The Afterlife

Chapter 13: Guilt

The sun was just beginning to set when Kaori arrived at the shoreline, just east of his mate's Shoreline Pack. The sky's pinkish hues lit up the few clouds that were hanging around in the sky, and the trees on the cliffs above cast long shadows across the sand. Kaori had been told that he should meet his mate just after they finished at Aphrodite's temple -- or just before, he wasn't sure. Either way, Luna Vivian had told him to meet his mate here.

He could see Aphrodite's temple in the distance, reminding him of the pictures of Greece he'd seen, even though he was far from there. The coast of North America was hardly Greece, but it sure looked like it.

As Kaori paced the ground anxiously, he swore his mate appeared in front of him more than once. But every time, he looked and it was just a bird, or a butterfly, or a leaf, or something else that was moving, tricking his heart that desperately missed Allie so much, all the time.

His heart clenched again. He just wanted to hold her, tell her it would be all right. Maybe they'd go home to her pack or his, and they could curl up in bed for the night while they got to know each other better. Perhaps in the morning, Kaori could wake up early and make her breakfast as she cocooned herself in the blankets. He wanted it so much he almost started to cry.

Taking a deep breath, he shook the fantasy away. Right now, Aphrodite was supposed to help them. And he was supposed to wait for his mate, who clearly trusted Vivian. He needed to be patient.

"Kaori!" a voice said. He immediately recognized it as Allie's, so his heart quickened, and his breath caught. He looked around, not immediately seeing her at first, until he caught her scent coming from the west.

"Allie!" She was beautiful, of course - always. He couldn't believe she was here.

But wait. "Where's Luna Viv?" asked Kaori.

"She told me I should go alone, because she suddenly had some important pack business to attend to," Allie explained. "But wait, why are you here?"

"You didn't know I was coming?" Kaori asked, surprised.

Allie shook her head. "Nope. I guess Viv wanted to surprise me after all!" she laughed. "Well, I'm so happy to see you, my mate." She held out her hand.

Kaori watched her smile, feeling rather entranced by her laughter. But he suddenly noticed the blood run down her nostril. His own blood ran cold. "Oh, no," Kaori said. "You're bleeding."

Kaori's chest tightened. It couldn't be the curse, could it? They were so close. So close... Did Vivian set him up? He wanted to cry. He just had her, and now he was losing her again. It was like he couldn't breathe. The air near the shore was so clean, and yet he couldn't breathe, watching his mate bleed and knowing he would soon be helpless to stop it.

"I am?" asked Allie, sounding surprised. Kaori pointed to his mate's nose. Allie touched it, and her eyes widened when she saw her own blood.

"It's just a nose bleed, maybe," Allie said, but she didn't seem like she believed it herself. Anything could be the curse -- well, Kaori knew now that they were all Ares's spears and arrows, visible or invisible, felt or not felt.

Kaori scanned his mate's body, taking care not to become distracted by its beauty. He ran his hand over her shoulders, her legs, her torso. Then he felt it - a small prick on the back of her head, nearly imperceptible.

"Do you feel that?" he asked. "On the back of your head."

Allie shrugged. "Oh, yeah, I guess I got hit with a falling branch a while ago. I think it's a splinter."

Kaori's eyes widened even more. "I don't think that's a splinter." The blood was coming out of Allie's nose even faster now, it seemed. "Help!" he screamed, but he was certain no one would come. This was unclaimed territory; no pack laid claim to this area. Few even knew about the ancient temple. He looked around quickly for signs of other lives, human or wolf, but found none. Not even Vivian was around, which he found rather strange.