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Fated Hearts

By: Gianniana



This story is taken from part of a dream I keep having. I just want to thank LaRascasse for editing this and giving me ideas! 

Enjoy,

G


Give thy thoughts no tongue.
Hamlet. ACT I Scene 3.

 "But Mama, I want to go on the hunt!" Thessa pouted and looked up at her mother with large brown eyes.


Jolena shook her head and pushed back the unruly curls of her youngest. "I said no. And that's my final word on this subject. You are too young; you must stay here with until we return."

"But, Mamaaa..."

Narrowed golden eyes at Thessa caused the girl to look down. 

"I was just overexcited. I will go to bed and wait until you and papa return." Thessa retreated into the large stone dwelling, rolling her eyes once her mother's back was turned. 

The building contained several beds for the children, all ranging from infancy to young adulthood. The adults preferred them to stay in their human form for their first years. They could change after their sixteenth year. Thessa had just turned eighteen.


"On you get, you scoundrels!" an older woman chased several children into the building before accepting eager kisses from each.

Thessa sighed. Her parents, Jolena and Julius were betas. Thessa was the only survivor of a bigger litter of four. Despite being born prematurely in the middle of a snow storm, Thessa survived her first difficult year and grew quickly.
 Thessa looked over at the bunks nearest to her. Gilen was with her two youngest children. Thessa sighed as she listened to the cooing whispers between mother and children. Malin was playing with her other nephew, Marg, and their friends. The chatter from the group of rowdy boys echoed in the large building.

Thessa's adopted sister, Nyoko, was supervising another group of cubs who are getting to change into their wolf form for the first time. A laugh sounded around the youngsters prepared for the run, excitement leaping like fingers of lightening. Thessa turned over on her bed and snuggled closer to her pillow.
She woke in the middle of the night to a baby's cry in the nursery and smothered a yawn as she sat up and stretched. She would have woken up soon anyway. Dreams at night were always the worst for her, someone or...something was always chasing her through the woods. She never understood why she was running, but always felt the crippling fear and panic that she would be caught. 

Thessa stood and shivered as the cool floor made contact with her feet.
A walk might be nice. She said to herself as she slipped on her shoes in the dark and walked to the front door of the building and opened it. 

This was always her favorite part of the day: the quiet night filled with the sounds of nature, and the silvery light of the moon shining through the trees of the forest on the compound the pack owned. She hardly made a noise as she walked down one of the paths worn down by feet, paws, and car tires. Her walk took her through a clearing, past the pond and across a small bridge. Before she knew it, she was almost to the ceremonial meeting grounds. A wave of panic washed over her. This was where her dream kept happening.

With a gasp, she turned and almost ran into the guard walking behind her. 

"Oh, it's just you." She sighed. 
Russ was one of the guards her parents were good friends with. She couldn't help but notice his slight wolfy smell and how close he stood. She could feel his overwhelming warmth radiate and surround her. As a shifter, she didn't have a distinct scent. She could smell like whatever she wanted.
"Be careful, little girl. Thought you were and intruder." He rumbled, steadying her with his hand. It was warm and calloused and so large that she could feel where his fingers overlapped each other on her arm. 

"I'm sorry. I was just headed back to the dormitory, you know how hard it is to sleep near crying children." she joked, stepping back when he finally released her.

"I'll walk you. Wanted to talk to you anyway." He said, motioning for her to follow him. 

Thessa couldn't help but feel disappointed. Her nightly walk had been interrupted; Russ' large, frame and dominating presence seemed to overwhelm the peace of the night. She decided that there was nowhere she could go without being subject to have to obey someone. They'd almost reached the children's' dormitory before he spoke: 

"Your mother was telling me that you just turned eighteen..." He started. 

"That's true." she replied, stiffening...She knew where this was going. 

"Well, you know how this goes. Normally pack members are matched up by the time they turn sixteen. I haven't seen you around any of the other males." He continued.
She was suddenly aware of an overwhelming urge to tell him off. Her mother was trying to match her up with anyone that would be suitable. 

Thessa never exhibited the normal shifter or werewolf traits that everyone else had. She didn't even feel anything for any of the other male or female pack members beyond friendship. That's what Russ was: a friend.

"Look, Russ-" she started.

"I really like you, and I think we would make a perfect match. We both value the pack's laws and morals above all."

"I..." she floundered, still in shock when he took her hand. 

"You're such a good girl and I was just like you: uninterested in the other sex... that is, until we met at the last gathering." He interrupted, leaving her flustered. 

"Just...give me a chance, okay?" he pleaded.

"Russ I..." she started again only to be cut off when he pressed a finger to her lips. 

"Please be rational here and see this for the opportunity it is Thessa." He smiled, and she gave up, forcing the smile that came to her mouth. 

"Okay."

"Good. Now goodnight, get some sleep." He kissed her forehead as he left her at the front door.  ~*~
 "Thessa wake up! Wake up! Wake UP!" a soft hand shook her shoulder hard even as she struggled to push through the layers of sleep fogging her brain.

"What? What IS it, Nyoko?" she growled as she rolled over and sat up. 

"Last night was so magical!" Nyoko exclaimed, perching on the side of Thessa's bed. 

"Was it really?" Thess grumbled, opening one eye.

"Yes it was! I always cry at these things. Those kids learn about the change in the school but seeing their joy is like changing again for the first time!" Nyoko bounced excitedly on the bed causing Thessa to growl in anger. 

She shot Nyoko a withering glance that the girl ignored. 

"Get dressed, Thess! We have training today. I can't wait." She smiled, getting up to change out of her nightgown and into a tank top and sweatpants. 

Training was Thessa's least favorite part of being a shifter. The rush she felt was wild, exciting: everything her human was not. The perfect paradox: a wild animal trapped in a nice girl's body. The world of the animal she shifted into was not predictable; it had no rules like the humans' world. Thessa was always afraid that she would hurt someone seriously if she ever let her animal come out fully. 

It was thrilling nonetheless, and by the time she finished training, she felt energized and ready to take on the world. She panted as she shifted back from her wolf and grabbed a towel for the shower. The door to the bathroom was open and the smell of warm wet stone reached Thessa's nose before she got there. Then another scent hit her, two scents: Nyoko and another scent...a male scent. Thessa's lips curled away from her teeth as she dropped her towel and shifted into a medium sized, dark brown wolf and bounded towards the scents. Launching herself onto her back legs, she leapt into the clearing where Nyoko and one of the other wolves in their year, were sharing a fervent kiss against the trunk of a tree. She sank her claws into the young man's back and he spun around, his eyes widening in fear as he saw the larger wolf behind him.

"Thess, no! I love him; I know what I'm doing!" Nyoko argued, as Thessa fixed her with a murderous glance.

"You bitch!" the young man growled mid-shift. 

"Ulysse, NO!" Nyoko covered her eyes as the two wolves circled each other.

Thessa landed one swift swipe, leaving four long furrows in his belly. She was easily the victor as she nipped Ulysse's throat. He howled in pain and shifted back into his human form. Thessa cast Nyoko a withering glance.

"Get someone to clean it up. Or clean it up yourself. I'm going to take a bath. Take yours and go have your breakfast. Dad will deal with you." She snarled before turning to go find her father.

Thessa looked down at the blood on her hand and felt the rush of adrenaline leave her. It was a matter of minutes before she fell to her knees and vomited onto the ground. All the contents from her light breakfast came up in reverse. 

See what you did? You could have killed him. And all for what? She's eighteen too. She's supposed to choose a mate: maybe it was him. The voice in her head accused. 

But it was right, and that was the only thought that Thessa had going forward was that she was unequivocally a monster. Rogue? No. Never that, but she was definitely out of touch with her animal and so when it manifested itself, it took its rage out on the closest being. A shudder of revulsion that had nothing to do with the cool air hitting her naked body ran through her.

The shower was warm and calming as the drops beat down like rain over her head and slid sensually down her scalp. She sighed. Her momentary loss of control frightened her more than disobeying her mother did, but she could still feel the rush of excitement from shifting that made her nipples harden and her special place tingle. The water didn't help.

Not that she wasn't sexually active. Even she knew how to take care of that, but she never wanted to seek the help of others. She did from time to time nevertheless, she wasn't satisfied. Thessa had the feeling that the only one who would sate her completely was her mate.

She dreamt about that too. The way she and her mate would make love in the shower in their home once the pack had given them one as a mating present: he would have large, soft hands to be able to just cover her large breasts. She tilted her head back as she rubbed the textured washcloth over them, making them even harder than before. And he would be pale too...so that when their bodies were meshed together in ecstasy, it would be a beautiful swirl of light against dark.

Thessa let the cloth drop to the tiled floor as her imagination provided the image of her mate rolling around with her. She saw him slide his fingers down her stomach and through the light pubic hair covering her mound and mimicked the action, gasping when she felt how sensitive her clit was under the warm spray above her. She could almost feel his lips press against her own as he slipped one finger into her moist heat, testing her tightness and readiness. She slipped another finger into her pussy as she imagined he would do, curling her fingers to press against her sweetest spot. 

A ragged breath escaped her lips as she bent her head leaning against one wall to brace herself as she drove her fingers slick from the shower and her own juices repeatedly into her pussy, the friction making her cry out as she came hard and fast. She reached a shaky hand to turn off the shower and grab her towel before carefully drying and dressing herself again. She smiled as her stomach grumbled and took off running toward the kitchens. 

As she walked into the back door of the kitchen, she heard the cook scream and the shattering of a heavy pot.

"Aiee! Lord, have mercy. You will burn the bread and the eggs at this rate!" Severin, the head cook at the alphas' manor, covered her face with her hands as her scullion rushed to the fire where the food was cooking.

"You'll cost me my job! The Alpha is a harsh man, he likes his eggs done just right..." Severin sighed and pushed the younger girl out of the way to take over the cooking.

"Morning, Severin." Thessa laughed, barely missing the flying scullion as the girl flew into the pantry for more ingredients. 

"Do you need some help? I can help serve the food if you need me to?" She asked.

"OH you're a godsend Thess. Here, take this into the dining room." she muttered pointing absently to a tray with a large silver teapot and two cups. 

Thessa nodded and proceeded to pick it up when Severin added, "His wife likes milk and sugar. Lots of milk and sugar." 
 The elegance of the marble fireplace, dark red carpet and thick white curtains always took her breath away. At the long table in the center of the room, the alpha sat with his wife on his left and their children around the table. Thessa curtsied deeply and made sure to look down as she neared the table. The alpha and his wife nodded. Thessa kept her head bent as she poured their tea and she felt the alpha's eyes on her back as she left. Sorenan was a handsome man, but she didn't like his overly bulky frame, long gold hair and cold blue eyes. 

Thessa could still remember the last time he punished one of the shifters by locking the poor woman in her animal form and chaining her by the neck to a post for several days. All the omega had done was make eye contact with him for too long. Thessa had a few things to say about how selfish and cruel the alpha was sometimes, but it wasn't her place to have an opinion about it. 

His wife was just as beautiful in the same icy way. Pavla had dark hair and harsh eyes that glowed bright yellow when she changed into her large black wolf. Well she never shifted. Witches can't shift. It was really quite unsettling to see the cloud of putrid black smog surround the woman as she sort of melted into whatever animal.

As she stepped outside, she almost bumped into the alpha's nephew, Dachiel.

"Dachiel, how are you?" she asked, falling into step with him as he made his way back to the dormitories.

"A huge fight is going to take place tonight." He started excitedly, ignoring her greeting.

"A rogue pack is in our territory and their alpha wants our pack so they will fight to the death at midnight." he said, excitement in his voice and in his eyes. 

No one had challenged Sorenan in a long time the last time was before Thessa was born. The thought stayed with her as she and Dachiel parted. A rogue though? Her mother would dismiss her from ever going near the ceremonial grounds that night, but there was no harm in checking out this rogue.

Fated Hearts Ch. 02



Again, thank you for all your feedback! I really appreciate it. My thanks again to LaRascasse :) . His jokes and amazing editing skills keep me going.

-G

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.

Macbeth. Act V, Scene V

Searing pain ripped through the wound in Eric's shoulder. He looked up at the glowing yellow eyes above him and whimpered in pain. He was just a young pup! The surprise of the injury was almost as great as the person who dealt the nearly fatal blow: his pack leader. You ruin me, young one... the disembodied voice echoed in his head. But I love you; this is why I'm doing this. A shiver of dread spiraled through him as the eyes and sharp fangs grew closer.

Then he woke up.

He winced as the old scar throbbed. Eric took a couple deep breaths to still his racing heart and wiped the sweat off his face. 

"Hmm, Eric honey..." Diane purred as she stretched out on the bed next to him. "Where are you going?" She curled one elegantly manicured hand around his wrist and pulled him back down. 

"We have...unfinished business." She growled sliding her toned sleek legs between his. 

He smiled. The werewolf was insatiable. Irresistible. And Eric knew what irresistible felt like. He was tall, dark, and handsome in all the ways that made mothers hide their unmated daughters when he came to call. A smile played across his lips as he palmed her lush breasts.

"We do, don't we?" he started deftly kneading the firm, small mounds. Looking at her body sprawled under him, Eric noticed that Diane was sin personified. He didn't mind at all when he came back from sparring and found her on his bed wearing nothing but a pair of five inch pumps and a smile.

"You're so interesting, you know that?" He asked, tweaking one of her small nipples.

"So I've been told. There's nothing more I can do. It's what I do best." She smiled, tracing his muscular arms with delicate 

"Let me taste you." She demanded rolling over so that they lay pressed together, his erection lay between them. He groaned. She felt so good the first time he took her: rough and hard in a myriad of positions, but one. He had flipped her over when she presented herself to him on all fours. That's right human...this...bitch isn't your mate. When will you begin the search? Will you start after this one? She definitely felt good the first time. His wolf asked jokingly. Eric ignored the voice for now and grabbed her pale skin hard enough to leave bruises.

"No, let me." He laughed and rolled with her until he was on top.

"I like a man who can take control." She laughed. 

The laugh turned into a moan as he licked from the hollow of her throat to the valley between her breasts. 

"What do you want?" He said, his voice deepening to a growl.

"Suck on them." She commanded, pushing them together to the point where her nipples almost touched.

He obliged, pressing the nub hard between his teeth as she groaned again. A gasp of shock escaped her lips when he soothed it with a lick. 

"Oh, so you like that?" He smiled and moved to the other nipple, giving it the same rough treatment. 

Before she got the chance to reply he slapped one of her breasts hard. 

"Aah!" She yelped, her yellow wolf eyes glittering in the dark.

"Again."

He slapped the other one and she shuddered violently. He wasn't finished though, and laid a series of wet, sucking kisses over her belly. Dipped his tongue into her belly button and moaned in appreciation of the jeweled bar that pierced it. 

"You're a seductress." He murmured into her skin as he pressed his lips against her hip and licked over her vulva. 

"Lower." She begged.

"In time." He smiled and directed his bruising grip to her knees.

His moan almost matched hers as he spread her legs wide to reveal the pink flesh of her cunt, slick with her arousal. It was enough to drive any sane man mad, he decided as he flicked his tongue over the reddened lips covering the part he really wanted. His dick throbbed under him against the mattress.

"You want me." She smiled, propping herself on her elbows to watch.

He blew cool air on her clit before shoving two fingers from one hand into her waiting pussy. 

"Eric!" She groaned. They both heard the rip of the sheet as her fingernails elongated into claws and pierced the cloth. Eric smiled in satisfaction.

She wasn't the tightest he'd had, but her walls sucked at his fingers as her breath grew ragged. Eric was good at what he did and it didn't take much of his roughness with Diane for her to grab his hair and pull him up to press a hard kiss to his mouth.

"I wasn't finished, Diane." He said as he moved away from her. 

"Get on top." He commanded when she started to slide her legs open for him.

A tremor of excitement flashed between them as she straddles his thighs. There would be no mercy for him.

"Well?" He asked, a smirk on his face as he took in the sight of her lithe form over him. 

"Hold onto the bedpost." She commanded roughly, sliding herself onto his waiting prick.

He fumbled for the wooden column as she enveloped him and began to ride him hard, the sound of flesh slapping together as primal as their grunts and moans. 

Diane tossed her long red hair over her shoulder and he appreciated the sight of her bouncing on top of him until his wolf interrupted again.

Why do you play with this...this thing? She is NOT your mate. Look at the way her skin slides over her ribs. Those are old bruises. Did you notice them? And she's so pale. If I didn't see her wolf, I would that she's a vampire. His wolf pointed out in disgust. Eric felt himself grow limp as he started to look at Diane in the ways that his wolf pointed out. The animal was right, she seemed lithe and elegant, but her skin was marred by bruises in some places. She wasn't emaciated, but there wasn't much covering her. 

Diane noticed Eric's frown and sighed to herself. He couldn't stop now. Not when she was so close!

"Eric..." She drawled, not missing the grimace on his face when she tried to lick her lips seductively.

"Get off." He sighed. "Go back to wherever you came from." He pushed her onto the bed and bent down to pick up her shoes. 

There was no way now that he could continue. Not after his wolf rejected Diane. The animal made sense though. He was becoming a little sloppy lately, not really minding who shared his bed as long as it was a willing woman who was relatively young. Eric's sexual partners as of late had all been chosen with the hope that one of them may be his mate. Diane had just shown up in his bed, but he jumped her with the same kind of expectation as he had with the others. The first one had been too...blonde. The second was too tall. The third sported one too many tattoos. Diane wasn't innocent enough. There was always something minor wrong with one of them...things that had never bothered him before now. But then, he was inclined to be picky, his mate had to be perfect. 

"But, Alpha I..." she started, interrupting his little mental pity party. 

"Save it." He threw the pumps at her, disgusted with himself once more that he touched her. 

"You missed out!" She spat at him.

"Leave."

Diane's eyes darkened as she took the shoes and stormed out of his bedroom muttering curses under her breath.

Your mate is near, human. The wolf soothed him and retreated to leave him to his thoughts. Eric frowned. He wasn't getting any younger, but he was still young for a wolf. Twenty four and he'd managed to overthrow the leader of his old pack. The mistreatment of the women and children in the pack he'd taken control of sickened him: the alpha was a greedy man and had mated with almost every female mated or not. The smile returned when he remembered the way it felt to finally kill that sick fucker.

A glance at his clock showed that it was still early in the morning. As he stood up from the bed he frowned. Might as well replace the whole mattress... he mused and sent the note mentally to his housekeeper. He wanted no trace of that scum Diane in his bed. "What am I doing?" He asked himself as he exited the room and walked out the front door. 

I need a walk. He said to himself as he stepped outside. The sky was clear and the moon hung half full above him. Somewhere, my mate could be looking at the same moon. He smiled, wondering what she was like. His most trusted beta, Stephan, had attributed the number of disgruntled female members of the pack to the theory that Eric's mate must be close by.

"All I'm saying Er, is she better be something... My count is going to be too low for me to even consider mating." He'd joked. 

"You wish, Stephan. They don't come to you when they leave me." Eric recalled replying. 

None of those women were good enough. Maybe he was just feeling the weight of his responsibilities. Going rogue and taking care of his own pack wasn't so glamorous after he killed the old pack leader. It took him four years to establish the necessary control, yet the struggle felt right.

Now, as Eric's mind was filled with all the pack business he handled daily, he wondered if he would even have time to look for a mate. Or would she come to him? He stood at the edge of the forest and crossed his arms over his chest. Wherever she was, he's find her.

~*~

The morning found Eric in an uncomfortable charcoal suit and in the limousine with Stephan. 

"Explain to me why we're doing this again? Couldn't you have gone in my place? The roof over Darcy's house is broken again and I promised..." 

"That's what an omega is for Eric, relax. And this was your idea. You know Sorenan's pack is the closest in power to yours." Stephan interrupted. 

"Yes, and I do want to find a way to form some sort of alliance, or maybe merge packs. We both have wealth and power enough to form the biggest alliance in North America since...the old days." Eric added, a thoughtful expression crossing his features.

"If all else fails, we're taking control of his pack by force. I'm strong enough." He continued. 

"Woah there Eric, my man...We're talking about Sorenan the Terrible. He's older than both of us combined and that Witch he chose to be his mate is crazy too. Do you remember...?" 

"Yes, Stephan. We all remember what happened...how he came to be the leader. He's more ruthless than I am. I would never kill my father just to be powerful." Eric felt the revulsion bubble from the tips of his shiny shoes. 

"We're here. Let's just hope this man isn't out for blood today." Stephan grumbled as the driver opened his door.

Eric knew as soon as he shook hands with Sorenan Bretzling that the man was insane. It showed in the way he stood: too still, too controlled. His eyes were blue like his mother's eyes, but they were icy and hard enough to cause actually suck the heat out of the meeting room. They agreed on the location beforehand and the view of the bustling city from the large windows in the room only served as a reminder of how far from pack territory they were. 

"Nice to meet you finally, Alpha Sorenan." Eric started as soon as they sat.

"As you know, I've requested your company to talk about forming an alliance with your pack. I believe that it would be most beneficial to the Were and Shifter community as well as the other Supernatural beings within our territories." He motioned for Stephan to change the slide.

"The locations of our territories would be aligned to create a center of power so great we could establish a peace among species almost as great as between the tribes of long ago, before the Humans came here. It is my hope that you can see reason. You would keep control of your territory, but we could share our land." Eric reasoned.

Sorenan laughed. "You...pup." He insulted.

"You think that I would actually allow this...merge as you say? I see nothing in it for me." He said, his harsh features twisted into a disgusted frown.

"Well, my other idea was to ask for the opportunity to search for a mate among your pack—" Eric was cut off by Sorenan's mocking laugh.

"Over my dead body." Sorenan mocked again, shaking his head.

"Challenge accepted." 

"Eric wait."

"Oho! The pup talks. Midnight, tonight, my grounds. To the death." Sorenan ordered, sick anticipation of killing again causing his mouth to split into a grin.

~*~

"You are NOT going. You will not, and I repeat, you will NOT go to the fight!" Jolena growled, her eyes glowing gold. 

"But mama!!!" Thessa begged.

"You are too young. You AND Nyoko will stay here until your father and I return for you. This rubbish with Sorenan has gone on far too long." She said through bared teeth.

"It is almost as if he believes that witch of a wife of his can make him immortal. Cheap tricks are what they are." She growled again, shaking her head. Thessa knew what was about to happen. 

"He passed up a perfectly good deal with that other Alpha...rogue or not. You and your sister need not deal with this. Stay here, and don't go anywhere."She turned and exited the room, shifting almost mid-stride. 

A moment later, Nyoko poked her brown head through the door from the room across the hall, mischief lighting her eyes. "Well, that was interesting...It seems like mother dearest is going to stir up some trouble, we should do some trouble making too...you know that whole 'like mother like daughter' thing?" She rambled and leaned against the door of Thessa's room.

Thessa ignored her, lost in her thoughts.

"You know, you ARE eighteen...you don't have to do what she says." 

When Thessa didn't answer again, she continued. "I mean just for a few moments just to see who wins, right?" She asked hopefully.


"I was going to go anyway."Thessa smiled up at her sister, brown eyes lit with rebelliousness as she pulled her wildly curly into a ponytail.

"Oh, thanks sis, I knew I wouldn't have to drag you." Nyoko smiled turning for her own room.

"Oh goodie, wait for me would you?" Nyoko called, fumbling with her socks.

"You're not coming." Thessa mumbled as she slipped outside before Nyoko got a chance to follow her. If anyone got caught tonight, she would rather be the only one punished. 
Okay, maybe this wasn't the best idea, Thessa told herself. 

She felt very guilty about sneaking around in the woods and hiding in bushes to get a closer look at the fight about to take place at the ceremonial meeting place. 

Several of her childhood friends sat on the ground nearby. They were all shifted into their wolf forms. Thessa was jealous. 

Wait, she felt jealous? Of what? 

Of them, over there, those girls. Her wolf teased.

"As if." Thessa muttered aloud.

Who wouldn't get all dolled up? The Alpha is supposed to be single, right? Single Alpha means girls want to be attractive. 

It doesn't even matter; none of them are his mate. Thessa felt her wolf shift closer to the surface at that point, woman and animal were one. 

The two men circled each other in their human forms...naked.

Her heart raced and her chest felt tight when she glimpsed the rogue male. His hair was brown one minute, but when the light from the moon touched the silken strands, it looked dark blond. He was tall, his toned muscles moved under his skin. Her gaze drifted lower and she blushed when she glimpsed his soft member. Her wolf howled inside of her in appreciation. She wanted to howl too, but what was left of the human part of her mind reminded her that it wasn't the time or place for that. He was handsome she decided, in the sense that he had an air of superiority about him.


As she looked back at Sorenan, she noticed that he too had an air about him... He had a crazed look in his eyes, as if the sight of blood and the taste of flesh was more exciting that the possibility of death.

A few years after she was born, Sorenan became her pack's alpha. He fought his own father and in a manner reminiscent of the pack hunting prey, he not only razed his father's body, but also devoured the flesh that was left over. She shuddered to remember the tales of the manic gleam in his eye as he howled, his own kin's blood dripping off his jaws. It was a mystery why her parents supported him after that.

