She was breathtaking. Every small thing about her was radiant and alluring. The emerald of her eyes to the curvature of her luscious lips, to the way her skin felt like silk underneath my touch. She was simply everything I ever wanted. She was the only reason I stayed so long in such an isolated town, cut off by the world by a thick veil of fog, surrounded by a mountainous terrain. I was fortunate enough the people were accepting here. I had come a stranger, inviting myself onto their lands. They could have easily disputed my stay and have chased me out, but instead they welcomed in, and in time I became a lot like them. Until she entered my world. I slid my hand out from underneath the warmth of the blankets and placed the tips of my fingers against her cheek, and caressed the surface up and down in a fluid back and forth motion. She rested there comfortably beside me, one hand placed upon my chest, over my heart. She had her eyes closed as she laid there listening to the sounds of my heart beating steadily. I had never known of peace until this moment, to see her shining eyes open and look at me, drew away my very breath. "What are you thinking about?" She asked softly, propping an elbow against the mattress, she leaned forward, tracing invisible shapes over my chest. I caught her hand, coiling fingers around her small and delicate wrist. I lifted Astrid's hand to my lips to leave behind a loving, and adoring kiss. "What else could I be possibly thinking about?" She smiled, her eyes lit a fire to the mesmerizing color of emeralds, hand plucked from the depths of the earth. She was perfect. No words could ever describe her, the beauty and grace she exhibited. She softly bit into her lip, tugging at the surface as she rolled back her eyes and snuggled closer amidst the pillows. She hugged the white blanket to her chest and sighed. "I am the happiest I have ever been, Jakob." The tone of her voice did not match the look in her eyes. She was thinking one thing, saying another. "But I do not know how much longer this will last." "What do you mean?" Concerned. Of course. The last thing I wanted was to wake up one morning and find her side of the bed empty. I knew what I was gambling with, we had been four years together and each day we had to wonder when it would end. "My family are not approving of this." She sat up then, sending a wave of her ebony locks sliding over her bare shoulder. She allowed the sheet to tumble in a pile in her lap, exposing the natural beauty of her body. "I thought they had. We made an agreement, Astrid. That is the whole reason I joined this." I reached out to her, she moved away in that otherwordly grace. She had fled off the bed, and pressed her back to the wall and began to heave quietly, shoulders wracked in fierce and agonizing sobs. She shrank, sliding down the wall with her knees drawn to her chest. "You do not know my father, Jakob. He is unrelenting. Everyone knows he never keeps his promises." Crystal tears flickered in the moonlight as it streamed through the blinds. "He would never agree to let his only daughter go to an outside wolf." "An outside wolf. Astrid. Your father was the one who did this.." I clutched onto the mattress as I slid forward, feeling the beast inside of me growing restless. "I agreed by his own oath, I gave him my blood. What more does he want from me?" "Please. Jakob." She trembled. I wanted to reach out to her so badly, take her into my arms and whisper away her fears. But now as she sat there an arms length away, it felt like miles; an eternity. "You need to leave. Believe me when I say it hurts for me to say this." She crawled forward on her knees and pressed her tender lips to mine. "He is a vulgarious man and will kill you. I must not let that nightmare turn to reality. I have dreamt about it, Jakob, night after night. It haunts me." I shook my head. "No." I cradled her cheeks, cupped between my hands. "Leave with me, Astrid. The world is at our beckon. We can leave and go somewhere he will never find---" "---But he will find us." Her eyes widened fearfully. "He always finds what he is looking for. The il clan di sangue has connections throughout the world, Jakob, not just here." "You give up too easily, Astrid. I will not run nor be afraid. I will not allow that man to simply take you from me." "Then you are as good as dead." She spat out the words as if they had stung, a tainted poison. I watched as her eyes flickered, wavering on the edge of the wolf. I could sense her beast rising to the surface, her lips curled upward in a sneer as she crawled to her feet. I could feel the wolf within me pulsate through my veins, staring up at her with the same demeanor. Tossing the sheets out of the way, I rose onto my knees and allowed the beast to engage and surge upward in a blast of impressive heat. I had time to notice Astrid's arm lifting and a powerful fist swing in my direction. I caught her wrist, folding my fingers around it; with a thrust Astrid was sent backwards, crashed against the wall with snarl and blaring of teeth. She flattened her hands to the structure and used it to send her leaping onto the bed, claws digging into my shoulders as she forced me onto my back. I lost all whim of human feeling in my body, the wolf poured down my skin like a mixture of hot and frigid water. I bared teeth and lurched forward, burying my mouth into the moist and tender flesh of her shoulder. We were no longer acting on our accord, but instead by the lure and nature of our beasts striding to make something worthwhile out of this. Astrid tilted her head and screamed, she raked her fingers across my back, and immediately I could smell the blood rising to the surface. Together we tumbled off the bed and hit the hard floor. The shower of blankets fell down around us. We ignored everything else. We were enthralled in deep within our own power, overwhelmed by it, lost to the instincts of nature itself. We were fighting; battling and for what? For the sake of love? Or had this evolved into something completely different? There was no time to sit and ponder, allowing my inner most questions to process, as we lunged at each other; tearing away at the flesh and whatever else we could lay our hands on. Astrid moved erratically as if she was not calculating her motions before committing them. Her hands waved back and forth, slashing deadly claws across my chest, my arms. A soft and painful whimper breathed past her lips. In an instant something flickered across her face, her features softened and eyes bled back to normal, claws retracted it out of sight, but her hands continued to flail, slapping and hitting everything she could reach. I stopped, forcing the wolf to calm and realize this fight had ceased to be anything else but an emotional tirade. "Fight back!" She screamed wordlessly, punching a hand against my chest. "Why won't you fight back?!" She sobbed, trembling, shaking her head, sending lovely strands of her hair tumbling across her naked shoulders, falling in a wonderful onyx wave down her waist. I moved closer, ignoring her hands and circled arms around her. The moment we made contact, she broke down entirely and the both of us fell together onto the floor, surrounded in a circle of the fallen blankets. She heaved quietly, burying her face into my chest. I combed a hand through vanilla scented locks, letting the silken texture sprinkle across my hand. I held her close enough so the world would never tear out of my arms and wished for fate to change our destiny. "Astrid. Astrid." I whispered as I closed my eyes and realized whether I wanted to or not, what I had to do. I had to let go.
