Full moon, chocolate and fleas
Claire
I woke up feeling something soft under my body. The last thing I remembered was Todd's fangs and definitely Mina's screaming. Something had triggered the vampire in a bad way. I would find it and when I would? oh boy Todd would lose surely his balls. Groaning, I rolled to my side and opened my eyes. Everything was foggy at first but when my vision cleared I realized that I wasn’t in my room.
Everything in the room was wooden; the wardrobe across the bed, the big desk which occupied the left side of the room close to the door, even the bedposts, which were raising up and at the edges soft grey curtains were tied around the poles. It looked luxurious and comfy.
The blanket was warm and for a moment I thought that it would be great to sleep more. I felt drained and pain sliced my neck. I sat and pulled the bandage off my neck. And here they were two small puncture wounds at the base of my neck.
“You’re up.” A worried voice spoke.
I turned. Jericho stood at the doorway, holding a tray with two plates and a mug on it. My stomach grumbled from hunger and I clutched it. “Hey.” I mumbled suddenly self-conscious about being on the bed. “Is this…your room?”
He shifted from one paw to the other, lowering his head a little. “After Todd attacked you, I grabbed you and Mina and brought you here. No one from the others can enter, unless they are invited.” Jericho spoke as he placed the tray on my feet and sat on the bed. “You were out for one day Claire.”
“Why was Todd like that? Did he tell you?”
“Apparently our little guest is the witch’s daughter. And since she is blood related the magic around here accepted her presence.” Jericho took the bandage from my hand and opened the drawer on my left. He pulled out my costume and horrified I realized that I wore only my underwear and a huge brown shirt.
“Mina changed your clothes.” Jericho hurriedly explained and turned his head. So he was embarrassed. I tried to hide my blush and I dug into the food; Toast, omelet, sweet cakes and a mug of sweet coffee. I groaned from hunger and soon I patted my stomach pleased.
“You surely know the way to a woman’s heart.”
“I thought that applied to men.”
“Nah, any man who cooks is a rarity. Take Elfas for example. He cooks poop and still Lethinia loves him.”
We stared at each other for a moment and then laughed.
“You’re awake!” a feminine voice shouted and suddenly I was into a tight hug.
Jericho growled with irritation and I waved him out, smiling tightly at him. He took the tray and closed the door behind us.
“You have a lot to explain Mina.” I spoke when the death grip loosened and finally I could feel my ribs again.
“I know and I plan to do so. But first I’ll help you in the bath.” She got up and her eyes saddened “You had lost a lot of blood. Two more gulps and Tobias would have drained you out.”
It was strange hearing Mina using Todd’s old name. I guessed that the news Jericho had told me were true. As I struggled to get up, Mona placed her arm on my armpits and helped me. “I’ll get the shower running.” She spoke softly and headed to the door across us. “Wow!” I heard her voice as she entered, “the puppy surely knows how to bath!”
I walked slowly, trying to hold back my dizziness, and held the doorframe. The bathroom was big, with walls covered on black tile, a marble Victorian style bath of white marble and a big showerhead on the wall. A line of bottles was on a small shelf to my right and Mina opened the cupboard on the left side, above the sink. “And here I thought I would find something to play.”
“Please get out.” I groaned and with a chuckle she closed the door behind me. “I’ll get some clothes for you!” she called out before hearing the bedroom’s door close.
The warm water tickled my body and quickly I scrubbed the sweat and the dried blood on my left side. When I finished the shower, I pulled the towel, which was twice bigger than me, and got out. Thankful to find a clean pair of jeans and a purple sweater, as also underwear, I changed and got out from the room.
Jericho’s living room looked warm at first glance. On the far right corner an artificial fireplace was glowing and a huge carpet, with patterns of the forest, was sprawled to the wooden floor. Two couches were placed on an L line and three poufs were lying on the floor and light was coming from the hidden light tubs on the ceiling. The left side was covered by a study, which included a really expensive computer and the wall around it was covered with shelves and books.
A door opened as I strode to the balcony doors close to the fireplace and Jericho came out, wearing his reading glasses. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better.” I turned. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
He shook his head. “No need. You deserve much better.”
I snorted. “I never thought of that. In fact, my life had always been a shithole.”
“I saw the article.” He said suddenly and I held my breath. “Who did this to you Claire?”
