THE AWAKENING

Cassandra watched with open hatred as he disappeared, moving far too quickly for a human being, but differently than her
wolves, and she wondered what world she’d woken up in today.
She walked cautiously away from the fire and found the bubbling pool just as her captor described. Her body ached from the
pounding given to her by the twin wolf brothers and the water was a welcome relief.
She sank in and submerged herself, and then found a bar of organic soap waiting for her on a ledge. After soaping herself and
rinsing, she drifted over to a submerged ledge and settled herself upon it.
The water swirled around her like a hot tub and her protesting muscles began to relax under the soothing jets of natural jets
bubbling from the depths of the earth.
She lost track of time and must’ve fallen asleep for when she opened her eyes again, her captor was standing there watching
her.
She sank lower in the water to shield her breasts from his gaze but he laughed at her efforts.
“Come, I have clothes for you to change into.”
She scowled and motioned for him to turn around. “I’m not putting on a peep show for your entertainment.”
“Foolish child...it doesn’t matter whether I see your naked body now or later. But suit yourself. I will indulge your request because
it amuses me.” He turned to give her privacy and she rushed to cover herself. But as she lifted the clothing he’d brought her, she
realized with dismay she may as well have remained naked.
The cloth was a sheer sheath that was certainly inappropriate for the chilly cavern and definitely inappropriate given the situation.
She looked for her old clothes but found they were gone. As if sensing her confusion, he said, “I burned them. The seed of those
beasts was all over them. I thought I might be ill.”
“So you brought me this?” She lifted the thin sheath. “This is ridiculous. I’ll freeze.”
He turned and she gasped as she struggled to cover herself. “Do you know nothing of your nature?” he asked. When she failed
to answer, he explained in irritation, “In a few short hours you will phase again. The heat in your body will ramp up until you are
burning with fever. The sheath is simply a nod to your modesty, however thin. You will rip it from your body when you are in full
phase.”

She swallowed, remembering the scant details Jandin and Koris had shared before she’d slipped into her second phase. She
remembered the heat inside her body, liquefying her bones and she shuddered in fear it at happening again. “You must take me
back to my clan. I’ll die if I phase without them.”
By his flat expression, that was perhaps his entire plan. “That’s murder. I’ve done nothing to deserve what you’re planning for
me. Have you no conscience?”
He smirked. “A wolf speaking of conscience? Your species has a history of savagery and yet you cry about the fairness of your
situation?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, offended and uneasy. She didn’t know anything about the world she was suddenly
thrust into and yet, this man was judging her.
The man shook his head, annoyed by her ignorance but he decided to explain.
“Without a Breeding female, the two clans settle into an uneasy truce, which bears well for the humans they choose to live
beside. But a Breeding female creates a lust for dominance that is impossible to quell under the best of circumstances; add in a
Breeding female of your particular blood line and it’s doomed to chaos and bloodshed.”
“What do you mean?” Cassandra asked, intrigued in spite of herself. “I don’t know any of this. I was adopted. I have no idea who
my biological parents were.”
His mouth curved in a short line. “That explains your excruciating ignorance.”
“Hey! Are you always so rude?”
“Almost always.”
“I believe it,” she grumbled, gesturing for him to continue, even though she hated being educated by a dickhead. “Continue.”
“Your father came from Clan Barrichius; your mother, Clan Janus. As such you are a direct descendent of the Lycan line. Your
blood is powerful. Your womb is dangerous.”
Her hand drifted to her belly. “How?”
“There is a legend...one that has kept the two clans warring since the beginning of time. A child would be born of the two clans
union that would bear fruit to rule the world. You, Cassandra, are that child. And anyone in either clan would do anything to claim

you and all that goes with it.”
She gasped and shook her head. “You’ve got to be joking. This is ludicrous.”
“Really? Were you not just fucked by two werewolves? Were you not compelled to fuck when your phasing began?”
Her cheeks burned at the memory. “Yes,” she admitted with shame. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“It’s in your nature. Which is why you cannot bear fruit in that womb of yours.”
“But they will come for me,” she said, not sure what to think anymore. “They will find me.”
“The minerals in the spring water act as a natural neutralizer. Their seed has been washed away for the time being. But your final
phasing will create a scent that they can follow. We will leave before that happens.”
His gaze drifted down her naked body, barely covered by the sheath in her hands, and she hurriedly pulled it over her head.
She shivered as the fabric whispered over her curves and danced around her knees. He looked away as if scalded. “I brought
you food. I suggest you eat. Your body’s metabolism is moving at a much faster rate and you will find yourself nearing starvation
within hours if you don’t eat every two hours.”
Cassandra hesitated to ask him what he’d brought her to eat seeing as she’d gobbled raw meat a few hours earlier but she
found his choice acceptable and started eating.
“How do you know so much about werewolves if you’re not one?” she asked around the bite of raw steak. “And you still haven’t
told me your name,” she reminded him.
“Names are not necessary for what will happen between us.”
She shuddered. Her Intro To Psych 101 professor had been obsessed with serial killers and had often used crime profiles as
teaching materials. He had joked that if ever in a situation with a stone-cold killer, try to engage with them on a human level,
remind them that you are more than an object without feelings. “Because as much as you want to pound the idea into my head, I
am not an animal. No matter my lineage.”
“We can agree to disagree.”
Frustrated, she asked, “So what are you, Mr. High and Mighty? You’re clearly not human but you’re certainly judgy.”