She was jerked back to the present as a scream erupted. The stranger had shifted into his wolf form and held Sorenan's leg in his jaws, head ready to snap the limb in half. A sickening feeling settled in her stomach when the bone obviously broke, and Sorenan kept fighting. His moves were sloppy. The claws of his paw almost sunk into his opponent's stomach, but the other wolf swiftly dodged the almost fatal blow. 

Thessa found herself breathing an unexpected sigh of relief a bit too loudly and the person sitting in front of her turned to look behind them. Thessa ducked behind the trunk of a nearby tree, willing her scent to disappear as whoever was in front of her got up to use the bathroom. She watched from her hiding spot as the male relieved himself a few trees over then walked back to his spot. She couldn't help but whimper softly when she heard a pained howl. That was Sorenan's wolf. She would know...her wolf would know if it was the rogue who cried out. It was over. Thessa turned around to another open spot for a look at Sorenan's end. Her heart raced as the rogue bent over Sorenan's throat and bit, crushing the other Alpha's windpipe. She wanted to turn and run, but was paralyzed by the silence pierced by the haunting howl of the rogue.... the new Alpha.



Fated Hearts Ch. 03



A quick thanks to LaRascasse: my editor. He's freakin awesome. Anywho. I know this is a long time coming and I KNOW it's short as hell, but you know how the saying goes...short and sweet. (I'm pushing it, lol.) Thanks to all the people who are putting up with the amount of time it takes me to submit these chapters. It's not my fault, I swear. Keep those comments coming!

-G

The King is dead; long live the King.

-Hamlet

Chapter 3

The stunned silence that penetrated the circle as Sorenan's body changed back to its human form. It was almost as if no one expected much of this stranger. From somewhere in the crowd, Stephan started clapping. The rest of Eric's Betas followed suit before many of the unfamiliar faces joined.

He couldn't help but notice the mixed reactions of some of the other Weres' faces. Some were clearly shocked, others wept, and the vast minority of fierce loyalists, he noted gratefully, were few and far between. He would take care of them personally.

The truth of the matter was that Eric was surprised he won. Letting his wolf take over wasn't voluntary, the animal had reacted to something close by. Our mate, fool. Their mate was here?

She's very close.

Eric fought the smile that came to his lips. She must be pleased. That was an excellent show of physical skill. He scanned the crowd of uncertain faces for her again.

"Well. You know the rules. I'm the new Alpha. I'm not a harsh man however, I'm fair and I'm willing to learn how things were run from your betas. Nevertheless, I will be integrating some of my pack with yours." He explained in a commanding voice.  

"Sorenan is no longer. Any of his supporters will be banished from the pack. I don't need an uprising before I can prove what I am capable of as a ruler." He continued.

"It is also my intent to find a mate within this pack," he saw a few of the younger females inched closer from the edges of the circle; some were pushed forward by people he assumed to be their guardians. "Aside from this, you all are dismissed to your respective homes. I will hold a feast tomorrow night at sundown while I explain any changes in greater detail." He added as people started to leave, some still crying, others, the older weres and shifters had smiles of relief on their faces.

I know she's here tonight. It would be nice if she could show herself, but if not. I can easily point her out... He told his wolf. I can smell her, although she's hiding. Ah...there, behind the trees.

"Wait.You. Come here, little one." He smiled, his piercing gaze locking with Thessa's dark eyes as she was about to slink further into the trees.

~*~

This is bad...He can smell you; I forgot to say that... Thessa's wolf apologized. If an animal could sound embarrassed, her wolf did right now. RUN. Thessa screamed at herself. The last thing she needed was to be caught. All of the former betas, including her parents, were still in the clearing, waiting to meet with Eric. She blushed. His name is Eric, nice. Her wolf smiled. Thessa almost stumbled as she felt the intensity of his gaze on her back. It was like he was hunting her. Suddenly her legs had power again and her natural instincts told her to flee "RUN!!RUN!!!RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!" they screamed.

She knew he was running behind her. She could smell him, could feel his mind reach out to her as he shifted into his wolf.   When her human body screamed in protest at the speeds she was reaching, she managed to kick her shoes off and pull her shirt off before her wolf forced her to shift. The pain of her bones rearranging and elongating were washed away by the pure adrenaline rushing through her veins. She hoped the shredded jeans, panties and bra tripped him.

I see you little one. I will have you. He laughed in her head.

Leave me alone! She screamed, firmly shutting down her mental barriers in her panic.

She felt him closing in, heard the pounding of his gigantic paws in the leaf covered earth and suddenly she felt his teeth nip playfully at her tail. With a yelp, she jumped over a fence and continued running before she realized he was playing with her.

That's right, this part is supposed to be a game.

She growled at him, annoyed, some of her fear draining away into a sort of playful anger. If he wanted to play games, she would give him what he wanted. With a deep breath, she took a huge leap and shifted into an owl, using the momentum of her leap as a wolf to launch herself into the air and glide in a silent circle around the startled wolf. Catch me, if you can that is. She laughed at him taking off.

~*~

His mate was a shifter?

Eric's wolf was intrigued. He heard her taunting laughter in his head, felt the brush of her wings in his mind. You turned into a bird? Wolves hunt birds, love. He replied sniffing the air for her scent. Here birdy. He called catching sight of her on a nearby branch. You aren't playing by the rules, baby. He laughed when she shifted again, a cat this time.

I wasn't aware that there were any rules. She sniffed.

She's showing off for you. I like this one, human. A real keeper. We will catch her soon. His wolf promised excitedly.

The wolf was right. Eric hadn't seen more than her eyes, but they sparkled with suppressed mischief. He was at a disadvantage. She lived here her entire life so she knew the layout of the pack land like the back of her hand. This was the first time he ever came to visit...if you could call it that. So he sat still, using his wolf's natural hunting ability to locate his prey.

North. Fifty feet. Still a cat. He smiled, stealthily moving through the foliage.

As he grew closer, he saw that she'd shifted back to her human form and was lounging on a fallen tree branch. He stopped, taking the time to admire what he could see in the moonlight. She looked one with nature, like something out of a magazine. The faint light illuminated the generous curves of her legs, hips and breasts as she sat there waiting for him. He crawled out from under the bush he was hiding behind and slowly walked up to her.

"You still didn't catch me." She laughed, shifting into her wolf before he could get any closer and bounding off.

He growled to himself. You tricked me! He joked as he took off after her.

They never said there were rules. All you have to do is catch me. She responded. He spotted her up ahead in a clearing. He was getting impatient with the game. He needed to claim her before the night was over. So she wanted to play with no rules? Okay.

We will not be bested by some girl...we need a plan. He schemed.

~*~

Where is he? Thessa asked herself.

She was tired of running circles around the clearing. Feeling a little thirsty, she jogged into the moonlight space to the small pond where she bent her head to drink, the cool water tickling her snout. The calming sounds of the night relaxed her. Eric wouldn't know where she was. He was probably lost somewhere still looking for her. Her wolf laughed. She barely noticed when the sound of paws interrupted the tranquility of the moment. The next few moments were ones of shock as she was pushed headfirst into the pond. She was aware of the other wolf that jumped in after her. The freezing temperature caused her to shift back involuntarily as strong arms encircled her as they broke the surface of the water, and he dragged her onto the grass.

"I caught you." He smiled, bracing himself above her with his arms on the ground next to hers.

She shivered from the heat in his words as well as the cold of the pond water. Her nipples hardened as the night air brushed them. At least...that's what she told herself. There was no denying that this roguish man was her mate. Even as she looked up at him, she saw his eyes darken in pleasure of having her right where he wanted her. The corded muscles in his arms shivered. He was cold too.

"Yeah...well..." she whispered, licking her suddenly dry lips and swallowing as if she hadn't just had an unexpected dip in the water.

His voice was smooth, like honey. His scent was wolfy, but unlike Russ or the other men in her pack, she took a deep inhale. He smelled like the forest after a rain storm. She felt herself melting, heating up in a way that had nothing to do with the fact that he had picked her up like a baby, something no one had been able to do in a long time, and held her close trying to heat her skin up.

"We have to get you back to the meeting grounds. There is a fire there and I still have to talk to the betas." He started.

"Wait! Put me down!!" Thessa cried, the moment ruined at the mention of facing her parents when they got back.

"I'm so glad to have found you." He interrupted. "It's sort of a bad time seeing that I just became Alpha and still have a lot to do..." he frowned, walking out of the clearing with her.

"We'll have to rush the mating ceremony. I need you...and I don't even know your name." He smiled down at her.

"It's Thessa. And Eric, I have to go! You have to put me down. I can't go back with you." She cried frantically, fighting him.

"What? Damn it, Thessa..." he smiled as he said her name. She blushed.

"Why not? I want to show them that I've found you."

"My parents are betas. They're not werewolves...well my mother isn't. Anyway, she told me not to come to the fight and I showed up and I'm your mate and I'm going to be in so much trouble you have to let me..." her rant was cut off as his lips descended to press roughly against hers.

She reached her hand to his naked chest to push him away, but lost the will once his tongue teased the seam of her lips and slid into her mouth once she groaned and opened for him. Time seemed to stop as his arms tightened around her as he gently let her stand. She was forced to stand on the balls of her feet as he stood at his full height. Her hands clenched his biceps as she leaned into him, accepting the kiss even as he crushed her to his chest. She whimpered in disappointment as he broke it.

"Listen, we have to tell her. I'm the Alpha, and you cannot hide the fact that we are mates from anyone. Once she sees that she will have no choice but to forgive you. What mother wouldn't want her daughter mated to the Alpha?" He reasoned quietly, cupping her round face in his hands.

"Okay..." she agreed reluctantly, clinging to the hope that her mother wouldn't explode on her once they were alone.

"It's better that you do it now than later." He argued.

She didn't respond.

~*~

Eric frowned at Thessa in confusion. One minute she was melting in his arms as he kissed her passionately, then she was attacking him again. There was no way he would let her go that easily. He just found her. They were supposed to be together. Women...

As the entered the clearing, he felt the tension between his mate and two of the other betas.

Ahh, those must be her mother and father. Father is a wolf. Mother is a shifter.

Thessa eyed him warily, clinging to his arm for dear life. Her wide brown eyes were even wider and clouded with fear. He felt anger slowly rising in him. What kind of parent would turn a blind eye to her own child in the course of nature? Most weres were too strict when it came to the rules and regulations. Then there were the others like him who mostly made and followed their own rules. It was time to show Thessa's parents who would be calling the shots for their daughter from now on. He turned his back to them and shielded her from their view.

"Relax." He breathed, feathering light kisses over her cheeks and lips. He dipped his head to capture her lips in a tender kiss, smiling in satisfaction when she let out a whimper of need and relaxed against him.

"Are you really so upset to be here?" He asked seriously, searching her eyes for the truth even as she nodded up at him.

With a sigh he let her go and took a step back, still ignoring the glares directed at him. "Okay then, you may go..." he started, squeezing her hand as she turned to leave.

"But let me see you again tomorrow, please?" He asked before pressing another kiss on her knuckles and letting her hand slip from his.

He watched as she shifted and took off at a trot for whatever building she needed to be in. With a sigh he turned back around to face the other wolves. "Now, I've already fulfilled one of the goals I've set out to achieve since my speech. As I suspect you all realize by now, I have found my mate." [ Seems too sudden and too forward.] He paused at the growl from Thessa's mother.

"No child of mine will be mated with some rogue. I refuse to allow this." She said in a clipped tone. If looks could kill, he would be decomposing already.

"You. What is your name and station." He commanded, ignoring her comment.

"Jolena, second in head of security. My husband is first." She said anger still coloring her voice.

"Alpha, if you could excuse my wife." The older man next to the golden-eyed harpy placed a hand on his mate's arm to restrain her. "My name is Julius. I think what she means to say is that she's worried that you will hurt our--" Eric raised a hand to silence him.

"You've some nerve. She's my mate, I would never hurt her. She is the very reason for my existence. To imply that I would ever do anything to cause her pain or upset is ridiculous. Tell me Jolena, do you have any doubt that your husband would ever hurt you or your children? I thought not. I repeat. I would never do a thing to hurt you daughter. You have my word." He swore when she wrenched away from her husband and turned to leave with a huff.

Eric would deal with her later. For now he continued to finalize the rest of his stay with the other betas. He was grateful for Julius' extensive experience in security for the pack. He planned a separate time to meet with another beta who would give him an official tour of the land he just inherited as well as any businesses and properties. As he and Stephan made their way back to the Alphas- his manor for the night with his other bodyguards, he made a proposal.

"Stephan, I know you and I have been doing this Alpha Beta thing for a while now. Thessa is part of this pack. I know it would be unfair to just uproot her and move her to the other territory, but I need someone I can trust to take care of the other pack. I was hoping that you'd want to take the job since you're the only person I trust with something so important while I establish myself here."

Stephan stopped and turned to face him a shocked look on his face. "Eric...I...this is a big job. I can't promise I'll be able to as well as you did, but I'll give it a try for you." He vowed, resting a hand on the other man's shoulder in a sign of camaraderie.

"Will you please? I need to stay here. When I took off it was because...well...I found her, Stephan." He smiled, joy and relief evident on his face.

"I found her and I had to let her go because of her fear. I couldn't force her, but her mother already knew." Eric explained, frowning.

"Well damn, Eric. I'm kinda glad I'm going back then. Women are trouble." Stephan shook his head.

"Women are nothing but trouble. Stay strong." Stephan joked as he climbed into the SUV, the door held open by a burly werewolf.

"Go see her tonight. You have her scent. Follow it and talk to her. Use your head and not your dick...She doesn't seem like a Diane to me." He laughed as the door was shut and the dark car peeled away.

~*~

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU!" Jolena screamed as her daughter sat cross legged on her cot.

"First, you defy my orders and go to the fight. Secondly, you get yourself TIED TO A ROGUE-"

Thessa cut in "He's my mate, mother. I'm supposed to --"

"A ROGUE, AN OUTLAW A VAGABOND" She continued, ignoring her daughter's glare.

This had been going on for as long as her mother had recognized her when the alpha had ushered his captured mate back into the circle.      Okay, so what if she despised the man, her mother was really jumping the gun here.

"Mama, listen to me." She started getting up.

"He is our new alpha. He would have found me anyway. No matter how far you took me. Mama you have been yelling at me for hours and we keep having the same argument over and over. He will end up mating me in a few weeks." she said with finality.

She had forced herself to grow up in the time it took her to run from the meeting ground to her room. The wind howled outside, mimicking her mother's anger and somewhere in the distance the howl of a wolf could faintly be heard. Just as her mother was about to start yelling again, the door to the room opened opened and he came inside. Thessa's breath caught in her throat.

"Excuse me, Jolena. May I have a moment with my mate?" Eric asked, arching an eyebrow as if daring her to dissent.

Jolena growled and narrowed her eyes for she could sense the call to mate leaping between her daughter and the alpha. "We will discuss this later." she said quietly, not even sparing the alpha a glance as she slammed the door behind her.

"She's always this stubborn?" He asked and sat beside her.

She jumped up. "Don't you want to sit on a chair or something? I mean, you are our alpha, you shouldn't sit on my lumpy bed."

She clasped her hands behind her back, hoping that they wouldn't show her nervousness. Her wolf was successfully suppressed and now she felt embarrassed at how quickly she reacted. They'd almost had sex in that clearing, and then again he made her forget herself when she was in front of her parents and their friends.

He laughed; a rich, deep sound and she blushed all the way to her toes. No one had ever laughed at her before. Well not anyone important.  "Please, enough with this Alpha nonsense, you are my mate, call me Eric." He laced his fingers with hers and tugged her to him. This time she landed on his lap.

"Oh, okay...Eric." She said sitting stiffly, her legs braced against the ground should she get the sudden impulse to flee.

He smiled and stroked her hair. "I love your hair; it's so...soft, different." He brushed his lips over the nape of her neck.

"I'm glad to have my mate as beautiful as you are, even if you are just a pup." He chuckled, threading his hands through the dark strands. The comment stung.

"I'm almost 19 I'm not a pup, I'm grown-up by human standards."

He chuckled again, "It's like brown silk. I can't wait to feel it on my skin when we mate."

Suddenly she felt the uncomfortable heat of his eyes on her face. She warmed again, almost feeling his caress. "You should go. There are lots of duties I'm sure you have to attend to and...and...You have to go."

She jumped up, and he let her fingers slip free before he watched her open the door for him. "You won't be able to run from me much longer, love." He ducked his head and exited the room. Thessa slumped on the door, wondering at the way the room suddenly seemed very empty without him.

This made no sense. How could she be so sure of him? He hadn't even been there for a full day. Thessa's wolf laughed.

He's your mate, girl. How could you do anything but be sure of him? You're smart and beautiful. The wolf assured.

As she curled up and went to sleep, Thessa was sure of one thing: she had no idea what would come next.

~*~

"Are you serious? The new Alpha is your mate? Are you sure?" the girl's whisper was ragged as the two sparred in nothing but tank tops and shorts.

"He could smell me and I was masking myself from everyone out there. Even my own mother didn't know I was there until he brought me back—pay attention." He heard Thessa explain using her arm to block the dark haired girl's sloppy move.




Fated Hearts Ch. 03



Eric pretended to pay attention to whatever the beta explaining this activity was saying.

"Alpha Eric, are you paying attention?" he asked, a smile on his face.

"Hmm." Eric responded absently, his gaze still stuck on his mate. She was as beautiful in the dark as she was in the light. The sun shone through the leaves on the trees and made her smooth skin shine as dark brown as melted milk chocolate.

"Alpha..." The man, Truan, let out an exasperated sigh.

"Okay, I admit. I have no freakin' idea what you're talking about." Eric confessed, having the decency to look embarrassed.

"I was saying that every member of this pack is required to know some sort of defense, even if it's not what they pursue in the pack itself. It's a necessary precaution when the Alpha is as powerful as he is...was...as you are now." Eric laughed as the man's ears turned red.

"Is that all for today?" He asked Truan.

"For now, it is. It has been a hectic month. May I offer my opinion?" Truan asked his voice low.

"Sure." Eric looked at the soft spoken man next to him.

"The things you've done...little things like building an extra dorm for the children and fixing the stables, those mean more to these weres and shifters than anything Sorenan has ever done for them." He confided quietly.

Eric tried to hide his surprise. "Truan, I don't think you understand something about me. Everything I do is out of concern for the people I have to protect and who depend on my judgment to stay alive. I care what they think about me, and I will do whatever I need to do to make them see that." He explained, never taking his gaze off Thessa.

She'd finished fighting and sat on the grass sipping from her bottle of water and laughing. The short haired girl next to her whispered in her ear and she turned her intense brown gaze on him. He smiled and waved, rewarded when she blushed and turned away. He left her alone for the better part of a month, focusing on inadvertently proving himself to her. She was a special woman; he had to do special things to prove himself. Even now, as he walked over to her and her friend, he was sure that he saw the longing in her eyes for a moment before she erased it.

"Hey there beautiful." He smiled down at her.

"Hey, yourself." She sniffed, sending her friend into giggles.

"Thessa, why don't you introduce me to your...friend?" the other girl smiled, winking at Eric.

"Oh. That's uh...Eric. Eric, this is my annoying sister Nyoko." Thessa sputtered.

"It's nice meet you Nyoko." Eric shook her hand.

"You were right, T, he is dreamy."

"Nyoko..."

"You think I'm dreamy?" Eric laughed.

"I actually came to ask Thessa if she'd like to spend the afternoon with me. We could have a picnic." He asked, hopefully.

"Sure, of course she'd love to. We can ride horses some other day." Nyoko answered for her.

"Great." Eric responded and turned to leave, holding in his laughter as Thessa hotly argued with Nyoko.



Fated Hearts Ch. 04



First of all, I would like to thank all the people reading this. I honestly didn't think it would be this good, but your comments and suggestions are helping me become a better writer. So thanks! And thanks to LaRascasse for editing for me!

-G

Your kisses ring,Round and round and round my head.Touching the very part of me.It's making my soul sing.Tearing the very heart of me.I'm crying out for more.

-Sade

"Let's have a picnic he says. 'Ha ha ha' jokes on you." Thessa mumbled as she rummaged through her clothes.

Nyoko sat on her bed laughing hysterically. She had never seen her best friend and sister so worked up over a guy before. After Eric left the two girls almost immediately launched into argument.

"Don't ever make a choice for me again. He didn't ask you." She'd growled hotly.

"He did, as if you were going to do refuse? I did you a favor." Nyoko had growled right back.

Well...maybe Thessa wasn't going to say no, but it felt like a set up and not an actual...date. She blushed. A date? Were those even an option for her? Weres and Shifters were just mated, only the humans were known for having lengthy courtship. What was Eric playing at? He was so intense, too intense for even normal werewolves. The majority of the wolves in her pack were impulsive and no less than beasts. Half of the time, that's what they were. Heaven help the other animals in the woods once the full moon rose. The energy charging the air once that week started was enough to cause huge fights among the wolves. The night of the full moon was a giant orgy of wolves and shifters in their human, hybrid or fully shifted forms. People were high on life and nature, cruel mistress that it was, allowed that one reprieve for the wolves to worship her.

Most unmated couples mated on the full moon although the festivities usually started with an Alpha mating. For an Alpha like Eric, it would be the final step of acceptance into the pack. He would flip her onto all fours and shift. They would mark each other and that would spur the...festivities so to speak. From then to the moment the sun slipped over the horizon in the morning, they would celebrate. Thessa wasn't worried about her mother: Jolena was the minority. As long as most of the pack accepted that she would mate with the Alpha, it would be considered a legitimate mating.

"Earth to Thessa..." Nyoko called, jolting her out of her reverie. "I don't mean to wake you from such a pleasant looking daydream, but your knight in shining armor is sort of wearing holes in the floor outside of your door." She laughed.

Thessa laughed too at the cartoon image of the huge Alpha pacing like a caged animal as he waited for her appeared in her head. She shook her head to concentrate as she heard a low growl.

"Oh relax wolf-boy." Nyoko yelled at the door, sliding off the bed fluidly as she prepared to give Thessa some privacy.

"Okay, Nyo, can you stall for me I'll be out really soon." Thessa begged; she grabbed the first thing she saw: a pink sundress.

She made a face. How did she even have a sundress? She wasn't that girly...was she? A loud rapping on her door brought her back and she hurriedly pulled on her bra and the sundress before sliding her feet into a pair of flip flops. She opened the door as Eric lifted his hand to rap on her door again. She saw his eyes turn gold as he took in her appearance and blushed as he raked his eyes over her body. It was like he actually touched her.

She took the chance to study him also. He was dressed just as casually as she was in a pair of jeans riding low on his hips and a T-shirt. It was so different than seeing Sorenan who paraded around in expensive suits. He almost looked normal except for a few scars on his muscular arms. His eyes were so intensely trained on her that she took a step back and he followed, hands reaching out to hold her in place as he walked them both backward until her legs hit the narrow bed behind her. She felt time slow down even as her heart skipped a beat then took off at an erratic pace. His warm palm covered her breast right over her heart and she jumped, a shiver of excitement tearing through her as he thread his fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck to hold her head still.

He's going to kiss me. He's going to kiss me. She chanted in her head her eyes closing to slits as the gap between their faces grew smaller and smaller.

"Look at me Thess. Don't close those gorgeous eyes on me." He whispered to her, tugging lightly on her hair.

She gasped as the delicious tension on her scalp increased. Thessa opened her eyes and met the lust-filled stare of her mate. It felt like the night he chased her through the woods again, when he had her pinned on the grass after pushing her into the pond. The thought of the water clinging to his skin again made her lick her lips involuntarily. She was jolted out of the memory again when his tongue traced the same path on her lips that she just made. It was unbelievably sensual.

She let out a faint whimper of need that seemed to do him in. His lips captured hers and something within her ignited. Thessa grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer to her. They bumped noses in their haste and he tilted his head, devouring her lips and snaking his tongue into her mouth when she let out a soft cry. The sweet pressure of the aggressive kiss brought her wolf to life. With his free hand, he yanked the top of her dress down with a rip before roughly squeezing her soft, warm breast. It felt almost too good to be true that their chemistry was instantaneous. Almost.

"Eric!" She cried out, breaking the kiss to let her head tilt back. Her fingers clutched his silky locks as he trailed kisses down her neck to her lace covered breasts. The moan that gurgled in her throat turned into a loud gasp when his elongated teeth grazed her taut nipples, his tongue flicked over it before he sucked as much of her bra clad tit into his mouth, soaking the fabric with his saliva.

"Wait." She managed between moans, jumping when he slammed the door shut with his foot and walked her backward towards the bed.

"Eric, wait." "What?" He asked as the back of her knees hit the bed and she sat.

Her complaint was momentarily forgotten as he sat down beside her and unclasped her bra. She groaned, clinging to the last bit of her sanity for dear life as a moan of pleasure slipped from his lips when her large breasts spilled free from their confines.

"Fucking beautiful, Thessa. You. Are. Perfect." He murmured into her neck, pressing kisses over her shoulder before he started tugging at the strings of the shoulders at her dress.

