Fate
“We’ll split up to cover more ground, I’ll go north, you go south then meet back at the cabin. If I find anything good I’ll radio you alright.” Dante liked being a leader a little too much for Chris’s taste, but he didn’t argue. He ran his fingers through his wavy black hair and rolled his eyes “fine Dante you can take the northern trail this time, I’ll set up a couple bear traps and snares, maybe we’ll get something good today.” As Chris set his radio to the same frequency as Dante, a cool autumn breeze picked up the leaves and blew them in Dante’s face. Brushing the leaves off of his shirt he glared at Chris.
Snickering Chris shook his head “even nature hates your bossy tone little brother” Chris stated while switching off the safety of his hunting rifle. Dante rolled his eyes at Chris “Oh Ha you’re only older by 4 minutes fuck off.” Turning their backs to each other they went off on their trails. They owned a hunting shop in town selling guns, licenses, hunting knives, even deer pelts every so often. High-tower hunt shop was the name that their father had given it when he first opened in the little town of Stowe Vermont. Both Dante and Chris decided to move out of the city and live in a cabin near the base of Mount Mansfield after their father passed away. They preferred to be out in the woods anyway, its where their father taught them to hunt, so they felt more in touch with his memory that way.
Their mother passed away when they were nineteen years old only a year after they moved to the city. After getting a taste of the city life for a few years their father was diagnosed with cancer, he felt it was too late to start treatment for it so they had no choice but to move back and take care of him until he passed. It was their fathers final wish to keep the cabin as part of the family inheritance to be passed down to their own children should they have any. Chris knew he was a family man so he had no issues keeping the cabin together, but Dante never liked the idea of settling down with one woman for the rest of his life. He would have preferred to stay in the city to drink party and sleep around but Chris dragged him along with guilt trips "You really want the one thing that father had built himself to rot away?" he would say just to slap him in the face with guilt.
As she opened her eyes to view her surroundings the gate closed behind her. Where did that gate bring me? Gazing around made her feel a bit dizzy, her eyes unable to focus. The air felt thin as a dense fog set in I must be up on a mountain side it’s difficult to breathe. A cool breeze hissed by her face she sniffed the air for any sign of the ones pursuing her nothing they must not have followed us through slowly she felt her body rejecting her new form so she willed herself to change back into human form. Her white fur shed revealing smooth olive skin, bones shifted and shrunk back to their original shape, her long white hair sprouted from her scalp growing past her butt.
Soon her metamorphosis was complete, but the change weakened her further. Attempting to stand she winced one of the hunters had bit her hind leg as she escaped and was bleeding. No longer possessing the energy to heal she reached for the small bag that she brought with her and pulled out a cloth. Carefully she tied the cloth around her upper thigh to seal off the wounds enough to let her walk. Able to stand a bit better she surveyed her surroundings, all around her were tall pine and spruce trees. Slowly she walked east putting as much distance as she could between the gate and her as possible.
Bow hadn’t been able to tell her the negative effects of a change especially the first change. Every muscle in her body ached and burned with every step she took. Her body felt hot and she could feel nausea setting in as she limped over roots and rocks. Feeling the bile come up her throat she dropped to her knees expelling the contents of her stomach on the forest floor. Her body was rejecting the new power within her and the environment didn’t help. Reduced to a crawl she walked on all fours which would have been easier in wolf form, but she had no energy left and needed to rest. She couldn’t understand what was happening to her. The autumn air cooled her bare skin, but her body temperature was so high it hardly made a difference. Determined not to black out she pushed herself to keep going even though she was in immense pain. The awkward crawl she had to do to keep moving made her leg bleed through the cloth heavily and the blood loss made her dizzy. When she couldn’t go any further her body seized up forcing her down to her stomach and the blackout took her.
Chris walked along his trail placing snares and bear traps on the way. With a quick flick of his knife he marked the pine trees he passed to make sure he kept track of where he had been. The mid-morning fog was setting in making it hard to see too far ahead, so he leaned against a birch tree taking a drink from his canteen. Breathing deep he suddenly noticed a trail of blood leading east. Thinking maybe a deer was injured he put away his water and set off following the trail. If he could at least get a deer he would feel somewhat accomplished, although technically cheating. Dante was always the better hunter for reasons Chris never understood, their father taught them both the same tricks to hunting together. Dante seemed to pick it up naturally whereas Chris would struggle.
