Chapter Three
Aries didn’t know how to respond to that claim. What did Pet mean by that? It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her what she meant but the bedroom door opened. His uncle stepped into the room followed by Sarah and Constantine. From the look on his cousin’s face, he wasn’t happy about being here.
Aries raised a brow. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”
“Actually, they were on their way over here,” Paris replied before turning to Sarah. “Why don’t you tell them what you told me?”
“Ever since I healed Persephone, I’ve had these dreams, kind of like premonitions.”
“Maybe what you did to Persephone activated your powers,” Aries suggested.
She nodded. “That’s the most likely scenario.”
“So what were you having visions of?” Aries asked.
Sarah nodded in Pet’s direction. “Of her. In another form, but with black fur, all over. No markings or anything. And then I saw another wolf that I’m pretty sure was my mother. I don’t know what any of it means but I needed to see Pet. Maybe if I can help her, we can figure out what happened to my mother.”
Aries frowned. “I spoke to Calliope earlier. You know she gets these visions sometimes. She also saw a black wolf but not just any wolf, an all-black.”
Paris raised both brows in surprise. “Are you certain that’s what she said? From my understanding that breed of shifter was wiped out a very long time ago, long before I was born. If you believe that Pet’s true form is that of an all-black, she has to be at least half a millennia. And we’d also need answers as to why she’s unable to shift or heal.”
Don’t try to save me. It’s just best to leave me be, Pet’s voice entered Aries’ mind. He could tell she’d only communicated with him as the rest of the room’s occupants didn’t seem to notice the exchange.
We can’t leave you like this if there’s a way to make you better and to restore you to your original state, Aries replied back.
“I don’t like any of this,” Constantine spoke up. “I mean, curing Persephone was one thing but this seems to be something totally different. What if there are repercussions.”
Sarah placed her hand on her mate’s chest. “We’ve already discussed this, Constantine. “If I can do anything to help her, I’m going to do it. If this was me, wouldn’t you want someone to help me?”
Constantine racked his fingers through his hair in obvious frustration before releasing a heavy sigh. “Of course I would.”
“So I’m going to do this. I’m not asking your permission,” Sarah said with a layer of steel in her voice. She then turned to Pet who lay on the bed. The she-wolf whimpered as Sarah sat next to her.
Aries stiffened as he witnessed the wariness in Pet’s eyes. The sudden need to protect this creature washed over him and it took everything in him not to intervene. It’s going to be all right. I won’t let any harm come to you.
Sarah placed her hand on top of Pet’s body without touching it. “Do I have your permission to do this?”
Can I stop you? Aries heard Pet asked.
Sarah hesitantly pulled her hand away. “If this isn’t something you want then I’ll back off. Honestly, I’m not exactly sure if this will work or the mechanics of this power yet, but I’d really like to help you, if for nothing else than to make you healthy again. You’re wounded and I don’t want to see you in pain. If I could at the very least make you more comfortable in this form, I don’t see the harm in trying.”
Pet looked away as she projected her thoughts to everyone. Then do what you must. Although I think it’s pointless.
Sarah gave the she-wolf a gentle smile before placing her hand on Pet’s fur. She closed her eyes and whispered, “Heal. I wish you would heal.”
At first, nothing happened and Aries frowned with disappointment.
See, I told you it was pointless, Pet scoffed.
Though he was determined not to show it, Aries was a bit disappointed that Sarah couldn’t help Pet. “Well, no matter what, we’ll keep you safe in the meantime until we can figure something out.”
Sarah sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry it didn’t—” Before she could finish, her hand began to glow.
Pet whimpered but remained still as the slight surged from Sarah’s hand and spread throughout the she-wolf’s entire body.
Aries tensed as he watched this ball of light completely engulf Pet and Sarah making the room so bright he had to shield his eyes.
“Sarah, what’s happening?” Constantine called out.
“So much darkness,” Sarah cried out. “Pain. Hurt. Torture. Death.”
“Stop it! Back away from her, Sarah!” Constantine commanded.
Aries could vaguely make out his cousin going to his mate and Paris holding him back. “Let her finish.”
“You heard her, she’s in pain.”