"Damnit Eric, we can't. Stop." She gasped.

"Damn right I'm not going to stop." He said enthusiastically.

"NO. You don't understand. We have to stop." She pushed at his chest until he sat back to look at her, confusion clouding his eyes.

"What the FUCK, Thessa. What do you want?" He growled.

"I can't do this. We have to wait for the full moon."

"I leave you alone for a month and then I come back to you now that I've stabilized myself here trying to ignore the need to jump that beautiful ass of yours every time I see you. I'm trying to be civil, Thessa. I don't know if I can take this torture for much longer. I love you." He pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes to calm down.

"You love me? Eric, you know nothing about me. And I know nothing about you. How are we supposed to make this work if all you want to do is fuck? That doesn't reassure me. Even that witch Sorenan mated with knew everything about him beforehand; I refuse to go into this mating ceremony blind." She explained, pulling her clothes on properly.

"You'll be the death of me woman." Eric sighed finally calm. "You act like a human. If you want courtship, then you'll get it. Are you still up for that picnic?" He stood up slowly. If it was her intention to make him work for her, he would bring her the moon.

~*~

"Well, leave! You can't be in here while I change." Thessa said.

Eric looked down at the ripped front of her dress and smiled. He was still amazed at how all his experienced seemed to jump out the window so to speak when he tried to advance their relationship. All the women in his past had thrown themselves at him, young and old. There were even women in this pack that barely concealed their attraction to him. Eric wondered if there would be a time in his life when women wouldn't pursue him, and was resigned to the fact that as long as he held position of Alpha, he wouldn't want for female attention.

The problem with that however, was that he didn't want the attention of every female with whom he came in contact. The female he wanted was on the other side of the simple wooden door in front of him. He'd been so close to having what he wanted when she pushed him away. He'd admit it to anyone; the look she gave him when she opened that door could have made a Eunuch melt. The innocence shining in her eyes combined with the body of a real woman nearly made him drop to his knees. Then he'd yelled at her like if it was her fault. It would be easy to blame the proximity of the full moon, or the stress of the oncoming harvest season and all the preparations for the farm land that his new pack controlled, but Eric knew he was just acting like a newborn cub who'd gotten a taste of life outside of the den.

"Okay, I'm ready." Thessa emerged from her room.

The crew neck of her t-shirt wasn't high enough to hide the barely noticeable hickey. Her skin was such a deep shade of brown that he had to really look to see where it was. The realization nevertheless, was enough to make him smile. Once they left the artificially lit building, it would be clear to everyone they walked past that she was his.

"So, is this like...a date?" Thessa broke their companionable silence.

"Sort of...I didn't intend to lose control like that back there. You make me do that sometimes." He smiled down at her, shaking his head.

"Anyway, the whole point of the picnic was for me to get to know you better. I know you're young, and this may seem a little much for you—"

"I'm young, not stupid or a coward, Eric. And we didn't meet under ideal situations. I can handle that." Thessa interrupted, her expressive face revealing her annoyance. Eric had the feeling that she wanted him to see it. She acted too maturely to reveal her emotions unless she wanted to.

"Okay, well, that's good." Eric threaded his fingers through hers as they passed a group of people.

"And what kind of picnic is this anyway? You didn't bring a basket." He looked down at her. Her brilliant smile made his heart wobble in his chest.

"It's in my truck. We're going somewhere else." He smiled back but offered no further hints about their destination.

Eric knew she would love the spot he found the other day when he went for a run. It was the perfect view: a cliff overlooking the city. It was already late afternoon; by the time they reached it, the sun would be starting to set. He opened her door for her before closing it and walking around to the driver's side. As they drove neither made no move to speak, but it was alright, just knowing that his mate was near was good enough for Eric.

"Where are you from anyway? You act like one of those knights I read about in my romance novels, but you aren't that old." Thessa asked after a while. He could feel her looking at him.

"Something like that. My parents were very old...not Medieval, but something like that." He laughed and looked over at her.

"Are we playing 20Q?" He asked sparing a glance at her once they stopped at a light.

"If you want to, we can." She smiled over at him and he felt himself get hard.

Really, human? You didn't even get her naked yet. Eric's wolf laughed at him.

"My turn...What's your favorite color?" He asked, turning his focus back to the road ahead.

"Purple. Yours?"

"Blue."

"Nice."

Eric laughed.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just thinking about how you make me feel like I don't have any sort of know-how when it comes to women. I mean, I know women well, but I can't treat you the way I treated them, you know? You're different." He mused aloud.

"I always thought that I'd be able to win my mate over in no time because I have so much experience. But what's the point in being mysterious when the one person who you want to tell all your secrets too is right next to you?" He reached over and held her hand.

"I don't have a lot of experience with anything. If you haven't been able to notice, I've been living under a rock for most of my life..." Thessa paused, idly rubbing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb, "look at me; I'm pouring my heart out to you. I don't even tell Nyoko all of this. She's like my twin." She squeezed his hand and he looked at her.

"I don't even know if I deserve you." Eric lifted her hand to press a kiss on her knuckles and let go of her hand.

As they drove longer, scenery changed from bustling cityscape to the quiet rolling countryside.

When they reached the cliff, Eric got out first and came around to open Thessa's door. He heard her gasp of surprise as she got out. "Oh my god, Eric this is beautiful." She turned in a circle.

"I'm glad you like it." He smiled as he pulled a blanket and the picnic basket out of the cab.

"Here, spread this out somewhere." He handed her the blanket and reached into the bed of the truck for the picnic basket.

They ate in silence, holding hands. They shared the apple tarts that Severin made. It was perfect. When they finished eating, the sun had set. He'd tucked her under his arm and they watched the haze rising from the city blend with the hues of purple, orange and gold and he swore that they both held their breaths when the darkness chased the incredible show of light that was the sunset to the edge of the horizon. Once the sun set, they stayed there, cuddling as the moon rose.

"This is beautiful. Thank you." Thessa whispered looking up at him.

The wind whipped her hair around and he remembered the way her eyes brightened when she originally saw the view from this spot.

"Thessa?" Eric whispered hoarsely, his face coming closer to hers.

"Mhm?" She licked her lips and he followed the movement with his eyes, entranced by the whispers of her breath as she exhaled.

She knew he was going to kiss her. She had to know. He saw her steel herself for it like she was bracing herself for a crash. Eric lifted her chin with one finger and lightly brushed her lips with his, feeling the tremor that ran up her spine. He nearly lost it again, but checked himself and continued to brush her lips with his, tenderly stroking her arm until she relaxed against him. It was only then that he allowed himself to let go a little and deepened the kiss, threading his fingers through her soft hair to cradle her head lovingly as he nipped at her lip playfully. Eric pulled back from the tender kiss to take in the vision of beauty next to him. Her already full lips were swollen from the kiss. He smoothed the hair sticking out from where he disturbed it. Her lashes rested against her cheeks.

He kissed her again deeply tasting what she had to offer. When she pushed at his shoulder, he pulled away ready to apologize thinking he'd gone too far. To his surprise, she took the chance to push him gently to his back and straddled his lap. His wolf excitedly pushed itself to the front of his consciousness. He growled playfully.

"You don't even know what you're doing." Eric smiled up at her.

"I'm a virgin. Not ignorant." She laughed, and he felt himself harden.

"So, I'm supposed to let you explore to your heart's content while I suffer quietly down here?" He joked, resting a hand on her hip. "You sure you want to do this?" He smiled harder.

"You're my mate Eric. I've been waiting for you my entire life, and now couldn't be a more perfect time." She frowned down at him.

"Let me get you ready." He sat up in one fluid motion and wrapped an arm around her as he kissed her again, pouring the need he couldn't express with words into the kiss. Thessa groaned against Eric's lips as he took control of the kiss, allowing her to throw her arms around his neck when she lost the last bit of control she mastered so well and moved against him. She arched her back to press her heat against the front of his jeans. Maybe there was something in the pie, but she didn't think she could stop him even if her mother was to appear at that moment. With a moan, she slid her hands down the front of his shirt and felt his heart racing under the taut muscles of his chest. She broke the kiss to pull his shirt over his head to examine him with the light of the waxing gibbous moon and exhaled a shivery breath. Mine, her wolf howled inside of her, and she traced the pale scars crossing his chest. His hands were cool against her feverishly warm skin as she lifted her arms for him. Even the second that the white material blocked him from her view was too long, and she allowed him to slide the straps of her bra down when he unhooked it. Even though it was the first time, it felt like she was coming home to someone she didn't know she was missing.

When he took the hardened bud of her nipple between his lips and suckled hard on the firm, pliant nub, she sighed contentedly and stroked his hair. At that point, she barely noticed how well they fit together, like two halves of a whole that were split and thrown to opposite ends of the earth.

"Eric. Make love to me." She pleaded.

He stopped playing with her nipples and reached for the button on her jeans. She stood, and he peeled them off her solid legs, kissing all the way to her knees before kneeling in front of her and sliding down her panties. Eric pressed his face against her soft vulva, then lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and kissed the slick lips of her pussy. He took his time, kissing her clit and flicking the sensitive spot with the tip of her tongue. He held her hands as she started to wobble. He knew she was about to orgasm when she squeezed his fingers tightly. Thessa stared blankly over the city lights that weren't as bright as the lights flashing behind her head when she came hard, shuddering against Eric's tongue.

She smiled against his chest when he let her fall into his arms muttering nonsense words. Ordinarily he would have launched into singing his own praises and the I-told-you-so's that he joked with the other women. He just stroked her back and smiled down at her when she lifted her head to look at him.

"Don't worry, I'm not finished." She said in that husky-sweet voice of hers.

She knelt between his legs and unbuttoned his jeans. The rasp of the metal zip was loud in their silence. But then again...they didn't have to say any words. Eric let her pull his jeans down and clenched the blanket in his fist when her hot mouth enveloped his manhood. It's been too long, his wolf sighed and Eric closed his eyes. She was a mystery, his Thessa. She was innocence and temptation and sin tied into one package.

He marveled as she swirled her tongue over his shaft and lightly caressed his balls. He was close too soon and nearly blew his load when she looked up with a question in those innocent, big eyes of hers.

Why did you stop? They asked.

~*~

He pulled her down on top of him and rolled over so she was on the bottom. The kiss he gave her was purely to distract her. He nibbled her lips and their tongues dueled against each other as he aligned himself with the hot wetness that was his mate.

"I'm sorry." He whispered before slamming himself into her and stopping as her cry disturbed the peace of their spot on the cliff.




Fated Hearts Ch. 04



Despite her trembling, she breathed deeply, Eric's erection filling her up to contentment as he rocked against her, the soft slapping of his pelvis against her clit enough to turn the ache of pain into one of pleasure. She lifted herself to kiss him and he knew she was ready for him. With a loud growl, Eric pressed his strong fingers into her hips, pulling her roughly to him.

Thessa involuntarily arched her back, sending him deeper into her wet heat. With a hiss of pleasure she widened her legs and locked them around his waist. Her eyes glowed that eerie golden brown color and Eric lost the control necessary to make her first time pleasurable.

He leaned forward on his arms until their faces were mere inches away and began to pound into her, his cock growing even harder as she squeezed him with her impossibly tight snatch. Their gazes locked the only sound penetrating the serenity of the scenery was the harsh slaps of flesh against flesh. Eric's wolf enjoyed the gasps of pleasure the rough coupling forced from his mate's lungs.

"More."

The word drove Eric and his wolf over the edge and he fucked her harder, his dick pushing relentlessly and uncomfortably against Thessa's sensitive virginal walls.

"MORE!" She screamed, arching her back. Eric watched as her eyes squeezed shut in an effort to accommodate him and he lifted her hips and knelt on the ground. He watched as she fought for enough breath to cry out her pleasure and pushed her legs back, over her head until the tips of her tightly clenched toes grazed the blanked before he started again. He was sure that the screams of pleasure-pain were loud enough for anyone driving down the main highway to hear Eric.

With one more high pitched shriek, Thessa tensed. He could see her muscles shift as they locked, her eyes widened, the pupil dilated until the gold of her iris was just a sliver of color.

"Yes, come for me babe!" Eric shouted hoarsely as she started shivering, sobs wracking her body as her orgasm ripped through her body. He held her as she slowly came down. He kissed the tears from the corners of her eyes as they returned to their normal dark brown color.

"I'm not sorry that happened, Thessa. Let me show you." He smiled, kissing her briefly before stroking her clit. When her eyes started changing again he smiled and rolled his hips against hers. He stilled as a small trembling hand pressed against his hip.

"Please, not so deep?" she asked, and he kissed her, sliding out of her pussy slowly before rolling his hips again, gradually pressing his throbbing dick against her swollen hole.

They made love tenderly under the bright stars with the trees as the witnesses. She came twice and he bit back the howl his wolf forced out when she squeezed him tight enough to drive him over the edge. 



Fated Hearts Ch. 05



5.

It was one of those moments you see in movies perhaps: the hero gets the girl and they're wrapped up in their own bubble of romance...happily ever after despite overwhelming circumstances. Thessa and Eric's romance was just beginning. 

They stayed at their cliff until the first rays of sunlight appeared in the sky. The morning found the lovers wrapped up in each other. Thessa was warm and safe in her mate's arms, and Eric was content to finally have the person he sought after most cradled in his arms. The night he spent with Thessa was the first time the dreams that haunted him the moment he closed his eyes had not come. Likewise, the restless thoughts that kept Thessa awake at night stayed locked in that place in her mind to which she designated them. 

Eric was the first to wake up. A glance at his watch showed that it was past ten. Sighing, he rolled over onto his back, resisting the urge to return to the warm, soft body of his woman. Somewhere a bird chirped, the faint sound of tires on the road reached his well-trained ears, and a faint wind rustled through the trees. Eric rolled over onto his side and waited for Thessa to wake up. Her lips were parted and she was snoring. He smiled and pushed her soft, springy hair behind her cheek. He wondered what she was dreaming about as that sensual mouth that had pleasured him last night curled into a smile and she shifted her legs.

He wanted to feel bad that he had taken her as roughly as he did, but he had the notion that she wouldn't mind feeling sore and achy. She was just as eager to let everyone know they were mates as he was. Eric wet his fingertip in his mouth and trailed it lightly over her nipple, allowing the cooler air to harden the bump into a tight peak. When he was satisfied, he stroked his fingers down her stomach fluttering them over her navel and to the crease of her thigh. He could feel that even in her sleep, her body responded quickly in anticipation of his actions. He pressed his semi-hard member against her stomach, appreciating the moan of acceptance that her sleep –muddled brain allowed her to utter. As he fingered her sensitive nub, he watched her slowly wake up, her eyes already gold.

"Good Morning." Thessa smiled, opening her legs wider for Eric to slide his body closer to her. Her smile turned into a wince. The muscles of her legs were tense and sore from being spread as wide as they had the night before. 

"How do you feel?" He asked, noting the pained expression on her face.

"I feel...right." Thessa reached up to stroke his stubbly cheek.

Eric nuzzled her palm, pressing a kiss on the pads of her fingers. "We have to go back now, but we can take our time. I turned off my cell phone so we wouldn't be disturbed, but I know now I must have a full voicemail box." He laughed and got up, pulling her with him. 

Thessa tried to hide her disappointment, but knew that their lovemaking the night before had made them closer...not officially mated, but close. The full moon was next week and there was much to prepare. She could let him have this moment just once. Her thoughts must have manifested themselves into a scowl; Eric chuckled and leaned down to press a reassuring kiss on her lips. 

"Don't worry, love," he smoothed his thumb over her swollen mouth before leaning in for another kiss. "I'll only be away for a few hours. I know you're hurting from last night. Why don't you go take a long bath in the tub in the mansion?" He smiled down at her, reassured by her nod. 

"Sleeping on the ground is hard in human form." Thessa laughed bending down to pick up her clothes and pull them on. She fished a hair tie out of her pocket and pulled her hair into a ponytail. 

Thessa and Eric packed up their belongings and drove away from their spot overlooking the city. The drive back was quiet. Thessa fiddled with the radio and sang along with all the songs she liked. 

"Oh! I love this song." She sat back and sang along.

She keeps Moet et Chandon
In her pretty cabinet
'Let them eat cake' she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
A built in remedy
For Khrushchev and Kennedy
At any time an invitation
You can't decliiine

Eric laughed as Thessa's warm voice cracked slightly on the high note. 

"What? I'm no Freddie Mercury!" Thessa huffed, making Eric shake his head in amusement. She noticed Eric tapping out the rhythm on the wheel. 

She's a Killer Queeen
Gunpowder, gelatine
Dynamite with a laser beam

"Ba,ba,ba-da!" Thessa and Eric blurted out at the same time.

Guaranteed to blow your mind
Any timeeeee

Eric looked over at her to laugh.

"Eric! Oh my God, look out!!" Thessa yelled, covering her eyes as Eric noticed the car speeding through the red light toward them. 

He tried to mash the breaks as hard as he could. It was again one of those moments. If you took out the sound of Thessa's screams as the mini-van smashed the passenger side door, all you would hear was Queen.

~*~

Car crashes as bad as this usually caused some irreparable damage to the body. That is, if the body in question is human. Thessa's door was the only thing irreparably damaged. Then again, Eric wasn't thinking of the door of his truck when the firefighters and paramedics pulled her almost lifeless body from the car. The other car's occupant was going to be fine.

He knew she was still alive. Had she died, he would have suffered from grief so immediate and severe; it may have killed him. Such was the way of the world according to Fate. The ambulance ride to the hospital was hectic. Eric yelled into his phone for Stephan to send a team to take Thessa from the human hospital into the Were Infirmary at his new residence, and another team to alter some of the memories of the paramedics, nurses and doctors that would be working on his mate. There were very few humans the Supernatural world trusted. They would even have to send people in to alter the memories of the description of himself and Thessa to divert any publicity surrounding the crash. When they arrived at the hospital, he gave a false name. 

Like clockwork, the ER team took Thessa and placed her in their own ambulance, driving off, leaving the human paramedics flustered and slightly confused. Eric climbed into Stephan's car as it pulled up moments later. He was on auto pilot, filling Stephan in on the details of everything that happened. All he could hear in his head was the same scream of pain and terror that forced itself out of his soul mate. He didn't even notice that the car hadn't fully stopped yet when he opened the door and all but flew through the doors of the emergency room at the weres' hospital. 

The surgery went as smoothly as it could. 

The problem with Shifters and Were-animals in car crashes is that the body, in an effort to heal itself, heats up to a temperature hot even for the feverishly warm half humans. Another problem was the constant shift from animal to human. Thessa's problem was the week and a half she spent in and out of a fever in the infirmary shut off from Eric as she shifted in and out of her human body to her wolf's body as her pain was so intense that she lost control over her shifting. They had to tie her down. 
 It was the worst thing he'd ever witnessed in his life, even worse than the deaths of his parents and siblings. Eric sat helplessly by her bed as she recovered. The day she finally broke out of the fever, the doctor and nurses warily unstrapped her limp form and refreshed her I.V.

~*~

It was the day after Thessa's fever broke, and Eric was anxious for her to wake up. He leaned down to kiss her cheek, relieved by its coolness. 

"Eric?" She said faintly, and he straightened up. Her eyes were wide open. 

"Oh thank GOD." He shouted. He kissed her again, like a man starving for food and drink.

"Oh, Eric." She cried, her free hand wrapping around his neck to pull him closer. 
 Thessa barely remembered anything of her recovery except for the haze of pain and the pounding of her wolf's heart as she shifted in and out of consciousness. She remembered her mother launching herself at the alpha and her wolf's almost violent reaction to seeing her mate in danger. It was then that her mother realized that this wolf was truly her daughter's mate. She'd started acting nicer to Eric; even so much as to bring him clothes when he refused to leave her bedside. She remembered nothing else really. 
 "I thought we'd lost you." He said, the usual joking gone from his eyes, replaced with concern and love. Always love.

"I know." Thessa licked her lips.
"Ahem." The doctor cleared his throat as he made his way into the room. 

A low growl escaped Eric's throat at the unwanted intrusion. 

"I believe, alpha, you were supposed to let Thessa rest. She went through quite a bit of stress, and needs to --" he was cut off by a louder growl from Eric, which was in turn cut off as Thessa laid a hand on her mate's shoulder, quieting him. 

"It's okay, Dennis, go on." Eric quirked an eyebrow, this man knew his mate on a first name basis. 

Were it not for the fact that he had to wait for another full moon to mate with Thessa, he would gladly find a way to make his name the only male's name she called aloud.
 "Yes, well. Like I was saying...you shouldn't be manhandling her so, mate or not." Dennis smirked. 
 He was about to say something to her when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. 

"Hello? I said don't call me unless it's--oh, shit." His face turned from anger into stark worry. 

"Is she alright? Never mind, get one of the Betas on it." He hung up the phone and slipped it back in his pocket before turning to Thessa. 

"I'm sorry. What was this about manhandling? I'm tired of explaining to people that this is my mate." He growled. 

Dennis swallowed hard.

"Your job is to keep my woman alive. Nobody asked for your advice." He gripped the rail on the bed, finding comfort in the hard plastic pushing back into his fingers. 

"Eric." Thessa covered his hand with hers. 

"Go cool off okay? I'll be here, I promise. Just take a walk and come back for me." She suggested, relieved when he bent down to kiss her softly before leaving. 

She didn't know how she knew, but what she did know was that Eric and Dennis in the same room was not a good thing. Never mind the fact that Eric had stationed bodyguards outside her door who could intervene at any time. 

"He's noble." Dennis said once Eric was out of earshot.

"He's the Alpha, this is his job." Thessa said immediately wary that she was left alone with this strange man.

He's strange, huh? You've known Dennis longer than you've known Eric. Her wolf playfully reminded her.

"You'll need to sit up so I can check the bandages on your ribs." He said softly, suddenly changing tone. Thessa eyed him warily and sat up, wincing at the pain in her side. She looked Dennis over. 

He wasn't ugly. 

He was...pretty.

In a soft, well groomed kind of way. She took in the milky whiteness of his skin. So unlike Eric's sun-kissed face. 

Whoa, where did that come from? She asked herself and her wolf smiled in her head. She looked back at Dennis. "You've become such a beautiful young woman, Thessa." He said as he unwrapped her bandages. His hand brushed against her arm and she fought the urge to recoil, her stomach turning at the gesture. What's wrong with me? She asked herself. What, human? He isn't your mate. It's only natural. 

Her wolf growled impatiently. 

"I'm sorry that you got swooped up by the new Alpha. You'd have been such a sweet catch" He said, mild amusement turning the sides of his mouth upward. 

"I think that's none of your business, Dennis." She looked back at him, her eyes narrowed. 

"Who my mate is or who he would be. You need to show some respect. He's your superior no matter how much my mother bribed you in the past." Thessa watched him closely as the nurse came in and removed her I.V. 

"Well, you're completely healed as of today, so we can release you. I will call your mother to come and get you." he rested a hand on hers.

"She won't need her mother to come get her. The Alpha decided to move her to the Alpha's mansion so that I can keep a close watch on her improvement." A strange man announced walking into the room. 

Thessa was surprised. She had never seen this man before, but by the way he carried himself, she knew that he had to be important. 

"Hello love. We'll bring the wheelchair around and..." 

"Wheelchair?" Thessa looked at the man in disbelief. 

"Am I paralyzed that I need a wheelchair? I can walk." She wiggles her toes for emphasis.

The man chuckled. "Ah, so this is the spitfire Eric was telling me about. Yes, we do need to get you a wheelchair. You're not fully healed yet and as much as Eric is my best friend, my head would be on a platter by dinnertime if I didn't carry you around on a silk pillow." 

"He'll get over it. And who are you by the way?" She asked.

"Where are my manners? Stephan at your service, Madame Alpha." He bowed low, and Thessa couldn't help but laugh out loud, wincing when the dull ache in her side got a little worse.

"He's a jerk, but I love him like a brother." Stephan shook his head and motioned for the guards to bring in the wheelchair. 

"This is ridiculous. I can't believe he's putting me in a wheelchair." Thessa grumbled as the nurse came back to help her get dressed before Stephan picked her up and set her gently in the wheelchair. 

"Where is Eric?" She asked as they rolled through the front door toward the black SUV waiting in the front. 

"He's in the car. I banished him there when he started growling about ripping some poor Doctor's head off." Stephan shook his head and bit back a smile as his best friend leapt out of the van and picked up his mate, totally ignoring Stephan as he gingerly placed her in the car and buckled her seatbelt. 

It's always a funny thing to see your friends in love. For Stephan, Eric in love was a welcome relief. Eric has been brooding since his birthday, forever grumbling about being old and having no mate that he didn't even notice the flocks of women who had made a permanent home outside the doors of his quarters in the halls of Galloway Manor: his old pack. When he finally found Thessa, Stephan was happy. After seeing the loving way that they shared looks and touches the two shared, Stephan felt a foreign longing. He climbed into the van, sandwiching Thessa between himself and Eric.

"Oh, thanks by the way Stephan." Thessa smiled. 

Eric growled. 

"Oh come off it Eric!" Thessa growled back. 

