Enter the Shadows (1st Edition) [SAMPLE]

Choices Are - 3 | iv

Penny woke up, panic tightening her chest. It had been two days since she had tried to leave, and she hadn't spoken to Lochlan since. She couldn't. She couldn't even look at him. Marx, the consummate voice of reason, was all help and smiles. He told her they had to suck it up and learn how to deal with it. Learn to control it. He didn't mince words about the importance of Lochlan being able to move around, without collapsing in a helpless heap at the feet of his enemies. A liability. She was becoming more and more so. The man really was a charm. His charm made her grit her teeth.

Gripping a fist of her shirt over her heart, she stumbled out of bed. What was he doing? Was there another attack? If there was, he would be useless. Penny took grim comfort in the fact that her chest felt like it was being ripped apart. Sobs shaking her body, she crawled to her door. Her feeling this way meant he was alive, and that was good. Penny wanted to kill him herself. She tried to remain calm as she used the wall for support, making her way down the hallway. If she had fallen down the stairs, and broken her neck, it would have been all his stupid fault.

She made it down the stairs, collapsing as she tried to step off the last stair. Deep breathing did nothing to help her get air into her laboring lungs. Her world was being wrapped and choked in panic. Rationally, she knew nothing was wrong with Lochlan. Marx had explained it. The sense of loss and grief was all in her mind. Some cruel, maniacal trick of nature. Knowing all this rationally did nothing to help her control it. As abruptly as it came, it went. Her world stilled, and the panic ebbed away leaving her sick. She didn't move. She didn't dare. Anger rose to replace the panic.

That was how he found her. Lying at the foot of the stairs staring up at the ceiling. He ran over to her thinking she was hurt, but her steely gaze had him pulling up short.

"You're lucky I can't kill you myself."

Then there was that. Penny stood looking at Lochlan, shooting daggers from her eyes. According to Marx, one mate couldn't kill the other. A pity. She abhorred violence, but for this wolf, she was willing to make an exception.

***

"Ready?"

"Wish you had asked me that before you tied us up like this." Penny saw him wince and didn't care. Oh, boy was she steaming in the most righteous way.

"Penny —"

She cut him off with a raise of her hand. "Let's just do this, and get it over with. I need my space."

It really didn't matter if either of them was ready. It wasn't a choice now. Lochlan turned and started running in a straight line in the opposite direction. Penny braced herself, preparing her mind for the panic, for the bone-deep sense of loss and grief. They both felt the blow in their chest. Like a fist going through one side, and coming out the other with their beating hearts. Lochlan took the steps back that they needed to be in range of each other. He doubled over, hands on his knees trying to catch his bearing. From where he was, he saw Penny on her knees, forehead resting on her fisted hands on the ground.

Marx watched them from a distance. He had expected them to be further apart than they were. Their connection was stronger than he had originally suspected. She was human, and he was a werewolf. For them to be that connected they had to be true mates after all. Whether the girl wanted to be or not. Marx suspected she had feelings for Lochlan but was only willing to accept them on her own terms. Even out of balance — werewolf and human — their connection was extremely strong. He did nothing as they kept trying to widen the gap one step at a time, not being able to stand more than a step outside of their range. It was an interesting sight to watch.

He didn't intervene until the fourth painful day of watching them. Marx thought they needed to learn a lesson. What it was, he wasn't sure. Maybe he just liked watching them punish each other. Stupidity on both their parts had gotten them all, cause he was also involved, into this mess.

"Just putting distance between you won't help. You have to create another connection that surpasses that. A connection that surpasses any physical boundaries."

Penny and Lochlan looked at each other, before looking back at him. They were sitting on a patch of grass out in the middle of the woods. It had drizzled earlier in the day, and Penny could feel the moisture, though light, seeping through the seat of her pants. She said nothing.

When his pupils kept staring at him blankly, Marx tapped the side of his head. "A connection of the mind. A connection that will allow you to touch each other's spirit, feel each other so you know the other isn't lost."

Penny tried to hold it in, but the laughter had her rolling over on her side. One minute she was on the ground, and the next she was being hoisted in the air. Lochlan stood to defend her, but his Alpha put him in his place.

"This is not a joke," Marx said his eyes going amber red. "This is your life now. Whether you choose to accept it or not means you both live, or one of you dies. Even without the bond, sooner of later, you would have come back. And he would have scoured the earth until he found you." He placed her down gently. "Such is the power of a true mate."

Penny furrowed her brow looking up at him. Marx had lost someone. His true mate. There was so much hurt in his last sentence that she felt it wash over her. She opened her mouth to ask, then thought it best to leave it alone. Reluctantly, she looked over at Lochlan. What a pickle she had found herself in.

Lochlan was starting to chafe. Being a werewolf, he needed to run. He needed to set his wolf loose, and simply be free. He couldn't do that when he could only go a stone's throw away from the scowling woman standing on his porch. He wanted to laugh but knew she was probably scheming of ways to get around the 'can't kill each other' clause in their contract.

"You going to hate me forever?"

"Forever is a pretty short time in human years, luckily for you." When had she become so snippy, and ill-tempered? Oh, yeah, when some arrogant werewolf had irrevocably tied her life force to his. He walked slowly over to where she stood, trying to be cool and casual about it.

"I bet I can kiss a smile out of you."

Penny was proud of herself for keeping her scowl in place. A warm feeling was swirling in her stomach. They hadn't kissed, or touched since the night he had marked her. Since she couldn't think of one without the other she didn't think about it at all. That was meant to have been their first and last night. And at this rate, it was going to remain so.

"We need to practice. I need my space, and you need to run. I can see your wolf fighting to come out. You're miserable."

"I'm fine Penny. Really." He knew it was a lie, and so did she. He sighed. "I will be."

A compromise to Lochlan's need to run was for her to go with him. Her running to match his pace was out of the question, so he carried her. Penny clung to his back for dear life, as he ran at speeds no human would be able to achieve. The trees were a blur as she swished past; the wind doing its best to peel the skin from her face. Most of the trip was spent with her face buried into his back, his fur getting into her mouth. When he stopped, her world took a few seconds to catch up. She hadn't been running, but she felt winded.

After putting her down, he walked away from her into a patch of moonlight. He held up his head howling at the moon. Three beats later there was an answer. Penny looked around nervous. There were actual wolves in the mountains with one, or two out of place bears. Compared to a werewolf she supposed they were domestic pets, but all the same, she kept looking around her. The silvery wash of the moon provided enough light for her little human eyes to see.

"Ready to go back?"

Lochlan was right up behind her. So close, she could feel his breath on her neck. He didn't touch her, he just stood there breathing against her skin. Penny closed her eyes, forcing her body not to lean back into his.

"This was not part of the plan," she said, her breath airy.

"None of this was part of the plan."

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