He is Ghost

Common Decency

They didn't stay at the fire long. Neira was more uncomfortable with Elias's gaze on her  face with every second. Shade was growing irritated as well, she watched him carefully, watching his dark eyes flicker with barely notitcable flashes. "Walk with me?" she asked softly. Some of the others had already turned in, her mother one of them.

Shade stared at her for a moment too long before his head tipped in a pathetic excuse for a nod. River was too busy harassing he poor male from earlier to notice, but Elias did. She felt his eyes on her back as she left the circle around the fire, Shade trailing behind her.

They walked in silence for far too long, and Neira didn't stop until they'd made it back to the cabin. Shade moved into the room, and Neira leaned against the closed door. Shade clenched his hands at his side, his whole body tight.

"Shade I -"

"I'm sorry Neira." He said cutting her off. Neira felt her brows pull together as confusion rolled over her. "I was being a brute. I don't know what come over me."

Did he regret it? Is that what he was saying?

"Oh," Neira whispered. Her body sagged against the door. She didn't expect the wave of disappointment that washed over her. Did she even want his advancements? Was she seriously considering this? What about Judd? She'd have to go back eventually, wouldn't she?

Shade turned, not that Neira was watching him. Her blue eyes were glued to the floor.

"Neira," Shade said, taking a step towards her. "I-"

"Don't worry about it Shade. Really." There was a beat of silence between them. "I'll just go back out to the fire."

Wood splintered near her head as Shade's palms collided with the door on either side of her. He'd moved so fast, a snarl ripping from behind elongated teeth. His eyes were white, then black.

Neira stood up straight and pressed her palms into his chest. "Shade?"

Silence. Silence filled with a deadly kind of quiet coated the room. His eyes flashed white.

"Do you know why I hated Judd so much for what happened to Kauri? Why I hate most males I meet?" he snapped, venom in his voice. "They have no control. Hell, Judd fucking marked not one but two females without their consent. He sunk his teeth into your throat because he couldn't control himself."

"I despise it," he said, drawing out the words as his breath fanned her face. "I didn't understand. I've been with females in the past, and not once did I ever feel out of control of my own instincts. And then I met you."

Neira wanted to cower at the look in his eyes, she wanted to hide under a table and wait for the storm in his gaze to subside.

"Do you know what my instincts are telling me right now, Kisza? Do you know how hard it was to watch that pup put his hands on you? Do you know how badly I wanted close my teeth around his throat?"

His breath fanned her throat now, his lips barely skimming her skin as he lowered his mouth to her neck. Neira swallowed as the electricity started to pick up again. It vibrated between the two of them, like it had a mind of its own. His body thrummed with it, pressed so close to her own they were almost touching. "Why?" The word left her lips nothing more that a whisper. A brush of breath against the air so thick you could cut it with a spoon.

"Why?" Shade snapped, his teeth still running a line up her neck. "Because of those instincts you keep telling me to follow. My wolf craves nothing more than your body under mine.

"I have never been so close to loosing control, and with you it happens every god damned day."

Neira's heart was pounding so hard in her chest she was sure the whole country could hear it. She felt her earlier bravado leave her body but she clung it to like it was the last thing she'd do. She pressed her palms into his chest, finger curling into the jacket. And then she shoved him back.