| BY: JANET They had found her again. Her family’s mortal enemy, the Nottinghams. She was the last of her family. They had done well destroying her family over the centuries. About two centuries ago they considered Ariel’s family witches and warlocks, cursed and evil demons. Today, people would consider them physics, but a few had real powers such as Ariel. I don’t know how much longer I can go on, she thought. “I know I promised you mama but I just am not that strong,” she cried. Three years she lived in this peaceful town of Mayville. She was just starting to think she was safe for once in her life. But she was wrong. Leaving work late last night she felt them. They were watching her. She made a list of places she could go and discarded them all. She couldn’t make any friends because she learned long ago that they would use them against her. Maybe she could fight them. She has been training and can kick ass with the best of them. “I may not win but I will take a few of them with me,” she said with finality. Hastily she threw a few important things into a bag and prepared to start the chase. “Where to battle?” she though aloud.. Opening her laptop she booked a flight to Alaska, she was going home. They would never guess she’d be going there. She would have a brief time to prepare for the upcoming battle. Looking back over the past century, he wonders how he has made it this far without losing his soul. Many times he had decided to end his suffering but at the break of dawn something held him back. It was like a will not his own, he seemed to be waiting for something or someone, or just a miracle. “Ha, ya. I have long since stopped believing in miracles,” Ethan thought bitterly. Now it was almost to late. He had hoped to be able to see his Prince once before he left this world but he no longer had the strength to make the journey home. “One more night, then it will be peace for me my friend,” he whispered to his one and only companion. The gray wolf nuzzled his hand in understanding. Ever since Ethan saved him from a poachers trap he had been his devoted friend. Ethan tensed, scanning for the cause of the disturbance in the usually peaceful forest. He didn’t have to search for long. She came out of the woods into a clearing. It came like a punch in the stomach, I haven’t been able to let myself so this for so long, Ariel thought. The moon is like pure energy to her. Leaning her head back and spreading her arms wide she stood there basking in the moon until she felt him. She willed herself to relax even though her pulse was pounding in her veins. Opening her eyes, she looked straight to where he stood. Even with her keen night vision she couldn’t quite make him out. Ethan froze. She stared right at him even though he willed her not to be able to see him. He had to take iron control of his will before he leaped to where she stood and claimed her in one fell swoop. He tried to scan her mind but it was like slamming into a brick wall. “I know you are there and if you don’t mind, stay out of my head,” she said defiantly. She’s got spirit, Ethan thought. Was that a smile trying to come to his lips. He couldn’t remember when the last time he felt like smiling. He stepped into the clearing about 15 yards away from her. She was the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, and he has seen many. She was about medium height, long auburn hair that she had braided in a single braid down her back. She has a full figure bur well proportioned. People would even say they made a cute couple, but he didn’t care what others thought. She was his even though she didn’t know it yet. Ariel stared at him openly. Her brain was saying she should be afraid but her heart and body seemed to recognize him. She had found what she was searching for. The piece of her that was missing and she hated fate for sending him to her now. She didn’t expect to survive the upcoming battle and she had made peace with it in the two weeks since she escaped them in Mayville. He was tall, ruggedly handsome with ebony color hair he grew long and had tied back with an old fashioned leather thong. Broad shoulders and equally broad chest. She probably could stand behind him and couldn’t be seen from the front. He looked strong and forbidden but it was his eyes that did her in. Chocolate brown with flecks of honey, they were so intense and filled with so much sadness she wanted to weep for him. She had yet to hear him speak but knew his voice would be a rich velvet that would melt her insides. She was already on fire. “What are you doing out here in this wilderness all alone. Don’t you know there are wild animals about that would eat you alive,” he demanded. Ariel was right. She had to concentrate so hard to just keep standing that she almost didn’t hear the tone of authority in his words. Immediately she tensed and was about to give him a piece of her mind when suddenly he was before her. “I apologize. It’s just that you seem to have brought out my protective streak. I didn’t like seeing you alone out here.” “I am very capable of taking care of myself,” she stated. “Oh, really. I watched you for a few minutes. I could of easily attacked you,” he said smugly. “Don’t bet on it. I would of sensed you way before you reached me. Who are you?” she asked. Ethan thought about the best way to tell her that she was his lifemate. He already made a mess of things and they have only been speaking for a few minutes. But for some reason he liked to rile her, maybe it was how her eyes burned like green fire. “My name is Ethan Holt, and you are?” “Ariel McGregor.” Far off they heard cries from a wolf. Ethan’s wolf ran into the clearing and growled to Ethan letting him know that evil was coming. Scanning, Ethan grabbed Ariel’s arm and the