Telling him would change everything. The past year I had fought with guilt and sadness and the growing feeling of utter hatred. That night a year ago, I had lost two of the most precious people of my life.
And I couldn’t do anything to save them.
But as I watched the werewolf waiting patiently for an answer, the idea of opening didn’t sound so foreign. After living with the three men for almost a month, I understood that even the hardest souls were in dire need for comfort. I took a deep breath and spoke truthfully for the first time.
“The one who gave me these scars, the one who made me run away was my father.”
“Claiiiirreee!” Mina sung and opened the door halting Jericho who had taken two steps towards me. He looked like he had been punched to the gut but his eyes didn’t show pity, only fury transforming his blue orbs into two black pools of darkness.
Elfas’s head appeared on the doorway while Mina hid behind my back. “You come back here right now!” he shouted at Mina who snickered behind me.
“What happened Elfas?”
He pointed at her. “She stole my emeralds! I’ve been working on them for two years!”
Sighing, I turned and pinched Mina’s ear. I began walking to the door, while Mina walked in a funny way with me cursing and swearing. “I am taking her to my room.” I told Elfas but I didn’t turn to look at Jericho while I said “I’ll talk to you later.”
Mina had taken one of the guest rooms, which had magically appeared on the left side of the staircase. I still frowned as I passed the door and dumped the girl, which I was starting to realize was older than me, to the couch. “Todd!” I hollered and in a blink of an eye he stood beside me.
He looked awful; his usually rainbow colored hair was like a bird had smacked him and his eyes had dark circles under them. Elfas and Jericho entered the room too and quietly decided to stand by the wall. “Claire-”
I cut him off with my hand. “We will be civilized. You will explain everything to us,” I pointed at Mina “and you will later get a shower, change your clothes because you look like a truck has passed over you.”
“More like a bullet train.” Jericho commented.
“I am so sorry. The curse backfired and I haven’t drunk anything in a day.” Todd sounded remorseful.
“Next time, make sure to hold you fangs in.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
Turning to Mina I saw her staring at us with curious eyes. Her yellow irises were glowing and it really made me freak out. “Now, you mentioned that you too are cursed. Well, welcome to the club. I have three boys running around and you will be a fine addition.”
“Hey!” Three voices echoed.
I swayed my hip making the keys jingle. “Doorkeeper.” I reminded them with a smile.
Mina sighed. “You better sit. This will be a long story.”
“Hold that thought.” Elfas headed to the kitchen. “Who wants tea?”
“No one!” we all shouted with a voice and the Elf swore in a language I didn’t know. When he came back, I had already sat near Mina while Todd stood, leaning on the wall across us. Jericho had also sat on the couch next to me, keep quiet while Elfas stirred happily his mug.
“Madeline Teyes.” Mina began.
A chill fell to the room as if the house had reacted on the mention of the name. Everyone was silent. Even Elfas had stopped moving his spoon. “She used to be the most powerful witch of the four clans. Her spells had helped built the Great Walls in China as also cause the Revolutionary war in America.”
Why I had to hear History every damn time?
“We know all of that.” Todd spat. “I need to know why you dared to appear after all this time.”
“You know each other?” Jericho asked looking at them.
“Councilor Tobias was one of the strongest vampires. My mother used to talk highly of him.”
“Until she betrayed me!”
Mina shook her head. “You didn’t want to be a Councilor anymore. You left your duties behind and the clan felt mislead. Do you have any idea what your actions caused?”
“I found out after your mother locked me here.”
I poked at Jericho. “This is much better than any soap opera.”
“I know right?”
“Shut up kids!” Todd swore and sat on the couch. He rubbed his hair and looked at Mina again. “Why are you here Ioamina?”
She flinched and looked at the men. “I have been searching you for two centuries. I had known your stories, the gossip still goes on. When I heard of the brutal massacre of the Yellowstone werewolf pack almost a century back, I found the lead to the house following the magical trial Jericho Nolan’s transfer had caused. The appearance of Claire was also a proof that I was right.”
“You mentioned that you are cursed. Who cursed you?”
Her eyes glistened for a moment and I thought that she would burst into tears. But instead she blinked quickly, taking a deep breath, Ah, she was a strong one. “My curse goes two ways. I lose years of my life, when every solstice comes. This is my last time. If I fail by the winter solstice, I will disappear.”
