Authors Note:
To all my readers, my skimmers, and the people to whom shall not be named because this story is a guilty pleasure ;) I apologize profusely for being so behind on my chapters but unfortunately the last two months have been chock full of events at the my job leaving me no spare time when I got off and due to the new puppy all I have been doing on my days off is trying to catch up on the sleep she robs me of. I will try to stay up to date for now own, and I would like to thank everyone who had read and commented, even though I have been behind ^_^ You guys gave me motivation to make time no matter what. Now, lets catch up to Rebecca and Kalin shall we?
Rebecca was beyond furious.
As she stormed through Kalin's home – his home, dammit, she refused to share anything with him right now – all she could think was how pissed off she was at him at this very moment. More pissed than she had ever been at anyone in her entire life. She felt like he baited her and then pulled away at the last moment. She had been ready to go all the way, to give him everything, even though she didn't feel like she loved him. So damn him for pulling away, all because she had said what, that she wanted him? Was that so bad? Had he really been expecting a declaration of love?
That made Becca stop randomly in the middle of the hall, biting her lip. Yeah, he probably had been, since she had made it perfectly clear she wouldn't be sleeping with him unless she loved him. But she had just been so overwhelmed, with the house, with him, with Beth's words, and her body's own nagging needs. Now that she looked back she thought she had done it more on impulse than anything else. Was that really fair of him?
Damn him! Now she couldn't even be mad at him because her mind had to be all stupid and logical about stuff!
She sighed, leaning on the wall, listening to this large house, hoping she would hear something to tell her what Kalin was doing. Was he upset? No doubt he was, but would he be able to get over it so they could continue on their relationship? Or had she actually pushed him to a limit that he wasn't willing to step beyond? She was his bride, so he couldn't back away from her like that?
Suddenly she wasn't so sure. Every person had their limits, had she snapped his without even realizing it? Had she led him on, only to shoot him down in a blaze of flames in a moment of passion he thought was more?
Now she felt like she should kick her own ass.
But she was also worried that things would never be the same between them.
Faintly, from somewhere in the house, she could hear the rumble of his voice, and guessed he was talking to someone on the phone. Who?
Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and it made her stomach grip in sickness and made her want to cry. With his body hard and aroused for her, could Kalin get someone else to satisfy his need?
The thought made her push away from the wall, her anger returning, even though the thought wasn't warranted, and it dried the tears that had threatened to fall down her cheeks like rain. She picked up a fast pace again, and without second thinking it, took a turn for the front door, even though it was close to thanksgiving, and the air was cold and nipping at the skin. As she stepped out, there was no wind, so the cold just lingered on her skin, stealing her heat and making her body steam.
She did not pause, but made a beeline for the woods, needs to feel enclosed and have somewhere private to cry her eyes out when this anger finally wore off and she realized the depth of this situation.
But as she stepped beyond the border of the trees, she felt the presence she should have detected from afar, a presence that made her skin crawl and goose bumps rise that had nothing to do with the cold. And before she could so much as scream, to hope Kalin heard her, a hard hand smacked over her mouth and the foul taste of chloroform filled her mouth.
Kalin's POV
"I bed your fucking PARDON!" I bellowed into the phone, my voice so loud it would probably echo in the house and reach Becca wherever she now was. I ignored the urge to go look for her, to apologize, because I was honestly at my ropes end. Everything I found in her she did not find in me.
"Don't you dare speak to me like that!" my sisters voice whipped out from the other end of the phone, grating on my nerves, which were already shredded.
"Oh, then how should I speak to you since you just said it was ALL. MY. FAULT!"
"Because it was your fault you stupid oaf!"
"How the hell was all of this MY fault!"
"Because if you had called me like I had told you too then none of this would have happened!"
"Oh, yes, because one simple phone call would have fixed EVERYTHING! You are SO right, sister!"
"Don't make me come down there and whip your ass like the little kid you are acting like." the threat was spoken so low it actually gave me chills. My sister's ass kicking's always hurt like hell, and she never made a bluff.