“No, I’m fine, Constantine,” Sarah argued though her voice sounded much weaker than it had before as if her energy was being drained. Just then a flash of light even brighter than before burst throughout the room before it suddenly disappeared.
Temporarily blinded by the flash, Aries rubbed his eyes. Once his sight was restored, he noticed two things: Sarah had passed out, and Pet was different. Gone was the malnourished, mangy brown wolf that had several patches of fur missing. In its place was a large wolf with sleek black fur so dark it seemed to absorb all light surrounding it. She was a magnificent creature.
“Sarah!” Constantine rushed to his mate and lifted her in his arms. “And this is exactly why I didn’t want her involved in this. She doesn’t have a handle on her powers and healing Persephone had drained a considerable amount of her energy.”
“Take her back to your house to rest.”
Constantine nodded before carrying his mate out the room leaving Aries with his Uncle and Pet. The she-wolf seemed to be as confused about what happened from the way she cocked her head to the side.
“An all-black,” Paris whispered. “I thought they’d all been killed off ages ago, even long before I was sired.”
Aries couldn’t tear his gaze away from the magnificent beast. She was beautiful with her slick fur that looked incredibly soft and covered her entire body unlike the matted brown fur in her last form. Unable to help himself he reached out and ran his hand along her flank. Her eyes were now a pale shade of blue. She didn’t shy away from his touch.
Aries sat next to her on the bed. “How do you feel?”
I’m…not sure. I haven’t felt this way in such a long time that this is brand new to me.
“Like what?”
Without pain. Whatever it was she did, it took away the unbearable pain I’ve endured for many years. Trapped in that form was very painful to me. I can think clearly. I…remember. I remember who I was. What I was. What I did. She looked away from him as if she was ashamed. Though she claimed to not be in any pain, he could feel her internal suffering.
Aries turned to his Uncle. “Could you please leave us?”
“I need answers, Aries. Now that she appears to be somewhat healed, maybe she could give us some type of Intel on Gage and his operation.”
She’s my mate, Uncle, Aries projected into the Alpha’s mind so that only he could hear.
Paris looked at the large black wolf. Are you certain?
It surprised me too. Look, I’ll make sure you have your chance to speak with her but I need to clear some things up with her first.
Paris firmed his lips, not looking the slightest bit happy. Fine, but I will speak to her later, no interruptions.
Thank you, Uncle.
Paris turned his attention back to Pet. “I’ll return later.”
Once they were alone, Aries returned to the wolf’s side. “Pet…you said you remember who you were. I can’t keep calling you Pet, what’s your name?”
She lowered her head to the bed and didn’t reply right away. Finally, when she did, she turned that blue gaze in his direction. They called me, Nina. My pack was so old that we didn’t really have a name. We just were.”
“Were they all like you? All-blacks?”
She looked away again but answered. Only one other but he disappeared a long time ago. I was still a pup when he went missing.
“Nina…” Aries said to test the name on his tongue. He liked it. It was much better than that degrading moniker given to her by Gage.
“Do you remember what part of the world your pack hailed from?”
It’s been a very long time since I’ve been there. There was no name for the land. No definitive county. But I believe it was on the other side of the world. It was a new land. There weren’t many inhabitants other than my pack, and a few other immortals scattered about the landscape. But then there was an influx of settlers. Humans mostly. Most of them had pale skin. We kept our distance but then they sought more land making my pack retreat further into uncharted territory.
“Sounds like North America,” Aries murmured.
I don’t know what it was called. I was taken from that land a very long time ago. I was chained by some mystical power and shipped across the ocean. To be honest I couldn’t tell you where I’ve been all this time. I was kept in a room caged for most of my imprisonment, and sometimes I was taken to another location to be experimented on and tortured. Once I no longer had the will to even escape, Gage just kept me as his lap dog while I simply waited to die. Every day I silently wished that would be the day he finally put me out of my misery and kill me. But he never did. That was probably the worst thing he could have ever done to me.
“You’re safe now. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
You sound so sure but you don’t know Gage like I do. He’s cunning and he’ll find a way…look, I don’t want to talk about this right now. But there’s something I’d like to do.
“What?” Aries asked cautiously.
Obviously, I was stuck in that other form for many years. I wasn’t given the benefit of a proper run in who knows how long.