“Puff.” Elfas popped his fingers as if chasing a cloud away. He really needed his meds.
I instead cringed. “So this is not your real body? Why am I not surprised?”
Mina laughed. “You haven’t heard the best part. When Mama dearest cursed me, she tied my life around the house as well. Just so you know” she looked at the rest “Madeline Teyes is dead.”
Elfas’s eyes widened. “No, this can’t be! She was the strongest of all witches. We called her Sah-yele, the ‘diamond queen’.” He shouted and the mug burst into tiny pieces, soaking Jericho’s shirt. He jumped and bared his fangs at him. Quickly I got up and got between them. “Calm down. Now.”
Elfas grunted and sat back, while in a flash Todd had a wet towel on his hands, giving it to Jericho. “What will happen if the curse is not solved by the 21st of December?”
Mina rubbed her hands. “I will die. The curse will break but it will be violent. That means that the powers will not be transferred back to them in the right time, so at the best scenario, you will have to deal with three crazies.”
I heard Jericho suck a deep breath.
“What will happen to Lethinia?” Elfas asked, his voice strained with fear.
Mina looked at him with regret. “She won’t come back to her body, so the tree will disintegrate, slowly and painfully. Todd will go on blood frenzy and Jericho will shift back to his human form. And Fred will remain a stone statue forever. And since you can’t step a foot out of the house, your body will be burnt.”
Everyone was silent for a moment. When I looked at them, I saw anguish so heart breaking that made my stomach turn. We truly had little time. A month or so away. Jericho looked at me with pain and longing. He was the first to talk.
“Gather your brains. We have work to do.”
Two days later, three magic tomes of Todd’s, ten boxes of pizza and over thirty lollipops later, we had finally figured the basics of the curse’s backbone, or base spell as Mina wanted to call it. I, on the other hand felt agitated. Jericho hadn’t offered for a night ride and he had withdrawn to the point of only asking if I wanted anything to eat. It was annoying and sad at the same time. Fred and Lethinia weren’t so good either. The gargoyle had taken the news with huge silence while Lethinia’s face became a sad mask of acceptance. I spend hours in the growing cold, feeling the snowflakes falling through her willow branches.
“I finally understood your symbols.” I told her, when I took my seat on one of her roots. The nights had grown longer and I couldn’t feel my fingers from the cold. She looked down at me and her eyebrows pinched. “You showed me a bird, keys and Jericho. When Mina explained the curse, she said that the main ones, Todd, Elfas and Jericho must accept their choices and let the past be gone. That’s how freedom will come.”
I pulled the keys out from my pocket and played with the silver linings. They seemed to pulse under my gloved touch. “Then I have to deal with my own choices. Only then the keys will break. And finally,” I looked up at her “Jericho will have to be sacrificed.”
The spoken words made my thoughts real. Truthfully, Mina was the one to tell me about Jericho, after I had trusted her with Lethinia’s symbols. Mina had told me that the women of the Fae clan had the powers of visions. His reversed form and his actions at the pack were a sign of strength. If the curse was to disappear, Jericho would have a great future as an Alpha, one who would even get the title of the Wolf King. But his blood thirst was a result of his unstable power. If he could control it then he would be able to break free.
But I feared that coming moment. What strange fate had brought me here, making me part of this plan? I only wanted to escape, feel safe and free, away from the darkness of my past, not play the hero. I was the villain, for God’s sake!
Lethinia’s branches touched my cheek and I looked up at her. I grabbed the branch and squeezed it. “I will help you. It’s the least I can do for you.”
She smiled. “You know I would love to hear your voice. I am sure that was what made Elfas fall for you.”
Her tree body shook as if she was laughing; every time I mentioned Elfas she always felt better. Fred appeared behind the trunk and Lethinia welcomed him by brushing her branches on his back and lion head. “Todd wants you at the house.”
“Did he lose the marshmallows again?”
“I don’t think it has to do with sweets this time.”
I frowned but followed him back. When the door closed behind Fred led me into the library. Todd, Elfas and Mina sat on the desk, occupied with books, maps and some really freaky shaped instruments. “What’s up?”
Todd glanced at Elfas. “I have this idea Claire. How about taking Mina and go on a girl’s night?”
