The Darkness We Hide

Reluctantly they dressed and returned to the house, having thoroughly enjoyed the wonderful day they’d spent by, and sometimes in, the water despite the dread that loomed over both of them.

By unsaid agreement, whatever Michelle had to tell him had been shelved for a later time.

After a hot shower and another wonderful meal prepared by Nancy, they sat out under the stars sharing a chair, with Michelle leaning happily against his warm body as she pointed out the constellations.

“I haven’t stopped to look at the stars for a long time,” Gareth said, trying to hide his discomfort.

It was the first night of the full moon, and while he could control whether or not he shifted, it was uncomfortable to keep his beast reigned in. It wanted to be free to run and hunt, not sit still and look at the stars, but it was willing to stay hidden so Michelle wouldn’t leave them. It loved her too.

“You know, I don’t know how long it had been since I really looked at them either,” Michelle said, unaware of the conflict raging inside Gareth’s soul, hew own mind occupied by her own turmoil. “I remember my dad had this old book, I think it was National Geographic or something, anyway we used to sit together on the back lawn and try to see if we could find and name the constellations.

“We even made up a few of our own,” she laughed remembering the weird creatures they had created in their own minds.

“I’d like to do that one day,” Gareth said into her ear, “sit with my kids under the wide Montana sky and…”

His words faded to nothing when he noticed Michelle’s body go slightly rigid in his arms. It wasn’t the first time she had a similar reaction when having kids and a family were brought up in conversation.

“What’s wrong?” Gareth asked, moving to look into her face. "Please tell me. You've been on edge all afternoon."

“You said before that your parents were after you to start a family,” Michelle replied quietly, her voice shaking. This was it, this was her chance to tell him.

Gareth turned her to face him, “It’s not something we need to deal with right now Michelle. Right now it’s just you and me, and that is all I want.”

His eyes bored into hers, willing her to forget the pain these thoughts caused, using the mesmer on her again. He’d promised himself he would never, ever, violate her mind like that again. Granted, he’d only done it with her best interest in mind, but it was worse than any physical abuse he could inflict. If it had been physical, she could have defended herself, but from this, there was nothing she could do to stop it.

When he was sure that the sadness and doubt was gone, he pulled her back into his embrace, all the while telling himself it was for her own good.

“We can go inside if you want to,” Gareth said, changing the subject.

“No,” Michelle said, putting her hand on his knee to forestall him as he tried to stand. “Being with you like this is nice.”

Gareth sighed in contentment, leaning back and pulling her closer.

“Back on the ranch,” Gareth said, absently stroking her arms, “there’s no light pollution to contend with. You can see the Milky Way from one horizon to the other.”

“It sounds wonderful,” Michelle sighed, sleepily, snuggling into his warmth.

The peace of the night was broken by a deep, rumbling growl coming from a large animal as it crashed through the bushes surrounding the patio.

Roughly Gareth pushed her away and leapt to his feet, positioning himself between Michelle and the sound.

“What is it?” Michelle asked, fear rising in her.

“Just a wild animal,” Gareth said unconvincingly over his shoulder, he knew who it was. Richard was out there, his scent overwhelming and feral.

The growling continued as Richard thrashed and raged through the brambles furious to see Gareth’s arms wrapped around Michelle.

“Come and get me,” he intoned in the guttural language of the lycan.

“Fuck you,” Gareth replied in the same language.

“Come and get me,” Richard called, this time from the other side of the patio. “Get me before I get her!”

“You bastard,” Gareth howled, leaping off the deck barreling straight towards where the voice had come from. “I’ll kill you!”

Gone was his control, it was the night of the full moon and his mate was threatened. Tonight he would kill Richard if it was the last thing he did.

“Gareth,” Michelle screamed after him.

“Stay there,” he called as he disappeared into the night, pushing all the power he could into his voice to keep her out of danger.

Michelle stood frozen to the spot, listening to the growls, yelps and animalistic roars that echoed through the night.

Gareth waited until he was sure she couldn’t see him before changing into his beasts form. It would be easier to deal with Richard this way, not to mention more satisfying. A lycan taking on a piece of shit werewolf was no real fight, Gareth had had years of training both in the military and as the oldest of nine. He knew how to fight.

Seeing the other man shift, Richard smiled to himself, part one of his plan was done. Now he just needed to get Gareth far enough away so he could circle back and grab Michelle.

With amazing speed, Gareth caught him, swiping him painfully across the flank. Increasing his speed, he barely managed to dodge the next blow.

Hearing a yelp of pain from somewhere in the darkness, Michelle tried to jump from the relative safely of the deck to the ground, intent on finding Gareth and helping him if he was hurt, but her arm was grabbed by a powerful grip forcing her to stay where she was.

Turning, she saw Nancy dressed in an old fashioned, floor length night dress complete with matching sleeping cap.

“Let me go,” Michelle insisted, jerking her arm to get free.

“No,” Nancy said, her voice barely audible as she listened intently to the battle raging in the dense growth around them. She could hear Gareth’s strong, surefooted strides as he chased the interloper. She heard him knocking the other wolf about like a rag doll before the werewolf managed to evade him and escape into the darkness.

With one last mighty effort, Michelle managed to free herself from the older woman’s iron grip and she hurried off into the darkness before Nancy could grab her again.

Once in the woods, Michelle lost all sense of direction. No matter which way she turned, everything looked the same.

Standing perfectly still, she forced her breathing to slow and listened to the world around her. From her left came the sound of bones snapping and deep moans of pain. Carefully, she moved toward the noise, fearful that she might be attacked at any moment, but even more afraid that whatever animal was there was hurting Gareth.

Pushing aside the leaves of a large fern Michelle felt the gird rise in her throat. Rolling on the forest floor was a creature the likes of which she had never seen. It had black fur, but she didn’t recognize anything else about it. Its paws, if they could be called that, seemed to be growing longer even as she watched.

She stared in horrified fascination as the thing reared up on its hind legs and started to get taller, stumbling towards a tree seeming to use it for balance.

With more snaps, and cries of pain she saw the fur of the animal sloughing off revealing soft pink skin beneath.

In mere moments, the thing that had been an animal stood shaking and sweating, now a full sized man. Hearing her gasp aloud, the thing turned to look at her with glowing yellow eyes, glowing eyes looking at her from Gareth’s haggard face.

Unable to breath Michelle fainted, crumpling to the ground.