Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (3 page)

In
a deep rumbling voice Mark asked
,
while his eyes spoke in disbelief
“
Do you still think of me as your
boyfriend
?” She
nodded and he smiled with his sharp white teeth
,
glistening in the firelight. The
n
he shook his head saying “
Connor’s right
…
Let’s take things slowly
for now
.
And I’m not
exactly
a W
erewolf
,
Kara,
I’m a Changer.
This form
I’ve adapted
is a just a
wolf.
”

“Well who should start
the explanations
?”
Kara
asked the trio
,
trying to get somewhere and not
continue to
be treated like a child
.
She
don’t like being treated like one
and they
all
knew it
.

“I guess I should.” Mark said
by
tilting his bulky head. “But first
,
I need to change back.
I
t might make you slightly
more comfortable
to see me as I usually am
. I know my voice is a little disconcerting for you.
It is a side effect of the transformation.
” He dropped his eyes
to the ground. “Just one thing,
my eyes might scare you
and so will the noises
.”

His pupils started to glow and then
she
saw him use his clawed hands to brush off his
fur
from all over his body
; he
began
shedding. Then Kara
began to
hear his bones cracking and saw that his body
started
shrinking
slowly
back down to his
former
size. His barrel
ed
chest
cracked and
became flat and well muscled again. His muzzle, teeth
and ears started
break
ing
, shift
ing
and getting absorbed back in his normal facial
structure
. His tail retreated and disappeared into his pants
and so did
the
claws on his hands as well as his toes. The only thing that really didn’t change was his
loose, thick
,
black
mane.
His jet black hair
now
hung
long and came to the middle of his back.

As the lights in his eyes died down
,
he finally looked like
a normal human once again
,
like nothing happened.
He looked a
round the ground and picked up
Tool
,
which is her
brother’s half hammer and half hatchet weapon.

“Hey Buddy, can you give me a quick trim for now?” Mark asked
Connor
while handing him his weapon
back
.

Sarah let go of
Connor’s
embra
c
e
and walked over
gracefully
to sit quietly by
Kara’s
side.
It felt completely reassuring as she rubbed
her
back with a smile.
She had a grandmotherly touch
; the one which can always comfort you
.

“Turn around.”
Connor
said and Mark spun
on his heel
.

Her b
rother pulled all of Mark’
s long hair into a
tight
fist. He
swung Tool faster than
Kara’s
eyes could keep up, but
she
felt the wind on
her
face from the speed of the chop
, even from over here
.
With a handful of black hair
Connor
threw the bundle into the fire. The flames rose for a few moments and
Kara
glanced at
the hole in the back of Mark’s
pants, his crack
v
isible to all.
She
giggled
and
glanced at
S
arah who smiled at the
view
too
.

When
Kara
finally
felt
able to
calm
her
heart rate
both Mark and
her b
rother sat down on
the log opposite of Sarah and her
.

“I think I should
actually be the one to
start
this off
.”
Connor
looked a
t Sarah first. S
he nodded and then
he
did the same
to Mark who mimicked her
gesture. “Before any of us tell you anything you must promise us all something.”

“What is it
I should promise,
Brother?” Kara asked while crossing her
legs.

“This secret
you’ve seen
puts us all in
grave
danger. You must make this your
absolute
number one
secret that you cannot share with anyone. Not even our mother and grandparents
are allowed to know about this
.
This will be the biggest secret you will carry for the rest of your life
because the consequences aren’t desirable
.
Many lives are at risk now. You must promise.
”
Connor
said
slowly,
leaning forward and interlacing his fingers on his lap.
He
i
s
dead
serious.

“I promise.”
Kara said being more
solemn
than she
have ever made
her
word
before
.
His face
formed
a cold
, stone
mask and
she felt a chill of fear as
Mark
mirrored the expression
.
She’d take this secret to her grave so long as they never show her such a look ever again.

“That’s good enough for me.”
Kara
became
startled to see that Sarah was the one to say it
as her
green
eyes bore into
her brown
.

“I second that!” Kara’s
boyfriend said
,
now
wearing a smile.

Connor
took a deep breath and sighed. “Ok
,
Kara what you need to know is that I’
m no longer completely human.” She
felt
her
eyes widen at this
sudden
turn of events.
Kara
knew he was different after seeing those flames above his head
, but not
human
..
. “Before you say anything,
let me finish
what I have to
. I am known as a Balancer now. I am now Sarah’s eternal mate.”

“Eternal? You mean
to tell me that you are now…”
Her
voice suddenly disappeared.

“Immortal
.
”
He
said
simply
and smiled at
her
new
sister-in-law intimately. “Kara
,
I also have many other new attribu
tes that I will show you
.”

“Come on Brother
,
give me something more than that.
How have you become immortal?
”
She
pleaded and the icy look
he gave almost stopp
ed
Kara
cold
, almost
. “Why did you hide this
from me? And why is this secret so guarded that you
would keep it from me?” A
delicate and
warm hand touch
her forearm gently. Kara
turned
her
head and saw Sarah’s serious
yet gentle
eyes again.
Her rosy red lips now had a haunted smile.

“Kara
,
please listen to me
carefully
. In our laws we can only tell those who are the most trustworthy
and can be of use to us
or our future mates. If word surfaced with what we are
and what we can do
,
it would be
unbelievably
devastating.
More than you can possibly imagine.
” She said softly, but
Kara
felt the threat.

“Why?”
was
all
she
could manage to
ask
.

Kara’s
attention shifted to Mark when he cleared his throat. “There are only two options we immortals have when our
true
secret is exposed
to humans
. We
either flee the area
,
hop
e that
they can
’
t track us down
and don’t have proof
of our existence
or we kill any who threaten our
secrets and
survival.” He said
in
an icy tone that swept through her
like a blizzard and
she
was
the only one
naked to the elements.
She has
never heard thi
s tone from him and she
never want
s
to hear it
pass through
his lips ever again.

“I understand just a little of
the
weights that you
all
bear
by
telling me this
.” She
said softly
, tea
ring
her
eyes away to look at the fire.
The red and orange flames danced and of
fered her
warmth from the
coldness
she
felt in
her
soul.

“Kara
,
we are only doing this for you to understand
just
how much danger you
’
r
e
in now.
It is a law that we all have to live by and if you were the source of the leak, you need to know of the consequences. We hid this
secret
to protect you from such dangers.
If others of our races learned you were the culprit for the exposing of us and we didn’t eliminate you
,
someone else would
step in without hesitation
. Then they would punish us with the same fate to be an example so that others won’t forget why our secret must remain as such.
” Sarah said
while
gently rubbing
Kara’s
back
again
.
“Being what we are is a good thing most of the time, but human reactions aren’t uncommon when they are faced with change to their lives. Your history is filled with hatred of the unknown. There are many
verifiable
stories
in
y
our legends
and things I’ve seen that
show humanity has a short tolerance for coexistence.
Religion has always been the worst for I know beings older than the first human religion and when they realize their beliefs are wrong… let’s just say it won’t end like a fairytale.
It has gotten better since more
have come to
believe in
the logic of
science
rather
than religion, but it isn’t in anyone’s best interest to start something without permission
from those who make the rules
.