Those last couple of weeks were hell in that village. Everyone, and I mean everyone, glared at me. Graduation was the worst. They threatened to take away my diploma just because I didn’t “respect the hunt.”
“Terrell the Terrible, the name rings so high!”
Just like Ivan the Terrible, or the Hitler of their town, they taunted me. My father hired an outside human lawyer when they threatened my diploma. The attorney made some wheels and deals, and on the 17th of June, I walked with my class, got my diploma, tossed my tassle to the side and flipped everyone off as I walked off that stage.
There was nothing they could do to me now. I knew the plan. Graduate. Get in the car.
And get. The. Hell. Out. Of. Town.
My father had made up his mind that he was coming with me to Stanford. He said he could use the change of scenery. But I knew better. He needed to get out of town before they banned him from the pack.
He had made arrangements with a different alpha in the Stanford area. We were to meet with him in a week, giving us the time to make the drive up there from the sweltering Georgia heat. No more of this wretched humidity.
No more taunting of the shit stains that this town called their heroes.
No more Anastasia.
Anastasia…Anastasia…. her name was bittersweet in my mind. I hadn’t decided what to do. My father had pleaded with me to reject her back so I could move on while in college. I hadn’t.
I felt her. I knew her, knew her tastes, touch, smell. I knew her favorite colors, her fears, her worries for Gavin. It was enough to make any romance novel disgustingly sick.
But I was, sick, that is. Sick in love with her and until I made up my mind to release her, I would always be that way.
As my father and I were packing the last of our suitcases into the car, I felt a sudden stab in my side. I wretched out, dropping to my knees. Then there was a instant shock that went through my skull. I grabbed both sides of my head, wailing at the pain.
“Terrell! Oh my god! Terrell!”
I barrowed out in agony, the pain piercing and blinding.
And as soon as it had begun, it stopped. I sat up, and without thinking, I began to howl.
Long, lonely, miserable howling came from deep within my lungs from a place that I had never had before. My father put his hand over his mouth, gasping.
He quickly fumbled for his cell and called the doc.
“Doc? Yeah, it’s Richard. Something’s wrong. No, no. We’re fine. Find Anastasia. Something’s wrong with Anastasia. How do I? What? Oh my god, just find her!”
He hung up the phone and came over to hold me. I snarled at him and took off, my human form shedding in front of him and at a full run. I smelled the air. I had to find her.
But I couldn’t be seen. My mind kept telling me that. Don’t be seen. Just run until you find her. But don’t be seen.
I could hear her now, her faint gasps for air breaking with each struggle to take them in. I could smell the blood. So much blood. I could hear her trying to move, feel each twinge of skyrocketing pain that escalated through her broken body.
I found her.
The curve on the outskirts of town was historical for taking those who wouldn’t be wary of it for a spin of their life time, and the last of their lifetime. I saw the broken guard rail, smelled the smoke, the gasoline as it left the broken fuel tank. I had to get down there.
Don’t go. I heard the voice in my head, but it wasn’t mine. It was Doc Havard’s.
We both shifted back. He looked at me, his eyes knowing but unable to speak. My father approached us in his car, and brought us both a set of clothes.
“Is she…?” my father asked.
“No, not yet,” I replied, without hesitation.
“Are you sure son?” Doc asked.
“Positive, but it won’t be long. She’s bleeding internally.”
“Well, let’s not just stand here. Come on doc!” My father started heading down the hill.
“Richard, wait!” Doc screamed after him.
My father stopped, and he suddenly knew. He climbed back up the hill, slowly.
Doc looked at me. “Terrell, don’t let her suffer. Release her from the pain. As long as you two have an attachment, she will never be able to live fully. And if she dies down at the bottom of the ravine, you’re going to die with her, little by little.”
My father looked at me, “He’s right Terrell. Let her go. Let her go in peace.”
Again, my eyes burned. I could feel the heat from the fire that had started when they spoke.
“Anastasia, I re….I re….”
“Go ahead son, we are both here for you.”
“Anastasia, I reject you as my mate.”
As if the car understood me, it exploded into an awesome fury. The pain was gone. The tears were still there, with a loss I would never understand fully. We all knew that there was no saving her. Doc had saved my father’s life, smelling the gasoline as strongly as I had.
My father’s encouraging strength around my shoulders, he guided me back to his car. The ball of flames burned courageously behind us, taking up anything in its path.
I suppose we won’t be leaving for a few days then, I thought to myself.
