Challenged - Skinwalker Book 2

Chapter 27

After all the activity since arriving in Luxembourg, the next few days were torture for the skin walker. She couldn't do any physical training, which left her with a lot of boring couch time that she didn't feel terribly inclined towards using. In addition to that, any time that she spent near untapped were-creatures seemed to be even more agonising than usual. It was almost as though her body chose to use the increase in energy to feed her addictive craving, making it inescapable.

The second day of her recovery had been so boring and desperately lonely that she simply couldn't resist the lure of the rec room and the companionship it promised. Unfortunately, as soon as she entered, she felt the collective energy of her team mates slap her like the icy cold of a walk-in freezer on a hot, summery day. She immediately tensed and tried to rein in her hunger for new species, but within five minutes she realised that she was fighting a losing battle. Her heart started racing, her skin felt like it wanted to break out in hives and her arms and fingers started trembling in spite of her clenched fists. She tried to run her fingers through her hair, but ended up clasping it and tousling it instead. She was pretty sure her one eye was even twitching, in which case there was a possibility that she looked like a really creepy serial killer – or maybe a mentally insane homeless lady. Either way, she wasn't going to survive another five minutes amongst present company, whether she desperately needed companionship or not. She turned on her heels and headed out the door, stopping in the foyer near Devon's doorway to try and get a grip on the overpowering strength of her instinctive addiction.

It didn't leave her straight away. She clutched her arms to her body and found herself shaking involuntarily, her muscles aching from holding back while her heart still pounded at her ribs. Fortunately it didn't seem to be anywhere near to her damaged ones. She leaned back against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor, feeling desperately lonely and ridiculously out of control. Tears were welling up in her eyes, threatening to overflow down her cheeks.

"Sierra?"

She glanced up at Luc in response, then immediately diverted her gaze again. She felt vulnerable – and she hated that. He responded by crouching at her side, a hand finding her shoulder supportively.

"Is something wrong? You are... you are trembling!" he observed with a note of surprise.

She shook her head, trying to mentally shrug it off.

"I'm fine. I – I will be fine..."

"Sierra, you are not fine," he observed stubbornly as he settled himself on the floor next to her, crossing his legs comfortably.

It was easy to see he was prepared to be around for as long as she needed him to be.

"Tell me what it is," he suggested in a soft voice.

He put a hand on her arm supportively and, at that moment, she was really, really glad that he wasn't a creature. Her body shook a little more violently until she finally let go of all the tension she'd been holding in and let out a quivering sob, followed by a big, steady breath of air. It wasn't gone after that, but the intense confusion of feelings was more under control. She hugged her knees to her chest defensively. She wanted to tell him – needed to tell someone – but didn't quite know what to say.

Where do I start?

"Have you ever heard the Navajo version of the skin walker legend?" Sierra asked him.

"Of course. I searched the internet as soon as I heard you were coming," he replied, "but the information did not seem very accurate. It was more akin to the superstitious beliefs in the old bestiaries than the creature I see before me now."