"I'm perfectly fine. See?" She wrapped her arms around his neck. 

"If you don't believe me you can conduct your own...examination when we get back. Okay?" She smiled as she effectively distracted him. 

She tilted her head back and he met her halfway, cupping the sides of her face to give her a deep, searing kiss. His tongue licked along hers desperately taking what she gave him there in the backseat of the car. It hardly mattered that Stephan was there as Eric cupped Thessa's mound through her leggings. She could hardly keep her hands off him either. Her fingers clutched his silky hair, her sore ribs momentarily forgotten as his free hand cupped her head to join them more deeply. 

"Okay, love birds, we're here." Stephan laughed. 

The light filtering through the open passenger door was enough to snap the lovers out of their bubble. Thessa felt herself grow warm with embarrassment. She accepted Stephan's outstretched hand and allowed herself to be lowered into the wheelchair. 

"I still can't believe I have to be in this wheelchair." She grumbled holding her overnight bag on her lap as Eric wheeled her up to the front of the mansion.

"Where's my mother?" Thessa asked, as Eric lifted her out of the wheelchair and marched into the house. 

"She's helping to prepare your room. She should be up there I think. You can see her then." He smiled down at her. 

"De'ja vu." She laughed wrapping her arms around his neck as he climbed the flight of stairs to his personal chambers. 

"Oh right. I had to save you from drowning in a lake when we met right." He joked stopping at the top of the stairs to press a kiss on her forehead. 

He opened the door and Thessa's mother stood up from the bed, worry creasing lines in her otherwise youthful face. Eric saw where Thessa got her good looks. The older woman was an older version of his mate. They had the same high cheekbones and wide, expressive eyes. Even the stubborn tilt of Thessa's chin was there. Both seemed to have fiercely protective tendencies. No wonder they argued so often. They were the same person in two bodies. 

He didn't miss the accusing glare Thessa's mother shot him when he opened the door and set Thessa down on the bed. He didn't argue. He felt guilty for placing her child in danger. No amount of forgiveness could change the fact that he wasn't paying attention to the road. He was too busy enjoying the moment with his mate that he forgot that he is supposed to be her protector as well as her companion. In that moment, he vowed to never let anything regarding her safety get past him.

"Thessa, baby, are you okay?" She worried, sitting down on the edge of the bed, stroking Thessa's wild hair away from her face. 

"I'm fine mama, just fine." 

The two women shared a look and Eric knew they'd started speaking telepathically. He left to go back downstairs when he walked right into Nyoko. 

"Oh, Alpha, sir I didn't see you there." She bowed her head respectively. 

"She's in there with her mother. Want me to tell her you're here?" 

"Nah. It's okay; I just came to bring her journal and some other personal stuff for her. You can give it to her for me..." She fidgeted.

"Are you sure? You're awfully jumpy." He laughed, taking the duffel bag from his mate's sister. 

"It's girl stuff, Eric, you wouldn't understand." 

"Oh my god, you found your mate, haven't you?" He laughed, leaning closer, as if being able to see her face would confirm his suspicions. 

"Oh my god, can you shut up?!" She pushed his shoulder as he laughed at her. 

"This is rich. Who's the lucky man?" He smiled. 

"I don't know yet. I just know that he's here." She confided. 

"Well, that's good for you. Actually, I was going downstairs, so you can probably go give this to Thess yourself. I'm going to be back soon."

"Yeah. Look, I'm really sorry about what happened. I know you're still trying to come to terms with the fact that we almost lost her. I still have nightmares about you calling the house from the hospital." She shivered. 

"It's fine. She's here now. We're speeding up the mating ceremony actually, so that should be happening in a few days...full moon or not. You know? I can't deal with not being tied to her anymore." He cleared his throat as a servant shuffled past carrying some towels. 

"Hey! You! What are you doing up here? I gave specific orders that only the Omegas I chose and my mate's family was allowed up here. 

The Omega turned slightly. "Sorry." He muttered nervously before hurrying down the steps


"What was that about?" Thessa said from the doorway of the room. 

"I have no idea." Nyoko frowned. The man looked familiar, but she couldn't place his face. 

"I brought all your crap." She said feigning annoyance. Nevertheless, she hooked her arm through Thessa's and turned to walk back into the bedroom. 

"So tell me about your picnic. You never told me all the juicy details." Eric heard her say from behind the door. 

He jogged down the main stairs to find Stephan.

~*~

Once Eric and Stephan had finally finished planning the hurried mating ceremony, it was way past dinner. Eric picked up the empty coffee cups from his large desk and placed them on a tray to leave for an Omega to pick up. 




Fated Hearts Ch. 05



"I'm happy for you bro. I know how long you've been looking for her." Stephan said once they'd exited the study. 

"Yeah she's something else. I love her so much Stephan." Eric smiled. 

"I'm jealous." Stephan laughed, carefully observing his friend. "You get this look in your eye when you see her or you start talking about her. You look like when we were teenagers...before your parents..." He trailed off. 

"Yeah, well. Hey, do you want to come meet her formally? She's probably still up with her sister Nyoko still. They're attached at the hip I swear." Eric laughed. 

"They're both trouble, but that Nyoko. She called me wolf-boy." 

"She called you WHAT?" Stephan stopped halfway up the stairs and bent over with laughter.

"Yeah, I know." Eric grumbled, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut. 

He waited for Stephan to walk up the stairs. His friend was still chuckling when they got to the bedroom door. 

"So who's in there?" Stephan asked once they'd opened the door to find the bed empty. They heard laughter in the sitting room area and turned towards that door. 

"Thess and Nyoko I think. Her mother had to go to the clinic. She's a doctor there too. Apparently she only does security stuff part time." He shrugged. 

They walked into the sitting room to find the girls sprawled out on the fancy rug, the scents of nail polish and acetone hit their sensitive noses as they entered the room. 

"Shit." Nyoko grumbled as she knocked a bottle of bright yellow polish onto the carpet. This sent Thessa into a fresh fit of giggles. 

"Oh you think that's funny huh?" She picked up a throw pillow from the chaise behind her. 

"Yes..." Thessa inched back to grab a pillow of her own. 

"Ahem." Eric cleared his throat. And both women turned to look at him, pillows at the ready. 

"As much as I like where this is going, we have to get an omega to come clean up the nail polish on that rug." He said.

"Aw, dad, do we have to?" Nyoko joked pushing herself to her feet. 

"Oh Nyo, stop teasing." Thessa shook her head. "He doesn't know what fun is. It's not his fault." She turned mischievous eyes toward Eric and Stephan. 

"Oh, where are my manners. Stephan, meet Nyoko. Nyoko meet Stephan. He's Eric's best friend." Thessa introduced, sliding over to accommodate Eric on the couch behind her.

"Hi." Nyoko said shyly.

"Hey." Stephan swallowed.

"Well, Eric, I'm suddenly hungry...can we go downstairs?" She looked from Stephan and Nyoko to Eric insistently.

"Oh, right. Yeah. We'll be back." Eric said.

"What was that about?" He asked when they left the room. 

"Eric, please tell me you're smarter than that? Come on, baby use that Alpha brain of yours." She joked, tapping a fingertip on his forehead. 

"You know I can't think when you're standing in front of me wearing almost nothing." He grumbled. 

Thessa blushed. 

"I'll think about it later." He picked her up and she squealed, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

"Where are we going Eric?" She whispered, pressing kissed to his neck and jaw.

"Somewhere quiet." 

She shivered at that, licking her lips in anticipation as he swung open the door to one of the guest rooms down the hall from the Alpha suite. 

He opened the door with one hand and slammed it shut with his foot. The bright light coming from the crystal chandelier behind them illuminated the look on his face. He had those golden eyes again, and Thessa moaned and reached for the buttons on his shirt as he reached for the hem of hers. 

She fumbled with his buttons, her hands shaking with need. She let out a sound of frustration before taking both sides and ripping it apart. 

Eric growled, yanking the sleeves down before pulling her the pale yellow sleep shirt off and tossing it behind him. Her large, firm breasts strained her bra, her little nipples poking perfect circles in the plain fabric. 

"I missed this." He mumbled against her lips as he captured them for another steamy kiss. 

As his fingers idly played with her nipples Thessa thought she would come undone right there. Her hands reached for the button and zip on his jeans. She reached for the throbbing erection she knew was there, and both sighed softly against when her fingers made contact with the smooth, hot skin of his shaft. She broke the kiss and dropped to her knees in front of him. Both watched intently as she lovingly stroked him. Eric's eyes squeezed shut when her mouth closed over his head. He let out a hiss of relief. Blindly threaded his fingers through her hair, pulling her closer, the desire to dominate what was his overwhelming. 

Thessa moaned even as his hips pumped into her mouth, the fingers of one hand wrapped tightly around his shaft to keep him from going too deep. Her other hand slipped over her stomach to her own wet heat, dancing over her engorged clit. She looked up at Eric. As if sensing her gaze on his face, he looked down at her and she shivered instinctively at the heated predatory look in his wolf's eyes. 

"Get up." He growled. His voice was a strange baritone, his wolf pushing past his control.

Thessa knew what to do. 

She stood up slowly and bolted as soon as he reached for her. With a howl, Eric took off after her. They chased each other all over the large bedroom, the chase coming to a stop when he grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the edge of the bed, gripping her thighs hard, claws pressing four points into the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. She was careful not to expose her neck too much, but whimpered submissively as she glimpsed the straining cock jutting from between her mate's thighs. She met his frenzied gaze, knowing her eyes were just as wild as his. 

"Eric." The word was said in a low sexy voice, on a broken moan that snapped his control. 

Thessa screamed as Eric shoved his thick cock into her, going way deeper than was comfortable, but she begged for more. 

"Is that all you've got?" she cried, arching her back, hips tilted to receive what he forced on her. 

She sat up and clutched at his neck. Eric stood, appreciating the way Thessa's thighs clenched in anticipation. He walked over to the wall nearest to the bed. 

"Is this what you want Thessa? You want me to fuck you on the wall?" He growled, pulling her legs up to his shoulders before relentlessly slamming into her. Her yells of encouragement were enough to make him wild enough that he almost dropped her. Their lovemaking was so violent, and desperate that they came at the same time, absorbing each other's yells and screams of release as both sought the other's mouth. 

Later, as the both came down from their electrifying orgasms, Eric lovingly laid Thessa on the bed and collapsed next to her. 

"I hope it's always like that." She whispered, her voice tired from screaming.

"They're mates aren't they?" Eric said suddenly sitting up and looking down at the face of his smiling mate. 

"It took you long enough to figure out." She laughed.



Fated Hearts Ch. 06



I'm soooooooo sorry for the long wait!!! Ahh!! Lol. Anyway. I'd like to thank my editor LaRascasse for making sure this made sense. I know the last chapter's scene with Dennis was a bit off. I know. I wrote it before I wrote this chapter and I didn't add enough around it (oops). Anyway...enough of my rambling, here's Fated Hearts Chapter 6!!! Enjoy, and keep that feedback coming! I love it soo much! Chapter 7 is being written as we speak!

-Gia



Thessa and Eric looked at each other for a moment before Eric sat up and reached for his jeans. "I have to go find them." 

Thessa laughed and sat up. The sheets clung to her breasts where she held them to herself. "Leave them alone Eric. Meddling isn't nice." 

Eric licked his lips in anticipation. "But I have to--" 

"No, you don't. Don't worry about what's going on over there Eric. I just got home from the hospital. I need you." She said wearily, allowing her fingers to brush over the back of his hand. 

The touch awakened his desire for her again. 

"Thessa, he can't sense her." Eric explained, frowning. "I could sense you immediately when you were in a crowd of people. It doesn't feel right." 

"Can he? Did he say that to you?" She kept her relaxed pose, but Eric could see the wheels turning in her head. He smiled to himself and thanked god that his mate was so intelligent. 

"Yeah he told me on the way back from when we were in my study." Eric frowned harder.

Thessa bit back her smile. Eric looked into things more than he should. When his Alpha kicked in, he made everything his business. 

Alpha my ass. Thessa's wolf snorted. He just wants an excuse to be nosy. 

This time she laughed and felt the same reaction from the presence of her animal. It seemed as though the accident made both wolf and woman more aware of one another. The fear of losing each other to death had somehow fused their minds together. Thessa was no longer afraid of what she would become, but knew her wolf, like her, wasn't unnecessarily violent like others she had the misfortune of meeting in her very short life.

She crooked a finger at him. "Come back to bed. We can discuss this tomorrow. You're too young for wrinkles." She let the sheet fall into her lap and was rewarded with Eric's growl. 

He crawled on top of her and she giggled, pushing him away when he nipped playfully at her nose. He came at her again, this time catching her off guard when he caught her wrists and held them over her head. Thessa's round eyes grew impossibly rounder as she realized what he was about to do. She bucked under him, trying to throw him off. She was smaller than him, but still strong, and one of her hands got free more than once as she tried to escape his relentless tickling.

Thessa's thrashing caused a light sheen of sweat to cover her skin, making her deep brown skin glisten in the light. She watched in slow motion as Eric's face came down, his lips so close that she could feel his warm breath caressing them. 

"You're so beautiful." He brushed his lips over hers, teasing the seam of her mouth with his tongue.

He held her gaze as she parted her lips for him, and tightened his hold on her wrist as he pulled the sheet down over her breasts, the silky fabric made her shiver with anticipation. He rewarded her with a kiss to her neck...down her shoulder. His fingertips swirled lazily around her nipple.

"Eric..." She groaned, arching her back to get him to do something else, anything else. "You're driving me nuts. Please." She sighed closing her eyes. 

"Look at me." He pulled the nub taut between his thumb and forefinger.

She gasped and reveled in the shiver that rippled from every extremity to that one aching point in her body. "Please." 

"Please, what?" He growled, letting go of her wrists to stroke the other nipple to hardness.

"Lick them, suck on them, anything. Please!" She cried desperately, sorry she had ever teased him before.

He obliged her, and with a broken moan, she wound her fingers through his hair, holding him to her...as if he planned on moving anytime soon. It amazed him how hard it made him to see her react this way. He wasn't even in her yet. Speaking of which...

Eric stroked a hand over her abdomen and lightly feathered one finger over her dripping pussy. He smiled against her breast as another shiver tore through her. He flicked her clit playfully and was rewarded with a moan of encouragement. She seemed to get even wetter as he jerked her legs closer to him, the warmth of her slit radiating over his impossibly hard cock. 

"What do you want me to do?" He searched her pleasure glazed eyes as he rocked his hips forward, the head of his penis nudging her opening. 

"Fuck me." She begged, and he almost came right then.

"Again. Tell me again." He said through tightly clenched teeth, afraid that relaxing would make him lose control. 

Thessa locked her ankles around his waist, her small hands pulling him as close to her face as she could bring him. 

"I said." She whispered, her voice shaking. She licked her lips once. Twice. 

Eric swallowed, suddenly aware of his legs shaking with anticipation. 

"Fuck...ME." Her fingers dropped to his forearms as he pushed into her with a breathtaking thrust.

"Eric!" She screamed, tilting her hips to take him deeper. 

"Again! Say it again!" He growled, pulling back to thrust deeper.

"Oh god." Her eyes rolled. "So deep. Please! Fuck me, Eric!" She begged, accepting his overpowering thrusts as her orgasm came so suddenly and potently she saw spots. 

Eric smiled as she tensed, forcing her to ride the wave of her orgasm into another one. She pushed at his chest, her eyes begging him to go on even as her body begged him to stop. He slowed down, feeling the telltale tightening in his balls as he shot his seed deep into her womb. 

"I love you." Thessa whispered, her breath coming in small gasps. Her legs fell from around his waist as he rolled onto his side, turning her so they faced each other.

He pressed her hand over his heart, allowing her to feel the erratic thumping in his chest he was sure matched her own.

"I love you." He whispered as she fell asleep.

~*~

"Did you find anything out Anton?" She asked, tapping long red nails on the table. 

"Yes, Mistress." He bowed low.

"Not yet, fool. I'm not your Madame Alpha yet. That idiot Eric crossed the wrong one this time." She stood

"WHO the FUCK does he think he is turning me down...Well this time the joke will be on that little black shifter bitch." Anton flinched as she grabbed him by the front of his coat. 

"I...I don't know." He stammered, shaking like a leaf.

"You pathetic Omega." She snarled in his face, much to his delight. Nothing was more exciting and appealing than the madness of his mistress. 

"I want him. And I had him. It was so close. So FUCKING close I could taste the power." She yelled.

"What did you find out?" She dropped a shaking Anton on the ground before coolly resuming her seat. Black stiletto clad feet propped themselves on the desk as she waited for the reply. 

"The...the mating ceremony. It's in two days." 

"Damn. I won't have enough time then...I'll figure something out." She took her feet down from the desk.

~*~

Thessa's morning found her in the huge fluffy bed she and Eric fell asleep in. A strange feeling of contentment settled over her and she stretched, enjoying the feel of the soft, satiny sheets surrounding her. A glance at the other side of the bed confirmed that Eric had gotten up a while ago. She slid out of the comfort of the warm sheets and she stretched again, rubbing the sore muscles of her neck. She smiled as she remembered falling asleep with her head on Eric's chest.

Her wolf was content for now. 

She made her way down the hall to the room she was in originally. She saw it when Eric left her there with her mother, but she was too distracted by her mother's presence to notice anything about the room itself. Thessa supposed that it was enough. It was much too girly. She laughed when she thought of Eric picking out the loud and fussy colored throw pillows on the bed. The walls were a bold teal color. 

"You don't like it." She heard behind her. 

"You know me. Loud isn't really my thing." She turned to look at her mother with a wide grin on her face. 

"He's trying hard." Jolena laughed, keeping her position by the door. 

"You know, I knew you'd be great. From the moment I knew you were the only one that survived." She forced back tears as she remembered.

"Mom?" Thessa asked nervously. 

"I never really told you the story...and I mean now would be the best time to do that. You're starting a new journey, Thessa; your mating ceremony is tomorrow. You're going to be a woman." She smiled at her youngest who was so much like her in temperament and physical looks.

"Anyway come." Jolena sat on the bed and patted the space next to her. 

As she sat down, Thessa couldn't help but remember the times when she was a little girl and her mother would tell her a story. She would eagerly rest her head on her mother's lap and listen to Jolena's soothing voice as her mother stroked her hair and told her tales of their race's history fact or fiction. It was with great nostalgia then that she laid her head on her mother's lap, to listen to the story of circumstances surrounding her birth. 

Jolena smiled and started stroking Thessa's hair for a while. The silence was relaxing, and they stayed that way for a while before Jolena began to speak: 

It was a terrible day. Nothing was going right. I was baking a few pies to send to one of the human churches near the hospital for their bake sale and one of your older brothers switched out the sugar in the jar for salt. It started snowing when I finally got everything right and packed up. She stopped at that point, and Thessa looked up to find Jolena staring out the window blankly. She nuzzled her mother's hand to get her attention. Jolena looked down at her, snapping out of her reverie before continuing.

Your father didn't want me to go...he said it was too bad outside and that he would send someone else to deliver the pies. Well it was more along the lines of "Damnnit woman...you're going to be the death of me if you go out there in that storm just for some damn pie." You know how stubborn I am: I definitely insisted on going. And we reached the agreement that he would come with me to make sure something god-awful didn't happen like it usually does. 

So we set out, and got into the car. We made it about half way before the engine stalled and we slid a couple feet off the road on some ice. I was so scared when the seatbelt locked and I'd hit my belly on the dashboard. After that it just seemed to get worse. I was panicking, your father was trying to remember if there were any houses nearby with a telephone. He wanted to carry me, but he knew he would get further faster if he went alone...I was terrified by then because I'd started feeling sharp cramps...it was too soon. You all couldn't come out for another three weeks or so because you weren't like the human babies I'd delivered. You were two things: Were and Shifter. It's a lot more complicated than that, but the general point is that you needed to stay in there as long as you could to have better chances of surviving birth. But I knew you were going to be born right there in the middle of the snow and your father would have to deliver you. It was so painful and I had to shift and lie down and tell your father what to do telepathically. He was as scared as I was. 

When you were all out, all but two of you were dead. I was even more scared because you were in a wolf form and the other cub was in hybrid form. I knew then he wouldn't survive because he barely had any fur and he was so small. Thessa felt the tear drop onto the back of her hand before she noticed that she was actually crying. She wiped her nose. She knew the way the story ended. Her father buried the other pups and bundled her up in his sweater before shifting and taking off to find some help. Fearing the worst, Julius ran in the direction of home.

"You're my baby girl, you know that." She smoothed Thessa's hair back affectionately. "Letting you go isn't going to be easy." She sighed. 

"Mom, you aren't letting me go, I'll still be here." Thessa reassured, clasping hands with her mother. "I'll be here for you and daddy and my brothers and sisters, and Nyo, and—" Jolena cut her off, squeezing her hand. 

"No. You'll have your own life and responsibilities as the Madame Alpha, and I won't be able to tell you what to do. I know it seems like I've been only bossy..." 

"And overbearing..." Thessa interjected. At her mother's look she bowed her head sheepishly "sometimes." 

"But it's because I love you. I was so worried that you wouldn't find someone. And then when you found Eric...I didn't know what to think. I was hoping your mate would be someone like Dennis or Russ, someone I knew well, you know?" She smoothed her hand over Thessa's reassuringly.

"But I was so upset that it wasn't someone I could relate to that I didn't see...or maybe I didn't want to see how responsible Eric was. I see how he looks at you: he looks at you like you're his whole life. Your father looks at me that way. I came to the conclusion that I don't have the right to tell you who to mate with. You're an adult now. You've gotta figure it out." Jolena got up and pressed a kiss on Thessa's cheek. 

"Come on. Give me a hug." She smiled as Thessa rushed into her arms. The tears that wet her shirt seeped under the material and she kissed the top of her daughter's head once more before she pulled away. 

"Mama, you don't know how much this means to me. You know that you don't have to approve as long as the majority of the pack approves, but I appreciate that you're accepting Eric into our family as your son." Both women smiled at each other. Thessa started at the faint noise of someone moving around in the sitting room. 

"Uh, mom can you do me a favor? I made a mess in the living room and I just need you to call one of the Omegas to come up here and clean it." She said loudly, hoping to divert anyone that may be coming out into the bedroom. 

"Thessa, what are you..." Jolena got out before she found herself getting pushed out of the room, the door shutting in her face.

"Teenagers..." 

Thessa breathed a sigh of relief and turned to find Stephan standing in the doorway of the sitting room. She opened her mouth to tell him off when her gaze dropped lower. Embarrassed she turned around and squeezed her eyes shut. "Good God, can't you find clothes before you run around in the nude in my rooms, Stephan?" The question had none of its intended bite to it, and Thessa called for Eric as soon as she got the image of her sister's naked mate out of her mind. 

"You act like you aren't a wolf." He taunted.

"Not all wolves are uncivilized." She muttered under her breath, grabbing the bright orange sheet on the bed and throwing it to him. 

"What happened?" Thessa heard Nyoko murmur sleepily from behind her. 

"What do you mean 'What happened'?" Thessa spat angrily. "This is my room! I don't understand why you couldn't find somewhere else to collapse once you were done." She ignored Nyoko's defiant eye roll. 

"Thessa relax, you act like you aren't a wolf." Nyoko responded, her voice full of exasperation for her sister's strange behavior. 

"That's what I said!" Stephan replied in the same tone. 

Thessa heaved a sigh of surrender and headed to the door just as Eric barreled through, almost knocking her over. 

"Watch it!" She yelled and stormed past, down the stairs. 

"What did you do?" He turned on Stephan and Nyoko.

"Nothing!" They both responded at the same time. 

" I came out here because I heard people and I forgot to put clothes on and she freaked out on us." Stephan explained. 

"She's such a damn prude." Nyoko rolled her eyes. 

"Cool it." Eric warned.

"Hey. Okay. I'll go apologize." Stephan stood in front of his mate, shielding her from Eric. 

"Put on some clothes first. You don't want to upset her royal highness." Nyoko growled from behind him. 

"Nyoko..." Eric said, taking half a step forward.

"Eric..." Stephan put out a hand up to stop his friend from attacking.

"Tell her to watch how she fucking talks about my woman and I wouldn't have to attack her." 

"Hey! Don't use that kind of language here!" Everyone turned to look at Jolena.

"Nyoko you should know better. You know how your sister is around strange naked men." Nyoko huffed and walked back into the living room to get her clothes.

"And you! I already gave my blessing for you to mate with my little girl, don't think that means you get to attack another one of my cubs." She poked a finger at Eric's chest. 

"And you. I don't know who you are, but this is about to get ugly fast if SOMEONE doesn't go apologize or find out where the hell she is." Jolena yelled, her eyes burning a furious gold. 

"I'll go." Eric volunteered with a grin. Jolena had given her blessing. He watched with sick anticipation as Jolena noticed that both Stephan and Nyoko were naked. A laugh rumbled in his chest as the older woman started yelling again behind the closed bedroom door. He jogged down the stairs and onto the small porch in front of the house. In a flash, his clothes were in a neat pile and he shifted to extend his sensory network. An image flashed into his brain of Thessa by the lake. He smiled to himself and took off at a trot toward the spot that held so many memories for the couple. 