"Fine, wow me with your news, oh mighty one." I sneered at her, pacing in my the office I occupied, the contents that were once all nice and neat all scattered all over the place, and I was constantly stepping on them as I moved. All of this and I was still not any calmer, my body tight with an aching need that only one woman could assuage and would not assuage.
"I am going to ignore that," she snorted, then took a deep breath that sounded more like a sigh than anything else. "I stole her medical records and took a look at them."
"And?" suddenly I was all attention, even if I was pissed at my bride, I was still worried for her welfare. And if my sister was bringing up her files, then something wasn't right.
"Many doctors besides the one she has now have done tests on her, and every one of them have come out . . . odd."
"That is normal." I dismissed.
"No, this isn't. Most of our brides could pass for human when tests were done, even our queens. The only thing that should set them apart is a slight mutation in the their genes and the increased amount of blood."
"What about hers?"
"Like I said, every single test that was done came up with abnormal results. She doesn't have one gene mutation but several. Her mental tests are off the charts, and don't even get my started on her body."
That actually made me smile.
"That just sounded like a sexual comment, sister."
"If your girl wasn't taken I would so swing her way." she said without pause,even though the both of us knew her body laid dormant until she found her mate. One she thought she was never going to find. The thought made me frown, would my sister get so lonely she would do what Becca did, and have sex even though the, pain was extreme?
"Hey, sis." I said tentative.
"Yeah?" she sounded distracted, and I could tell she had her nose stuffed into Becca's medical file and everything that came with it.
"Don't rush it, okay?" I said kind of awkwardly, stumbling over my words because I wasn't really sure what to say.
"What?" she sounded surprised. "What are you talking about?"
"You know, with a guy."
"Oh, no, nonononononono we are so not getting into that. No, nope, shut up, moving on." did she sound panicked?
"I was just saying . . ."
"And I AM saying we are not having this conversation. ANYWAYS! Something isn't right with her, Kalin."
I bristled at that.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
Another sigh.
"I mean she is like no other Thorian female I have come in contact with. Something is actually interfering with her Thorian genes."
"Like what?"
"Several other mutations that are in her genes, like I said. They are kind of balancing out the instincts that lay with the Thorian genes."
"So you are saying . . ." I ventured, not really sure what she was saying.
"Geeze," she huffed. "I am saying that this IS your fault, because right now she is not a Thorian female. These genes basically lock away certain attributes."
"Like?"
"Like, her emotions. She CAN'T love Kalin, she can't even hate. She had the perfect little puppet, perfectly engineered that no matter what she can do what she is told and have no argument."
"I don't understand who could have done this." I said, rubbing my face, wondering what this meant for me and my little bride.
"There is only one who I could think could do something like this. It is perfect, Kalin, not a single gene more mutated than need be. And not a single one is out of place."
"What are you saying?" my hackles were raising, I had a feeling I knew what she was getting at. Fear was gripping me.
"Kalin, she had to have been tweaked from when she was conceived onto when she was born." my sister now sounded grim. "The more I look at it, the more and more that it fits together and makes sense."
"Spit it out!" I yelled, my heart pounding, my palms sweating, I was gripping the phone so hard I was at the point of breaking it into little pieces.
"Only the Grits could have done this handy work. Meaning they wont let her go easy, and they will always make sure to know where she was at all times. And you and I both know every layer of protection we ever put on that girl will have done nothing to keep them away."
"God dammit!" I hissed, slumping down into a chair.
"Right now you should be safe, since you are on the property, and we both know the Grit's can't stand that place."
"Yeah, because this is where the flowers bloomed." I echoed, feeling suddenly so tired and so stupid.
"Just rest brother, and don't worry about your bride." my sister still sounded so grim. "I will figure it out."
"I hope so," I said numbly. Because if not, what would happen to me and my little Becca?
I would kill them all to keep her safe if I had too.
But how could I get her to give me a heart they never wanted her to have?
For the second time in my life, I wanted to weep.
I will try to update once or twice over the thankgiving break, so count on a chapter or two then! Enjoy!