Page 67 of Rebirth

She will not wish to wake up in a place like this.

Turning, I scan the area around us.

I must find somewhere else.

As I continue moving, Soh’fee’s steady breathing is the only sound that penetrates the uneasy silence. Above us, the sky darkens and I have no choice but to stop in the center of the forest.

Sniffing, I don’t catch any scents. It’s a guarded section of the thick, easily defendable. I can make a shelter here. Keep her safe. Heal her.

Setting her down on a bed of soft moss and vines, I get to work.

A structure is easily made, thick branches broken to make walls and a roof, thrust into the earth below for support. I cover the top with large leaves from a nearby bush and secure it with vines.

By the time the showers begin, Soh’fee is well protected underneath the shelter.

I stand outside, watching her as the waters fall in a torrent over me.

The water helps. Her scent is lessened now. The scent of the rain washing it away, along with the temptation of her blood. So I stand outside. And I wait.

Wait for my life organ to stop thumping the unsteady beat. For my fangs to stop aching. For my ba’clan to give up the fight to get to her and go back into hibernation.

For I cannot have her.

The moment I decided to become what I am, I gave up the chance, the desire, to have any female.

And yet…

My ears twitch the longer I watch her, small pulses going through my ba’clan like an itch.

I must tend to her. She needs medical assistance, and I am a medic.

Yet, I stand here, frozen in fear.

This female…of all the things in the universe, this female scares me the most.

Rek.

I cannot let her bleed. I will just have to exert maximum control. Refrain from scenting her too long. Bandage her wound and stay away.

An unbidden growl slips past my lips—a part of me rejecting that idea.

But I must.

I should not even be in her presence now.

Decision made, I move forward, water sliding over my ba’clan to drip into a small pool as I enter the small structure.

Another growl slips past my lips.

Her scent is so strong in here I am not sure I can withstand it for long.

That only means I must make haste.

Blocking my airway, I rummage in her pack for medical supplies and set about cleaning and bandaging the injury. My claws move with a surprising delicacy, my sole focus on ensuring she recovers.

As I work, my eyes stray to her face. So fragile, this hyu’man female, and yet possessing an inner strength and fire that ignites something within me. A fierce desire to protect her rises in my chest, though I know I should keep my distance. I am tainted, a monster unworthy of her light. She has seen what I have become, witnessed the horror of this new threat facing her world, and yet she faced both. When she wakes, surely she will cast me away in fear and disgust.

And yet…she called me “friend” before darkness claimed her. An offer of alliance in this fight against a shared enemy. I cling to the hope that perhaps, for reasons I cannot fathom, she will look past the beast and see the soul still trapped inside. The part of me that grows desperate to have her, but never will.

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