He chuckled at her insult. “I’m surprised your senses have not figured it out yet,” he said.
Sudden clarity came to her and she swallowed with difficulty. “You’re a vampire?”
“Yes,” he said. “And my name is Cristophe. It is my duty to keep watch for the Breeding females of the clans. Thus far, I’ve been
successful in preventing the prophesy.”
“Oh.” The meat stuck in her throat and she swallowed again. “So...why do you care so much about the politics of werewolves?”
“Wolves are like squabbling children, always crying over who has what toy. Vampires have been keeping the werewolves under
control for eons. Possibly since the beginning.”
She scowled, not liking his condescension. “Maybe they don’t need to be babysat. Did you ever think of that?”
“Without control, they become rabid, quarreling beasts who tear apart everything in their path.”
She thought of Jandin and Koris and how tender they’d been with her and she immediately rushed to their defense. “I don’t think
that’s true. You have a bias against werewolves apparently.”
His stare narrowed. “Yes. A werewolf ripped apart my human family after I’d turned.”
“Oh. I’m sorry,” Cassandra offered, not quite sure how to offer condolences on something so awful. “But Jandin and Koris aren’t
like that.”
“Don’t mislead yourself. They were consumed with lust for you because of the power you possess. Why else would they go out
of their way to put their mark on you before they could get you to safety?”
“I was phasing. There wasn’t time,” she said.
“Be that as it may, they’d been watching you for some time. As have I. They lost control because of who you are and who they
are.”
A part of her wondered if this was true. She nibbled her steak, completely over the fact that she was munching on raw meat, and
focused on the here and now. “Where will you take me?” she asked.
“I have an underground compound that will suffice for the time being. I will try to see to your comfort as much as possible. Should
the phase end your life...I will see to it that your effects are put into order.”

“Not a castle?” she asked derisively. “I thought all vampires had castles. And what do you mean, my effects?”
“I have several but there’s nothing close enough to reach. Besides, going underground is the best way to muffle your scent from
their damned canine sense of smell. And to answer your question, it wouldn’t do to leave loose ends. Should anyone find your
body, the authorities will assume you died of natural causes.”
Bitterness filled her mouth. “You don’t give two shits about the fact that I’m innocent in all this, do you?”
He shrugged. “Innocence dies everyday.”
Cassandra shivered, giving up. He was a wall of ice without a heart. She had zero hope of outrunning or overpowering him. Her
only chance was that her new pack members would find her before she died.
She picked at her food, unsure why he was bothering to feed her at all. However, she was unable to refuse fresh meat, no matter
how much it stung her pride to eat anything he’d provided.
She finished her dinner in silence, the crackling of the fire the only sound between them. She looked up to find Cristophe staring
at her with a heat in his eyes that he couldn’t immediately squelch when their gazes met. “Are you going to kill me?” she asked.
“I’m supposed to handle the situation,” he said by way of answer but he shifted in seeming discomfort.
“I don’t want to die,” she murmured.
“Most people don’t.”
“Why can’t you just relocate me, like a werewolf witness protection program?”
He shook his head. “There is nowhere you could go that they wouldn’t eventually find you. They are...tenacious.”
“I’m a good person,” she said, wiping away a tear. “I was studying to be an engineer. I like finding out how things work.” She was
making mindless conversation if only to mask the trembling fear inside. “I never imagined...”
“Your heritage is your only crime,” he admitted. “I would that things were different.” The quiet admission shocked her and she
glanced up and to catch him frowning. “You are the first Breeding female who wasn’t aware of her lineage. Most are protected
and hidden away to prevent the feuding. Of course, none have had your bloodline before. Your parents were foolish to mate,
having known the consequence.”
“They must’ve really loved each other,” Cassandra supposed and Cristophe shrugged away her romantic sentiment.

“A useless and dangerous emotion. Look where it has put you...and them.”
She perked up, curious. “Are my parents still alive?”
“No.” He dashed her sudden hope with his flat admission.
“What happened?”
She held her breath. Would she finally discover more about her true heritage before dying?