Theo tracked her scent throughout the streets, smiling at those that greeted him. When he found her, she was sitting upon the stone wall surrounding the outskirts of town. There are a few other couples milling about, attempting to locate their own private moments under the moon.
“It's so beautiful,” she murmured.
Joining her upon the stone wall, he sat beside her. “It is,” he agreed. He worried his bottom lip for a moment before he sighed not wanting to beat around the bush. “I'm not good at this stuff, Marion. I smell you. I know you want me, but if you're hoping for more, you know that I can't give it.”
Saddened, she chuckled then shrugged.
“For old times then?” she suggested. Tears were in her eyes.
“Are you sure? It won't get better--"
“It's the full moon, Theo,” she cut in, turning to him. “I want you.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she silenced him with a deep and passionate kiss. “I want you now. Right here.”
Those honest words ignited a fire within him, but it wasn't him though that started this. Marion's hands were all over him and her lips stole the air from his lungs. Her hands were everywhere. Just as he allowed himself to relax and respond, pain speared through his mind.
For a moment, he couldn't feel Marion. He couldn't even scent her nor the wilderness around them. It was just darkness, but he scented a very familiar aroma that comforted him.
“Theodavian,” Caly gasped.
Caly?
He opened his eyes and there she was, but he had absolutely no control over himself. As if his body had a mind of his own, he grinned before licking the side of her neck. Nibbling her sensitive skin, he felt her tense against him and his hands fisted into that silvery gown.
“I love you,” she whispered, causing him to freeze for a moment. Leaning back to gaze into her green eyes, something deep inside him clenched at the emotions he saw within them. “I am not foolish to believe you feel the same way as me. But you shall be leaving soon to do some magical and wonderful work out there beyond City Of Pearl and I just wish to give you a piece of me to remember me by.”
He frowned.
Swallowing hard, he cupped her chin when she attempted to look away in embarrassment. “Tell me what you want, Caly.”
“You,” she breathed. “I-I want us to be… like this. I trust you. This-This is my first time, Theodavian. Please.”
“I love you,” he finally confessed and her eyes snapped to his.
The doubt was evident in her eyes. She didn't voice it, but she didn't have to. He felt the burn of frustration building and he wanted her to understand what she meant to him. He needed to make it clear to her. The determination burned through him as he captured her mouth with his to taste his decision already solid in his mind. She was his. She was going make her his for the entire world to see.
Blinding pain once again tore through Theo's mind. He jerked away, once again feeling and smelling Marion. He desperately tried to catch Caly's scent, but she was no longer there.
What just happened? He hissed as forced himself away from her. He gripped his head until the pain subsided into a dull throbbing.
“Are you okay?” she questioned. The concern dripping off her words.
Shaking his head, he stumbled away. “No. No, I'm not.”
Before he could stop himself, he was leaving Marion behind. He was taking off into a run. Shift. Everything in his body wanted him to shift, so he did, shifting into his hybrid form. His body changed and rearranged. Dirt crunched beneath his paws before he launched himself into the air. He felt the wind beneath his wings as he soared up towards the moon.
He shouted out her name, but he only heard his forlorn howls.
She just wouldn't stop haunting him. And what was that? What the fuck was that? That didn't even make sense. That wasn't real. It couldn't be fucking real, because if it was, his first time was with Caly that night he couldn't even remember. A feeling of foreboding dwelled within him and that pain radiated in his brain, his neck, and his entire body. What the fuck happened that night?
Caly, he finally called out in his mind as he sets himself down in a meadow far from town, but not far enough to be out of borders. Caly!
Pawing the ground, he clawed scraps out from the ground in frustration. He wanted answers. He wanted to shout at her for leaving him behind without a trace. Did he mean nothing to her?
Obviously because she never came back.
Theodavian?
Caly?
Wait. No. Did he just really hear her?
He felt her presence. Nose lifted, smelling the air. He didn’t smell her. He didn't smell anything other than the bear a little bit away, but he could still feel her and then her presence vanished. A piece of him shattered. The loneliness surrounded him and he wanted her back. This was madness. Insanity. He was being driven mad by her memory.
~
Waking up in a field wasn't how Theo planned his morning to turn out, but he did and he couldn't change last night. He had reached a breaking point and maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. For years, he had attempted to repress her memory and it was time to finally deal with it.
Caly was gone. He would never see her again and it was time to let her go like she obviously had. Except he knew it wasn't that easy, because if it was, he would've already taken Marion as his mate. He would've been a father by now and had an heir. It wasn't just that easy to forget and definitely not that easy to move on.
Where are you? Amos’s voice pierced sharply in his my mind.
Embracing insanity, he responded back. He scrubbed his face then forced himself up to stretch out his limbs. What's going on?
Royce called. They apprehended three out of seven. They were vamps.
Then life barrelled back in, because life waited for nobody. This was real. Theo sighed, gazing out at the peaceful landscape. It was a pity that within him there was no peace. This gem of a place was lost on him. Some day he felt like he needed to come back and appreciate it, but until then, he breathed in and out before once again shifting into his hybrid form.
Did they extract any information from them?
Yes. Amos was quick to answer. They had a vision that a battle in the Tempest Elysium would give them the ability to walk into the sunlight. It's happening, isn't it?
I think it's time to return to Tempest, he informed Amos grimly. I'm on my way back.
With that, his paws flew across the ground and his body lifted until the familiar feel of wind was underneath him. His powerful wings took over as he soared through the sky.