Beasthood (The Hidden Blood Series) (24 page)

             
It was stupid. He was her brother-in-law. And her kidnapper, and her prison guard. He wasn't her friend, he was a stranger to her.

             
Part of her stuck by that premise. The other part felt the complete opposite.

             
Jaz wanted to cry but fortunately, she didn't. She'd been humiliated enough.

             
Something was prying open through her throat trying to form into words. If she was going to bring it up, now was as good a time as any. “Why
did
you put me in your room?” she questioned dubiously. She caught a flicker in his eyes and knew she'd hit a nerve. “Was it just because you felt sorry for me?” Her retort was acidic.

             
Driver glowered at her and Jaz balked for the first time, her anger laying way for common sense.

Do
not
piss this guy off.

“
No,” he snarled, “I did not.”

             
She regarded him for a moment. “Yeah, right,” she muttered and turned to walk away.

             
He caught her and gripped her arms, swinging her around to face his fiery eyes. “I didn't do it because I felt
sorry
for you -you can take damn good care of yourself. That excuse is bullshit and you know it! You're just using it as a cop out because you're too scared to face the truth. You
know
why and it
terrifies
you.” He said hotly, passionately.

             
Her chest became heavy. “Let go of me,” her voice was a befuddled whisper.

             
The fire between them was so intense, so immense, she could feel it igniting her skin.

             
It was more than just the anger they were feeling, and though she had never experienced anything like it, she knew sexual tension was the culprit. She couldn't stop it. His dark eyes watched her, seeing her confusion as she languished and lusted for the man that right at that moment, she hated.

             
It intensified to such a point it began to scold on the outside. Her skin was scorching hot. Her whole body was on fire. She touched her hand to her forehead and flinched as it toasted her hand. She blew a gust of air out between her lips. “Is it me or is it hot?” she mumbled indistinctly.

             
Driver without hesitation placed his hand on her forehead, making a face when the heat burned him. He kept his hand there anyway. It was cool. Any other time Jaz would have slapped his hand away.

             
She feared her brain would bake inside her skull. That her organs would roast and she'd die an agonizing death. It only got worse. It was more painful than any other fever or illness she had experienced.

             
From being nothing to a horrible torment, it had only taken ten seconds. She  couldn't contain it anymore and involuntarily winced, letting out a tiny suppressed moan. Driver loosened his grip on her arm, frowning at her with concern. He removed his hand from her head. When the coolness disappeared, replaced with fire, that's when she fully realized he'd touched her.

“
You're feverish.”

             
She closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head. Stabbing pains shot up and down her arms and legs and she cringed. She shook her head again.

             
No, this was something else.

“
I need to go,” she muttered.

             
He let go of her. Before he could stop her, she turned and sprinted, trying to get as far away from him, desperate to get back to the cabin so she could scream her guts out.

             
He held back, giving her some space and then slowly tailed behind at a distance. He pulled out his phone from his jeans' pocket and dialled Edda's number.             

             
Jaz ran, powering her limbs to move with the last of her strength. She panted crazily.

             
No one was out in the fields now that the rain was gushing down in buckets.

             
Her arms throbbed. The bones felt like they were being crushed by a vice. Her fingers contracted into fists and then opened out into stiff claws unable to soften. Every muscle in her body cramped and she bit down on her lip to muffle her cries.

             
She stumbled into the cabin and collapsed on the floor, dripping wet and muddy. She turned over on her back and suddenly began to spasm out of control. She shrieked loudly, tucking her arms into her chest, trying to stop the shaking. But it was no use. She got worse.

             
It was agony. Her muscles seared and writhed.

             
All her bones felt so compressed by an invisible grip she was sure they'd snap.

             
The door was wide open and the rain was pounding against the wooden roof and outside on the grass. She focused on a puddle on the ground, trying to work her way through the shakes and the inexplicable pain.

             
A figure appeared in front of her as it rushed through the door; her eyesight blurred and then refocused.

             
Edda was standing over her, anxiety lining her wet face. “It's okay, Jaz. Your body is preparing for the Change. Don't fight it.”

             
The sound of a blood-chilling howl as if someone was being tortured, filled the air. Jaz felt the vibrations in her throat and then realized it was hers.

~
Chapter 22-
Recollect~

Saturday March 8
th
, 2008

             
Lora was sitting in the library, immersing herself in the adventures of Sabriel by Garth Nix. She liked fantasy, sci-fi and adventure best. They were the dreamworld of all genres. A place you could truly escape to. A whole new world.

             
That was her intention.

             
She'd always been told what she was. What her family was. But she had never seen it for herself. Her parents had been quite private about how they looked when they Changed into Were form. She had never seen one for herself, only in her mind from what they'd described them to be like. It had never prepared her for the terrifying moment she'd stared into the eyes of the real thing.

