Page 28 of The Alpha's Forced Bride
There was no truth in its words; I knew it to be a liar. I knew it said those things just to make me give in more. The longer I stayed in this demonic wolf form, the more of me it consumed, and the more I ended up giving in. But for some reason, I felt stuck. I couldn't draw on my original wolf, I couldn't even find my human side. Panicking, I darted to the left of the beach and then dove into a nearby cave, one that had a low tide and a big enough nook in the back where I could curl up to hide.
As black as my soul, the darkness covered the walls that surrounded me. The cave reminded me of a mineshaft. The salty sea scent in the soft lapping of waves helped me calm down a bit more. Though my heart continued to pound in my chest, I was able to lay on my belly and cover my eyes with my paws. If I stayed here and stayed still, she wouldn't find me. She would leave with the people who came to collect her. Her pack—she didn’t speak much about her time with them, but she spoke highly of their morals.
I practically snorted. If that was the case, then why had they attacked us? How did I know she wasn’t sent to my village to infiltrate our ranks and hurt us? Still, I could sense from the way she interacted with my people that this wasn’t true. It was just another manipulative thought, one that didn’t go particularly far, especially not with the footsteps I heard outside the cave. They broke the rhythmic tide, little splashes of water rising from each step. A few rocks scattered off from the path that was being stepped on, and a soft sigh echoed through the short cave.
And then I smelled the saltwater azaleas, that delicious floral scent that made me feel like everything going to be okay.
It'll never be okay as long as I’m like this, I thought. She'll never accept me.
I tried to bury my nose in the sand, but the moist grains got stuck up my nose, causing me to sneeze and spray them everywhere. I could see her figure now out of the corner of my eye, and I kept thinking there was no way she was going to stay with a man who looked this horrifying. It was surreal to think that, given we had been wrestling with one other moments before her pack members showed up. One easy-going and playful activity had quickly transformed into something else. Now, I was in a damp cave stinking to high heaven of sin while she approached me. She won’t want me now.
It was so unlike me to whine, but I did, and the whine soon turned into a horrible whimpering when I felt her hand on the back of my neck. I was massive compared to her; one ear alone was probably the size of her head. My paws could probably crush her to death. If I jerked too fast, I might accidentally hurt her. I didn't want to do that. No part of me wanted anything to do with hurting her. Strangely enough, my demon had nothing to say about that. It didn't make a clever retort, and it didn't try to insert itself. It was remarkably quiet. My left ear pointed up, and then back, and then forward, and then flattened to my head. Her fingers slid over my snout and down over my giant paws that still covered my nose from the embarrassment of sneezing sand.
She moved them away from my face, carefully placing them on the ground where I could place my chin upon them. How she managed to move such massive paws was a mystery and impressive at the same time. I knew her to be strong and intense. Yet, even now, she wasn't being her usual combative self. I didn't want to open my eyes to look at her, but I couldn't help myself. I cracked open my eyes and looked at her. Her figure was illuminated in the light that shone through the mouth of the cave. She ran her hands over my ears and rubbed behind them. Soon, my muscles relaxed under her touch.
I felt myself shrinking to my original wolf size, returning slowly, almost painfully. She went to the ground with me and cradled my head in her lap, letting me curl up on her thighs. She let my paws drape over her legs and let me dirty her cashmere sweater. The white turned muddy, just like the fur of my demonic form. She let the water soak her jeans. She ran her fingers through my fur again. It was only for a few minutes, or maybe it was an hour. It could have been much shorter or much longer. Time didn’t matter when I was with her. Nothing did. I assumed that was why I kept thinking of her as my mate.
No, it was just because we had both completed the ritual. We were, by all accounts, mates in name. But it was different with her. I felt it when I thought, You can't take my mate. She's mine.
A soothing tune rolled around my ears, consuming the thoughts that were left. I couldn't think anymore. I didn't want to. All I needed was to roll on my back and look up at the woman who was giving me more compassion than anyone had ever done in my life. The action was so simple, so decadent in its simplicity. She didn't have to send her pack members away—she didn't have to say she wasn't in danger—but she did. She wanted to protect me and her pack members, too. I realized the gravity of my attack, how I shouldn't have fought those very people who came to rescue her.