~*~

Thessa sat by the water, allowing herself to calm down. She remembered the nightmares she had before of this very spot and smiled at the irony that the place that made her afraid was the same place she would meet the man the universe chose for her. She heard movement behind her and stood up. 

"Okay Eric, come out now. I'm sorry I yelled at you." She laughed, waiting for the familiar wolf to come out from behind the bushes. 

When he didn't come out, she laughed even louder. "Oh, so we're playing that game again." She pulled the sleep shirt over her head.

The moment the shirt got caught at her ears was when the panic set in. This...whatever it was, wasn't Eric. As she opened her mouth to scream, she felt something hit into her. With a splash she toppled into the water, the fabric over her nose soaking to cut off her breathing. Panicked, she fought against the hands reaching for her legs. With a yell, she forced herself to shift, allowing gills to form and filter the water for the precious oxygen her lungs needed. She swam deeper into the water, relief and adrenaline giving her the strength to swim as deep as she could. 

She sensed more than heard the frustrated sounds of her attacker and she poked her wet head briefly above the water, but saw no one. She was still scared and stayed close to the surface of the water until she heard a familiar howl followed by a scream of pain and retreated into the water once more. 

~*~

Eric heard Thessa's desperate screams for help followed by a splash and immediately thought the worst. As he entered a clearing, he saw the same Omega from the other day crouched by the edge of the pond where Thessa's sleep shirt laid soaked and half in the water. With a howl of anger, he shifted and came for the man. What he didn't expect was the trap that he stepped into shackle onto his ankle. The pain made him yelp as his back leg brushed against the icy metal. He ignored the man's nervous smile and focused on calling out to his mate. 

"No, no. Let me. I need both of you. We can't go scaring her off right?" He pulled a syringe and ampoule from a small bag dropped on the grass next to him. 





Fated Hearts Ch. 06



"This will only hurt a bit." He smiled as he injected Eric with the tranquilizer. 

Thessa! He screamed as his vision dimmed to black.



Fated Hearts Ch. 07



So. This chapter was fun to write in a morbit sort of way...but I hope you enjoy it. My editor is awesome, so I'm glad for that. And I'm warning you now that this gets a lot uglier before it gets better (if it gets better). Don't despair. Just keep reading and leaving comments. I would love it very very very much to see what you guys think of Fated Hearts and Thessa and Eric. Even if it looks similar to the last comment....comment anyway!!! Enjoy!

~Gia

Thessa heard Eric cry out in pain. She frantically searched for the faint telepathic connection between them and panicked as she drew blanks. It was as if...

He's alive, human. Our mate is hurt, but alive. Her wolf reassured frantically. At the same time, Thessa's fear amplified as she felt another presence in her head. It hurt, almost as if the connection between them was being forced open. She pushed herself to the surface with a scream as the high pitched frequencies assaulted her sensitive ears. A trickle of blood dripped from her nose as she clawed at the slick bank of the pond, gills vanishing as she shifted back to her human form. She gasped for air as the waves seemed to overpower her, screaming in terror as she felt the jab of the needle in the side of her neck.

"Mistress will be very proud." Anton smiled to himself, ceasing the paralyzing incantation.

He jogged over to the tarp he laid nearby to help him drag his heavy captives away. Once he got Thessa onto it, he dragged her to the unmarked van he had hidden near the path near the lake. He heaved her into the back, pushing her in to make enough room for the even bigger wolf. Eric was much too heavy for him to carry on just the tarp, so he looked around before shifting into his wiry gray wolf, using his strong jaws to pull the wolf to the back of the van. With a grunt, he deposited the Alpha next to his mate and slammed the door shut. A sense of pride washed over him as he climbed into the driver's seat, adjusted the rearview mirror and pushed in a CD. He hummed along as he took one of the back roads out of the pack land toward the other side of town.

~*~

When Thessa woke up, the first thing she smelled was the damp musty scent of an underground room. She opened her eyes and her vision was filled with blackness. At first she feared that she was blind, but then realized, after her initial panic, that the strip of black cloth over her eyes was the source. She heard her own shallow breathing and felt the cold, dead weight of the shackle circling her bare ankle. Realizing that her hands were indeed free, she reached up to snatch the blindfold off, then sucked in a sharp breath and wished she'd left it on.

Sweet Jesus, we're in a torture chamber. She looked at the various whips and devices littering the dim room, choking back the rise of bile in her throat. For once, she wished her vision wasn't so superb.

She looked around, relieved when she saw that Eric was on the other side of the room. She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut; searching again for the telepathic connection she shared with Eric. She almost cried out in relief when she felt it there. It was weak, but still there. Thessa tried reaching out to him, but was met with silence. When that didn't work, she took a deep breath and tried to shift. She almost buckled when her head started pounding, as if someone was beating on it like a drum. With a sigh, she lay her head back on the wall, forcing herself to calm down. There would be no way she could get herself and Eric out of this mess if at the most conscious one between them was in hysterics. When she opened her eyes again and caught sight of the open Iron Maiden. With a faint cry, she hugged her legs into her chest and sobbed quietly to herself.

It's not supposed to go like this. Where's my happily ever after? She sniffed. Her wolf stayed quiet. The animal had reacted badly to the tranquilizer. Thessa decided that there must have been something else in the shot to suppress her shifting abilities. The grim realization almost dimmed her hope for survival.

Thessa?

Eric?

Wake up, please! She begged, crawling forward on her hands and knees. The rough cement floor scratched her knees and palms. She felt him stir in her mind and kept moving until she ran out of chain. She was almost at his hand. She lay on her belly, stretching over his lap as far as she could reach. She jumped when the chain on his wrist jingled faintly as he lightly brushed her hand with his fingers.

I'm awake, but I don't know who is watching. I need you to pretend like you didn't get a response. He ordered. The tranquilizer wasn't enough to keep me out the whole ride over. I was awake by the time he took us out of the van. But something is wrong. I'm extremely disoriented. I just need to find a way to contact Stephen or one of the other advisors. Something like this was deliberate. It was planned. Thessa could sense his anger almost as if it was a visible shroud around him.  

What about the pain in my head? Thessa asked, dropping her head onto Eric's leg. Tears seeped from the corner of her eyes as she remembered the searing intensity of the noise, loud enough to drive her insane.

I don't know...I'm thinking some kind of spell. Do you know any witches? Eric kept his eyes closed, the effort of communicating telepathically was taking a toll on him. He felt himself drift off and flexed his fingers in an attempt to keep himself awake.

As Thessa was getting ready to respond, the only door in the room squeaked open, the heavy wood protesting against its hinges.

"Oh well hello, lovely. Look who's awake." A tall statuesque woman walked through the door, followed by an equally tall, thin man.

Thessa narrowed her eyes at them, only partly feigning the anger she wanted them to feel. She took the time to take in every detail of the woman's face, storing it away for future reference. The woman was beautiful, but her beauty was flawed by the cold, expressionless glint in her eyes. She wore a ridiculously ornate gold and red Venetian mask, the light hit it and the designs made her face look horribly scarred and burned. Thessa forced her heart to slow down. She focused on the woman's voice, allowed her heart to slow down to match each ominous click of stiletto on concrete.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to my humble home." The maniacal laugh that erupted from her ruby red lips was filled with hatred and scorn.

Thessa shivered. This whole setup was bizarre, their...hostess was obviously mad. She clutched Eric's wrist for protection.

"Oh, don't worry about him. We made sure he wouldn't wake up anytime too soon. Eh, give it a couple hours." She shrugged off the robe she was wearing. Her body was as beautiful and flawless as a Greek statue.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She sighed, running her fingers over her perfect olive skin.

"This is what he likes, you know? He told me I wasn't good enough, but now I am. It only cost...well, my mind. He drives me crazy...so fucking crazy." She shook her raven hair wildly over her shoulders.

"We'll have to thank...well, don't worry about who we have to thank for this, let's have a look at our man there hmm?" She leaned down between Eric and Thessa.

"This just won't do...Anton."

"Yes Mistress?" Thessa's eyes widened as she noticed the omega that was sneaking around when she was eavesdropping on Nyoko and Eric's conversation previously.

"It's you!" She growled, getting ready to stand.

"Yes it is." He smiled sickly, holding up another syringe. He was beautiful too. They both looked so unnaturally wonderful.

He and the woman had an equally cold voice.

"Oh you didn't like my spell, huh? Want me to say it again?" He opened his mouth and Thessa cringed.

"Enough. Just hold her back. I need to do something." The woman's lips tilted into what would have been a smile...if her canines weren't extended and sharpened into points as steep as her heels.

Thessa yelped as the chain attached to her ankle was yanked back. She clawed at the floor, biting back the scream as she saw the faint trails her blood left as she was dragged over the unyielding floor by her equally unyielding captor. She tried to reach Eric and found the connection was closed again. She thought at first it was to keep up the farce that he was weak and defenseless. She noticed however, that his muscles were tense with nervousness.

"Who are you?" Thessa asked, fighting the urge to lunge at the woman as she caresses the side of Eric's face lovingly.

"Ugh. Did I ask you to speak? Anton, drug her please? Only a little though, I want her to watch." She waved her hand at Thessa dismissively.

"No! Stop! I'll be quiet." Thessa begged, whimpering to show her submission. She felt her wolf surge awake with anger within her and pleaded with the animal to hold on just a moment longer.

I know what I'm doing, wolf. She said softly.

I don't usually beg, human. Do NOT let that woman touch our mate. It will not end well for her if she does more than what she is doing. Thessa's wolf growled. She could feel the animal pushing forward and pushed it back.

She watched the woman straddle Eric's lap and coiled what was left of her chain around her wrist. Her hand pressed against the wall and noticed that one of the screws holding the chain in place was loose. She almost wept for joy as it unscrewed easily. Her wolf howled in relief as she finally allowed it to push forward enough to lend Thessa some of its superhuman strength. She took a few deep breaths, working up the courage to yank the whole thing out of the wall.

The woman growled in frustration. "Anton!!! Why isn't he hard yet? The witch said...she said it should have worked!!" She whined frantically grinding herself on Eric's lap.

Thessa took a final deep breath and growled in pain as she hooked the claws of one hand into the rings of the chain and pulled. The groan of metal as it was forced from the wall echoed in the room. With a howl she stood and swung her arm, catching Anton off guard as she punched him squarely in the face with the chain. His face was a mask of shock and fear: a spark of humanity in his otherwise empty grey eyes before he fell unconsciously. Satisfied that he was out for the moment, she advanced on the woman now scrambling to her robe. She held up a scrap of paper and started yelling the words. Another howl escaped her as the same wail penetrated her skull.

No! She ground her teeth together, forcing herself to push forward. She had only precious minutes left before the spell would render her wolf helpless and knock her out. She took one final deep breath and swung the chain, whipping her wrist so that the end caught in the woman's leg and pulled.

The scratches weren't deep, but the scars they left would be infected given how rusty the screws were. It had the desired effect. The noise in Thessa's head shut off as the monster screamed. She ignored the instinct to flee when her captor's eyes burned as gold as the detail on her mask. The picture was frightening; claws and fangs were elongated as she charged.

It was easy to catch her off guard, Thessa almost laughed as her tormenter lunged, carelessly leaving herself open to the oncoming blow to her hip. She cried out, the sound was frenzied, and she used the energy charging the room to shift and go straight for the pulse beating erratically at the side of the other woman's neck. With a satisfied growl, she severed the jugular and tugging to rip through the rest of her throat. She crouched over her victim, dark red blood turning her dark brown fur black. She was exhausted with the effort it took to control here wolf. She was still wounded. The scratches on her side from the woman's frantic attempt to hold onto something as she died burned as her sweat trickled into them.

She looked around and saw the glimmer of a key on the ground near the discarded robe. Thessa picked up the key and the paper with the incantation and pulled on the silky material. Despite the temperament of its previous owner, Thessa felt a sense of relief from having something on her body. With trembling, bloodied fingers, she unlocked the shackle from her ankle and Eric's wrist and ankle cuffs.

"Who was she?" She asked quietly, forcing herself to calm down.

"It's not what you think." He started, staring up at her.

"DAMNNIT Eric, I'm not stupid. What was she talking about?" she was taken aback by the surge of jealousy that felt too foreign to be her own emotion.

She shook her head and tugged one stained hand through her tangled hair. "I don't know what that was. But I need to know who she is, and we need to leave." She said, the adrenaline from her fight distracting her from the blood pooling on the floor.

Kill him. She turned to Eric, surprise crossing her features.

"Why? He's knocked out. We don't have to kill him." She stood over Anton, lips tugged into a frown.

"Thessa, what is going on babe?" Eric put a hand on her shoulder, worry displacing his anger at Diane and pride that she was able to defend them.

"Didn't you just tell me to kill him?" She stripped Anton's shirt and pants off and turned to hand them to Eric.

"No. I didn't say anything, Thessa...Thessa?" He caught her as she started shaking.

"Eric, what's happening?" She dropped the clothes, lifting a shaking hand to her mouth.

"You're going into shock. We have to go." He ignored the mess and lifted her into his arms, wishing he could shift into something that could take them from this place as quickly as possible.

He tightened his grip as she started crying. His hand rubbed her back soothingly.

"Eric, put me down. Oh god." She dropped to her knees and emptied her stomach. He picked her up, wiping the edges of her mouth with the robe and continued. The flights of stairs upward seemed endless, but he finally reached a door.

"Can you stand up? I don't think we'll both fit through the door. Here, let me go first." He murmured.

The procedure was all too familiar: every time he'd gone into battle with younger werewolves, they had reacted the same way upon seeing their first kill. It was hard seeing their innocence wash itself out of their eyes, and it was harder still when it was his mate who was enduring a similar reaction. Eric's face was grim as he passed through the door, stopping when he sensed the presence of someone nearby.

"It took you long enough to kill them. I was starting to worry they weren't weak enough. Can't have you dying, right?" A figure in a cloak lay draped over the couch. Catlike green eyes stared back at him from under the black hood.

"Mourning clothes. Fitting, isn't it?" She sighed and snapped her fingers.

Eric gasped when invisible hands pulled him forward from the door.

"Ah, this is your mate. Thessaaa, come out kitten." She cackled and Eric cringed inwardly at the dry, raspy voice.

"No, no no!" She clutched the door frame, eyes wide with terror.

"Oh come now babygirl, don't be shy. I don't bite...much." The woman laughed again.

"Where are my manners? Thessa, introduce us." A hand fluttered from under the cloak and Thessa stumbled forward.

"P..P..." She shivered violently.

"STOP! This is an expensive rug. We will have none of that." She waved a hand dismissively.

"Actually, forget it. Don't tell him my name. I'd know." She tapped a finger to her forehead and Thessa knew who the voice from before was.

"Dennis." She called out and Eric growled low in his throat. He should have killed the man when he had the chance.

"Yes, Mistress." He bowed low, his eyes locked on Thessa, taking in her wild hair and frightened eyes.

"Take the girl away, and send my son in to take away the man, he should be coming to any minute now in the basement." She yawned.

"Do be careful, It's a bit messy down there."

"Wait." Eric blurted out, a plan formulating in his mind.

"Oh what is it now?" The cloaked figure turned its probing gaze to Eric.

"If this is the last time I'm going to see her, let me at least have a moment to say goodbye...privately?" He asked, softening his voice.

"Well...I don't see why not. Dennis, stay outside the door. Don't try anything stupid." He nodded once and moved to stand outside the door. With whisper, she vanished, the black cloak lying flat on the stuffed couch.

"Thessa come here." Eric said, his voice filled with longing.

"Eric, what are you planning."

"We're going to mate."

"Right now? But what about the—" Thessa was cut off by the crush of his mouth against hers.

"We don't have much time. If I want to be able to find you no matter how far we are from each other, then you have to take off that robe, and kneel in front of me." He started undoing the belt. As he revealed her body, his reaction was immediate.  

He watched and she got onto all fours in front of him and he knelt behind her, lined himself up with her soaked entrance and pushed himself in with one thrust. Thessa locked her elbows as the sensation threatened to turn her bones to jelly.

It's been too long. Eric groaned telepathically.

Do you know the mating ritual words? He asked as he pumped his hips, faster and faster, trying not to make too much noise.

Start, quickly. They won't leave us alone much longer.

I take you, Thessa, as my mate for all eternity. Everything that is of value to you has now become of value to me. I make it my duty to see that your needs are met, and no danger comes to you. He hesitated at that point, for he was about to renege on that point in a few seconds. He sped up his thrusts, no longer caring how much noise they made.

I take you, Eric, as my mate for all eternity. Everything that is of value to you has now become of value to me. I make it my duty to see that your needs are met, and no danger comes to you. She cried in her head, tears slipping over her cheeks and onto the rug under them.

I love you. He wept. He heard her sharp gasp and the clamp of her pussy around him. It was time.

I love you. I'm sorry. He felt his canines elongate as he leaned back and turned her around so she faced him.

The next moment was one of great confusion. The couple hadn't bitten each other for more than a few minutes before the door burst open and Dennis and another man stormed in.

"Fucking bitch!" Dennis growled, slapping Thessa roughly.

He ignored her screams, and the gasping sobs of pain as he pulled her away from Eric. He locked his arms around her to keep her from hurting herself as he pulled her through the door. Dennis forced her to watch as Eric was sedated again as Anton and another man dragged him from the room.

"Don't worry kitten...I'll take good care of you." He leered.

Thessa spat in his face and was rewarded with another slap.

"Listen to me, bitch. You're mine now. You've always been mine. There isn't any stupid fucking mating ritual that's going to change that. He won't even recognize you when I'm finished, much less want you." He shook her roughly as he handcuffed her wrists and ankles to the wheelchair waiting outside the door.

"I will never be yours." She snapped at him.



Fated Hearts Ch. 08



OKAY! I know this is a long time coming...but I wanted to get it just right! Hopefully it doesn't disappoint...I just want to thank my editor LaRascasse for being such a good sport and putting up with me. And for everyone who comments both the good and the bad. Enjoy!!

-Gia <3

She kicked and screamed for all it was worth. The door in front of her was ajar like the gateway to a foreign world. 

"Let me go!" She screamed.

It was like she hadn't even spoken. Her gaze was drawn to the scene Dennis was forcing her to watch. The two other men had gotten Eric tied up. The one she knocked out, Anton, was taunting her mate. Her wolf surged forward furiously. Time seemed to slow as the black hooded figure rose from the couch. It had somehow become dark as her vision tunneled to the glinting steel of the wickedly curved knife in its hand. Thessa felt the color leech from her face. Those brightly gleaming green eyes flickered in excitement. She opened her mouth and felt the scream leave her lungs as everything rushed back to her: the color of the bright yellow walls, the green and gold throw pillows and the earthy brown wooden floor. The sound of Eric's struggle drew her attention when, like a lamb led to slaughter, the two men pinned his shoulders down. The slick sound of flesh being sliced into almost caused her to faint, but Dennis shook her awake. 

Watch. He seemed to say to her. Watch as that monster ripped her helpless mate to shreds. The drug they shot into his veins paralyzed him, but his incoherent screams of pain were clear as he was mutilated in front of her. Body parts littered the wood, his blood seeped in between the boards as his last gurgled breath left him. 

NO! She screamed surprised to find herself free from Dennis' grip. She looked around. He wasn't behind her. Thessa raced down the too long hallway to the room, slipping on her mate's blood to land on her hands and knees in the pool surrounding him. She clutched his shoulders and ignoring the awkward slump of his dislocated shoulder, Thessa half expecting him to scream in pain and beg her to take him to the hospital. Or to shift and heal. But he did neither. His stiff body lay cooling and dead in her arms as she screamed her sorrow at the walls. She pressed kisses all over his bloody face stopping at last where his lips once were. She felt a cold breeze in the room and looked up. There was Dennis, smirking with a needle in one hand. "There you are my pretty. Looks like you will be mine after all." He smiled, sticking the needle into her arm.

Thessa gasped as she opened her eyes. The same scenario had been playing itself over and over in her head every time she went to sleep so much so that she didn't know if it was a memory or just a dream. Her wolf refused to make an appearance anymore, and Thessa herself had become less and less responsive to Dennis' torture. She looked down at her leg, scared at her lack of response to the skin rubbed raw by the leather cuff and the twenty foot chain that connected her with the bedpost. 

"So you don't get any ideas." Dennis had smiled down at her. 

Thessa squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to breathe deeply and count backwards from ten as the door squeaked on its hinges. The sound of the door opening didn't get the response it used to. When she first woke up, and Dennis opened the door she fought him with her last breath as he tore at her clothes.

Since her only companion was her wolf and she didn't feel the need to get to know the omegas she saw enter the room to replace untouched bowls of soup and glasses of water, Thessa felt like she'd been in that room forever. At first, after she dreamed, Dennis would come into the room and stand there looking at her. He would ask her if she slept well, knowing very well that her drug induced memories caused her to scream so loudly that omegas would run in with heavy ropes to restrain her as she thrashed on the bed. He kept the high windows open enough that she could smell the summer air as it turned into fall. The sunlight that streamed through mocked her. She would rather be with Eric than in this beautiful prison. The soft bed was piled high with even softer pillows that were like rocks under her restless head. The honey brown duvet that Dennis tucked lovingly around her was the same color as Eric's eyes. The walls were painted a soft yellow: her favorite color. Thessa closed her eyes, preferring the endless darkness of keeping her eyes closed to the sick movie she was the star of.

"You haven't touched your soup..." Dennis frowned, leaning against the tall post of the bed. 

Thessa opened her eyes and looked up at him listlessly. The first week she was there, her eyes blazed with anger and defiance. The light slowly began to fade as her nightmares worsened. 

"Oh come now, it's been a while, he's dead. You watched...remember?" He laughed as if sensing the direction of her thoughts. She turned her head and let her eyes close as he walked over to her side and caressed the soft skin of her arms. 

"Look at me." He commanded, his voice going hard as she didn't even flinch away from him. When she didn't move, he grabbed her chin and yanked her face in his direction. 

"You are MINE!" He growled, ripping the duvet off. 

Thessa just stared back. She knew what was coming. The first time he raped her, she cried as he held her and fell asleep spooning her. She decided that there were worse things than what he did to her body. She kept her soul locked away in a place even she wasn't sure she could reach. Her wolf was there pacing with the knowledge that only their mate could bring Thessa back to life. 

As the bed squeaked, headboard slamming into the wall, Thessa closed her eyes and imagined Eric's smiling face as she last remembered it. They were on the cliff where they'd made love for the first time, watching the sunset and feeding each other Severin's apple tarts. She ignored the drops of sweat covering her body as Dennis exerted all his energy. She was tight and dry. He pinched her clit hard, frowning over her as her body responded, but lay more still than death under her. Thessa wasn't aware that she held her breath until he left to use the bathroom. She was covered in sweat, semen and the blood he'd drawn when his elongated talons dug into her soft legs as his penis tore at every opening to her body. The only hole he hadn't abused was her mouth. She hadn't retreated far enough into herself that she didn't bite him whenever he tried. 

The only comfort she had was the feeling that he hadn't dampened her will to escape. Something was horribly wrong with all of it. Girl meets boy...girl falls in love with boy, they pledge their love to one another and then a witch and her deranged crew kidnap and torture them. She was getting out of this soon and alive...when the opportunity presented itself, and she would kill everyone in that damned place if she had to. Survival had become her most important goal. She decided that she could heal later. Eric had to still be alive somewhere. Wherever that was, she would find him and she would kill anyone that dared separate them. Before now, this thought would have scared her. Thessa laughed aloud as she heard the toilet flush and the shower turn on. 

It's funny what we do when we have to find a way to escape our situation. I refuse to lie here forever, waiting for him to realize he wants me dead. She told herself. 

I've been in this shithole for weeks, maybe a month. I'm leaving when I get the chance. And he will die. Thessa promised her wolf with a grim finality. 

As the door to the room opened, she spared the omega a passing glance. A child: a little girl. Thessa wanted to cry. No one so young should be sent to clean her up. Forced to make what just happened to her another horrible memory in her subconscious. 

"You, girl, what's your name?" Thessa rasped, startled to hear her own voice come out so coarse and hollow. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to inject emotion into her words. 

"I'm sorry. I'm just a little tired." She flashed what she hoped was a smile. 

"Can you tell me where I am?" Thessa moved to sit up. 

"I'm n...not 'posed to say." The waif of a child muttered.

"It's okay to tell me. I'm a good person. Do you think I'm a bad person?" Thessa pushed her hair behind her ears, wincing as she touched the scar on her cheek, preferring to not remember the cut her torturer had made when she tried to escape him and run to Eric that day so long ago. 

"No, but..."

"Please?" Thessa begged. "I won't tell anyone that you told me." 

"Humbart Manor. You're on Eferrie Humbart's pack lands." The child whispered after a few seconds of silence, darting nervous eyes to the door of the bathroom. 

"My mamma said I'm the one to clean you up when Mr. Dennis sends for someone." She eyed Thessa warily.

"Well tell your mamma he won't need you anymore." Thessa smoothed the child's choppy brown hair back.

