Easily Breakable

Chapter 32

I heard the door open downstairs and I jumped up from the bed and ran downstairs. Kaleb was there and he was now smiling at me. "Feel better?" He nodded and reached out his hand, which I took without hesitation. 

        "Come on. I wanna show you something," he said softly, still smiling. He led me out to the backyard and we walked into the forest. When I asked where we were going, he just glanced down at me with a knowing smile without answering. Finally, we stopped in a small clearing and he turned to face me.

        "Are you ready for this," he asked, a bright smile still lighting up his face, which was contagious and I felt my smile tugging at my muscles. 

        "Not really, but go ahead." He chuckled softly, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He started shaking and I took a step forward in worry, but he held up a hand to warn me off. I stepped back again and the shaking grew more violent until my eyes almost bulged out of my head.

        In Kaleb's place was a gigantic sleek feathered raven. It was bigger than my head and he spread his huge wings out for me to see that they were at least five foot wide. 

        His spirit animal was a raven. I had completely forgotten that he said he had a spirit animal and I can't believe I would forget that.

       I tentatively reached my hand out and stroked his soft, silky wing. His feathers were so dark and black, it kind of had the look of an oil spill. "Anna," the bird crowed and I startled back. It was so weird, but I should be used to the abnormal by now. 

       A grin spread across my face as I stared at Kaleb's beautiful form. He spread his wings out and took to the air, soaring through the slowly darkening sky. His movements seemed graceful and elegant and I marveled at how he deftly maneuvered through the trees. 

        Moments later, he came back to the ground, landing easily in front of me. I smiled and my name came out again. I wanted him to shift back. I wanted to be with him again in his vampire form. I wanted to look into those silver gray eyes and enjoy every single second I had with my newfound mate. 

       Still in his raven form, he went into a thick bush and seconds later, he stood up, no longer a bird. It was at that second that I noticed his muscled bare torso, the lower half of him covered by the bush. "Will you go get me the clothes from behind that tree? I thought they were in this bush." 

       My eyes raked down his body and I gave him a wolfish grin. "Why? You can come out and get your own clothes," I challenged him. The way his face contorted, I was sure that if he were human, there would be blood in his cheeks. He looked embarrassed and I chuckled. Usually, I would have been bright red by now too, but for some reason, that wasn't the case right now.

        I walked over and handed him the clothes that he had directed me to. Did he bring this out here when we walked here? Or was it here for the other times he shifted? I was about to ask, but it was like he read my mind before I could open my mouth. 

       "I usually keep a spare set of clothes here, for emergencies." I nodded and walked towards him once he stepped out of the bush. He was the one to pull me in this time and he gently brushed his lips against mine, as though he were testing it. He pushed closer and so did I, wanting to feel the coolness of his body pressed against mine. 

        I don't know how long we stood there but by the time we broke apart, the sun was setting. I looked out to where the sun was bleeding over the horizon through the trees. 

       "It's beautiful," I breathed, smiling in blissful ecstasy. 

        I felt his cool fingers pull my chin away from the view so that I could look directly at him. "It doesn't compare to you. Not in the slightest." My cheeks heated lightly at the compliment and a giant, dopey smile spread across my face. 

         We were so caught up in each other, we didn't process th heavy footsteps pounding closer. When we finally noticed it, Kaleb turned around, only to fall to the ground. I gasped in surprise as a giant, thin piece of wood was piercing through him. Is the wooden stake thing true? Did I ever ask him that? 

        "Kaleb," I cried out. He was even paler than usual and his eyes were fluttering as his lip quivered.

        I was about to lash out at the attacker, when I felt a prick in my abdomen. I looked down to see a gigantic needle sticking out of my stomach and a darker hand pulled it away. I slowly looked up in shock and I wanted to cry out in betrayal, anger, and fear when I saw whom the hand was connected to.

       The expression on his face was one mixed of hurt, sadness, and guilt. "I'm sorry Angel," Dani whispered as I slowly fell to the ground as my legs gave out. "But I have to do my job." 

       His face was the last thing I saw before my eyes fluttered closed, but Kaleb was the one I was thinking about.