Hey y'all! Sorry it's taken me so long to update, but you probably don't want to hear any excuses. So, I'll just leave you with this. I want to thank you all for your support!

~ShaodwhuntingDamphir2014

Heart of a Huntress

Chapter 3

I woke the next morning, and put in the contacts I bought the previous day. I had dyed my hair last night, hoping, that if they came looking for me, I wouldn't be recognizable. I changed everything I could about myself. Maybe if I wasn't the same person, they wouldn't find me. I couldn't let them find me.

After preparing for the day, I walked out of the room. I walked down the street to the bus station, turned in my ticket, and got my boarding pass for when I change over in Portland. I boarded my bus and sat patiently. After 20 minutes, the bus departed from the station in Missoula. I stared out the window, and saw a sight that tore my heart to shreds. I saw Dimitri, holding a photo of us together, asking if anyone had seen me. I turned away quickly, before he could look on the bus through the window and see through my facade.

~4 hours later~

The bus was pulling into the station in Portland. I turned my music down and grabbed my carry-on bag, exiting the bus. I had been listening to the same song for the past 4 hours. It's the one modern song I could get Dimitri to listen to and it made me think of him. I walked over to my next bus, not caring that I had a full 30 minutes before the bus departed for Seattle. I wanted nothing more than to be with Dimitri again. Suddenly, my music was interrupted by my ringtone. It was Dimitri! I have too.. Just one last time. I answered long enough to hear him asking me to come home. I had only one response for him.

"I'm sorry Dimitri. I love you but I have to keep you safe." Then I hung up. The call was only 20 seconds long, but I was 10 away from him being able to track my phone. If he would have gotten my location, he could come after me and put himself in danger. I saw his Honda pull up at the bus station, just as I was getting off my bus. I put my hood up, ducked my head, and went straight to my other bus. Unfortunately, I didn't get any new bags. Dimitri knew what my messenger bag looked like, and my backpack. Plus my backpack that everything was stored in.

"Roza!" I heard him yell. I tried to keep walking but my body gave me away by stopping on it's own. I turned around to face him, against my conscious will I might add, and looked up to see him running toward me. In control of my body and thoughts again, I turned away and started running away. I just needed to get to some cover and hide. But, all my training was nothing when you put me against Dimitri. Sure, I had beat him the one time at school during the field experience, but that was a fat chance to begin with, and there was no way I could do it a second time. When he grabbed my arm, the momentum pulled me around and I slammed into his chest. I put my hand up just in time to prevent my head from colliding into his hard, sculpted, well-defined muscly chest. But, my fingers could feel his heart beating erratically between every breath we shared. "Please, look at me Roza." He said it with so much emotion in his voice, I couldn't resist.

My head turned to the sky and I was met with the most painful sight of all. Dimitri, with a tear in each of his eyes while another ran down his cheek. Of it's own will, my right hand rose and wiped the tear away. There were many things I could bear, a lot of pain I could manage, but tears on Dimitri's face were likely to kill me. His arms stayed tight around me, showing no signs of releasing me from his embrace. I could feel tears of my own threatening to make an appearance, but before they could, Dimitri took my breath away. Literally. He kissed me until I was dizzy from oxygen deprivation. But, I wasn't going to complain. I loved him enough to give him this. "I'm so sorry Dimitri. I can't let you get hurt because of me. You have to let me go. Please." I spoke, barely below a whisper. He only shook his head, silently saying 'no', and kissed me again. I felt his emotions in it: the pain, agony, and terror that he had lost me forever. Or maybe those emotions were mine. But, I kissed him back, not giving it another thought.

"No, if you leave, I come with you. I won't loose you. Even if you ran, I would find you. I feel you everywhere I go. My heart would lead me to you. I know it. But you can't leave me Roza. I need you so I can breath and live another moment."

Dimitri always knew the right thing to say to me.

"Then come with me." I knew it had been a few years since he saw his family and I knew they must miss him as much as he does them. "Come with me to Russia."

His head shot up like a bat out of Hell. His eyes were wide again. "Do you mean that? You want me to come to Russia with you?"

"Well, yeah. It would help to have a translator on hand. Ha. But, I know how much you miss your family and..." I didn't want to say this, but now he had to know. "I've talked to your mom on the phone. She's expecting me within the next two days. And, we can surprise her for her birthday when you show up." I tried a bashful smile on my face. But, Dimitri saw right through it.

"You've been in contact with my mother?"

"Yes. I didn't tell her anything about us besides the fact that you took me back to St. Vlad's with the Dragomir princess. And that you were pretty much forced to be my mentor. But I didn't tell her that I love you. And she doesn't know about the cave incident yet. Or that we are a 'thing.'"

He stood there, thinking it all over. "Well, whatever we choose, I know one thing is certain. I'm not letting you go ever again. I will keep you by my side for the rest of my life. Make me happy by doing one thing Roza. Please."

