Game

I'm standing in the woods near the house, I'm trying to scent him. There is two different trails. He's been close, watching us. I decide to follow the scent on the left. It's weaving all around. It's led me in circles.

Thorne is extremely intelligent. This is a game for him. I go back to where I started. Close my eyes and search. Another scent trail appears before me as well as the previous one to my right. He's here. I follow the new trail. I'm running. Determined to find him. To kill him. I feel it in every part of me. This drive to see him fall.

I've been running for hours, bobbing and weaving through trees. I can't stop though. This scent is fresh. I will catch him. I find myself in an open area of the woodland. Surrounded by a natural and beautiful circle of trees. I hear his gravelly laugh.

My eyes dart to where the sound is. Then I hear it again but right behind me. I turn around expecting to strike him. He's not there. I start to think that maybe I'm going mad. Am I awake? Is this another dream?

I hear it again, his laugh. It sounds far away. I follow the sound. "Did you miss me?" I jump as he whispers in my ear. When I turn, he is nowhere to be seen. I groan in frustration. "Enough of the games, face me" I call out. I hear him tutting in the distance. I head towards the tuts. "That would be too easy, love"

I close my eyes and focus. It's as if I can see him, his exact location. I leap towards it. To my disappointment, he is not in sight. My eyes catch a glint. There in a rose bush, hanging by a blue ribbon. A necklace. I take it in my hands.

Platinum chain, the pendant is the two snakes. Their mouths bared at the head of a rose between them. The snakes have diamonds for eyes. On the otherside if the ribbon is a note. It reads, 'To replace my mark.' The ribbon itself stirs something in me. I can't place it.

"If you want to give me a gift, Your heart in my hands would be nice" I call out. His laugh all around me, carried by the wind. "You already have that" I hate him. "Think of what we could be, my love. You are a new powerful species, the wolves answer to you. We can make more of what you are. We can rule together. Forget the vampire kingdom, forget them all. Be with me"

The nightmare comes back to me, Thorne on my throne. His hand ripping my hair out. "You think I want to be with you. You are a plague on this earth" I speak turning on the spot. Not sure of where he is lurking. His laugh echos again. "You may not have my mark, but I made you. You've always belonged to me and you still belong to me"

I'm so angry, the clutch I have on the pendant is cutting my hand. I feel his arms wrap around me from behind. He places a kiss to my temple. His mouth hovers above my ear "You know your rightful place is here, in my arms" His voice is singing to me.

I thought, I was free of this. I thought I was done with him. All the bad he has done plays in my head like a movie. Bringing me back to reality. I change, My claws reach for him. He was too quick. I look down at the lock of white hair in my hand. "Keep that as a token. I know you'll come back to me"

I'm frozen in place. I've been standing here for god knows how long. Feeling conflicted. I can't believe a part of me still longs for him. I can't let him continue to have this hold on me. He's long gone and it's time I go back to my responsibilities. My plans.

I make my way back to the house. Slowly, still in a daze like state. I'm not really thinking of anything. I feel so lost. I walk in the door. Will is sitting on the step. He jumps up like a dog when their owner returns. He sees me and runs to me.

A big smile on his face. He locks me in his arms. I'm still zoned out."Where have you been, I've missed you. I couldn't keep still." Slow down buddy, a few sessions under the covers and your clingy?

He sniffs at me, he growls his grey eyes turn blue. His hands move to my upper arms and he grips. "I smell that guys scent on you, the one who chased us" His eyes move to the pendant, ribbon and lock of hair. He takes it from me. He growls again and throws it on the floor.

The clatter snaps me out of the zoning "You are mine, no one can touch you" His demand has me seeing red. I'm so sick of people telling me I'm theirs. I belong to me. No one else! My hand grabs his throat and I lift him in the air. I see something poke out from his colar.

I drop him and rip his top off in my fury. There it is, just above his colar bone. Small but there. Swirling intricate vines. My makers mark? How he is still very much lycan. "You marked me as your mate. That explains why I'm so clingy" I done what now? Oh no I don't think so, we've had our fun but I'm not looking for a lifelong commitment.

"No, I don't think so, that's not happening. That's my makers mark." He gets closer to me and attempts to kiss me. I push him away. "I don't think it is, can't you feel it. Our bond. My beast is overjoyed, he wants me to hold you and never let you go" I know the history of their kind, but this mate shit is beyond me. Quite frankly, pissing me off.

He bites me, he fucking bites me. His teeth in the skin of my neck. I push him off, I feel my skin tear as his teeth come out of it. "What the fuck?" I ask holding back the urge to rip his teeth out from his skull. He smiles at me and licks my blood off his lips. "I'm marking you in return"

I need to have a meeting with all races about consent. His eyes roll to the back of his head and he passes out. I ask a couple of wolves to take him to my room and place him on the bed. He better hope he doesn't wake up. We have a lot to talk about.

When one of the wolves picks him up he turns to me "You're his new mate?" Why does everyone keep saying that word. "No" I say abruptly. The wolf shrugs. "I can sense him on you like a mate, is he our king again?"

I rub my temples. "Can we all just stop using that word, No he is not and I'm not with him, he's not with me. We are not the plural of that now forbidden word." I see the necklace shining, reflecting the light above us. I pick it up. I don't know why I do it, but I wrap the ribbon around the lock of white hair.

I go up to my room after a few hours of eating and drinking. Relaxing with my closest and the wolves. It was a nice change of pace. To have a moment of normality, with everything that been going on since the alignment.

I sit at the edge of the bed.  Will still unconscious lying there unmoving. Janice and I concluded, either I've turned him or my blood has affected him like a poison. I try to reach out to him mentally, like I did with the twins when they woke up.

I intertwine my fingers in his. The contact brings him back. He sits up staring at me a little dazed. He looks the same. Arlo, Dante and I all changed just before we woke up. "How are you feeling?" I ask trying to get an idea of what happened.

"Amazing, like I can take down an army. Happy to see you, more so than anything else" Great! The feeling isn't mutaul "Nope, not happening. I'm not your ... We are done"  He clutches his chest "No, don't do this please!" Will begs. A bit dramatic. If you ask me.

I think of what he said about feeling amazing. Reminds me of Arlo and Dante after their change. "Shift" I demand. "I'm not in the mood" He replies. I need to make sure "Bring your beast out. NOW!" I order and he starts transforming.

Will grows in size and expands. Black fur replacing his tan skin. His large wolf head replaced the strong features on his face. There he stands, a 7 foot tall beast. Shins bent backwards.

I look up at the bear sized wolf head. Look straight into the large blue eyes. His tails starts wagging. Just like that, This frightful creature becomes less intimidating. I shake my head and go to order him to change back.

He starts transforming back himself. The fur retracts. His legs snap back to normal human-ish legs. His skin turns grey and he still has a large wolf head, claws for hands and feet. Wait, is he stuck, in-between forms?

"You made me a hybrid. You've changed me but I still feel my beast. I want... I want"  His voice enters my mind "Blood" I respond out loud. The wolf head nods. "Change back" I say with authority. His human form returns his eyes turn back to their beautiful grey.

I pull my hair over to one side. I grab the back of his neck and direct him to mine. "Just let instinct take over" I whisper in his ear. I feel his lips tickle along my shoulder and up to my jaw. He stops between my shoulder and neck. I hear fangs extend in his mouth, then piercing my skin. Rumbling growl escapes from him. Vibrating against me as he drinks.