As Hope and Promise Fade

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Just as Ariana was coming to find her routine again and feel somewhat normal and less depressed he showed up as a reminder weeks after she left back to USC. She had been sitting in her room that night going over last minute touches of her report when someone knocked on her dorm room door.

It was Marc.

“What are you doing here?” Ariana tried not to panic.

“Let me in.”

She knew he was too stubborn to leave until he had gotten to the point of this visit. She stepped to the side and let him in. She went slow closing the door so she wouldn’t have to face him. “What are you doing here?” she asked again.

“I needed to see you in person. I feel like I’m going crazy.”

“That makes two of us.” She kept her weight against the door and her back facing him. “You’re too smart to fly all the way out here because of insanity.”

 “It’s a lot more than that. I tried to fight it but I lost and here I am.” He stood behind her now. “Have you figured it out?”

Ariana closed her eyes in vain because she knew this wasn’t a dream she could wake from. “It doesn’t matter enough for me to figure it out.” She lied. “I love Jax and that’s all I need to know.”

His hand latched onto her forearm and turned her to face him. “You’re getting better at lying but I know better than to believe you. I can feel the truth against your skin and in your scent. You want me Ariana…” he bent and brushed his lips across hers. “…you may even love me.”

Her heart again betrayed her and raced wildly at his small touches. “Please go. I can’t do this to him again.” She knew the words to say but she was still just as clueless on how to physically push him away.

“I don’t want to either. I was nine years old when Jax’s mother went into labor with him and I begged Mitch to let me stay as she gave birth. I was there for his first cries, I was one of the first people to ever see his face and in that moment I vowed for the rest of my life to protect him. There was no one I love more than that boy and then I met you.” he held onto her arms and peered down into her eyes. “Do you remember the first time we met in your living room? The way I touched you?”

“Yes. I thought you were trying to scare me into being honest.”

“I did go there to make sure you were as serious about Jax as he was about you but I never planned to get that close. I couldn’t control myself and I had to touch you. I’m not used to losing control, I am where I am with my own pack because of my control but you came and shook everything up. Seeing Jax happy I was able to ignore you most of the time but as you got older that need I have for you got worse. You know what I’m talking about.”

Ariana closed her eyes and shook her head. “I would feel something when you touched me or said certain things but I never wanted anyone but Jax.”

“And now? You’re speaking in past tense Ariana.”

“No. You have to go, you shouldn’t have come here.” 

“I couldn’t take it anymore, I’ve tried to forget about you with others and I even fooled myself into thinking it might work but it doesn’t, it only got worse. I had to come and see you. I’d die for Jax in a heartbeat.”

“But?” she opened her eyes and met his again.

“I need you to understand that if I could change this I would. I don’t want to feel anything for you. I tried so many different things and I can’t forget your face.” His mouth found hers by the last word of his sentence.

Marc didn’t know how to open that door and walk away as she stood in his arms. He felt her conflict as she wrestled with right and wrong, it was the same storm brewing along his soul every moment of everyday. He had changed his mind three different times not to come here and see her but eventually that bond between them won and he was boarding a flight.

He held her tight in his arms, her breasts were crushed against his chest. He knew by the sensation of her nipples that she wore no bra under her t-shirt. She looked like she was about to get inside bed when he showed up. A bed where he would love for them to end up.

“Marc no.” she pushed on his shoulders before he could lead them any farther to the bed. Without the full moon she was able to fight the spell between them.

He noticed her eyes and moved his hands up to her face.

Ariana couldn’t figure out why Marc was cupping her face and staring so hard into her eyes. “What?” she asked, slightly relieved something else was grabbing his attention.

“You’re not that good of a liar.” He whispered to himself. “Have you been feeling funny lately?”

“You mean other than the weird bond with you?” She was standing in the arms of her boyfriend’s uncle; yeah she wasn’t in her right mind. Feeling funny was barely tipping the ice burg.

“Yes other than that. Do you remember all those things Charlie was feeling after the bite?”

“Yes but I haven’t been bitten….” Her words fell off as she thought back to the cave. “You bite me but even so my parents are very human. I don’t have a dormant gene.”

“I didn’t bite you hard.”

Ariana felt every inch of her skin flush. “What’s making you ask me this?” subconsciously she laid her hand over the faint marks left on her neck.

“You’re eyes flashed yellow as we kissed.”

She wanted to laugh until she saw how serious he was. “Let me go.” she pulled out of his arms and took a step back. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling here. Maybe you’re wrong.”

“I’m not cocky enough to say I’m never wrong but when it comes to my race; no I’m not wrong. You being pregnant only adds to this mystery.” He sounded very sure.

With a gasp she turned and faced him. “How do you know that?” she hadn’t told anyone because she didn’t think it was possible. The test kept coming back positive but it couldn’t be true. Neither was the morning sickness plaguing her during all times of the day. She had convinced herself it was all a trick of the mind but to hear him say it was true brought an overwhelming relief.

“I saw you trying to hide the test and then I heard the heartbeat beating with your own minutes ago.”

Ariana sat before she fell. She thought back to the day she first started to feel sick and remembered it had been before she was locked in the cave with Marc. “It’s Jax’s.” there was no question about it and she couldn’t be more thankful.

“Yes.”

“That means it was before the bite so it couldn’t have been because you woke something in my genes.” Now the questions and confusion were back. “Jax always told me we wouldn’t be able to have kids unless he turned me.” her heart sank as she thought about him. “He’s not going to want a baby with me after he finds out what we’ve done.” She hated herself for not having the control to deny Marc.

“This is my fault and I’ll make sure he knows that.”