The Little Rose

Washed Ashore

Bright light was the first thing I registered as I came to, my body unpleasantly heated and sweat dripping down my neck and forehead uncomfortably, leaving my long hair and shirt sticking to my skin.  A groan slipped from my lips as I moved to push my self to my knees, my entire body was sore and it took a moment to remember the reason behind my muscles screaming at me in discomfort was because I took a direct lightening strike last night... well, I assume it had been last night?  To be honest I have no idea how long I was out.  One thing I do know is that if I, a Lycan, with healing stronger even then werewolves, was still feeling the effects, it would have killed a human.

I had yet to open my eyes and honestly was scared to, the bright Florida sun was nothing to play with especially when you already felt like you'd been run over but a truck.  The storm was long gone if the blue skies above my little slice of hell were any inclination, but it had certainly left it's mark.  Branches and debris floated on top of my small lake and without even looking at the house I could tell the roof would need to be repaired, because there in a tree at the edge of the clearing, the bright sunlight glinted off of a piece of the tin that was nailed down just last night.

Pushing to my feet I ignored the stiffness in my back and begin cleaning the clearing and lake, repairing the cabin and chopping the fallen branches into fire wood sized chunks before stacking them under the lean-to beside the cabin, the wood would need to dry out before it could be burned but I never let the branches that fell during a storm go to waste, my resources were limited after all.  I'd pulled my shirt off half way through the day and tied my hair back from my face with a piece of string.  In the seven years since my world had shattered I had refused to cut my hair.  Gracie had always joked that she loved how shaggy my hair was and she couldn't wait to see how it looked when it was longer, so I had left it be, letting it grow for her.  

By the time the sun was beginning to set I had finished and though it had been a lot of work with no breaks, I was still full of restless energy.  All day something had been pulling me towards the beach, but I had ignored it, telling my self it was nothing.  Even more surprising, my wolf had been silent all day, if not for his feelings intermingling with my own I wouldn't have even noticed his presences, but he was as anxious as me to visit the beach, an invisible string tugging at us to follow it.  

"Please... I don't know what this is, but I need to go."  Odin's voice was a whispered pleading through my mind, for the first time in our existence together he was asking, no, begging me, to do something for him.  I stood there in shocked silence for a moment while contemplated my next move; and that was all it took, a moment and I had decided I was as curious as he was to know what was calling to us, when nothing here ever had before.

Taking the path that lead to the west side of the island, I couldn't help but smile as the ocean began to break through the dense under growth of the small forest that encircled my island.  The water had that effect on me, calming me instantly when I caught site of its endless serene surface, the waves plashed against the sandy beach and the sound eased my racing heart.  Perhaps this is why I had fled to the sea in my race to keep Odin away from human and supernatural kind.  

Walking to the edge of the water I stepped in just enough for waves lapping at my sand oasis to wash over my bare feet.  I never wore shoes on the island, only when I went to the mainland for supplies.  Most days I was dressed just as I was now.  No shirt, a pair of swim trunks or basket ball shorts low on my hips and my long, wavy, dirty blonde hair pulled back at the nape of my neck with a string.  Closing my eyes I stood there, the only person in the world as far as I was concerned, the warm waves gently washing over my tired feet and my hair whipping around me in the breeze.  

Then I heard it.  A sound I hadn't heard in almost a year, since the last time I went for supplies, a groan from another human.

My eyes snapped open and my head whipped around, gaze searching the shore, tree line and water, but I saw no one.  All I that was before me was debris along the beach from last nights hurricane.  Turning to walk along the waters edge I clicked into Odin's abilities and turned on our infrared vision, at first glance I saw no heat signatures other then the birds and other small creatures that lived on the island, but upon another review I realized there was a cool spot on the beach, compared to the burning hot sand.  Something was running colder then the beach it was laying on.  

Blinking, I shut the infrared vision of Odin's off, looking at the spot again, all I could see from here was something bright red fanned across the white sand, dancing on the wind from the breeze blowing in off the water.  The pull was tugging me in the direction of whatever it was and I started approaching it slowly.

"It resembled blood splashed across the white sand..."  Odin observed, watching through my eyes calmly as if we hadn't been locked in a heated battle for seven years.  "Or rose petals, from the most beautiful red roses in the Amethyst City gardens."

"You've never mentioned the Amethyst City before."  I murmured as we drew closer to the subject of our fascination. 

"I have never had need to and you have never asked."  He answered, his voice short and clipped with annoyance.  I felt the wind shift, blowing towards me from the south now and a familiar scent hit me like a two ton truck.  Lilacs and honey.  "Orion... that scent."  Odin's voice cracked, barely managing to force those three words to form.  

