Midnight Whispers - Paranormal Romance (7 page)

“I think
that’s a great idea,” Bryce finally replied with a smile.

Kyra finally
stood. “From the look on your Alpha’s face, I gather he would like a word with
you, so I will take my leave of you now. I’ll return on the morrow and we can
spend the day together.”

Bryce
watched, bemused, as she left their company . Women. He would never understand
them, and human females especially were unfathomable as their customs and ways
of life were different than what he had grown up with. She was probably right
about the idea that they needed to get to know each other—she was likely
going to be unfamiliar with his way of life as well.

“What sort of
game are you playing, Bryce?”

Bryce turned
to look at his Alpha, who was scowling at him. “What?”

“I don’t
understand why you are indulging her whim. You know that during the remainder
of your thirty-eight days that until you complete the mating cycle you will be
vulnerable.”

Bryce ran his
fingers through his hair; once more bemoaning the fact that fate had picked a
human mate for him. If it had been a woman from his Clan, they would have
already completed the cycle, and likely he would be expecting his first child.
The longer a pair waited to mate, the weaker they became from the effort of
resisting the call, and the more open to attack they left
themselves—hence why if he had been given a woman from his clan there
would have been no wait.

“Kyra doesn’t
understand the implications, and I don’t want to force her. She needs a few
days to get used to the idea, to get to know me, to familiarize herself with
the Clan and our ways.”

“All of those
things can be done after you’ve completed the mating cycle and the two of you
are no longer in danger.”

“She is
holding onto the belief that she might be able to hold out long enough to break
the cycle, in which case she will be free of me.”

“
What?
”
Charles threw his hands up in the air. “This is madness! I’m going to get her
right now.”

Bryce snatched
his Alpha back by the wrist, a move that under any other circumstances would
have brought down a severe set down. But they were in private, and this was
his
mate they were talking about. “No.”

Charles
whirled around, his pupils contracted and a snarl curling his lip. “You do not
give me orders,
Epsilon
.”

Bryce lowered
his head in deference to the Alpha, not wanting to cause an all-out brawl, but
did not take his eyes off him. “Please, Charles. It is my life to gamble with,
and she is my mate. If giving her a few of my days to get her used to the idea
is enough to win her over without force, then I have the right to do it.”

Charles
sighed. “I just don’t want to lose one of my best men because of this.  I
know from first-hand experience just how destructive women can be once they
have you wrapped around their fingers. And you haven’t won her heart.”

Bryce smiled
grimly. “Not yet, but give me time.”

****

Kyra had been
fretting all day over how she was going to slip into the woods to meet with
Bryce without alerting her aunt, but she needn’t have worried. Her aunt had
complained of a headache and went to take a rest, and Kyra had quickly finished
up the chores and slipped outside without waking her.

When she’d
come home yesterday from her meeting with Bryce, her Aunt had exclaimed about
how well she looked, and whether or not she’d taken some sort of potion or
elixir to restore the healthy glow to her face. Kyra had assured her she had
not, and that it was the walk, which had done her the good, but since she still
looked healthy enough, she wouldn’t be able to use that excuse to go walk in
the woods again today.

For once she
had actually slept through the night, though she had still dreamed of Bryce.
Rather than being lost in the maze, though, she had dreamt that she was his
mate and living with him in the hidden village. It had been an odd dream,
mainly because she’d felt like a completely different person. Rather than
outcast and alienated, she’d felt safe, protected, and part of a community that
genuinely liked and respected her. She was friends with the women, cordial with
the men, and had Bryce as her mate for comfort and support.

The thing
that had really shocked her was the kicks she had felt in her belly during the
dream—she’d been pregnant. Expecting a child. Even now, walking through
the fields, she pressed a hand to her belly expecting to feel them
again—they’d seemed so real. But there was nothing there, just her flat
abdomen, and that knowledge filled her with a desolation she didn’t understand.