Seven years later… Terrell sat back in his apartment. Alone, he quietly pondered his next steps. Last week he walked the stage with top honors in law. He had passed his bars. He was officially an attorney. His father was so proud, standing there in the beating sun and taking pictures of his son as that graceful gown seemed to float around him. Only this time, there were no middle fingers involved. There was no telling a small town to piss off. It was him. Terrell Gladson and his day of glory. But now, as he sat in his empty apartment, he started to feel the emptiness seeping in. The same emptiness he felt that night of the accident when he rejected Anastasia. A deep, hollowness that penetrated his thoughts, and sometimes, his very soul. The thought of, you will always be alone. Terrell was the epitome of puberty done right. The old glasses were gone, Lasix taking their place and clearing any horrid eyesigh
His phone jolted him awake. Passed out again, over stacks of declarations, court orders, and pizza. How long had he been out? He rubbed his eyes and reached for his watch. 2:37 AM. Damn! Who the hell could be calling him at this hour? He picked up his phone. Dad. Shit. Double shit. “Dad? Dad what’s wrong?” “Nothing. I missed your call. What’s up son?” His voice was cheery, like he had been on vacation for six months. “What? Oh, uh, I was going to see if you wanted to meet up for scotch and dinner. Guess I missed you.” There was an awkward silence on the phone. “Dad?” “I’m here. You do know I’m in London this week, remember? The convention? I’ve been planning it for months.” Right. The hot shot lawyer convention across the big blue. One of those things he hated the most. “Yeah, mu
The terrified young sprout of a courier rambled on, occasionally going down a rabbit hole here and there in his explanations. Terrell would raise his hand to caution Kyle not to steer too far, as though the outside story had no relevance to the current affairs.After a long and grueling discussion, Terrell sat back in his chair, eyeing the young man carefully.“You may sit.” Turning to Jason, “Get him some coffee, or water. What would you like, Kyle?”“C-c-c-coffee, Alpha sir, please.”Terrell nodded towards Jason. The man turned on a toe and went to grab coffee for the very timid creature.“Okay, the female children of the town are being tortured to death. But why only the females? Why not Gavin's son?”Kyle shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. His eyes were lowered, afraid to make eye contact with the overpowering alpha.Terrell sat in silence for a moment and continued his quest
The two men led Kyle into a private room decorated in the finest Queen Anne antique furniture. Across the floor spread hand spun Chinese carpets, along with plush pillows tossed and fluffed across two long couches. On the far end of the room was a large open window, lined in heavy velvet curtains, with sheers delicately placed in between them. A fireplace took up a good portion of the center left wall with a mantle almost as long as Kyle was tall. A deep blue velvet antique chaise lounge sat next to the window, and behind it on the wall, a floor to ceiling shelving of leather bound books.The room was lit with a chandelier, low and dim, and used to serve the house with candle light against hanging crystals. The chandelier had long since been replaced with electrical current, but still gave the shimmering off glow from its dangles and bobbles. On the right side of the room, a bar cart with bourbon, sherry, champagne and ice sat, waiting for them.“Do you drink, Ky
“Okay, what do you know?” Kyle sneered at Terrell.Terrell stared at him for a moment, an eyebrow cocked. “I do believe the Alpha title is mine, not yours. And I am to ask the questions if you even fathom of thinking my help is within your puny fucking reach.” Terrell's teeth glared and glistened. “Now, sit down, shit stain. If you're playing errand boy to Gavin, then you need to tell me what the hell is really going on. What am I taking my people into?”Kyle fired back, “Can you not read? Not your pack. You. Just YOU!! Gavin wants just YOU.”Terrell stepped back. Kyle was right; nowhere in the scroll had Gavin asked for his pack's help. Just Terrell's.“Okay, scruff, have it your way. What does FORMER football star Gavin want with me?” He emphasized the word formal, deliberately shooting the words straight at Kyle.Jason watched between the two, knowing his alpha could kill him in one str
A few hours later, Terrell and Jason stood at the airport waiting for the jet to be ready.“Private jet?” Jason asked, looking about suspiciously.“I do have to come 'alone' as Kyle so easily put it. If I show up stylin' in this private gig, then they will know I am alone.”“I don't like it Alpha. It just smells wrong. Let me go for you.”“Jason, I appreciate your loyalty, I really do. But apparently this is not the case in Georgia. You know I will keep base with you. You're just a jingle away.”Jason sneered. He was not fond of the idea of his Alpha just up and heading several miles away from his home territory. His attention was caught off guard by movement in the corner of his eye.Several pack members heaved a gurney through the deserted air strip. Kyle lay on the gurney, strapped down, unconscious an
“Alpha! Alpha Terrell! Wake up!”Terrell startled awake, sweating glistening on his brow. He grabbed at his chest, looking for the blood that had been there. His head spinning, Terrell sat up on the floor of the cabin.“We've landed in Georgia, sir.”Terrell looked around him cautiously. A nightmare. It had only been a nightmare. Her face, the alarms, the overwhelming feeling of...Terrell rushed to the bathroom, lurching over the toilet. He emptied the contents from his stomach in piercing loud pushes. He was dizzy from the nightmare, from the feeling of the plane bolting from left to right. His head pounded in his ears from vomiting, and his eyes blurred as he tried to focus and calm the nausea that continued to threaten him.“Sir, are you alright?”Terrell hung on the toilet, resting his head on the backside of it. “Fine, just give me a minute.”Motion sickness? Really? On a flight th
Gavin stood in the airport terminal, watching the private jet. He was furious when he saw Kyle come out on a gurney, strapped down like a wild animal. “Terrell the Terrible,” he murmured. “You strike again, and you weren't even here this time.”Kyle had been rushed to the doctor once being taken from the plane. Terrell had slowly exited the flight, looking about him for any imminent danger signs. He cupped his hands over his eyes in the morning sun and saw Gavin standing at the terminal window, waiting patiently, snarling heavily.“Shit, here we go,” said Terrell.The pilot had off loaded the luggage from the plane. He looked in the direction that Terrell had looked and saw the Alpha Gavin in the window as well.“Looks like you got yourself a welcome party.”“Don't remind me. I'm only here to give advice. I really don't care about anything else. Besides, this heat and humidity never suited me wh