I would like to take the time to thank any and all people who reviewed and a bigger thanks to those who review every chapter. I feel so loved! Lol, so I wasted a good portion of my break on the internet reading true facts that are so random it isn't really essential to know it but it's fun. Needless to say, it gave me some story worthy material as weird as that sounds. By the way, I roughed out the third and absolutely LAST part to Only Exception. Once I have that cleaned up I'll post it but until then, read this. Enjoy!
~Tori~
The sun was almost up by the time we were running through town. Jade cussed and swore the whole way while I laughed at her antics, still in good spirits. She had no protection against the rising heat and incoming rays. We stopped outside the basement window of Jade's house with minutes to spare. Jade grabbed the front of my shirt to pull me in for a good-bye kiss before I could say anything. Her eyes flicked to my shoulder when we parted, a smirk forming on her lips. She pulled up my lopsided shirt, which had shifted during the run, and patted my shoulder.
"Don't let father dearest catch you with that love bite young lady," Jade teased in her impersonation of me with a playful smile. I shook my head.
"No ma'am, of course not," I replied in the same way. She grinned, turned away, and crouched down. I held the window and she slipped in quickly. I shut it behind her and then ran home. I really wasn't supposed to spend the whole night out. My parents grew worried if I did. Where Jade had relatively no authoritative restriction, I had a couple of defensive guard dogs; literally. I was bound to be chewed out for sure if they knew but I couldn't help still feeling giddy. It was well worth it if I got in trouble. The memories crowded in my head, making me shiver. It felt so good. I had heard from the others about Marking, which mostly happened during mating.
I was more interested in telling the world Jade was mine; especially when we would be returning to school tomorrow. It wasn't a strong scent but was noticeable when up close. I would still have to keep the humans at bay though, seeing as they couldn't smell the difference. But with them, vibes worked perfectly. I began wondering how Marking with humans would work. The vampire or wolf could still participate if done carefully, but physical human aggression rarely, if ever, harmed us. I turned into my drive but passed the front door in favor of going in through my window. As soon as I climbed in and my feet hit the floor, Trina burst in my room. I froze, wide eyes going to her.
"Tori, I need to borrow that one shirt…" she trailed off, her speculative gaze taking in my rumpled appearance.
"What happened to you? And what's that smell?" she questioned, her nose flaring curiously. This must have been the first time anyone came in my room since Jade was here and I hadn't yet gotten around to cleaning it. The body spray had long since dissipated. I began stuttering and then gave up, rushing to yank her into my room and shut the door instead.
"Trina, is mother and father home?" I demanded. She looked at me, appalled I was asking so gruffly. To her and my parents I didn't really get forceful. Maybe Jade was having an effect on me after all?
"No, but what does it matter? And you still haven't answered me," she responded, grumpy over my mistreating her. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.
"I'll tell you if you help me clean my room," I bargained. She looked at me with pursed lips, clearly unhappy she had to clean in any way but intrigued with what I had to tell her.
"Ok fine, I guess I'll help," she agreed with an uncaring shrug.
"But no gossip and spreading what I tell you, got it? You're my sister so you can at least keep secrets for me," I told her sternly. She seemed to brighten at the fact that what I had to say was valuable and nodded.
"Ok then, let's get cleaning sistah, sistah!" she cheered, her hands in the air. Any interesting news was good enough for her whether she could spread it or not. It was her need to be in the loop that she was really after. I rolled my eyes and we got to work. The ruined bedding was tossed and renewed. The laundry was cleaned and put away. I scrubbed out any and all traces that Jade was ever around. The end result was spotless. I took a shower and added my clothes to the now washed pile. Trina sat waiting on my newly smoothed out bed, a smile on her face that reminded me of a dog wagging its tail. I thought about how I must have looked to Jade this whole time and groaned. No wonder she kept calling me a puppy and making affectionate dog jokes.
"Ok, spill Tori. No matter how much we cleaned you still have a strange smell on you. Don't try and deny it either, because you're my little sis and I know your scent like my favorite lip gloss among a pile of other cheap knockoffs," Trina began matter-of-factly.
"Gee, thanks Treen. Way to show your sister how much she's loved," I replied sarcastically, sitting down next to her.
