six
It was the harsh, drowning quiet and sharp, bone aching chill that woke her, alone and tangled in her bed sheets. Within seconds, her throat began to close up. Bella began to dig her nails into her neck, clawing into her skin the panic began to overwhelm her.
This was so much more worse than when 'he' had left.
Just as the younger Swan could swear she was about to tear out her own throat, she instead fought with herself to get out of bed and onto the floor. Which she landed on with a pathetic whimper. The brunette, with her chocolate eyes beginning to water, scrambled to her feet as she tried to stumble across the slightly messy room, desperately needing the walls to support her, to keep her from falling to the ground once more, but this time with the despair and misery that was threatening to consume her. And this time, for good.
Bella couldn't help but think, with absolute terror rushing through her veins, that suffocation was imminent. But then after what seemed like years, the girl finally reached the bathroom before turning on the shower handle full ball. The brunette then practically collapsed in the tub, curling up into a small ball as body shaking sobs escaped her mouth, not even noticing the freezing temperature of the ice cold water leaving her completely drenched.
The Swan closed her eyes as her unsteady breath slowed and started to even out, tiredly running her unsteady fingers through her matted hair to attempt at calming her erratic heart when once again, the horrid and nightmarish thoughts of her just coming up with the imaginative idea of her hellhound, her Stranger, her Rykar, her... someone who had become so incredibly important to in such a short time, immediately began to pick away at her already fragile sanity and dig her deeper into the dark hole of her depression.
It was getting harder and harder to breathe, but sitting under the gushing showerhead had nothing to do with it. Her muddled up mind was starting to push the fingers tearing at her throat up her arms. All the noise in her head distracted her from the sound of the heavy footsteps slowly ascending the stairs towards her room.
There was a soft knock on her bathroom door and all Bella could manage was a hoarse mumble, "Come in."
The old door squeaked open and honestly, the small brunette expected her father, until large calloused hands, almost as warm as hot as fire, gathered her up in thick, muscled arms, pulled her close to a hard, broad chest and out from under the water. The younger Swan's chocolate coloured eyes snapped open, hearing murmurs of comfort, mumbled questions and more importantly, an intense heartbeat in her ear.
Bella took a deep breath in, before her eyes suddenly grew damp, knowing that scent of burning embers, the wild woodlands and thick masculine musk could belong to only one man... to one Stranger...
Her blushing, awestruck gaze shot up to see an intense pair of cerulean blue orbs staring down at her with such fierce and savage concern. A look she had never seen before.
"What is wrong, my Bella?" the hellhound whispered, taking in her aroma with a frown, before he rubbed his cheek over hers, "Your heart is beating out of your chest."
Silent tears slowly began to trickle down her flushed face and Rykar couldn't stop the whine of distress escape his throat, tightening his hold on his soulmate, never wanting to let anything hurt her like this again. She continued to stare, not willing to lose sight of him, fearing he'd disappear once more. Her bottom lip quivered and despite it all... she managed to turn the shower tap off.
Bella basked in the tender and affectionate grip of her Stranger, she could feel the warm heat radiating from his tan, practically caramel, skin and the brunette relished in the sensation of her face pressed against his chest as Rykar picked her up, bridal style.
"Why do I feel like I've known you my whole life, Ry?" The Swan whispered up into his jaw, in a daze.
Ignoring her question with great struggle, the hellhound's heart swelled at the nickname she had bestowed him before the raven haired man carefully stripped her of her half sodden clothes but stopped at her undergarments, not willing to take a peek without his beauty's permission and his Bella was not in her right mind, then he carried her back to her room.
The brunette really didn't believe she even needed a towel, Rykar's body heat was enough to dry the lingering water droplets on her pale skin. Unable to help herself, Bell buried her nose into the crook of his neck, the vibrations of his next words lulling her closer to a sleep she so dearly needed.
"Tell me, mea corculum, why you are in so much pain," he hummed a delicious tone in her ear, "What has caused you such heartache?"
Rykar could feel her lips quiver against his skin once more, feeling the pain and sadness emanating from his heartbroken Bella.
"My first boyfriend, Edward, left me stranded in the forest when he broke up with me, telling me I wasn't good for him... I wasn't thinking straight so ran after him into the night."
A low, angry growl ripped from his throat, silently vowing to the ancient gods to kill whoever this stupid, arrogant boy was, slowly, painfully.
"And my best friend, Jacob, or at least I thought he was my best friend, doesn't even talk to me anymore, avoiding me like the plague," Bella's voice falling into a quiet whisper, turning her head and burying her face in his shoulder.
The already angry hellhound's rage multiplied, but... if his soulmate was talking about a certain Black... then he could certainly understand why.
But still, completely ghosting her was not okay, there was no excuse. At least not to Rykar.
"My sweet Bella, a woman does not need a man to stand on her own feet. Nor does she need a man to live her life to the fullest," Rykar reached over to take her hand and place it over his heart, "But I need you to know, little beauty, I will always be here if and when you need me to pick you up when you fall."
Out of the corner of the hellhound's dark blue, soulful eyes, he could see a shy, happy smile spread across her sleepy, heart shaped face.
:3
"Bells!"
Said young Swan jerked awake at the sound of her father's voice. She glanced up at the calm blue eyes of her Stranger, him still holding her in his arms, draped across his chest. The brunette could hear Charlie coming up the stairs.
"You have to hide!" The brunette whisper shouted at him, her own eyes wide with shock and the fear of being caught with a boy... a man in her room... on her bed and her being only in her underwear.
Rykar blinked once and she gasped when he dissolved into the shadows, making Bella let out a quiet yelp as she dropped down onto the mattress with a small bounce.
A knock.
"Come in, Dad."
Her door opened to reveal the Sheriff in his uniform, wearing an awkward smile, "I see-"
He quickly shielded his eyes, "Sorry! Sorry!!"
Both Bella and Charlie's faces were bright red, "D,dad please c,calm down."
He cleared his throat keeping his eye clenched shut, "You didn't order anything, so," he held up a bag of takeout, "I got Chinese."
Bella smiled, a mirror image of her father's, "I'll be right down."
Charlie nodded, still bright red and shut the door behind him. The brunette heard him practically race down the hall and the stairs.
The younger Swan turned on her heel and almost screamed, Rykar being inches away from her. She gulped and let out a breath before steeling herself, before she whispered to him, "Are you going to be okay up here alone?"
The hellhound huffed a small laugh, then he tucked a chocolate curl behind her ear, "I've been in solitude for centuries, mea Corculum, I think I will be able to handle a few more hours."