Author Note: I was going through my stories earlier and here and felt really guilty, after reading reviews, that I hadn't updated in so long. I can only apologise and explain that I've had a bit of an apathy for this story for a while now and wanted to rewrite but life seems to keep getting in the way so I shall finish it in 1st person text and rewrite it once it's complete (this whole story will then be the very end chapter titled 'Original').
Hope you enjoy it. =)
xx
Chapter Four
I stumbled out of bed at 5am in the morning, woken by my daughter's cry. Adam was already at the crib, Alyza[1] tucked carefully into his arms as he tried to soothe her. She was clearly having none of it and was bawling her little eyes out. She had undoubtedly already woken the entire house.
Blinking heavy eyes laden down with sleep, I dropped into the rocking chair and arranged my shirt to breast feed. At any other time I'd have been far too embarrassed to breast feed in front of Adam but at that moment in time I was too tired to care.
Adam carefully handed Alyza to me, always aware of how fragile she was, and she latched onto my nipple before I'd even got her properly situated.
Adam chuckled in amusement at her actions and I couldn't help but smile even in my sleepy state. I relaxed back into the chair, knowing that Adam would support her if I fell asleep and started humming to her while rocking back and forth.
Adam's eyes softened at the obvious love I felt for my daughter, despite the way she had been conceived. A few weeks ago I'd have sworn that the reason for that look in his eyes was because of Mercy, but now I knew the truth.
Samuel had cleared the room not long after Alyza was born and took her off me after telling Adam to give me a quick shower. I'd protested the entire way to the bathroom that I was capable of washing myself until Adam set me on my feet and my legs gave way. He'd quickly scooped me back up before I got anywhere near the floor and continued to carry me to the bathroom. I silently let him wash me as he supported my weight by leaning me against him and wrapping an arm around my waist. It was a testament to how gentle Adam was that I had dozed off in the shower and only woke up after he put me into my pajamas and lowered me into the clean but cold bed. Alyza was brought back over to me and placed into my arms, Adam placing his own arm under mine to support it and I'd smiled up at him gratefully.
I was asleep within minutes.
After getting some rest, Adam and I had talked. Really talked.
There'd been lots of pacing on Adam's part and lots of crying on my part. As uncomfortable as it made both of us to talk about our emotions, we waded through everything that needed to be said; me snotting on myself on the bed from crying so much and Adam practically wearing a hole in the carpet.
Silence had reined for a number of minutes before Samuel had knocked on the door and come in to check on me, worried about stressing me out so soon after giving birth.
He'd firmly held his ground when Adam turned furious eyes on him, though they'd softened considerably when he actually focused on me properly – having been so consumed with his grief – and noticed the pace of my heart and breathing and the redness of my eyes and nose.
All the fight had gone out of him as soon as he had focused on my face and he strode over, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead with a sigh. It was the first real sign of affection that I knew had everything to do with me and nothing to do with Mercy.
It was strange but not unwelcome.
Life carried on as normal the following day with the added exception that there was now a baby in the house and that I was aware that all the looks Adam gave me were real and for me. I spent the next few days in awe at his obvious affection and wondering how I'd ever thought it was for his lost love.
Alyza pulled me out of me sleepy thoughts with a grumble as she snuffled at my breast like a puppy, having somehow lost my nipple. I gently turned her head back the right way as she scrunched up her face, raising one of her little fists to the side of her face. She'd sucked in a deep breath, ready to let loose a loud wail as she was prone to doing (never let it be said that I have a quite baby) but thankfully had no chance as I popped my nipple back into her mouth.
Adam chuckled at her antics and grinned at me, seeing that I was starting to wake up a bit and embarrassment was quickly settling in. Annoyed at myself as Adam had seen me naked on more than one occasion, I pushed the embarrassment aside and smiled back at him and had to laugh as his grin grew.
I rolled my eyes at him but he simply ignored it and crouched at the side of the rocking chair. When he started whispering to Alyza, telling her about all the amazing adventures they'd have together when she was older, I felt my heart melt.
I wasn't entirely sure how we'd gotten to where we currently were; it was clear to everyone that we'd slowly fallen in love with each other in the time I'd been there and it felt right. All the nights they'd sat in the living room with the pack talking or playing board games, the times when Adam had woken me up from a nightmare of that night, the days when Adam scolded me for doing the hovering when he was out of the house, or teasing me over my poisonous baking skills – my teasing him for being able to bake (I'd made him a Kiss the Cook apron one day for a joke – had had to press my own lipstick print on the material to get the right shape to embroider over).
Nothing life threatening, apart from my baking skill, had brought us together. We'd just spent time together and everything else had come naturally. we'd been a fit. But one thing had stood in the way in my mind – an illusion all of my own making.
Mercy.
Perhaps one day we'll talk about her, I thought as I watched Adam talk to Alyza and smiled.
But as seemed to be the way my life worked, whenever I was finally content, something happened and all hell broke loose. And it all started with a knock on the door.
I'd glanced at the window in the nursery, not seeing the way Adam tensed. I didn't understand who would be coming to the house this late but it had happened before when one of Adam's pack had shown up without warning, so I shrugged it off, tucking my boob away and pulling down my shirt. I ignored Adam as he stood stock still by the side of the rocking chair, clearly listening to the conversation downstairs. As quietly as possible so as to not disturb Adam, I stood and put a cloth over my shoulder, situating Alyza and rubbing her back to bring up any wind. It didn't take long before I was rewarded with a little burp, but my mind was not totally focused on that, for as soon as I'd stood up I smelt it.
Vampire.
And the coyote that had become a part of me when Alyza was born did something it hadn't done since the first few months after it saved my life. It explained what was happening and why.
