Dark Ice (25 page)

“I wouldn’t if you’d change me,” she retorted.

“That is no reason to—,” he started.

“Yes. Yes there is,” Lea interrupted feverishly. “You said your kind lives a lot longer than humans, you’re tougher, more resilient. You feel more, love more.”

She grabbed his shirt in both hands and pulled at him. “There are a million reasons to do it.” She released him with a shove. “And only one reason you don’t want to. You can’t hurt me.”

Dane winced, the pain in his eyes hard to witness.

“It’s not the only reason,” he said quietly.

“Do you want to know the only reason to do it?” she asked. When he remained silent, Lea answered for him. “Love. I love you and I know you love me. The only question is, do you love me enough for us to be together?”

He continued to gaze at her, his eyes shining bright, his hard jaw set. Eventually, he nodded ever so briefly. Her stomach twisted with excitement and exhilaration.

Dane closed his eyes and transformed into a polar bear. He seemed huge in the confines of the house. He moved slowly, almost reluctantly toward her.

He stopped inches away from her.

“I love you, Dane,” she whispered, anticipation mingling with fear almost making her sick.

The bear whimpered. Suddenly it reared up, raised its huge paw and swung at her. The impact sent her flying. Agony assailed her, and she fought for breath. Her eyes widened with pain and terror, tears cascading unheeded.

Instantly, Dane was beside her as a man, her pain mirrored in his face. He lifted her into his arms and Lea cried out in anguish as he moved her. Dane groaned. She tried to focus on his face, but she was consumed by pain.

Suddenly the aching pain subsided and numbness filled her. She searched for Dane’s eyes. Tears spilled from his ebony eyes, they fell hot on her face, before darkness overtook her.

~* * *~

Dane bellowed in rage and an agony so raw he thought his heart would burst in his chest. Lea lay limp and unmoving in his arms. Dead by his hand. What had he done? Even if she did love him enough for this, he should have let her live.

Dane could feel her terror and hurt as she died, her emotions so strong they mingled with his. He doubled over in anguish, his head resting against Lea’s silent heart.

Dane shed tears for the first time in centuries. Nothing ever hurt so much as this.

Slowly, Dane raised his head. Lea had been willing to give her life for him. For them. Now he had to give what was hardest for him; hope. Silently praying to every god imaginable, Dane said the words Darius had taught him from the ancient texts of the versipellis.

Nothing.

He screamed in torment, his heart yearning to join hers and be silent. Then she jerked in his arms. Dane held his breath as he watched Lea. Slowly, her eyes opened, their deep brown gaze blazing into his with renewed life.

Dane exhaled, pure joy filling his heart.

“Oh, God. I thought I lost you,” he moaned. “How do you feel? Are you alright?”

Lea blinked. “I feel strange. Different, like all my senses are on overload.”

“I know the feeling,” Dane said, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

Lea creased her brow in confusion an instant before she transformed into a pure white polar bear. A second later, she changed back into a human, curled up in his arms.

She squealed and burrowed into him.

“It will take a while,” he soothed. “Don’t be scared. I’m here for you.”

 
Silently he cursed himself to eternal hell as she snuggled into him harder, shaking all over. He was relieved the ceremony had worked, but now he wasn’t sure if his first instinct was right and he should have left her as a human.

They sat like that for hours. Dane stroking her hair, soothing her, caressing her. Slowly Lea’s shivers subsided and she regained some sense of her previous spirit and character.

After a while, she set up. “I want to go outside,” she announced. Lea stood unsteadily at first, but soon found her feet as she headed toward the door.

Dane followed at a slight distance, not wanting to crowd her. He realized what an enormous change this was and wanted only to help her. He’d been born this way, had lived with the constant changes for many years. And still he found the overwhelming emotions hard to handle. He could hardly imagine how it would feel to have it all bombarded onto you in one hit.

Lea stepped out into the snow. Dane could see her shivering. She transformed into a bear and Dane couldn’t help the skip of his heart. The bear walked a little further out into the open wilderness. She stopped and stiffened before changing back into human form. She seemed so small and vulnerable out there.

Dane stepped out and went to her cautiously, not knowing her mood. Lea laughed like a happy child, pure and innocent, straight from the soul. Dane stepped in her tracks, stunned. He was certain he would find her upset. But here she was laughing. Laughter and happiness were so foreign in his world. The sound rang joyful in his ears.

“This is fabulous,” Lea exclaimed, twirling in the snow. “Fabulous, but kind of scary,” she added.

Lea turned and faced Dane. Happiness shone bright in her face. It was infectious and he couldn’t help smiling.

“I’m so happy and I have you to thank for such a wonderful gift.” She reached up and placed her hand against his chest. He felt the tension drain from him, just as it always did when she touched his heart. He placed his hand over hers, she felt so small under his palm, yet her firm touch much more powerful than his hardest strike.

Lea moved her hand and held his, moving it to her own heart. He closed his eyes as he felt it beat strong and powerfully under his palm.

“I love you,” he managed.

“I love you, too.”

Dane wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up to him, holding her close. He kissed her and she smiled as his lips touched hers and he smiled back. He twisted, twirling her around in the snow. She laughed and threw her head back, her face open to the sky.

The snow felt perfect under his feet, Lea perfect in his embrace. Happiness slowly seeped through him and he was content in his beloved snow fields with his heart now held by the woman who also held his soul.

About the Author

Connie Wood is a romance author, residing in beautiful
Australia
. She has thrown caution to the wind and traveled the world in some of the most bizarre circumstances. If she wrote about her life experiences on the road, the truth would certainly be stranger than fiction.

