Chapter 177: Live for me
[ Old world - Inside the strange mist ]
The mist shifted...soft at first, like breath against skin. Then it rolled, rippled... disturbed by something large.
Autumn remained frozen on the spot.
A low growl vibrated through the thick cloud ahead.
Her breath hitched.
And then...Two golden eyes broke through the veil, glowing. Fixed. Furious.
The shape took form...something massive stirred as it stepped forth...a wolf...gigantic and majestic...the fog coiled around its hulking limbs.
It exuded a strong familiar aura...
The wolf stepped forward, as though carved out of the mist itself. Its dark fur glinting faintly with wet. Its eyes, though... they burned like twin suns.
Autumn’s lips parted in a quiet gasp.
She could hear her heartbeat in her ears. It wasn’t fear exactly...anticipation...
The beast stopped a few paces from her. Then its ears pricked forward, and its nostrils flared with rage.
"Where did he touch you?"
The words were not spoken aloud. They unfurled inside her mind. It was a thick...heavy...male voice... erupting like a volcano in her head.
Autumn staggered back a step, blinking in stunned disbelief. "Who...?" How had he found her mind? How had he slipped in so easily?
"Wh...What are you...?" she breathed out.
But before she could gather another thought, she felt it...a tug.
Like a string inside her gut had been caught and pulled. Her body moved without her will, towards the wolf.
"No..." she whispered, but the pull was stronger. Deeper. She stumbled forward, and the wolf leapt...graceful, fluid...catching her before she fell.
His front paws cradled her like they had been waiting. She landed on her back, cushioned against his thick limbs. The mist around them swallowed the world whole. It was just her, and him.
And this strange weight of everything unsaid...
His muzzle hovered over her face, so close she could feel the heat of his breath, the low rumble of something broken trying to speak.
She stared up into those golden eyes,stunned, her heart racing.
" Who are you...?" she whispered, barely a sound as she stared into those eyes, her hands reaching up to touch its snout... not exactly a question... more like remembering...
The wolf’s breath hitched...an almost human ache in it. Then he lowered his snout, nuzzling against her cheek. His warmth seeped into her like sunlight.
"Autumn," his voice throbbed into her skull, raw and absolutely real, "I know I wronged you. I know I didn’t treat you like my queen. I didn’t protect you the way I should have... but..."
His nose brushed the hollow of her neck.
"My heart has always belonged to you."
She didn’t move. Couldn’t actually. Her fingers clutched the fur of his neck without even realizing it.
"You are my one and only one," he said, quieter now. "Even if I forgot how to show it more times than often."
His snout dipped lower over her collarbone. She shivered. The touch of his breath felt... like a kiss.
It felt like recognition.
Like regret.
Oddly like longing.
"Stop," she whispered, a lot more like a plea.
But he didn’t.
Instead, his nose nudged the fabric of her tunic, gently taking it by his mouth and then exposing her stomach...just enough. And then he pressed his snout there.
She gasped softly.
A strange flutter stirred beneath her skin.
Something moved under her skin... under her flesh.
His body trembled around her.
"I can feel them,Autumn..."he whispered into her mind. "Our babies. I can hear their thoughts... I can feel their hearts."
Autumn’s eyes filled suddenly, stinging... though she didn’t know why.
The wolf’s gaze lifted. Those eyes...they were wet. " They know me... know my scent... they miss me... oh damn... Autumn!!! "
Autumn could feel a rumble and then a low vibration against her skin... oddly like a purr but not the same.
"And I feel your heart too."
Then he did something she didn’t expect at all...he licked her stomach...just once.
But the scent he left behind was unmistakably a pheromone... too strong... a claim... marking her as his...
"You carry my soul, Autumn.And I don’t care if you hate me for it but I will never stop guarding it."
She turned her face away. " Get off me...Who are you? Let me go...," she choked... even though a part of her was screaming... begging her to remember. ..
He growled softly. Not at her. For her.
"I thought I was trying to protect you from the storms coming for me. But I see now... they were always coming for you, too."
Then his voice darkened.
"I can smell him on you."
Autumn stiffened.Who was this ’him’?
"I see now that he has been watching you. Hunting. Waiting for the moment you make yourself prey."
The wolf’s snout came level with her face again. Their breaths collided. Her lips parted... but no words came out.
"You must fight, Autumn." The weight of his body pressed closer, as if he was afraid. Next, his voice came barely a whisper... "Even if you don’t want me anymore. Even if you never forgive me...You cannot be vulnerable.Don’t make yourself easy prey, Autumn. You have never been weak. Don’t let him or anybody...use your loneliness as the crack in your armor. "
His eyes burned brighter.
"You don’t have to choose me. But you have to choose yourself."
The world stood still in the mist...his body still curved protectively around hers, his heat everywhere, his voice clinging to her bones.
" Don’t think I say this because I am jealous... I mean I am... It kills me seeing you around any man... " His eyes locked with hers. " All I want to do is rip their heads and drink their blood... " Another rumble against Autumn’s skin, a nudge and she felt his nose rub against her ribs. " But this isn’t jealousy... this thing... is pure evil!!! It’s not after you, Autumn... It’s after your soul..."
He pressed one last nuzzle to her belly, and it felt like a father’s prayer..." Know this... no matter who stands beside you in the light... I will always be in the shadows...guarding the three of you.All I ask...Don’t punish yourself for what I have done. Our children deserve a worthy future... and so do you."