I flipped him off and turned to Todd. “I am going to ignore him. Tell me the truth.”
He sat back and rubbed his eyes. Todd looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept in days. The curse was taking a toll on him. “Tonight is the full moon. Jericho will get a little…loud, so we thought-”
“You thought that it would be good for me to go. Jericho knows that I can’t be scared of him, yet he still left me out.” I turned on my heels and got out from the room. “Where is he?”
“At his room.”
“Mina!” the men shouted but I had already bolted to the third floor, shouting a command to all of them to stay down. They had to obey after all.
When I reached the third floor, I decided to knock first. The door didn’t open but I heard heavy footsteps behind it. “Go away Claire.”
“Open the door Jericho.” I crossed my arms on my chest.
“No, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t use the keys on me. I don’t want to see anyone right now.”
“And I told you that I am not afraid of you.”
“You don’t know what it feels like to be me!” Jericho’s voice rose. I was sure he stood just behind the door.
I placed my palm on the wooden surface and leaned my forehead. “Let me know you then. And…I will let you know me in return.” The words felt like sand in my mouth but I wanted to share everything.
A growl was heard, something between a strangled voice of pain and anger. The sound of retreating steps echoed and I closed my eyes, willing everything to lock back into that little box of my heart. Jericho had opened it, just like Pandora’s Box.
The afternoon passed in a slow pace. While Todd and Mina worked on the scrolls they had opened on the study at the library, I helped Elfas organize everything we had found. On a white clipboard we had pinned post-it with details of the ritual Mina hoped to perform. While I was the one who had to break the curse, Mina’s information we adding to the concept that two people were needed to perform the ritual.
“This is really messed up.” Elfas commented beside me as I pinned yet another pink paper.
I nodded, my thoughts to the third floor and the locked up werewolf.
“How is she?”
“Huh?” I turned.
“Lethinia.” Elfas’s voice dropped into a husky tone.
“She looks fine. I clean her roots and Fred takes care of the pond. But every time I speak to her about you, she smiles and looks at the house.”
He simply nodded and I saw his jaw clenching. “Thank you Claire.” He murmured.
The sudden cry came from the library and we both rushed into the library. What I first noticed was Mina. She was pulling her purple hair like possessed while Todd was trying to close the books one after another.
“What happened?” I almost shouted but instead a scream was heard beside me. I barely managed to see Elfas ran away before something small, black and jumpy followed after him. I shouted and my back hit the shelves to my left as Mina stopped shouting.
“Fleas?! Where the hell did they come from?”
“She messed up a spell! After eight hundred years, I thought you have learnt the basics!” Todd hollered at her and her yellow eyes glowed.
“It’s not my fault if your writing feels like Chinese mixed with Arabic!” Mina’s body glowed with power.
I moved between them and spread my arms. “Let’s calm down.” I looked at each other and Todd was the first to curse and sit. Mina looked at the open book in front of her and left a tired sigh. “Fae are afraid of fleas. Just so you know.” She told me and picked up her books. She left the room and closed the doors behind her. I turned to Todd and sat beside him.
“This is all messy.” I rubbed my eyes.
“Tell me about it.” He leaned his head back and sighed. “I am sorry Claire.” He titled his head and his eyes locked with mine. “I didn’t mean to attack you.”
“I know and Mina was also afraid for me.”
He tried a sad laugh. “I’ve known her since the day she was born. Her mother used to be a cunning woman but she was wise and…”
I frowned. “I am sure there is quite a history with Mina’s family but there is something that bothered me for a while.”
“What?”
“You were Mrs. Jinx’s lover, weren’t you?”
Todd pulled his long hair and tied them in a ponytail. “Yes.” He admitted solemnly. “For a while Elfas and I believed that the curse’s power could be destroyed by something far stronger.” He got up and walked around the table.
“What can be stronger than a witch’s power?”
“This will sound cliché but it has worked in the past. It’s the same power which transformed Lethinia from human to Fae, the same power that drove Madeline Teyes to curse her daughter in order to help her discover her potential.”
He stopped and turned to me. “Love.”
And then I laughed. “Love? You think that the Disney quote “true love” can break any kind of magic?”
“Movies come from life stories Claire.”
“No! I’ll tell you what come from real life. Only pain sadness and betrayal and these are not enough!” I got up and hit my hands on the wooden surface. How could he believe something like that? There was no love out there, only those who could manipulate feelings and destroy people around them.
