"I can't," she mumbled, straining against the chains.
"What?" Luke asked.
He'd been sitting with her for two hours. The last hour her convulsions ceased; the only indications of consciousness were the sound of her breathing and her rapid eye movement.
Suddenly, she began to convulse again.
"I can't," she repeated.
"Can't what Sophia? You can do it? You can Change!" he whispered, brushing off the beads of perspiration from her face.
"I can't!" she screamed, her strident voice rippling through the air like a single quivering note of the violin on a lonely night.
"What can't you do? You can Change; you've got to Change!" he pleaded, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"What happened?" Donner asked bursting into the room seconds later.
Dashing the rogue tears from his cheeks, Luke replied, "She keeps mumbling that she can't."
Donner looked down at his little girl, asleep like she had as a baby, fitfully. Except she wasn't a baby. The smears of lipstick, eye shadow, and mascara weren't the markings of a child. The torn fishnet stockings and the combat boots, coupled with the miniskirt and the tank were definitely, NOT, childlike.
"You're going to have to take off her clothes," he mumbled, his voice so low it was barely audible.
"What?" Luke asked, this time raising his eyes towards Donner.
"When she Changes, she can't be trapped in those clothes. She's going to pass out and we don't want her to suffocate."
"I can't-"
"Well you're going to have to," Donner snapped turning to leave, "When you hear me coming, just throw on a blanket."
Luke watched with silent marvel as the door closed behind Donner. Even though this was the one thing he didn't want for his daughter, he was still willing to treat her like his most prized possession.
He let out a heavy sigh as he slowly lifted himself. Seating himself down at the foot of the bed, he began to unlace her boots.
~***~
DEATH.
Would that become of her? Would she wither up and die, lying forgotten in a cemetery like the hundreds of other Wolf Lake teens who'd gone through the same ordeal? Would anyone remember her, save for her father, who once had a daughter?
"I know what you are thinking," the woman said eerily, "but you are wrong. All of the teenagers buried in that cemetery are nothing like you. None of those young men and women had human blood. None of them suffered for three months. None of them had the choice of whether they wanted to Change or not. All of them were pure-bloods. It was in their ancestry. They had to Change, you my dear are different . . .
". . . You have the choice. They could not Change for they were not strong enough, but they never had a choice. In their world, they must Change, or die trying. The weak cannot survive in this world, and this is the Moon's way of deciding."
"Then why won't the Moon decide for me? Why does She make me choose between everything I've ever known and everything that I can be? Is it for kicks? Is She that bored? Why can't I be like the others? Why can't I have my life chosen for me in the big book? Why do I have to be different?"
"- Because your parents chose to be different. They chose to defy the 'Book of Life' and to fight for the love that they shared. They chose to take charge of their lives, rather than accept what is destined for them. They chose to be the type of people they wanted, not the type that was expected. Your parents truly deserved to be happy."
"Then why did you let her die? Why did you ruin our lives? Why did you take away our hope? He needed her! He loved her more than life itself. He fought to be with her his whole life, and when he finally got it, YOU took it away! YOU stole her from us! She wasn't yours and YOU took her! We needed her. . ." She screamed, falling to her knees.
"You also needed to grow up your own," the girl whispered, her long form leaning down to her eye level, "You needed to understand what your parents sacrificed for you. You needed to learn what it felt like to be so in love that you couldn't live without someone . . . you needed to learn what life was about."
~***~
"Sophia, wake up please . . . I need you . . ." he whispered, his forehead pressed against hers firmly, and his tears falling to her cheeks.
"Sophia, wake up baby . . ." he cooed softly, brushing her now unruly hair from her face. "I need you to be with me. I need to know that you're ok," he whispered. "I need to know that you'll wake up."
"Luke . . ." a voice slightly above a breath murmured. "Luke . . ." it said again, a soft cough followed it.
He looked into her eyes, which were still closed, and her lips were slightly parted. She was mumbling. She was mumbling something that he couldn't comprehend.
