The Willing

The Willing

By Aila Cline

Copyright 2013 Aila Cline

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***ENJOY THE STORY***

Emily

Luka’s eyes glowered with that frozen
blue I once knew so well as he approached my warm little corner at
the bar. The growl came deep within his throat as an array of
emotions played across his face. I could not identify all of them
since they were so varied, but I saw the anger, the hurt—and the
hunger.

“Good evening, Emily,” he said in a
flat tone.

I knew it had been a good idea to meet
him in public. I’m sure my letter had surprised him, but without a
return address, he could not hunt me. My sudden disappearance
without a goodbye to him over a year ago would have tipped him off
that something was amiss. He would immediately have gone to Will’s
house to see if something had happened to me. Instead of finding
me, he would have found Will, bled to death from numerous cuts and
bites to his person.

The air seemed to warm uncomfortably
around me as his gaze held me. I had fucked Luka on the ground like
an animal that last night, then ran for my life, knowing he would
come for me. Luka would not spare my life in place of the revenge
for his best friend’s.

“Hello Luka,” I said with an inviting
smile. I could not help but remember that night of passion with him
fondly.

His eyes hardened. Obviously he could
not forget it either, though I knew honor-bound Luka would want
more than anything to wipe clean the disparity of his actions. I,
however, had no such qualms. I hoped his wife had found out. I hope
she seethed with rage and cried the tears of the
betrayed.

Luka’s delicious accent wrapped around
me, bringing back memories so powerful that I felt as if I’d been
teleported. “What is it that you want here, Emily?”

I know now that his native tongue is
Portuguese. When I met him a year prior, I had merely thought him
exotic with his dark skin and his dramatic eyes. But no, Luka hails
from the Venezuelan-Brazilian border, home of the southernmost
Lycanthrope clan.

I shook my head violently to clear it.
I could not afford to let my mind wander. I had a deal to
make.

“I want my life,” I stated simply. The
bar may have been loud, but we sat face to face in the lounge and
our hearing was better than any human there. No one would eavesdrop
on our conversation unless they were a Changeling like me, or a
pure blood like Luka. I had not scented any of our kind coming in,
so we were practically alone in the world.

“Your life?” Luka asked. His words were
bitter and twisted with disbelief. “Your forfeited that when you
killed Will.”

I knew those would be his words, but I
had come prepared.

“And tell me, Luka,” I said sweetly.
“What does a Lycanthrope male forfeit if he betrays the one to whom
he is Bonded?”

A dangerous look plastered itself onto
his face. “You wouldn’t dare. It is your fault that I faltered in
my faith to Brooke.”

“I do not recall you being too
unwilling to perform,” I said viciously. “And as for Brooke, what I
told you that night still holds true; she stole your chance of
happiness all those years ago.”

He slapped the counter in rage and
stuck his finger in my face accusingly. “Fuck you, Emily. She is a
good mother to our son and a loyal mate—the second trait is much
more than I can say for you, you murderous bitch.”

His raised voice brought the bartender
over. The man hadn’t been able to hear any of our words clearly,
but he did not like Luka’s tone.

“Sir, if you raise your voice again,
you will be asked to leave.”

Luka’s eyes cut hard towards the
intervention, but he replied loud enough for the man to hear,
“Sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“See that it doesn’t.” The man turned
to me. “You let me know if he begins to bother you,
miss.”

I nodded my thanks and he walked to the
other end of the bar where several patrons were annoyed by his
absence. Luka visibly composed himself by rolling his shoulders and
breathing deeply for a moment. Yes, a public meeting had definitely
been necessary to stretch these painfully tight words between Luka
and me.

His glare found me suddenly amused as I
thought back to why I was here.

“What reason can you have to be happy?”
Luka snapped. “The Council has called for your death. Maria will
have your blood, and my father says he will hunt you himself if I
do not.”

I replied calmly, “I am not the least
bit concerned about Will’s mother or Raníer.”

“Where does this confidence come from,
Emily?” he sneered. “You are the hunted now. What’s to keep me from
killing you as soon as we leave the public’s eye?”

“I have something your people will
want—that you will want.”

“You can have nothing the Clan would
want, save your life, and even that is worthless to us.”

He had scored. He had finally admitted
that I truly did not matter to him anymore. That hurt me, for I
still cared for him. Time could not ease away my feelings for him.
I fought to hide my wounds and keep my voice level.

“Brooke is not the only one who is a
good mother.”

His eyes widened considerably at that
statement and he digested the reality of those words.

“Emily, no—”

“Luka, yes.”

“Is it…” his question trailed off,
fearfully or hopefully I’m not sure.

“I don’t know whose it is,” I replied
carefully.

The pain in his eyes made me want to
take back my admission. I came here to bargain, not to hurt him.
The last thing I had ever wanted was to hurt him or Will. I had
slain Will accidentally, unable to control my bloodlust, and now,
though I sat in control of my emotions, I was scraping Luka’s
emotions raw.

He closed his eyes slowly. A long
moment passed before they reopened. I sat in silence. Regardless of
how I felt, he would have to make the first offer.

