Synching With the Devil's Son

Chapter 18

Lucien's P.O.V.

I feel like I'm melting inside Bella's embrace. Her small arms wrap around my waist and her gentle breathing presses her breasts against my chest. She buries her face into my shoulder, releasing a long breath and relaxing against me. This is so unlike any other experience I've had that I find myself trying to memorize the feel of her in my arms. Then I hear something, not a gentle fluttering of wings or the scamper of a small animal over the leaves. No, this is a big something, something to worry about, something to avoid. Bella asks me what's wrong, but I need her to be quiet so I can concentrate to try and determine what's coming in our direction. I put my hand over her mouth as I search the area for the intruder. I'm so focused on the woods that I startle when I feel Bella lick my palm. What the Hell? I'm captivated by her smile and the way the moonlight shines off her flawless skin. She tries to speak again, so I shake my head and put a finger to my lips. She needs to be silent until I can figure out what is coming toward us. Then I see it. A big black bear. SHIT. I grab her hand and run uphill in the same direction the breeze is blowing to try and escape our scent from reaching the animal's heightened sense of smell. We're too late, it's seen us and starts heading aggressively in our direction. I hear Bella chanting, can physically feel her panic as it grips her, but I keep pushing her farther up the mountain side, hoping the exertion will deter the bear from following us. I haven't been paying the closest attention to where we're going, I'm just focused on going up hill, and I realize, too late, that I've led us into a dead end. Bella is reciting her knowledge of what to do if a bear attacks, but I'm not paying her much attention, except to keep her behind me. I can scare the animal away, and, if need be, take it down, but at what cost? Bella will discover that I am not of this world, and I'm not allowed to enlighten her. If I don't though, she could get hurt, seriously hurt, and that is not an option either.

The bear clears the woods and continues stalking towards us, swinging its head back and forth in a show of dominance. I change my eyes to red and allow the animal to smell my scent, hoping its strangeness will startle the beast enough to pull it out of attack mode. I hear Bella mewl in fear, but I don't take my eyes off the bear. I watch it sniff the air, trying to decide if we are worth it's effort. I'm going to have to try and scare it away, but I will protect Bella if it charges, to hell with the consequences. I hear her cry out when the animal stands on it's back legs, continuing to sniff the air. I growl lowly at it, raising my hands over my head, and take a step toward it. "What are you doing, Lucien, are you crazy?" Bella admonishes me, her voice breaking in terror. Ignoring her, I growl at it louder and take another step. The bear crashes to all fours, but doesn't lose it's aggressive position. Then I allow my demon to roar at it, the dark, deep demonic scream echos up and down the river valley. I know it's an inhuman sound, and I'm sure Bella will have a lot of questions later, but I don't care because the bear turns and runs down the slope as fast as it's legs can carry it. There is a flurry of motion as all the bats, birds, ground creatures, and insects flee from my roar too. I take a deep breath, change my eyes back to blue, and pivot towards Bella to make sure she's okay.