Chapter 21

Luke

The moment I smelt something wrong, my eyes snapped open. The smell was distinctly different from Kate's because it smelt bad. It was another vampire, and it was Carrie.

My eyes snapped open and I found her perched above me, smiling down. Kate was nowhere to be seen, and my heart began to pound in worry. Where was she?

"Morning," she smiled. "I'll turn away so you can get some pants on."

I didn't listen to her. Immediately I was on my feet, hunched over and shuddering from head to toe, ready to phase. Carrie noticed and leapt from the tree in a flash, standing in front of me.

"You don't want to do that," she cautioned, her eyes flashing.

"Why not," I growled at her, holding my urge.

"Because if you phase, you'll never find Kate," she smiled. "And I'll never tell."

My heart fell as I realized Kate could be hurt. A growl of rage rumbled in my chest as I watched and waited for her to continue. I wondered how she could have possibly contained Kate—how do you contain a vampire?

"What do you want?" I snapped at her. "Hurry, or I'll snap your neck."

"Put some clothes on," she barked, bending over and flinging the pants she picked up at me.

I caught them and slipped them on without breaking my glare at her.

"Your pack killed my sister," Carrie stated, lifting her chin.

"And you want to kill me, right?" I verified.

"Yes. You and your annoying little girlfriend," she confirmed.

"But?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. Where was the pack? We were well within La Push boundaries. Had she gotten to them too? I haven't phased, or seen them since yesterday.

Carrie flashed a razor-sharp smile at me. "I like to play games, Luke."

It was then that I smelt the citrus perfume—Kate—and I realized the wind was carrying her scent to me. She must have been near, and Carrie had lied—of course Kate would have wanted to hunt in the morning, to keep herself well fed while around me.

"KATE!" I shouted out at her, my voice carrying through the forest. I heard rapid feet coming towards us, but it wasn't quick enough.

The smiling female vampire produced a knife from her sleeve, the sharp blade catching light from the rising sun as she tried to conceal it behind her back, but she knew I saw. Wasting no time, she lurched at me and, still human, I crouched in readiness.

"I'm not the only one who will hurt you," she grinned.

Confused by her statement and her necessity to attack me with a knife, Carrie managed to get at me. I expected her to take a jab at my side or perhaps in my arm, but she merely sliced at my hand, creating a three-inch long gash that began to ooze blood. I realized what she was doing only when I realized Kate had finally reached us.

Kate

The second the knife broke Luke's skin and red hot liquid oozed out of and over his hand, my senses became wild. Luke managed to shoot a mangled look over his shoulder while Carrie pushed him to the ground and darted away. He knew I was there and could do nothing about it.

I flitted to his side, the smell of his blood strangling my mind. I knew now what magnificence his skin was keeping from me. From the single time I slipped up as a newborn vampire, I never smelt any kind of blood as ravishing and mouthwatering as Luke's. What I discovered was like a dehydrated man ambling through the desert and stumbling up a waterfall of the coldest, freshest water.

"Kate, go now," Luke ordered, but whatever he said fell on deaf ears. I found myself inching closer.

Luke sat up straighter, scared of my intense, hungry stare at his hand. "Kate, your venom could kill me," Luke warned. "You don't want to do this."

Again, all I could think about was the blood. I no longer saw Luke as my boyfriend, the man I loved—he was my prey. I leapt onto him, my legs straddling him and pinning him to the ground, my hands grasping his wrist. Luke didn't restrain me, he let me do what I wanted. He was completely at my disposal.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I never wanted this to happen to you," Luke cried quietly. "I love you." Then his head rolled back and his muscles relaxed. He was letting go completely. He would never dare resist me, but not because I would hurt him, but because he loved me that much.

Miraculously, I came back to me senses after that thought and froze, staring wide-eyed down at him. "Oh my god."

Luke lifted his head again, looking back into my eyes. "Kate—"

I leapt off of him in that second. "Luke, what have I done?"

