Hades

Chapter 45

But when his lips brushed against my ear lobe it all came rushing back. All of it.

With a startled shriek, I slammed my palms down on his chest. My bare feet skittered on the dirt as I tried to push myself away from him. I made it a couple feet, but the pain was so unbearable in my joints and muscles that I collapsed against a nearby tree, sinking back down to the dirt. 

"Run," I gasped.

Sebastian, still seated on the dirt, only quirked an eyebrow at me. 

"What are you doing?!" I screamed. "Get out of here!" Was that anxiety twisting my stomach or was it the power slowly taking control of me? I couldn't tell.

"I'm not going anywhere. At least, not until you come with me."

"You're fucking crazy," I spat, grabbing at my hair.

"I've been called much worse. If you want to hurt me, you're going to have to do better than that, Char," he mused. Then he dug around in a small backpack beside him. He tossed me a small packet of beef jerky. "Eat."

"Sebastian, my wolf-" The words died on my lips. My hands grabbed at my chest and I was both relieved and startled to find that I was wearing a baggy hoodie. And, were those boxers on my legs? "Did you put these clothes on me?"

"Well, it was either that or leave you out here naked after you shifted," he said. His voice could be as solid as he wanted it to be, there was no hiding the blush that coated his cheek. And, as upset as I was, the thought of his hands on my naked body, even if they were only pulling clothes on, made my exhausted heart pick up its rate. 

But, this was no time for idle romance with longing looks and hot touches. 

"Sebastian, you need to leave," I ordered, then softer, "Please."

"I'm not going anywhere," he repeated. "Eat."

"Sebastian I shifted through the silver. My wolf is stronger than we thought. Those stupid pills aren't enough and I can feel her just beneath the surface all the time now. You aren't safe with me and your parents told me about me being your weakness and my wolf it out and, and..." I rambled on, feeling so close to tears. I threw the package of jerky, suddenly considering starving myself to death instead.

"Your wolf saved me," Sebastian whispered. He looked like he was about to touch me then thought better of it, melting backwards.

"What?" 

"She ran away from me, Charlotte. She has always run away from me. Your wolf doesn't want to hurt me. And the one time you did want to hurt me it took almost nothing to make you submit. Whatever is happening to you isn't coming from your wolf."

"That doesn't change anything," I denied. But it did. It changed everything. Now I had no idea what to be afraid of and no idea how to control it anymore. "You aren't safe with me."

"I'm not afraid of you, Char."

"Well you should be!"

"The only thing I'm scared of is not having you in my life."

"Oh how cliche," I spat.

"I'm serious, Charlotte," he stated firmly. He met my gaze evenly, unafraid and unyielding. "Do you know what it's like to be hated by almost every werewolf in the world? Do you know what it's like to home to an empty house with blood on your hands? Do you know what it's like to live a lonely life just to keep the people you love safe, people who have nothing to do with the carnage you've caused? Do you know what it's like to have to kill innocent people because they are defending someone who has an awful twisted secret?"