Wolf, Waking

(Please read note at bottom when finished.)


"Wolf, Waking"


Rafe didn’t wake up, so much as realize he was no longer dreaming. He was in that place between, where he remembered nothing, he cared for nothing. It was his favorite place in the world. He lay still for a long time before opening his eyes. He was surrounded by a warmth that he wasn’t used to, and he wanted to drink it in before it went away.

Everything went away eventually.

Rafe took a deep breath, and caught a familiar, intoxicating scent. Apples, and cinnamon, and the deep, coppery tang of blood. It was mouthwatering. He wasn’t quite sure where it was coming from, or why he seemed to know the scent better than that of his own flesh. He stretched, and awareness of his body flooded through him. His muscles were taught and wiry, compact and strong, like tightly coiled springs. He lay on a bed… well, that was new. Rafe couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept in a bed. Been in a bed, yes, but not slept in one. He rolled over, vaguely feeling a heat next to him. He was in bed with someone. He wondered who. He opened his eyes.

In front of his face was hair the color of blood, spread like a halo around a face so pale it glowed. He gasped and sat up as memories came flooding back.

Her name was Fiona. And that aroma that so entranced him was coming from her.

She was a lost, human little girl, more human than he, and he felt she deserved to be lying in a bed with a prince, not a mongrel, not a creature with two souls battling for control over a scarred body. She was heir to the Throne of White, and the fact of her existence had caused irrevocable change in Rafe’s world, and all the worlds of Never.

Rafe laid his head back onto the pillow, wondering why the gods hated him so.

The light coming from the window was pale gray. Dawn was coming. Rafe knew that Fiona’s brother, Finn, would be looking for his sister, looking to force her to accept the mantle of White. Men were not meant to rule, history had shown this, and if she didn’t accept her crown, the people of White would be forced into civil war in an attempt to find another Queen.

Rafe sighed, and her scent became almost overwhelming. His self-control, fragile as it was, became irrelevant next to her. She frightened him; and he was a wolf. Nothing had ever frightened him before. But this girl-child, her scent, her skin, her blood, all of it drove him mad.

She made him hunger, and that was dangerous.

For her.

And him.

She might as well have been the moon, feeding his lust for everything, making him lose control of the wolf-soul that dwelled within him. He battled his wolf day and night, and more often than he cared to admit, the wolf won.

The wolf forced him to confine himself to the beds of men, forsaking women so that none would be bound to him. A wolf mates for life, and Rafe never wanted a woman to be forced in his life. Who would want to live with a mongrel forever?

Fear and panic shot through Rafe then. But he was in bed with Fiona! He’d abandoned control, and now all was lost! He’d been so careful, trying so hard to keep his distance from her, only to fail now! And why?

Rafe tried to remember, but the night was a blur of red. He looked back at Fiona. She was still sound asleep, her breathing slow and even. He tried to go over the day before, tried to discover why he’d failed.

They’d been at the court of Thorn, begging help from Queen Gretel II. She’d listened to their pleas, then offered them coffee in her study. Rafe’s instincts had told him to refuse, but Fiona needed allies, and his (not love, oh gods, it can’t be love) for her had overrode his instincts. He’d taken a drink of coffee, and thought it tasted strange, bitter, and gritty -

Oh gods, rune sand! Someone had slipped him rune sand! The Queen was working with Ronan!

Rune sand broke all inhibitions, caused the user to act on his innermost desires.

Which was why Rafe now lay in bed with the heir-apparent.

Rafe felt tears well up in his inhuman eyes. Poor Fiona. She had no idea what she’d done, no idea that Rafe was bound to her now.

But wait, was he?

Rafe stood, carefully, hoping against hope that nothing had truly happened, that his jumbled memories were just a dream. Gods knew he’d had enough of them since he’d met Fiona.

Rafe took two steps from the bed. Nothing happened. His heart quickened. He took three more, then another, and another, and -

A searing pain in his chest forced him to his knees. He’d intended to leave her… but the wolf wouldn’t let him.

Rafe stood, and the pain subsided. He knew his fate now. He was doomed to follow this human until she died. Strangely, the thought didn’t scare him. He sighed. Turning back to the bed he stared at Fiona. Gods, she was beautiful. All his life, he’d managed to steer clear of women, and the danger they brought. And now, he was bound to one. His wolf had found it’s mate, and there was no changing it’s mind.

Rafe lay back down, and carefully wrapped an arm around Fiona, pulling her closer. He buried his face in her hair, the tense feeling in his chest lessening slightly. There was nothing for. Now, he had to accept his fate.

That, and figure out a way to tell Fiona.

She certainly wouldn’t be happy.

The girl was fierce and free, and the idea of being bound to anyone was her idea of hell. That was why she denied her birthright, she’d told Rafe that forcing her to be Queen was like rape, and that a person’ destiny was theirs to choose, no matter what.

Rafe felt suddenly guilty. Guilty that he hadn’t been able to resist the rune sand, guilty that he’d never told Fiona WHY he’d never been with a woman. She’d asked, more than once. Why couldn’t he just tell her the truth?

But he knew why. Because he wanted her, and he didn’t want to scare her away.

He wanted a chance to see if she tasted as good as she smelled.

Rafe smiled slightly as his memories became clearer. Well, now he knew… she tasted even better.

Rafe felt himself drifting back to sleep, strangely at peace with his new situation. He snuggled closer to Fiona, inhaling her scent…

Wait.

Her scent had changed.

Rafe took a deep breath…

And couldn’t breathe.

Oh gods.

Fiona was pregnant.

*************

Hey, guys, just wanted to give you some info on the characters, if you're interested:

-Rafe is the grandson of Queen Genevieve Red, of the House of Red (aka, Red Riding Hood)

-Fiona is the granddaughter of Queen Alanna White, of the House of White (aka, Snow White)

This story takes place in a world called the Never After, which is basically a world created wholly of fairy tales. Fiona was raised in our world, called the Ever After by the inhabitants of Never.

I'm working on a full story, which would actually include this scene, as I've already worked out the plot.

If you guys like this one, I'll post the full story as I go.

So, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!

Loves much,
Jane Krahe