electricity between them practically sizzled. Ariel acting on instinct grabbed and twisted and broke free and pushed Ethan away forcefully with her mind. Exasperated and secretly proud of her for the move, quickly explained what was coming. “You need to run and hide. He is almost here and we could not escape him.” “Who?” Ariel asked anxiously. She could sense something coming and it was pure evil and making her stomach hurt. “A vampire. This is not how I wanted our first night together to be but it is my duty as a hunter of my people to bring justice to this creature,” Ethan said fiercely, touching her cheek softly. Ariel tried to ignore how good and how right it felt for him to tough her. Vampire huh, she thought. Why not? I have seen some pretty awful things in my life. “I can help. I know how to fight. I am what you would call a witch of sorts,” she said earnestly. The thought of losing him just after she had found him was unbearable. “I am flattered that you would try to protect me. But I would be distracted worrying about protecting you and may make an error,” he said softly. Before she realized what he was going to do, he gently touched his lips to hers and then he was gone. Since she has never seen a true vampire before and didn’t want to cause Ethan to get hurt she followed his wolf into the woods and found a high vantage point to watch just incase he needed help. She could do some things from afar with her powers. Ethan stood in the middle of the clearing like he didn’t have a care in the world. He was not about to die now that he had found his life mate. The battle took longer than he thought it would. Even though this was a young vampire, it seemed he had learned a few things from an ancient. But in the end he was destroyed, though he did get in a few blows and Ethan’s shoulder was bleeding. He was just finishing cleaning up the evidence when Ariel ran into the clearing and straight into his arms. Ariel’s heart stopped when the vampire slashed Ethan’s arm. She barely stopped herself from flying down into the battle. Suddenly Ariel jerked back and searched him all over and gasped when she seen his shoulder and all of the blood. “Come, I need to get you back to my cabin and tend to that shoulder,” she said. “Wait. I can heal it here,” he said while bending down and scooping up a handful of soil. After spitting into it he packed his wound. “What are you doing,” she exclaimed. “You’re going to get that all infected!” Smiling, he took her by the hand and led her over to a fallen log and sat her down. Taking a deep breath he said, “we need to have a talk.” “Ya, like the one about you are nuts,” she said. Looking into his eyes Ariel breathed, “what are you?” “I am Carpathian. I have lived many centuries. My people are struggling to survive. Our women are few and males of my species must find their lifemates or must seek the dawn, but there are those such as the one I just killed who choose to lose their souls for the rush of the kill. You see after about 200 years our males loose their abilities to feel or see color. The only time we feel anything is when we kill.” Ariel just stared at him. She didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t seem crazy and she just seen what he did. “Are you telling me you live forever? Than are you a vampire?” she asked. “No. Vampires were once Carpathians. When we feed we do not harm our prey. If once you kill by drinking the life of human you lose your soul,” he said. “What is a lifemate?” Ariel felt nervous. She didn’t know if she wanted to know the answer. “A lifemate is our other half. You are my lifemate. My light to my darkness. Our bodies recognize each other, I know you feel it. The moment I seen you my feelings and color came back. You only have one lifemate,” he said earnestly. Ariel started pacing. She was feeling conflicting feelings. Finally to belong to someone, to be accepted for who she was. It was just not fair. “I can’t be your lifemate, I am not Carpathian, I don’t drink blood. I can’t be any ones anything,” she cried. “There is only one for me and one for you. We have found that a few humans with physic abilities can be lifemates. You will become Carpathian like me. It will be difficult but we can do it together.” “You don’t understand. It is dangerous for anyone to be with me. I can’t keep you safe from them. Not now. Not when I decided to stop running and to end it now,” Ariel said fervently. “Who are you talking about?” Ariel’s mind was racing. This can’t be happening. My body and soul wants to give in but my heart just can’t risk putting it in harms way. Ethan grabbed Ariel and kissed her. Sending waves of heat and desire to her caused Ariel to stop fighting him and instead grasped at him in an attempt to get closer. Before Ethan realized what he was doing he nuzzled her neck and sank his teeth in and the taste of her was intoxicating. Before long Ariel started to get weak and sagged against him. Cursing at himself he sealed the wound leaving no mark and cut his chest and pressed Ariel to drink. In her weakened condition he was able to get control of her mind and willed her to drink. “I am sorry sweetness. The beast is strong in me. That is why I need you. Drink, I will not lose you now.” Quickly, before she realized what was happening, Ethan recite the ritual words to her to ensure their bond. “I claim you as my lifemate. I belong to you. I offer my life for you. I give to you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul, and my body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness, and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate, bound to me for all eternity and always in my care.” Making sure she drank enough he closed the wound on his chest and swung her into his arms. Moving with