7. PROMISE

When Micah came to, he felt ice cold arms wrapped around him. He instantly knew that it was Ashley. He traced his fingers along her marble hard skin.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked her.

She let out a soft laugh and said "no."

Micah sat up and was instantly embarrassed when he realized he was naked. "Where are my clothes?" His face was bright red.

Ashley smiled. "Your clothes are ripped to shreds, but here is an extra pair of pants from Richard."

Micah quickly pulled them on. He tried to remember the night before. "So what happened?"

"Well, you changed into a werewolf and you were quite vicious. But nothing you did was enough to hurt me. I kept you from heading back to the village. I think it worked out rather well. Eventually you settled down and went to sleep. When the sun rose, you returned to your human form." Ashley waited for his reaction.

"So you think it worked out, huh?" Micah chewed on his lower lip. "What exactly do you want to have happen between us?" Micah asked.

Ashley took a moment to think. "I want for you and me to go away together. We can live side by side and I will help you during your time of change. I can keep you from hurting people because I know that it's important to you."

"And what about you? Who's going to keep you from hurting people?"

The words stung Ashley. After all, she had changed for him. "Well, on our way here we passed through a place called Denali. We met a coven of sisters who actually survived off the blood of animals instead of humans. I could try to be like them."

The concept was foreign to Micah. He had never heard of such vampires. "What about me? Do you thirst for my blood?"

"Strangely, no. Your scent is not appealing to me in that way. It's not a bad smell, not like those Quileute wolves we came across-"

"You found the wolves? Where are they?" Micah's eyes filled with hope in finding his lost brothers.

Ashley looked down shamefully. "Micah, they attacked us. We had to defend ourselves."

So it was true. His friends really were dead. Micah loved Ashley but the Quileutes meant so much to him. He didn't know how to reconcile these conflicting interests. Finally, Micah spoke. "I'll go with you and we'll try to help each other to not hurt humans but I need a promise from you."

"Anything!" Ashley was hopeful.

"I need you to promise me that your friends will never hurt the Quileutes again."

Ashley nodded. She called for Richard and Catherine to come and they did. "I need you to promise Micah that you will never hurt the Quileutes again."

A look of disgust swept across Richards face. "Why should we do that?"

"Because I'm asking you to." Ashley said boldly. "Please, do this for me."

"Fine," said Catherine, "but the Makah's are fair game."

Micah didn't like this either but he conceded. He could only do so much. Ashley said her goodbyes to her coven and then she started heading east with Micah.

"Do you really think I can trust their word?" Micah asked Ashley concerning the promise that had just been made.

"Yes, of course. They are very loyal, especially to each other. The only way that I can see them going back on their word is if the wolves killed one of them. The one who survived would have to go back for revenge. There is just no way around it."

Micah understood. "Well the wolves won't start any trouble with them if they don't have a reason to so I suppose everything will be fine."

Ashley wrapped her cold fingers around Micah's hand. "So where do you want to go?"

Micah smiled. "Anywhere, as long as you're with me."