Falling For Storm

Storm

Uh... Did he just say to give her a drop of his blood? I looked at my two best friends, horrified at the thought, and if it were up to me, I would never let Amara near anyone’s blood. The only problem was that if it helped her in some way and if this was what she truly wanted, then I couldn’t have a say about that. I was in no position to control her decisions or her entire life. I wanted her safe, but that didn’t mean that I should always step in and decide for her.

“Amara-baby, are you sure about this?” I asked, and she regarded me with a contemplative eye before turning her gaze back to Eric.

“What will happen to me after?” she asked.

“Your vampire side will awaken, you’ll gain back your memories, and you’ll become a lot stronger than you already are—stronger than any of us, to be exact,” he explained.

“I don’t get it. If she’s a hybrid, then why did she have to be bitten and be given blood?” Wyatt asked, which was a damn excellent point.

Eric looked at every one of us and then focused on Amara before answering the question. He told us that there were two parts that needed to be done in order to break the incantation that was bestowed on her. The first is a bite from a wolf, and the second is to drink from a vampire’s blood. Amara was born a hybrid, while Eric was born a vampire. They had the same vampire mother. However, Amara’s father is a wolf, while Eric’s father is a vampire. When Amara’s parents died, she was sent away and raised as a human while Eric watched over her closely from the sidelines. The incantation he was talking about suppressed both their scents and, at the same time, suppressed her abilities and erased the memory of her childhood. This had to be done in order to protect her.

This was probably the reason why she was able to go back to her human form the first time she turned without anyone’s help and why the rogues needed to keep drugging her every chance they got with Vervain and Wolf’s Bane to keep her down.

“So, what am I going to be after I get a taste of your blood?” Amara asked.

“You’re going to be both; you can turn to a wolf at any time or use your vampire abilities. However, you won’t burn like me under the sun, nor do you need to feed on blood. You won’t feel a certain kind of blood lust,” he explained, and Amara gave a sigh of relief but immediately knitted her eyebrows together.

“But you don’t burn under the sun,” she said.

“No, I don’t. I have a charm that protects me from the sun,” he answered, but didn’t elaborate on where he keeps this particular charm.

“How do we know you’re not here to harm her after this awakening you call?” I asked, and he trained his eyes on me.

“If anything bad happens to her or if I try anything to harm her, then you can kill me. I won’t run nor fight. You have my word, Alpha,” he firmly said, and I lifted my chin up to accept his promise.

Vampires never break their word when speaking to the alpha of a pack. We may not get along much in the real world, but once a wolf or a vampire gives their word to each other, it becomes the ultimate truth. A binding contract that can never be broken.

“Are you ready to do this, Amara?” Eric asked once more.

“I just have one more question,” Amara stated, lifting a finger.

“Which is?” he asked.

“Are you going to tell us everything after this?” she inquired, and that made Eric chuckle for the first time.

“Always so eager to learn. Yes, I will tell you everything you need to know.”

Amara nodded and took a step closer to him. He bit his wrist down and stretched his arm out in front of her mouth. Instead of doing anything, she just stared at Eric’s wrist wide-eyed, making me suspect for a second that drinking blood grossed her out. I mean, it was kind of valid, even though wolves like us taste blood when we’re tearing something apart.

“Umm. Do I suck it or lick it?” she hesitated, scrunching her nose.

A small laugh escaped Hunter’s mouth, and Wyatt turned to face the wall in order to hide his. Eric and I rolled our eyes at the same time, both amused at how she comically deals with awkward and stressful situations all the damn time.

“Here, tip your head up, and I’ll do the rest,” Eric instructed.

He didn’t look like he was annoyed at her. In fact, it was only now that I noticed that he looked at her with a lot of affection. Amara did as she was told, and right after, a few drops of Eric’s blood rushed through her veins. Her breathing increased, and she doubled over, clutching her chest.

“What’s happening?” I asked, rushing beside her.

“It’s nothing; she’ll feel a small amount of pain, but it will be over soon,” Eric explained.

It took awhile for her to gain her composure. Once the process was done and she was fully standing, I stared at her in amazement as I noticed how paler her skin looked and how lighter her eyes turned.

If she looked beautiful then, she looks absolutely breathtaking now. She gave everyone a once-over, and when her gaze landed on Eric, a small smile slowly spread along her face.

“Frate mai mare (big brother).” She extended her arms out to him and gave him a tight hug before pulling away to look at him.

“It’s been a while, soră mai mică (little sister),” he whispered, caressing her cheek.

They stared into each other’s eyes a little longer than normal, and it was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. She whipped her head to the side to look directly at me. The look on her face told me that she somehow knew where my thoughts were and how uneasy I was feeling as I watched them interact.

“Uh, hi? Do you remember me?” I asked, unsure of what to do next.

Taking a step closer, she took my hand, intertwining our fingers, and then a shy smile crept over her lips, and that tugged at my heart really hard. It was the strangest feeling to be looking at Amara now that her vampire side was out. I didn’t know if I was going to be cautious or not, so I didn’t dare move a muscle. I only stared back at her.

“It’s still me. I’m still me, and I’m here, Storm; I just remember more,” she said, leaning up to give my cheek a kiss, and I slowly let out a breath that I didn’t even know I was holding.

This was one hurdle we were able to overcome; now we needed to face the others head-on.