THE AWAKENING

Cassandra watched with open hatred as he disappeared, moving far too quickly for a human being, but differently than her wolves, and she wondered what world she’d woken up in today.

She walked cautiously away from the fire and found the bubbling pool just as her captor described. Her body ached from the pounding given to her by the twin wolf brothers and the water was a welcome relief.

She sank in and submerged herself, and then found a bar of organic soap waiting for her on a ledge. After soaping herself and rinsing, she drifted over to a submerged ledge and settled herself upon it.

The water swirled around her like a hot tub and her protesting muscles began to relax under the soothing jets of natural jets bubbling from the depths of the earth.

She lost track of time and must’ve fallen asleep for when she opened her eyes again, her captor was standing there watching her.

She sank lower in the water to shield her breasts from his gaze but he laughed at her efforts.

“Come, I have clothes for you to change into.”

She scowled and motioned for him to turn around. “I’m not putting on a peep show for your entertainment.”

“Foolish child…it doesn’t matter whether I see your naked body now or later. But suit yourself. I will indulge your request because it amuses me.” He turned to give her privacy and she rushed to cover herself. But as she lifted the clothing he’d brought her, she realized with dismay she may as well have remained naked.

The cloth was a sheer sheath that was certainly inappropriate for the chilly cavern and definitely inappropriate given the situation.

She looked for her old clothes but found they were gone. As if sensing her confusion, he said, “I burned them. The seed of those beasts was all over them. I thought I might be ill.”

“So you brought me this?” She lifted the thin sheath. “This is ridiculous. I’ll freeze.”

He turned and she gasped as she struggled to cover herself. “Do you know nothing of your nature?” he asked. When she failed to answer, he explained in irritation, “In a few short hours you will phase again. The heat in your body will ramp up until you are burning with fever. The sheath is simply a nod to your modesty, however thin. You will rip it from your body when you are in full phase.”

She swallowed, remembering the scant details Jandin and Koris had shared before she’d slipped into her second phase. She remembered the heat inside her body, liquefying her bones and she shuddered in fear it at happening again. “You must take me back to my clan. I’ll die if I phase without them.”

By his flat expression, that was perhaps his entire plan. “That’s murder. I’ve done nothing to deserve what you’re planning for me. Have you no conscience?”

He smirked. “A wolf speaking of conscience? Your species has a history of savagery and yet you cry about the fairness of your situation?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, offended and uneasy. She didn’t know anything about the world she was suddenly thrust into and yet, this man was judging her.

The man shook his head, annoyed by her ignorance but he decided to explain.

“Without a Breeding female, the two clans settle into an uneasy truce, which bears well for the humans they choose to live beside. But a Breeding female creates a lust for dominance that is impossible to quell under the best of circumstances; add in a Breeding female of your particular blood line and it’s doomed to chaos and bloodshed.”

“What do you mean?” Cassandra asked, intrigued in spite of herself. “I don’t know any of this. I was adopted. I have no idea who my biological parents were.”

curved in a short line. “That

you

“Almost always.”

grumbled, gesturing for him to continue, even though she

Barrichius; your mother, Clan Janus. As such you are a direct descendent of the Lycan line. Your blood is powerful.

hand drifted to

has kept the two clans warring since the beginning of time. A child would be born of the two clans union that would bear fruit to

gasped and shook her head. “You’ve got to

two werewolves? Were you

cheeks burned at the memory. “Yes,” she admitted with shame.

nature. Which is why you cannot bear fruit in that womb

me,” she said, not sure what to think anymore. “They will find

washed away for the time being. But your final phasing will create a scent that they can

gaze drifted down her naked body, barely covered by the sheath in her hands, and she

scalded. “I brought you food. I suggest you eat. Your body’s metabolism is moving at a much faster rate and you

him what he’d brought her to eat seeing as she’d gobbled raw meat a few hours earlier

werewolves if you’re not one?” she asked around the bite of raw steak. “And you still haven’t told me your name,” she

not necessary for

if ever in a situation with a stone-cold killer, try to engage with them on a human level, remind them that you are more than an object without feelings. “Because as much as you want to pound the idea into my head, I am not an animal. No

can agree

what are you, Mr. High and Mighty? You’re clearly not

your senses have not figured it out

her and she swallowed with

watch for the Breeding females of the clans. Thus far, I’ve

again. “So…why

children, always crying over who has what toy. Vampires have been keeping the werewolves under control

his condescension. “Maybe they don’t need to be babysat. Did you ever think

they become rabid, quarreling beasts who tear

and Koris and how tender they’d been with her and she immediately rushed to their defense. “I don’t think that’s true. You have a

stare narrowed. “Yes. A werewolf ripped apart my

sure how to offer condolences

Why else would they go out of their way to put their mark on you before they

phasing. There wasn’t time,” she

they’d been watching you for some time. As have I. They lost control because