Crushing Emeralds

Chapter Seventeen

I knock on the door and turn my back waiting for it to open. I hold a moan of pain as Evan grabs me from behind and squeezes me as he proceeds to carry me in. He gently places me on the ground and turns me around to face him. His hands on my shoulders like he always does and the smile on his face fades when he sees faint red smudges on his forearms.

He swings me to face the window so the light can shine on my shirt. His eyes avert to my torso instantly taking in the discoloration from where the blood is. His hand reaches out and pulls the bottom of my shirt up to reveal bandages wrapping around my whole midsection with faint red smudges that stain the crisp white gauze.

I speedily step out of his arms length, “Evan don’t, I am fine. It just tore open one of the cuts a little, it stopped within minutes. Plus…” I tilt my head towards his roommate that’s sitting at a desk with his back to us, a hat covering his head along with headphones around his neck.

“Stay here, I’m going to wash my arms then we’re going to your dorm so you can change and lay down.” Evan then leans in and whispers in my ear, “You are not going to believe who my roommate is. I knew it would come back and bite me in ass.” he kisses me aggressively on the lips and walks out of the room to the restroom down the hall.

“Well, I thought he would never leave. Emerald…” The mysterious roommate says as he places his headphones on the desk, removes his hat, and swivels his chair to face me.

Words don’t exist as I stare into those gray blue eyes. With great difficulty I break free from his stare, my eyes catching a glimpse of white wrapping on his hand. He waves it in my face. Peeking out from underneath the wrapping is a black tattoo that encloses his wrist.

“Both injured. Both bleeding” He says. “After you saw me in class and obviously realized who, or what I am I over reacted. I rushed out of class in the frenzy of the situation, came here, and lets just say the glass bottle of coke I took out of the fridge went to waste. The glass sliced me pretty good, but it makes you wonder. Were you bleeding the same time as me? Shall we find out? Prove a point maybe?” Blake grabs a piece of glass that’s lying beside his notebook.

Who just keeps a piece of glass laying around?

“Getting right to the good stuff, huh? How did you know that I would be here of all places? How did you know where to find me? Aren’t you supposed to be in a different state?” More words want to spill from my tense lips, but he interrupts me.

“Checking up on me?” he says with a sly smile on his face.

“For my own safety, but apparently that useless.”

“I want to show you something. Something not useless at all.” He removes the wrappings from his hand. He flashes a completely heals palm to me before sliding the broken peice of glass down the length of it.

At first my eyes scan his tattoo around his wrist. Several vines of ivy wrap intricately around forming a thick cuff like illusion. Then my eyes go the oozes blood that pools in his palm.

Seconds late the warmth of fresh blood begins to soak through my somewhat clean bandages. He quickly rewraps his hand and springs from his chair.

He was standing next to me almost instantly even though I was clear across the room. He grabs my hands and places them in his rubbing them ever so gently, “You will be fine in a few minutes.”

I shake my head and aggressively jerk my hands out of his grasp. “You purposely made me bleed all over myself. What the hell did you do to me?” I yell. “This,” I wave my hands over my stomach, “don’t even heal.”

“Heal, you won’t heal until you are where you belong and then there are still consequences.” Blake tries to explain, but I’m so appalled I cut off his words with a quick slap across his face. His eyes narrow at my outburst.

“You deserved that, so don’t give me that look.”

“Okay. Just this once.” He flashes me a smile, but I find no satisfaction in it.

“And where exactly do I belong?” I yell as anger boils inside me.

“By my side, you’re my partner Emerald. We have a connection even before the incident in the hospital. Believe me I’m greatly sorry for what I did. I didn’t mean to start the change so early in out relationship and I never intended to hurt you.”.

“Hurt me, you could have killed me. In face I think I would rather be dead, because you’re telling me that I belong with a wild animal, with a killer.”

“I didn’t mean to kill those people, your friends. I was only there to watch you and when they came across me, I reacted on instinct. You don’t know how many times I have had a shotgun pointed at my head.” he put his index finger over my lips to shush me, which I slap away.

He ignores the outburst and continues one. “Until we fully bond together, when I have blood on my hands, you have blood on your hands. When I’m hurt and bleeding, you’re hurt and bleeding.” He lifts his hand with the bandages as well as the tattoo. “I tracked you, tested your strength and was going to make you mine that night at the camp, but your boyfriend Evan stopped me by carrying you away.

I could not just let you go Emerald. People like me only have one mate.” Blake explains as he now walks a fast-paced circle around me while I’m still unable to find my voice. “I found you at the café with your friend Kordelia and followed you to Jordan’s I believe his name was. All the way to the hospital where you stabbed me.” he stops in front of me and lifts his shirt to show a faint pail scar in the middle of his chest.

“First, don’t say mate. its creepy and gross. And I stabbed you because you deserved it. How was I supposed to know that this big nasty wolf was you? I mean I knew I saw those eyes before but when you’re face to face with wild animal you don’t think straight.” A unwanted tear slides down my cheek from the corner of my eye.

His thumb wipes away the fallen tear. “Werewolf, Emerald. Even with all this hatred and fear you still feel it. A longing. It will begin to become painful the more you fight it.” A faint smile is on his face as his hand lingers on my check.

“You’re a monster. Oh and by the way screw you!” I say with an extremely shaky voice, shoving him away from me and make my way to the door.

He continues as if he never heard a word. Obviously, he doesn’t accept rejection. “At anytime I can call you and you will come.” In a faint rough whisper that travels across the room, “Emerald, stop and come to me.” and instantly I’m frozen to a halt with my hand on the doorknob.

I feel a muscle tearing pull that forces me to stop turning the doorknob and retreat backwards, toward him. My body moves without my mind telling it to. I only come to a stop when I’m merely inches away from him.

The warmth that radiates from his body gives me chills that ran down my spine. Being this close to him is the most relaxed I’ve been in awhile. Maybe I should just let the pull of him take over or not.

I lean closer against him with my own will, the longing for him to touch me grows stronger. Even though I’m peaceful and composed on the outside, on the inside I’m screaming at myself to stop. I stretch up on my tippy toes and lean in closer arching my head upwards. His arms instantly encircle me, his grip tense and firm. He bends down slightly making our lips barely touch.

My hate filled words stop him in his tracks. “If you ever do that again I will bring you to your knees and not in a good way either.” I tear away from him forming a large gap between us.

“There will be times that you will find me without wanting to. I look forward to those times.”

Blood rushes to my head and I’m stuck in place. Then a cool breeze rushes into the room as the door swings open.

Evan runs over to me, I can see the slight evil stare that he gives Blake. “Let’s get you back to your room.” Evan leads me out shutting the door behind behind him, shutting Blake out as if it’s going to be that easy.