The Crimson Mark

Chapter 4: The Protection Pact

The silver-white wolf towers over Julian in the moonlit clearing with a heaving mass of pure gold light blazing from her eyes and a ferocious growl vibrating from the depths of her throat as she bares her sharp fangs.

"Aria, look at me," Julian commands in a tight, hoarse voice. Doesn't reach for swords or silver knives. Hands are bare as he kneels, palms open to either side, eyes locked on her. "Listen to my voice. Bring it back."

The creature's jaws snap shut with the force of a predator ready to strike and takes a menacing step forward.

"I know you're afraid," Julian rasps in a firm voice as he stares into the glowing depths of her molten eyes. "I know in your body right now and if you lose this control, my pack will pick up your trail, and they will slaughter you where you stand."

Something makes the silver wolf shudder as a high-pitched whine escapes her lips in distress.

"That's right, Anchor it to me Vance. Breathe when I breathe." Julian coaxes gently as he draws closer and lays his warm, solid hands either side of the massive silver beast's jaw. She lets out an agonized wail as the heat of his palms scorches the very air around them. Slowly, painfully, the sound of cracking bone fills the forest. And then, the sickly sound of snapping sinew as the silver fur folds back and recedes deeper into flesh, leaving a diminished frame, and a whimpering Aria gasping in her ruined clothes.

Julian cradles the whimpering female before she strikes the muddy ground, her body tucked close to his powerful frame as his dark coat envelopes her shoulders.

"You're okay," Julian growls into her tousled hair as his arms band tighter around her. "I've got you."

Aria clings to the fabric of his suit, gasping as she buries her pretty nose into his collarbone. "What..what was that Julian? What happened to me?!"

"You shifted," Julian growls low into her ears with iron in his tone as his gaze burns a furious trail into her ghostly, pale face. "For the first time."

"My fur...it was white!" She rasps with pure terror staining her pretty, dark eyes. "Why..why was it silver white?!"

Julian leans down to meet her gaze, his grey eyes alive with a tempest of emotions that leave her reeling. "Because you are no ordinary wolf ,Aria . You're a Bloodmoon. The royal bloodline that was obliterated seventy years ago, not seventeen."

Aria goes cold in his arms. "Bloodmoon? No, no ,my mother told me I had severe sensory issues. She gives me an injection every morning..."

"Suppressants," Julian cuts in with an icy tone. "Your mother was microdosing you into wolf'sbane to cover her tracks. But, tonight's emotional overload cracked right through it."

"If my family was Royal," Aria's voice threatens to break as her fingers dig into his fabric. "Why would your pack slaughter them?"

"Because, a Bloodmoon ,Alpha possesses the Royal Aura, the ability to command any standard Alpha to his knees with a mere order," Julius whispers almost reverently as his lips ghost the tip of her ear. "My Alpha, Richard Vance built his empire on fear, he couldn't risk letting a Royal heir live."

Aria feels ice snake down her spine. "Richard Vance ..Chloe's father?"

"Yes." Julian replies simply. "Then I suggest you run before his Enforcers track you."

"If I run, they'll find me within twenty four hours," Julia growls his grip tightening around her wrist as they fall to the ground her face an inch from his. "You have no idea how to mask your scent or your claws, you won't make it half an hour in the woods."

"So what should I do, Julian?!" Aria yelps at the top of her lungs, tears of fury staining her cheeks as she reaches blindly for anything to strike out at. "Should I stay here, here, and let Chloe's father take me?!"

"No," Julian's low rumble sends shivers up her spine as he looks deeply, hungrily into her dark eyes. "You stay here, and you make a deal with me."

Aria narrows her eyes, her heart leaping in time to her racing pulse. "A deal?"

"One for a Protection Pact. You, stay hidden, I train you here every night, teach you how to control your wolf and mask your scent. When you graduate , you walk away clean." He purrs with a possessive lowness, making her whole body tingle in its entirety. "When you learn how to hide, how to suppress, how to be human."

"And what would be in it for the illustrious Alpha's Enforcer?" Aria snaps defiantly as she steps closer until she can ignore his gaze and instead look past it at the forest behind. " Why would he jeopardize his position for a passing girl he met twenty four hours ago?"

Julian's eyes blaze with wild light as he stares down at her for a heartbeat too long before capturing her pulse with a slow, steady gaze. He trails the length of his long fingers over the edge of her neck, letting idle interest linger over her gasping heart. "Because , I will not let them hurt you and second, because if anyone is supposed to chose your fate , it's going to be me Vance." His hands gently cup her cheek bones as his lips nearly graze her collarbone. They're shaking, betraying him.

"I don't take orders," Aria whispers softly, though her breath catches in her throat when she feels how close he is.

"You do if you want to stay alive,

Rule number one of our little game is complete obedience. When I say Run, you Run. When I say Hide, you Hide." His voice drops a notch, becoming something feral and foreign yet somehow, deeply intimate in the way it brushes against her heated skin. "Without a second thought."

"And if I do?" Aria bites. "Will you take me back home with you or drag me to someplace dark and smelly? Where nobody ever comes?"

Julian's smirk is slow, dangerous as his grip on each of her upper arms tightens. "I'll lock you in my basement personally, for your own protection."

Aria glares straight into is stormy grey eyes , heart hammering against her ribs as her pulse quickens. She hates how her entire person screams authority over her, but beneath his ferocity, she can feel the scorching, hot furnace radiated from his skin, shielding her from the monsters in the dark.

"Fine," Aria whispers fiercely, almost angrily as she feels his possessive nature thrum through the air like electricity. "A protection pact ...but if you betray me Julian ...I'll tear his throat out."

Julian lets out a low chuckle as his thumb brushes the edge of a pretty, dark eye patch over her temple. "I'd love to see you try little witch."

And then suddenly, a rustling in the underbrush echoes from fifty yards away.

Julian's head snaps up immediately, any trace of his smile wiped from his face as he meets her gaze with furious, burning eyes. He pushes Aria behind his broad frame, hands coming to rest on his strong frame as his fingers graze the hilt of a heavy hunting knife.

"Who's there?" Julian growls, eyes narrowing against the backdrop of the moonlit clearing.

"I was just checking up on the new girl." Ezra smooth, teasing purr answers his growl as the tall man steps leisurely from the shadows of the large old oak, taking in his dark suit with wide, hungry eyes. "It seems you two are already playing house." His fingers dance lazily over the long, wicked, silver blade at his hand as he leans nonchalantly against the tree trunk.