??A Howl In The Night??
?She’s mine?
?Chapter 29?
?To Be or Not To Be… That is the Question?
I have never been good at making decisions. Especially important ones. Especially ones that have the potential to end the entire existence of either the werewolf or Shifter race.
“Mona, dear, you seem to be swooning on us whenever you come in this room.” A pearly, magical laugh travels towards my ears. Two guards hasten to my side, and although my eyes are closed, I can sense their heavy footsteps.
It is Griffin who gets to me first, his cold hands touching my arms lightly, and then brushing across my forehead. At first his touch is icy, then filled with a heat that brands me like an iron. A scream echoes through the room, and it takes a moment for me to realize that it is mine.
Each touch seems to be getting worse. I don’t remember it hurting this bad before.
My eyes fly open and the first thing I see is Griffin’s face, twisted with worry. “What is wrong, Mona?” he asks me softly.
I say nothing, reaching with one slender arm to touch my forehead. It burns. It burns like nothing I have ever felt before. A small cry escapes me.
“Is it your forehead? What are you feeling?” His beautiful brown eyes search me anxiously, peering somehow into the depths of my soul. His hand reaches up and alarm immediately enters my body. My arm suddenly is pushing him away, tears flowing from my face. What is this agony?
Griffin draws back in surprise, hurt in his eyes. I feel so disappointed. So guilty as he turns away.
“Please…” Stars are dancing before my eyes as I struggle to my feet. The two guards steady me as I start to wobble. “I’m f-fine. Where a-am I? What is-”
“Do you not remember anything?” Markus questions. I shake my head in response.
“Sorry, it is just…” Memories are swirling within my head. I grab my temples when I find that a hole seems to exist within my memories, a hole that somehow seems to correlate with the spot where Griffin touched me. I angrily grasp for it back, and faded wisps start to return. It takes a minute for me to finally recover everything that had happened. “Free,” I murmur, falling back into a chair that the guards had retrieved.
“Sharuken seems to give you quite the shock,” Gizelda comments, “I know it is an experimental procedure, but we feel quite confident that it will deliver the desired results.”
Random thoughts are distracting me, making it difficult for me to listen to the Council. Xavier’s face keeps appearing before me, his green eyes staring into my soul. I try to think of what he would tell me right now, and the imaginary Xavier’s expression morphs into a face of pure despair.
Xavier melts my heart with one look as he begs, my mind flashing to that one night at the hotel. “Just please, let us be anything but this! You can treat me like dirt, or a child, for anything from you is better than nothing at all. I can be a plaything to you if you wish, as long as I am something!”
“Please… don’t do this to me!”
I nearly fall off the chair when I realize that I accidentally spoke the last plea aloud. It is as if I am finally returning to reality, only now remembering that I am with the Council and they can hear my every word. Subconsciously I clutch my head in my hands and start to cry. I can’t get rid of the mental image of Xavier’s face as he asks for forgiveness.
“Pardon me?” Gizelda asks with a clear tone of disapproval.
“I… I, I…” I struggle to regain my senses. “I cannot follow through with the procedure, High One.”
Griffin turns to stare at me, icily surveying my discomfort. “And why is that?” he asks so softly that I barely realize he is actually speaking. I turn a deep shade of scarlet red. This is it. This is crunch time.
“I just… can’t,” I mumble, looking away from Griffin. Away from everyone.
This disease is destroying me. Even now I am lusting for Xavier’s touch, and honestly, it feels like I would die without it. I just know I can’t go through the procedure with a condition like this.
After a shocked silence, Cyrus narrows his eyes. I glance at him warily. “We understand you have some feelings for your past mate,” he begins, “and we regret that you have fallen into such a predicament. Such a situation would not be wished upon anyone… especially any of our own. However, you must understand that upon your shoulders rests the destiny of the werewolf race. You are so crucial to our mission… our purpose as werewolves. This is why it is so important that you accept our offer. We are not acting in our own best interest, but in the best interest of our entire race.”
“We implore you to consider our offer,” Markus speaks firmly.
Griffin steps closer to me, though his eyes are on the Council. “She needs time. Allow her some time to think.” He speaks with the regal authority of a king, but I can tell he is nervous.
