Four
couldn't focus the following day. He'd woken up in a strange place. The events from the night before hazy as he tried to sit up.
The moment he felt the sting in his leg, everything slammed into the forefront of his mind. The fracture in his shoulder had healed to a manageable level of discomfort. He took his arm out of the sling and unwrapped the tight bandages responsible for making sleep difficult.
He sighed. It'd been this way since he got his first paper-cut in kindergarten. There was no blood and the cut healed right up in front of him as if he'd never gotten it in the first place. He'd looked around at his fellow classmates to see if anyone saw, grateful it went unnoticed.
The sudden onset of a purely disgusting smell almost made him gag. He sniffed his shirt to realize it was him. Figures. What’d I expect to happen after getting thrown into a dumpster? He wanted nothing more than to take a shower to get clean and clear his head.
A unwanted flinch ran through his body when the door suddenly opened to reveal Jill holding a plate of breakfast.
“Morning. I see your fracture healed up already. That's good.” Jill set the plate down in front of him, backing off quickly once she saw he was still mad.
When Damien didn’t reply, she continued. “Kain made it. He's pretty handy in the kitchen. He asks you to tell him how you like it.”
Damien didn't look at her.
The fact remained, she hadn’t told him about the very real danger he’d been in the moment they began talking. Instead she’d dodged his questions and ignited a fire of sexual arousal inside of him he hadn't been able to suppress.
“I’m...not hungry. Tell him I said thanks anyway.” A loud growl from his stomach gave his apparent need for food away, making him curse under his breath.
“Damien, I know this is all new to you. I promised I would tell you what you wanted to know and I will but I wanted you to rest. Your mind was in a state of panic last night. I needed it to be fresh and open to hear what I was going to say.” Jill took a fresh cup of coffee, sitting it down next to him. Her own mind preparing for the flood of questions he was likely to assault her with. “I suppose I should probably go with the obvious first question humans like to know. I believe it’s ‘what are you’?”
Damien didn't much appreciate her taunting tone but nodded.
Hesitantly, he took a bite of a pancake Kain made, surprised to find it pleasantly fluffy.
“Well to your kind I guess you would label us as...” She shuddered, making a blech sound with her tongue and mouth. “Werewolves, wolf-kind, loup-garoux, shape-shifter...I can go on. We prefer the term lycanthrope or lycan for short.”
“Lycan? As in, capable of turning into a...” His memory went back to the large wolf he'd seen in the woods. Its behavior made more sense to him now that Jill told him. “That was you.”
“Bingo and yes, I did want to eat you but not in the ways you were thinking.” She gave a seductive smirk that made Damien avert his eyes, making her quietly laugh. “You can still have that photo if you want. I just wasn't keen on sticking around with Rob dropping in like that.”
Shock began setting in the more Damien asked. “Kain...and Gabriel...are they?”
“Yes.”
“This whole place...it's full of...”
“Yes. Anything else?”
Damien's head started spinning. Vampires...and now werewolves...
For all he knew, he was in a drug induced coma somewhere. He rubbed his eye with the heel of his hand. “Oh, man. This isn’t happening.”
Jill got up to put some clothes on to go out in, once again not seeming to care he was in the room. “If there's nothing else then we need to go or you're going to miss your first class.”
She tossed him a change of clothes she borrowed from Gabriel. “Gabriel says you can have them. You can't go to school in yours, they're too shredded. Feel free to take a shower.”
“Jill, why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Strip down and get dressed like I'm not in the room. It makes me feel weird. Like I'm a peeping tom.” Damien looked down at the floor in front of him, trying not to gawk at the beautiful woman getting undressed in front of him. She hadn't even put any pants on yet and was wearing high cut panties and a lace bra.
“Around here, this is normal. Both Gabriel and Kain have seen me naked multiple times. To us, it's not strange at all. The body is something to be appreciated and admired. A gift from our gods. Before you ask, no, we don't do it in front of humans. It's mostly lycans who use Gabriel's gym once the doors lock at night. Even so we keep it pretty contained in private areas.” Jill smiled at the reaction she saw in the mirror.
Damien's couldn’t feel anymore jealous than he was. He couldn’t explain why he was beyond unnerved knowing Gabriel and Kain had seen Jill naked on multiple occasions.
“You're so adorable when you're jealous. You're more than welcome to undress in here any time you want. I won't say a thing.” Her eyes half-closed, winking at Damien as she spoke in the same seductive voice.
“No thanks. I'll keep my clothes on, if you don't mind. I would appreciate a shower though.” Damien replied, attempting to ignore her “in-your-face-flirting.”