I touched my nose to Alyza's forehead and yipped at her, satisfied as she slipped effortlessly into her coyote form, none of the pain present that the werewolves went through.
The voices downstairs, though a murmur to my ears were crystal clear to Adam's, and whatever was said snapped Adam into action. He flew to the other side of the nursery and ripped the carpet away from the wall and my mouth fell open.
Before I could start wondering if he'd gone feral or something (maybe he needed some shots?), he pulled back a door that I hadn't known was there and spoke only three words and my blood turned to ice in my veins.
"Hurry. They're here." I rushed to him, taking his outstretched hand as he helped me down steps that led down into the ground.
I didn't ask him to explain as we ran down the tunnel and he didn't volunteer the information, but somehow I knew what was going to happen next and I awkwardly fastened my cross charm bracelet around her neck. It would afford some protection at least.
Though my body had almost healed since the birth, I was still very unfit from the 9 months I spent carry Alyza. So it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise when a stitch formed in my side. I ran through it, ignoring the pain as we took a sharp left, forcing my knee to lock as it gave out.
Hearing my steps falter, Adam paused to scoop me up and put on a burst of speed, his eyes a burning gold. I clutched Alyza to me as we went hurtling down the dirt tunnel, my grip on her the only thing that stopped her from shooting away from my body like a missile when Adam came to a sudden and complete stop.
Our noses told us what our eyes could not see. There were vampires in the tunnel with us.
I quickly pulled off one of my gold cross necklaces and put it around Adam's neck and had never been more thankful for my faith. But when the bodies of numerous vampires seemed to appear out of the shadows, I wondered how much good they would do against so many.
Adam lowered me down to the floor, wrapping his arms around Alyza and I and I could feel the tension in his body as he tried to hold back the urge to shift. We all knew he was weaker in this form…
But I could be a coyote quicker than they could move. I felt the coyote within me stir, this time at one with me and felt her knowledge slip into my brain. We were vampire hunters.
I made myself shake and reek of fear, turning myself around to press my face into Adam's chest, Alyza between us. I pressed my lips to his chest and yipped simply at him – and though our languages were different, Mercy had taught him some coyote. I pressed Alyza to him, knowing he'd catch her as I used his body like a spring board, shifting in mid air with a snarl, tearing out the throats of the closest vampires as I sailed past.
Moving to a half shift, neither woman nor coyote, my right hand clenched around the golden staff that my ancestors had buried in the ground long before my birth and I plunged it into the stomach of the next vampire. Some of the wall crumbled where I'd pulled the staff out of the dirt wall but I ignored it as vampires started to close in around me.
I could smell Adam's shock as I snarled, my arm containing the staff a practical blur as I took out vampire after vampire, ignoring the enraged scream of their queen as they fell and I knew gold arm bands appeared around the tops of my arms, wrists and ankles.
What I wasn't expecting was the zing of a blade being released from its sheath and as another fell by my staff, I spun around it, feeling the blade slice my side before I could parry it. Thankfully my reflexes were quick enough to avoid what would have otherwise been a fatal blow to the stomach.
I felt my eyes flash and my movements sped up, my body shrinking slightly to condense the power in my body. I was unaware of the snarls that left my throat as my staff became two.
Time became a blur of attack and defend as I sustained a number of wounds I was not able to avoid but they only served to anger her further – giving her the added adrenaline she needed to take out the remaining vampires.
As the last one fell, my eyes clashed with the Vampire Queen and I didn't even hesitate at her tear stained face. I threw my body at her, and I had to focus all of my attention on her, my staff a blur in the air and we landed blow after blow on each other.
We pushed away from each other, mirror images as one of our knees hit the floor, one hand bracing on the ground, my left clutching my upright staff, her right hand pressed against the dirt of the wall.
I watched her hand clench into the dirt of the wall and pushed myself up, closing my eyes and spinning around, the dirt she would have thrown in my eyes, scattering harmlessly across my back.
Her wide eyes gazed into mine as I plunged the golden staff tip into her stomach. She had clearly not been bested in battle for countless centuries and now an untrained coyote pup had finished her.
"Release Stefan." Adam's voice came from behind me but I kept my gaze focused on her. "Before your entire coven is killed. Let there be one survivor."
I watched as her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and felt the moment Stefan was released. Seconds later her body, and those of her coven, turned to dust.
As though a switch had been flicked, my body rippled back to human form and I collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted. I thought I heard Adam call my name in a distant corner of my mind but before I could do more than wonder, darkness closed in around me and I passed out.
SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs
Adam passed Alyza to Aurielle the moment she entered the tunnel, having the perfect timing of arriving the moment Faith collapsed, and Adam flew to his mate's side.
His hands shook as he examined her body but he was no doctor and could only tell that she'd lost a lot of blood. Before he could start panicking, Samuel was beside him, checking Faith's heart rate and testing for broken bones. The smaller wounds had already started to close up and the flow from the larger wounds seemed to be slowing down.
Adam could hardly explain everything that had happened on the walk back to the house. They did understand that something amazing had happened to Faith though, and that she had been the one to singlehandedly take out their city's coven. Aurielle would have joked that he'd 'been left at home to watch the pup while Faith took care of business' but she knew now was not the right time so she filed it away for a couple of months from now when Faith would be able to laugh at Adam's expression with her.
[1] Alyza – Pronounced: Ah-LIE-za – Meaning: joy. Originally I was looking for a name meaning Miracle but couldn't find a suitable one – changed my mind to 'bringer of joy' but Beatrix didn't sound right, so shortened it to just 'joy' and really liked the name Alyza… Perhaps too much info for all that but there you go anyway. =)
Review please. =)
xx
