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I wanted Jasper to feel my despair, my longing for my people, my love for him, and for him to know that he was my only hope.
I could still run. Though I was certain that if I tried to escape, the wolves would catch me, or I would become lost in the dark woods and never reach the Crimson Palace in time.
Releasing my wrist, blood pooled on my skin and ran down my arm under the shirt, saturating the wool around my elbow before drops fell around my feet, soaking into the soft grass. I licked the blood from my lips, savouring the taste of myself, of real vampire blood. Not that I was not in love with the way my wolves tasted, each like a different flavour of fine wine, but vampire blood tasted like home.
Fillian cried my name, his screams vibrant as I focused on calling Jasper.
I sent out another pulse, stronger, more desperate, my soul full as I tried to reach him with a choking cry that echoed my need to return home.
I heard Fillian’s gasps growing closer behind me, and I had to let go.
My heart thundering, I lowered my wrist, using my clean sleeve to wipe the blood from my mouth only seconds before he reached me.
My barrier dropped, my defences vanishing. Jasper’s essence disappeared and the wolves flooded me again. They filled my body and flowed through me, returning to normality, though I knew Lucien and Valko would have sensed what had happened as well.
“Did you feel it too?” he said. His eyes widened as he caught sight of me leant against the tree, panting. I was drained from the call, almost unable to stand.
I needed a plausible lie, and all I could think of as Fillian rounded the tree was ’witch’ - another gift from Valko.
I could only watch as Fillian stumbled closer, my lungs burning from the effort of the call. There was a slight twitch in my left hand as pain flowered from my wrist and exhaustion swept through me.
“How? They-” He shuddered as his eyes landed on my wrist. His breathing slowed, heaving his body at the depth of them.
“Fillian, what’s happening?” I said, rushed, showing him my concern, sensing the change in him.
His body shook. He reached out to the tree for support as his energy flared. His raw power shook me. His growls filled my ears, and my throat tightened as the full force of him wrapped around me.
It was fascinating, watching his innocent look vanish as shock took him. His eyes glowed yellow as he bent forward, gasping.
“The witch…” I trembled, holding my wrist out to him. I was healing too fast, so I squeezed my wound, breaking my weak skin through the shirt to encourage him. His nostrils flared at the scent, and my breath caught as madness took him.
I could feel nothing of him through the bond. It was a different silence to the one I had enforced; it contained all the rage and strength of an untamed wolf.
He snarled, his body growing, the shift taking over him. I heard muscle stretching, bones snapping and changing, and I watched in awe as his soft face morphed into a long snout, a ripple through his body as pure golden fur, the same colour as his hair, replaced tanned skin.
“Fillian,” I said, trying to send a warning, though I was enjoying myself too much to try to help him. My voice only seemed to enrage him further.
I should have stopped. I should have realised that I was teasing a fully grown wolf, the exact species that could tear apart a vampire with one swipe of its claws. I had seen it firsthand three weeks before.The only difference was that I refused to even contemplate killing my mate.
Uneasy tremors fluttered through me as he changed from the sweet boy I loved into a raging beast that could devour me. I had pushed him too far, and no matter how gorgeous he was, I could not let him become so unhinged.
Fillian’s transformation was slow, and I savoured how ferocious he was. He towered above me, his deep breaths heaving his chest outwards, until his hands morphed into wide paws, his arms and legs ripping through his clothes, the tree I leant against bursting as his claws fully emerged.
It was breath-taking. I stepped back, giving him room to pitch forward and land on his front legs, towering over me. I could still hear his frantic gasps through his thick jaw, his teeth showing as he growled again.
The terror that had consumed me when I first laid eyes on Lucien and Valko weeks ago had transformed into love. I purred with pride at how beautiful Fillian looked in the dark light of the forest. Like a true beast - like my beast.
Valko had said that Fillian needed to control his wolf, that that was one of the reasons they fucked me. With his wild eyes fixed on my wrist, his heavy chest heaving in rage, pure power dominating my weak strength, I could see why.
If he was left free to roam the woods in that state, nothing could stop him.
He alternated between panting and sniffing the air, his eyes searching the surrounding area before flying back to my wrist.
He stepped forward. I trusted he would never hurt me. Because he loved me with a passion so strong that turned him into a fool and allowed me this moment to reach for Jasper - and my freedom.
I drew in a sharp breath, calming myself enough to send that trust across to Fillian through the bond. My love and pride for him.
Lucien’s concern and Valko’s anger pulsed around us, but even if they found us out here in the forest, I had done what I needed to do. I would suffer the consequences gladly if it meant Jasper would come to my aid before the moon passed.
