Arch 1 Chapter 13

Arch 1

Chapter 13

"HEY-O! Miss me?" Other Eira said, a bit less antagonistically than before.

"Not particularly." Eira replied.

"Oh, are we developing a proclivity for a sharp tongue?"

"We are not. Am I asleep?"

"Still in denial. Tsk tsk tsk. And yes, we are."

Eira growled.

"What is it that you want?"

"Look, I know you think I'm malicious, but I'm really not. I admit, it was wrong of me to take control like that, and for so long. But you see, that's what happens when there's me with no you. And you are weak without me, because we are of the same person. We aren't whole without each other. Since you've come back, you've tried to suppress me as best you can. You had to allow me partial control to save Max, and you know it. You are trying to be human, and you aren't. We aren't. That's only half of who we are, and you're afraid of the more powerful half because of what we've done in the past-what I've done without you. There are bad things coming, and I know you can feel it, because I know I can. We can't protect Max unless we work together."

"You just want to turn him into a vampire for your own selfish reasons!"

"No, no, my dear. We want him to be a vampire because we're terrified of losing him. But I didn't steal control and make us do it, did I? We're going to have thoughts like that, all our life. Maybe not so much at first, but when he ages, when his hair begins to gray, when his vision starts to fail…we will be thinking it a lot. It's natural to fear loss like that. But there's a difference between coming to grips with that fear and acting on an impulse in response to that fear. We won't be able to handle it unless both our sides are in harmony. You'll give over control willingly so we don't have to remember, so we don't have to feel the pain, and we'll be worse than we ever were."

Eira opened and closed her mouth several times to protest, and she really wanted to, but she couldn't think of a strong enough rebuttal.

"I'm not under any delusions that you'll just see it my way, at least not at first. Just keep what I said in mind. Think about it." Other Eira said, fading away.

The next morning, Eira was the first to wake, soft sand beneath her. Her hair had grown back to its original length some time during the night. She and Max had broken from the line of the woods and had gone to the beach at the very edge of Moon Down, where it met the Atlantic, and had curled up together as wolves to keep warm while they slept, and had changed back during the wee hours of the morning. Max's arm was pillowed beneath her head, and fur was a lot warmer than bare skin, though the sun, gratefully, was proving strong that day, as if it were shining extra hard, just for them. In the blink of an eye, she turned towards him, completely without disturbing him.

It was so apparent how he loved her. He lived it, he breathed it. She wished she knew the words to tell him just how she felt, and how to properly express these emotions she just barely knew the names of. Her concept of what, exactly, beauty was was still in the early stages of development, but as she gazed at Max, so peaceful in his sleep, the sun casting gold on him, playing on his skin and through his hair, highlighting the cuts of muscle in his arms and legs and stomach, she knew for sure that that's what he was. He was beautiful, and the sudden realization stole the air from her lungs. She reached out gently and pushed an errant lock of raven hair back from his face. She thought about what Other Eira had said last night…she really would do whatever she needed to do to protect him, when it came down to it.

His eyes opened slightly and he smiled at her sleepily.

"Oh…I am sorry. I did not mean to wake you."

"Don't stop. Waking up to your touch is a real life dream." he said, and she placed her hand on the side of his face, settling back down on his arm. "Good morning, beautiful Eira."

Something warm bubbled up inside of her and produced a new kind of smile for her.

"Good morning, my Max." she replied.

Surely he must know how I love him…

She slid closer and kissed him, and he kissed her right back.

"I, uh…" he said, breaking the kiss and clearing his throat. "As much as I am entirely for what is happening right now, the rest of the pack will be waking up, too. And I am entirely against anyone else seeing you naked." he said, helping her up and dusting the sand off her, which she then did for him.

He slid his fingers into the spaces between hers and led her back to the wood line. He got down next to a hollow beneath a tree, reached under it, and pulled out a bag that contained several fluffy robes in varying colors. He took two and slid the bag with the remaining robes back into its place.

"We keep these stashed around the forest for when we change back. I shudder to think of how many embarrassing things must have happened for there to be so many of them now." he laughed.

Eira laughed along with him as she closed the robe about her.

"This is so fluffy." Eira said, nuzzling her nose into her robe.

"Mom and Dad spared no expense for the comfort of the pack." he said as he finished tying his own robe. He took her hand and walked a few steps, then froze. "You…must be thirsty, huh?"

"I…well, I do not need so much as a pure vampire, but…" she couldn't help the hungry look she got.

Max graciously got down in front of her, pulling the collar of the robe down and arching his neck towards her.

"Drink."

She leaned in close and sunk her fangs into his neck. He gave a little sound of slight pain at first, but it quickly vanished as the effects of a vampire bite took over. Eira thought it was a little much, that prey ended up liking their bite. It's not like they'd be able to get away, even if they struggled. How sadistic was it that they lost the will to fight?

She pulled back and stared up at him. He had a dazed look in his eyes for a few seconds, but blinked it away.

"Is something wrong, my love?" he asked, his brows crinkling in concern, reaching to run a thumb along her cheek.

"I…Max…you do know how I love you, right?"

"Eira, oh, baby, of course I do. I know it's difficult for you to express things. You've spent most of your life alone. None of that is something that's just known. It's all new for you. I understand. Don't you think for a single second that I don't know." he completely scooped her up and held her close. "Now come on, my sweet girl. Let's get some regular food, huh? I'm kind of terrified but also curious about how it would be to introduce you to coffee."

They made it back to the mansion and changed into regular clothes for breakfast. As it turned out, Eira and coffee were…quite the combination. It was impossible to track her movements before-she could practically teleport from one place to another if she wanted to, in a fraction of a blink of an eye-but, as impossible as it seemed, she was even faster with coffee.

"Eira, baby, come off the chandelier!" Max called.

"I CAN TASTE SOUNDS, MAX!"

"Oh, no."

"That's gonna be a helluva caffeine crash." Stormy observed as she stood beside Max, looking up at Eira swinging from the chandelier. "You know, I've always wanted to do that, especially after that one song, but I never could get up there. You think she could get me up there?"

"Stormy, you really are no help."

"Never claimed to be."

The funny thing was, Sophie, Bear-especially Bear, Stella and Markus just found it very humorous. Max was panicking, which again, understandable, as he was fearful of literally any situation that could even possibly put her in danger, but it was just a good old time for everyone else, including Eira…well, until a few minutes later when her insane metabolism evicted her body of all the caffeine buzz she had.

"Oh…I do not like this…this is unpleasant."

"Why don't you come on down then, honey? I'm sure a shower will make you feel better."

Eira nodded and was just suddenly at his side.

"A shower sounds nice."

Max smiled at her and took her hand.

"We have our own bathroom attached to…our room." he said, savoring the "our" he got to use now. He closed the door to his room behind them and backed her against the wall, kissing her. "Of course, if it's ok with you…we could always…take one together…" he said, looking into her eyes and hoping his implication wasn't lost on her.

"I…oh…oooooohhhhhh." she said. She may not have been great at normal things yet, but she could interpret instinct and smell pheromones, just as Max could. "Yes. I would like that."

Max grinned, a little nervously, but he picked her up like a princess and carried her away.