Moving his ear to her lips, she breathed through her lips and finally understood.
"Luke . . . he needs me . . . he needs me, but I can't . . . he won't . . . he won't love me . . . he needs me too . . . can't you see? He has no one . . . he's by himself . . . I am all . . . but he needs me . . ."
*What is she talking about?* he thought. *Who was she talk-*
". . . He loves me . . . he asked me . . . he can't survive without me . . . I love him . . . I love you . . . he doesn't want- he's scared . . . I can't leave him . . . I can't ch-"
He understood.
"Sherman!" he yelled, wiping away his tears and sitting up.
In mere seconds, the pounding of four sets of footsteps halted at the doorjamb.
"I need to get in," he said turning back to her visage, still contorted in pain and glistening with sweat. "I need you to help me . . ."
"Luke, no!" Vivian cried, almost feeling his frustration on her skin, "You can't do this! She'll survive, don't do this!"
"Mom, she needs me. She can't choose, she doesn't understand . . ."
Sherman strode to his side, pushing back his sleeves, he kneeled beside Sophia. Placing a finger to her temple, he let the warmth that emitted from the point wrap around his finger and crawl up his arm until it reached his mind's eye, letting him feel. Reciting the ancient words of lore, he was just about to place another finger to Luke's temple when a flash of her dream crashed into him. Letting his other hand fall away from Luke, he let her dream grasp on to him, and he realized what Luke couldn't.
This wasn't about Luke or how Sophia didn't want to Change. This was about Matt and how he didn't want Sophia to Change.
Suddenly, as if an electrical current had escaped her subconscious, he ended his connection with her by pulling away as if he'd been bitten.
"What the Hell are you doing?!" Luke yelled, seeing Sherman jerk away.
"This isn't about you, Luke," Sherman answered, his volume identical to Luke's.
"What are you talking about?"
"You have nothing to do with this!" Sherman answered, then his eyes swirled back to Matt. "The reason why she doesn't want to Change isn't because she's afraid of the Change, she's afraid of what happens after. She's afraid that her father won't love her, won't accept her, won't look at her if she survives.
"She's afraid of disappointing her dead mother. She's afraid of letting her father know that she can choose for herself. She's afraid that when it's all done, she won't have anyone there to help her," tears began to well in his eyes, "She's afraid to be the person she was destined to be!"
Donner stared into Sherman's grey-blue eyes. He saw the anger darkening the orbs to an almost black.
Donner's own eyes began to well with tears, the reality crashing down on him as huge waves of grief.
"Sherman, I-"
"Your daughter is going to die!" he yelled. "You're only daughter is going to die for you! She's been arguing with her mind, her instincts for- hours- wanting to please her FATHER! She's been fighting against her fate, afraid that her father will leave her; that he won't understand. She's afraid of the wolf- afraid of herself!
"You taught her that! You taught her to hate the wolf, make her hate who she is! She's your whole world, and now she's going to die for YOU!"
"No!" Luke yelled, springing up to attack Donner, but fortunately Vivian had calculated the attack and held him back, fiercely.
"How in the hell can you do that? Everyone told you! Everyone warned you! And now . . . now she's going to die! I love her! I love her you Sonuvabitch**!" Luke bellowed.
"I'm sorry," Donner cried, looking away from the three pairs of eyes that glittered upon him with contempt.
"You don't have time to be 'Sorry,'" Sherman spat, "We don't have time to cry over her. You need to get back in there, and tell her it's ok. You've got to tell her that you want her to become what was written of her. She needs to know that you love her, no matter what skin she's in."
Closing his eyes, Donner reached deep within and did something he'd never done before: he asked for help.
~***~
"You said . . ." Sophia began, her brown eyes glittering with unshed tears, "You said . . . when I was little, I was haunted by dreams of a white wolf . . . Why?"
