Brotherhood

Chapter 23

Geric grunted in pain as he tried to sit up a little in bed. The wound had been deep but he could already see it healing over, the skin knitting together as though the knife had never entered his body. But silver-inflicted wounds always left a scar, it was part of the magic that made it so silver blades could end a werewolf's life.

The king and Amy were in his chambers, here to ask how he was doing no doubt.

"How are you feeling?" Amy asked. Geric shrugged, a teasing smile playing across his lips.

"I'm fine. Silver wounds sting a little, that's all."

The king stared at him, stony faced and scowling as he stood at the foot of the bed.

"This doesn't change how I feel about you, wolf," the king said coldly. "But all the same, thank you for saving my daughter's life."

Without another word, he stalked out of the room, leaving the two of them alone together. Amy curled up on the bed next to Geric, resting her head on his uninjured shoulder.

"Well that's the most praise I've ever gotten from him," Geric joked tiredly. "We must be making progress."

Amy giggled, sliding a little closer to him. "Thank you for saving me."

"You know, that was originally the wolves' job," Geric replied sadly. "That was one of the reasons Warrick and my father were so close. He wasn't only my father's advisor and friend, he was our protector."

Amy shivered slightly. "It must have been horrible when he betrayed you all."

Geric looked away, out at the purpling sky beyond the windows of his room. Two days had already passed, they only had four more. On the seventh day, the wolves would attack.

"I think that Warrick turning me was his last desperate attempt to have the royal family align with him. When I returned from battle, I went to a tavern for a drink and the next thing I remember was being tied to my father's throne with Warrick standing there watching me."

He could feel Amy holding her breath, her hummingbird heartbeat speeding up against his own. Geric couldn't remember ever talking about the night he had be turned. Amy was the only one he had ever said these words aloud to.

"Warrick always had pointed teeth, even in his human form," Geric continued quietly. "I knew just from the look on his face what his intentions were. He told me that his cause was just and that if I joined him, we would be able to put an end to the war."

Amy's fist clenched and unclenched fearfully on his chest and he reached up and squeezed it, smoothing her fear away with his fingers.

"I told him I'd rather die than join him," Geric muttered, remembering Warrick's rage as he had smashed every royal artifact within reach. "But then he laughed and told me he wasn't going to let me die, he was going to condemn me to a life in the shadows. So he bit me anyway."

He couldn't help the shudder that wracked through his body at the memory. It had been painful beyond belief, as though every inch of his body had been set on fire from the inside out. His own screams echoed around in his head to this day as did Warrick's merciless laughter.

"When someone is turned, it's hard to control when you shift forms at first," Geric continued, shaking off the memories that clung to him like cobwebs. "I stayed in my wolf form for days, alone in the palace."

He swallowed, trying to fight back the tears that threatened at the next memory that surfaced. "That was why I was too late to save my family. By the time I arrived at the fortress where they were being housed, it was too late."

Closing his eyes as though that could block the image of his brothers' cold, staring, lifeless eyes, of his mother on the ground beneath his father who appeared as though he had been trying to protect her with his dying breath. He kept all those things from Amy, he didn't want her to see those images in her dreams as he sometimes still did. Some things were better left a mystery.

"So you let everyone believe you had died too?" Amy asked softly, bringing him back to the present. Geric nodded.

"There was enough of my blood in the throne room that everyone just assumed the worst and I never bothered to correct them. For those first few years, I stuck mainly to the woods, living as a wolf until it had been long enough that it was safe to return to Colmar."

Amy nodded thoughtfully, looking up at him. He could see the amber of his own eyes reflected in hers and for a moment, it almost looked as though she had them too. The thought made him shudder, not because he didn't want to be with her forever, but because he didn't want her to experience the same pain that he had. Every once in a while, the memory would reawaken in his sleep and he'd wake up screaming, drenched in cold sweat.

"Is this why you've never turned anyone?" Amy asked as though she had read his thoughts. Geric nodded, looking away again.

"I didn't choose this life and it wouldn't be fair for me to force it on others," he said quietly. After several long moments, he finally said, "I've never told anyone that story before."

"Does that make me special?" Amy teased him gently. In response, Geric lowered his lips to hers, feeling her heartbeat speeding up against his own.

"That definitely makes you special," he whispered, giving her another gentle kiss. Without a word, Amy reached up and slipped her nightdress off her shoulders so that it pooled around her waist before kissing his chest, his neck, his lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist, enjoying the way the firelight glowed on her skin as he kissed her. His lips touched her throat, nuzzling her neck the way he did in his wolf form before bringing his mouth to hers again, tasting, seeking, and his hands fumbling at her clothing, her hands fumbling with his.

They lay in the darkness together, warmed by each other and by the heat of the fire. She touched his nose and his mouth, played with his fingers. He held her and kissed her, nibbling her ear gently, not hard enough to turn her, only enough to tease her.

"I'm very happy," she whispered into his neck as they clung to each other in the darkness, their skin the only barrier between them.

"So am I," Geric murmured in her ear. "So am I."