the speed of his people he soon was at his entrance to one of his lairs. Scanning before he entered, he set his strongest safe guards once he was inside. Deep inside the mountain he entered a huge cavern that shined bright like the sun because the walls were covered in gold. There was a small meandering stream running through the far side of the cave. Laying Ariel down on a mattress made of furs, he brushed her cheek, willing her to wake. Opening her eyes, it took a moment for Ariel to get her bearings. “Where are we?” “In my lair.” Sitting up suddenly Ariel stared at Ethan. “Did you just speak to me in my head?” she cried. “Yes. As you can speak to me in my head.” Suddenly it all came back to her. Ethan kissing her. Ethan drinking her blood. Ariel drinking his blood. She couldn’t breathe all of the sudden. “Breathe. It will be okay. I am sorry. All of these emotions are so strong. Kissing you makes me crazy,” he said. Grasping her neck, she whispered, “what have you done?” Determined to find a way out of there, Ariel jumped to here feet and would have fallen if Ethan hadn’t of caught her. “I should of controlled my thirst. But after loosing blood during the battle and my desire for you, I didn’t realize what I was doing. Please, if you search my mind, you would see I only want you happiness,” he said desperately. “If you want my happiness then let me out,” she demanded. “Your weak and it is almost dawn. I won’t be able to protect you much if the need arises. Please stay the day with me. Just rest. We can talk about the future when we rise,” he asked. Ariel thought about it and decided a day wouldn’t hurt. She was weak and tired. It would be nice to just once to lay in someone’s arms and be held. “Alright. But come evening I am free to go where I please,” she demanded. “We will speak more then,” he said. Lying down Ethan gathered Ariel into his arms and scanned outside and reinforced his safe guards. Sighing, Ariel fell fast asleep. Ethan, caressing Ariel’s hair, breathed in her scent and sleep was a long time in coming.
Jerking awake, Ariel was confused for a moment and forgot where she was. Then she felt arms around her and a warm body behind her. Slowing her breathing she concentrated on finding what woke her. She didn’t have to search for long. She could feel them. They were casing out her cabin. So, they have found me already, she thought. Suddenly she wasn’t ready to end it now, but she was even more determined not to let Ethan get hurt. Very carefully she climbed out of Ethan’s arms and stood up looking down at him. Memorizing his face to take with her, she turned and started to find her way out of the cavern. By the time she made it out of the mountain she was sweating and so tired. It seemed the farther away she got from Ethan the more hard it became to move until she burst out into the open. Taking one more look at where she just came out of she turned and started running back to her cabin. If all ends the way she planned the battle will be over before evening.
A cry in his mind woke Ethan with a start. At once he knew what was wrong and he cursed himself for not seeing how upset Ariel was. She was gone. Reaching out to her mind he growled and his fangs exploded in his mouth. The people that were hunting Ariel has captured her and drugged her so she couldn’t use her powers. He seen all that happened in her mind. She had thought that she was going to kill some of them, which she did, but she had expected to not survive. But it seemed that they did not want her dead, at least not yet. Shifting into a bat, Ethan flew up and out of the top of the mountain and changed into a huge bird of prey. God help those who would harm and try to take his lifemate from him. He was a predator tracking his prey. Sending waves of comfort, Ethan spoke to Ariel and let her know he was coming for her. “I am coming love. They will not harm you ever again.” “No!” she screamed in head mind. “Stay away, the will kill you.” “Do not worry about me. I am not so easily killed. These humans can cause me no harm,” he said with absolute conviction. It was over before began. Ethan killed all but one, barely sparing him, but he had need of him. Taking the man’s blood he wiped his mind of what really happened and planted a new version. He will return to his people and tell them there was a huge battle in which he barely survived. Everyone died including Ariel. He cleaned up the mess and made his way back home. The man stumbled off into the night.
Ariel woke the following evening back in the cavern in Ethan’s arms. For a few seconds she thought she had dreamt all that happened the day before. But it all came crashing in on her and she couldn’t breathe. “Sh. It’s alright sweetie. Everything is going to be alright. It is over now. You never have to worry about the Nottinghams again.” Slowly relaxing, Ariel just stared into Ethan’s eyes. After tenderly kissing her, Ethan explained to Ariel what happened and what he did. Urging her to look into his mind, he was pleased when she grabbed him and held him to her. “I didn’t know. I didn’t realize what I meant to you,” she cried. “Never doubt that you are my life, my everything,” he said. “It’s over, really over? What will I do? What will we do?” she asked. “What ever we do, we will do together,” he said earnestly. “Together. I never thought I would belong to someone. I will become Carpathian like you?” she asked. “Yes, but it will be painful going through the conversion. I will take as much of the pain I can, but you will pay the price,” he said. Ariel could feel how upset he was about causing her pain. “I would walk through fire if it meant I could have eternity with you,” she stated. And with that Ethan made her his. Lifemate, soulmate, heartmate, forever and always.
|
