Page 10 of The Wolf Slayer

She inhaled deeply before letting out a long breath. “I jumped off a cliff.”

His stomach dropped. The cliffs around the Timber Territory were high and none of them were close to a lake or any other kind of water. If it was true what she was saying, she must have hit the ground full force and that was enough to kill anyone.

“Niev, why would you do that? You could’ve died.” He didn’t want to sound accusing, but the thought of her dead body lying beneath a cliff terrified him.

“I just needed to know how far I could go. So, I jumped.” Tears started running down her cheeks. “At first, I thought I’d imagined the whole thing and climbed up the cliff again. I had the feeling I couldn’t trust my own mind. I was sure it was playing tricks on me, so I jumped–over and over again. Each time I hit the ground the pain ensured me that I wasn’t crazy. It didn’t matter from which height I jumped; I got back up without a single scratch every time.”.

He squeezed her hands tighter. His head was spinning– he knew every word she was saying was true. Her heartbeat was steady throughout the whole story. She’d jumped off a cliff multiple times and had survived it. Blake had never heard of such strong healing abilities. It was true that his kind healed faster than humans but healing at such a fast rate was unheard of.

“You must think I’m a monster.” More tears fell into her lap as she started sobbing uncontrollably.

With a finger under her chin, he gently lifted it, her eyes red and swollen. He could see fear written all over her face, and realized she was afraid that he would actually think she was a monster. Maybe even run away from her. She didn’t know that having such a strong gift made him feel even more attracted to her. Her gift was a sign of strength even though right now she, herself, probably labeled it as a curse. Before he could explain what he was thinking, she started sobbing again.

“You think I’m a psycho.” She tried to pull away from him, but he held her hand even tighter.

“No, I don’t. You’re not a monster. You’re a beautiful, strong woman with a very special gift.”

She looked at him, her blue eyes brimming with sadness and disbelief.

“You are,” he reiterated. “And if you knew me you would believe me. You’re anything but a monster. Please believe me when I say your gift doesn’t make you a psycho. It gives you strength and fearlessness. All you need to do is accept it. I know how hard that can be. I know you’ll have a battle ahead of you before you can fully accept who you are, and I promise you I’ll be by your side. I’ll help you and guide you if you want me to.” The fear in her eyes faded, slowly being replaced by hope.

“How do you know?”

“I can’t tell you, at least not yet. I want to, but I made an oath not to tell anyone who I truly am. Just know I’ve been where you’re now. I was shattered, unsure of where I belonged and what would become of me. It’s hard but I’ll be by your side if you want me to.”

She nodded.

“Blake.”

Seth’s deep and demanding voice let him know his time with Niev was up. Blake looked into Niev’s desperate eyes. He wished he could stay with her, make her feel better, and take away her pain. He didn’t want to leave her in this state, but before he could say anything else she shrugged her shoulders and took her hands out of his. It frustrated him not to be able to stay with her and help her. It physically pained him to see her like this. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

“Blake, let’s go! You had enough time. He’ll want us back before nightfall.”

He knew he’d tested Seth’s patience enough for one day. “Niev, I’m sorry, and I hope you will forgive me, but I need to go.”

She gave him a smile and laid a hand on his cheek, caressing it with her thumb. “Go, I don’t want you in more trouble because of me.”

“Forgive me,” he whispered in her ear and gave her one last kiss on her cheek.

He had to fight his own body to get on his feet and walk away from her. It felt wrong to get into his brother’s truck and leave her behind like this. Blake closed the door and Seth drove off. Blake could feel Seth’s disapproving looks and knew he wasn’t pleased with him.

“She has no future with you.”

Blake didn’t reply. He knew it would be hard to convince his father to accept her, but deep down he knew that she needed him, and he needed her.

“Why are you keeping this going? Stop. Let her live her life. You have to start finding your place with us.”

“I’ll never have a place, my birth was a mistake. I should’ve never existed. People are just waiting for me to start going crazy and challenge you,” he spat out as he tried not to choke on his own words.

“If you would just find yourself a mate and have a family you would be happy.”

Blake interrupted him, “I would give them the same life I have. The blood line would continue. I won’t give this curse to my children.”

They’d never talked about Blake’s position in the pack this openly, but Blake was sure it had crossed his brother’s mind and Blake knew this curse would stop with him. Breaking the curse was the whole reason he stayed away from everyone and had built himself a cabin far away from the main village. He minded his own business and never wanted to be part of any decision making, whether it was big or small. He wanted everyone to know he wouldn’t be a threat to his brother or his father.

It took Seth a while to answer him. “Father wants you to play a bigger role. He’s afraid he’ll lose you and that you could end up being a lone wolf. You’re his son after all.”

Blake had no idea how to react, so for the rest of the drive, they sat in silence. Blake didn’t want any part in the pack business. He’d always tried to make it clear to everyone that he had no intentions of leading the pack in any way. Seth was the rightful heir, and Blake had always wanted everyone to know that he accepted that. His father wanting him to play a bigger role within the pack jeopardized his efforts. People were already not fully accepting of him because he was such a big threat to Seth, their future alpha. Playing a bigger role would mean those people would be even less accepting toward him.

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