CHAPTER TEN
"It's been agony for him to lead a double life," Michael said as they sped back toward the city. "I felt his pain."
"Don't ever let him hear you say that," Selene advised as she threw the car into fifth. Michael refrained from commenting on her insane love of speed.
"Why?" he asked instead.
"He'd sooner a pack of lycans tortured him and left him to bleed to death before he'd show any weakness. He's a warrior."
"What about you, Selene?"
She smiled thinly. "I'm learning."
With that, she flung the car around a hairpin turn and Michael gripped the dash. He started to ask Selene to slow down when a strong, dark scent assailed his senses. "Stop the car," he demanded, already reaching for the door. The tone of his voice made Selene stomp on the brake. Her other foot flew off of the clutch and the car slid dangerously across the road as the engine died.
"Michael?" she cried. He disappeared into the snow. Selene's brain couldn't process what her eyes were telling her. He was gone. Completely. In the space of a second, he had vanished as if she had never known him. Goddamn it. "Michael!" she called again.
Should she wait? Should she try to follow? The swirling snow covered his tracks. Selene slammed her door so hard it rocked the entire car. Michael's door hung open, forgotten in his haste. Selene stalked toward the trees. He was out there somewhere. She could feel him, even if she could not see him.
Michael was running, snarls bursting from his heaving chest. His entire focus was on the chase. He had never been as exhilarated in his life. He felt as if his heart would explode. Dimly, he heard his clothing split and tear. He kicked off his boots and dropped to all fours to increase his speed. He fairly flew over the ground. The red stag ahead of him bellowed and shot over a frozen stream. Michael lunged and caught it on the opposite bank. In one fluid motion, he pulled the stag toward him and plunged his teeth into it. He moaned as scalding blood sluiced down his throat, wave after wave after wave. The heavy animal fell back onto him and he toppled over, still clutching the beast. Hooves struck and beat at him, scrambling for purchase. It only inflamed him further. He snarled and ripped the stag's head free, its horns snapping into pieces in his hands. He laughed and threw back his head, howling into the snowy night. Blood rained down onto him, sticky and steaming. He laughed again and threw the stag's head aside He stood and shoved the carcass away. It was still moving when he stepped over it and ran back toward Selene. He could feel her looking for him. He wanted her…now.
She was less than a mile away, furiously calling his name, certain that every vampire and lycan left alive could hear her. The weather made it impossible for her to find him with her senses. Michael loped back toward her with an easy grace. She stopped short when she saw him, her eyes wide with shock. He loomed over her in all of his lycan glory and picked her up, pushing her against a tree.
The blood covering him looked black against his skin. It dripped into the white, white snow. He was leering, snarling, laughing, pulling Selene's clothes open. He looked like a madman, his eyes were glowing with a wild euphoria. Selene felt the first real sliver of fear she had ever known as a vampire. "Michael, stop. Stop it!" she said as she tried to push him away. "No," he answered. The tree against Selene's back cracked, a gunshot in the night. Snow fell down upon their heads from its branches. Michael howled and pulled Selene down onto the freezing ground. They rolled over and over, struggling against each other.
"Stop. You smell like an animal. You're hurting me." Selene said as snow filled her mouth.
"I am an animal!" Michael growled. "Look at what you've created! I am an animal." He threw back his head and howled again and again. He held his arms out wide. "Look at me, Selene! Isn't this what you wanted? Look at me!"
"Stop," Selene panted. "Stop!"
"Isn't this what you wanted?" He stood up and stepped away. He began to spin, his arms still flung out wide. Blood covered every inch of his hair, his naked skin. "Isn't this what Lucian fucking wanted from me? Well, here it is! I am an animal!"
Selene sat up and watched him, unsure how to react. Drunkenly, Michael tripped and fell. He rolled onto his back and laughed up at the night sky. "Here I am," he said. "Here I am..." and his voice faded away. His arms fell to his sides. He slowly transformed back into human form. He made no move to shield himself from the snowfall.
"Do we have any money left?" he finally asked.
"What?" Selene choked. "Why?"
"I'm going to need more clothes. I've run through just about everything I have." He sighed but continued to lie in the snow, letting it cover him with its whiteness. It fell into his eyes.
Selene cautiously approached him. "I can only say 'I am sorry' so many times and in so many ways, but believe this...I truly am sorry that this has been so hard for you. What I am not sorry about is that we are together." She sank down at his side and laid her hands on him. He was absolutely on fire. She leaned down and softly pressed her lips to his skin. He reached up and enfolded her.
"Michael, Michael..." she whispered. He caught her face in his bloody hands and she kissed him. The wild, untamed taste of the stag passed to her from his mouth. Their teeth knocked together as they sought to devour one another. Selene sat up and pulled away the last of her clothing. Her face was shining with dark triumph. Animal he might be, Michael Corvin was hers. She sank back down on him and he arched up to meet her. The snow beneath them turned to water in the heat.