"It was a harbinger to your inevitable Change," she answered, her hazel eyes piercing Sophia's.
Turning around, she looked into the eyes of the beast standing before her. Her hazel eyes stared back at her with a simple intensity that she'd never seen from this animal before. For the first time since her eyes rested on them, she didn't see the look of contempt consuming her features. For the first time, the beast was less animalistic; it was more human, aware. She looked back at Sophia with an understanding that Sophia had yet to understand. For the first time, their two worlds- an endless chasm apart- emerged and became tangible. She could reach out and feel what the wolf felt. She could taste what the wolf tasted. . . she understood.
"Who is she?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
She already knew who the being standing before her was. Standing before her on four legs- white paws, fangs, with pelt and tail- was she. The being with hazel eyes and a muzzle was what she would become. The stark white pelt was hers, the defined muscles were hers, the sharp fangs were hers, and the bushy tail was hers; this being in its entirety, was-
"You," a quiet voice answered.
Whirling around, Sophia looked into the eyes of the voice's owner, for it wasn't the woman. Instead, her own father stared back at her, his face creased with worry.
"Dad," she breathed, not trusting her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his brown eyes glistening with tears.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Your mom wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want it to be like this!" he groaned, pushing the tears from his eyes.
"Well she certainly looks like it!" Sophia responded, the sarcasm dripping from her lips as she waved her arms to indicate the woman standing in another pool of light, holding on to Donner and shaking her head.
"That's your subconscious's view of your Mom. She wouldn't think that about you. She never wanted you to deny who you are. She never wanted you to give up on what you wanted. She only wanted you to be happy. . ."
"Then why did you tell me all my life that she would be upset with me?" she frowned. "Why did you make me think that I was tainted?"
"Because I screwed up; I left that world. I chose to leave that world, and I couldn't handle the fact that my only daughter- the offspring of the one person that could take me from that world- wanted to be a part of it. I was bitter. Bitter at Vivian, me, even your mother. I didn't want to admit that maybe that world would be good for you. I didn't want to admit that maybe the world that I had tried so desperately to escape, was the world that would make my daughter the happiest. I didn't want to think that the world that killed my wife would also name my daughter their Queen . . ."
"Daddy, I'm scared . . ." she whispered, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks.
"You don't have to be, honey," he answered, encircling her in his arms and letting her bury her head in his chest.
"But it hurts so much. I want so much for you to be happy. I want . . . I want you to understand. I want you to love me . . . when this is over, I want to be able to crawl into your arms and for you not to flinch," she sniffled, her words almost inaudible as she moved closer into his chest.
"And I want my little girl to be happy. I want her to fall in love, even if it's with that vagabond, Luke, because I know that she's got this great mind, and won't let herself compromise. I know that my little girl has to grow up, and to tell you the truth, you couldn't have chose a better mate than Luke, no matter how much stress he's caused me."
"Really?"
"I've known Luke since he was in diapers. I used to bathe both of you together. I know that he seems like this total asshole, which yesterday I would never deny, but he loves you."
"I love him," she answered.
Reaching around and removing her arms from his waist, Donner looked down into Sophia's eyes. He watched as her eyes opened wide, as if asking him what he was doing. Slowly he pulled away from her, placed a kiss to her forehead and into her ear he whispered,
"Then go tell him."
She was falling, falling through the air, and suddenly, she crashed into her body. In a moment her blind eyes flung open and her body raised from the bed, gasping for air.
She was trapped in a cotton prison, thrashing to fill her lungs with air and although her eyes were opened, she couldn't see anything.
If she could, she would find her legs not two, but for, her skin not smooth but covered in a pure, white pelt, and her mouth in a muzzle.
"Luke, help her," she heard her father order.
In moments, she felt hands rip the material from her body and finally, her lungs filled with air.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" her curdling scream split the air on one single, solitary note.