Ferrars looks slightly relieved, most likely at the chance that he may keep his current position. “She does need time. I agree,” he says quickly.
The Council discuss among themselves whether to allow me more time. I try not to overhear them, although it is difficult not to. Seriously. I am about to have a temper tantrum. If they don’t give me any time…
“We will deliver an ultimatum tomorrow at noon,” Cyrus finally says, his words nearly scaring me out of my skin. “You may leave now.”
So now I have less than a day to decide whether to help the werewolf race and lose Xavier in the process or abandon it entirely. Certainly seems like a lose-lose situation.
I can only wonder what Xavier’s real reaction would be if he was here. And I also can’t help but ask myself why I care so much.
Griffin touches the small of my back with his hand, and it doesn’t hurt because of the layer of cloth. I breathe a sigh of relief. I hate that I feel like this, but there is not much I can do. I had no clue that this bond between Xavier and I would become such a curse.
He tentatively leads me outside of the meeting room, acting as if I was made of glass. “What’s wrong with you?” he asks angrily, as soon as we leave the room. His face is twisted in anger and confusion. I stare back at him with the same expression.
He glares at me, then turns away briefly. When he looks back, he is somewhat subdued. More like the Griffin… the Scotty I know.
“I don’t know…” I guiltily glance at him, then at my outstretched hands. Whipping my head around, I search for anyone, anyone besides Griffin.
As a guard leaves the meeting room, I pounce. Running to him, I place one hand on his. He jumps away as if I set him on fire. “I’m sorry, Chosen One! Did I offend you?” He asks in anguish, caressing his hand and kneeling before me.
My hand doesn’t burn in the slightest, and I stare at it in curiosity. In fact, a warm tingle spreads through my body and makes me smile.
“Mona. It’s Mona.” I bend beside him, looking into his emerald green eyes. “Did my touch hurt you?” I feel sorry for him because of the shock and alarm I can detect in his eyes.
“No, Chosen One,” he responds softly, “but nobles never touch me. I’m sorry for acting in a detestable manner.”
“I’m not a noble. And I am Mona! I don’t want you to call me by any other name! And stop apologizing!” I hate to see such a handsome guy kneel before me in such a manner. I don’t deserve this measure of respect.
“I apologize.” He bows his head, and then tentatively rises to his feet. He disappears within seconds, narrowly managing to avoid my anger. He completely ignored me.
Forgetting about the guard within seconds, I turn back to Griffin, ashen with the realization that it is only him.
“It is only your touch I cannot bear,” I whisper, staring up into his eyes. He looks back in h0rror.
“What can you possibly mean by that?” He asks, subconsciously reaching towards my arm. I snap it away, ashamedly glancing at the ground. I can’t tell him. I can’t tell him of this awful disease that has robbed my every desire, hope, and stray thought.
I say nothing, guiltily looking around me. After a second of hopeless deliberation, my thoughts turn to the one who started all this. The one that made me look like an idiot in the meeting room.
“I have to see him. I have to talk to him.” I shake my head, and then deliberately turn away from Griffin for the millionth time. “I’ll find that guard. He will tell me where he is.”
“Where who is?” Griffin asks, his voice escalating in anger, “Mona, you better tell me right now who you are talking about!” He stalks after me as I travel in the direction of some nearby guards.
It is then that I realize that surely… surely Griffin would know. I stop and look into his brown eyes pleadingly.
“Please, Griffin, please… take me to Xavier.” His eyes seem to light on fire when he hears me, and he seems to snarl underneath his breath.
“So it is really all about him, isn’t it?” He asks sarcastically. “You can’t even touch me, but you moan about him constantly? What has he done that I haven’t? I have protected you from day one-“
“No, Griffin! You don’t understand!”
Well neither do I, but that is beside the point.
“Well then, enlighten me.” He crosses his arms over his chest. His eyes drill holes through mine. I’m not getting out of this one.
Tears start to fall from my eyes. “It’s the… it’s the…”
He softens as he watches my meltdown for a few seconds. “What is it, sweetheart?”
The endearment stings as I start to fall before him. He catches me on the way down, touching my arm and waist. Instantly I burn as if on fire, screaming loudly. He shifts his hands so that a layer of cloth separates us instantly, and the relief slowly comes. I cannot control the sobs, no matter how hard I try.