"I know, it's her scent..."  I was now standing on the shore, frozen in place as my eyes never left the now visible form of a human female.  All I could see was pale white skin, reddened from over exposure of the sun and those bright red curls, that I could now tell was her hair, flying around her in the breeze.  She was lying on her stomach upon the shore, face in the sand, debris laid all around her still form littering the pristine white sand she was on.

"It's a... female."  Odin began in wonder, trying to force me closer, but I pushed him back, just as I had been for the past six years, giving him no control over me.  I heard him growl through my mind, urging me closer, but I held my ground, refusing to budge even an inch.  "She smells divine..."  My wolf was salivating at the delicious scent coming off of the woman unconscious on the ground before us, but I couldn't bring my self to move towards her.

The scent coming off of her had belonged to my mate, my Gracie, why did this woman smell like my Gracie?

"Help her.  She needs us."  Odin's concerned tone flowed through my mind, but I ignored him, taking a step back, away from her.  Away from the memories assaulting my mind.  Gracie's scent surrounding me as I held her to my body, blood, the color of this woman's hair, flowing down her neck and staining her pale cheeks.  Pain spread through my chest as the scenes flashed through my conciseness, breathing became hard as I watched her hair flutter in the wind, my vision becoming blurred as my knees gave out and I fell forward my hands digging into the hot sand.  My eyes clamped shut as I pulled in big gulps of air, trying to calm the wild beating of my racing heart. 

This was not Gracie.  This was not my mate.  This was a young woman, who'd washed upon my shores during a storm and who needed help.  She was not my mate.  The smell was a coincidence.  Breath.  Just, breath.  I counted to ten slowly in my mind, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly with each number I ticked off silently.

When the episode had passed, I managed to lift my head and look at her again, just as the wind blew her hair out of her face and I got my first glimpse of her features and the air was knocked out of my lungs again, my eyes going wide.  She even reminded me of my Gracie, not in the aspect that they looked alike, but in the way that she was the only other woman I had ever found as beautiful as my lost mate.

I crawled the few feet still separating us and kneeled beside her in the sand, my gaze rushed over her naked body, trying not to stare to long at her shapely hips and lower.  I had never realized how beautiful a bare back could be before, but she was just that, from head to toe, beautiful.  After taking a deep, calming breath, I moved to grip her shoulders and role her over but when I made contact with her skin I yanked my hands back in shock and fell back landing with a splash in the edge of the water just as a wave lapped at the shore.

My hands raised to my face, eyes searching them, half expecting to see singe marks from where our skin had made contact.  The electrical force that had flowed from her to me had been shocking enough to land me on my ass.  I had only ever felt that sensation with one other person... Gracie.

"Second Chance mate?"  Odin asking me in question, he was as confused and surprised by the events unfolding before us as I was, yet I heard something in his voice that I didn't feel my self...  hope.

"Lycan's don't get second chance mates, remember?  Our mates reincarnate... if Gracie was back on this planet she'd be in the body of a child, not a grown woman."  I grumbled back at him.  How could he even consider taking another mate after what had happened to Gracie?  

"Mother may have felt guilty for what happened to us and given us another mate."  Odin suggested, I could feel his urgency to touch her again and I wanted to hold back, but I had to admit, that I felt as protective as this woman as Odin did.

I moved back to her side and grasped her shoulders, expecting the electricity to spark between us this time, but still half surprised at how strong it was when it happened.  As she rolled over and her back rested on my thighs I found my self marveling again at her beauty.  Her pale skin was such a contrast to her red hair, long black lashes fanned across her skin from her closed eyes, and I found my self willing her awaken, so I could know their color.  My fingers raised to one pale cheek to dust the sand from her face, I felt the familiar tingles as our skin met, but something else surprised me this time, her skin was cold against my own.

Putting my hand on her chest, between her exposed breasts, I felt for a heart beat, relieved when it was strong and steady under my palm.  She was alive, and yet despite being in the hot sun for however long she'd been here, her skin was cold.

I heard thunder c***k in the distance and turned towards the south, watching as dark clouds rolled in over the horizon.  Another storm, not that I was surprised, the weather in the gulf and around it was temperamental at best.  Looking down at the stranded beauty in my arms I knew I couldn't leave her here, exposed the elements.  Picking her up into the arms I cradled her to my chest and started the trek back to my cabin, her hair blew around me as the breeze seemed to enveloped us, pushing her scent further into my lungs, tears springing to my eyes.  I didn't know who she was, but I knew two things for certain, she was my mate, and I could never accept her. 

Just as I entered my cabin and moved to lay her on my small mattress the storm let loose above us and pounded on the tin above our heads, almost washing out the one word I least expected to leave her lips

"Orion."