As the child turned to leave, Thessa started. 

"What's your name?" 

"Amelie, Miss. What's yours?" 

"Thessa." 

"That's a real nice name." 

Thessa smiled genuinely at the little girl, forcing herself to calm down as she heard the shower shut off. 

"Now Amelie. I don't have any friends." She said quietly, averaging the amount of time she had before Dennis would come back out. He was crazy and he really was a doctor. He would take forever to make sure that everything was fairly clean...if not spotless, before he left. 

"What? But you look like you would have lots of friends!" Amelie gasped. 

"Well I don't." Thessa frowned in an exaggerated show of sorrow. 

"Wanna be friends?" 

"I was just about to ask you that, Amelie. You're a really smart girl." She brightened.

"Then you want me to keep what I told you a secret, right?" 

"Exactly. Pinkie promise?" Thessa held out her smallest finger and Amelie ran up and quickly linked hers with Thessa's. 

"Can I come back even if you don't want me to bring the rags no more?" She asked hopefully.

Thessa nodded. "Just make sure no one else knows." 

"Who was that?" Dennis asked as he came out of the bathroom.

Thessa let her eyes close. 

"I'll get a response again. Fear makes you look so beautiful." He stroked the side of her face and she held back her shudder of revulsion. 

"I've decided that, since you continue to reject and defy me...that we'd play a little game. Would you like that Thessa?" He pressed a kiss on her cheek; she held back a shudder of revulsion and forced herself to remain unresponsive. 

"I want it to be a surprise. You love my surprises huh?" 

Thessa braced herself for the bite of the needle pumping sedatives into her body. When it didn't come, she opened her eyes, hoping her surprise didn't show in them.

"I know. You were expecting the drugs, right?" Dennis played with a lock of her hair. 

"I've got something better. Just wait a moment." He hurried out the door, letting it slam ominously behind him.

Thessa felt herself begin to sweat when he returned with three burly looking men. In his hands, he carried a black plastic circle with another black block of plastic attached to it. Thessa's eyes shot to the three men when she realized they were putting whatever that was on her. 

With an almost imperceptible nod, Dennis motioned for the men to hold her down.

"I don't see why we gotta put this on her, D." One of the men said, taking in Thessa's frail body. 

"I didn't ask you for an opinion." Dennis snapped back.

"This is an anklet...of sorts." He chuckled to himself. 

"It's very special because it will tell me where you are whenever I want to know. And if you take it off...well. Let's just say you'd have a hard time and I'd have so many people coming after you it would feel like a hunt." He added, dropping his voice to an almost whisper. 

"No." Thessa whispered, real fear causing her already empty stomach to roil. 

"Oh that's not even the end! We're moving you downstairs to the basement." He smiled, fastening the cuff around her ankle. Thessa's struggling was contained by the men holding her. 

"Of course we'll have to take it off so you can bathe. I don't want you smelly for what I have planned. Tie her up and leave us." He motioned for the men to produce a pair of handcuffs. 

Thessa felt the cold steel graze her skin and shivered from a combination of fear and anger. 

I AM getting out of here soon. She promised her wolf once more before retreating into herself.

"You stupid worthless bitch!! I'll teach you to struggle next time I decide to do something for you." Dennis back handed her. Thessa squeezed her eyes shut as he rained punches and slaps on her face and upper body. She bit back the tears that threatened to escape her eyes, praying silently that he would end the torment. 

"It's time I took what was rightfully mine...for good." He growled, painfully squeezing the muscles in her jaw until she gasped from the pressure. When he slipped the dental gag over her head, Thessa tensed, ready to yell or scream. 

"Ah ah! It's spring loaded. The wider you open your mouth, the further it spreads it." He laughed, unzipping his pants. 

As Dennis jerked himself off, Thessa heard her gurgles for help as they escaped her throat. The gag made it impossible to close her mouth and swallow them back. 

"Such a beautiful sound." Dennis smirked as he shoved the length of his wide cock into her mouth. 

He groaned and Thessa felt herself choke. "Yesssss." He gasped, holding onto the sides of her face to pump himself into the last orifice she swore he would never penetrate. 

"Did you precious mate fuck you this way? I'm doing it the way a real man should do it. Slut." He wrapped one hand around her neck and squeezed. 

"Jesus. I can feel it in your fuckin' throat." He ground himself against her face, forcing her to take the entire length of his swollen member down her throat. 

She retched and heaved: her stomach's attempt to empty itself further. Dennis laughed and slammed himself into her throat rapidly. He was already close. 

"Ohhhhh FUCK." He let his head drop back as he emptied his balls into her throat. The sticky cum made it hard to breathe once he pulled away and left her there: throat raw and burning. The gasping sobs that escaped her must have been loud enough to hear on the other side of the room. He left the gag in. 

~*~

Thessa licked her dry lips as she opened and closed her mouth. Dennis got someone to move her while she slept three days ago. She had immediately recognized that musty, damp smell all basements seemed to have. The room she was in was lit by overhead lights and reminded her of a hospital. She was in an old fashioned hospital bed. The white sheets pulled up to her neck never failed to remind her of her extended stay after the car crash. 

But he's dead...I think. She frowned. 

"Hello Miss Thessa." A small voice called out from the door. 

"Amelie, is that you?" Thessa tried to sit up and fell back when the handcuffs locking her to the bed yanked her down. 

"Yeah it's me. I brought you something to eat." The child pulled a sport bottle and a sandwich bag from her shoulder bag. 

"I told my mamma I was going to play with friends so she gave me juice and sandwiches." She put the juice on the counter and the sandwiches on Thessa's lap. She frowned at her new friend. 

"How are you gonna eat them?" 

"I'll show you a trick...do you have any pins in your hair?" Thessa asked quietly. 

"Yeah, here." Amelie pulled one of the pins holding her braids back and held it out to Thessa.

"Open it please?" 

"Like this?" Amelie bent the hairpin until it was straight. 

"Mmhmm. Now put it between my teeth." 

"Pull." Thessa said, biting down hard on the plastic covering the end of the pin. 

"Good, now stick it into the part on this handcuff where the key goes and bend it toward me...perfect." 

"What now?" 

"Bend it the other way." 

"Like this?" 

"Yes. Now take it out and put it in the other way. Good." 

Amelie smiled as Thessa showed her how to jiggle the makeshift key to unlock the handcuff. 

"Thank you." Thessa smiled, opening the baggie with one hand and taking a big bite of the sandwich. 

"This is very good. Thank you." She started, but looked down at Amelie's innocent face. She swallowed the last bite of her sandwich and decided to keep her thoughts to herself.

After they finished eating, Thessa widened the ratchets on her handcuffs, so she had more room in them before taking them off completely.

"Can we play dollies?" Amelie smiled again. 

"Sure. Did you bring any?" Thessa asked crossing her legs in front of her. She smiled when her little friend copied her move and pulled two cloth dolls out of her bag. 

"This one is Becca, and that one is Beau. They're best friends." Amelie rambled gesturing excitedly.

"I'm always Becca. You can be Beau." She handed the other doll to Thessa. The simple mouth was a crookedly stitched line under two bright blue button eyes. "Beau" had a mop of red yarn for hair while Becca's brown braids matched Amelie's hairstyle today. 

"Okay, so what are Becca and Beau doing today?" Thessa asked smoothing her fingertips over the 

"Well. The last time I played dollies with my mamma, Becca was mad that Beau's new boyfriend wasn't so nice of a guy." 

"Oh? What did you name him?" Thessa asked, curiously.

"Dennis." 

The Beau doll dropped out of Thessa's hand.

"Why wasn't he a nice guy?" 

"He always made Beau cry." Amelie looked up from her doll with a sad expression in her big brown eyes. 

"Does your mamma know Dennis?" 

Amelie nodded.

"He's my papa...but he made my mamma cry and she had me, but he didn't want her to." 

Thessa's eyes widened in surprise.

As if reading her thoughts, Amelie continued. "I heard him telling her that about me one day when I was 'sposed to be asleep. And she called him some names she said that little girls aren't supposed to repeat aloud...and she made him leave." 

Jesus. Thessa thought to herself. 

"So when he said he needed someone to take care of a girl he needed help with he told her that he wanted me to do it." Amelie looked around, a blush spreading over her round cheeks. 

"I think I should go now. I told mamma I was going to go play outside and she'll probably be lookin' for me right now." Amelie shoved the dolls back into her bag and slid off the bed. 

"Amelie, you're a very good girl. I promise. I'll make sure Dennis never hurts you again. But I might need your mamma's help." She promised, giving the young girl a tight hug.

When Amelie left, she began to formulate a plan to leave. The hardest part of escaping, she decided, would be the ankle bracelet that Dennis put on her. He was right to assume that she would try to leave, and she wasn't going to do anything to change that assumption...she just had to leave before he realized that she was gone. 

~*~

Later that night, after he visited her, another guard came into the room with towels and other toiletries filling his arms. Among the items was a little black card. 

"What's that for?" She asked, hoping her voice masked the excitement she felt.

"D wants you to take a bath...something about dinner upstairs. Anyway I have to unlock you, or else you'll fry that pretty little ass in the tub." He leered as he bent down and took a hold of her shin. Thessa winced as she felt his heavy hand squeeze her delicate skin. 

Thessa watched in fascination as he slid the card in a small space behind the tracker. When it beeped, he pulled the bracelet off her ankle, and she sighed in relief. 

"Here." He thrust the towel and various other items at her, ushering her into a room she'd never been in before




Fated Hearts Ch. 08



"Do you mind? I can't bathe with you watching me like that." She frowned at him, the wheels spinning her escape in her head. 

"Women..." he grumbled, clicking the door shut.

Thessa leaned over the tub, watching the as it filled with water. She stood up and took off her T-shirt, skirt and bra. The huge room had no windows and only one exit: the door that she entered it from. After she checked to make sure the water was warm enough, Thessa slid into it with a sigh. She looked down at her feet sticking out of the other side of the tub and wiggled her toes in the cold air. 

The suddenness of the idea that hit her nearly made her bang her leg on the steel faucet. It was too perfect. She'd been eating mostly the vegetables, fruits, and whatever else Amelie brought for Thessa in the little satchel every day, so she had enough strength to sustain a shift. What better time than the present?

Thessa stepped out of the tub, shivering as the air cooled her soaked skin. She held her breath and visualized the animal. As the bones in her body condensed and elongated, she felt herself melting slowly until she lay on her belly. Her arms and legs shrunk into themselves and she felt her tongue slither out to scent the air. A snake was probably the easiest, most deadly thing she could shift into: It was the first thing that a young shifter learned to change into other than the pack animal she was required to shift into. She was fast and only had to strike once. 

Naturally, she shifted into the deadliest one she'd ever seen. The bitis ariens, commonly known as the puff adder, was a snake she'd only ever read about. Its temperament was worse than her mother on a bad day, and its venom was potent and it was good at surprising its prey. So it was with great pleasure that Thessa slithered into the pile of her clothes in wait. The yellow and green shirt she wore was close enough to the color of her scales that she could keep her head above the pile. 

"Hey! Hurry up in there!" The guard yelled at the door. 

Or what? Thessa thought wickedly 

"I'll come in there after you if you aren't ready by the count of three!" He shouted. 

"One..." He started.

Thessa smiled, and readied herself for the attack. By the time the guard barreled into the door of the bathroom, she was ready to strike.

"Son of a..." he started, noticing the pile of clothes. 

As he bent down, Thessa took the chance to dart out and latch onto his arm, large fangs injecting the debilitating poison into his muscles. While he yelled from the shock of the burning venom, she slithered up the sleeve to his shirt and wound herself around his neck. Inside the snake, Thessa took a deep breath and visualized another animal: this one hundreds of pounds heavier and stronger than the little adder she was before. The sheer force of her change toppled the guard to the ground. Thessa contracted the boa's powerful muscles and smiled to herself as; at last, the guard stopped breathing. 

Don't stop now. She willed herself back into an adder and slithered out of the bathroom and up the cord of one of the security cameras. 

This is just too perfect. She laughed to herself as three other men came running down the corridor. 

"I don't care if he's not responding to the fucking walkie-talkie...make sure that bitch is still there. Goddamn incompetent fools." Dennis yelled behind them. 

Thessa struck just as he barreled past her. 

Too late, Dennis. She laughed, sinking her fangs into his neck. He swung around and grabbed her just below the throat. 

She laughed even harder. 

Dumbass!!! She forced herself to shift into the boa again, winding her body again around his neck and squeezing. She didn't let go until she felt his spine being crushed. 

She shifted once more into a house cat, streaking through the hallway to the stairs leading upstairs. She almost knocked Amelie over.

Amelie! Amelie! 

"Oh, where are you off to kitty?" The little girl turned, forgetting where she was going. 

She shifted to a hybrid form. "Amelie, it's me Thessa!" The words sounded strange coming out of the cat's mouth. 

"You need to hide me." She said before shifting into the cat again and jumping into Amelie's arms. 

"Hey you, kid!" A guard huffed as he ran up the stairs.

"You see a big snake come through here?"

"No, sir. I haven't" 

Good girl. Thessa purred and nuzzled Amelie's chin. 

"I was going to take my cat to the vet downstairs but if there's a big snake loose...I don't want it to hurt my Mittens!" She cried. 

Thessa was impressed, if not a little disgruntled as her friend's little arms squeezed her closer. The tears even seemed real. She's used the trick countless times to get what she wanted as a very small child. 

"It's okay, little one. Just let a grown-up know if you see the snake." He awkwardly smoothed her hair before running off. 

"I'll take you to my mamma. She'll know what to do." Amelie whispered in Thessa's ear.

~*~

"I see..." The woman nodded.

"I'll help you. But Amelie, you're forbidden to interfere anymore. That was a brave thing you did, but I can take over from here." 

"Yes mamma." 

"Thank you so much. This is all so complicated and..." Thessa choked back a sob. 

After the adrenaline had worn off from her escape, Amelie's mother Brigitte, allowed Thessa to collapse on the bed in their room. She brought water and a few painkillers. Thessa refused the painkillers, but downed the glass of water in one gulp. Her throat had become raw from crying. The weeks she'd held back her emotions poured themselves out with her tears. It felt good to have someone take care of her. 

"Your mate...he can't be dead. It has to be a lie." Brigitte assured Thessa, sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"Maybe you will feel better after a nap." She smiled, pulling the covers up to Thessa's chin.

"Thank you. I can sleep in a chair I don't want--"

"It's okay you take the bed. The sofa is a pullout. Amelie and I will sleep there." 

"Thank you so much, again." Thessa yawned. For once sleep came easily and peacefully.

~*~ 

She kicked and screamed for all it was worth. The door in front of her was ajar like the gateway to a foreign world. 

"Let me go!" She screamed.

It was like she hadn't even spoken. Her gaze was drawn to the scene Dennis was forcing her to watch. The two other men had gotten Eric tied up. The one she knocked out, Anton, was taunting her mate. Her wolf surged forward furiously. Time seemed to slow as the black hooded figure rose from the couch. It had somehow become dark as her vision tunneled to the glinting steel of the wickedly curved knife in its hand. Thessa felt the color leech from her face. Those brightly gleaming green eyes flickered in excitement. She opened her mouth and felt the scream leave her lungs as everything rushed back to her: the color of the bright yellow walls, the green and gold throw pillows and the earthy brown wooden floor. The sound of Eric's struggle drew her attention when, like a lamb led to slaughter, the two men pinned his shoulders down. The slick sound of flesh being sliced into almost caused her to faint, but Dennis shook her awake. 

Watch. He seemed to say to her. Watch as that monster ripped her helpless mate to shreds. The drug they shot into his veins paralyzed him, but his incoherent screams of pain were clear as he was mutilated in front of her. Body parts littered the wood, his blood seeped in between the boards as his last gurgled breath left him. 

NO! She screamed surprised to find herself free from Dennis' grip. She looked around. He wasn't behind her. Thessa raced down the too long hallway to the room, slipping on her mate's blood to land on her hands and knees in the pool surrounding him. She clutched his shoulders and ignoring the awkward slump of his dislocated shoulder, Thessa half expecting him to scream in pain and beg her to take him to the hospital. Or to shift and heal. But he did neither. His stiff body lay cooling and dead in her arms as she screamed her sorrow at the walls. She pressed kisses all over his bloody face stopping at last where his lips once were. 

"Thessa?" She heard her name and looked up.

"Eric?" She gasped, looking up. 

The dream usually ended in Dennis arriving with a needle. 

"What are you doing here? What is this?" He asked, looking down at a mutilated copy of himself. 

"Eric where are you? Are you alive?" Thessa dropped the body. It disintegrated into dust at their feet. She looked up at Eric in surprise. 

"What's happening?" She cried, throwing her arms around him. 

"If this is a dream..." She started, stepping back to look at him.

"I don't know. Something really strange is happening that I don't understand. Pavla is making some spell to transfer Sorenan's spirit into my body. Thessa, she's strong. I don't know any magic. I'm just a werewolf. Do you know anyone who can help?" He begged. 

"I don't know. I'm trying to get back home. I'm on Effrie Humbart's land...I don't know how to get home." 

"Thessa you're not that far away at all. Do you remember our clearing?" 

"Yes." She frowned.

"Well of you keep on the road that goes past it, and you leave the pack lands, it's straight twenty minute drive...If you can shift, it'll take only slightly longer than that." "Okay. I'll leave soon. Will you be able to wait for me there?"

"I'm not sure...it feels like every day I'm getting weaker and less able to figure out where I am and who I am. Just hurry." He stepped back from her embrace.

"Wait, Eric. Please just hold me a little more. I'm dying here without you. And now that I know you aren't dead...I need you." She squeezed his hand and stood on the balls of her feet to press a soft kiss to his lips. Even in a dream they were just as soft as she remembered. 

"What do you want Thessa?" He buried his face in her hair, inhaling the spiciness of her cinnamon scented shampoo. His fingers restlessly rubbed her skin. 

"I want what it was supposed to be like, Eric." She looked up, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. She blinked and one rolled down her cheek. "I just want for us to be together without all of this craziness about revenge and death and—" her voice cracked and she pressed her face into his warm, solid chest. 

"Please make love to me." She couldn't stop the tears that clouded her vision and obscured the dream-Eric.

"Shh...shh...it's okay. I will, I promise." He picked her up and carried her over to the chaise in the corner. 

"Please, can we find a bed? I can't... not here." Thessa looked up at Eric with pleading eyes.

"I don't know where..." 

"It's a dream. We can imagine one."

"A bed?" 

They both looked as the room transformed around them. 

"Too big." Eric shook his head at the pink monstrosity in front of them.

"Too small." They said together, laughing at the cot that was very similar to Brigitte's bed. 

"Eric. I can't wait to do this for real when we get out of this mess..." Thessa smiled up at him as he lay her down gently. 

"Me either babe we can have a bed just like this one and I'll make love to you on it day and night." He smiled wolfishly and dipped his head to taste her nipples.

"I wish this wasn't a dream..." He murmured, leaning over her to press soft, wet kisses along the column of her neck, over her shoulders and the hollow of her throat.

Thessa sighed, lacing her fingers through his soft hair. A moan of pleasure escaped her lips and she widened her legs for his broad shoulders as he knelt between her legs.

"I've missed this." He murmured as he teased the swollen outer lips of her pussy with his broad tongue. 

Eric took his time, wishing that the lazy serenity of his dream would transcend to reality. He'd been retreating more and more into himself as Pavla started her...experiments. Some of the retreat was voluntary, most of it involuntary. It was like some unknown force was slowly but surely separating the essence of who he was from his physical body. He delved into his mate's folds with renewed vigor. If this was the only way he could have her until they found a way to physically be together, then so be it. 

He pressed a kiss to her distended clit, flicking the nub with his tongue as Thessa writhed in pleasure in front of him. The sight of her wild hair fanned out on the pillows as he brought her closer and closer to her orgasm nearly made him lose control. Her moans sounded nothing like the tortured cries he'd heard while he watched her react to the illusion in her mind of his death. 

"Are you really alive, Eric?" She gasped in response to the feel of his thick fingers entering and retreating from the warmth of her tight hole. 

"Do you want to find out?" He asked with a grin, standing above her. 

Thessa grinned back and took in the broad chest that tapered down to lean hips and the equally appealing erection jutting out from a light dusting of pubic hair so fair and fine that it seemed nonexistent. Before she knew what she was doing, she'd leaned close enough to feel the heat radiating from it like a live coal in a fireplace. She pressed her cheek against his hard abdomen and inhaled his scent. He smelled like sweat, man and his wolf: all hers. Thessa teased the shaft with her soft lips and flicked her tongue over the head tasting the drop of precum that leaked out. Eric's content sigh encouraged her to lean forward, hands cupping his firm ass as she slowly took him into her mouth: further than she thought she could in real life. He hissed in pleasure and fisted his hands in her hair, pumping his hips to slowly fuck her mouth.

He isn't fucking your mouth. Her wolf corrected.

This is love. You're giving it freely and he's only taking it because you want him to. The animal continued. 

Thessa pulled back, pulling her mate with her as he blanketed her with his warm body. When he entered her, she gasped and tilted her hips upward, her pussy greedily squeezing him. 

"I see something else missed me, huh?" He joked rolling his hips until his entire length was sheathed inside of her warm depths. 

"Shut up mate. Make love to me." She laughed. 

~*~

Thessa woke up with tears staining the pillow under her head. Her body felt sore, but in the way she'd grown accustomed to when she was with Eric. A deliciously mind-numbing heaviness kept her in bed until Brigitte and Amelie came running into the room.

"Quick, Thessa, you have to hide. The guards are back to search for you." Brigitte huffed, leaning over to rest her hands on her bare knees. 

From the looks of it, Brigitte and Amelie had been in the flower garden. Amelie's mud streaked rain boots had tracked the dirt all the way into the bedroom.

"No. I have to leave. There's nothing I can do here to save my man. I thank you for helping me though. I'll come back some day to visit when this all blows over." Thessa shook herself awake and began packing the little bag that Amelie had given her. She mentally went over her list of belongings: a shirt, a bra, and a pair of frayed jean shorts. 

She nodded and discarded the long t-shirt she fell asleep in. 

"Amelie open the window." Brigitte ordered, slipping through the doorway into their small kitchen. 

"Here. You'll need it." She thrust a ZipLock bag full of trail mix and a bottle of water into Thessa's bag.

"You don't have to—" Thessa started, only to be shushed into silence. 

"Don't even worry about it. Go! Keep running until you see a pond. You'll be on...no that isn't Sorenan's pack land anymore..." 

"That's exactly where I'm headed actually. A few miles you say?" Thessa felt herself almost burst with excitement. 

"Yep." She nodded, "It's about a ten minute run if you go really fast..." 

"Thank you."

She forced herself to calm down as she wiggled through the window and shifted into her wolf mid-drop. Thessa's bag dropped out of the window a short time later followed by Amelie's chubby face. 

"Bye Thessa!" The little girl whispered.



Fated Hearts Ch. 09



Wow. Has it been a month? (Oops?) For some reason, I had the hardest time figuring out how to write this chapter. It's getting easier now though, but I don't know if you should hold your breath for Ten very soon. If you don't see it by next week, please write angry comments about me being lazy in updating! ANYWHO, I want to thank LaRascasse for editing this for me and all of that. I hope you enjoy this. Don't forget to comment and so on and so forth!!

Love,

Gia.

Will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns?

For the sins of our hand, the sins of our tongue, the sins of our fathers, the sins of our young?

NO!

-Linkin Park

Thessa reached the pond in record time. She wearily allowed herself to shift back to her human form before dunking her head under the icy surface of the pond. The run tired her out enough that she didn't think that she could make it back to her parents' house despite its short distance from the pond. She pulled the baggie of granola from her bag and chewed a mouthful before taking a long drink from the bottle of water. The plastic crumpled with the force and ferocity of her gulps. Satisfied for now, Thessa pushed herself to her feet and took off at a brisk jog for her parents' place.

~*~

"Honestly Jolena. I don't know what to do." Julius paced the wooden floor of the living room.

"We have to find them Julius. I've been doing all we can. I don't understand how they could be gone without a trace like this." Jolena twisted the tear-stained tissue in her hands furiously.

The search for Thessa and Eric started a few hours after Eric left to go find his mate. It started out at first by searching all the rooms in the Alpha's mansion then extending to the grounds that mother and father personally searched with a fine toothed comb. The possibility that the two left together flew out the window when the signs of struggle near the pond were found early one morning on one of the last searches.

"Julius, Jolena." swallowed the bile that rose in his throat.

"." Julius caught his wife as she sagged against him with weariness and fear.

"We found something. It's just tracks but nobody can get a scent from them, it's blocked by some chemical compound. The rain almost washed it away, it's that faint." He explained.

Jolena's head snapped up. "Chemical?" She staggered over to the faintly disturbed grass and took a deep breath. She backed up from it like it was a land mine, waiting for one misstep to explode and blow everything to smithereens. How could someone forget the scent of a poison they had helped create? "I'd know that smell anywhere."

Stephan and Julius looked at her warily. How could there be only one person in the entire pack that could identify one scent.

