The Alpha's Chosen Bride

No Sleep

Sunset woke, unsure of what it was that kept her from sleeping. Dante was curled around her, his arms encircling her, holding her close to him. The moon, though not full, was still bright, shining through the window as if it were a huge terrestrial signal meant only for her. She blinked, confused at its insistence, at its persistent luminosity. It wouldn't hide behind the curtain, wouldn't sink into the rest of the night sky like the cherry on top of a galaxy sundae. No, this moon wanted her to see it, feel it and understand what was waiting for her.

Fear, inexplicably, slid down her back and spread through her limbs. She desperately wanted to wake Dante, but what could she say? The moon had come for her? His hand, as if knowing her disquiet, brushed her stomach in slow soft circles. The circles grew wider and more firm until the fear left her body. His whisper, when it came into her ear, was comforting as it feathered into her entire body, "It is beautiful, no? Yes, it can overwhelm, but you overwhelmed me and I can not let you leave me now. If you were to go, you would take my soul with you."

Sunset shivered, feeling the loss of him even though he hadn't moved. What would happen if they were to part? She could not envision a life without him. She shook her head and declared, "My love, my life and my existence in this life and all lives to come are yours. We are bound together like the moon and the sea, the two parts of the universe thousands of miles apart, but as close as lovers, as close as our bodies are now until eternity."

His body covered hers, as if swallowing her whole. She felt him inside her, in her blood, in the thoughts that burst through her mind, like flowers bursting for the sun. Her hips rose to meet his in an arc of wild abandon, one that she knew would last as long as time. There was nothing like them, like this, and she would give anything he asked of her.

The moon, as if sensing their union, became even brighter, until it was as bright as the sun in their bedroom, and she could still feel its light behind the lids of her closed eyes as her body climaxed and a scream shot from the center of her body, lustily crashing through her heart and out of her bruised lips. She didn't even notice Dante's equal growl of completion, as he bit her shoulder in abandon.

When they slept, their sweat-covered bodies were satiated and the moon, as if sensing the end of that night's work, was at its completion. The birds that had been swooping through the trees as if the light of the moon had kept them awake as well, as if the need to hunt until finally replete could not be ignored. The mating call usually reserved for spring had made a sudden reappearance for all. Men who hadn't touched their wives in years because of their aging bodies, suddenly found themselves grabbing their shocked spouses to bring them to the same primal screams. It was as if the world at once heard an awakening.

Patrick seethed in anger and uncontrollable lust as he watched from the trees as Dante bit Sunset at the c****x, and with a cry of frustration, he flew back to his wife. Despite his unquenched desire, the thought of touching her disgusted him. His skin crawled with the thought of her fake tan and acrylic nails. He rose quickly from their bed and vomited as quietly as he could, despite the violence of his discomfort.

He reasoned with himself late into the night. It would be okay if she knew, but she didn't. She didn't know what was happening to her and Dante was lying to her. He wouldn't tell her until it was too late to stop the change and she would find herself a creature of the moon, of increased longevity, and she would be hunted by those who needed and wanted her blood. The females of the pack would be raging for her blood. She wasn't strong enough, not yet, to fight them off and she had no idea they were coming.

He tried to tell himself that it wasn't just his desire for her, that it was for her safety. Someone had to protect her and if that bastard Dante thought that all it took was his bloodline and word to ensure her survival, then he was a fool. Every vampire, shifter and wolf on this side of the Earth could feel the shift in the tide they had caused and tomorrow the other half would know as well. He was a fool for this.

Patrick stood in the mirror and shifted over and over until at last he came to the most innocuous of forms. Sunset's English composition professor will find herself a bit under the weather tomorrow. He stepped back into his bedroom where his wife was awake and looking at him with amorous eyes and the molten passion that once had kept him satisfied. He rubbed his stomach and mumbled, "I'm sick. I think I've picked up a bug. I'll sleep in the guest room just in case." He saw her frown with disappointment, but without concern. Wasn't that just like her?

He went to the guest bedroom on the third floor and mussed the blankets so that it looked as though someone had slept in the bed, before opening the window and taking off into the night. He quickly morphed into her cat, ran to the cat door and rubbed against the professor's legs. She leaned down to give him a stroke and then went into the bedroom to get into her pajamas. He quickly morphed back into himself, and saw her glass of wine next to a pile of ungraded papers. He mixed nightshade into her wine and quickly became her loving cat once more.He jumped through the cat's door and when he reached a quiet part of the street, climbed a tree. He watched with his super sharp cat eyes as the professor slumped over her papers before he morphed back into a hawk to fly home.

No, he didn't like all the deception, but it was his life. It had been since his first breath. He would make sure Sunset knew what she was getting into and, if he had to, he'd kill that bastard to break their connection. She was his.