Chapter 16: Erick

 

 

 

"They're pulling the animals out of shifters to make them human…somehow," the Grayback beta rasped. "What's left are two separate entities: the human, and the animal."

"What do you mean pulling? Like a bad tooth or something?" Logan said. His tone sounded alarmed, and his face was pale.

Finally, I was shocked enough to let him go. Jimmy also released one of his arms, allowing him to massage his sore neck.

"We don't know. That's why Garland sent us to attack Aiden," he said.

"To see if he'd shift under duress," Josh said. He exchanged a knowing glance with Sam.

"You wouldn't be able to shift if there's no wolf inside …" Sam trailed off, his complexion turning grayish.

"How is it even possible?" Logan remarked.

"Magic," I said darkly. "Powerful magic."

Logan crossed his arms, the tattoos on his biceps contrasted starkly against his bare torso. "Then, why would the witches want to do such a thing?"

"We think," one of the younger betas piped up. He was the one who had recognized me when I stepped into the clearing. "We think Eliza is building an army of familiars."

"For what purpose?" I murmured.

At the exact same time, Logan pitched sideways and vomited into the grass. Liam and Mickey responded by turning their backs to him and looked pointedly at the sky.

"Nobody knows," the oldest beta said.

At that moment, I knew that we'd gotten all the information we could get out of them.

Caleb made a growling noise low in his throat. He eyed his twin brother intensely. The entire clearing fell silent as the Black Paws conferred telepathically through their pack's mental link.

"Let them go," Kaden finally said aloud, and all three Grayback betas were simultaneously released. The two younger ones immediately began to shift into their wolf pelts.

"You," Caleb said, grabbing the oldest before he could join his packmates. "Send word to Garland. Tell him the Black Paws want a meeting."

The man only smirked, saying nothing. Within seconds, he was bounding on four paws with the others and disappeared into the trees.

 

* * *

 

We were surprised to find Rowan and Aiden waiting for us when we returned to the barn. Both of them were jumpy and anxious, as if they'd just seen a ghost.

"Oh my god!" Rowan wailed. She covered her face with her hands when we strode in naked.

Aiden's eyebrows jumped silently, but he remained otherwise silent.

"What are you guys doing here?" Jimmy asked as he shoved his legs into some jeans.

"Aiden and I broke into Scheherazade's Spa earlier. We need to tell you guys what we saw," her muffled voice came from behind her hands.

"And I just didn't want to be alone," Aiden said. "Erick, will you stay with me tonight?"

I touched his shoulder and found him shaking. "Yes. Of course. Kaden?"

Kaden shrugged after he pulled on his shirt. "Aiden, you're scot-free. You too, Erick. Do whatever you want."

Part of me wanted to stay in the barn to hear what Rowan had to say, but I assumed I could just get Aiden to tell me about it later. I dressed quickly as Aiden waited, inching closer and closer to the barn doors with each passing second. Once I was clothed, we said a curt goodbye and walked out to Aiden's car.

"What happened at the spa?" I asked him.

"You first. What happened in the woods?" Aiden countered.

So I told him the whole story, beginning with the excuse I used to stay behind so the Black Paws wouldn't catch me shifting into my dragon form. Telling him every detail took the entire drive home. When I reached the part where the Grayback beta explained how the cure wasn't a cure at all, we were parked in front of his apartment.

"Kaden and Caleb told them to pass along a message to their alpha. They want to bring the two packs together for a meeting," I finally concluded.

Aiden nodded mutely, his throat constricting as he swallowed. He remained silent even as we walked into his apartment. After locking the door behind us, he checked to make sure it was actually locked.

Then, he suddenly flew into my arms, clinging to me with the desperation of someone who was glad to be alive.

Shocked, all I could do was kiss the top of his head. I noticed his scent and the racing thump of his heart at the same time.

He was speaking, his mouth half-crushed against my shoulder. I had to pull him away to be able to understand what he was even saying.

"It's true," he said, brown eyes wide and brimming as he stared up at my face. "It's all true. I've seen it."

"What are you talking about, Aiden?"

"The witches are removing the animal spirits from shifters. I've seen it myself." His eyes were wild with distress.

"What have you seen?" My own heart racing along, I held him by the arms, as if to reassure myself that he was still safely here.

"I saw a wolf," he whispered. His expression seemed to collapse. Before I even realized what was happening, he was pressed against me once more, sobbing into the front of my shirt.

"But you've been cured," I said, stroking his back. "How could you not know?"

