulder, "how would I have?"
It was a coward thing to say, yet I felt for him. Dominic’s words of how I had turned Julien into someone he wasn’t playing over in my mind. He meant well, standing in the background watching as I let Dominic ravage me.
I sighed, my feelings for Julien’s character picking at my heart.
"Are you ok?" He asked in almost a whisper.
I chuckled at the loaded question. "I have no idea."
His eyebrows knitted together and he rubbed gently at my back.
"Do you need me to take you somewhere? To Grayson?"
At his name, I perked up. "You know where he’s at?"
He nodded slowly. "I’ve been trailing Dominic since I last saw you, you know, in case something happened."
"Where is he?" I demanded, the need for quick answers frustrating me.
"He’s... on the beach. Dominic has him tied to a tree last I saw."
I stood abruptly, pulling the cloak tightly around my chest, a new need pulling at me. "Take me to him."
Julien stood and I grabbed his hand ready to dive into the water when a force pulled me back.
"What’s wrong?" Julien asked.
I tried moving my feet forward but they were cemented into place. I told my body to go to Grayson but Dominic’s command kept me in place. Dominic and Julien had said words that forced my body to comply before but it had never been this strong.
Fighting the feeling, I yanked at my feet that refused to budge. Dominic’s voice was in my head, telling me to stay in the cave until he returned.
"I can’t leave, Dominic won’t allow it," I told him.
I grunted angrily as I tried harder, a foot finally releasing but an invisible wall preventing me from going any further. I could fight it, I knew I could.
Closing my eyes, I concentrated on Grayson, knowing it was time to let him back in. Time to use our bond to push me forward, to call for my power.
He was clear, his eyes glowing under the grimace that made my heart relax. His body slowly came into view in my mind, he was no longer tied. His body was rigid and tense. Was he mad at me?
He stood with a fighting stance and my first thought was Dominic had gone to kill him so Grayson could never claim me again.
But I could feel Dominic as well, and they weren’t near each other. My eyes popped open, Marek was attacking him. I pulled the energy inside me with a greater force than I had attempted before. The cave lit up as I felt the threads that held me in place snapping and recoiling at my power.
Grabbing Julien’s hand again, and holding the cloak around me in the other, we jumped into the pool below. He helped me surface and pulled me to the water’s edge.
Silently, we moved through the forest. The pull guided me with a feeling that settled in my heart like home.
Julien was slightly ahead of me but kept glancing back with a worried, almost frantic look on his face. I knew why, the glow of my eyes hadn’t died down and only seemed to get brighter the closer we got to the beach.
Our path was illuminated while we ran through it, both from me and the moon above. Whenever Julien turned away, I saw the fur at his back climbing up his neck. He was beginning to change.
It wouldn’t be long, and we had to hurry. If Julien was struggling then Marek most likely had already turned, causing even more threat towards Grayson. I watched Grayson closely, he wasn’t hurt but something was happening.
He was out of breath and tiring quickly, the wolf inside of him pulling against its leash. He was holding back so aggressively, making me wish I knew why.
The tree line finally broke and Julien grabbed my forearm for balance to help me run slowly through the too soft sand.
The ocean waves were angry and loud, slamming into itself like hammers through glass. The moon was nearly directly above us, impossibly large and blood red. Staring up, I saw a woman’s profile in the face of the moon. She stared down at me with weeping eyes and I felt as small and helpless as the wolves had always seen me.
"There they are," Julien shouted and my attention reached down the beach.
They were only small shadows under the soft glow from above. I pressed harder towards them, the sand pulling my feet into its depth, weighing me down like in a dream.
They were dancing around each other both miraculously in there human forms. One lean mass dodged swipes of claws. The other large and slow, roaring furiously at the challenge. They were in the water, up to their knees as waves pushed around them.
Julien and I came close enough to see their distinct features. Julien shouted for Marek and I called Grayson’s name. His head snapped to me, allowing Marek to land a hit to his stomach. I felt the hit in my own stomach, doubling over as the cloak fell from my shoulders.
Grayson had been evading every attack from Marek for half the night, I realized. He wasn’t fighting back, only defending and retreating. He didn’t want to hurt the man. My heart churned at the position I had put him in.
I stood straight again, and locked eyes with him. His wolf was biting at every edge of him, yet he struggled through it. For me.
Marek didn’t wait any longer as he fell into the giant wolf that stood nearly as tall as Grayson. Grayson stepped back towards the ocean depth, readying himself for the lunge.
I stepped forward, toes touching the warm water only to be stopped by Julien gripping my arm.
"Rebel, don’t," he warned with pleading concern, glancing down at my naked body.
I gave him a dangerous look, a warning and his hand fell away. He turned his golden eyes to the ground, a growing tail tucking beneath his legs as his wolf took him over as well. Watching him fall back to the forest, I understood now why he failed at being an alpha, my power making him run away like an omega.
Turning back towards the others, I took another step into the water. It swirled around my ankles as I pulled the energy that caused it to move. Purple ribbons of light began to swim around me, a storm of shimmering luminance as they rose from the mirror of the water.
Marek’s jaw snapped at Grayson as he struggled not to recede further into the water. His movements had slowed, giving Marek the advantage to bite into his flesh. I couldn’t feel the pain in him anymore, my power taking over every sense.
My nerve endings vibrated, every atom buzzing as I moved closer and closer to them.
Fog had materialized from thin air and surrounded us with a purple haze. I was near enough now that the tornado of ribbon reached out. Marek paused, huffing with adrenaline as he glanced over to me.
The light touched him, instantly sending him into a trance as his golden eyes filled with the color I pushed forward.
The waves lapped at my bare thighs, and my fingers reached for the surface. The water stilled around me as though I stood in the eye of the storm. I felt protected and empowered by my own lifeforce.
My attention moved to Grayson. He watched me, pain shadowing his eyes at the sight of me.
And with his stare, he broke me.