Nicholas's Hope Ch. 03

So sorry everyone for the delay with this chapter. I am a full time mother as well as a full time student. I promise i will continue this story though it may not be as fast as some would love.

I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please don't forget to vote!

This story is of my own creation and all persons therein are fictional. All persons are over 18 if not stated.

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Hope ran as fast as she could. She could hear footsteps behind her and could almost feel breathing on her back. She darted through the trees as nimbly as a doe might; not daring to look over her shoulder to find out what might be chasing her. The moon was full in the sky above her, its light filtering through the trees all around. It illuminated the path on which she ran yet cast shadows which seemed to clutch at her in her fear.

She stopped abruptly, somehow knowing that whatever was pursuing her was gone . Crouching low she knelt close to the ground, surprised that she hadn't noticed she was without clothing. Her skin was smooth, without scars or blemishes except for an ugly red mark on her neck and shoulder. It appeared to be a bite mark of some kind. Animal, but Hope couldn't remember exactly what had bit her.

The forest was quiet around her, with only a soft hooting of an owl, and the chirps and calls of the crickets and frogs. A twig snapped behind her, the loud sound echoing around her, and Hope spun around quickly, coming face to face with a large silver wolf. It stopped a few feet from her, sitting back on its haunches to stare direly at Hope. The wolf's coat, while silver, was uniquely mottled with a swirling pattern of darker silver, its coat seeming to almost glitter within the moon light. Its eyes were large, almost feline in appearance with their bright blue color.

Hope looked within the wolf's eyes, trying to sense if it wished to attack her. She didn't feel hostility, but a strange calm. It was like this beautiful creature wanted to be kind. From somewhere a memory gave her a warm familiarity with the wolf and she knew that it would rather die than hurt her.

"Be at peace young one." A soft voice spoke into Hope's head.

Startled, Hope fell back onto her rear, looking around quickly for the voice. Her eyes widened as she found no one near her and her gaze went back to the wolf.

A canine smile played across the wolf's features as it slowly nodded its head.

"You...you can speak?"

The wolf nodded again, her soft voice again filling Hope's mind. "I am Luna, and though you may not know me now my child, I am the protector of your people."

"My people?"

Luna nodded her head slowly, coming forward to gently brush her nose against Hope's cheek. "Your people are a proud and fierce race, and though I know you do not remember them now, you will again soon.".

Hope nodded slowly, her voice echoing the hope she felt as she ask, "Are you here to help me remember?"

Luna shook her head sadly, "I am not little one. That is between you and your other half. When she feels you are ready she might share with you the memories she will never loose. Trust in her Hope, she will never lead you astray.".

Hope's eyes filled with tears, "When will I find out who I am? WHAT I am?"

Luna move to embrace Hope, pulling her in to her chest as her head laid across her shoulder and against her back holding her tightly. "You will remember when you are ready Hope, no sooner and no later. You will need your memories to make choices that you alone can make. But remember Hope," Luna pulled back to gaze into Hope's eyes, "You are never alone. I am with you always, and your mate shall be as well."

Hope looked confused, "My mate?"

Luna nodded, her gaze falling to Hope's shoulder. "Ah, you have been falsely marked unwillingly. Do you wish for me to remove the taint on you Hope?"

Hope looked at her shoulder, lightly touching the bite mark. Something inside her recoiled upon itself and Hope felt a burst of intense hate fill her mind. Hesitantly, she nodded. "I don't wish this to be here, I'm not sure what it is, or what it means, only that some part of me wants it gone."

Luna's eyes softened, the blue irises shining to a silver to match her coat as she moved forward. She ran her broad tongue over Hope's shoulder. The warm licks slowly soothing the sting as the strange mark began to heal and fade.

Hope held herself still under Luna's ministrations, and felt part of herself relax within. The stinging that had seemed constant in her shoulder stopped and the muscles relaxed.

Luna pulled away, looking down at the unmarked skin where the bite mark had once been. "It is gone now, to be replaced by an accepted mark".

Hope nodded, not understanding the words but the feeling of rightness within her. Her gaze went back to the surrounding forest. "Where am I?"