Todd’s lips pressed into a tight line. “Then I wish for you to find true love Claire. For I have already failed. I loved Cherry Jinx but she wasn’t the one for me.” And just like that he disappeared from the room in a flash.
I screamed from fury, pain and the unbearable weight of loss. I couldn’t stand it anymore. Swinging around, I pushed the books, throwing them to the floor and kicked the chairs. When I had finally stopped, after clearing my face from the tears, I placed everything back and made sure nothing was broken or torn. Without waiting I stormed to my room and locked the door.
When night fell and the bright light of the moon appeared, a howl echoed to the house. I marveled and cringed at the same time. Jericho’s transformation had begun. The howl echoed again dusted with sadness and pain. As I pushed the cushions off the bed and wore my clothes, I decided to grad also the first aid kit from the bathroom. I wouldn’t let him suffer the night alone.
The house was quiet with the lights from the ceiling illuminating my way to the third floor. Knowing that I could be heard, I used the keys projecting my thought to them. I wanted Todd’s and Elfas’s doors locked for the night. True enough, the doors didn’t open when I passed the first and the second floor and when I reached the third floor I pulled the key which trembled more with power.
The sound of clicking was loud into the night’s silence. Slowly, I opened the door. Darkness greeted me; everything was quiet on Jericho’s living room but I didn’t dare to call his name. Slowly, I made my way to the small hallway which stood between Jericho’s bedroom and the small computer room he had on the left side. The hallway was dim lighted with another door at the end of it.
Something crashed behind the closed door and a growl was heard. I stopped, holding my breath. Elfas had told me that Jericho under the moon’s influence was becoming feral, yet nothing stopped me from slowly turning the doorknob. It was an empty room with stone floors and walls. Two floor-to-ceiling windows stood on my right and the moon’s light shone into the room. But on the other side, where the darkness was thick a body moved. “Jericho?” I murmured.
The howl was so loud that I fell to the floor holding my ears tightly. The body which appeared into the moon’s light was…oh God…the scars. Smooth dark olive skin was covered with jagged and faint lines of scars all over the torso and the shoulders. From the forearms to wrists black lined tattoos had morphed his skin to vivid scenes I couldn’t see well.
As I looked at him, I noticed the long black hair which fell to his shoulders, creating a curtain around his face. Slowly, I crouched closer, making sure to keep eye contact. He was on his knees, his hands stretched back. Something silver glowed. Were these…chains?
Jericho looked up and our eyes locked. For a moment I thought the air had disappeared from the room. High cheekbones and dark eyebrows, full lips and an almost flat nose did nothing to cover the blackness of Jericho’s eyes. He was handsome in an animalistic way, making your soul crawl and body feel like goo.
His lips pulled back into a grin, only that his teeth were jagged, pointy like fangs.
“Claire…”
This wasn’t his voice, no, the wolf had talked.
“You came…” he titled his head and tried to lean closer, his nostrils flaring in an attempt to find my scent.
I sat down, keeping a safe but close distance with him. “I had told Jericho that I wasn’t afraid of him.”
“That you did. But you should be afraid of me!” he screamed and lunged but the chains pulled him back, causing him to fall on his back. He howled again and bit his wrists.
“No! Stop!”
He turned around, blood falling down his jaw. “Why? Do you fear I will harm his body? He treats mine like it’s that of a human’s!”
“But you both feel the pain, don’t you?”
The wolf in his eyes looked at me strangely, the blackness becoming more intense; it made me shiver.
“He thinks of you.” The wolf sat and crossed his legs Indian-style, while his arms were still stretched backwards. He carved the moon, I realized.
I felt the blush creeping to my cheeks but held my voice steady. “Is that so?”
“‘She is so beautiful’, ‘why can’t she laugh more?’, ‘I desire her’, ‘I can’t hurt her’, ‘I wish I could feel her skin’.” He burst into an ironic laugh, shaking his head. He had used Jericho’s voice as he spoke his thoughts and every word had made my chest tighten.
“How fool that boy can be!” the wolf spoke with the same brutal voice.
“Why do you despise him?” I asked.
“He hates me too!”
“It’s no one’s fault. I learnt how you were born. And I believe that those who mistreated you created this…separation between the two of you.”