Aiden pulled his face away and dabbed at his eyes. "I don't know. I don't remember what they did to me. It was part of the spell. All I remember is the pain. That, and waking up, feeling human…"

I put my hand to his hair. I meant it to be a comforting touch, hoping to soothe him. It grew into something more when Aiden's eyes fell shut. He reached up and moved my hand from his hair to his cheek. The corner of his mouth curved against the fleshy part of my palm.

Something clenched tight inside of me. I knew I had to kiss him.

Aiden moaned as his lips were swept up in mine. It was the sound of someone starved who was finally getting fed. Encouraged, I probed his mouth with my tongue, and I gathered him up in my arms, pulling him close until I could feel the exact shape of his body under his clothes.

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, his fingers cold against the back of my neck. He broke away briefly enough to say a few words, staying close enough for me to feel his breath as he spoke.

"Don't leave me, Erick," he said breathlessly.

I dug my fingertips into his back. "I won't."

Aiden rose up onto his toes to catch my mouth again. His kisses were fevered and hungry, and I thought I'd never be able to fulfil that hunger, though I wasn't opposed to trying.

I moved my mouth to the crook of Aiden's shoulder, sucking gently at first. When I felt him shiver in my hands, my blood surged, and I suddenly knew I wouldn't be satisfied until I could distract Aiden completely from what he witnessed earlier this evening.

"Take me to bed," Aiden murmured.

With one swift movement, I picked him up. Aiden swung his legs around my waist, and I carried him into the bedroom.

After unloading him onto the bed, both of us undressed faster than I thought was possible. Aiden's desire was clear, as was my own. I reached down to hold my stiff manhood, letting it pulse hard in my hand as I crawled on top of Aiden's naked, gasping body.

My hair fell forward as we kissed, making a curtain around our faces. I lowered my hips until our cocks were touching, side-by-side and sandwiched between our bodies. His legs jerked as my heavy ballsack grazed his.

"Mmmm," I groaned blindly with my eyes rolled back. A shiver of ecstasy rippled down my spine. I shivered again as Aiden twitched his hips a few times, sliding his cock against mine.

"Erick," he said with a slight whimper.

Clenching my stomach against a huge surge of lust, I pushed myself up on my arms so I could see his face.

Aiden's cheeks were flushed. His blonde hair stuck up in the places where I'd run my fingers through. His lips were a dark, cherry red, bruised from the way I'd been kissing him. He ran his hands up my stomach and chest, eventually holding onto my shoulders.

"Can you help me forget what I saw today?" he whispered.

I combed my hair out of my face, suddenly uncertain. "I…I…I don't know—"

"Make love to me, Erick," Aiden said, no longer whispering. He gave his hips another twitch.

I clenched my eyes shut, biting my lip.

"Please," Aiden begged.

My entire body went numb, but I could still feel myself shaking my head. "I…can't."

The moment I said it, my cock began to get soft again. I opened my eyes to find that Aiden was still gazing at me, but his eyes were now full of confusion and hurt.

"I'm sorry," I said. I rolled off of him before he could feel my cock becoming completely soft. "I'm sorry…"

"It's okay," Aiden said, his voice taut with the same confusion I saw in his eyes. And there was fear there, too. He was afraid. "You're still staying with me tonight, right?"

"Of course, Aiden."

Hooking my hand behind his head, I pulled him in for one last kiss. Maybe I can tell him through this kiss, I thought. Maybe I can get him to understand. I imagined myself pouring my entire soul into his mouth, communicating how I felt with just my lips. I still wanted him. I wanted every bit of him, body and soul, and I wanted to have him over and over.

I wanted to, but I couldn't.

Please understand, I mentally begged, but Aiden pulled away before I could even begin to express the full weight of my desire…and regret.

"Good night, Erick," he said, turning his back.

He still allowed me to hold him as he waited to fall asleep. When he finally did, I remained awake, staring into the darkness and reflecting on everything that had happened since I crossed over into this realm.

My feelings for Aiden grew deeper by the day, and now it was like I had a bottomless chasm inside of me. Aiden was my fated mate, so there was no surprise there. But as the depth of my feelings grew, so did my anxiety to return to the Wood.

There was no greater love than the love between two fated mates. There was also no greater pain than the one felt after losing one's fated mate.

Never again, I'd vowed all those lifetimes ago, my soul hardened into a cold, unfeeling stone as I watched my lover being pushed out to sea. He's resting now, and so shall I.

I reflected on that bitter memory as I closed my eyes, my right arm still draped over Aiden's side. When I finally drifted off to sleep, it wasn't Aiden's name that was whispered over and over in my mind, but someone else's.

Sigurd.