MARCH 15, 2015 0311 HRS LOCAL TIME
Consciousness rolled in slowly. It was like waking in a dreamy fog that had rolled in off the bay overnight, full of mystery and possibilities. But there was no danger because he was there.
As she stirred a large, lean muscular arm swept around her, drawing her in before she could get away. Not that she had wanted to get away. Never. His fingers curled at her waist and his leg fell over top of her, pinning her form to the mattress. In the dim light of morning, he was all muscle and strength and warmth. She didn?t even mind the hint of sweat that built between their limbs. He was claiming her and she would never complain about that.
?Good morning,? she heard her voice whisper, a little rough from sleep.
The fingers tightened further at her waist, digging into her skin. The voice in her ear rumbled. ?You left us.?
It was all accusation and it hit deep in her gut where the guilt lived and brewed, boiled and stewed. She had to see his face. She had to see his eyes. When she twisted, he didn?t try to stop her. He let her roll over onto her back, repositioning so he was hovering overhead.
Those sharp blue eyes shone so bright in the dim light of the room. They pierced her soul. They made her want to sob with sorrow and delight. ?You took over,? she accused the Wolf. ?Give him back.?
?He?s not yours anymore. You left. You promised you would never leave and you left. You get no say,? the Wolf told her, his lips lifting to sneer at her.
It was the truth. He would never have left her. She had let the depression and fear overwhelm her. She had run away. It hadn?t felt like running at the time, though. It had felt like resigning herself to death. ?I loved him. I love him. I?ll never not love him. He was my best friend.?
?He was the love of your life,? the Wolf retorted with a laugh. His hands wrapped around her neck, his form pinning her down once again. There was no longer anything safe about the feeling of his body on top of hers. Now it was menacing. He was going to kill her, she realized observantly.
She would not have cared. She would have let the Wolf kill her if it wasn?t for the fact that she knew that he would be in there living with it. The pressure came bearing down upon her windpipe. Hard, fast, and vicious.
Her warm brown eyes met that cold, blue gaze. Warmth to combat the chill. That was how she had learned to deal with the Wolf. And then she watched the fight. The fight as he tried to take back control even as the life slipped out of her. Would he win the inner battle before or after she was dead? She prayed it was before. For his sake, not her own. The fingers slackened on her throat just as the darkness began to take her under.
?Jay,? she coughed out.
His voice answered in a choke of a sob. ?Sami.?
And then, with a start, she woke.
Wind blew through the high tree tops rustling the leaves. The dim light in her canvas tent told her nothing as to the hour of day. At this latitude on this planet the light hardly ever faded completely this time of year. She lifted her watch to catch a glimpse of the time. 3 AM local time. She had no idea what time it was on RhyDin nor even the day. Jay was so far away. Harris, Stick, Kazzy, Sissy, Joey. The life she built there just didn?t exist anymore. It was a distant memory. It teased her with its happy moments, it tortured her with its sad ones.
It took the prickling of the ink in the tattoo on her back to draw her out of her momentary pity.
Something wasn?t completely right. Her stomach sank with the realization. The longer she lingered with the sour gut feeling, the more she realized how spot on it was. She sat upright in her sleeping bag, frowning as she tried to figure out what. And then it hit. There were no birds singing. Confused by the long hours of daylight, there was hardly a time in this area of this planet that birds were not chirping this time of year. The entire squad had all complained of it as they tried to adjust to sleeping through it.
?Roberson,? Sami hissed to the figure lying in a sleeping bag beside her.
?Hm? What?s wrong?? The young woman asked in response as she too sat up, rubbing sleep from her pretty hazel eyes.
?I don?t know yet,? Sami responded as she shoved her feet into her unlaced boots, grabbing her handgun as she stumbled out of her tent. She didn?t bother to check what she was wearing before stepping out of the tent. There was hardly a point in any day now in which she wasn?t wearing Rhovnik-issued fatigues.
Adrenaline had her fully awake, her fingers tensing around the gun as she oriented herself with the campsite around her. It was just as she left it when she went to sleep after her guard shift came to a close four hours before. Four tents were arranged in a precise circle within a small clearing deep in the Stryss Forest.
The guards on duty -- Peter Dixon and Chad Taylor -- rounded back towards her when they saw her spill out of the tent with a tense expression, her gun drawn, and Shanna Roberson at her heels. ?Sergeant?? Dixon asked, concern beginning to line his face as Sami?s eyes scanned the vicinity.
?Something?s wrong,? Sami murmured, turning on her heels to complete a circular loop as she examined the woods that stood on all sides. When they had first picked this place to spend the night it had seemed as if the big tall oaks and evergreens splattered with late blossoming undergrowth had been hugging them up in the full delight of summer. Now, suddenly, the forest seemed imposing and dangerous.
?Get everyone up,? Sami ordered forcefully. ?Something?s coming.?
