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“The three of you have done more than enough for me and I think it’s time that I return the favor. Stay right behind me and I will find a way through for all of us. Just give me a second to think about it,” I proposed and waited patiently for fate to lend its hand, to give me some kind of sign which would help to guide us from the inferno.
I felt like I was a fake, pretending to be more than what I was. They were responsible for opening my eyes to the possibilities. Taking three lovers was easier than I had expected and it had left me with this feeling of a comforting warm blanket surrounding me. Deep down there was a reserve of strength just waiting for me to tap into it.
I pulled the sheets from the bed while taking a deep breath and holding it for three seconds. My thoughts became focused on the task at hand even though my body was still recovering from what they had done to me. It was almost thrilling but I knew the day could extinguish in a blaze of glory. There was not much time to act and procrastinating was only going to get us into hot water.
There was no bathroom and no way to douse the fires but suffocating them with the blanket would, hopefully, give us a small window of opportunity. We were survivors and this was a path that we had to take together.
I heard an unmistakable guttural growl coming from within. It echoed through my body, radiating through my limbs, until I acted with those animal urges bleeding through my human consciousness. The wild untamed spirit they had imbued in me with their bite had an unmistakable feeling of unspoken confidence.
I screamed at the top of my lungs, giving me the vocal courage to do what needed to be done. My feet slapped against the grain of the wood floor propelling me forward with the thick blanket outstretched, gripped in my fingertips. I turned slightly using my body weight and following through with my shoulder. The heat burned me but I didn’t feel it the same way that a child would touch the flames of a stove and then back away from it. The door splintered and exploded on impact, with the wall across from the hall stopping my momentum.
I gasped and could feel my lungs burning, with the smoke inhaled through my nostrils burning the hairs. That was only the beginning and whatever was feeding the flames was making it hard to see where I was going.
My finger motioned for them to follow and they crawled from under the bed to slowly make their way across the floor. Once proud animals, kings of the jungle, they had turned into these vulnerable creatures begging for help.
It was going to take slow and methodical movements with no wasted motion. The flames licked at my face trying to restrain my survival instinct from kicking in. There was this feeling in the air, crackling with electricity, and I chalked it up to the new and wonderful sensations taking me by surprise. My vision acutely peered through the flames, concentrating on the stone stairs leading to safety.
The clothing on my body was burning and my skin blistered, in response to the heat beginning to close in around me. This was the moment where I most likely should have panicked but something of a calming influence came over me. It was their essence coursing through my veins to give me that extra bit of something. It festered inside of me like this all-encompassing cancer.
There was this superstitious feeling and I heard their words echoing in my ears about the symbols being complete nonsense. Fingertips traced the tribal drawings on my arms and I became quite aware of what my body was capable of. Evil could be around the bend waiting to pounce on me and I was ready for it.
I don’t know why, but I felt like I was going out of my head, sitting back and watching this amazing woman do the impossible. She was self-confident, completely independent, without any need for a strong capable man to complete her. She was unrecognizable and I could feel the corners of my mou
th lifting into a sneer of derision for the flames.
Staying low, bent over at an angle was necessary, when the smoke settled above me. The pocket of air toward the floor was the only thing keeping me from succumbing to smoke inhalation. It still burned but I welcomed it. It was making me feel alive and ready to face the insurmountable task in front of me. It excited me almost as much as ascending a mountain with my bare hands. I was making it happen and nothing was going to stand in my way.
The stairs were finally revealed charred from the flames. The heat did nothing to destroy the basic foundation of the stairway that, hopefully, wasn’t going to lead to heaven. I was the architect of my destiny building a new reality with information which most likely would have made others run in the opposite direction.
“I don’t have to look behind me to know that the three of you are there. I don’t know what it is but this is where we separate the men from the boys. Stay strong and vigilant always on your guard. There’s no telling where the next threat is going to come from. I have grown accustomed to having all of you in my life. Don’t you dare give up,” I implored and my tone was filled with authority to get my point across.
