Harper 3
1064 Words
I couldn't breathe. His claws were crushing my windpipe while those black eyes stared down at me with nothing but hunger.
This was how I was going to die. Strangled by a monster whose name I didn't even know.
But as darkness crept around the edges of my vision, something my mother had said snapped in my mind. “The ability to keep someone tethered to their humanity.”
Tethered. Not forced. Not conquered.
Connected.
The beast's grip loosened slightly as he tilted his head, studying my face like I was a puzzle he couldn't solve.
"You're not screaming," he observed, his voice a low rumble. "Usually they're screaming by now."
I couldn't speak with his hand around my throat, but I managed to shake my head slightly. He lowered me just enough that my toes touched the ground, though his grip remained firm.
"Interesting," he purred. "Are you broken already? Or are you just stupid?"
I forced words past my crushed throat. "Neither."
"Then why aren't you begging for your life?"
Because begging wouldn't save me. Fighting wouldn't save me. I needed to do something different.
"I know you're not going to hurt me," I interrupted.
"And why is that?"
"Because you need me." I smirked.
His grip tightened again. "I don't need anyone."
"The curse does."
For the first time, I saw something behind those black eyes.
"You're dying. Fighting the curse is killing you from the inside. How long has it been since you've been able to think clearly?"
"I remember everything," he snarled.
"Do you?"
Silence.
"What's your favorite food? Favorite color? Do you remember what it felt like before the curse?"
His hand trembled against my throat. I lifted my hands slowly, placing them flat against his chest. His skin was burning hot, and I could feel his heart racing beneath my palms.
"What are you doing?" he growled.
"Anchoring you."
But nothing was happening.
I could feel his heartbeat and smell him.
He smelled like something dangerous and wild, like thunderstorms mixed with the earthy scent of pine forests.
But whatever power I was supposed to have was not working.
Maybe I needed something more. Something deeper.
Blood.
The thought came to me suddenly and instinctively. Before I could lose my nerve, I bit down hard on my lower lip. Pain flared as my teeth broke skin, and I tasted copper.
The beast's nostrils flared. His grip on my throat loosened.
I did not give him time to react. Rising up on my toes, I pressed my bleeding mouth to his in a desperate kiss.
I could feel his lips trembling, and at the same time my heart seemed to leap out of my chest, something mixed with adrenaline. And, somehow the thing between my thighs reacted without me realizing it, twitching as if asking for something I should not be asking for.
The kiss lasted a long time. He lifted my light body easily with his large palm.
Power flooded out of me with an energy that poured from my blood into his mouth. He stiffened, but he did not pull away.
Through the connection, I felt everything.
His pain. Years of it, burning through every nerve. The curse eating him alive from the inside, turning every human emotion into rage and hunger.
And underneath all that, trapped so deep I almost missed it, was a spark of the man he used to be.
I pressed closer, and that spark grew brighter.
The black veins on his arms began to recede. His breathing steadied. His claws retracted slowly, leaving behind human hands that shook as they cupped my ass.
When I finally pulled back, his eyes were no longer black.
They were blue. Deep, stormy blue, filled with an intelligence that was somehow more dangerous than the mindless beast had been.
We broke the kiss. He set me gently on the ground, and we both gasped for air.
He looked at me deeply.
"Clever little thing," he murmured.
"It worked," I said, trying to ignore how awkward it felt that his hands were framing my face.
"Did it?" His thumb traced my cheekbone with deliberate slowness.
"You saved me, but what makes you think I am any safer than the monster?"
I met his gaze steadily. "Safe? My definition of 'safe' got thrown out the window a long time ago."
I stepped back, putting space between us. "Now let me go. Let me return home to my mother. My task is finished," I said casually.
"You think I paid two million dollars just for this?"
I frowned. "Then what?"
"Oh, so you do not really know what a soul anchor's duty is?"
I shook my head.
He was quiet for a long moment, studying me with those predatory blue eyes.
"What's your name?" he asked finally.
"Vale. Harper Vale."
"A soul anchor's duty does not just tether someone to their humanity. They also share the burden of whatever curse or darkness the person carries. Because of that, you will remain with me, by my side, for as long as I live." His voice dropped to something silky and dangerous.
"Sounds lovely," I said sarcastically.
He actually smiled at that. Not the cold, threatening expression from before, but something that might have been genuine amusement.
"You have spine. I like that."
"Lucky me."
Before he could respond, the heavy metal door groaned open. Three figures in dark robes entered.
The tallest one spoke without preamble. "Alpha Darius, the anchor is established but incomplete."
He straightened, and I felt the shift in his demeanor immediately. Gone was any trace of amusement or interest. This was the Alpha everyone feared.
"Explain," he commanded.
"Soul Anchors require permanent binding within twenty four hours or the connection fails. The girl dies. You return to the curse permanently, Alpha."
"What kind of binding?" I asked, though something cold was already forming in my stomach.
"Mating ritual, tomorrow. Before moonset." The Elder's pale eyes fixed on me with cold finality.
"Consummation is required. The Moon Goddess accepts no half measures."
I touched my nose, and my fingers came away red. When had the bleeding started?
He watched the blood on my fingertips with an expression I could not read.
"Well," he said finally, stepping closer, that dangerous scent of storms and violence curling around us once more, "this is unexpected."
"For both of us."
- Writer