She hadn’t
realized how much she’d wanted children until that moment. Now that she did she
understood how Bryce must feel about her indecision, knowing that if they
somehow did make it through the month and break off the bond, that she would be
taking away his chance for a family.

Could she
really do that to him? Could she really doom him to a life without children?

“Kyra!”
Jake’s voice called, and she stopped, her entire body freezing. She’d
completely forgotten about him. Turning, she saw him jogging through the grass
toward her, dressed in a pair of trousers with suspenders and a white cotton
shirt. His customary straw hat was missing so that his shaggy blond hair
gleamed in the sunlight, and her heart sank. How had she allowed her thoughts
about Bryce to consume her so utterly that she’d discounted him?

“Hi,
Jake.”  She forced a smile.

 “I came
by yesterday afternoon to find out that you weren’t feeling well and not up to
taking visitors. Now today, you’re looking just fine. I’m so glad to see that
you’re well.” He grinned, but she saw the glimmer of hurt in his eyes. “I was
wondering if I’d scared you off.”

Kyra wondered
why her Aunt had told him she was in bed rather than out, but decided that was
something she could worry about later. “I really wasn’t well yesterday, Jake,”
she told him, placing a soothing hand on his arm. “I wasn’t trying to avoid
you.”

“Well, that’s
always good to hear.” Jake grinned again. “I was worried that maybe I had said
something to offend you.”

Kyra shook
her head, smiling. “Never.”

“Well, since
I’ve caught you now, are you feeling up for a ride?” Jake asked.

Kyra
contained a sigh, unbelievably conflicted. She had promised Bryce she would
come to see him today, but she didn’t want to hurt Jake or make him feel
rejected, especially when he had been obviously on the lookout for her. Besides,
horseback riding
did
seem quite a bit more appealing than going back to
the shifter village. A shudder ran through her as she remembered leaving
yesterday—she’d held her head high amid the stares and whispers even
though her body wanted to cower and curl up to get away from them. Even though
Bryce had assured her safety, they still made her incredibly nervous. After
all, they were predators.

“Kyra?”

Snapping
herself out of it, she gave him a dazzling smile. “I’d love to, Jake.”

****

Creeping
through the forest, they used no torches, no candles, blending with the
darkness in order to become one with the night. Though they were silent, the
night was not, and he gritted his teeth at the sound of howls pealing through
the air—the beasts were out, and as usual, they wanted blood.

He knew
they were not normal creatures, though regular wolves were bad
enough—they picked off sheep from the nearby flocks and caused general
mayhem. But these were something more—the uncanny intelligence in their
eyes and the way they communicated were proof of that. Not to mention the one
night he’d been alone, simply enjoying a walk, and he’d watched from the cover
of the bushes as one had changed into a man right before his eyes.

No, these
creatures were not protected by God. They were just another spawn of the Devil,
and as such they needed to be destroyed.

Of course,
when wearing the skin of wolves they traveled in packs, which made it
difficult. Their keen noses could scent an enemy or prey from afar, and they
had to be very careful that they stayed downwind. And though they picked off
the demons using long-range weapons, they often found that precaution to be not
enough as the wolves were fast, much faster than humans.

Not a sound,
he
mouthed to his fellow hunters as they got into position at the edge of a
clearing. Sure enough, the demon-wolves were right on schedule, singing their
terrible song of death as they emerged out into the open. Smiling tightly, he
readied his crossbow, and soon the air filled with his preferred brand of
music—the sound of bolts and arrows singing through the air, and the
death howls that followed.

They
felled several of the wolves before the beasts caught onto their position and
charged. Cursing, he and his men switched to close quarter weapons, but rather
than staying to fight they turned and ran, knowing they would at least have a
bit of a head start. Heart racing, he zigzagged through the trees as he and his
men had practiced—it forced the wolves to go slower and gave them a
better chance at escaping the edge of the trees unharmed. The wolves never came
out of the woods, so they would be safe.

