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.”

a short

you always

“Almost always.”

gesturing for him to continue, even though she hated being

such you are a

to her

since the beginning of time. A child would be born of the two clans union that would bear fruit to rule the world. You,

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

two werewolves? Were you not

burned at the memory. “Yes,” she admitted

you cannot bear fruit in that

not sure what to think anymore. “They will

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

sheath in her hands, and she hurriedly pulled it over her

around her knees. He looked away as if scalded. “I brought you food. I suggest you eat. Your body’s metabolism is moving at a much faster

her to eat seeing as she’d gobbled raw meat a few hours earlier but she found his choice acceptable

the bite of raw steak. “And you still haven’t

necessary for what

been obsessed with serial killers and had often used crime profiles as teaching materials. He had joked that if ever in a situation with a stone-cold killer, try to engage with them on a human level, remind them that you are

agree to

Mr. High and Mighty? You’re clearly not human

her insult. “I’m surprised your senses have not

to her and she swallowed

keep watch for the Breeding females of

she swallowed again. “So…why do you care so much

crying over who has what toy. Vampires have been keeping the werewolves under

they don’t need to be babysat. Did

beasts who tear apart everything

she immediately rushed to their

narrowed. “Yes. A werewolf ripped apart

how to offer condolences on something so awful. “But

were consumed with lust for you because of the power you possess. Why else would they go out of their way

was phasing. There wasn’t

that as it may, they’d been watching you for some time. As have I. They lost control because of who you are