             
She was eighteen years old. And she already felt like her life was over. In fact in some ways it really was. She couldn't pretend to be normal anymore. And it was only made worse by all of her other problems.

             
She took refuge in the vast collection of books the community stored in their enormous library. It stood facing the forest to the east. She liked gazing into the dense green carpet, reading stories about witches, necromancers, brave kings and strong heroines and heroes. She used to like reading the dark Gothic stuff. Frankenstein and Dracula. Anything with vampires or werewol... well, not anymore. Not when it was mocking her from the pages. Laughing in her face. It would take some time before she could find any enjoyment in those particular genres.

             
She had gotten past the self-loathing very early on but the fear was constantly alight within her.

             
She knew it was coming. And soon. She could feel it.

             
Her muscles ached. The spasms were so intense she couldn't control them or predict them until the last second. That was dangerous. She used to have more warning. But when you have fevers more times than not, it's hard to judge. Unless you were experienced.

             
She was no expert. She was a Cub. A Seedling. Nicknames for a newborn Were. She shivered, grasping the hardback in her hands until the paper dug into her fingers.

             
The only thing that made her feel safe, and even at times, proud, of what she was or would soon officially become, was Nik. She hadn't known him long. Barely a month. But she could already feel a connection. He was the one. She could feel it in her very bones. In her core.

             
Her friend Sunhild had once told her that her overwhelming feelings for him could be a strong sign they were potential mated pairs.

             
Lora had spent enough late night hours discussing this topic with her father to know that the whole concept of the 'bond' was relative. That like humans, two people could feel a strong connection to each other, sometimes instantly but it didn't mean they were immediately in love with each other or that they ever would be. The feeling of the 'bond' was probably where the term 'soul mate' came from.

             
The status of a 'mate' in Were speak in general was the same as being a husband or wife. Being a 'potential mate' was something rather different and much more complicated. It was when two people had the potential to become like one person, knowing each others moods and feelings in a way no one else could. Being aware of their presence in a crowded room amongst other things. If they were sad or angry, their mate would sense it to a point of feeling the emotion themselves.

             
Because of Weres particular ability to sense emotions in others, the 'bond' is considered sacred and taken much more seriously than humans acknowledge the idea of soul mates.

             
Being a 'bonded mate' is the term when those two potential mates get together and consummate the relationship, becoming official mates. That was the difficult and -perhaps for some-
relieving
part about the whole thing. Just because they
can
be your mate, doesn't make it set in stone. Lora wished it was, so she knew for sure Nik would feel the same way. That she could claim him as hers and no one would dare touch him.

             
If only she didn't have feelings for the one man that had a demon lingering over him like a storm cloud over the earth, waiting precariously to strike whatever tree happened to be rooted into it, with lightening.

Nik is the earth, and I'm the tree. The storm cloud/demon is Fraya Hummel.

              Lora couldn't imagine getting along with her even if Fraya wasn't so jealous and bitter because Lora was getting to the one man she couldn't.

             
Nik had never taken any real interest in Fraya, though she'd had a long-lasting desire for him since not long after her own partner, Thor, had died. Lora had never met him or his family. He'd died before she'd moved here. He'd been from a different Pack, but from what she'd heard, he had been a good man.

             
It made Lora wonder how someone as messed-up as Fraya could have gotten an apparently great man like Thor? She'd always wondered if perhaps Fraya hadn't always been like this. It was the only thing stopping her from going straight to Nik and complaining about her. That and the fact she wasn't the type to complain about anyone. She thought it made her a grass and people would dislike her for it.

             
She'd met Fraya the second day she'd arrived. She'd been very welcoming and friendly to her but things had changed very swiftly after that. Looking back, Lora suspected it had happened some time after Lora had seen the Weres in true form one night. The shock had overwhelmed her. Though the community had been supportive and understanding about it she couldn't shake her terror. Outwardly she'd learnt to repress it. Only Nik had been able to see the wariness in her eyes though he never mentioned it.

             
After that awkward start, Nik had took it upon himself to show her the ropes. He took her out at night, spending hours -days- talking to her about the Change, the process, anything she wanted to know. He answered her questions with patience. He'd even shown her how he Changed.

             
It had shocked and paralyzed her with consuming fear but she never uttered it to him. He could smell it on her of course, but he'd felt so grateful and appreciative of her immense effort to hide her fears from him, simply because she didn't want to cause offense. When he'd witnessed that, and how she'd moved on as if nothing had changed, no matter what was going on inside her head, it was at that moment, when he'd first ever Changed in front of her, that he fell in love with her.

             
He'd told her that himself. And the knowledge soon spread. Quicker than wild fire, though Lora never knew how.