Luke sat up, holding his hands out to me, the one already forming a scar where the cut had been. "No, Kate—"

I shook my head slowly. "I would have hurt you, I would have killed you."

Luke stood up and took a step towards me. My mind briefly flashed back to when I saw Luke for the first time after becoming a vampire, when I had been so scared to breath in his scent in case I would want to kill him. He stepped forward again, but reflexively, the air in front of me rippled and Luke couldn't move any closer past my shield, his hands pressed against the invisible wall. I took a large step back.

"No!" Before Luke could get any closer, I disappeared, with Luke calling my name.

How could I have ever thought that way? How could I ever have seen Luke as my prey, something to kill? I couldn't believe what I had done, and Luke blamed himself for it. Luke was actually scared of me. How could I let any of this happen?

As I ran through the forest, I took advantage of the clean air whipping past me. I took in deep breaths of air, cleaning out my entire system of the smell of blood. I tried to forget, erase my mind of what had happened in the last minute. I would never think of Luke or his blood in that way ever again.

An hour later, as I was lying face up on the forest floor, soaking up fresh air when the sound of light paws padding through the underbrush of the forest approached me. I bolted to my feet and searched the trees for a familiar chocolate-brown wolf. Instead, I was joined by a russet and a sunny brown one—Kevin and Howard.

Their large brown eyes lingered on me, measuring me. I wondered what they wanted, what they knew, and why they were here.

Howard finally broke away from Kevin and left to phase. He reemerged, his expression confused.

"What's going on with Luke?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. He stood ten feet away from me, with Kevin in the middle, watching both of us—he was curious as well.

"Why? What have you heard?" I asked, taking a step forward. I wasn't ready to admit my embarrassment. I didn't think the wolves would take too kindly to finding out that I almost killed Luke today.

"His father tells us he's upset and won't see anyone—not even us. He wont tell anyone what happened," Howard told me.

Of course. Luke knew as well that the wolves would have gone out and hunted me if they knew.

"We encountered Carrie," I told him, intentionally leaving everything else out.

Howard nodded knowingly. "We found her trail this morning, but she had already left the territory. What happened?" he asked.

"She was with Luke, so I don't know. She vanished once I arrived," I told him, adverting my eyes to my hands.

"Is that all?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Kate… You know you can tell me anything," Howard said, lowering his voice. Kevin's eyes moved between Howard and me.

Of course Howard would feel that way, especially after he talked to me about his problems with his then-girlfriend, Lilly, a year ago when I was human. I had grown close to him that day, to Kevin as well.

I pursed my lips, uncertain of what I should tell him. I supposed he had a right to know about his brother.

"Howard, I'm so ashamed," I whispered, my voice becoming heavy. "I almost slipped up today…"

I expected to see his expression become angry, to hear him yell and shout at me, to order me to leave. But his face didn't change. Beside him, Kevin shifted from paw to paw, wanting to hear more. "What happened?"

The words rushed out of my mouth like a waterfall. "Carrie didn't hurt Luke, but she had a knife—she cut him. I was set up, she knew I would come back and smell him." I buried my face in my hands. "I'm so sorry. His blood was everywhere."

I didn't lift my face, but Howard did not say anything for a moment. When he spoke, his voice had definitely changed; it was strained, and he was trying to control himself.

"Is… Luke okay?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Yes. I didn't hurt him—I stopped myself before I could and ran away."

"Good. That must have been… hard for you," Howard said, nodding. This was apparently hard for him to do, to speak face to face with a vampire.

"Thanks Howard, for listening and not going crazy on me," I told him, smiling appreciatively at him.

He sighed. "No problem. But, if you're… feeling better… you should go see Luke. He must want to see you, of course."

"I don't know…" I started to say, taking a step back.

"Okay, then don't. Only do it if you're sure," he said.

At that, he turned away. "See you around," he called over his shoulder. Kevin followed him, his eyes lingered back at me. Howard phased and they ran off together.