She could hear frenzied movement before she felt someone stroke her brow and say in a soothing voice, "Shh, close your eyes. You won't be able to see for a few moments, your body still has to adjust. Shh," the voice cooed, and after many moments she heard Vivian, "just lay there, don't move. I know it hurts, but don't worry, it'll soon be over. You don't have to go through this again," she whispered pressing a kiss to Sophia's forehead.
Letting the warmth wash over her in comfortable waves, Sophia gave up, and passed out.
~***~
"Hey," she heard Luke whisper, amidst the murky darkness.
Reaching consciousness, she began to panic and began to struggle against herself trying to find him.
"Calm down," he whispered, stroking her hair, "Calm down babe, I'm right here. Don't worry, I won't leave you."
"Luke," she rasped, her throat burning intensely with just that one word.
"Hey," he said, she could hear the smile in his voice, "how are you doing?"
"It hurts," she managed, before taking a gulp, hoping to sooth the inferno erupting in her esophagus.
"It hurts to breath?" he interpreted, "Yeah, just wait, your body's healing from the Change."
Her eyes flew open as her torso raised from the bed. She saw the grin on his face and her eyes slammed into his green ones.
"Chang-" she began but was interrupted.
"Yeah," he grinned placing a kiss to her temple, "You were beautiful. I can't wait to run with you."
Her wide eyes gazed into his as she took in the information.
"Hey, calm down," he whispered, helping her back to the lying position she'd just awoken from. "You remember how that night after my Dad died, you said you loved me?"
Looking up into a kaleidoscope of greens, browns, blues and golds, she nodded.
"Well, you being a Donner and all, you wouldn't let me tell you how I felt," he smiled pressing a kiss to her forehead, "I love you."
Tears sprang into her eyes and she looked away.
"Hey, don't be upset," he whispered, misinterpreting her tears.
No, she shook her head, her eyes still not meeting his. She could feel the disappointment swimming in his eyes which were now glistening with tears. She wanted him to know she wasn't sad, she loved him back, but it hurt like hell to say.
Finally, after many long moments of silence, she looked him right in the eyes and said,
"It's not you . . . it's just . . ." the tears began to fall down her eyes in lazy rivers, " . . . it's just that I'm . . . I'm naked!" she laughed.
When the words registered in his head, he began to chuckle along with her, his head leaning down to meet hers as the tears sparkled in both their eyes.
There were many long moments of quiet laughter between the two before their eyes met in a heated gaze, and suddenly, the hilarity of the moment was forgotten.
The sweet poetry of the moment was intensified as he leaned down and gently grazed his lips with hers. Then, softly he brought his lips to hers, and carefully began to nip at her lips, making the fire within her intensified as something rose within her, filling her with something she'd never felt before. She raised her lips to meet his, capturing his lips in a breathtaking kiss that was only broken when air was imperative.
Slowly, their lips loved each other that night, taking in their new love as if selecting an expensive wine; savoring their passion for one another.
TBC . . .
A/N: The word 'loup-garou' was taken from Annette Curtis Klause's "Blood and Chocolate" page 12. No copyright infringement intended.
P. A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long. I really am. _, I just hope at least this one lived up to expectations, or was even better. It was very hard for me to finish this one, but the last two chapters won't be this long in the waiting (I've already started Chpt. 20).
P.P. A/N: *About Ruby's sister, like I've said from the beginning, I've never actually seen an episode. In fact, I didn't know that Ruby had a twin or that Vivian wasn't her mother until my amig, Lou, informed me (Thanx Lou! o ^_^ o ). And, that other person, thanx for giving me her real name.
P.^3 A/N: **Also Sonuvabitch, J.D. Salinger's spelling (Catcher in the Rye author), so if it's like copywrited (oh, new word!) or something, I just needed a quick and easy way to spell it. So, no infringement intended.
P.^4 A/N: R&R please, I haven't felt the joy in happy reviews that haven't begged me to update in awhile, and your input in crucial to my writing. So please, review!
