It was good… it was so good…
For just a second, my body relaxes, and I remember the pleasure that ran through me. How Shane held me, pleasured me, and took nothing for himself.
Dan would never have done that. The only times he made it about me, he had plans for himself after that that were less pleasant from my side.
Warm pleasure flows through me, and I can’t ignore the rightness of it, that being in Shane’s arms felt like the most natural thing in the world.
How can I trust that, though? I’ve been fooled before. I believed with all my heart that Dan was the one for me… that’s why I gave myself so soon. And all I did was commit to my own destruction.
Shane’s words ring through my head again, and even though the tone is different, hearing the exact same sentence has traumatized me beyond measure.
Dan said it as if he was disappointed, with this horrible edge of sarcasm, as if using me was the only thing that gave him pleasure. It scared me, but it also made me desperate to satisfy him. Shane said it like a question, as if he was asking if I wanted more.
But how can I tell what he really meant?
Tears still trickle down my cheeks, but the flow has finally begun to ease. I realize my arms are wrapped so tightly around my shoulders that all the joints and muscles are screaming with tension. I carefully unwind my body, stretching a little.
As I catch my breath, I take a look around. The forest is incredibly dark, but somehow I can see quite well. The trees seem to gather around me, protecting me with their strong,curved branches. The leaves beneath me don’t feel gross or damp. Instead, they feel like a feather bed.
I’m still shaken and sore, so I have no intention of getting up, and the forest seems to echo this thought. Leaning back against the tree, peace and calm flow through me, and I take long, slow breaths.
I have no idea where I am. That should scare me, but I feel safer right now than I’ve ever been.
As my body relaxes, my mind clears. I open my eyes and look around, smiling at the friendly shadows. A nightbird chirps in a nearby tree, and the sound comforts me. I know without a doubt that I’ll be able to find my way home, and I’m not scared of the forest at all.
Since I arrived in town, I’ve always felt welcomed by nature. It’s like the trees, the earth, and all the creatures are singing in harmony, and I can hear it.
Maybe I really am a witch.
The thought makes me chuckle. Feeling relaxed in nature doesn’t mean I have crazy witch powers, no matter what the old wolf rituals think.
If I had powers, I’d know by now.
The strange feelings I had earlier when I was talking to Sadie come back to me then, and I feel a hint of fear. It was like she was challenging me, and something in my soul answered.
But it felt like we were about to fight. The fury in me when I thought about Shane—and all the alphas, for kidnapping us—almost overwhelmed me.
Before I can examine the thought further, I hear a twig break nearby, and I know someone is close. To my surprise,I still don’t feel scared—in fact, I almost pity the person who would try to sneak up on me.
What is happening to me? It’s like I don’t even know myself anymore.
“Hyacinth?” I hear Shane’s voice drift through the darkness.
My first instinct is to hide, to burrow down into the leaves and stay still until he goes away.
That’s ridiculous. I have to face him sooner or later.
Sighing, I stand up and see Shane approaching through the nearby trees. I raise my hand to wave at him, but he doesn’t look in my direction, just keeps swinging his head back and forth as if he can’t see.
Can he see at all? Isn’t he supposed to have wolf vision or something?
“Hyacinth!” he calls again, then looks straight towards me. I can tell by the way he turns to search in the opposite direction that he still can’t see me.
I take a couple of careful steps forward, rustling the leaves under my feet deliberately. Shane whirls around, looking up and down almost frantically.
“Hyacinth? Are you there?”
“Yes,” I answer, walking slowly towards him. I watch carefully to understand the range of his senses, and he doesn’t see me until I’m only a few feet away.