At the wolf’s blank look, I continued. “Besides, shouldn’t wolf and man feel and be the same during the transformation?”
“How do you know this?”
I grinned. “Too much Ann Rice and ‘Twilight’. Thank Todd for that.”
He growled. “The vampire.”
I studied him for a moment and when I thought Jericho’s usual self in that body I flushed more. Lowering my head, I tried to calm my raging heartbeat; why couldn’t I stop thinking of these words? I had offered nothing to Jericho and besides, he was the one who had agreed on waiting for me to speak. A sudden thought made me look up.
The wolf was looking at me with curiosity titling his head left and right. He moved his left hand and stretched it towards me. Blood had coated his dark olive skin but the wounds had already healed. “Come closer.” He ordered.
“Watch your mouth wolf.” I narrowed my eyes but didn’t break eye contact
He growled.
“Stop growling. I know you are smart, so talk to me. I have all night.”
The wolf’s eyes widened. “You will stay? For me?”
“For both of you.”
Suddenly, he knelt and bowed his head, his forehead touching the floor. The words he spoke sound foreign but the sound of his voice was soft like a lullaby. When he lifted his head, the black eyes looked glassy.
“Do you have a name?” I asked softly.
“Only the boy and his future mate can know my name.” he smiled. “Will you become mine?”
I laughed, hitting my palm to the floor. “It takes more than that wolf. You skipped dates and dates. I am not that easy to fall.”
“No, you are a she-wolf.” He said and the last word sounded as if it had come from two voices.
His right eye changed color and a bright blue appeared. “Claire.” Jericho’s voice sounded strained. “Get away from here please!” he begged but I shook my head.
The wolf screamed again and both his eyes became black. “You stay out of it!” the wolf shouted and turned to me. A smirk made his mouth twist in a row of pointy teeth which made Todd’s fangs look like toothsticks.
“We’ll see. I have all the time under the moonlight.” He tried to draw closer but I stayed silent, trying to understand the relationship between them. Jericho feared for my safety yet the wolf sounded intrigued by my presence. “Come closer. Please.”
“Oh now you are being gentle?”
He stretched his arms again. “I want to touch you.”
“How do I know that you’ll not rip my neck off?”
“Females and children are cherished. Those who harm them receive both the pack’s rage and the Wolf King’s wrath. I would never harm you and I agree with the boy’s thoughts too. We would never harm you.”
I thought about it for a moment. The wolf’s words seemed real and the fact that he thought highly of all pack members made me realize that Jericho and wolf thought of everyone in the house as packmates. Without breaking eye contact with him, I stood on my knees and slowly drew closer.
When I was within arm’s reach, the wolf brought his hands in the front and stretched them as if he was waiting for me to enter his arms. I stopped.
He waited.
I moved, trying to breathe slowly and gather my wits before faint from fear.
His hands touched my cheeks first. I stopped moving, feeling his hot skin against mine colder. His fingertips traced my cheekbones, my jaw lips, slowly going down to my neck. He stopped feeling my raging pulse and looked up. “You’re scared.”
“A little.” I admitted, staring at the way his eyebrows furrowed and pulled his hands back.
Suddenly I was on my back and Jericho hovered above me, having my wrists locked on a tight hold. I squirmed and he growled. “You wouldn’t hurt me.” I glared at him but he didn’t answer. Gently, he laid beside me and pulled me into his arms. My nose touched his bare chest and the scent of ice, woods and smoke engulfed me. I felt him petting me, his hand moving up and down the back of my head, feeling my short blond hair. “Wolf?”
I looked up at him at the same time he looked down at me. “Please try to talk to Jericho. Maybe you can become…friends.”
He nodded his long black hair feeling like a curtain on my skin. “I will, but not tonight. Sleep.” He pulled me closer and slowly his breath evened. Gently, I lifted my palm and touched his cheek; he felt rough with a little stumble on his jaw and for a moment I thought of his lips upon mine.
Pulling my hand back, I slapped myself mentally, blushing and closed my eyes.
At some point the coldness of the floor disappeared. I opened my eyes thinking that the wolf wanted to play. But instead blue eyes met mine and a big warm paw touched my cheek. “I am so sorry.” Jericho said and pain echoed in his voice.
