Dark Hunger

The word reject burned her alive. While it easily spilled out of the lips of Laurel, for Elize, it was like a thousand shards cutting though her soul. Her lips trembled and she averted her gaze from Laurel to look at Caleb, who was still in deep conversation with Norma. She noticed that the actress had come a few inches closer to him and that rattled her. She had this urge to rip away the girl from his side, but then Laurel's words bounced across her mind—reject him. One look at Caleb's face and she knew that she didn't deserve him. She was out of her depth here. She had always thought that she hated him, but now she wasn't even sure that she hated him or wanted him. Elize rose to her feet quietly and walked out of the inn, as Laurel crossed her legs and watched her leaving with a smile. 

Elize's heart was thundering. Laurel's words kept bouncing in her head. She knew what she had to do. She had to end it for him. Because Caleb deserved much better, because she was so unsure of her feelings, because probably destiny had other plans for both of them. It was almost too hard to process. 

Once she was outside, she found that the place was empty. She dug her hands in her pants pockets and rushed past the road. A fine layer of snow crunched beneath her boots—the sound too diminutive but it was like thunder in her ears. She crossed on the other side of the road that led into the forest. She just wanted to get lost into oblivion. Perhaps get killed by a beast so that Caleb got a fresh chance to start, so that he could marry a woman he deserved. 

Her breaths puffed into misty clouds around her as she looked inside the darkness of the forest. She should have felt dangerous, but she didn't. Instead, the cold, the blackness, the dark silhouettes of the trees welcomed her. Tears rolled down her eyes. She was going to give freedom to all of them. Once she reached inside the thick woods, the moonlight became fragmented. It was just enough to show her the way inside. She increased her pace to put as much distance as possible between her and Caleb. Her boot got caught in a jutting boulder and she fell down hard on her knees. Pushing the pain down, she wiped her face with her dirty hands and continued to run, chilly wind and damp stinging her skin. She didn't know how far she was inside when she found herself in an area where the trees were denser. Panting, she rubbed her chest and ran forward hoping to jump off a cliff or in a lake. 

A branch snapped under her boot's weight and she stopped in order to be relieved of the burn in her heart, but it only grew defying the cold weather. All of a sudden, a crackling noise came and she spun around. She looked at the thicket that was on the left. What could cause the branch to snap? A beast on prowl? Another branch snapped and she pierced her gaze in the darkness. Her muscles tensed as she froze in her place when a shadow peeled from there and stepped into the silvery moonlight. The massive wolf with pale blue eyes, its midnight blue fur dusted with snow. 

Caleb. 

"Fuck," she breathed. 

Caleb dropped his chin as he prowled towards her, his claws digging into the wood of the log he had climbed. He came and stopped as if daring her to run further. 

"I don't want to go back!" Elize growled, as her heart pounded against her ribcage. 

Caleb leapt towards her. She stumbled back. Next she saw that he was standing in front of her in his human form. "Did you really think that you could escape me?" he asked in a soft, breathy voice. He stepped forward to hold her upper arm to steady her, barely a few inches away from her. He had run after her and sniffed her all the way. 

Angered she tried to jerk out of his clutches but her efforts were nothing compared to his brute strength. 

"Fight me all you want, Elize, but don't leave me," he said in a voice so passionate that her heart went to all places. He wiped her tears with his thumbs. "You can quarrel with me, go physical. But don't run away. That's not like you." Then he waved his hand around and said, "This escape was a poorly thought out plan, one borne out of dismay. And you ran in this forest? What were you up to?" 

Angered that she was getting attracted to this man all over again, she jerked her hand off, and began to run away. But it was soon enough that he snagged her around her waist and took her to the ground. She didn't even come to know when he had come behind her. She fell on the soft snow with him atop her. He rolled her above him and held her tightly over his body. She pushed her arms against his chest. "Leave me!" she swatted him and started to move away. But the wolf once again rolled her beneath him, this time pinning her belly to the ground with a growl. She felt his warmth against her and surrounded by his pine and misty smell. 

"I would never leave you, Elize," he said, his warm breath against her ear. He leaned over, pressing her body more. 

She realized that his shaft had swollen, hot against her back. He had wedged his leg between hers and this nearness was affecting her in a decadent manner. He pressed his face in her neck and grazed the skin over there with his fangs. God, she wanted him to bite her there. Hell, she wanted him to do something to her.. Just a few moments back she ran away from him and now she was thrilled by the thought that he might bite her? Her breasts grew heavy and muscles clenched in her core and before she knew, she pushed her hips against his length.