W/ Luv,
Yo-yo
"What?" Luke asked.
He'd been sitting with her for two hours. The last hour her convulsions ceased; the only indications of consciousness were the sound of her breathing and her rapid eye movement.
Suddenly, she began to convulse again.
"I can't," she repeated.
"Can't what Sophia? You can do it? You can Change!" he whispered, brushing off the beads of perspiration from her face.
"I can't!" she screamed, her strident voice rippling through the air like a single quivering note of the violin on a lonely night.
"What can't you do? You can Change; you've got to Change!" he pleaded, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"What happened?" Donner asked bursting into the room seconds later.
Dashing the rogue tears from his cheeks, Luke replied, "She keeps mumbling that she can't."
Donner looked down at his little girl, asleep like she had as a baby, fitfully. Except she wasn't a baby. The smears of lipstick, eye shadow, and mascara weren't the markings of a child. The torn fishnet stockings and the combat boots, coupled with the miniskirt and the tank were definitely, NOT, childlike.
"You're going to have to take off her clothes," he mumbled, his voice so low it was barely audible.
"What?" Luke asked, this time raising his eyes towards Donner.
"When she Changes, she can't be trapped in those clothes. She's going to pass out and we don't want her to suffocate."
"I can't-"
"Well you're going to have to," Donner snapped turning to leave, "When you hear me coming, just throw on a blanket."
Luke watched with silent marvel as the door closed behind Donner. Even though this was the one thing he didn't want for his daughter, he was still willing to treat her like his most prized possession.
He let out a heavy sigh as he slowly lifted himself. Seating himself down at the foot of the bed, he began to unlace her boots.
~***~
DEATH.
Would that become of her? Would she wither up and die, lying forgotten in a cemetery like the hundreds of other Wolf Lake teens who'd gone through the same ordeal? Would anyone remember her, save for her father, who once had a daughter?
"I know what you are thinking," the woman said eerily, "but you are wrong. All of the teenagers buried in that cemetery are nothing like you. None of those young men and women had human blood. None of them suffered for three months. None of them had the choice of whether they wanted to Change or not. All of them were pure-bloods. It was in their ancestry. They had to Change, you my dear are different . . .
". . . You have the choice. They could not Change for they were not strong enough, but they never had a choice. In their world, they must Change, or die trying. The weak cannot survive in this world, and this is the Moon's way of deciding."
"Then why won't the Moon decide for me? Why does She make me choose between everything I've ever known and everything that I can be? Is it for kicks? Is She that bored? Why can't I be like the others? Why can't I have my life chosen for me in the big book? Why do I have to be different?"
"- Because your parents chose to be different. They chose to defy the 'Book of Life' and to fight for the love that they shared. They chose to take charge of their lives, rather than accept what is destined for them. They chose to be the type of people they wanted, not the type that was expected. Your parents truly deserved to be happy."
"Then why did you let her die? Why did you ruin our lives? Why did you take away our hope? He needed her! He loved her more than life itself. He fought to be with her his whole life, and when he finally got it, YOU took it away! YOU stole her from us! She wasn't yours and YOU took her! We needed her. . ." She screamed, falling to her knees.
"You also needed to grow up your own," the girl whispered, her long form leaning down to her eye level, "You needed to understand what your parents sacrificed for you. You needed to learn what it felt like to be so in love that you couldn't live without someone . . . you needed to learn what life was about."
~***~
"Sophia, wake up please . . . I need you . . ." he whispered, his forehead pressed against hers firmly, and his tears falling to her cheeks.
"Sophia, wake up baby . . ." he cooed softly, brushing her now unruly hair from her face. "I need you to be with me. I need to know that you're ok," he whispered. "I need to know that you'll wake up."
"Luke . . ." a voice slightly above a breath murmured. "Luke . . ." it said again, a soft cough followed it.
He looked into her eyes, which were still closed, and her lips were slightly parted. She was mumbling. She was mumbling something that he couldn't comprehend.