"I know, so what's been going on with you? I mean, we hardly saw you for the past two nights. You left for patrol early both times. You were gone half the day yesterday and I'm surprised you're even here this morning," she pointed out. I had hoped I wasn't too obvious but if Trina figured something was up my parents would definitely be asking me next. I just couldn't get enough of this new found closeness with Jade. I took a breath and opened my mouth to begin explaining when Trina started up again.
"Wait, don't tell me! This has to do with that snarky goth chick right?" she guessed. I growled at her tone.
"Trina," I warned. She held up her hands innocently.
"Not my call, I know, but others certainly agree," she huffed. I smacked her shoulder this time.
"Ok, ok, I'll shut up and listen," she finally said with a roll of her eyes.
"Thank you," I told her. She nodded and gestured for me to get on with it. My eyes shifted and I bit my bottom lip nervously. My sudden hesitation only made her grin.
"Don't look at me like that!" I said hastily, pushing off the bed to lock the door. I knew that wouldn't keep anyone out but it made me feel better.
"I didn't say anything," she responded innocently.
"I can tell when you look at me like that. You're teasing me or you already know something," I shot back, jumping up on my bed before sitting down.
"Now don't be silly. I couldn't possibly know anything. That's why I wanted you to tell me," she said while shaking her head. I narrowed my eyes at her before looking away, still reluctant.
"Tori, I'm here for you. I may tease you a lot but I seriously want to make sure you're ok. Tell me what's on your mind," Trina told me sincerely. I smiled gratefully and nodded. She offered me a smile and then we leaned against my headboard next to each other like we've always done in the past when we talked. Funny how the last time we did this was concerning Jade too. It was when I first bonded with her and again when I turned eighteen. I took a deep breath and then let it out before starting.
"Ok Treen, no matter what you hear, father and mother cannot know, ok? No matter what," I told her, drilling it in her head.
"You aren't doing anything illegal are you?" she asked nervously.
"No! I mean, I don't really know, um…maybe?" I answered with a shrug.
"Well, you've always had good judgment Tori so I won't say a thing unless you're in danger," she told me.
"Ok," I agreed, taking what I could get.
"Good, now keep going," she encouraged.
"So, you know I bonded with Jade, right? Well, two nights ago when I went out for patrol I was told she wandered into the woods. When I found her she had been…attacked," I began uncertainly. Trina looked thoughtful.
"Attacked as in…" she said with a confused shake of her head.
"Vampire," I muttered. Her eyes widened.
"She wasn't bitten was she?" Trina asked, a hand going up to cover her mouth. I looked at her with creased brows and a ducked head, the universal 'guilty reprimanded dog' look that every wolf knew just as well. She gasped and then gripped my arm with both of her hands.
"Tori, you didn't-you didn't bring her here did you? That was the strange scent!" she realized, panic clear in her voice.
"What was I supposed to do, Trina? She's my mate and I couldn't abandon her! It hurt just thinking about it," I whimpered. A hard edge came to her eyes, and before I knew it, she had me pinned down. She began analyzing my scent before her hands pulled at my shirt. I didn't put up a fight. I knew everything was coming together quickly in her head. Trina might suck terribly at singing, her acting could be even worse, and she may seem shallow, but she was not stupid when it came to matters involving our hidden world. She spent too much time among the records. Her body froze and then tensed when she found what she was looking for. She blanched and pulled away to climb off the bed. She looked like she was going to bolt. Her mouth was set in a grim line and her eyes bore into mine with a chaos of emotions I couldn't read.
"You let her Mark you? A vampire? Do you even know what the heck that means? There has never been a wolf and vampire mate. Never! It's a wonder your Bond with her even survived! Wait, are you still Bonded or did you just do it anyway? Tori, this is serious! All this time you've been running around with a vampire! A purebred vampire at that! What will father say? Tori, answer me!" she ranted. I growled and jumped off the bed to slam her back into the wall.
"I love her, ok? I can feel it. The Bond only got stronger after she changed. I wouldn't have let her Mark me if that wasn't the case. I asked father if this has ever happened and he told me it has," I forced out through my anger and worry. I pushed away from her to pace the room, a hand running through my hair.