Wouldn't I have done the same if she were lost? Oh, it made me ache to think of that. I didn't want to. I didn't like it. I would never consider her leaving me. Instead of running after her pack and leaving, she came after me. She helped me. She didn't run off like I thought she would—like I had expected. I opened my eyes again and realized the redness had faded from them. The strange tunnel vision was gone. I didn't feel like a beast anymore, I felt like myself. When her hands came back to my face, they were perfectly proportional to my human cheeks. She ran her thumbs over my cheekbones. She ran her fingers through my hair, just over my ears. She traced circles, ovals, and all kinds of shapes, soothing me in ways that were unanticipated.
She didn't speak, not a word, though a most contented smile on her face sat. Her eyes, those bluish-green spotlights, reflected the oceanic water that came to rest at our feet. Her hair fell around our faces, encapsulating us in a dark curtain. Yet I could still see the threads of light coming through, and I could sense her desire.
Did she want to bow forward and take my lips? It felt so good in her arms. I wasn't even sure why. It terrified me to think that she would leave the embrace at any point. It terrified me to think that she would be taken away or that anyone would want to take her away from me. Who would after they saw the creature that I became before I ran off into the forest? I was a terrible beast, a horrifying thing. There wasn't much that could save me—except for her. I wanted her to save me. I felt good in her arms, and I didn't ever want this feeling to end.
Never again.
Chapter 14 - Kiara
The very evening, I stood next to Harvey in his bedroom, where I monitored his remaining wounds. Most of them had healed up pretty well, but his eyes were the only things that hadn't changed back. They had started to change, but remained more of a dark honey and walnut rather than the gold brightness that they usually were. Clancy told me not to worry about it, but I still did. It was scary to sit next to him, seeing his eyes roll toward me and not knowing precisely where his irises or pupils were.
It made me feel like something else was watching me. In a lot of ways, that was true. Something else was watching me. Something that lived inside him and wanted to eat him alive—that had been eating him alive for a long time. Harvey didn't talk about his demon very often, which I didn't blame him for. It wasn't like it was appropriate dinner conversation or something you could bring up on a date. But regardless of how strange and scary it was, I didn't turn away from him. I raised a cup of water to his lips along with a cloth, just in case some of it spilled out of the corner of his mouth. He sipped it gratefully. When I put the cup back on the bedside table, he snatched my wrist. His eyes snapped open and a grimace turned his once calm features into a contorted mess. His grip was painful, but I withstood it—I knew it wasn't him doing it.
He gritted his teeth. “This one is mine”.
The way his voice split into four different directions was horrible and grating. It sounded like when someone opens the back of a piano and runs a violin bow over the strings hard enough to break them. It frightened me to my soul. It was also deep and authoritative, hollow yet haunting. I knew this wasn't him either, of course. Yet, at the same time, I realized that there wasn't a lot I could do to stop what was happening from happening. He released my wrist and then looked shocked as some of the darkness drained from his eyes. A look of horror replaced the contorted madness in his expression.
“I'm so sorry, Kiki.” The nickname caught me off guard. I bowed my head and rested my hands in my lap, rubbing my hurt wrist. A soft smile appeared on my lips.
“I haven't heard anybody call me that in over a week now.”
He raised his eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, that's my nickname back home. My best friend and my dad call me Kiki.”
He looked mournful for a second. “I'm so sorry I've kept you from them. They came to get you, didn't they?” His voice was soft—almost weak.
I swallowed hard and nodded slowly. “Yes, they did.”
“What did you tell them?”
I focused on him for a second, thinking about what happened earlier this morning. It was weird to think that it had only happened a few hours ago. But inside, it felt like it had been days.
“I told them to go away, that I wasn't in danger.”
Technically, that was a lie. Although I had said that. I didn't think that I wasn't in danger. I knew the demon inside Harvey wanted to do great harm to his pack and to him. I knew it would do anything possible to achieve this. That meant that I would be in trouble as well. I rubbed my wrist again. I thought about calling them and telling them what was going on. I didn’t want them to attack again.
