Darkness (II)

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

"Your leg is crushing me, Phoenix." I grumbled, ripping the covers from his grasp.

The day had come and gone, spent fretting over maps, choosing weapons, talking strategy and, of course, declining every offer of food Lexus made. I'd planned to retire to bed in private, given everything that had unfolded in the past few days; however, as soon as I declared that I was going to sleep, Phoenix followed silently. I didn't object when he pushed the door open for me. I also didn't object when he pulled me into his arms.

I did object, however, when he began exuding heat like a fucking sauna.

"This is love." he said smugly, draping his leg more insistently over mine. "You have to make sacrifices for the greater good."

"If love means getting suffocated in order to make you comfortable then I no longer want to love you." I said crossly, shaking him off.

His chuckle tickled behind my ear and I shivered, all hairs standing to attention. Bad body! No!

"Now get to sleep, Tigritsa. I have to be up at three am to start scouting." he said, running his fingers down the length of my spine.

I turned to face him, trying desperately to will the blush from my cheeks. "Three am? Why the hell do you need to scout at three am?"

He grinned, a dark glint dancing in his eyes. "Element of surprise, my Luna."

I scoffed. My father was the one with the element of surprise. He was camped somewhere in or just outside our territory, armed with wicked silver and surrounded by handpicked, elite Hunters.

We were like sitting ducks in a sea of sharks.

Granted, these were Summum Lycans. Granted, we had Damien's support. Granted, I had a fellow Gifted with me; however, despite all of it, I was still nervous. Scared. I didn't want to be—I wanted to call back that thirst for vengeance and let it consume me—but an irrational and deep-seated fear was eating me alive.

The fear of my father—the fear of my past.

"Isa," Phoenix murmured, feeling my emotions as they skittered down the bond, "relax. I'm here. I won't let anyone hurt you."

I looked up at him through my lashes. He looked so fierce, so determined, that I began to fall prey to something foreign—trust. Absolute, utter trust, in him and in what he said. If by any chance I fell, he'd be right there to pick me back up.

I placed a hand on his cheek and he leaned into my touch, closing his eyes. "I love you, Phoenix Nightfall."

His reply was soft, warm, and lulled me into a deep sleep. "I love you too, Isa Brown."

I love you too, Isa Brown.

Isa Brown.

Isa.

My name danced in the wind.

The trees closed around me as I stepped into the forest, clad in only the silver light of the moon. My breasts were heavy and aching, my blood was singing, and the night and the stars and the universe seemed to bow to me, wheeling in my vision, roaring in recognition.

We know you, they seemed to say. You belong to us.

I struggled through the tangled branches, searching for something I couldn't quite see. I didn't care that I was naked. This was my home. This was where I belonged.

As I stepped into a clearing, naked skin glowing in the moonlight, I saw my wolf.

Her golden eyes sought mine. She was standing proudly, and around her the forest thickened and bent, curling around her in vines of green and brown, sheathing her in shadows. She wasn't a large wolf, nor was she muscular; she was lithe and small, almost like a silver ghost.