One step after the other was almost too much to take. The flames danced above me destroying everything in their path. The bones of the building would survive but the insides would be burned beyond recognition. Nobody in their right mind would dare come close to the flames at the risk of getting burned. At least, that was what I thought, until I saw this shadow of a hand reaching out from seemingly nowhere.
I felt the flesh of a bony specter of a man wearing a black cloak. His face was shielded from my scrutiny. The only thing missing was a cackle of laughter and the sickle clutched in his fist. I feared the reaper in the past but this was a new dawn.
A doorway opened halfway up the stairs with a moldy odor assaulting me. The dampness and dripping of water gave me a reason to sigh with relief. The darkness and the brief glimpse of the man were followed by his hand pulling me within the safety of the cave-like dwelling. The scratching of the wolves was behind me, tentatively using me as an example. They followed and I could sense they weren’t happy being made to look like fools when they were considered alphas.
“I don’t know who you are but anybody willing to come in here on a suicide mission is my friend.” He didn’t acknowledge my existence, continuing to move forward with the flames forgotten behind us.
The damp stone sizzled on contact with the flames, becoming its enemy in the face of overwhelming odds. It was a winding path and there were moments when I had to squeeze through an opening by holding my breath. My clothes were singed and I could feel them sticking to my flesh. I was concerned by what it was going to feel like when I peeled them away from my delicate skin. I actually cringed, with my teeth clenched, holding my breath and testing the resiliency of my clothing, only to feel the pain being washed away by the adrenaline rush.
The fire had a life of its own and it tried to follow us but to no avail. We had made it out alive by the skin of our teeth. I never truly understood the sentiment before. Glancing over my shoulder revealed the glow of the flames a few yards away. There was a moment where I felt totally at peace.
The hand separated from me as we emerged outside of a cliff face. We were on the edge, looking down at the rocks below. It seemed we had exchanged one catastrophe for another. The wind was strong at this altitude and I had lost sight of our benefactor, who had mysteriously vanished without a trace. I wanted to believe it was my guardian angel sent down from above.
My vision wavered but I had to remind myself of who I really was deep down where it mattered. It’s not like I didn’t know how the fire had almost killed us with impunity. I wasn’t like other people and my story had several different twists to keep the pages turning, with me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next.
I collapsed into a Lotus position, sitting there with my eyes closed, with the wolves coming up from behind. Their hot breath touched me and I became one with the nature of the wind blowing through my hair. This was how I centered myself, with the help of Wesley. The courage to stand within the flames came from Callan. The quick reflexes were courtesy of Crosby. They had no idea how much they had helped to mold me into the woman I was today.
Chapter Sixteen
The sun was peeking through the clouds. There was a tendril of smoke coming from the impromptu exit we had found, with some help, in the rock face. The descent was probably the easier way to go but I was never about taking the easy way out.
Climbing was no stranger to me and I had learned several different skills. One of them was scaling impossible summits and it reminded me of a lost soul. I was hoping Daniel was watching from wherever he was and I found myself depending on his lessons, which continued to repeat ad nauseam in the back of my mind.
The cracking of bones made me turn to see the men naked, on their hands and knees, looking slightly confused by their circumstances. Somebody had tried to use their vulnerability when it concerned fire to their advantage. Killing me could come from a variety of different ways but the fire had kept the strong Alpha inside of them from coming out. It was actually ingenious and I had to give credit where it was deserved.
“I don’t remember much other than your voice. Fire does something to us where we shrink into our shell. It’s not something we’re proud of but we have learned to accept our limitations. It’s an unfounded fear, born into our DNA from the moment we were conceived. Every wolf feels the same way about fire and I’m a little surprised by your reaction. It could be the effect of the three bites but I don’t have any reference to compare it to,” Callan said, looking sheepishly around in a circle, afraid to make eye contact with me.