Moving his ear to her lips, she breathed through her lips and finally understood.
"Luke . . . he needs me . . . he needs me, but I can't . . . he won't . . . he won't love me . . . he needs me too . . . can't you see? He has no one . . . he's by himself . . . I am all . . . but he needs me . . ."
*What is she talking about?* he thought. *Who was she talk-*
". . . He loves me . . . he asked me . . . he can't survive without me . . . I love him . . . I love you . . . he doesn't want- he's scared . . . I can't leave him . . . I can't ch-"
He understood.
"Sherman!" he yelled, wiping away his tears and sitting up.
In mere seconds, the pounding of four sets of footsteps halted at the doorjamb.
"I need to get in," he said turning back to her visage, still contorted in pain and glistening with sweat. "I need you to help me . . ."
"Luke, no!" Vivian cried, almost feeling his frustration on her skin, "You can't do this! She'll survive, don't do this!"
"Mom, she needs me. She can't choose, she doesn't understand . . ."
Sherman strode to his side, pushing back his sleeves, he kneeled beside Sophia. Placing a finger to her temple, he let the warmth that emitted from the point wrap around his finger and crawl up his arm until it reached his mind's eye, letting him feel. Reciting the ancient words of lore, he was just about to place another finger to Luke's temple when a flash of her dream crashed into him. Letting his other hand fall away from Luke, he let her dream grasp on to him, and he realized what Luke couldn't.
This wasn't about Luke or how Sophia didn't want to Change. This was about Matt and how he didn't want Sophia to Change.
Suddenly, as if an electrical current had escaped her subconscious, he ended his connection with her by pulling away as if he'd been bitten.
"What the Hell are you doing?!" Luke yelled, seeing Sherman jerk away.
"This isn't about you, Luke," Sherman answered, his volume identical to Luke's.
"What are you talking about?"
"You have nothing to do with this!" Sherman answered, then his eyes swirled back to Matt. "The reason why she doesn't want to Change isn't because she's afraid of the Change, she's afraid of what happens after. She's afraid that her father won't love her, won't accept her, won't look at her if she survives.
"She's afraid of disappointing her dead mother. She's afraid of letting her father know that she can choose for herself. She's afraid that when it's all done, she won't have anyone there to help her," tears began to well in his eyes, "She's afraid to be the person she was destined to be!"
Donner stared into Sherman's grey-blue eyes. He saw the anger darkening the orbs to an almost black.
Donner's own eyes began to well with tears, the reality crashing down on him as huge waves of grief.
"Sherman, I-"
"Your daughter is going to die!" he yelled. "You're only daughter is going to die for you! She's been arguing with her mind, her instincts for- hours- wanting to please her FATHER! She's been fighting against her fate, afraid that her father will leave her; that he won't understand. She's afraid of the wolf- afraid of herself!
"You taught her that! You taught her to hate the wolf, make her hate who she is! She's your whole world, and now she's going to die for YOU!"
"No!" Luke yelled, springing up to attack Donner, but fortunately Vivian had calculated the attack and held him back, fiercely.
"How in the hell can you do that? Everyone told you! Everyone warned you! And now . . . now she's going to die! I love her! I love her you Sonuvabitch**!" Luke bellowed.
"I'm sorry," Donner cried, looking away from the three pairs of eyes that glittered upon him with contempt.
"You don't have time to be 'Sorry,'" Sherman spat, "We don't have time to cry over her. You need to get back in there, and tell her it's ok. You've got to tell her that you want her to become what was written of her. She needs to know that you love her, no matter what skin she's in."
Closing his eyes, Donner reached deep within and did something he'd never done before: he asked for help.
~***~
"You said . . ." Sophia began, her brown eyes glittering with unshed tears, "You said . . . when I was little, I was haunted by dreams of a white wolf . . . Why?"
"It was a harbinger to your inevitable Change," she answered, her hazel eyes piercing Sophia's.
