Chapter 109

Dominic

I was in the woods, running, chasing a golden wolf. Mira was always just out of reach.

It seemed playful, and I was excited to eventually claim her as my prize at the end of this little game we were playing.

She stopped, and I bounded through the air to tackle her. I fell on the ground in the place she had stood, as if she had dissolved into thin air. A noise to my right caught my attention, and the golden blur was on the move again.

This cycle continued, and I was exhausted and frustrated.

Finally I saw where she was leading me, and I recognized the overlook that was our secret spot. I slowed my gait as I approached her, her body transformed again into her human form. She was wrapped in a silky dress, almost translucent fabric that swirled around her in the wind.

Mira’s face was calm as I approached, a hint of a smile telling me that perhaps the game wasn’t over yet.

“Is this the end of the chase?” I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded, her eyes crinkling as a thought crossed her mind. She raised a hand towards me, beckoning, and I came closer to her. We stood on the edge of the precipice, the world a dark void below us.

Her palm pressed against my chest and my heart swelled up to meet it, almost like a magnet was pulling it out of my ribs. Mira took a step around me, putting my body between hers and the edge.

Then she pushed me over the cliff, and I fell down into nothingness.

—

I woke up with my torso halfway off the side of the bed, my head hanging heavy towards the floor. Blood had rushed into my head and it felt like it might explode. I scrabbled with sheets to pull myself up. Mira was across the bed, curled in the same position as when she fell asleep.

My head back on the pillow, I looked over at Mira’s back. The sheets were pulled slightly below her shoulders. I took a chance and reached my hand out to touch the spot between her shoulder blades.

Her body softened and she murmured, and I responded by rolling the rest of my body over to curl around her.

“Mmm,” her body hummed with pleasure.

“Good morning, my love,” I sent my thoughts softly to her.

She roused and turned her head to look at me, eyes blinking open. Her hand reached up and stroked my face.

“Good morning.”

“My better half.”

Mira’s eyes twitched in something like a dark realization or awakening. She removed her hand from my face like it was dangerous to touch. Her mouth opened and closed, as if speaking aloud was potentially taboo.

“What is it?”

She was moving her body away from mine. It wasn’t panic, but a definite trepidation in being close to me. Her expression was one of sorrow and disappointment.

“Mira, what’s wrong? Are you angry with me?”

Sitting up, her knees to her chest, Mira rubbed her hands over her face. “No, I’m fine.”

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” I said. “If I’ve done something wrong, please help me make it right.”

She looked at me, eyes heavy with fatigue. “I just have a lot on my mind, with everything,” she said, keeping her phrasing vague. “And I… can’t really talk about all of it, not yet.”

“Is this about Rae, or Julian?”

She looked away from me, thinking. “Sort of, yes,” she said, biting her lip. “When I can tell you, I will. I promise.”

That I believed. I nodded slowly in understanding.

“I will be here when you’re ready,” I told her, wishing I could touch her. “Always.”

She left that morning without affection, saying goodbye over her shoulder on her way out the door. One day before we were enjoying each other in bed, and now it seemed she could not wait to get out of the house.

Against my effort, Celeste’s words crept back into my mind. Was Mira really pulling away from me? Or has something else happened that’s causing her to put up a wall around her heart?

These thoughts plagued me all day, and I felt useless as Alpha. I was distracted from my ledgers and irritable in a meeting with the Elder council.

“The Alpha seems tired,” an Elder said as we concluded. “Perhaps the honeymoon isn’t over for the newly married leader.”

A few laughs went around the room and my father clapped me on the back. “Let’s hope we have an heir on the way soon enough.”

They all meant well, but I left the meeting more conflicted than before. I decided to take a walk to clear my head, and then texted Mira since I wasn’t far from the hospital.

“What time do you finish? I could meet you and walk you home.”

A response came twenty minutes later.

“Busy for a while, see you at home.”

It was hard not to feel crushed. I thought about stopping by anyway, but figured that might only make things worse. All I could do was be the best partner for Mira, and not center myself in her problems.

After working out in the home fitness center, I was feeling optimistic again. A hot shower eased my muscles and untied some knots in my mind. Looking in the steamed mirror, I noticed how much I was starting to look like my father. Maybe marriage was maturing me.

I closed the vanity cabinet, then paused. Something wasn’t right.

Opening the door again, my eye was drawn to the second shelf. My visual memory was off, and there was a new item tucked behind some eye drops. I carefully removed the thin plastic square and held it in front of me.

The two halves snapped open like a book, and inside was a sleeve of pills. It took me a moment to understand why the month-long-supply was divided by color: three weeks of yellow and one week of white. Several yellow ones were missing from the foil.

They were birth control pills.

I dropped them in the sink, and the room spun around me. I managed to get my hands on the counter before I followed the urge to punch the mirror in front of me. My body was vibrating with shock and rage and sadness, roiling like a tempest within me and rousing my wolf.

Mira was trying to prevent herself from getting pregnant.

And she was lying to me about it.

Mira

The apartment was dark when I got home that night.

It seemed odd, since I thought Dominic had been there, but figured maybe he had stepped out and would be home soon. I managed the front hall by memory, then found the switch in the wall as I entered the living room.

“Gods!”

I screamed, clutching my hand to my chest. Dominic was sitting at the table, with a plastic box in front of him.

“Dominic, why are you sitting in the dark? You scared the life out of me!”

His face was dark, distant, like he was in a hypnotic state and might not have blinked for hours.

“What’s going on?” I asked him, walking to the table.

“Explain this.”

He pushed the plastic box towards me. I was confused, but picked it up. Inside were pills, and I knew immediately what it was.

“Where did you get this?”

“You tell me.”

“Excuse me?”

“Do you think I’m a fool?”

“What? No, what are you—“

He stood, seeming taller than usual. “Did you think I wouldn't find out that you’ve been lying to me? That you’ve been going behind my back to threaten the future of this family? My bloodline?”

“Your blood? Dominic, these aren’t mine!”

“Like hell they aren’t!” He took a lunging step towards me and I almost tripped as I scurried away from him. “Why? Why would you? After everything I’ve given you, everything you’ve promised me— this deceit, this betrayal—“

“Dominic, please listen—“

His eyes were turning red, and I had an inkling where this was headed. His hands were fists, his chest was heaving, his mouth open wide and canine teeth sharp.

“Stay in control!”

I shouted at him, which somehow got through to him for him to rush towards the bathroom. He was growling and panting as he rummaged and I followed just closely enough to see him reach for a tincture bottle and swallow its contents. He seemed to choke on something that caught in his throat, then recovered and coughed.

Then, he howled, and I felt the house shake.

Something was wrong, and I watched as Dominic’s body transformed violently in the bathroom. Clothes tore, flesh ripped, bones cracked, and all the while my husband was fighting against his own wolf.

Then there he stood: a giant black werewolf, eyes red as hell, and only me in their sights.