"I beg your pardon?" 's eyebrows rose.

"I made it in our labs. Julius...sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph what have we done?" She clutched her chest as the phantom pains of testing the drug on herself forced her heart to skip a beat.

"I led her right to him. We led her right to him, Julius that was the drug I made all those years ago when Dennis. Oh god, he's taken her." She sobbed. The sudden flare of anger in her caused her to lean heavily against her husband. It felt like a wild fire started somewhere within her and quickly spread outward. Its heat was all consuming and energy draining to the point where she thought its intensity would shatter her into a million pieces like an overheated piece of glass.

"Dennis is the only person who sort of knew what that drug could do. I'm the only person who knows what it actually does. It blocks shifting and if used too much can cause incredible mental instability to the point of severe irrecoverable memory loss in humans. Shifters have it a bit easier. The animal is physically affected temporarily. No severe memory loss, just short periods of memory loss."

"Why would you create something like that?" 's eyes widened.

"Sorenan had many very powerful enemies." She said quietly.

Now they sat at the kitchen table in their small house. The unspoken fear that their child and her mate were lying dead somewhere hung in the air like a cloud of deadly smoke threatening to choke them all.

"Julius, I—" Jolena jumped as the phone rang.

They both looked at the display light up Stephan's private number and a million questions ran through their minds.

"Hello?" Julius answered nervously.

"You would never guess who I ran into when I was making my rounds of the perimeter." 's voice came out choked and worried.

"What? Who did you find?" Julius felt his stomach sink as he almost shouted into the receiver. Jolena looked up from her lap, hope and worry filling her eyes with unshed tears.

"I found the little Madame Alpha, but Eric isn't with her. Since I found her she hasn't stopped shaking, mumbling something about finding a witch or a healer or something. Nyoko and I don't know what's going on, but I left them in the bedroom together. I suggest you come at once." He hesitated. "Don't expect anything much. She's not really acting like herself Julius. Whatever they did to her back there wasn't pretty." added quietly, his voice choking.

"Understood. I'm on my way." Julius hung up the phone and turned to his wife.

"They found her." He turned to his wife and gathered her into his arms as they both started sobbing with relief.

"Oh thank God. When are we going to see her?" His wife asked hopefully through her tears.

"I uh...I think you should stay here for now, love. said...he said there's something wrong with her...she isn't very responsive. I think I should go calm her down, talk her into coming here with me and that way—"

"Excuse me? She's hurt! Julius she needs her mother. Don't you dare tell me I can't come see my own daughter! I see hurt people all day at that hospital." Jolena pushed him away, her eyes flashing gold as she glared at him angrily.

"See! Look, baby. Just stay here. I'll just calm her down, you're nervous and you already know how she reacts to others' emotions when they're too strong. Let me go and calmly find out what the problem is." He soothed her with a kiss on her forehead. With one strong hand, he cradled the side of her face and wiped a fresh tear from her cheek. When she sighed into his palm, he knew she would let up and wait for him to bring their daughter back.

"Okay, fine. Just bring her back." She pressed her lips against his palm as he grabbed the car keys from a hook on the wall and stepped out into the light rain.

~*~

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm crying all over your nice shirt." Thessa wiped her nose and laughed wearily.

"Don't even worry about it, sis." Nyoko hugged her sister tighter and fought the tears from spilling over her own lids.

The stories she'd heard about Dennis' treatment of her best friend and sister made her blood boil. Had Thessa not killed the bastard, Nyoko decided that she would hunt him down herself. The bruises on Thessa's already dark skin were fading quickly, but the emotional scars that were buried deep in her subconscious would always be there. To be able to laugh so soon after being raped and abused, tied up and left for dead took strength that Nyoko wasn't sure anyone else possessed. The peaceful face of her greatest friend and confidant was a welcome relief even if she had no idea how one could go from one of suffering to one of peacefulness so soon.

She'd asked the question aloud and was shocked when Thessa smiled and gave the answer.

"It's because he isn't dead. There's no way my man is laying cold and lifeless somewhere. I had a dream. I dreamed about him." She'd sniffed.

"I'm a little broken on the inside, but Dennis could really never touch my spirit, Nyo. I never gave up the hope that I'd get out of there, it just wasn't a possibility. And this nightmare is almost over." She'd explained.

When she looked down, Thessa was fast asleep. She moved slowly to avoid waking her up, and pulled the sheet at the foot of the bed up to her chin. She stood when opened the door and motioned for him to be quiet. When they left the room, making sure to leave the door ajar, she fell into his arms and cried.

"Shh...shh. It's okay. She's safe now, Nyoko. Don't worry baby." He swallowed hard as he stroked his mate's hair.

"And we'll find Eric too. Did she tell you anything about that?" He asked when she stopped.

"Are you for real right now? My freaking sister has just been through a traumatic month. She found her mate and now she's going through hell because someone took him away from her. Why the hell—"

"Hey! Don't even give me that, Nyoko, Eric is my best friend, I don't know how you expect me to take with a grain of salt the fact that only one person in that duo is here." crossed his arms and stared down at Nyoko.

"He could be going through worse things right now than she has experienced. And I don't know if even Eric is strong enough to withstand that kind of torture for as long as they both have been missing."

"Sorry. I'm just...I need to sleep. Can we do that right now?" She sighed, rubbing her fingertips into her bloodshot eyes.

"Yeah. Can I leave the door open just in case she wakes up screaming again?" She asked, allowing him to lead her with a hand to her lower back.

"Your dad is coming to get her in a bit, so she won't be in that room for much longer.

"Okay. In that case I'll stay up with you until he comes to get her." She pressed a soft kiss to his lips and rested her head on his chest.

He smoothed a hand over her hair and tilted her head up to kiss her deeply. She moaned against his mouth and lifted a hand to cradle his cheek. When they parted to take a breath, he pulled her into their bedroom and shut the door behind him.

"I don't like seeing you stressed out like this, Nyoko." He said softly, reaching for her again to pick her up.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him again. He groaned and slid his tongue into her mouth. As he walked over to their bed, she started unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his muscular chest, sprinkled with curly brown hair. He groaned and laid her down slowly letting his hands run over the firm twin mounds of flesh large enough to fill his palms. He reverently slid her tank top over her head and licked his lips in anticipation of tasting her small brown nipples. He smiled against her hot skin as he did just that, rasping his tongue over the underside of her breast to flick it over one hardened peak then the other. As Nyoko's soft murmurs of encouragement reached his ears, he smiled and released her to press a few lingering kisses along her flat stomach and over her shapely hips.

"I wish we could mate." He sighed against the hot flesh of her mound, teasing her clit with the tip of his tongue.

"We can." She spread her legs for him invitingly, giggling when he gave her a puzzled look.

"How? The Alphas haven't mated yet, so we can't mate." He said slowly, wondering if she hit her hear somewhere. She laughed aloud when he reached up to run his fingers lightly over her scalp.

"I have to tell you a secret. But you can't tell anyone else." She winked and pushed herself onto her forearms.

"They mated. And she's the only one who can find him." She whispered close to his ear, flicking the lobe with her tongue.

"What do you mean they mated? They didn't have a ceremony, nothing. There were no witnesses." He pulled away from her to search her face.

"It was so romantic...in a twisted kind of way I guess. She told me that he convinced Pavla to let them have a few moments together and they mated. She said that they said the words and everything." Nyoko sighed dreamily.

"Wait, so they've definitely mated?"

"Yes! They did! She said that they have shared...dreams. Although she doesn't think they're dreams because she can remember everything that took place in the dream." She explained excitedly.

"So we can mate?" He asked hopefully.

"We can do whatever you want, mate." She licked her lips slowly.

"Turn over." He growled at her.

"Magic words, Stephan..." Nyoko pushed herself to her knees and leaned forward to unbuckle his belt.

"Turn over...please." He whispered. She shivered as she took in his brightly glowing eyes and dilated pupils before turning onto her hands and knees.

~*~

Eric? She projected the thought into the pitch black room.

Yes, mate?

Where are you, baby? She felt his arms wrap around her from behind.

"I'm right here. This is pretty sad huh?" He laughed, pressing his face into the top of her head.

"What do you mean?" She turned to look at him, not surprised to find that he was naked behind her.

This was the second dream she had about him, the first being the one she had before she left Amelie and Brigitte's. She figured that they only had a short time together. A short time in which she could get information she could use to rescue him.  

"I mean, I've never seen a big, strong Alpha trade places with the damsel in distress." He laughed again and leaned down to kiss her deeply. "Why does this have to be a dream?" He groaned against her lips again.

"I have an idea, damsel." Thessa joked, kissing him back before pulling away. She smiled to herself as he caught her hand and laced their fingers together.

"What ever shall we do strong hero?" He sighed, forcing his voice up a few octaves before it cracked.

Thessa nudged him with her shoulder as she felt her laughter bubbling close to the surface. It was strange to her that in a time of such turmoil and distress he could find a way to make her laugh. Her wolf sighed contentedly inside her subconscious. Now that the animal was awake, she could begin to plan in earnest. Emotional scars be damned, she could break down once she had her man back for real instead of having to enjoy him in her dreams.

"I'm serious. We can use this time to plan your escape...or rescue. Whatever." She waved a hand and pulled him to a bench as it materialized.

"Can't we just make love? I missed you. And when I wake up it feels like we actually had sex. Don't you like that? You know I even had some of your hair on me when I woke up?" Eric's heart soared when he felt her skin warm against his. He wished it was as easy to focus on something else when his dream woman was sitting right next to him. They could plan his escape later.

"No. We can't! Come on. Think, Eric. Where did she take you?"

"I'm underground." He sighed.

"Are you sure? Or are there just no windows?" She rubbed her thumb soothingly over the back of his hand like he used to do for her when she was unsettled.

"No, wait. There was one time that she took me up the longest staircase ever." He nodded.

"And it was like looking out of a lighthouse."

"Visualize it. Show me." Thessa blurted excitedly, pulling him up with her when their bench fell away and turned into a stair. The old-looking staircase wound upwards in an almost never-ending spiral, except for the dot of piercing light all the way at the top.

"This is crazy, Thessa." He squeezed her hand, feeling his heart speed up as she forced him to remember.

"Be realistic. It wasn't that far up." She sighed, eying the dot of light and sighing when it slowly got bigger as the amount of steps diminished.

"Thank you." She sighed and began jogging up them.

"Wait, we don't have to do this." He called. Thessa looked around as the staircase turned into the top of a tower, the walls crumbling in some places.

"She kept saying that she could hardly wait until the moon was full." He shivered. "She thought I was unconscious." He was just playing possum, but for a while he was really unaware. He couldn't remember the journey to the tower, but had the impression that they went from a main house through a series of tunnels.

"Okay what else?" Thessa asked excitedly, reaching for his hand again.

"That's it. I don't remember other things. Wait." He smiled down at her and closed his eyes.

"Open your hands." He told her. She gasped when a sheet of paper materialized in her hands.

"I know your memory isn't all that great. I made you a map of what she's shown me that I might not necessarily remember right now." He tapped his forehead with a finger.

"Eric, this won't even stay with me." Thessa complained, looking down at the paper, trying to memorize the mazelike patterns on it.

"Thessa. Didn't you hear what I said before?!" He asked loudly as he shook her.

"When I woke up from the last dream I found a few strands of hair on my chest. Curly, dark brown hair."

"You found what?!"

"I know! I wasn't expecting to see that at all, so when I did, I figured that maybe the next time I dreamed with you, I'd think of something to give you so that you could hold onto. I don't know how long that map will last. The hairs were gone after a period of time. I don't think they stay forever...make a copy when you wake up. As soon as you wake up. My office is locked, but if you ask Stephan for the key, he'll give it to you." He nodded. Thessa cried out as Eric's image started flickering.

"Don't go. I haven't given you anything yet." She felt her fingers slip through his.

"I can't someone is waking you up. Just hold onto the papers and make a copy as soon as you open your eyes. I love you, mate." His deep voice rumbled like distant thunder as she felt her eyes closing.

~*~

"Well, good morning Princess." Julius pressed a kiss to his daughter's forehead as he woke her. That was the only way that ever got her out of bed when she was a child.

"Daddy!" Thessa cried once she woke up enough to realize who was leaning over her. She felt something fall into her lap as she threw her arms around his neck and started crying.

"It's okay. It's okay. I came to bring you home." He rubbed her back reassuringly. He didn't know what to expect, but when Stephan and Nyoko let him into the Alphas' mansion, he prepared himself for the worst. "What's that?" He asked her, reaching to pick up the piece of paper that fell out of her hand when she awoke.

He pulled his hand back quickly as she grabbed it and pulled it open. Julius' curiosity peaked when he saw the tears that began coursing down Thessa's cheeks.

"It worked! I dreamt that Eric and I were in the same place that he is right now and he used his subconscious to make a map for me and..." She looked down at the paper.

"Where's Stephan. I need to copy this right now." She stood up and pushed past him.

"STEPHAN!!" She yelled down the hall.

"What? I'm right here." He poked his head out of a doorway.

"Is that Eric's office? I need to use the copier." She pushed past him holding onto the paper tightly.

"Yeah, come in. Sure you can use the copier." He grumbled under his breath.

"Shit, its fading." He looked at the piece of paper in her hand as she pulled it from the scanner. The machine whirred loudly as it spat several copies out onto the tray under it.

"What's that?"

"I had a dream about Eric. And he made me this map of the all the places he's been in once Pavla took him to her lair or whatever." She waved one of the copies in his face before putting it in one of his hands.

"That's crazy. Are you sure you don't need the hospital?" He looked down at the paper once before dropping it like it was a live coal.

He watched Thessa's face turn into a satisfied grin before he picked up the piece of paper covered in Eric's scrawl.

"Where'd you get this?" He whispered.

"I told you where I got it from. We're going to rescue him, Stephan. He's my mate and your best friend. We're going to get him back." She smiled happily.



Fated Hearts Ch. 10



This has been a VERY long time coming. I'm apologizing, but in a way I'm not sorry because I felt the need to do this right since it is the last chapter and all (aww). I just wanted to say thanks for all the comments and feedback throughout the chapters. Without further ado...the final chapter of Eric and Thessa's story: Fated Hearts Ch. 10!

Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there 
With open arms and open eyes 
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, I'll be there.

Incubus

"Thessa, I don't think this is a good idea. It's dangerous and there's a chance it might backfire." Stephan's jaw was clenched hard as he listened to Thessa's crazy plan. It just didn't feel right. 

"What do you mean it's a bad idea?" She looked around the kitchen table at the grim faces of her parents.

"He's right. I don't think—" Jolena cut in.

"Fuck what you guys think. If your mate wasn't right next to you and you could see them you'd be saying the same thing that I am. I don't think you understand something, Eric is my world. He's the one being in this place that was made just for me." She slammed her hand on the table. Nyoko jumped at the loud sound.

"Jesus, Thessa your eyes." She whispered as she watched Thessa's dark brown eyes glowed gold. She had never seen her usually subdued sister so worked up before. Then again, she thought as she looked up at Stephan, she would behave worse if Stephan was being held against his will by some psychopathic bitch. 

"We're not saying it's a bad idea...per se. We just think that there just might be some other way to go about rescuing Eric than throwing yourself into the lion's den like that." Julius rested a hand on Thessa's shoulder reassuringly.

"Well what are you proposing we do?" She looked up at her father with tired eyes.

"I'm so done with not having him here. If we hadn't mated..." She started.

"You did what? Without the blessing of the pack?! The rules state that—"Jolena stood up.

"She took him away from me. They forced me to watch him get taken away after they beat him. I have to get him back. What was I supposed to do?! And if you won't tell me where the only old lighthouse in within the nearest five packs is, then I'll go looking for him myself." She pushed her chair out and stormed off to her bedroom. 

"What are we going to do? We can't let her just go out like this?" Nyoko looked frantically at the other adults in the room. 

"Stephan, please? We have to do something. It would hurt me to not be able to help her find Eric." She moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up into his face with pleading eyes. She smiled when he sighed and looked away from her.

"We can tell her where the lighthouse is, for one. Can we have someone do that? I'll go try to calm her down, and see if we can't at least get her to take a few guards with her to help the rescue go more smoothly." Stephan spoke up after a moment of silence.

"She doesn't need the guards to help her get in." Nyoko made a face. "We've had hand to hand combat training since we were old enough to learn how to walk." 

"Is that true? She doesn't strike me as the type..." he started.

"Well our parents are in charge of defense. If we didn't know how to fight, we wouldn't be able to take our parents' places as betas if something happened to them." Nyoko explained "Think about it, Stephan. She told us all how she escaped. There weren't any guards with her and all the help that lady and her little girl gave her was a place to sleep and a meal." 

Stephan clenched his jaw. "Well...fine. But I just feel uneasy letting her do it by herself. What if the dreams she's having of Eric are a trap? Some side effect of the drug?" He looked to Jolena for confirmation.

"It couldn't be. From the symptoms Thessa told us about to what I've experienced, there are no prolonged hallucinations once the subject isn't administered any dosages of the drug. It stops almost immediately." She muttered, shaking her head slowly. 

"Maybe it's just because they're mates?" Nyoko suggested hopefully. 

"Maybe... I've seen a lot of mated couples and there is some sort of pattern in the level of communication they share, but there are no two couples alike. Jolena and I have intensified tracking abilities when we work together. That's why we're head of security. "Julius explained stroking his beard thoughtfully. 

"Maybe their connection is developed more on a mental level. Is Eric any other sort of non-human? Thessa is to some extent, but we don't know if she has always been able to influence dreams or penetrate someone else's subconscious mind." Jolena offered. 

"How about we call her out here to talk to talk about what needs to get done in order for her to rescue Eric?" Stephan interjected. 

"I've been here the whole time. I can't even be alone without hearing you all talk about me in the next room." Thessa stood in the doorway, a closed look on her face.

"Now, baby girl we aren't trying to get you to compromise your desire to rescue Eric, but we don't think you should be rushing into it this way." Jolena crossed the room to stand by her daughter. 

"We know you love him, but you need to think this through. Now you have a map of some underground tunnels that connect to a lighthouse. Were you able to find the locations of any nearby lighthouses on your own? We can have someone on that stat." She strode purposefully back to the table. 

"Okay. Nyoko, you can take charge of that. Mom, you help her. Dad, Stephan and I will work on finding a way to get me in and out of the lighthouse safely." Thessa nodded her thanks to her mother for creating an opening for her to take control of the situation. 

As Nyoko and Jolena left the room, she sat down at the table again across from Stephan and her father. 

"Okay. This is the map he gave me. Once mom and Nyo find out where the lighthouses are: if there is or was one, then we can move forward. Until then, I want to hear how you think I should do this." She folded her hands on the table and sat forward expectantly.

Julius was the first to speak up. "Honestly, I know you'll insist on going in there alone, but I think we should send a team in to rescue him after we figure out exactly where he is. I lost you once Thessa, we're not losing you again." 

"That would only be necessary dad, if there was a possibility that I might fail. I know the story of what you did for mom and me when I was born, and I need you to understand that Eric and I feel very strongly about each other. We've already mated even" she blushed "I need you to understand that I'm the one who needs to rescue him. He already knows I'm a capable mate, but his wolf and mine constantly require the reassurance that the other is worthy. If I don't rescue him, my wolf will be sorely disappointed in me. Next suggestion." She looked at Stephan.

"I think you should go in alone. You're bonded to him and you're a shifter. If everyone is telling the truth about your training, then you'll be fine on your own." He nodded confidently at her. 

"Thank you Stephan I—"

"But," He added, cutting her off "you need to have people on the outside ready for whatever his injuries or yours are. This lady sounds insane and you said that she's a witch? That's an added precaution. Are there any covens nearby with which the pack was affiliated? If not, are there witches living peacefully in the compound." 

"My wife is a healer; she would know a witch or two. As for the outside guard detail, I've got that covered. I've got Russ and his brother who are more than capable of providing the necessary aid to Thessa and Eric once they get out." He nodded.

~*~

It had been a few days since they first started to plan Eric's escape. They had assembled all the parts of the plan...all she had to do was go in, get to Eric and get him out of there. She was supposed to infiltrate Pavla's lair by suppressing her shifter scent to one of a human: unassuming. Most witches had human servants since they were the easiest to control with magic. Once she was in, Thessa was supposed to locate the secret passage outside the lighthouse that would take her in a straight path to the underwater tunnel she had to navigate in order to reach the place where they believed that Pavla was holding Eric. The huge underwater cave was at the perfect latitude and longitude, Jolena said, to cast any magical spell. It was believed that the magical properties of the land Sorenan controlled were the main reason Pavla came to their pack. 

The week before they planned to send Thessa into the lair, Jolena sent Thessa to a friend who was a very powerful witch. Morgana was a legend in her own way as a good witch. She was able to teach Thessa a few basic spells that shifters and weres could use with their limited magical capabilities.

"You have a strong heart, and a strong mind. You have some dream magic," she paused at the puzzled look on Thessa's face "that is, you can subconsciously alter the physical realm." Morgana nodded and got off her worn paisley chaise and made her way over to a cabinet. The glint of hundreds of tiny mirrors peeked out from under the tall woman's arm as she held the door open, Morgana had promised over the phone to make two charms of protection for Thessa and Eric.

"We need two pendants: one for you, one for Eric. Did you bring the things that I requested you bring?" she looked over her shoulder. Thessa felt the warmth radiating from Morgana's powerful eyes. Thessa was enthralled by the large almond shaped orbs. Thessa couldn't really hear what Morganna was saying; a peaceful buzz filled her ears if she stared too long.

"Thessa did you hear me?" 

"Yeah." She shook her head to clear it and rummaged through her backpack and pulled out the baggies containing a few strands of hair she was able to collect from Eric's comb. 

"Good, put them on the butcher's block for me? And pull out the bottles of amber and crystal quartz dust from the cabinet over the sink. They're labeled." Morgana called over her shoulder. Thessa watch the witch rummage through the mirrors until she pulled out two tiny oval shaped lockets. 

"Oh! One more thing, there are two little jars of lemon juice and salt in the fridge. We'll need those too." She placed the opened lockets into a little triangle of white candles.

Thessa watched in awe as Morgana said a few magical spells and rubbed the salt and lemon into the glass on the mirrors. Pure energy seemed to radiate from her milky white skin and fiery red hair. Thessa sighed as the overwhelming feeling of peace, love, and security bathed the room. When she finished the ritual, she snipped a piece of Thessa's thick, curly hair and dropped the strands into one of the two circular tiny pendants. She did the same with the strands of Eric's hair before reaching for the jars of powdered crystals.

"For protection from evil curses and black magic, we use cleansing white." She chanted in a singsong voice as she sprinkled the crystal quartz into the pendants over the hair. 

"For the power of a clear mind and supernatural direction we use yellow." She inhaled deeply and sprinkled the amber shards over the crystals. 

"Here these should be very useful to protect you two against her powers. But before you can expect them to be useful, you have to say this phrase: apere contege, protect and reveal. Make sure he says it on his or it won't work for him." She slipped the pendants onto thin leather ropes and dropped them carefully into Thessa's baggie and gave her a hug goodbye. 

That night, her blissfully empty dreaming started feeling very real. The black abyss turned sharply into a single bedroom, much like the one she was in before she found her way back home. Panic quickly set in as she thought she was having a flashback of one of the many horrible things Dennis had done to her. She started to force herself to wake up, but stopped short when she saw Eric being led in; the muscles in his arms looked a little loose, not taut like she remembered them to be. He'd lost a lot of weight and the silver cuffs around his wrists dug into his pale skin. The men leading him in pushed him forward until he hit the bed weakly. Thessa felt warm tears trickle down the sides of her face at the way they treated him, but was reassured when she saw the defiant gleam lighting his golden eyes. 

"So you see. Your mate is slowly but surely being worn down by my tactics. I suggest you give up now, while you still can, cub." A disembodied voice echoed in her head. 

"I would never leave him to you Pavla. Show yourself you evil bitch." Thessa yelled aloud. 

The shrieking laughter that surrounded her felt like a physical slap and Thessa pressed her hands over her ears to drown it out. This had to be new. She didn't remember ever hearing about non mates being able to share dreams with other people. The realization of what was happening hit her so suddenly that her legs buckled under her: Pavla was going to try to sever the mating bond between Thessa and Eric so that she could redirect the current between herself and Eric. Thessa knew it would never work. Severing the bond between mates was the equivalent of suicide. In doing so, Pavla would be permanently damaging Eric's wolf and he would never be able to shift into that animal again.

"So very smart." Pavla's voice echoed in her head.

"No, NO! Leave him alone!" Thessa screamed. She lashed out when a hand closed over her shoulder and shook her. 

"Wake up, Thessa! You were screaming in your sleep, what's wrong?" Nyoko shook harder, bringing Thessa completely out of sleep.

"Eric, we have to go. Oh God, please." She groaned, soaking the pillow with her tears. 
"What happened? Thessa, what happened?" Jolena and Julius crowded the doorway. Stephan pushed his way past them and stood between Thessa and Nyoko. 

