close to mine. I couldn’t breathe; his hand was an iron
clamp, choking me. It was ironic how many times he’d been this close to me and
I’d embraced him as a lover.
White spots danced in my vision, and
everything was laced in black. Lashan’s eyes were empty. Merciless. I saw death
in them.
I heard a wild roar, and raw power gushed
through me, spinning around the room. Loose papers flew up in a whirlwind of
emotion. I wondered vaguely when Lashan had become so powerful.
But then Donald was in the room, big and
angry. He was still in human form, but he seemed bigger than usual. My knees
buckled, and when Lashan saw we had company he let me go. I sank to the ground,
coughing and heaving. My throat was raw.
“Who are you?” Lashan demanded. He didn’t look
scared.
“Don’t you touch her again,” Donald warned,
and his eyes promised death. “If you lay one finger on her, you won’t make it
through the night.
“This is personal,” Lashan hissed with fangs
bared. “Is he your side dish?” he asked me, his eyes still on Donald.
I couldn’t answer. Before I had a chance to,
Donald roared again, and fear hung like a cloud in the room. It was Lashan’s.
They circled each other, sizing each other up.
I didn’t know how Lashan thought he could win this one. Donald was in a class
of his own.
Lashan charged forward, and attempted to bite
Donald, but he deflected him easily, and sent the vampire spinning into the
ground.
“You’re making a mistake,” he said calmly.
Lashan looked at Donald like he was going to strike again, but instead he
rushed towards me, and grabbed a handful of hair.
“If you don’t get out of here now, she’s going
to get really hurt,” he said. I couldn’t believe my own husband was using me as
a bargaining chip. A hostage.
“Lashan—“ I started but he squeezed tighter
and my sentenced trailed off in a moan. I watched Donald. He stood casually,
his hands in his pockets.
“Let her go,” he said. “If you do, I won’t
kill you.”
Lashan barked a laugh, but just tightened his
hold and yanked slightly on my hair for effect. The sound of my voice seemed to
be what set Donald off. He started shifting. His skin became stubbly with hair,
until it was a thick coat of brown fur. His teeth sharpened into a mouth with a
bad attitude, and his muzzle lengthened. He almost tripled in size. Within
seconds the giant bear stood where Donald had.
Lashan finally saw reason, and let me go. I
tumbled back to the floor. He backed up until his back was against the wall,
and then he shimmied his way around the room to the door that led to the
kitchen.
“You can have her,” he spat. “She’s worthless,
anyway.”
Donald didn’t answer. He waited until Lashan
was gone, before he shifted back into a human. He crouched down next to me.
“Are you alright?” he asked, brushing the hair
that had escaped out of my face. I wanted to say yes but instead tears ran over
my cheeks and my hands trembled when I tried to wipe them away. My vampire
mate, my partner for eternity, had just threatened my life.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“Your blood calls out to me. Not in a
food-way. I don’t know how to explain it. It has from the start. When you were
in trouble, I had to come.”
He wrapped one arm around my shoulders, and
the other arm under the crook of my knees. I curled into a ball against his
chest. He picked me up like I weighed nothing, and carried me into the night.
THE
END
If
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