A Vampire's Marine (boyxboy)

Chapter 37: Let us howl at the moon...

Chapter 37

The pack leaders had convened their meeting in the courtyard across the camp. I could hear the chatter amongst the crowd as the Alpha had his say. I listened to their outrage when they learned of the blood-drinker’s betrayal and their angst at the thought of the upcoming battle.

I listened as my brothers were introduced to the wolves and I heard the uncertainty among the creatures at the idea of working with us.  While I listened to them, I watched Malik, who sat by my mate’s bedside, holding his hand as he regaled him with tales of his childhood.

It was a pitiful site I thought. Speaking animatedly to an ill person who lay in troubled sleep.

Pitiful and sad and almost without hope. The feelings I felt as I stood there were foreign to me, like an anxiousness I had never before experienced, and a sense of hopelessness that would surely drive me insane. Here I stood; the predator living amongst my prey, the confident hunter, the ruthless warrior, yet I was quaking in my antique boots—fearful for the life of a mere human.

Except he had never been a mere human. Never in my eyes. Not since the first instant I had laid eyes on him and not a moment since then. He lay there, brave even in sleep, fighting even in pain and dearer to me than my own life.

Throughout the centuries I had heard this feeling of love called by many names, but never had I thought of it as a burden; never until this moment. It had become a burden the second I had to watch him suffer, unable to offer aid. The moment I had had to sit and watch him scream in agony, unable to offer him relief and he instant I had had to render him unconscious in order to silence his cries. My love for him had become a burden and for the first time in my very long life, I hurt.

…………………………………………..

~A mere three months after they first met~

“So I was thinking…” he trailed off and I watched him run his fingers slowly over mine. One by one before he linked our hands together and squeezed slightly.

“Go on.” I prompted him and he looked away from our joint hands and toward the star-filled sky and shrugged.

He allowed the silence to settle between us and for a while I allowed him time with his thoughts.  It was a night I could only describe as peaceful. There was a slight breeze, not much in the way of vehicular traffic on the ground below to disturb our thoughts, and for whatever reason the stars appeared particularly bright in the sky.

I was able to watch him uninhibited. I took in every touch of his long lashes against his skin, every swipe of his tongue across his lips and the beating of his pulse under my thumb at his wrist. As I watched, he let out a sigh, then shrugged; an action I had never liked.

“A shrug is not an answer.” I told him and finally he tore his eyes away from the beautiful black vault above us and looked at me.

Another shrug. “Never mind, I was just…thinking out loud I guess.”

I continued to watch him, taking in the stiff set of his shoulders, the way he bit his lip slightly and how while he looked at me, he could not seem to meet my gaze.

“Something troubles you. Tell me.”

He shook his head and once again looked away. His eyes travelled around the roof, settling on nothing in the dark. “Nothing’s bothering me… I’m just…Now that I’ve thought about it I doubt it’s something you’ll be happy to hear.” He explained.