“What color are the baby’s
eyes?”

“Brown.”

He sighed. “Not surprising since you
and Will had brown eyes before the Change, as did I before the gene
manifested at puberty.”

His earnest, tender gaze caught me by
surprise. “A boy or a girl?”

I smiled like any proud new mother
would. “A boy.” I added hastily, “but I won’t tell you his name,
not yet, not until I know you’ll protect me.”

“I cannot save you, Emily,” Luka said
softly. “Even if I refuse to slay you, the Clan will come for you.”
His eyes were full of regret. This was hard for him, too. “They
will take the baby after they kill you.”

“No one will take my son from me,” I
said instantly, hotly. “I will kill anyone who tries
to.”

He reached forward to my folded arms
and pulled my hands toward him. I was surprised by his reactions,
but the tension in his hands took me back to that night, how
desperate he had been to touch me, to have me. The air crackled
with the electricity between us.

He stroked my fingers, watching his own
actions. “I loved you, Emily.”

Tear pricked the back of my eyes, but I
would not let them fall here. “I still love you, Luka.”

He yanked his hands away as if burned
and would not meet my gaze. I watched as a slight tremble went
through his arms. “You should not say such things. We need to
leave. I can’t speak to you like this in public. Someone who knows
Brooke may see us.”

“I won’t be alone with you.” I paused,
considering my next words carefully but finding no other way to
defend myself. “I’m scared of you.”

That admission was too much for him to
ignore. His sapphire eyes found my emerald ones and he swallowed
heavily.

“I will not hurt you,
Emily.”

“Though you are ordered to?” I asked
warily.

“Though I am ordered to. I swear—on
Will’s grave and my son’s life.”

That was the promise I had wanted. Luka
may be deadly, but he has always been a man of his word and noble
in that sense, at least to those he considered a friend. By his
reaction to my touch, I was not an enemy. I doubt he even knew what
role I played at that moment.

I smoothed the material of my
long-sleeved shirt as I stood. I felt like a manipulative bitch,
but lately it was the only way I could survive. Still, I felt he
deserved something for his effort to give me another
chance.

“Are you on your Ducati?” I asked,
knowing full well that he never went to any human establishment
without his motorcycle.

He smiled and gestured at his worn
leather riding jacket. “Of course. It’s the only way I travel these
days.”

I knew he lied, as during the full moon
he would be out in the moonlight running as a beautiful night-dark
wolf, just as I would be robed in my own tawny coat at the next
Change in a few days. Still, his playful smile reminded me of the
old Luka, and I desperately wanted to believe that something of him
remained.

“Then follow me, motorcycle
man.”

He chuckled as he stood, and I suddenly
felt as if we had never been apart.

Luka grabbed my arm as we approached
the door.

“You have a human watching your child?”
he hissed.

“She’s different. She knows about us.
Don’t worry,” I said soothingly. If he knew how different Rachel
was from other humans, he would never set foot in the
apartment.

“What do you mean, ‘don’t worry?’ Why
would you ever tell a human about you? About us?”

“Because I was human once,” I snapped.
“And we’re not as stupid and treacherous as all of you Lycanthrope
think we are.”

He looked abashed, as well he might
since that had been exactly what he had been implying.

He released my arm. “It is dangerous
knowledge for her.”

I nodded. “She can take care of
herself. I promise you that. She’s also very discreet. She is a
friend of the only friend I have in this world at the
moment.”

“Is your friend who pays for this
apartment, too?” Luka asked with disdain.

“Yes. Rachel lives here, too and pays
half.”

“Who is your other friend?”

“That’s none of your business. She’s a
good listener, and I trust Rachel with my life.” I paused then
looked into his eyes. “And Micah loves her completely.”

“Micah.”

“Yes. Micah. My son.”

He would not say it aloud, but I knew
he was thinking that Micah was possibly our son.

“Does she know what I am, too?” he
asked warily.

“She might figure it out, but I don’t
think it will bother her too much.”

He grunted. I do not know if that was a
positive or negative sign, but it seemed like the only response I
would get for the moment.

I unlocked the door, knowing that Luka
would detect my hesitancy to let him into the little world I had
created for Micah and me.

Rachel’s dark brown eyes flashed as she
stood with Micah in arms from her seated position on the couch.
They immediately darted to Luka as she handed Micah to me, but she
knew better than to ask questions. She had come to expect random
people popping in and out of our apartment at odd hours. I had
never brought a man home, but I knew she would keep her mouth
shut.

She paid no mind to Luka, and equally,
Luka paid none to her. It was as if no one existed in the room but
the baby and me. Tension lined her face. It was hard not to react
to the presence of two werewolves. Humans feel us even if they
don’t know what we are—imagine how Rachel felt. She had a better
education than most and her own reasons for respecting the strange
creatures of the night. Finally, I gingerly asked her, “Do you
think you could leave us for awhile?” And just like that, she was
gone, Luka’s eyes following her out. I knew she wouldn’t be
offended. I always left when she was eating; she wouldn’t begrudge
me time alone with Luka and Micah.