“Suit yourself.” She opened the bathroom door, letting him close it. The lock clicking could be heard on the other side.
Damien turned on the shower, running some water through his hair while he waited. The more he thought about it, the more Jill’s behavior started making more sense.
If she was what she truly said she was then it made sense as to why she was only comfortable coming to his house at night.
The unease around big crowds, the way she seemed uneasy when his friends were around, and of course there’s her ironic hatred of the werewolf costumes on Halloween.
Christ, a werewolf. Vampires… Damien rested the heel if his palm against his forehead. What the hell have I walked into?
****
True to her word, Jill dropped Damien off at his house to get his truck so he could make it to college just in time for his first class. They hadn't been easy to sit through for most of the day.
Damien’s mind went from being angry at Jill and wanting to tell her off to wanting to ask the questions still buzzing around in his head.
All he'd gotten out of her on their drive back to his house was how she was able to jump off of a six-story building and avoided getting hurt when she landed.
Nothing he wanted to know would come out of his mouth. He'd been jealous when Kain and Gabriel had their hands on her and furious at the thought they’d seen her naked.
Christ what is wrong with me? I shouldn't be gawking at her like a hormonal kid during puberty. I should be cussing her out and telling her to leave me the hell alone for keeping so many damn secrets from me.
With his medical leave from his internship, Damien had nothing better to do but to head home after his classes to try to catch up on some of his reading. His leg had healed up to only a slight discomfort so he took the wrapping off, grateful he would be able to wear his jeans again. He’d chosen to hide the clothes Gabriel gave him as soon as he could.
His dad hadn’t arrived home yet so Damien went into the kitchen to make himself a quick dinner, throwing it into the microwave.
After the meal was finished heating, he went into the den to watch some television in an attempt to get his mind off of what little he'd learned after somewhat quizzing Jill. He was still mad at her for not being forthcoming with him.
Damn. I must be losing my mind. It's not scientifically possible for someone to turn into an animal or to suck blood for that matter. He sighed as he lolled his head back, his arm dropped across his face.
Of course, it wasn't physically possible for someone to heal a paper cut in two minutes or a broken leg in a matter of days either. Not to mention getting hit by a car and not sustaining any severe lacerations or being killed. Okay, so none of this was scientifically possible...
Damien finished his dinner quickly, his mind still a blur of confusion.
Despite having a shower earlier that morning, he decided to stick to his routine. He turned on the shower, letting the water heat until the room filled with steam. His shorts fell in a pile to the floor as he stepped in the water. His eyes closed as the hot water ran down his body.
An image of Jill in her bra and panties back at the gym flashed across his mind. The thought of her perfect body stretched out on her bed, wrapped tightly in her sheets or covered in sweat after a fight brought about a searing heat inside his body.
As if his hand were reacting on its own, Damien began rubbing his cock, feeling it had already begun hardening. His thumb rolled over the tip, feeling the warmth of the pre-cum the more aroused he became.
The idea of Gabriel touching Jill in her night clothes made Damien angry for reasons he just couldn't wrap his mind around. A low growl escaped his throat the angrier he got as his mind wandered into the territory that Jill might move on from him.
A twinge of possessiveness unlike he’d ever felt before made Damien’s muscles tighten as he imagined himself taking Jill as his own.
Despite his mind telling him to get a grip on himself, his breath grew heavy when his mind’s eye drifted over Jill's long, sinewy body. Her gorgeous legs and hair so soft he wanted nothing more than to bury his face so deep he’d be unable to breathe. He could feel his hands exploring every luscious curve, his fingers tracing every scar.
The carnal desire inside of him began to surface the more he let himself remember. Those gorgeous icy eyes so full of a hidden desire she tried so hard to hide. The sweetness of the seduction in her voice, the smell of her when she got close to him. It all drove Damien wild.
His eyes closed tightly as his own lust grew, his hand gripped his shaft, firmly. The hot water made him sweat despite the chills his feelings were sending through his body.
The orgasm was close, Damien could feel it. He leaned his forearm against the wall. He bit down as he imagined sinking his teeth into Jill’s soft skin as he made love to her. His butt cheeks tightened as the cum shot out from his shaft, his legs shaking from sheer pleasure.
What is wrong with me? He slammed his fist into the wall, angry at for how he was feeling. He quickly washed his hair and body, turned off the water and dried off.
Damien put his shorts on, choking back a mixture of frustration, lust and overall guilt. He slid down the tile wall onto the floor, his head resting on the arm he set on his bent knee.
The fear of being hunted by vampires growing in his chest made his stomach churn with a bout of nausea. It nearly made him throw his guts up. Everything had been so crazy since he'd gotten back to Big Timber. He decided to take some time to try and get a grip on what was going on before it drove him mad.
