Page 84 of Sigma
The moon looks more yellow and brighter above us. A glimmer of light from somewhere makes the green crystals on my bracelet glow. It’s like a message reminding me to use it.
Something wet hits my neck. Drool? He sniffs again. And now he’s growling again.
Fuck!
I’m not three feet away like the potion needs. I’m directly under him. I carefully pluck a green crystal from the bracelet and slam it on the ground so I can buy a minute, hoping when we un-freeze, I can scamper away quickly and get three feet on him so I can throw another one at him or grab a weapon and halt him.
29
THE WOLF
The wolf is confused by the foggy atmosphere around it.
The female underneath is still. So is the wolf. Everything is still and foggy. Quiet. No sound. No smells except the female.
The wolf can’t move, but it can sniff. The wolf recognizes this female.
The fog leaves. It’s no longer still and quiet.
The female attempts to crawl away. The wolf catches her by clamping its mouth down on the female’s shoulder, not to damage, to keep it still. To be able to keep smelling.
Keeping the female still spills some blood. Blood always makes the wolf want to rip or eat, but it doesn’t want to rip or eat this female this time. It wants to smell her. It knows it has smelled her before. More than once. But the heart of this female still beats.
The female wails, piercing the wolf’s ears.
Wails anger the wolf, but the moon speaks to the wolf’s purpose, brightening and delivering a message to the wolf’s nose. The scent of this female is clear, even with the presence of the blood the wolf just spilled from her. The need is clear. The wolf needs to breed this female.
The wolf tears at the material covering the female. She wails and bleeds more with the movement of the wolf’s claws and teeth.This frustrates the wolf, and it howls at the moon, needing the moon to provide an answer.
The female flips over and reaches to catch the thing that hurts the wolf. The wolf doesn’t want this thing to hurt again. The wolf swipes claws and the thing falls. The female tries to get the other thing that hurts. The wolf shreds the material holding it away. This brings more of the female’s blood. She cries and hits the wolf with something that makes more fog. The wolf can’t move. The female is also still.
Though the wolf can’t move, the wolf can smell. The wolf’s mouth is wet with need. The thick organ between the wolf’s back limbs stirs. The wolf knows what to do when the fog again lifts.
30
CICELY
As soon as I can move again after slamming the second crystal, I scramble to get the taser he knocked away. It’s like he knew. He knew what it was; he remembers that it knocks him out. And not only did he knock it away, he also ripped the belt from my waist and flung it and the stun gun out of reach. His teeth and claws have done some damage to me.
I thought I was safe from biting, but the mask fell off when he shifted. Jared didn’t have the chance to fasten it before he passed out. And I don’t know why he passed out. And why it feels like I’m practically on fire. My blood. My limbs. All of me.
Before I slammed the second green crystal, Jared’s wolf let out the eeriest howl I’ve ever heard. It was almost deafening. If we haven’t pinged on the surveillance camera, the guys down the road will absolutely have heard that. They’ll be coming any time now.
My clothes are torn, practically to bits, so I don’t worry about getting them off. Instead, I shift. I shift to wolf, knowing the remnants of fabric will fall away and hopefully not trip me up so I can try to outrun him. Run for the road, for the river.
But mistake. Because the clothes aren’t the only thing that fall off me. The bracelet falls, too. I should’ve pushed it up higher first on my arm so it wouldn’t slip off. But he’s on me.
Fuck. I’m pinned. As wolf. I can’t use the crystals, the taser, or the stun gun.
He lets out a loud bark of warning before his teeth close around my neck. Either his teeth haven’t pierced the skin of my neck yet or I don’t feel it yet. I don’t know. I only know I’m impossibly hot right now. And disoriented. And I’m thinking, this is it…
It’s over. And my poor mate will have to live with this. He won’t survive it, I know that. He was barely surviving before, believing he was the cause of his mother’s and sister’s death. He’ll stay in this form forever or he’ll find a way to die.
My heart hurts so much right now.
My life flashes before my eyes. It’s a rush of images instead of one picture or memory at a time. It’s more of a collage that blurts into my mind all at once with my family. Jared. My friends. My reflection as my wolf in the water of the river where I first met Jared. The seven members of council all standing together dressed up the day Tyson and Ivy got married – looking happy that the council is finally seven.
Something hard, cold, and large slides between my back legs.