“And you’d like to go for a run?”
Yes. Right now.
There’s no way off the island other than by boat and you need the Alpha’s permission to use his vessels.
If I thought I could escape, I would have tried already, even in my battered form. I’ve barely moved from the same spot since I was brought here. I’ll answer more of your question to the best of my ability, but I need to run. I need to feel the wind flow through my fur. It’s a luxury I’ve been denied for a very long time.
It wasn’t an unreasonable request. Besides, Pe—Nina had a point. Giving their animal side freedom to roam the land was part of their nature. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be changed for so many years without the benefit of proper exercise. “Okay. You can run, but I’m coming with you. You don’t know the layout of this island.”
I could figure it out.
“Nonetheless, you run with me or not at all,” Aries countered.
Nina cocked her head to the side. I suppose I have no choice then.
“No, you don’t.”
Okay. I’m ready when you are. She hopped off the bed. She was a very large creature. If he were to guess, she was nearly five feet in her animal form and very broad. Larger than the average non-Alpha or Beta shifter. She was nearly as large as him in his shifted form. Aries couldn’t help but be in awe of her. Perhaps because she was his mate but he’d never seen a more beautiful being.
“Let’s go.” As he headed downstairs, Aries was intercepted by his uncle.
“Where are you two going?” Paris demanded.
“Nina wants to go for a run before she answers any more questions.”
Paris frowned. “Who’s Nina?”
Aries tilted his head in the she-wolf’s direction. “That’s her name. Look, Uncle, I know you need answer but we’re going to have to do it this way. We’ve waited this long, I don’t see why you can’t hold on for a bit longer.”
The frustration on the Alpha’s face was apparent. But he grunted and stepped aside. “I won’t be put off much longer, Aries.”
“I understand. I promise you’ll have your answers.”
“I’d better.” Paris jammed his hands into his pockets before walking off.
Aries turned to Nina. “My Uncle’s bark is far worse than his bite…unless you’re an enemy,” he said to assure her. He could sense the tension radiating from her magnificent body. Unable to help himself he stroked her sleek black fur.
Nina flinched at first but then allowed him to stroke her flank.
I uh…think we should get going.
Aries pulled his hand away. “Of course. Let’s go.”
Once outside, he led her away from the house to the wooded area he preferred to run. He shrugged out of his clothing and tossed them into a pile where he could retrieve them later. He could feel Nina’s gaze on his nude frame and something about her watching him like this made his cock hard. He stared back at her until she looked away.
Are we going to run or not?
“Do you like what you see?”
She didn’t answer which made him chuckle. Dropping to his hands and knees he focused on his wolf form, allowing his bones to snap and form into his inner beast.
He released a long throaty howl before facing Nina. Ready?
She nodded in response as they both took off. Though Aries had had a recent run, he’d never felt more alive than ever. Perhaps it was because of the crisp chill of the air. Or maybe it was because of Nina at his side. He prided himself on being one of the fastest wolves in his pack but Nina managed to match his strides every step of the way. When he turned a corner so did she. At one point she managed to get ahead of him.
She was very powerful indeed. Somehow their run had turned into a full out race. Aries held back a bit to be fair but once he realized she didn’t need a handicap, he gave it all he could. And then she actually got ahead of him. Seeing her rear in the wind did something to his beast.
With a howl, he pounced on Nina, knocking her to the ground. Playfully he nipped at her neck. The she-wolf, however, fought back. They wrestled nipped at each other’s fur. Aries wasn’t exactly sure what was happening but he hadn’t frolicked like this since he was a pup. Finally, he landed on top of her, pinning her down. Their eyes locked and suddenly, something expected happened. She shifted.
He watched in awe as she transformed from a powerful black wolf with bright blue eyes to a bronze-skinned woman, with hair as black as her fur had been. Her large eyes were nearly as dark. Her cheekbones were high and lips were full. Her body was slender but her curves were abundant from the swell of her generous hips to her breasts capped with dark brown nipples. She was a goddess.
As if his body had a mind of its own, he shifted back to his human form, all the while, his eyes never left the beauty beneath him. Once his transformation was complete, he placed his hands on either side of her head. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered.
She didn’t make a sound as he lowered his mouth to hers.