The Nosferatu Adventures
page 286, chapter 286
Out of Time...
"Go." our heroine said pointing towards the door of the warehouse. "You want the position of pack alpha so damned badly. Go, get it. Shack Matilda and claim your prize. Or wait till the moon is up, then you won't have a choice because you will fight Dagan for the chance. Assuming he doesn't figure it out first." the banshee crossed her arms turning from him.
"Wait wait wait." Edric raised his hand towards her, closing his eyes. "You knew about this?"
"I knew it was a possibility." she kept her back to him as she began to gather up the notes and photocopies.
"And you said nothing?" he bowed his head slightly so that his chin was almost touching his chest. Sniffing deep, Edric shifted position, his hands now on his hips. "Matilda's a dog..." he shrugged. "I mean, not that she's ugly, just that she used to be an actual canine before Loki made her human. It's not the same thing as being a shapeshifter."
"She's the only other supernatural female in this reality. The full moon ritual will be triggered. You and Dagan are the only lycanthropes here now, since The Seer removed his soul. Unless we sedate the two of you; the two of you will be effected. And it's the need to have a mate that it causes."
"What happens if you just sedate Dagan?" he breathed into her hair. Our heroine could feel the air shifting around them, as Edric began hatching a plan. "What happens if one of us is taken out of the equation?" he inched closer to her, his one arm now over his chest, the other at his mouth as he started to nibble on his nails.
"It will still affect you. You will still go after her." Nosferatu's voice became a whisper.
"And you're okay with that?"
"God no!" the words were out of her mouth before she realized it. The male hybrid smiled behind her back, his eyes sparkling with victory. It was all he could do to control himself from balling up his fist and making a cha-ching gesture.
"Did you just admit I mean something to you?" he teased reaching out to grab a handful of her shirt. "Was that jealousy from you? Wait. You don't have a soul, how can you be jealous?" he was still holding onto her shirt.
"Of course I'm jealous. It's all I can do to keep calm around you. The sire bond..."
"Oh shack the sire bond! Yeah okay it's really powerful, but why..." he forced her to turn to face him. "Look at me. Hi. Right here." he pointed to his eyes, letting them shift to the pure white of the banshee. "This is only part of it."
"It's all of it! Don't kid yourself." she shook her head. "You want there to be more than there is, to justify it to yourself." she poked his chest. "So you can force yourself into believing it is okay to throw your heart out the window, your values down the drain. But it's not okay. Being bound to someone for all eternity who you don't respect, who you're not really attracted to! It sucks! It hurts knowing that given the choice they'd be anywhere with anyone other than you. So no! Edric, the sire bond isn't just part of it. It's all of it." she moved from him crossing to the door of the warehouse. "I should have had Bacchus remove it when he was here. At lest then you'd be free to go."
"You ever consider I maybe actually want you in my life?" he breathed the words to no one. Turning he followed her out the door, across the small parking area. Grabbing our heroine by the arm, he forced her to stop dead in her tracks. "You said before Bacchus showed up, that you think Landin is in my league because he's good looking. What makes you think that's all I am looking for? I've had that. I've had really beautiful options in my life and it didn't amount to crap in the end."
"I've heard this speech from Dagan over a decade ago, and it didn't hold water then either." she tried to shove him off but Edric held on tight.
"And it never occurred to you that maybe he was telling the truth? Huh?" he tilted his head to the side, licking his lips, his eyes returning to their human blue. The gesture didn't soften his stance any, it just managed to make him look fiercer.
"That what, he cares about me? That he loved me? Did you fall down and smash your skull open when I wasn't looking?" she snarled.
"The guy crossed space and time for you. Literally! And don't try to blame it on the sire bond because he had Bacchus break that. There is no reason for a man like him...someone so out of your league as you plainly put it, to follow you if he wasn't in love. And I mean soul crunching love." he smirked seeing the complete terror in her eyes. "That scares the hell out of you. That someone...specially someone like us; could value you. Looks fade..."