Consciousness rolled in slowly. It was like waking in a dreamy fog that had rolled in off the bay overnight, full of mystery and possibilities. But there was no danger because he was there.
As she stirred a large, lean muscular arm swept around her, drawing her in before she could get away. Not that she had wanted to get away. Never. His fingers curled at her waist and his leg fell over top of her, pinning her form to the mattress. In the dim light of morning, he was all muscle and strength and warmth. She didn?t even mind the hint of sweat that built between their limbs. He was claiming her and she would never complain about that.
?Good morning,? she heard her voice whisper, a little rough from sleep.
The fingers tightened further at her waist, digging into her skin. The voice in her ear rumbled. ?You left us.?
It was all accusation and it hit deep in her gut where the guilt lived and brewed, boiled and stewed. She had to see his face. She had to see his eyes. When she twisted, he didn?t try to stop her. He let her roll over onto her back, repositioning so he was hovering overhead.
Those sharp blue eyes shone so bright in the dim light of the room. They pierced her soul. They made her want to sob with sorrow and delight. ?You took over,? she accused the Wolf. ?Give him back.?
?He?s not yours anymore. You left. You promised you would never leave and you left. You get no say,? the Wolf told her, his lips lifting to sneer at her.
It was the truth. He would never have left her. She had let the depression and fear overwhelm her. She had run away. It hadn?t felt like running at the time, though. It had felt like resigning herself to death. ?I loved him. I love him. I?ll never not love him. He was my best friend.?
?He was the love of your life,? the Wolf retorted with a laugh. His hands wrapped around her neck, his form pinning her down once again. There was no longer anything safe about the feeling of his body on top of hers. Now it was menacing. He was going to kill her, she realized observantly.
She would not have cared. She would have let the Wolf kill her if it wasn?t for the fact that she knew that he would be in there living with it. The pressure came bearing down upon her windpipe. Hard, fast, and vicious.
Her warm brown eyes met that cold, blue gaze. Warmth to combat the chill. That was how she had learned to deal with the Wolf. And then she watched the fight. The fight as he tried to take back control even as the life slipped out of her. Would he win the inner battle before or after she was dead? She prayed it was before. For his sake, not her own. The fingers slackened on her throat just as the darkness began to take her under.
?Jay,? she coughed out.
His voice answered in a choke of a sob. ?Sami.?
And then, with a start, she woke.
Wind blew through the high tree tops rustling the leaves. The dim light in her canvas tent told her nothing as to the hour of day. At this latitude on this planet the light hardly ever faded completely this time of year. She lifted her watch to catch a glimpse of the time. 3 AM local time. She had no idea what time it was on RhyDin nor even the day. Jay was so far away. Harris, Stick, Kazzy, Sissy, Joey. The life she built there just didn?t exist anymore. It was a distant memory. It teased her with its happy moments, it tortured her with its sad ones.
It took the prickling of the ink in the tattoo on her back to draw her out of her momentary pity.
Something wasn?t completely right. Her stomach sank with the realization. The longer she lingered with the sour gut feeling, the more she realized how spot on it was. She sat upright in her sleeping bag, frowning as she tried to figure out what. And then it hit. There were no birds singing. Confused by the long hours of daylight, there was hardly a time in this area of this planet that birds were not chirping this time of year. The entire squad had all complained of it as they tried to adjust to sleeping through it.
?Roberson,? Sami hissed to the figure lying in a sleeping bag beside her.
?Hm? What?s wrong?? The young woman asked in response as she too sat up, rubbing sleep from her pretty hazel eyes.
?I don?t know yet,? Sami responded as she shoved her feet into her unlaced boots, grabbing her handgun as she stumbled out of her tent. She didn?t bother to check what she was wearing before stepping out of the tent. There was hardly a point in any day now in which she wasn?t wearing Rhovnik-issued fatigues.
Adrenaline had her fully awake, her fingers tensing around the gun as she oriented herself with the campsite around her. It was just as she left it when she went to sleep after her guard shift came to a close four hours before. Four tents were arranged in a precise circle within a small clearing deep in the Stryss Forest.
The guards on duty -- Peter Dixon and Chad Taylor -- rounded back towards her when they saw her spill out of the tent with a tense expression, her gun drawn, and Shanna Roberson at her heels. ?Sergeant?? Dixon asked, concern beginning to line his face as Sami?s eyes scanned the vicinity.
?Something?s wrong,? Sami murmured, turning on her heels to complete a circular loop as she examined the woods that stood on all sides. When they had first picked this place to spend the night it had seemed as if the big tall oaks and evergreens splattered with late blossoming undergrowth had been hugging them up in the full delight of summer. Now, suddenly, the forest seemed imposing and dangerous.
?Get everyone up,? Sami ordered forcefully. ?Something?s coming.?