Connie has had a multitude of jobs including, the mundane and the not so mundane. She has bided her time as a secretary, librarian, information technology, web designer, student and a director to an international non-profit organization, among others.

Currently Connie is doing a University Degree by correspondence, as she looks after her tornado of a son.

Website:
http://www.conniewood.co.cc

Enjoy the first chapter from…

Dark Moon by Connie Wood

Chapter One

Tynan pounded through the ravine, his thick leather boots sinking deep into the snow forcing the hard white ice to disappear below his feet. Cursing, he trudged onward. Every well honed muscle in his body screamed with intensity as the combination of cold and exertion started to take its toll. He’d tracked the bear through sparse civilization and out into the wilds of the Arctic since before the sun rose. Now, the evening sun hung low over the fields of ice, lengthening the shadows across the valley, plunging sections of the gorge into freezing darkness. He stepped up into the searing white light that reflected with tinges of blue off the huge icebergs surrounding the crevice he walked through and tugged his sun visor down. A shiver of icy dread slipped down his spine as he moved farther out into the open. There was no place to hide as the bitter icy wind hit him with force and screamed through his ears. He strained for any sound that would let him know he was on the right track.

Nothing registered in his brain except the freezing cold, which raged through his body. He scanned the majestic scenery with an empty numbness that rivaled his cold numb body. He had crossed this way so many times before that the beautiful landscape lost most of its magical luster. He was almost blasé about the exquisite land. But he didn't think he would ever get used to the bitingly tedious cold, it had long since frozen his body and reached to the very core of his tainted soul.

When he had first arrived here, the endless ice fields seemed like a winter wonderland of solitude and peace. Until he had found out how quick the pure white, innocent snow could turn red with blood. He ground his teeth, sending an intense shooting pain through his hard-set jaw, determined to see this mission through. He moved toward a long deep crevasse, its tall walls of shimmering bluish ice engulfed him and plunged him into the rapidly descending darkness. He grinned and immediately wished he hadn’t as his frostbitten lips cracked and split opened. Squinting in the darkness, he flipped up his visor. Huge deep paw prints marred the fresh snow on the ground. One good thing about tracking a bear, they had no way of masking their tracks. Polar bears were a lot easier than some other types of shape shifters he hunted who were ruthless and deceptive. With a were-bear, you knew where you stood. It was a fair fight, no treachery or stabbing you in the back. No conniving and plotting when they were human, only to have them set you up and try to rip your throat out when they transformed back into an animal. No, a shape shifting polar bear could easily rip your throat out with a single swipe of its gigantic paw. But at least it would be a stand up fight and you’d be face to face with your attacker when you went to meet your maker.

The shape shifters had walked the earth hunting their pray since the dawn of time and over the millennia their strength and number increased to almost plague proportions. Their legend weaved its way into the nightmares of humans, becoming the shape shifters of man’s earliest myths. The most famous myths revolved around the were-wolves for good reason. Deadly and vicious, the wolves assimilated into human society and fed with unabated abandon. They
were
the stuff of nightmares.

As soon as men conquered the skill of writing, they recorded the horror of humans who transformed into deadly creatures. The shifters were recorded in the annals of time as Versipellis—those who shift their skin. It was easier for the modern world to believe them to be legend, since they were unable to comprehend the truth that nature doesn’t change, even when the physical world and technology do. The shape shifter still walked among them, tearing and ripping through their numbers as if culling the human population. The only thing that kept their population and their mayhem in check was the venators, the hunters of the Versipellis.

Tynan had battled the shifters for more years than he cared to remember. He’d been initiated as a venator when he was young and impressionable, now he was as hard as the ice fields surrounding him. The violence and bloodshed had taken its toll, but he continued to hunt the shifters with his unparalleled ability and the few powers the venators possessed. He’d developed and honed his skills over the years but his powers gave him the edge in fighting and staying alive against such powerful adversaries. He was human but different as well, his strength and agility were on par with the creatures he fought. As a venator his wounds healed quickly, his body perfection and his mind was sharper, clearer than when he was human. The blood running through his veins had a magic, a power he didn’t comprehend but it heightened his emotions and senses.

 
Then he heard it, the hard crunch of snow underfoot.
 
He jolted, twisting toward the sound, straining to hear it clearly through the howling wind. Tynan slid the long sharp stiletto out from the seam of his silver fox skinned sheath
 
and hoped that this time the cold hard steel wouldn’t freeze solid to the palm of his hand. He gripped the steel and winced as it burned into his skin. Damn the bear for leading him into a chase when he was ill equipped for it. He’d long since stopped cursing the fact he was forced to leave his snow suit at the town’s only restaurant. It’d been a long time since he’d seen the polar bear shifter, the look of blood lust in his eyes, in the crowded restaurant. The bear had acknowledged Tynan’s presence then quickly charmed a woman and led her outside. Tynan followed quickly behind to thankfully find the woman unharmed and the man having shifted, the white silhouette of the huge beast running toward the open ice fields.

He looked down in the snow at the human footprints that stopped abruptly and were replaced by those of the bear. The shifters left no sign of their human existence when they changed. They transformed in the blink of an eye. Theirs was a magic he never understood. Instantaneously a man changed into a beast and then back again, fully clothed, to walk unnoticed among society.

Tynan shivered and his thigh muscles contracted, the denim jeans barely keeping him warm. He wouldn’t suffer from frostbite. The power of his venator blood would see to that. But the pain of the cold was still there and he was thankful he had the presence of mind to grab his jacket off the back of his chair before leaving the restaurant. A single fleck of dry snow landed against the numbness of his bare cheek, only to be followed by a multitude of flakes as a blizzard began to set in.