Moonstone

wild mate part 1

“She will blaze through you like a gypsy wildfire. Igniting your soul and dancing in its flames. And when she is gone, the smell of her smoke will be the only thing left to soothe you.” -Nicole Lyons

Sanem

I was walking backward, leading them away from the building. I wanted to put a healthy distance between me and the nursery before I let myself unleash it. I managed to lead him a good distance away but I thought I saw the dog monster lunge for me and my attention was drawn away from the vampire for a split second but that was all he needed. He jumped and cleared the distance between us in the blink of an eye, body slamming me to the ground. My head bounced hard off the rocky ground and the breath was knocked out of me. My vision darkened and swam and it was all the opening he needed. 

"Gotcha," he cackled. His smile faded. His nostrils flared and his eyes flashed red.

He wrapped his hands around my neck and jerked my head sideways. His fetid breath struck my cheek as his head lowered toward my neck. His thin body went slack on top of mine and he released a moan of pleasure and through my spotty vision, I saw his canines elongating and glinting in the dappled sunlight. A familiar bloodthirsty enraged growl reverberated through my head and shocked me out of my lethargy. 

Can? Was I sending him mental images again? 

A surge of energy washed over me and I wasted no time in pushing the vampire off with an unexpected burst of strength that felt familiar but I wasn't sure that it was my own. I sent the vampire soaring through the air until he crashed into the trunk of a tree several yards away and landed hard on his knees. He stared at me in shock through his stringy hair and I rose to my feet and felt my lips curve into a smile at the fear and dismayed surprise in his eyes. Maybe Can was right. Maybe I could be terrifying. I let the pressure build and then raised my hands and let the power sweep out of me in a huge flaming arc. The flame flowed into the clearing, a vicious column of fiery retribution and I shoved it straight towards the vampire. He let out a terrified scream while the blaze devoured him until there was nothing but an eerie silence. I pulled it back when nothing was left of him but a burning carcass. I moved over to peer at the steaming pile of bloodsucker on the ground. 

"Extra crispy." A giggle escaped me and I rolled my eyes at myself. I was spending way too much time among wolves. I was starting to sound like Osman. My amusement came to an abrupt stop a few seconds later when the silence was interrupted by a deep, dreadful growl. I turned and saw the monster dog baring all its teeth and snarling menacingly at me. I took several steps back strangely loath to hurt it. Driven by instinct I put forward the same energy I used to 'communicate' with other living things. 
I gasped in surprise when it responded to me by ceasing the growling. Instead, the heads moved in an inquisitive gesture.

"Here, boy." I attempted to treat it like a dog since it sort of looked like one. Albeit a pretty terrifying and monstrous one. Its irritation was palpable.

"Oh, you're a girl? Sorry." She plodded slowly towards me. Up close she was even more frightening. She reached past my waist with her three heads, a rack of razor-sharp shark-like teeth in each wide gaping jaw, red glowing eyes, and a tail that had sharp hooks protruding from the tip. It sniffed my hand with each head in turn and I did my best not to recoil. A different sort of energy emanated from this creature than that of birds and other animals though and I thought of the werewolf. Maybe… Carefully, I touched one of her ears and the dark tendrils flowed out and poked around in her head, and oh… 

Death, pain, violence, sorrow, and loneliness swirled around in the chaos. The poor thing had been used abominably. I felt her need to belong deep in my soul and my heart swelled with compassion. I pulled back and saw her through different eyes.