71.
I wake to the nagging presence of intruders at the border of my kingdom. When I rolled on my side, I stared in awe at the sleeping face of my mate. His gentle breathing soothed me somehow. I reached out and stroked his silky black hair spread on his pillow. His long lashes rested over his cheeks. He blinked caramel-colored eyes. For a second, they are unfocused from sleep, then he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Intruders," he growled. The sound of his voice sent shivers down my spine and the memory of the night we had together floated through my mind. I reached my hand and touched his chin. All hostility drained from his face. He nudged against my palm. His hair slid over one naked shoulder. Jacob closed his eyes and inhaled.
"Don't worry about the intruders, my love." He lifted hazy eyes, they burned into mine. A promise of love and tenderness deep inside them.
"I would love nothing else but to stay in bed with you. But my duty awaits me." I didn't like his answer. I pulled on his hair and he fell over me, breaking his fall seconds before crushing me with his weight.
"Ouch!" He chuckled into the blanket separating us. He lifted his head with a playful smile. "Is that foreplay?" I frowned at him. He caged me with his arms on both sides. His knees pressed into the mattress, I was trapped under the blanket with him over it blocking all escape. Jacob licked his lips. "Trapped, in your own game." I could taste his intentions in the air around us. Arousal.
"Get off me." My powers flared and a gush of wind tore him away from me. He staggered to the end of the bed and let out a goofy cry before tumbling down tangled in the covers. I giggled at the sight of his patterned crescent moon boxers. He struggled to his feet, eyes gleaming with mischief.
"You're going to pay." But our happiness was short-lived when I sensed movement near our cabin. I turned in the direction of the menace. Jacob lost his smile.
"What is it?"
"We need to deal with the intruders." I pushed the covers and faced the direction of vampires and werewolves. Walls of trees and jagged rocks rushed to me. They pulled away like a veil. I could see them clearly. Distance meant nothing to me. My mind transported me to them without effort. The little group hissed and bared their fangs at me.
"Get out or face my wrath." My voice made the trees shake and the ground shiver.
One of the vampires stepped out from the group. "Give me back my daughter," he shouted. Something stirred at the sight of that man. He seemed familiar. I shook my head, banishing that outrageous thought.
"I am the queen of this domain. I grant you no passage." I stretched my fingers, lightning bolts surged from the tips, and they exploded on impact. "I'll kill you all." The intruders dashed for shelter.
"Renesme, it's me, Dad!" called a voice hiding behind a bolder. Dad? The words were a distant memory. A faint glow in the darkness. But my powers drowned it like a deep lake inside a deep cavern. A quiet ancient place where memories are lost. Forgotten. Where the little girl, I used to be, sleeps in that cold water. Gone are the fears. Gone are the loved ones. Gone is the little girl. The ancient powers grow stronger the more she fades.
"Renesme," called Jacob. And for a moment, I don't know where I am. Not in the forest fighting the intruders, not in our cabin with my mate, not in the cold water pressing me down so that I never wake up. "Stay with me."