Becoming

Betrayal

I awake the next morning finding myself wrapped up  tightly in Easton's arms.  When suddenly I am onslaughted with all different voices in my brain and I grab my head and cry out in agony.  "Charlee, you have to turn it off babydoll!" Easton calls to me as if he is a thousand miles away.  "Envision a remote in your brain and picture yourself hitting the off button."  "I can't!" I cry through gritted teeth feeling like my brain is about to explode.  Easton gently starts rubbing my arm.  "Feel my fingertips concentrate on my fingers."  He pleads to me.   I begin to feel the relaxing sensation of his fingers rubbing on my arm.  And as I am able to concentrate on that feeling I begin to picture myself turning off a stereo full of noise.  And as soon as I hit the red button on the figurative remote the noise is gone.  "It stopped."  I say looking at him relieved.  "But now your voice is gone too."  "It's not gone babydoll, you just need to learn how to hone in on who you want to hear. Picture me in your mind and you will find my voice."  I do as he says and slowly I hear him calling to me in my mind, "I love you Charlee and you have made me the happiest man in the world."  I respond back to him in my mind.  "I love you too Easton."  He  leans in and kisses me again.  But this just ends up leading to round two. 
               After spending the remainder of the morning exploring each other's body we decide to get up and head back to the cabin for lunch.   Upon arrival there are already clothes waiting for us outside and we shift back to get dressed. Before Easton puts on his shirt I notice something on his back.  "Easton wait! Your marking.  It has changed."  "It has? What is it now?"  "There is a smaller crown over the first nail on the paw."  I say examining it further with my fingers.  "That is interesting, let me see your marking."  When he goes to inspect my marking again he sees the same thing.  "I'm not sure why it changed. Maybe because we are both officially the true King and Queen?" He asks more to himself than to me. His fingers linger on my shoulder a little longer than necessary and then he replaces them with his lips. "Have I told you how sexy you are?"  Easton asks after wrapping his arm around my waist.  "No, I don't believe you have."  I smile back at him.

                     The next few days at the cabin pass by in a blur.  I have learned to control the "voices in me head" so I could hone in on a certain wolf, and also hone in on certain words that seemed out of the ordinary. "I'm not ready to head back yet." I say while placing a kiss on Easton's lips. I have completely come out of my shell around him and have a hard time keeping my hands off of him for longer than a few minutes. "I have some work to do in France for the next few days. Given the circumstances of not knowing where Victor and Eve are, I think it's best if you stay here. You'll be safer with Alex and Garrett." Easton says as he opens the door to the SUV. I know he's right but I'm not ready to be away from him yet.

The next morning Easton leaves for France and I am left with my thoughts to explore my new home. I've already found my way around the mansion after a few hours. Thankfully the layout was designed well, so there aren't too many wrong turns. I head out to go explore the small town and I was told by one of Easton's...er.... my staff members that there's a great coffee shop in town. Walking down the small path I was so taken in by all the beauty of the town I didn't notice the tingly feeling in my spine that I am being watched again. I look around, but again, I don't notice anything out of the ordinary. To be safe I pick up my pace and try to find the coffee shop. Along the way I bump into Garrett coming out of the woods looking a little breathless. "Hey Garrett!" I call out to him. "Were you just out for a run?" I ask wondering why he seems so frazzled. "What? Oh yea a run." He calls back distractedly. "Where are you headed?" He asks trying to change the subject. "I'm trying to find the coffee shop. I was told my life will be changed with the first sip." He smiles at this, "Well, let me be of service to you. It's this way." He holds out his arm to me and I intertwine my arm though his.

We had been walking along for a while and we were so lost in conversation I didn't notice the trees thickening and the buildings becoming fewer and far between. "Hey where is this coffee shop in the boonies?" I ask stopping us and looking around. He turns to me with a sinister look in his eyes. "Why couldn't you just die the first time?" He asks and everything goes black.