"Well, what did he say?" Trina inquired quietly. I shook my head sadly.
"They were executed for mating and bearing a child of mixed species. The Council was afraid the new hybrid would be too strong to handle. But that fear can't be applied this time. Plus, father is a great leader, and with this Bond between me and Jade, we could show them there isn't necessarily a cause for panic," I told her, my voice starting off weak but gaining strength. Trina looked down, her brows furrowed in thought. She was still leaning against the wall and her hands began tapping out a rhythm.
"Tori, you two might not hold that same threat but you could inadvertently encourage others who do. And as much as this whole situation is incredibly confrontational as it is, I think the real question might be, why was it put into motion in the first place?" she wondered, looking up at me in confusion. I stopped to think about that and shook my head.
"I don't know. Maybe to disrupt the Council, like a distraction. Whoever did this could be looking to cause panic among us. With the Council busy they could do whatever they had planned, I guess," I suggested with an uncertain shrug. Trina nodded and held out a finger.
"No, that sounds likely. I've read that a group of rebels tried the exact same thing one time. They were trying to overthrow the Council Leader by creating a diversion. It would have worked too, but before they could try, someone ratted them out. They were caught and executed," Trina agreed.
"Do you think whoever started this did it to overthrow father?" I wondered, suddenly anxious. Trina looked uncomfortable as well.
"I really hope not, but if that's the case we can't keep this hidden. Father's life is on the line," she whined, fear and worry in her eyes. I whimpered and began fiddling with my hands, conflicted.
"Trina, I can't lose her…" I told her brokenly. Trina knew as well as I that to kill a Bond mate or even separate them for a long period of time would psychologically as well as physically destroy the other mate. There couldn't be one without the other.
"Tori…" she tried to reason, but I shook my head, my eyes blurring with tears.
"No Trina. If I have to warn father I will, but whatever they do to Jade they have to do to me. I'm her mate and I'll die with her if I have to. Just as it was in the past," I told her determinedly. She sighed and sagged against the wall before nodding.
"I understand," she said, looking away towards the floor. My face fell too as I walked over to pull her into a hug. She gripped me tightly, her chin on my shoulder. She squeezed once and then pulled away, her nose scrunching.
"Sorry, I can totally smell her when I'm that close," she explained, trying to break the tension. I laughed. Trina offered a hopeful smile before she tilted her head curiously. Her hand reached out to run over the Mark. When her hand dropped I repeated the action, feeling that it was slightly colder.
"How is it?" she asked quietly. I was confused by what she meant.
"How's what?" I replied. She waved her hand though the air.
"Being Bonded to a vampire, or I guess, being Bonded in general," she answered, clarifying.
"Like everything is right in the world. Like there's no place you would rather be than with them. You'll find your special someone too," I told her certainly. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Yeah, but why did my baby sis Bond before me? I mean, look at me," she responded, gesturing from me to herself. I smiled and shook my head.
"I'm only a year younger than you," I reminded her.
"Whatever. Everyone is missing out," she concluded. I laughed and shoved her playfully.
"Thanks," I told her gratefully. She shrugged but smiled.
"Anytime. Now I think I'll let you go to father on your own. Tell him when you feel ready but don't wait too long. Who knows what's being planned. The longer you wait the worse it could get," she warned me. I nodded, understanding the consequences. She nodded too and patted my shoulder before pushing past me and out the door. She came back in a moment later though.
"Oh, and if those conniving scumbags who are using my baby sis to topple our way of life ever get caught, I want to be the one to tear them apart," she stated certainly.
"I'll make sure that happens. I'm curious to see what you'll do," I replied. She left after that, marching away like she was on a mission. I shook my head and fell back on my bed. I let out a tired sigh. My emotions were exhausted so I decided to take a quick nap. I planned to wake up and grab something to eat, check on Jade, go on a long patrol, and then crash for the night. I would need it for school tomorrow.
Is it just me or did this site change AGAIN? I swear they make these weird changes that sometimes don't stick around. It's weird and odd. This new rounded look is messing with me. It's like, someone who can't decide what to wear and constantly changes their outfit. They never just settle on a certain look, but, whatever. I just hope I'm not the only one who notices this...