~ Even if she ran away, her options remained the same. Death or the change. Those were the glaring options she had left. She could either become a werewolf, or she could, well, kill herself. Neither of them sounded pleasing to her; she wanted to live, and she wanted to remain human.
The third option was the vampires. She had done some research based on some things Lochlan had told her about them. They were rich. Like filthy rich. The top tier of the society. They owned multimillion-dollar companies, held prime seats in government, and headed major charity boards. If she went into one of the five cities they controlled, Sven could not hunt her there. That, however, would leave her at their mercy. It really was just a matter of the lesser evil.
"What are you thinking about?" Lochlan asked.
"Death or the change," Penny said thoughtfully.
Lochlan stood there, looking down at the top of her head. He could feel her fingers along his skin as she r
~At dawn, Penny snuck out of the house. She did not know where she was going, but she knew she needed to go. Her night with Lochlan had only proven that she needed to put space between them. She needed to keep him safe. Not just from the werewolves who hunted her, but from himself. He loved her. Would sacrifice his life for her, and she loved him too much to ask that of him. Finally, she knew how he felt, and instead of bringing them together, it only proved that it was better if they were apart. Marx was right. She was a liability. With what Lochlan had done, no werewolf could change her. That would buy her some time, at least. Now only the vampires could get at her. She would have to go underground. Only leave her safe house when she had to. She could order anything online now. From groceries to clothes, anything she needed. She would be fine. Hidden away from anyone who could see and recognize what she was. She had enough money from her inheritance to get her new li
~Penny woke up, panic tightening her chest. It had been two days since she had tried to leave, and she hadn't spoken to Lochlan since. She couldn't. She couldn't even look at him. Marx, the consummate voice of reason, was all help and smiles. He told her they had to suck it up and learn how to deal with it. Learn to control it. He didn't mince words about the importance of Lochlan being able to move around without collapsing in a helpless heap at the feet of his enemies. A liability. She was becoming more and more so. The man really was a charm. His charm made her grit her teeth. Gripping a fist of her shirt over her heart, she stumbled out of bed. What was he doing? Was there another attack? If there was, he would be useless. Penny took grim comfort because her chest felt like it was being ripped apart. He lived. Sobs shaking her body, she crawled to her door. Her feeling this way meant he was alive, and that was good. Penny wanted to kill him herself. She tried to re
~They got closer. Marx and his little exercises were doing more than just creating some hoodoo mind link between them. Penny wasn't even sure when she had stopped being mad at Lochlan for what he had done to her. When she tried to rouse the anger again, there was nothing there. She was where she wanted to be. Lochlan, Black, Marx, and his scary pack of red-eyed wolves were feeling like family. She hadn't had one in such a long time. The thought scared her. Even more so with the danger that was prowling in the woods to get them. More and more, she was growing disconnected from the life she had before. Now she didn't feel like there was a gaping hole in her chest. This new life that was taking form around her was giving her something she never knew she desperately wanted, and that was a family. As weird as they were. Sometimes she felt guilty that maybe she was getting more out of this arrangement than they were. She had brought nothing but danger into their lives, after
~Penny sat on the edge of her bed, waiting. To say she was nervous was an understatement. Twisting her fingers in her lap, she tried to keep her mind clear, breathing even. She thought about mixing an herb relaxer, but then she couldn't get herself to move. The only part of her that moved were her fingers, and her teeth chewing on her bottom lip. Lochlan was taking an uncomfortably long time getting to her room. He had told her to wait there, and she had been waiting for a while. Black came in first. He rested his head on her lap, looking up with his warm, gold eyes. Her fingers buried themselves into the black silk of his pelt. His warmth was reassuring to her. A minute later, Lochlan came to stand at the door. "Are you ready?" "As ready as I'll ever be." Penny kicked off her shoes before lying down on the bed. "Can he stay with me?" Penny asked when Black walked away. In response, he jumped up, stepping over her to lie on the other side. Penny
~Every day they tested the limits of their boundaries, and every day their boundaries grew wider and wider. Lochlan could now go on running without dragging Penny along. Not that he minded, but he had some issues he needed to deal with. He was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he couldn't change Penny. Even more so with the fact that he had almost killed her. Penny didn't hold it against him, but he held it against himself. Lochlan stopped running, looking out over the cliff at the silvery green forest, which spanned miles in front of him. This was the back section of the mountain; it led to denser areas where the natives lived. The mountain was a barrier between them and the people in the city. His chest was growing tight, a sign that he was approaching the maximum distance he could be away from Penny. She’d be feeling the same. Lochlan rubbed the area of his chest over his heart. He felt a stirring in his mind, a ghost of a question asked without words
~"Well, now we know why Barabbas didn't bother having you lynched." That comment came from Marx. Lochlan pulled down his shirt, grimacing. The pain had his entire body throbbing. Through the gaping hole at the top of the stairs, he could see dawn creeping in; the sun turning the sky a warm glow of oranges and yellows and blues. It had only been a few hours since Sven’s men kidnapped Penny. He didn't know exactly where the manor was located, but he hoped they had gotten there in time. Penny had taken something. She wouldn't have done that if she didn't think they could save her. His chest was tight, panic trying to set in around the pain. As the poison tore him apart, the pain kept him together. It held his sanity in place. Wherever she was now, she was so far away their link was silent. He felt the void, like a piece of him was missing. Lochlan hoped Pe
~ Shea found Marx on the roof of Lochlan's house. From the front, all you could see were trees spread out without much of a view. "Expecting company?" she asked, going to stand beside him. She hadn't seen her surrogate father in almost five years. With her being on the run, and him being a recluse, this was a reunion long overdue. "They don't need to come back here," Marx's voice sounded distant. It was a simple, cold fact. They had dealt the death blow. Shea knew Marx suspected they had meant the poison for him. Poison was personal. And whoever made it went through a hell of a lot to make sure it was undetectable, which made it incurable. They could do nothing for Lochlan now, but minimize his pain, and wait for the inevitable. "I haven't had a good hard fight in a
~Lochlan was barely holding on. His breathing was erratic and his pulse was irregular. Marx had an all-night vigil, watching him, hoping he would wake up. It was the most painful experience, watching someone you love suffering on their deathbed. He thought about ending it, about putting Lochlan out of his suffering, but he couldn't. Marx hoped some miracle would happen. He wanted to rage, break things. Hunt down Sven and do what he should have done years ago. But he had made a promise. On her deathbed, Celeste had made him promise he wouldn't live a life full of hate, narrowed by vengeance. As she lay bleeding and dying in his arms, he had made the promise. Now Sven had taken someone else he loved. Lochlan was closer to a son for him than any of the others. To see him like this... Marx left to take a walk to the cliffs. When he needed to clear his head,