"Yours won't. Dagan's won't. Not for a thousand years. You'll be five, six hundred and you will barely look forty. You will always be this beautiful. Powerful in every regard. Besides, we both know it was just nonsense. Just something to label it while he used me to get to the top. To be alpha without anyone challenging him. I was a possession for him! A jewel in a king's crown." she managed to move from Edric this time, putting a few feet between them. "If you're so determined to fight the idea of Matilda, then go take a human mate. Live the next fifty or so years pretending to be human."
"I don't want to be human." he breathed. "This is messed up!" he ran his hands over his face growling in frustration. "Nosferatu! I'm standing here telling you that I'm okay with it! I'm more than fine with the idea of claiming you. Of giving in to the sire bond."
"That just doesn't make any sense!" she turned and started to walk away from him, heading back into the bushes. The sun was already starting to move in the sky, heading out towards the baseball field, mid afternoon shadows growing on the ground.
"Is it that hard to believe I find you appealing?"
"Yeah it is." she replied as she continued to stalk away crunching leaves and gravel as she did.
"Damn it. You aren't the only one who dreamed of someone decent. I wished for you too." Our heroine stopped moving. Unable to catch her breath she stood there in the half shade of a small tree. "I refuse to believe that it's an accident you turned me. There, I said it." he let his hands slap his thighs. "I believe you were meant to come into my life. To change it. Course, I didn't think it would be to this drastic an extreme, but..." he licked his lips moving towards her, the ground feeling as if it were going to open up and swallow him. "Ever thought that maybe you're out of our league? I'm not talking about the alpha security thing, or the half god blood thing either. I've felt more at home with you the last few weeks then I ever have with anyone before. And I'm not kidding, this is messed up. We're messed up." he gestured towards the warehouse. "But not once in this whole time, have I shied away from you." he was standing now beside her, millimeters from her shoulder. "I've never once suggested breaking the sire bond and that's because I have no intention of doing so. I'm not Dagan. I'm not Loki. I'm not Arthur. I'm not anyone else from your past. You're not anyone from mine. Thank god!"
"That's not fair. You don't get to be the hero. You don't get to be the white knight and slay the dragon saving the princess. You don't get to be that one.You don't get to be that guy! He's someone else. Someone less..."
"Less what?" he raised an eyebrow. "Less intelligent, less interesting?" he tilted his neck to the side "Less attractive?" he raised a finger after each, before turning pointing all three fingers at his chest. "Maybe I want to be the hero, the prince charming." his tone became neutral as he turned slightly towards her dipping his one shoulder. "Your prince charming."
"There are no prince charmings only toads. So you don't get to waltz in after all this and just be..." she backed away a few steps from him.
"And just be what?" he raised both hands palms up making a come hither gesture as he took one step slowly towards her, placing one foot in front of the other with authority, his tongue darting to the corner of his mouth. He caught a dark mass of clouds overhead out of the corner of his eyes, momentarily hiding the sun. Once again reminding him he was on a time crunch.
"This." she took another shaky step from him.
"Why not? And don't say it's the whole looks thing again. Remember, Beauty ended up with the Beast. At lest in the cartoon version." Edric waited for her to say something. The hybrid grunted when he spotted the shadows beginning to move again across the edge of the tree signalling he had maybe four hours tops. "That's really your only argument isn't it?" another devilish smiled crossed his perfect lips. Reaching for her, he grabbed a hold of her waist, pulling her tight to him.
"You're wasting your time. No soul, can't be claimed. I hold no power for you. There's no security blanket anymore here. No instant alpha, no leader of the pack." she whispered into his shoulder. Edric pressed his nose against her ear letting his eyes flash the amber-grey of the wolf before returning to their human blue. Our heroine relaxed into defeat, wrapping her hands up under his armpits.
"We're immortal we've got nothing but time."
Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me(straight up story. Beauty and the Beast...)
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