The Darkness We Hide

Gareth and Michelle held each other in their shared grief, their tears mingling as they rolled to the floor.

“This is my fault,” Michelle said, tears rolling freely down her cheeks. “If I never met you, if you’d never followed me home, if we’d never gone to bed.”

“No,” Gareth said, “it’s not your fault.”

“You’re right,” Michelle said, pushing him away. “It was you! You and Richard. The two of you did this.”

“You do realize that Richard was in your life long before I was,” Gareth said softly. “He had you marked as his choice for over a year.”

“What do you mean?” Michelle asked, looking at him confused.

“When we found you, we found Richard’s den. In it was journal after journal outlining how he had chosen you, watched you, he’d even researched you as far back as grade school. He wrote about your dates and how he was sure you were the one to be his. He’d been planning on forcing the change on you for quite some time, but it was my appearance in your life that pushed him past the point of reason. He realized your feelings towards me were stronger than anything you’d ever have for him and he went crazy,” he explained wanting to wrap his arms around her again.

“Richard and I broke up months ago,” Michelle sobbed. “I even had him arrested for fucks sake.”

“Well,” Gareth sighed in reply, rubbing her arm like she was a child, “as a rogue, without the support of a pack, Richard needed someone, a mate if you will. He thought that given time he could woo you back, and if that didn’t work he knew forcing the change on you would bind you to him no matter what.

“When he realized that I had taken you away to Bainbridge, most likely to tell you about lycan’s, he went completely over the edge,” he explained, his hand moving in soft circles that were almost hypnotic. “He decided it was time to implement his half-ass plan to abduct you and turn you before I could tell you the truth.”

“How did you find us?” Michelle asked, sniffling.

“Richard broke into several pharmacies and stole antibiotics and painkillers,” Gareth said, daring to move closer. “We tracked his scent back from those locations until we were able to zero in on his hiding place.”

“What did you do to him?” Michelle asked, still crying. “What happened to Richard?”

“My parents turned him over to the Council of Elders. They will decide his fate,” he said flatly.

“What is the Council of Elders?” Michelle asked.

“It’s our highest form of our internal law. They have an agreement with human governments to be able to act as judge, jury and executioner if needed when creatures like us are involved. Not just us," he added, deciding there was no point in hiding anything from his mate now. "They preside over all mythical creatures from chupacabra's to unicorn's."

"Unicorn's and chupacabra's?" Michelle gasped, looking up with blood-shot eyes.

"Yeah," he nodded, wishing he could take her pain away. "There is an entire world that is hidden from human eyes. It's a world I would like to show you when you feel better..."

Before he could continue, Michelle scrambled away from him suddenly before throwing up on the floor.

“Don’t touch me,” she said between retches, slapping away the hands that tried to comfort her.

“Let me help you,” he said sternly, refusing to let her push him away.

Holding her tightly while she dry heaved, Gareth left her long enough to get a damp washcloth from the bathroom.

He found Michelle collapsed on the chair his mother had recently vacated.

“Here,” he said, brushing the hair from her face, wiping it with the cool cloth.

Too weary to stop him, Michelle let him care for her. When he finished with her face, he rinsed the cloth with cold water and returned to her, placing it on her neck.

“How’s that?” he asked, sitting on the bed across from her.

“Better,” she breathed, unable to look at him.

“Is there anything else I can do?” he asked hopefully.

“Just leave me alone,” she said, pulling her knees to her chest.