Willow in the Woods: Guarding the Willow

Chapter 11

Marcus

Marcus had raced through the forest on the back of Brute, his Black Belgian stallion, with Willow in his lap, praying that they would make it in time. If it hadn't been for Andrew's aid in keeping Willow upright in his lap he might have had to slow his pace...they never would have made it if he had.

When the ancestors spoke to the four Wolfborn and they all agreed to be willing to guard Willow, Marcus could feel her body trembling beneath his hand as she was on deaths door.

He hadn't been able to see the ancestor who entered her body. They all just appeared as glowing white lights... But Marcus knew it was Eric.

The seconds it took for them to talk felt like an eternity to everyone on the outside as they glanced at one another from time to time with worried expressions. Each one knowing what they must do the moment a guardian was chosen, assuming she decided to walk that path.

The second, one of them fell unconscious that meant that the connection and healing process had begun and one of the others would have to rip, carefully, that shard of glass out of her head that the doctors had so carelessly over looked, and had damn near cost Willow her life.

When Marcus suddenly stood in her dreams, he couldn't believe it was him that was chosen at first... There had to be a mistake. From what little time Marcus had spent with her and the stories he had heard from others, Marcus concluded that Willow was either the luckiest or the most unlucky girl he had ever met. And so far it appeared tragedy and accidents swept around her like a wrecking ball. He was even beginning to wonder if at some point in her life Willow had pissed off a witch or a very bitter, old, voodoo priest.

Surely she needed someone who was built to withstand the test of time and patience with her. Why had the ancestors thought that he was the one?

By the time Willow's dream had peeked at the bottom of the stairs... Marcus had seen more than enough. Anything further would have felt intrusive. The part he had forced her to watch with him.... Forced her to relive... Marcus was sick with himself...

The man on the stairwell... Marcus was more than ready to rip and tear with gnashing teeth and sharpened claw... But what Marcus himself had done to Willow... There was truly no punishment he could cast upon himself to make it better.

Marcus felt as though the ancestors, themselves, brought him to that memory specifically to teach him a lesson, and show him just how wrong he had been. Willow wasn't some snobby uptown princess looking to rip their home from them or use Marcus to get her ex back. Though he still thought he may very well have been a rebound guy. But even that he could forgive. She had to have been scared and alone.

If anything, she had come here to run from a nightmare that she had once lived. By the guidance of the ancestors and the light of the moon! Marcus was a fool! Such a fool.

Marcus wasn't sure how, but he would make it up to her. Everything from the cold way he had treated her, to the stupid conclusions he had made.

For now, he would start by trying to earn her trust and help her to grow as a Spirit Walker and as a person. He would help her to feel at home, and feel safe, and maybe, eventually they could even be friends.

Marcus laid stretched out next to Willow's body on her new bed. Which happened to be Marcus's old one. He had stayed in wolf form all night. It had been a cold, bitter night, just as it had been the night before. With Willow still recovering, even at a rapid pace, Marcus wanted to make sure that nothing hindered that and caused more problems.