To Love and To Leave

34: Trapped With You

They ran for miles and miles, until Cam thought the forest would never end. Although she had no idea where they were, Logan seemed to have a better clue. He led the way. Finally, they came to some little neighborhood nestled off a backroad in some suburb. Cam had drained all of her energy running and because she never drank any blood at the Feast, her head was killing her and her throat felt papery dry.

Logan shifted back into his human form, stark naked, and hesitantly approached her. She held up a hand.

"Are you okay?" he demanded. "What's wrong?"

"No, I'm not okay." Her canines elongated in anger before his husky man smell calmed her again. "I just killed someone and I haven't fed all day. I'm desiccating."

"Oh." He took a step back. "Do you...need blood?"

Cam huffed and looked away. "I can find someone. It's fine."

It wasn't fine, though. The only way she knew how to feed was drinking from people the siblings gave her. Those people, even though alive, were given to her. She'd never had to hunt someone down. She never had to isolate someone from their surroundings; she never had to know anything about them.

"What? No. You can't just go kill someone," Logan said.

"Really? Because I just did. And apparently you've done it too."

His head cocked at the sharpness in her voice. "What did they do to you?"

"It doesn't matter now," she bit out. "I am going to die if I don't get some blood in me right this second."

As Cam went to storm the neighborhood, Logan let out a sigh and yelled, "Wait!" He turned on his hands into a paw and then used the sharp claw to slice open his wrist. His face scrunched in a pained wince. "Feed from me."

She couldn't help but draw closer at the irony odor. His smelled particularly spicy, though. She watched his body try to heal the laceration, close the hole that was seeping so much precious blood. Logan jammed his finger into the wound to keep it from closing.

"I can't," she murmured, turning away.

"Why not? You're willing to kill someone but not me?"

"I just killed someone else to save your life!" Cam snarled as she spun towards him again. "Why would I want to kill you?"

"Because you hate me. Because I brought all of this upon you. I took you away from your life and held you hostage and then you were taken be a vampire coven and...and tortured." His eyes brewed a storm of pain and hurt and sadness. "Admit it. Admit it, Camila. You hate me."

She didn't hate him. No. She didn't. Werewolves are monsters. She shook her head. It wasn't true. But Steph told her it had been about revenge. Logan damaged what she cared about so he was going to pay for it. It was his fault.

Groaning, she tried to fight off the wave of thirst and fury pouring through her. Her canines pushed against her lower lip. The blood soaked her nostrils with its aroma and she could practically taste it. A hiss fell across her lips before she jumped. Logan didn't even oppose her as she tackled him to the ground and sunk her teeth into his neck. Once she'd made good enough holes, she retracted them to suck the blood into her mouth. It rolled down her throat in warm gulps.

The headache passed and within seconds she felt whole again. She felt the body under her twitch before remembering who was playing blood bag. Hissing, she forced herself off of him. Her tongue licked off the remnants from her mouth while she watched Logan's eyelids weakly flutter open.

"You were so close," he whispered.

She was. So close to ending him. As much as she wanted to believe everything was his fault, she didn't really believe it. Yet she had nearly killed him because of her lack of self-control. Her breathing turned ragged as she climbed to her feet and took off.

One of the suburban houses was empty, so Cam took the opportunity to slide in through an unlocked window. She checked all of the rooms to make sure it was abandoned for the night. All she wanted was to take a bath and go to sleep. She was exhausted. Even so, she knew she would struggle tonight. The fear of being followed by Steph's vengeful brothers wouldn't leave her be. Cam was afraid it was more of an omen than just a bad feeling.

Heading into the master bathroom, she stripped out of the outfit she'd put on for the Feast and turned on the bathtub. It was a nice house, really. Her eyes looked over the soft tile and feminine decorations. Small two bed-two bath. Cozy and nicer than her apartment. Maybe she would figure out where she was tomorrow and go back home. Although she couldn't stay in that town another night, she needed to pack up her belongings. She didn't even want to know what would happen with Logan. She just had a feeling he wasn't done ruining her life yet.

The bath was now full and warm, so Cam lowered herself into it and closed her eyes. It felt so wonderful. She let herself soak until the water went cold. Then she showered off, wrapped herself in towel, and collapsed onto the master bed.

>>>

A bird's chirp broke through her sleep the following morning. Cam sat up with a gasp at the unfamiliar room before remembering where she was. The sound of a sleepy sigh called her attention to the other side of the bed. Logan seemed to be waking up too.

"What are you doing?" she snapped, quickly wrapping her naked body back up in the towel. "How'd you even find me?"

Yawning, Logan sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What do you think? Same way I found you yesterday."

"You mean, when Steph's brothers brought you out with rope? Yeah, I can see you're really good at finding me."

"I am," he answered coldly. "They have been looking for me for months. I managed to evade them until I realized they had you. Then I was going to save you, but one of those damn vampires caught me."

"You were going to save me?"

He rolled his eyes with a snort. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes, actually. Are you so dull to already have forgotten what terms I left on?"

"You didn't leave. You fled."

"Because you had sex with someone else and caused me so much pain I could just start swinging all over again." She pointed at him. "And you took me away from my human life. It fell apart while I was gone. There was nothing for me to go back to. You ruined me, Logan."

His thick brows pulled together as he slowly nodded. "I know that. I know that, Camila, and I'm sorry. I've been a terrible mate from the start. I know that. But I need you and I won't let you flee again."

"How can you stop me?" she hissed. "I used to be a human, so I was weak enough for you to push me around. Not anymore. I'm a vampire. I am so damn strong that it still blows my mind."

"You've changed, yes, but—" Logan stopped himself and cocked his head towards the door.

Before Cam could ask what his deal was, she heard it too. Voice and the front door unlocking. Logan snatched her up and carried her to the bathroom.

"Let go!" she yelled at a whisper.

The sound of the bedroom opening made her shut up again, which Logan used to drag her into the small bathroom closet. They both barely fit. He held her against him, chest to chest. Cam was mortified by their proximity. She remembered why she loathed him so much. Still, she couldn't give their position away.

"A bath sounds nice," a woman said.

The bathroom door opened and in walked a middle-aged female dressed in jeans and a blouse. Cam resisted the urge to sigh loudly. Looked like they were going to be trapped in the closet for awhile.