"And what is this one thing that you want?"

"Marry me."

I stood gaping at the tall Russian man before me, not sure if I had heard him correctly. He was glorious in many ways and shocking in many others. But marriage? So soon? I didn't know how to feel about that and the shock was probably written all over my face. But to everyone else, it would never show. To Dimitri, he could read it like one of his treasured Western novels.

"We don't have to get married right away Roza. It can wait for as long as you want. But I will marry you. I don't care if we get married tomorrow or 30 years from now. I just know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Every moment since I met you, I have had a whole new outlook on life. I see vibrancy in everything around us. I have spent many years trying to find what happiness really is. From the minute I found you, and brought you back and became your mentor, I knew I had found the one thing that makes me happy. We have had to face a lot of things separately, and together, but I know that I never want you to face anything by yourself again. I want to help you through your problems and-"

"Yes." I spoke the one little word, barely a whisper, but it was what I wanted. I didn't give a damn if anybody else knew about us. I was 18 today. I don't think Dimitri realized it at the moment, but I was officially old enough to make my own choices. Yes, I had faced a lot, and I knew there was more to come. But, I knew, more than anything else, I was meant to be with Dimitri. I wanted to marry him. I knew kids wouldn't be possible, but we could always adopt. I looked up into his shining coffee colored eyes. He wore the biggest smile I had ever seen grace his glorious features. His smile made me melt and I felt my lips raise on their own. My eyes slipped closed and my hands raised to wrap around his neck. Best birthday EVER!

Then, he raised a chain from around his neck. It had two vines, each topped with a small rose bud, wrapped around a silver heart. He clasped the chain around my neck, letting the rose bud clad heart settle delicately between my breasts. I lightly tugged the chain up to get a closer look at the necklace. Turns out, it was a tiny locket. On the inside and to the left, a picture of Lissa and I. To the left, a picture of Dimitri and I when we weren't paying attention, to caught up in a moment of training. I gasped as I saw them, and quickly looked up at his shining eyes. He wore a tiny smile, so small in fact, that you would barely notice it unless you knew what to look for.

"What's this?" I asked, realizing how breathless I sound at the moment.

"I was going to give it to you today, for your birthday, but... You aren't a typical girl, or woman I should say, and... You are beautiful and full of grace and confidence. I was awed by you the moment I met you. I was awed by your strength and passion, your commitment and dedication to Lissa. After spending all those months training, I noticed that it only grew. When you love someone, you keep them close, never allowing danger to come to them. You always protect them. When we first kissed, I didn't want it to continue... I was scared that if I let you in, that I would loose you, that something would take you away from me. But, I realized here recently, after you left, that love is the only thing that could save me from the way my life used to be. I thought back to every fight and kill I had made, and I realized just how close I came to dying in those caves. I thank God everyday that you were there to save me. I will be forever grateful, and now I get the chance to show you. But, this necklace was going to be your birthday present. Instead, it will stand in the place of an engagement ring for the moment. Only until you graduate and I can show everyone how I really feel about you."

"Oh Dimitri! This is gorgeous and all, but it must have cost you a fortune. I can't accept this." I started to lift the chain to unclasp it, but he stopped me.

"I don't care how much it cost. There was only one thing that could make it better than it was. And that's you. So, I want you to keep it. I had to made for you. I thought of the design myself. Rosebuds, because since we first met, you have done nothing but blossom and grow, and I love the way your name rolls off my tongue, Roza. Vines wrapped around to show your protective side. They wrap around the heart because you were so guarded about yourself and Lissa's when I brought you back."

I felt a single tear slowly creep down my cheek. Dimitri raised his hand to wipe the tear away.

"What? Do you not like it?" He sounded so concerned, and it made me begin to feel guilty.

"I love it Dimitri. It's perfect. Just like you." I looked up at him and pulled his face to mine so before he knew what was happening, we were kissing. We spent many long minutes stealing each others breath away. When we finally pulled away, due to screaming lungs and pounding hearts, we looked in each others eyes. Dimitri let his hands slide down my arms, until they clasped my hands in his own. He pulled me close, and began to walk me to the car he brought.

"Come on, let's go back. Because you were a naughty girl, one who decided to run away. And I need to punish you." He said in his most sultry and sexy voice. "Let's go home."

Up next, what happens when they return to the Academy, Rose's "punishment", and the trip to Baia! Sorry it's so short guys, but I've been busy, and it looks like I won't have a whole lot of time to be writing over the next few weeks, but I will find some way to make it happen for you, my loyal readers. Remember to leave a review, so I know what you want to happen in the story. I need reviews to get ideas, and ideas inspire this story! So remember to leave one. Right there. In that box. Down there. Okay? Good. You know where. Thanks! XD

~ShadowhuntingDamphir2014