The blood trail was spotty as if from multiple wounds perhaps a wolf got to a deer he thought. As he followed the trail it began to turn bright red, he was getting close to where the animal likely was. Soon the trail came to abrupt stop and he found nothing at the end of it. “Dammit end of the line” he tossed his gun to the ground frustrated that he went off trail for nothing, but felt a strange pull as if the wind was strong sucking him in towards something. Following the pull, he suddenly felt pain in his leg and a pain in his heart as if he lost someone dear to him, the emotion clearly wasn’t his own. As he looked around he saw something under the leaves about five feet from him. The closer he got he saw a pile of stomach bile in the leaves, whatever was here wasn’t an animal.
Slowly he made his way over to the pile and cleared away the leaves revealing a young woman shaking and obviously ill. The clash of emotion and pain was coming from her, Chris didn’t understand why he could feel her pain “Come on please be alright, come on come back to me.” He didn’t know why he worded his plea that way but he just needed that reassurance that she wasn’t dying not necessarily out of compassion- the plea came directly from his aching soul. A small sound of pain emitted from her as he touched her forehead, he breathed a sigh of relief as he examined her. She had a high temperature, her muscles were seized up and the bite wound on her upper thigh was bleeding through the cloth tied around it. Sweat poured from everywhere along her beautiful olive skin it was good that her body was at least trying to fight whatever ailed her. It was clear she wasn’t prepared for how harsh the woods can be, she had a small pack, no clothes on, no water, no gear. The pain in her leg was awful and Chris was enraged that something or someone had hurt her.
Chris couldn’t figure out why anyone would be out in the middle of the forest, completely underprepared, unless they were running from something. What could she have been running from that would cause her to blindly go into a forest without being prepared. Chris felt himself slip into her mind, she had witnessed death and pain, almost got killed herself. Feeling overwhelmed by the pain and fever she was feeling he quickly withdrew himself from her mind how the hell did I do that? Last, he understood he couldn’t read people’s minds or feel others pain. Chris had heard of such people with those gifts existing, but he had never been able to do it. The loneliness that she was radiating hurt his heart, whoever she lost she cared deeply for and he could even feel that she wished she was a fighter like him. When Chris felt that thought come to the surface of her mind he wondered if she would not want him after losing a boyfriend or husband or fiancé.
He didn’t understand why could he feel such a connection to this woman he didn’t know. He had never felt a connection like that to any woman he had ever been with. Dante would always set him up on dates with pretty woman, but they were always either dumb blondes or dull brunettes he could never connect emotionally to any of them. Something in his heart connected to hers and she wasn’t even conscious. His very soul reached out to her with need and compulsion. She had to live, it was not an option to let her die, Dante would have to deal with it Because he wasn’t about to let her die in the middle of the forest.
Carefully looking her over for any additional wounds he couldn’t help but admire her beauty, her form was small but muscular and he could feel she had a strong will. She had a Determination of steel, yet gentle and kind. Her angular jawline and high cheekbones suggested she was in her early twenty’s. Although a few lines on her face made it clear she was no child, she had seen some hardship. Her pain beat at him like a rock hitting the back of his head he knew he needed to help nurse her back to health, so he took his shirt off and wrapped it around her. With all the sweat her body was producing she would be chilled if she stayed uncovered. Strapping his gun over his shoulder he cradled her bridal style holding her tight to his body and sprinted off towards the cabin. 'Dante is going to kill me when he finds out I got no deer' Chris thought as he dodged past trees and leaped over roots with haste. Feeling the heat of her fever even through his shirt worried him, he hoped she wasn’t getting worse. Without looking down to her he shouted, “don’t worry I’ve got you” It only took a few minutes to get back to the cabin at the speed Chris was running. Kicking down the front door he bolted to his bedroom and lay her down on his bed.
Dante was not home so Chris had to quickly gather up bandages, rubbing alcohol and gauze to clean up her leg. Removing the cloth, he was surprised at how small the holes were, with the amount of blood bleeding through he thought they would be bigger. Chris poured rubbing alcohol onto a rag and gently cleaned the wounds. After a few minutes, he heard Dante walk in the front door “what the hell happened to the door?” Dante yelled out, he had bagged a deer and two rabbits dropping them in the kitchen before looking for Chris. Chris quickly walked past him without acknowledging him to grab water and another cloth. As Chris walked past Dante again Dante stopped him “hey man where’s the fire?” Chris sighed and motioned him to follow.