He holds me for a while, and I temporarily forget myself in his embrace. I forget about my tainted body, my horrible afflictions. It feels like I have almost regained a missing piece of myself.
But of course, it only lasts for a moment.
“I’m cursed, Griffin,” I whisper, staring blankly upwards. “I… need to talk to Xavier about the curse.”
“But Mona… didn’t you hear?” He asks quietly, steadying me.
“Hear what?”
Silence enters the room for a few seconds while Griffin seems to ponder exactly how to phrase his next words.
“He’s gone.”
~ Xavier ~
I pace the room, worry creasing my brow. “What am I supposed to do, Ray?” I ask a figure huddling in the corner of the room. The bundle of fur shakes its head, and then wearily turns to lie on the cold floor.
It has been two long days since I have seen Mona, and each second has been like an eternity. If I think really hard, I can still remember her lips upon mine. It feels so good for a minute, but then I remember that I am never going to see her again.
The second Mona stepped upon the table to send the shifters away… I knew that the Council would never give her back. Maybe Mona didn’t notice, but I saw the glimmer of excitement in Cyrus’s face. He is such a sly old dog… wanting to get his dirty paws on the only good thing that happened to the werewolf race in hundreds of years. The others had a similar expression, but none compared to his.
I want to pitch a fit about “finding her first” and all that, but turns out I didn’t even do that. Some guy beat me to the punch and I didn’t even know it. In addition, he stole her heart as easily as it took me to fall in love with her. Although I guess her heart didn’t belong to me anyway. It sure changes things, looking at the situation like this. I never thought myself to be a thief, but turns out I’m in jail for a reason, if not the one they put me in here for.
I finger the bars of the cell, made out of a strange metal that cannot be bent by werewolves. Trust me, I tried. We are not getting out of this place without help from the outside.
What I really hate about being locked in here is that I’m truly helpless. It makes me think of all the other times when I have been like this. The list stretches on and on, though most recently Mona’s awakening stirred a similar reaction in my chest. It really hurts… not being able to save the people I love.
Does Mona really need saving? I sit down, placing my head in my hands in frustration. I suppose she is safe here. More than she ever was with me. It seems like every time she was near me she would land in a near death experience.
Griffin looks like a more capable guy than I am, although I would like to think of myself as more handsome. Of course, it isn’t true, and we couldn’t be any more different. He looks more humanlike than I, without the green eyes and cr@zy hair. I can only hope Mona finds my bizarre looks more appealing. This is probably all I have left, if even that, over Griffin.
“Ray, seriously, help me.” I look back at the furry bundle, and it moves slightly to bare its teeth. I give him an exasperated look, and he shifts into his beast form.
“What do you want?!” He looks at me in frustration. “You know there is nothing either of us can do.” His body continues to change into a human form, and I temporarily freeze to watch him. His curious method of shifting always manages to amaze me. He is the only werewolf I know of that can stop halfway between werewolf and human for a prolonged period of time. The incredible control he has fits in perfectly with his Beast talent. Usually Beast talents lose control over themselves when they shift, but Ray never loses his temper without a reason.
“I need a plan. A plan that can get us out of this cell.” I start to pace back and forth along the bars. “I need to save Mona.”
“You aren’t getting Mona back,” Jake shrugs, lounging in another corner of the cell. “You know that. Just give up.” He looks more worn out than the rest of us, with bags underneath his eyes and a dreary glare. He has also been the one most active in trying to think up a plan with me. I know he is pretty fond of Mona and loathes losing her like I do, but seems like he has finally faced the awful facts.
“Come on, Xavier, we both know brainstorming is not going to work very well. We have tried it for about a day and a half and my head is about to explode,” Wes complains, lying on a wooden bench. I think we are all pretty much sick of each other by now.
“I’m not asking you. We all know you aren’t much help,” I snap back, leaning my head against the bars. The golden airhead in our group certainly fits the blond jokes we throw at him every now and then.
Ever since bonding, I at least gather satisfaction from the fact that she will feel some measure of regret if she casts me away. It hurts that it is turning out like this, but a sadistic part of me is happy that she now fully belongs to me. The Council can’t separate our bond. All I need to do is somehow convince Mona that she needs me, and perhaps she can somehow convince the Council to let me stay with her.
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