Turning around, she looked into the eyes of the beast standing before her. Her hazel eyes stared back at her with a simple intensity that she'd never seen from this animal before. For the first time since her eyes rested on them, she didn't see the look of contempt consuming her features. For the first time, the beast was less animalistic; it was more human, aware. She looked back at Sophia with an understanding that Sophia had yet to understand. For the first time, their two worlds- an endless chasm apart- emerged and became tangible. She could reach out and feel what the wolf felt. She could taste what the wolf tasted. . . she understood.
"Who is she?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
She already knew who the being standing before her was. Standing before her on four legs- white paws, fangs, with pelt and tail- was she. The being with hazel eyes and a muzzle was what she would become. The stark white pelt was hers, the defined muscles were hers, the sharp fangs were hers, and the bushy tail was hers; this being in its entirety, was-
"You," a quiet voice answered.
Whirling around, Sophia looked into the eyes of the voice's owner, for it wasn't the woman. Instead, her own father stared back at her, his face creased with worry.
"Dad," she breathed, not trusting her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his brown eyes glistening with tears.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Your mom wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want it to be like this!" he groaned, pushing the tears from his eyes.
"Well she certainly looks like it!" Sophia responded, the sarcasm dripping from her lips as she waved her arms to indicate the woman standing in another pool of light, holding on to Donner and shaking her head.
"That's your subconscious's view of your Mom. She wouldn't think that about you. She never wanted you to deny who you are. She never wanted you to give up on what you wanted. She only wanted you to be happy. . ."
"Then why did you tell me all my life that she would be upset with me?" she frowned. "Why did you make me think that I was tainted?"
"Because I screwed up; I left that world. I chose to leave that world, and I couldn't handle the fact that my only daughter- the offspring of the one person that could take me from that world- wanted to be a part of it. I was bitter. Bitter at Vivian, me, even your mother. I didn't want to admit that maybe that world would be good for you. I didn't want to admit that maybe the world that I had tried so desperately to escape, was the world that would make my daughter the happiest. I didn't want to think that the world that killed my wife would also name my daughter their Queen . . ."
"Daddy, I'm scared . . ." she whispered, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks.
"You don't have to be, honey," he answered, encircling her in his arms and letting her bury her head in his chest.
"But it hurts so much. I want so much for you to be happy. I want . . . I want you to understand. I want you to love me . . . when this is over, I want to be able to crawl into your arms and for you not to flinch," she sniffled, her words almost inaudible as she moved closer into his chest.
"And I want my little girl to be happy. I want her to fall in love, even if it's with that vagabond, Luke, because I know that she's got this great mind, and won't let herself compromise. I know that my little girl has to grow up, and to tell you the truth, you couldn't have chose a better mate than Luke, no matter how much stress he's caused me."
"Really?"
"I've known Luke since he was in diapers. I used to bathe both of you together. I know that he seems like this total asshole, which yesterday I would never deny, but he loves you."
"I love him," she answered.
Reaching around and removing her arms from his waist, Donner looked down into Sophia's eyes. He watched as her eyes opened wide, as if asking him what he was doing. Slowly he pulled away from her, placed a kiss to her forehead and into her ear he whispered,
"Then go tell him."
She was falling, falling through the air, and suddenly, she crashed into her body. In a moment her blind eyes flung open and her body raised from the bed, gasping for air.
She was trapped in a cotton prison, thrashing to fill her lungs with air and although her eyes were opened, she couldn't see anything.
If she could, she would find her legs not two, but for, her skin not smooth but covered in a pure, white pelt, and her mouth in a muzzle.
"Luke, help her," she heard her father order.
In moments, she felt hands rip the material from her body and finally, her lungs filled with air.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" her curdling scream split the air on one single, solitary note.