****
After Damien hadn’t answered any of her texts, Jill decided to drop by his house. His truck was in the driveway so she knew he had to be home.
Things hadn’t ended on such a great note earlier in the day so she decided to stop to get Damien a cup of his favorite tea as an apology. She hoped he would give her the chance to explain.
When Jill didn’t find Damien in his room, she thought he might have gone through with his nightly routine.
Treading on the side of caution she sat on the branch of the tree outside to wait, sipping the hot coffee she got for herself.
With each passing moment, Jill felt her heart sink. Damien still hadn’t shown up. She began to get concerned despite the fact she couldn’t smell any of the foreign scents that accompanied werewolves or the vampires controlling them. Maybe he doesn’t want to talk.
Descending the tree, Jill made her way to the front door, ringing the doorbell. Damien opened the door, his hair a ruffled mess of stress.
“Hey, I wanted to drop by and give you this,” Jill handed Damien the tea. “It’s the one you told me was your favorite.”
Still no response though he did take the tea.
“Damien, I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I tried so hard to take things slow,” Jill found herself rambling. Something she had never done with anyone before.
The thought that Damien may chase her out of his life forever tore her apart. “You have every right to be angry but please, don't be afraid of me.” Jill had come to care for him so much, trying to take things slow and easing him into caring for her until Demetrius' men attacked him.
They gave her no choice. They could have killed him. She'd done all she could to shield him from the fight so it wouldn't terrify him.
At Gabriel's gym, she’d taken great care to avoid acting too strongly, allowing him to have his space aside from some light flirting.
When Damien stayed silent, only glaring at her, Jill decided it was time to tell him the truth. She took a deep breath and began.
“Damien, I know there's absolutely no way I could try to explain what's going on without it sounding like some child's nightmare or horror film gone terribly awry. I've waited for you for centuries.” Her hand longed to reach out to touch his face, anything to get him to speak to her.
Damien couldn’t take it any longer. The hurt in Jill’s voice touched his heart. Deep down he knew she never intended for him to get hurt. He’d taken the time in his bathroom to come to grips with a few things, especially after what happened in his shower.
“Jill, no more secrets, okay. I’m guilty of holding some of my own back from you. I don’t like the idea of almost getting killed for reasons I don’t fully understand so you can come in if you come clean. I want to know everything about what’s going on. In return, I’ll share what I’ve been holding back, deal?” Damien replied, his voice more emotionless than she’d heard from him.
“Yes.” Jill replied, relieved that he was giving her a chance to explain what was going on.
Damien led Jill into the living room where he offered her a place on the couch while he sat in his dad’s chair. “Go ahead.”
Jill sighed, heavily. “I’m not going to lie, some of this is going to sound unbelievable but you have my word that it is all truth,”
“For centuries, lycans and vampires have been at war, destroying each other for resources, territory and dominance. These feuds became known as the Blood Wars,
“The bloodshed got so bad that beings known only as Purifiers began walking the earth to try and keep some sense of balance to prevent the destruction of the natural order. No one knew where they came from or what powers they possessed. It was believed that they were paladins sent by heaven to keep some semblance of harmony,
“One night after a battle, I was so severely injured beyond my natural ability to heal I began to resign myself to death, enjoying the light of the moon for what I thought would be the last time.”
Jill paused her story, her thoughts turned to the light of the moon on her back as she lay in the snow died red by her fallen brothers and sisters. The pain at seeing so many killed needlessly returned inside, turning into anger.
She had to compose herself to continue. “Lucius Wolf, the Purifier found me and nursed me back to health. He taught me that vampires and lycans weren't so different from one another. We both had similar needs and the instincts to survive in a world where we faced a common threat. Man, and his growing superstition. Lucius was wise and cared for both races so much I found myself falling in love with him. An uneasy truce was put into place with his help until the arrival of Demetrius Stone. The Vampire Lord believed lycans were no more than beasts and had no right to exist alongside vampires as equals. To him, we were slaves to either bow to his will or to be slaughtered like cattle,
“He called for Lucius to be killed. By the time I found him I barely recognized him anymore.”
“What Demetrius didn't know was that Lucius made a vow to heaven. His soul would never find rest until there was some kind of peace between the races. I wanted to join him in his choice but Demetrius called upon the dark god to place a curse on me out of pure spite. I wasn't going to die but live so I could see the man I loved murdered over and over throughout the centuries,
“This was my life until one day, Lucius' soul disappeared. I tried and tried to hear the song it sang but when I couldn't find it I came here. I thought, maybe he’d moved on to the new world.