He had carried me to his bedroom, I could feel the softness of the sheets and the fact that my shoes were missing. He sat on the right side of the bed and I rolled to my side looking at him. Dawn had appeared. “For what Jericho? You did nothing wrong.”
“But he did. I saw everything Claire. And I feared that when I would turn back, your blood would be on my hands. I can’t… I would be able to live through this.”
Something in me melted, the ice around the box I tightly held closed disappearing. “Come here pup.” I pulled his paw, until he was sprawled beside me. Turning, we looked at each other and slowly I petted his black muzzle. His ears twitched, the silver hoop dangling on his left ear. “Nothing happened and I am sure that the wolf inside there,” I tapped his forehead “finds me quite entertaining.”
I yawned and decided what the hell? I could use a good blanket. I curled closer and turned my back to Jericho’s chest placing his right arm around my waist. His warmth and scent covered me. “Sleep Jericho.” I mumbled and kissed his palm.
Behind me I felt him molding his body to mine, his bigger covering mine protectively. Not even a nightmare came that night and for the first time in one year, I slept peacefully.
When I woke up Jericho was gone. The foggy morning did little to cast a light into the room and groggily I got up and pulled the curtains. Yup, fog and fog. I turned around to the sound of the opening door.
“Holy shit!” Jericho curse and quickly closed the door.
I blinked and looked at myself. I still wore my clothes. I walked towards the bathroom door and knocked.
“I am not here.”
“Har har, that’s old trick. Why are you hiding like a cared pup?”
“Sorry, some…habits are hard to forget.” His voice was strained.
“Ok, I will bypass that, now please get out. I need the bathroom.”
The door opened with a thud and Jericho stood with a towel around his shoulders and one around his waist. Wait, a second… he didn’t wore a towel when…
“I can see your thoughts around your head Claire.” Jericho mumbled as embarrassed as I was and stepped aside. I could feel my face turning to tomato for once. I got into the bathroom and closed the door. Quickly, I showered, not caring about my clothes, which smelled of wolf and fire or the fact that I had spent a night sleeping, sleeping, with a werewolf!
I had placed Bella San into the bottom of paranormality. Damn Todd and his movies. When I finally came out and headed to the living room, I caught Jericho pulling a hoodie on, which all had holes on the top of his head. He heard me and turned. “This is really, really awkward. I mean, this is so not how I hope to get a girl on bed, in general.” He closed his eyes and cursed. “Fuck, scratch that Claire.”
I laughed and with a quick stride I jumped above the couch and managed to pull his muzzle into my height. I rubbed his fore head and trialed my fingers to the back of his ears. “Morning Jericho. You surely had high hopes.”
“You are always on my top list.” He mumbled lowering his eyes and staring at me from top to bottom.
“Well, if you want to amend, you will cook today.”
He smiled and grabbed me, making me sit on his shoulder, like I was lightweight. “As you wish.”
“How much of ‘The princess Bride’ have you watched.”
“I’ve seen the damn movie 29 times. Elfas has a soft spot for anything with swords and jumpy actors.” Jericho spoke as we made our way out from his room and towards the stairs. I gripped his shoulder and he tightened his hold on my knees.
When we reached the hallway, he put me gently down and took my hand leading me to the kitchen. The sound of crashing made both of us turn and head to the living room.
“Morning love birds!” Mina squealed.
She was sitting on Todd’s lap.
He wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t he moving?
“Ah Mina, what did you do?”
She blinked at me innocently. “Me? I didn’t do anything.”
“Oh you did something.” Jericho pulled her from Todd’s lap. I made a circle and stood near him.
“Well I changed his skin color for once.”
“Changed? He is green!” I pointed at Todd who was sitting on the couch with his hands clasped on his knees. His eyes were blinking rapidly and a green Hulk like color was making his white tee and grey pants look brighter.
“This,” Mina showed with a dramatic gesture “is what happens when vampires eat chocolate. Before you go all Hannibal in me, mind that I made sure for the chocolate to leave his system in three hours.”
“For three hours he will be sitting like this?” Jericho asked and Mina nodded.
A playful grin made me smile. “What do you have in mind Jericho?”
“Go and wake Elfas up. Mina has just made his day.”
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
Happy new Year!! This is the first chapter of 2015 and I have to say I enjoyed it very much! Please vote/comment!