When Dante walked into Chris’s bedroom he inhaled quickly with surprise “What the hell? Did you accidentally shoot someone? You were supposed to hunt for deer not bring home a woman. Although she is gorgeous I’m happy you finally showed interest in someone, I was starting to worry about you.” Chris smirked at his hypocritical brother. He would bring home a different girl every other night when they lived in the city. Chris placed the cold cloth on the woman’s forehead to help reduce the fever. “I found her like this in the middle of the forest, no gear, no clothes and bleeding. I have to help her Dante, I can’t explain it but she is meant to be with me I can feel it.” Chris walked over to the other side of his bed and sat next to her dabbing her face with the cold wet cloth.
Her fever was still high and she needed water and food, but her being unconscious would make that difficult to accomplish. Thinking on a whim he took in a mouthful of water and leaned down gently pressing his lips to hers and opening them allowing the water to fall in while rubbing her neck to get her to swallow. Doing that a few more times made her skin feel less clammy, Dante snickered” I wonder how she is going to feel knowing you kissed her so many times while she slept, I Know if I were a woman I’d be pissed. Well I’ll go heat some rabbit stew for her then, she will be hungry when she wakes.” Chris nodded in response and stood to get more water when he did her heard a feint voice in his head ′please don’t leave, I wish not to be alone’ he turned back to look at her still lying on the bed not moving and unconscious. When he turned to leave again he heard the voice again a little louder and sadder ′please ayoo’ stay, I will wake when I’m strong enough’
The sadness in her voice almost hurt his heart as if he was about to walk out of her life for good. He couldn’t bear her feeling like that so he walked back and lay right next to her with an arm across her stomach. “I will stay here until you wake up” he said out loud he wasn’t ready to speak to her in mind that thought still freaked him out a little bit.
After the blackout dragged her down, all she could think of was bow being ambushed and savagely attacked by the leader no doubt. All Bow had time to tell her was that the leader Mathias was after her and to run as far away as possible. Even in her semi-unconscious state she felt the presence of someone near her body, she felt him touch her forehead and immediately knew this man was her mate. The knowledge of mates is learned about in her world, but nearly all the couples who were mates chose afterlife years ago. Her own parents were the last mated couple before she was born. She could smell her mate was human which was unheard of and forbidden to even be considered.
As she was lifted into the air she could feel his strength and warmth envelope her. His shirt was draped around her, his scent bombarded her nose, it smelled of cinnamon. She heard him call out to her saying he had her and would care for her, Velora wanted to respond to him but was still very weak and her mind fuzzy. The warmth of his bare chest against her cheek sent little flares of electricity throughout her body. She didn’t feel this tingly around Bow, she cared for him and said yes to marrying him but this soul level connection was not there. Soon Velora felt soft sheets beneath her and realized she was on his bed, a few thoughts crossed her mind as the bond between them grew stronger the longer they were close. Shaking those thoughts away she simply waited for her strength to return. Trying to keep her mind active and occupied she stretched out her senses as far as she could to see everything around her. The house he lived in was good size a little bigger than hers back home, he also didn’t live alone he had a brother who slept in the room down the hall from him. Her mouth felt dry and scratchy she needed water, and as if on Que she felt his lips against hers. Fire streaked straight to her womb and her sex spasmed with glee, then he gently unlocked her lips and let cold water flow into her mouth. The cool water on her tongue and throat felt amazing and cooled her down quickly.
Each time he kissed her it sent pleasant pulses through her whole-body building tension gently. If he continued doing that she might have an orgasm, was that possible to have one just by being kissed. This man being her mate would make sense why her body was reacting so extremely, her body fired up with need to seal the physical bond between them as soon as possible. Thankfully after three or four times he stopped and the heat between her legs decreased, the sad thing was there being no sexual tendency behind the kisses it was all to give her water. That just made her want to wake up faster to kiss him back and make him burn with passion. She allowed her mind to turn off and fully sleep with his arm draped over her stomach.