"She's going to kill him; we have to do this now." She jumped out of bed and rushed over to her drawers flinging clothes over her shoulder in a rush to get the amulets. She pulled them out and lowered them over her head and around her neck. Thessa mumbled the activation and felt the influences of the crystal and amber shards calm her mind and sharpen her focus. 

"Wait just a minute there, what if she is just trying to draw you out. And how did she get into your dream?" Jolena called out. 

"You can't just leave; we don't have any reserves ready, nothing." Julius chased after her as she rushed from the room. 

"I can't wait, I can't take chances. I need to get to him now." She fought the waves of terror, using the adrenaline the fear provided and the protection in the pendants to push her forward. 

"I'm coming with you. Nyoko, stay here with your parents. I won't let anything happen to her. Organize whatever we planned while we're gone." He quickly followed her out the door and into the night. 

~*~

Thessa heard Stephan call out to her as he left. "I'm over here!" She called from the edge of the woods surrounding the house. She was quietly removing her clothes; the small case holding the maps was on the ground next to her crumpled sleep shirt. Stephan watched in awe as she pulled the string handle of the satchel over her ankle and shifted into a hawk, rocketing into the air before he could blink. He shifted quickly and took off after her on the ground. She would reach the lighthouse before him, but with any luck, she would leave the maps somewhere he could find them. 

His paws pounded heavily on the thick grass as he pushed himself to run as fast as he could. Thessa, he decided, was a bit overdramatic, but the panic he felt radiate off her when she woke up was as intense as she claimed it to be. He didn't know what was going on between Pavla, Eric, and Thessa or why the evil woman even wanted his best friend so badly. There was something about the way they talked about Pavla that made him itch. She sounded familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He shrugged off the uneasiness he felt that her name and face had him drawing blanks. There was never a person Stephan met that he couldn't remember. 

He reached the base of a very old looking tower, the lantern room windows were cracked and a seagull's cry pierced the air as the waves crashed on the treacherous rocks on the other side. He saw Thessa land and shift back, unable to tear his gaze away as he heard the faint words of a spell on the wind as the sharp sea air blew into him. The clothes that appeared on her took him by surprise. He blinked twice, thinking that maybe the blinding light of the setting sun somehow made him see wrongly.

You can do that? He projected to her.

"Morgana taught me how, isn't it cool? It's more permanent than what I was doing in my dreams with Eric unconsciously. These last for a few hours, not a few minutes." She made a face as he eyed her long dark skirt and top. 

"Why would you fabricate a skirt? Wouldn't that hold you back and trip you up?" Stephan said as he shifted back. 

"Nope, it has a million pockets on it they're just concealed. Would you like to see how it works?" She looked up at him and smiled.

"Yeah, I guess you could make me something. It's kinda cold out here even for a wolf." He shivered, watching in awe as she chanted the spell again and a plain wool sweater seemed to form itself from the neck down for him.

"See? It's more about what you know is in the area, it looks like wool, but it's actually a whole bunch of plant fibers packed so tightly together it looks and feels like wool." She handed it to him and pulled a map out of the little case and gripped it with both hands to keep it from blowing away.

"Okay. We are on the south end of the lighthouse. So..." She started walking away from him. 

"So what?" He followed closely behind, shifted into his hybrid form to keep his legs warm. He scowled at her when she looked at him and laughed. 

"You look like a creature from one of those old horror movies." She cleared her throat when he growled at her.

"The entrance I need should be right....here!" She rolled the map back up and began stomping around on the weed choked grass.

"What are you doing?" Stephan leaned against the aged tower and watched her. 

"It's hidden and all I need is to find the fake piece of dirt on top of it." 

"How do you know all of this? It doesn't say so on the map." 

"My amulet is giving me the power of foresight. That and in our combat training," She kicked at the ground and the edge of a square lifted from the rest of the dirt. She smiled widely and dropped to her knees to pull at it "one of the first lessons we learn is that if you need to find something you want..." she grunted as she pried the other end free and yanked the rest of the covering from the ground "you need to think like your enemy. Plus I saw this in a movie once." She shrugged and brushed dust off her skirt and t-shirt.

"Okay... Now what?" Stephan knew this was the point she needed to leave. 

"Now I take the other map and go. Don't follow me down, okay? The whole system of tunnels is like a maze. I know it's marked, but your sense of direction won't be as good as if you had an amulet." She yanked the door up and climbed down the ladder. 

~*~

What is it with these people and basements? Thessa grumbled to herself once her feet hit the dirt floor. She wanted to be afraid, but her need to find her mate was greater and pushed her to find the first landmark. She stilled as she heard feet and willed her scent to change; she let her hair fall over her eyes to hide their golden glow as she trudged past a guard.

So slack. She shook her head. But then if you thought yourself the deadliest thing in the world, you wouldn't think you needed too many guards. 

The further into the lair she went, the darker and less even the tunnels became. Sometimes she had to watch for holes in the floor, or things on the ceiling. She knew she reached the dungeons when the smell hit her. The air was stale and reeked of waste and death. Her eyes teared as the assault on her sensitive nose grew so bad she had to stop and collect herself. She stroked the amulets under her shirt and felt unseeing eyes peering out from dark corners.




Fated Hearts Ch. 10



Knowing Pavla, Thessa decided that Eric was too special to be kept in this place for long...which meant he was here now for only a short time, or he was in some other part of the tunnels being tortured. Thessa was afraid to even reach out with her mind; for fear that she might encounter Pavla. In the mean time she slowly walked past the cells, hoping for a faint smell of her mate or a sign that he was behind one of the heavy wooden doors. There was one guard at each end of the dungeon room, both eyeing her warily. They were both were lions, Thessa could tell, because their large hands sported wicked looking talons, and their hair was cut to look like wild manes. She suppressed a shudder and continued down the hall slowly. 

She knew that once she reached the end of the cells she'd have to turn around and leave. If she stayed too long, the guards would get suspicious and alert their mistress. She passed one door and stopped. She could feel the pull of her mate even through the heavy wooden door. Thessa took a deep breath and on the exhale slowly and confidently chanted the spell Morgana taught her. 

"Think of what you want. Like If you want something to hide you from viewing eyes, picture smoke and mist and shadows to cover you and chant this: 'excito silentium, evoco umbram' three times." The powerful witch instructed her. Thessa felt a little crazy reciting Latin as she never really tried to speak it before, but the four simple words sounded easy enough. She remembered when Morgana showed her that the proper incantation yielded a shroud of slowly billowing black smoke. When the smoke dissipated, Morgana explained that except for the person casting the spell and the person for whom the spell is intended, no one else can hear or see anything which made for a good getaway. The only downside was that you had to be doing absolutely nothing except reciting the spell. 

Thessa wanted to jump up and down when she saw the smoke rippling through the dungeon like dense fog, after she repeated the spell three times; she shifted into a mouse and squeezed under the crack in the door. On the other side, the smoke was clear, and she saw Eric lying on the bed quietly, his breathing shallow. 

"Baby, wake up!" She shook him gently. He groaned and rolled over.

"Thessa." He sighed; his tired face broke into a weary smile as he reached up to touch her face.

"Yes, it's me, we have to go, and can you shift?" She pulled him into a sitting position, surprised at how easy it was to move him. He was weaker than she thought. 

"Here, take this, we're going to get you out of here and then we can—" she slipped his amulet over his head when she was interrupted by the door swinging open. 

"YOU!" Pavla's dark presence choked the little air out of the room like weeds in a flower garden. 

"You're stealing my specimen! Thief!" She shrieked, lunging for the couple. Her sharp nails peeked out from the sleeves in her robe as the inky blackness of her magic shot out like physical ropes to wind around them. Thessa hissed in pain and fought back her revulsion at the rotten smell of death surrounding their captor. 

"I guess it's only fitting that you'd come here trying to rescue him. Then it's only fair that you see what I'm going to do to him." Pavla motioned for the guards to hold them and come after her. 

"This is so perfect, isn't it? So fitting that I watched my mate die and now you get to watch yours die. Isn't it perfect? And look at him all weak and defenseless." Thessa tried to ignore Pavla's voice and the crushing grip of the guard as his strong fists squeezed her soft skin. The feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach intensified with each jarring step they took. She felt Eric's eyes on her and looked at him. The striking orbs of gold signifying his wolf were on full display. 

Not now, oh please Eric, hold him back. We can't take her now! She pleaded with him silently.

Thessa we're getting out of here, you came for me, and whatever she has planned is not going to work. I've been working on blocking the spells she's using on me by strengthening my mental barriers. Her magic is heavily based on mental submission...I don't know what that means for my body, what she has planned. He sounded exasperated and Thessa felt herself relax in the guard's grip. He had a plan, she surely didn't have one anymore.

Why didn't I listen to dad? I should have waited for backup... She stopped herself when she realized that the thoughts she was having weren't conducive to a successful rescue. She forced her mind to empty itself of doubt and fear, drawing instead on Eric's confidence and surety that they would find another plan to help them escape. 

I forgot to tell you that your amulet won't work unless you say the spell for it. Thessa looked over at him.

"For now...I think I'll keep you in the same holding cell. Well you can't really get anywhere outside of the lighthouse anyway It's protected with magic." Thessa tuned out Pavla's rambling as she focused on sending Eric the spell. 

Apere contege. You have to say that or else she will be able to do whatever it is she wanted to do. For now, we have to pretend that whatever spells she casts actually work, or else she'll get suspicious. Thessa saw him mouth the words and felt relief flood her. They would be safe from Pavla as long as she didn't notice the protection amulets. Eric's was hidden under his shirt, but Thessa was painfully aware of the cold glass nestled between her breasts.

The guards stopped at another chamber off the main tunnel, this one stocked with piles of homespun clothes. Pavla threw a dress at Thessa and she hurriedly pulled it over her head, glad for the covering to hide her charm and her body from the searing gazes of the were-lion guards.

Thessa closed her mental connection to Eric when she noticed that they stopped at the spiral staircase Eric showed her in his dream. The guards flanking them blocked any escape and they were forced to keep moving up the staircase. When Thessa began to tire, she felt the guard behind her push her forward with a heavy hand. Eric growled in his throat, and rested his hand on her lower back. 

I can't wait to kill those buffoons and get out of this hole. Remind me to burn this place down and seal all the underground tunnels up as soon as we get back. He said to her. Pavla stopped at the top of the staircase and turned unlocked a door. The room inside had one narrow cot and a table with a rickety looking chair. "This is the guest suite. I hope you enjoy your stay." Pavla's bone chilling laugh bounced off the stone walls as the guards pushed Eric and Thessa inside. They heard the lock click shut and in a matter of seconds, Eric reached for Thessa.

"I've missed you" He squeezed her to him. She felt a tear drop onto the top of her shoulder and seep through the thin material of the threadbare dress. 

"I missed you too. We will get out of here." She promised and clung to him. A wave of heat settled low in her belly as he stroked his fingers over her thick hair. 

"What should we do now? I had a plan and Stephan is outside the lighthouse waiting for me to bring you out the same way I came in and I don't think we can get out of here with you as weak as you are unless..." She trailed off. 

"Unless what?" Eric asked settling down with her on his lap.

"You can still talk to Stephan right? I don't know how to communicate with him mentally, but he knows how to do it with me..." She got out of his lap and started pacing the length of the small room. 

"If I communicate with him tell him where we are, he can bring reinforcements with him from both our packs. Then I can get you out and kill that maniac." Eric said from his position on the bed. 

"I'm not leaving you to face her alone, Eric. If she's going down, I get to have a chance to help you. You aren't even nourished properly. Can you shift? I had a full night's sleep and I ate dinner last night. I can distract her while you get enough energy to go in for the final kill." She reasoned. 

"Okay, fine. If you could have gotten out of whatever situation you were in alone, then you can definitely help me in this one. Thank you." He grabbed her hand to stop her from pacing. 

"Come lie down. I'll contact Stephan and then we can rest for a bit if we're going to go through with this when she comes to get us." 

They laid like that for what felt like days, not doing anything; just touching each other and kissing. Thessa dozed off and woke up to find Eric laying on his side of the tiny cot looking at her. She reached up to trace a new scar just above his lip. 

"How did you get that?" She frowned, leaning closer to inspect it. 

"Talking back." He grinned at her and she felt her heart skip a beat.

Eric watched her swallow hard and lick her lips. He groaned and kissed her, swirling his tongue with hers, reaching down to cup her breast in his free hand before pulling away.

"I don't think we should do anything until we get out of here at least." Thessa said, trying to catch her breath. 

"Right." Eric tore his eyes away from her swollen lips to regain his composure. 

"I contacted Stephan about ten minutes ago and he said he was going to rush back with as many people he can get. I think he sent out a mental signal to them and they'll meet at your parents' before they come back here." He explained. 

"What are we going to do on this end?" She asked, lacing the fingers of one hand with his. 

"I have some strength; I can use the chair as a weapon. What I need you to do is create a diversion so that I can handle Pavla and then I can use whatever energy I have left to shift and take care of the guards." He explained slowly and quietly.

"Okay. Well I can't take the guards all by myself, but I can cast a spell. But I can't be doing anything except casting when I'm doing it. So until you take out Pavla, I can't help." Thessa whispered back excitedly. 

"Okay, sure. We need to get out of the lighthouse as quickly as possible." 

"Well the main entrance at the bottom of the tower is locked with magic. I'm not sure how...oh!" She looked up at him with a wide smile. 

"I can use my dream magic to unlock it." She kissed him quickly. 

"Your what?" 

"Dream magic: It's what made the map and the hair that was on you stay. I can subconsciously alter reality or something when I'm unconscious." Thessa explained, giving Eric's hand a squeeze. 

"I believe you. I don't know how we're going to get you unconscious. Do you have any practice outside of sleeping?" 

"No..." 

"Then how are you going to do it?" 

"I don't know. Okay. New plan: we let her take us wherever she's planning to take us so that we can keep her distracted and let Stephan kill the guards." Thessa said quickly.

"I can take off my amulet and..."

"Thessa, you are not taking off your amulet. It's the only way we can be protected against her. If anyone takes their amulet off it will be me." Eric interrupted.

"Well then we have a problem don't we? Who takes off their amulet: the one who is too weak to do anything or the one who has had rest and knows some magic?" Thessa argued hotly. 

"Well I'm taking mine off, yours better stay on." Eric threatened. 

"How about we both take them off let Stephan deal with the guards and then we can deal with her together? Didn't you say that you could control the amount her attacks affect you? I got the chance to learn a few offensive and defensive spells. And I have my dream magic..." Thessa tried to reason. 

Eric groaned and pulled her closer. "That sounds like complete garbage..." 

"Because it is, Eric...we don't have anything else. If we just do what we plan to do this time, we can beat her. If all of her guards are trying to fight off the equivalent of a small army of combat trained shifters, there will be none to defend her. It's two against one in that case." She pulled back to look up at him.

"Okay. Let's do it." Eric nodded resolutely. 

"When do you think she will be back?" Thessa let her head rest in the crook of his neck and inhaled his scent deeply. She was glad to be with him, even if it meant their fight wasn't over yet.

"Do you want to sleep a little bit? You need all the energy you can get if we're going to pull this off." Thessa suggested. She reached up to stroke his soft hair and smiled when he relaxed against her.

"You know I can't leave you vulnerable like this for long. I'll take a short nap." He yawned.

Thessa smiled as she watched him fall asleep almost instantly.

~*~

"How long have I been out?" Eric yawned, passing his hand over his face. 

"A while... I really don't have a perception of—" Thessa stilled as she heard a loud boom.

"What the hell was that?!" She sat up quickly.

"Explosives...Stephan must be blowing up the chambers underground." Eric waited for to her calm down before getting out of the bed to stretch his legs.

"Why would he do that? Did you tell him we were in the tower?" She looked up at him with wild eyes.

"Yes. We have to hurry. If she's figured out what is going on down there she'll be rushing up to finish her ritual on me." Eric slipped his amulet over his head and placed it on the bed.

Thessa pulled hers off too and picked up Eric's before smashing them on the ground. She didn't want there to be any chance of Pavla recovering their contents and using it against them. She felt herself shake with excitement and fear as Eric settled on the bed behind her and pulled her into his arms. 

"Whatever happens, Thessa... can you promise me something?" He started. They could hear footsteps on the stairs thundering toward them.

"Eric, we're going to get out of here." She covered his mouth. She couldn't bear to hear him speak like that.

"I love you." He cupped her face in his hands, kissing her deeply while mentally steeling himself against whatever Pavla would throw at them through the door.

"I love you too. Did you shut down your barriers?" She asked urgently against his lips.

"Just be prepared to throw whatever spells you learned against her as soon as she comes through the door. Don't close yourself off completely; just enough to be mildly affected." He muttered, sliding off the bed at the last second. 

The next few minutes were ones of chaos. The door flew open, bursting from its hinges as the enraged figure stood on the other side. As Pavla stormed into the room, Eric smashed the chair against her face, stunning her momentarily. Blinding white smoke filled the room and obscured everything from sight. Eric and Thessa watched as Pavla rose from the floor, erasing Thessa's fog with a flick of her wrist. 

"You actually thought that stupid little magic trick would work against me again? Come!" She jerked her hand as if pulling on a string; Thessa felt her body pitch forward and watched as Eric followed suit. 

In the spirit of fighting, Thessa allowed her fear to intensify as she clutched at the doorway in a final attempt to break out of the spell Pavla cast on them. She grunted in pain as her sensitive fingertips were bruised by the rough walls and let go abruptly. They were pulled up the rest of the stairs to the lantern room which had an alter set up in the middle where the light was supposed to be. Spatters of dried blood were spread in a circle. The smell of rotten flesh was strong in the air and Thessa held her breath to save herself from gagging. She watched as Pavla walked up to the circle and motioned for Eric to be shackled over it.

"I guess by now you've realized that you won't make it out of here alive. Your friends have been very thorough in trying to rescue you by blowing up my tunnels and killing my guards but I have little use for them anymore." Pavla let her robe fall revealing her perfectly supple naked body. 

Thessa struggled against her bonds when the witch began painting her body with a jar of liquid near the base of the circle.

"It's my mate's blood. I'll have him back here soon enough." Pavla lovingly stroked the orb of light at the end of her long silver necklace.

Thessa felt helpless to do anything. How had the plan she and Eric made gone awry so quickly? The spell Pavla used to hold her in place was too strong for her to circumvent with just her shifter abilities. Her wolf surged wildly as she was forced to watch the witch paint a pentagram into the hair on Eric's stomach. He remained unnaturally still as she touched him. Thessa locked eyes with him as a sudden understanding washed over her. The only way she could do anything was to leave her body and stop Pavla that way. 

It's like your dream magic, only awake. Her wolf howled with excitement. I'd have to knock myself out first. Thessa added. The wall behind her felt sturdy enough and she slammed her head against it so hard she saw stars before the world faded to black. When Thessa woke up a few minutes later, she looked around and saw her body slumped against the wall still held in place by the magical bonds.

The spirit world was like peeling back a layer from the real world. Thessa watched as other beings moved past her seemingly oblivious to her presence. She turned back to reluctantly watch as Pavla chanted and drew more symbols. In her astral state, she saw and felt the magnitude of the spells and shielded her eyes against their almost physical brightness. She looked around for any possible avenue she could to block or divert the spell Pavla was casting. The lone figure in the corner caught her eye. The fact that a ghostly form of her former Alpha stood close gave her an idea. 

Thessa figured that once Pavla released Eric's soul from his body, Sorenan's was supposed to jump in. If she could find a way to maybe permanently release Sorenan's soul from the spirit world...her pulse jumped at the idea. She noticed the sun setting out of the corner of her eye. She was sure that the ritual was supposed to coincide with the time that Sorenan died. Her gaze swung back to the glowing orb at the end of Pavla's necklace. A smile lifted the sides of her mouth as her plan made more and more sense to her. Once the sun set and the rituals were almost completed, she had to somehow destroy that orb to destroy the remnants of the old alpha. She had a feeling that burning the circle of blood surrounding the altar was part of it too. She looked back over to her body and floated close. She sucked in a deep breath and reached for the now visible bonds of magic. She sighed with relief when she wasn't burned, but they came undone slowly and watched her body slide slowly to the floor. 

Thessa remembered that Morgana told her most spells won't work unless the caster is focused solely on the magic and nothing else. As she jumped back into her body, she didn't even notice her head wasn't hurting. Adrenaline forced the pain aside as she shifted into the snake she used to kill Dennis. She slithered quickly over the floor and quietly shifted back. Pavla was deep in concentration, but Thessa could feel her anger and ripped the orb and necklace from the other woman's throat. An almost inhuman scream of despair tore from Pavla's throat as she watched the faint light die out as the orb was smashed on the ground. 

"What have you done?!?!" She screamed, lunging for Thessa. 

Thessa cringed and prepared herself for the attack. She opened her eyes in surprise when she felt a warm spattering of liquid on her face and arms. 

"Eric, get Thessa downstairs. We're burning this place down." Stephan's voice echoed through the room forcefully. He knew Thessa was probably too shocked to move on her own so he unstrapped Eric. 

"Thessa let's go now. It's over. Let me take you to the hospital." He gently lifted her into his arms, ignoring the tingling feeling in his arms and legs as blood circulated through them again. Pavla's lifeless body lay slumped over on the floor, a pool of dark, sticky blood ran in the cracks on the floor and a group of Weres surrounded the body to take it away. Excitement and relief coursed through him, but he held it back. Thessa did a brave thing to save them, something he couldn't do, and he was afraid of losing her now. 




Fated Hearts Ch. 10



~*~

Eric refused to leave her side when they took her to the Emergency room to check her over. He stayed because he couldn't bear not seeing her and he stayed because he was afraid to lose her. While the doctor got a look at Thessa, another nurse began to patch up Eric's various cuts and bruises. 

"She's a strong girl." The doctor patted Eric's shoulder. 

"She'll be fine. We just want to keep the two of you overnight for observation to make sure everything will be alright." The wrinkly old Were hobbled slowly out of the room.

That was yesterday. They let Eric sleep on the other bed in the room overnight and promised to wake him up as soon as Thessa was awake enough for company. He heard shuffling and opened his eyes to see the nurse from last night leaning over Thessa changing the bandage pressed against the back of her head. She looked up in surprise when she heard the sheets rustle. 

"I'm sorry Alpha; I'll be done in a minute." She nodded her head in respect. "The doctor said that she's good for the most part. She made it through the night, so you we can discharge her once she wakes up." 

"Thanks." Eric pushed himself into a sitting position and stretched. The nurse nodded once more and left the room. 

When he was sure they were alone enough, he crossed the room, reassured by the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of the sheet and blanket covering Thessa from her feet to her shoulders. He reached out and smoothed his fingers through her hair, pulling back when she stretched and turned her head to look at him. 

"Hey. I almost lost you there." Eric said quietly, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He rested a hip against the bedrail. 

"Come lie down." Thessa smiled, scooting over so that he could squeeze into the side of the bed not connected to wires. 

~*~

The next week was very quiet. Eric ignored his wolf's need to mate and threw himself into his Alpha duties. He owed a lot to his Betas for the work they did to keep the Omegas happy and keep the pack running smoothly in his and Thessa's absence. Once she recovered enough, Thessa and Nyoko planned the long-awaited mating ceremony and confirmed everything with Eric.

Nighttime found the couple cuddled together in bed. Thessa had taken to sleeping with her arms and legs wrapped around her mate, and Eric had taken to waking up in the middle of the night to take a cold shower because her warm body and natural scent excited him. 

"It's been almost two months that I've been away from you...two long months since we've mated Thessa. I need you. I need to make sure you're really here and that I can really touch you like this and know you're still mine and that this isn't some desperate attempt for my subconscious to project the thing I want the most before that bitch tries to kill me." He walked her backward until she sat on the bed. He fell to his knees in front of her and cupped her face in his hands. The strong calloused fingers were as strong as she remembered; his face was fuller now that they had decent meals. They stared at each other for a long time, reassured that they were finally safe to be together without the threat of death hanging over their heads. Thessa's gaze was drawn to his lips. They were still the same soft full lips she remembered and she couldn't help leaning in to kiss them softly. 

"I don't think you're dreaming. If you're dreaming, then I'm dreaming too. And I don't want to wake up, Eric." She let him push her onto her back and sighed when she felt his familiar weight settle on top of her. Thessa panted as he sat up and pulled her t-shirt over her head. Both took in the other's naked body slowly. Thessa ran her hand over the light scars crisscrossing Eric's torso and he shivered with need. She could feel his cock hardening against her belly and reached down to grasp it in her free hand, moaning softly as she touched him for real again. 

"It's been so long Thess, I don't think I could last that long." Eric rasped, trapping her hand between their bodies as he brushed his mouth over hers. 

"Do you think it'll fit? It's been a while." She whispered. He saw the apprehension in her eyes and kissed her forehead. He peppered her face with kisses and rolled with her so that he was on top gazing at her. Despite the darkness of their room he could tell that her half closed eyes were burning with lust. He could smell her sweet essence with his sharp nose and felt his cock twitch in anticipation when she let out a throaty moan. 

"I'll fit, Thessa. I was made for you; I'll always fit."