*Thea*
The first thing I felt was warmth. I was so comfortably warm. I stretched out to feel the soft padded sheet envelope me. Startled as to why I wasn’t cold and on a hard stone floor, I sat up suddenly looking about. As I took in the surroundings of the beautiful room, it all came flooding back. I couldn’t believe it was real and not some lovely yet torturous dream. It was light outside, and I wondered what time it was.Just then, there was a soft knock at the door. “Thea? It’s Bessie, is it okay for me to come in?” I rushed out of bed and over to the door “Just coming”. I opened the heavy door and allowed Bessie to come into the room. She was carrying a tray laden with boiled eggs, thick cuts of ham, a tankard of milk, fresh warm bread and a generous pot of butter. “Thank you, Bessie, I really don’t expect you to bring me food, I don’t want to trouble you”. &l
**Thea**Bessie all but collapsed into fits of giggles. Had she gone mad? Wait. Maybe this had all been a joke. Maybe there was no such thing as werewolves and she was winding me up. She caught sight of my face and regained her composure. “Oh, I am sorry Thea. It’s just…” More laughing ensued “It’s just, that question is quite…intimate” I still didn’t understand. Picking up on that she continued. “You see, asking someone that question directly, to see their wolf, it kind of means you want to have sex with them”. My face turned crimson. “Oh, but…that doesn’t really make any sense” Bessie grinned. “You’re right, it doesn’t really. But it’s sort of a question you ask because you hope once they shift back to human form, they will stay naked for you…and you know…” I didn’t know what to say. I felt t
**Atlas**My head was spinning with emotion. Tonight, a dinner would take place where Jarin would explain to Thea why we had looked for her. Tonight, he would essentially be asking her to marry him. Every time I thought of them getting married, of their wedding night…I couldn’t. My wolf growled with possessive jealousy. It was just as well I wasn’t able to let him out for a while due to the pendant. I’m not sure I could trust him to stay away from her. Part of me also yearned for the dinner to come. I would see her again. A mind link from Doran pulled me from my thoughts. He wanted to see me before the dinner. I knew what it would be about. I told him I would meet him in the garden near Jarin’s rooms so we could go into dinner straight after. I looked out the window for a moment to watch the last of the afternoon sun dim to an orange hue.Not long after Doran’s a link, one came t
**Jarin**I waited for the others to leave and then turned to Thea. “I hope you do feel comfortable with me alone, I just feel what I have to tell you next…you deserve space to consider it.”I could see she was nervous. “Let’s go and sit by the fire, would you like anything else to drink?”She shook her head, and took one of the soft chairs. I came and sat opposite her taking a deep breath. “Thea, Atlas mentioned that you wear a necklace of sorts. Are you happy for me to see it?” She looked confused but lifted it from under the neckline of her dress. As soon as I saw it, I could not help but gasp. It was so similar to the one I had given Atlas. The same strange braid, but a slightly different looking pendant. “Have you ever taken it off?”“I was abandoned with it on&hel
**Thea**When I stepped out of the room, as promised Bessie was waiting for me. She gave me a warm smile and took my hand in hers. We didn’t have to say anything. I knew she was sorry that I had to make such an important decision, and she knew I was exhausted just thinking about it. We walked slowly back to my room, the sound of our footsteps echoing on the stone floor. As we approached my door, she turned to me. “If there is anything I can do, anything I can say or talk through with you, I am always here.”“That means a lot to me, I would like to talk about. Maybe tomorrow.” I just wanted to collapse.“Of course.” She made her way towards the room that was opposite mine, when a thought suddenly occurred to me.“Bessie?” She turned back to face me. “I’m sorry if this is personal but…you mentioned that you and
**Atlas**She was driving me wild. I kept replaying the moment in my head of catching her, our eyes meting and the warmth of her body being inches from mine. In that moment, I’d wanted to push her against the garden wall and press my lips onto hers. I wanted to move my hand up her dress and touch her between her legs until she called out my name in pleasure. My member was stiffer than it had ever been, and I needed to relieve myself before I was able to leave my room. I couldn’t even think about sleeping with another woman, the thought of touching someone else now made me feel physically sick. I reached down and took hold of myself, imagining her beneath me, the two of us wrapped together in passion. It was as if I could see her, feel her, taste her. My climax ripped through me, panting I opened my eyes, feeling more alone than ever.Today was going to be another difficult one. It was the first day Asher and I were ta
**Jarin**The day had finally arrived. I stood outside the old holding with Doran and some of my other pack members. It was the first day Atlas and Asher were tutoring Thea in regards to her new found powers. I had planned to be there but I felt this was too important to miss. At least that’s what I was telling myself. If I was really honest with myself though, I was here because I needed to see Viola again. I needed to know if I had imagined my attraction before. Until then, I couldn’t focus on Thea properly.Movement in the trees caught my attention. Cloaked figures moved towards us. They had arrived. I watched as the figure at the front removed their hood. I steadied myself. She was so unlike any werewolf woman I had seen, and more beautiful than I remembered. She walked in such a way that was both graceful and dangerous. Now I couldn’t deny that I was attracted to her. I tried not to think about what this me
**Atlas**A very small part of me knew this wasn’t a good idea. I’d never killed a human before. There hadn’t been any reason to. They normally remained separated from our supernatural world. Killing a human would feel different to killing another supernatural being. It wouldn’t be a fair fight for them. However, I wasn’t interested in a fight, I was only interested in the kill.The other concern was that I might be seen. Keeping humans in the dark about us worked in our favour. We could live in our world and leave them in theirs.The trouble was at this precise moment I wasn’t listening to any reason. The image of Thea’s back so badly beaten kept flashing in front of my eyes. To know that she could have died a slow and painful death as a result of infection made my blood boil. I wanted to avenge her. I knew that if Thea married Jarin, it would be on
**Thea**The first thing I felt was sore. Then nausea. I thought about opening my eyes but decided to wait a few moments. Something had happened. Then it all came flooding back, gaining control of my mage powers, shifting for the first time, Atlas carrying me…I decided to finally open my eyes. I did so slowly, squinting at the bright light. As the room came into focus, I saw Bessie was sitting in front of me. Concern covered her face.“Thea? How are you feeling?”“Sick. Aching” I croaked.She got up and went to the table, picking up a jug of water and decanting some into a glass. I pushed myself up on to my elbows a little. Without asking she brought the rim of the glass to my lips and I took a few sips. That felt better. I slumped back into the pillows.“The aching is normal after your first shift. The sickness might be th