Luna let her gaze follow Hope's. "You are on the moon paths. Many wolves are able to walk the paths here to meet with their mates. Dreams are made here, destinies are formed. And now it is time for you to leave here Hope. Do not be afraid, I will be with you always."

She reached forward, pressing her snout to Hope just behind her ear.

Closing her eyes, Hope felt her body grow heavy, and as she re-opened them she stared at the familiar surroundings of her hospital room. She hear Luna's last parting words ringing through her head, "You now carry the mark of Luna."

Miles away Eric sat upright abruptly, his sleep disturbed as his beast within howled with anger. His eyes went golden as his wolf broke free to the surface of its human body. He had felt the bond between the woman he had marked as his own being severed from him. It was impossible!

Picking up the closest thing to him he hurled it against the wall, not even recognizing the priceless antique until it shattered, sending small shards of pottery in all directions. The outburst calmed him, his mind racing over the possibilities of what could have happened.

He had felt Hope travel the moon paths, had been close to her almost ready to catch her when she had seemingly disappeared, gone from his senses and from the moon paths.

His beast snarled within, weighing in on the situation.

LUNA! By the goddess it had to be her! She was the only one who could have severed the bond Eric had created between them. But why, she hardly ever interfered with the lives of her people anymore. Most had thought she had vanished, simply moved on from favoring the beings she helped to create.

Growling his gaze fell to the cowering woman at the foot of his bed, her chair rattling as she tried to move out of his gaze.

"Tell me, Livy," Eric said softly, using Tom's pet name for his mate, "What do you think I should do?" His hand went down to slowly stroke her cheek.

Olivia tried to hide the shiver of revulsion she felt at Eric's touch. She had no idea what he was talking about, she knew no matter what she said it would not be good for her. Staying silent she closed her eyes, holding back the tears that threatened to overflow at any moment.

"Tom..." she thought desperately, knowing that her mate couldn't hear her. She had overheard Eric asking a witch to dampen her bond to her mate. Now the only time they could speak with each other was when they were within sight of each other. She knew it was a good thing that Tom couldn't feel her fear, and her pain, through their bond. He could concentrate on his mission, but Olivia couldn't help the loneliness she felt without feeling her mate with her.

Olivia cringed as Eric roughly pulled her up onto his bad, she cried out as his hand ripped her clothing away.

Eric removed his clothing, allowing himself freedom as he moved towards Tom's mate. "You know for a replacement, you're not half bad, Livy." He sneered, roughly grabbing her hips.

He heard her gasp in pain as his nails dug deeply into her flesh, but it didn't faze him. He had only one objective, to clear his mind of his troubles. Grabbing himself in his hand he pressed forward to Olivia's warm center, stroking the head of his cock up and down her slit.

Eric closed his eyes in pleasure, letting his head fall back as he continued to rub against her.He could feel her trembling and he knew it was from fear not passion. His dominance excited him. He would enjoy her pain even if it was not the desire he wished.

He imagined her tanned skin a lighter shade, running one hand up from her hip to lightly palm her breasts. He felt her tense, and increased the pressure of his fingers on his nipples, moaning when she screamed against the pain.

Olivia's eyes went golden, her wolf coming to the front of her mind and she mentally cried in relief as she felt her wolf numb her mind. Sinking into herself she felt her wolf's embrace as she took on the pain that Olivia's human body was now experiencing. It was uncommon that the animal half of a were had the need to take over the human body to spare their other half, though Olivia's wolf did it now, gently wiping her mind of the rape so she would know what had happened, but the trauma of it would never disturb her.

Her wolf bared her teeth as her Alpha pressed his cock firmly into her moist sheath, not sparing a second for her to adjust, he continued to push forward until he seated himself fully. She heard him groan and mumble something even her keen hearing couldn't discern, not that she thought she wanted to.

Eric reached one of his hands forward, roughing palming her breast and squeaking her nipples into hard nubs. He felt her tense, but she didn't utter a sound as he squeezed her nipples harder. Frowning, he roughly grabbed a handful of hair, pulling her head back.

