Chapter Eight

Eugene stood outside the cave watching the sun go down; he loved the reddish and yellowish hue off the horizon in the distance. Occasionally, he glanced at the surrounding area around him; both dark green and light brown dirt covered the ground, depending on which part of the ground you looked at. He wondered how long it would be before Heath found him in spite of the precautions he had taken. After all, Heath was too good of a tracker not to find Eugene sooner or later. When he heard the large bush that hid the entrance to the cave behind him shake, Eugene turned to see Dawn step out into the open. He might have chastised her, but it was almost dark. Chances of anyone seeing them were almost nonexistent.

As he looked at her he once again, he thought on all that he had learned about her in the short time they had been together,, along with once again feeling an undeniable pull towards her. Eugene again pushed her for answers.

"Why wouldn't you answer me when I asked you about the woman whom the Greek Goddess, Aurora, was patterned after and the writer who met her?" Eugene put his hands on his hips without half thinking about it.

Dawn, who had been doing a lot of thinking since Eugene first asked the question, sighed as she turned away from Eugene and walked over to a nearby, medium sized dark brown boulder, and sat down. Eugene followed her, making sure he was on her healed side when he leaned against the same boulder. "What is it?"

"Why do you ask such a thing? It's been thousands of years since that event took place." Dawn turned her head and looked at him, feeling strongly she knew the answer, but wanting to hear him actually say it.

For a moment Eugene thought on his family and all the goals he'd set for himself when he went to Berkley and started his studies. Strange how, sometimes, one's best laid plans were changed by unforeseen events. He lifted his hand and cupped Dawn's left cheek in it. He saw a small amount of nervousness enter her eyes. He didn't know why; as he'd kissed her before. Though, he didn't ask as he once again leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

Dawn scolded herself, as she slid her arms underneath his and held on. She told herself she shouldn't be allowing this to happen, only she realized that-as crazy as it was-she was falling in love with him. Only when she felt Eugene's right hand start to caress her back, did Dawn pull back. As much as she wanted him; wanted to be his, it could not be. At least, she kept telling herself that. "Eugene…" She said as she let go and started to stand up, only to find herself being gently pulled back down.

"Tell me, why is it impossible for one of your kind to be with me?" He again touched the side of her face; his eyes begging her to be honest with him.

"You don't know what you're asking." Dawn turned her head as she took his hand in hers and pressed his hand against her cheek. "You don't know the price one of us would have to pay."

Eugene wasn't surprised to hear that there would have to be a sacrifice on one of their parts; after all, it's not like either one of them could live with the other one with things the way they currently were. "So, tell me, so I'll know." He whispered into her ear as he kissed the top of it; he was flattered, when he felt a small tremor coming from her and started to gently pull her to him once more, careful not touch the one wing that was still healing. However, before he had a chance to do anything else, or she could reply, they heard the blood curdling cry of a cougar. They whipped around to their left. They stared in Horror, as a cougar appeared fifteen feet away from them. Gene cursed himself, as any kind of weapon he had was still in the cave. Not wanting Dawn to be attacked by the cougar, he shocked her by stepping in front of her and barking at her to go hide in the cave.

~oOo~

Heath, who had finally picked Eugene's trail up once more, swore silently. He didn't know whether he was going to strangle his baby brother, or praise him when he found him. He had not seen such skill when it came to covering one's tracks. When he'd started tracking his baby brother, Heath had not expected to have such trouble finding Eugene. After all, he was just a young man still struggling to find his way in the world and not as adept in the wilderness as the other Barkley men had been. Heath was shocked to hear his mother's voice as she said "You haven't been listening to him, none of you have. That 'baby' as you insist on saying, has grown up and is just as good of a man as you or your other brothers'.

Eugene was now twenty years old and he had stood his ground and did his best to get his family to stop treating him like a child. Still, Heath sighed as he mounted his horse and started following the trail. Once again, he wondered why Eugene had gone to such lengths to try to lose him…almost succeeded too. Was it simply because, in spite of his various attempts, the Barkleys had continued to treat Eugene as a child? If Heath hadn't picked up the trail when he did, he knew he would have had to head back to Stockton and tell the family his suspicions. If that had happened, Nick would have insisted on getting a search party together and, when Eugene was found, Nick probably would have tried to open their younger brother up in Nick's usual way.

"I'm not sure I want to go back to Berkley' Heath felt shock waves go through him as he found himself recalling a conversation he'd had with Eugene the day before Nick's engagement party. Heath had found Eugene sitting on top of the fence with a faraway look in his eyes. "There's something else out there for me; I can feel it. I just don't know what it is."

Heath might have continued thinking on the conversation only the path he'd been on came to an abrupt end, and he found himself in shock as he saw a huge cougar crouched on a boulder that set on the side of a nearby hill. However, the blonde haired cowboy felt a stronger shudder rattle through him when he saw Eugene step in front the most beautiful woman Heath had ever seen; even if he couldn't believe he saw wings on her. However, before he really had time to decide whether he was seeing things, Eugene was pushing her backwards as the cougar let out another cry and sprang off the boulder, aiming itself at the youngest Barkly.

A/N The cougar is able to leap as high as 5.5 m (18 ft) in one bound, and as far as 40 to 45 ft (12 to 13.5 m) horizontally. The cougar's top running speed ranges between 64 and 80 km/h (40 and 50 mph), but is best adapted for short, powerful sprints rather than long chases. (That is an exact quote from the internet. I would put the link up only something has to be going on. When I click on the link, I get this information. However, when a friend of mine clicks on it, something entirely different comes up for her.)