“For one-thousand years there was no trace of him. I almost gave up hope, thinking he forgot his promise. That he forgot me.”
Jill paused, knowing she had just given Damien a buckshot blow of information at once, searching his wide-eyed stare for any sign he was going to say anything. Hopefully he didn’t think she was crazy and kick her out. When he didn’t respond, she continued.
“I’d thought you lost until I saw you the day you moved here, Damien. There was no mistaking your soul, no mistaking the song it sang. The vampires know who you are, they won't stop until they either turn or kill you. Knowing Demetrius, it'll be the latter. I won't let that happen again, not when I have the strength to stop it.” Jill took a sip of her coffee, fighting to keep her strength in check to avoid shattering the mug.
“I must admit, that would have sounded like a fairy tale to me a couple of days ago. It still sounds a bit unbelievable but I’m sure from our time together, you’ve already seen I’m not exactly what people around here would call normal either. If I was honest with myself, I never really have been.” Damien’s response was relaxed despite his being angry and in self-denial only two hours ago.
The memories he’d long blocked still bothered him, almost torturing him like angry, wailing ghosts. Maybe he would find peace if he actually dared to share them with someone. Jill shared her past out of trust, it was only right that he extend the same trust.
Damien stared into the fire he’d started before Jill began telling her story. The room was warm and peaceful with the soft crackling of the wood and subtle smell of burning hickory. He inhaled deeply, slowly releasing the breath to relax his mind against the anxiety he could feel welling up inside of him.
“Charlie and Sarah aren’t my real parents. My biological mom wasn’t exactly what one could call parental material. I never met dear old dad. Apparently, he just knocked her up and then ran out on us. I’m not sure, nor do I really care to find out. What I do know is when I was very young, my mom did things to me. Things that, at the time, I didn’t know were wrong. Anytime I would ask to go play with my friends, she would lock me in my room, yelling at me and saying things like I only wanted to get away from her like dad did. When it was time for me to start school, she freaked out saying I couldn’t go because there were other girls who would take me away from her,
“It was only when one of the teachers reported the abuse to the town police that I was finally set free from that hell. Charlie and Sarah took me in as their own and despite my hesitation and anger at first, worked through the pain with me. I began seeing them as my only parents, locking away any memory of the other woman.”
“Little did I know at the time, those memories were slowly destroying me. Things didn’t get much better in school. We were cutting designs for Valentine’s Day and I accidentally cut my finger. Before I could tell the teacher, it disappeared. It was the first time I knew I was different. The other kids had to go to the nurse for injuries like knee scrapes or cuts but not me.”
Damien rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and finger to keep his own anger suppressed. He’d kept it hidden deep within himself, denying its existence. Strangely enough, it felt good not to have to bear the pain on his own.
When he was sure he could, Damien continued his story. “All throughout school I did my best to hide being different until the day my dad couldn’t take me to school so I decided to ride my new bike. I was so excited to show it off I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going. A black car speeding down the street hit me, sending me up and over the hood. I landed on the pavement, expecting to be dead only to find I’d only been dazed,
“By the time the ambulances and police arrived, there wasn’t anything too severe wrong with me. They told my parents they couldn’t explain it. When my mom and dad looked at me, I was afraid they might abandon me, thinking I was some sort of freak,
“At first, it seemed like I might have been right until my mom walked over to me and hugged me close to her. Things changed after that. The people in town started avoiding me. Some from the religious sect said I had been possessed by the devil. Even my own schoolmates distanced me. It’s why I had to leave Big Timber. I lost my mom only a year after the accident. I hadn’t been the same since.”
Jill felt the sting of tears in her eyes at the pain she could feel radiating from Damien. Her own heart aching at knowing he’d suffered alone for so long.
“I never told anyone. I chose to close off and suffer in silence, thinking if I pretended things were fine, it would make the pain easier to deal with. It was never enough. I still don’t feel right around normal people.” Damien paused as Jill wrapped her arms around him in a comforting embrace. The warmth of her body calmed him against the angry ghosts of his past.
Jill fell to her knees before him, her hands taking his face. “I didn’t know how bad things were for you. I know I’ve done nothing to prove the truth in my words I’m about to say but I would never abandon you, Damien. I’m a wolf. Loyalty to our loved ones is one of our strongest traits.”
Damien couldn’t stop himself, he wrapped his arms around Jill, pulling her tightly to him. All of the emotion he’d held back for a decade flowed forward into this one moment.
The guilt at what he’d done in the shower melted away, allowing the feelings that’d been budding inside of him to begin to sprout.