A root
snagged on his boot and he went down, his face smashing into the unforgiving
ground. Cursing, he struggled to his feet, then howled with pain as one of the
wolves sank his teeth into his leg. The wolf pulled hard, and he would have
gone down again if he hadn’t the foresight to grab one of the thick branches on
a nearby tree. Snarling, he lashed out with his knife, embedding it deeply into
the wolf’s shoulder, who was forced to release him as he howled with pain.

“Come on!”
one of his fellow hunters hissed, grabbing him and continuing to pull him
through the woods.

****

The next day,
after her aunt retired for another afternoon nap, Kyra headed out to find
Bryce.  She found herself moving quickly across the field, her eyes
darting about almost guiltily as she watched for any sign of Jake. He hadn’t
appeared, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Yesterday’s
ride had been fun, but the experience had been marred by the kernel of guilt
constantly brushing up against her consciousness, like a pebble in her shoe she
so desperately wanted to remove, but couldn’t. She’d been frustrated with
herself because she knew that unless she wanted to lead Jake to their secret
village, she needed to stay with him, but apparently her emotions didn’t agree
with her logic.

Last night
she’d had no dreams that she could remember, but had bolted up from her bed
with her heart in her throat and sweat breaking out over her forehead in a
panic. She felt as though something had gone terribly wrong, and when she had
listened to the howls and heard the pain and fear in them, knew that something
bad had happened out there. She’d been of half a mind to throw caution to the
wind and head into the forest then and there, but she knew doing such a thing
would be both foolish and dangerous, and had forced herself to wait until
morning.

She navigated
the maze swiftly this time, as though she’d been doing it for years even though
this was really only her third time. When she emerged in front of the village
entrance, it was to find the village almost deathly silent, with a heavy pall
hanging over the air. The two guards standing by wore grim expressions, and her
heart sunk into her shoes.

Stepping
forward cautiously, for they looked rather bloodthirsty today, she spread her
hands to show she meant no harm. “What has happened? I… I can feel that
something has gone wrong.”

Something
moved in the guards’ eyes. “An attack,” one of them finally growled. “By your
people.”

Kyra frowned.
“My people?”

“Humans,” the
other ones spat. “We keep to ourselves, leaving the village only to hunt at
night, and yet they are determined to hunt us to extinction.”

Kyra didn’t
know what to say, twisting her fingers nervously. She had no idea there was a
group of humans hunting the shifters, but if that were the case it would
explain their animosity toward the human race. Biting her lip, she wondered if
she should try to go into the village or not.

“There she
is!” a female voice cried, and Kyra turned, startled, to see a woman standing
several yards away, pointing an accusing finger at her. She was tall and
willowy, with inky black hair that flowed to her hips. Her blue eyes glowed
with hatred, and her otherwise pretty mouth was twisted into a sneer. “The
filthy human responsible for the attack last night!”

“What?” Kyra
took a step back. “I had nothing to do…”

“How do we
know that’s not true?” A man stepped forward beside the woman. “You could have
easily told them of our location. We hunted very close to home last night, and
they still managed to find us. Three dead, five severely wounded.”

More clan
members came out to hurdle accusations at her, and Kyra began to tremble
violently as their voices rose, tears filling her eyes. She’d never felt such
intense animosity being sent her way before, and didn’t know what to do with
it. She knew she was innocent, but these people didn’t seem to want to listen
to reason—rather they were looking for an outlet for their anger, grief
and frustration, and she was the perfect target.

“We should
kill her!” another man shouted, stepping forward with his teeth bared and his
fist raised. “The humans kill us with abandon, so why shouldn’t we take one of
their own in exchange for the lives lost!”

“If you lay a
hand on her, your life is the one that will be lost.” Bryce stepped out from
the crowds and gripped the man’s outstretched arm. The crowd froze, all shouts
and cries ceasing instantly, but the man did not back down despite the
precarious position he suddenly found himself facing.