She could hear frenzied movement before she felt someone stroke her brow and say in a soothing voice, "Shh, close your eyes. You won't be able to see for a few moments, your body still has to adjust. Shh," the voice cooed, and after many moments she heard Vivian, "just lay there, don't move. I know it hurts, but don't worry, it'll soon be over. You don't have to go through this again," she whispered pressing a kiss to Sophia's forehead.
Letting the warmth wash over her in comfortable waves, Sophia gave up, and passed out.
~***~
"Hey," she heard Luke whisper, amidst the murky darkness.
Reaching consciousness, she began to panic and began to struggle against herself trying to find him.
"Calm down," he whispered, stroking her hair, "Calm down babe, I'm right here. Don't worry, I won't leave you."
"Luke," she rasped, her throat burning intensely with just that one word.
"Hey," he said, she could hear the smile in his voice, "how are you doing?"
"It hurts," she managed, before taking a gulp, hoping to sooth the inferno erupting in her esophagus.
"It hurts to breath?" he interpreted, "Yeah, just wait, your body's healing from the Change."
Her eyes flew open as her torso raised from the bed. She saw the grin on his face and her eyes slammed into his green ones.
"Chang-" she began but was interrupted.
"Yeah," he grinned placing a kiss to her temple, "You were beautiful. I can't wait to run with you."
Her wide eyes gazed into his as she took in the information.
"Hey, calm down," he whispered, helping her back to the lying position she'd just awoken from. "You remember how that night after my Dad died, you said you loved me?"
Looking up into a kaleidoscope of greens, browns, blues and golds, she nodded.
"Well, you being a Donner and all, you wouldn't let me tell you how I felt," he smiled pressing a kiss to her forehead, "I love you."
Tears sprang into her eyes and she looked away.
"Hey, don't be upset," he whispered, misinterpreting her tears.
No, she shook her head, her eyes still not meeting his. She could feel the disappointment swimming in his eyes which were now glistening with tears. She wanted him to know she wasn't sad, she loved him back, but it hurt like hell to say.
Finally, after many long moments of silence, she looked him right in the eyes and said,
"It's not you . . . it's just . . ." the tears began to fall down her eyes in lazy rivers, " . . . it's just that I'm . . . I'm naked!" she laughed.
When the words registered in his head, he began to chuckle along with her, his head leaning down to meet hers as the tears sparkled in both their eyes.
There were many long moments of quiet laughter between the two before their eyes met in a heated gaze, and suddenly, the hilarity of the moment was forgotten.
The sweet poetry of the moment was intensified as he leaned down and gently grazed his lips with hers. Then, softly he brought his lips to hers, and carefully began to nip at her lips, making the fire within her intensified as something rose within her, filling her with something she'd never felt before. She raised her lips to meet his, capturing his lips in a breathtaking kiss that was only broken when air was imperative.
Slowly, their lips loved each other that night, taking in their new love as if selecting an expensive wine; savoring their passion for one another.
TBC . . .
A/N: The word 'loup-garou' was taken from Annette Curtis Klause's "Blood and Chocolate" page 12. No copyright infringement intended.
P. A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long. I really am. _, I just hope at least this one lived up to expectations, or was even better. It was very hard for me to finish this one, but the last two chapters won't be this long in the waiting (I've already started Chpt. 20).
P.P. A/N: *About Ruby's sister, like I've said from the beginning, I've never actually seen an episode. In fact, I didn't know that Ruby had a twin or that Vivian wasn't her mother until my amig, Lou, informed me (Thanx Lou! o ^_^ o ). And, that other person, thanx for giving me her real name.
P.^3 A/N: **Also Sonuvabitch, J.D. Salinger's spelling (Catcher in the Rye author), so if it's like copywrited (oh, new word!) or something, I just needed a quick and easy way to spell it. So, no infringement intended.
P.^4 A/N: R&R please, I haven't felt the joy in happy reviews that haven't begged me to update in awhile, and your input in crucial to my writing. So please, review!
W/ Luv,
Yo-yo