             
And then Fraya had turned into her own personal, walking nightmare. Following her, teasing her. She had even attacked her when Lora had happened to be walking alone after just meeting up with Nik. Fraya had thought they'd been sleeping together- though they hadn't at that time, they did eventually. Fraya knew it, and though she wasn't sure it had happened then, it had still infuriated her.

             
The rage her jealousy unleashed had been absolutely terrifying and Lora had frozen, only just having enough time to curl up into a foetal position before Fraya had kicked and punched her anger out on her.

             
Lora had been bruised and sore for two weeks. She still had faint bruises on her back. She'd never told Nik, though there were times she'd wanted to scream it at him. And times when he'd look at her, as if about to ask her something, and then changing his mind.

             
Why didn't she tell him? Well she was scared for one thing. Fraya had threatened if she did, she'd do much worse to her. And she believed her every word.

             
Today, Fraya had made the mistake of catching Lora in the face just as Lora had tried to dodge her and it had left a nasty mark. She couldn't hide that from Nik. So she had escaped to the library, sinking in and out of her 'Sabriel' novel, contemplating when she should go and see him. He made that decision for her by finding her there.

             
She was the only one there. It was getting dark, and she was perched on the window sill, her feet up on the chair by the desk. The desk lamp was on and he spotted it before he saw her.

             
She tried to hide her left side from his sight but the low light from the window and the brighter glow of the lamp exaggerated it.

             
The moment his eyes fell on her face; her cheek and brow bloody -even after she'd dabbed it with a wet cloth- and inflamed, he swore and demanded her to tell him what had happened.

             
She didn't want to lie to him, but she couldn't tell him who had done it. She still in her heart felt sorry for Fraya. And knew Fraya had been in trouble before for being violent, though she wasn't clear on the details. Her lover, Thor's, death had really affected her and though they'd been understanding before, the council wouldn't allow another mess up like this. Nik would see to that.

             
All she had to do was say 'Fraya did this to me' and the violent Were would be out of the Pack just like that. No more attacks, verbal or physical. No more hiding and fearing dark corners. She'd be free of her. But the pathetic thing was, she didn't want to be responsible for Fraya being booted out of her own home. She'd go off the rails for sure and Lora feared if that happened, she'd somehow come back and out of pure vengeance rather than just jealousy, she'd do more than knock her about.

             
She'd kill her.

             
So in reply she said, “I'm not going to lie to you and say I fell. I could have, but I respect you too much.” Nik looked at her with his dark green eyes burning into hers. She waited and then spoke again, “Someone hit me. Not a man. They've done it more than once. But I can handle it. And if you respect me as much as I do you, you won't ask me who and you'll leave it be. You just have to trust me on this.”

             
Nik regarded her for a moment. He'd been about to push her, demand her to tell him more. But he stopped. Gave her face a once over, then reluctantly bobbed his head. “Alright.”

                                                                                    *

Sunday June 5
th
, 3:40 p.m, 2011

             
How much Nikolas Driver regretted not forcing her to tell him more.

             
He recalled the conversation. The marks on her face. He'd wanted to be a gentlemen. Show he respected her, give her space. The next day she'd gone through her first attack. The shakes and fevers had become so severe by then, and happened daily. 

             
He was glad he'd given her guidance. He only wished he could do that now with Jaz. But their circumstances were different. Their characters too.

             
He remembered that moment between Lora and him in the library because of something Jaz had said. 

             
“That's the problem! You protect me when I don't need it, and you don't protect me when I do!”

             
Nik had seen the look in Jaz's eyes. It was the same look Lora had given him when he'd asked her what had happened to her face. Someone had done it to her. And it was someone who had been jealous of Lora's relationship with him. Now he suspected it was the same person Jaz had indirectly talked about.

             
He didn't know how he'd connected the dots like that. Maybe it was his link to her. To them both. But he smelled a rat, and it was the same one he'd caught a whiff of over a year ago. He bet his left nut on it.

             
He called Carr on his office phone to come and see him. Whilst he waited, he stripped off his wet clothes and changed into some clean ones that he kept spare in his cupboard. He was gazing out the window thinking of Jaz's face as she ran off and his brow furrowed. He'd need to call Edda to find out what had happened. He hadn't heard from her.

“
You called?”

             
He turned around to see Carr standing there with a light smile on his face, his eyes however, were wary.

             
Nik feigned ignorance, held out his hand signalling Carr to take a seat whilst he parked himself in his leather, office chair. “Anything happen today at the site?” he asked casually.

             
Carr hesitated and Nik watched him intently. “There was an incident.” Nik raised his dark brows revealing deep, olive green eyes that scrutinized Carr. “A fight,” Carr added slowly.

“
Who was involved?”