Ellie
The day began with promise for warmer weather. The snow melted into the waters flowing between the mountains and the grass was high with small patches of flowers ready to bloom. A little boy sniffed the air and smiled. He knew the princess loved springtime. He scented her and knew she was getting close.
He turned and that's when he saw her emerging from the tree line that hides this spot – their spot, but he stopped short. She had been crying.
"Ellie, what happened?" He ran to her.
"Nothing." She lied. While she didn't look hurt, something was definitely wrong.
"Don't lie to me, princess. What happened?"
She looked up at him, fierce eyes piercing into his soul. It made his heart beat faster.
"Can you teach me?" She asked.
"Teach you?"
"Teach me how to fight."
The question threw him off, he wanted to tell her no. That she had no reason to fight. That whatever she felt the need to fight, he would do it for her. He would fight a thousand battles before she would need to. But the look in her eyes told him this was important to her.
"First you must tell me why."
"I don't want to be weak. I want to be strong like you. I want to be able to defend myself."
"There's no need for that, Ellie. You'll never have to worry about someone harming you, I will always protect you."
"But what if you can't?"
Impossible. He would always protect her.
"What if a time comes where you can't protect me? What if I need to protect you? I can't do that, unless you teach me. So, please … teach me."
His chest nearly cracked at the desperation in her voice. But her words made sense. What if a time comes that she needs to defend herself and she can't. He couldn't stomach the thought of her hurt, because he was too ignorant, too prideful in his ability to protect her. He nodded with a heavy heart and began her first lesson.
The sky changed. It became dark with angry clouds crashing with thunder.
The little boy stood tall as a man now. He looked at her with tears in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Ellie." He said to her, reaching out towards her. His hands covered in blood, "I failed you. I couldn't protect you."
The little girl looked down, her little feet that were standing in spring grass a moment ago, now stood in a puddle of blood.
"Forgive me, mate." He choked on a sob. She tried to reach for him, but she was being pulled away. She tried to call to him, but she had no voice. Just when she tried to scream, a horrible feeling crept up the back of her neck. A presence that told her she was not safe here.
"Did you really think you could hide this from me, Ellora?"
She screamed, and this time, the sound ripped from her chest and collided with the thunder crashing above her.
"Ellie, wake up!"
I jolted out of my sleep to see Marcus above me, his eyes wild with fear.
"Come home, love." Those soft words calm my racing heart, like a beacon to safety. A warm hug to welcome me home. I grab him and hold him to me. Silently begging him to keep me grounded, don't let me fall back into the abyss. His warmth envelopes me and I inhale his musky, woodsy scent greedily, the same way I've seen him do to me. We hold each other for a few minutes before he pulls back to look at me. He gently wipes at my cheeks with his thumb, I was crying. The motion makes me cry a little more. Everything about this man just fills me with so much emotion, most of the time I don't even know what to do with it.
"Tell me what you dreamt." He whispers softly.
"I saw you … as a little boy …" I thought instantly to the hunters I fought in Jenkins. The werewolves in Garrison. I was shocked at myself because I didn't know how I could do all of that. I didn't remember how I learned how to do it. Hope blooms at my chest, the possibility that I could remember. "Did you teach me how to fight?" His eyes widened a fraction, declaring my insinuation true.
"You … remember?"
"I think so." A smile stretches his lips and my heart soars at the sight of it. "I saw you – as a little boy. I wanted to be able to protect you." His eyes glimmer at the memory. I could see tears begin to form in his beautiful eyes. "But then – " I remembered how it changed in an instant, "There was blood. You looked so … haunted. Tortured. You kept saying – " I stopped short.
"What did I say?" He asked gently.
"You told me you were sorry. That you failed me and you couldn't protect me." His body became rigid. I don't even think he was breathing.
In his eyes, I could see a series of events playing out. A string of memories. I see shadows and marionettes, a tale of gods and giant beasts. It goes so fast I can't catch one single moment to hold on to. To put in my pocket and keep with me forever. Anything to help me understand the man that crawled under my skin. Understand the horrified look in his features. I bring my forehead to his, he closed his eyes at the contact.
"You didn't fail me, Marcus." I whisper to him. I feel him slightly relax against me. "You couldn't stop what happened, nor could you change it. But we're here now. And I promise – you won't lose me again." His eyes snapped open at my words, an intensity I haven't seen before as his eyes glowed. Before I could take another breath, he crushed his lips against mine. I accepted his kiss and returned it with my own desperation. It seemed that my words meant more to him than I thought.
We tangled together; my body still bare from last night. I was hot, needy. I craved him, I needed him more than I needed anything in my whole life. I wanted him to be mine.
I thought about what he said last night. He told me I was everything to him.
But if that was true, why didn't he mark me?
I can't explain my insistence on the matter, but when Marcus told me about mates, when he touched my scar … something inside me burst open. A calling to him, like water after wandering the desert. Something far deeper than sex. Something that feels like destiny. Fate.
Maybe I was meant to be here, to find him again. Maybe home isn't the woods, but the man hiding in them. Waiting – for me.
I broke our kiss, touching our heads together. Our panting breaths mingling together.
"Marcus," I said his name in a breathy tone that sounded like a whine.
"Yes, princess," his voice slides over my skin like silk.
"You are everything to me, too."
I meant it. Every syllable. I knew it in the marrow of my bones even if I still didn't understand it completely.
He placed a kiss on my forehead, lingering there for a moment, spreading the tingling sensation everywhere he touched.
"Come on, there's a place I want to show you."
I took his hand and went about getting dressed, not asking where we were off to. It didn't matter. I'd go anywhere with him.