Growing at the sight of her golden eyes, he remarked, "My, my, so your wolf has come out to play has she. Well, let us at least make use of her. I promise you Olivia will feel what I do to her body wolf, you might be able to hide her temporarily within you, but mark my words wolf, she will feel this.

Olivia's wolfen side let out a growl, her eyes narrowing in anger. She couldn't respond vocally, but she nodded her head curtly, already having plans to heal the damages herself.

She was moist, not as wet as Erik wished, but the molten heat of her core goaded him on. Pressing forward roughly Eric felt a tear and hear the wolf whimper. "That's it baby. Scream for me." He grunted as roughly pounded into her, grabbing both of her hips hard as his movements became stronger.

The wolf felt his hand grab her hips harder, and she let out a growl when she felt the beginning of his knot seeking entrance. She started to fight, trying to get away from her rapist, vocalizing her panic as she struggled.

Eric laughed cruelly, using his superior strength to pin Olivia to the bed. He put a large hand in the middle of her shoulder blade, forcing her chest down to the bed and pressing her ass up higher to open her more fully to his invading length.

"That's it baby, take it, take it." He chanted as he slowly started working his knot into the wolf below him. It took a few moments but soon his knot was fully enveloped by Olivia, and he groaned at the sensation of pinning his first female. He kept pumping in short strokes, inhibited by his knot, lost in the thought of Olivia's pain and her anguish. Male weres only pinned a female with their knot when they were mated, it ensured conception as well as heightened the whole experience for them both.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Eric knew he was crossing boundaries that no Alpha should, but he wouldn't worry about it now. All that mattered was the now, the feeling of Tom's mate as he fucked her. As he would continue fucking her.

Eric continued his thrusting, throwing his head back and closing his eyes as he felt his orgasm building. His balls tightened drawing up against his body, and with a final trust, and a bellow of pure satisfaction he felt his seed bath Olivia's womb.

He pulled her down to her side, still breathing heavily as he lay next to her. He closed his eyes, running a hand lightly up and down her side.

"Thank you for the fuck Olivia. I'm sure your mate will have a difficult time leaving you with me when he senses your heat approaching. And to think, "he paused, letting his hand settle on her abdomen, "With it so close to your cycle, and you being pinned by me, one could only question what the results might be."

With a wide yawn, and another deep chuckle to himself, Eric drifted off to sleep, faintly feeling his knot lowering enough to withdraw from Olivia.

Listening for the deep patterned breathing of sleep, Olivia eased herself up. Her eyes were still golden as she traveled the short distance her chain allowed her to travel to the wash area Eric had set up for her. Wetting a cloth with the cold water she started to bath herself, letting the cool water wash away the blood and Eric's seed.

Hope lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling above her. The crazy dream had seemed like just that, a dream, but she had looked twice now in the mirror and found a small crescent mark below her ear. She had asked to look into her chart to see if she came in with the mark and it hadn't been there.

The only way to explain it now would be the dream, meaning...it really wasn't. And if that wasn't a dream, then who was chasing her? Just thinking of it now made her heart beat harder and faster and her breathing more shallow. She knew within her that she knew who it was, but when she tried to look she hit the same brick wall within her mind that she had been hitting against for a week.

Groaning, she put her hand to her forehead, turning her gaze to the flowers beside her bed. A small smile crossed her features as she looked at it. Roses this time, twelve perfect white blossoms with greenery and smaller yellow flowers of some type artfully arranged around them.

Nicholas had been giving her flowers every 3 days now, before the others had even began to wilt. Thinking of him made Hope blush, and a part of her inside felt warm and happy at the simple thought of him. It was a happy feeling that quickly turned to desire for him.

"And why not," Hope rationalized to herself, "I'm a healthy woman, and he is the most handsome man I have ever met."

"He is the only man you have met." A small part of her conscious argued back.

"I have met other men!" Hope retorted.

"The two nurses don't count Hope. You need to meet more of men who aren't forced to be nice to you because of their work."

Hope frowned, standing up to go look out the window. "I can meet men when I leave here. Whenever that will be."

That small inner voice laughed, and remained silent. Hope had to laugh as well, rubbing the back of her neck and squeezing the tight muscles there. "Arguing with myself seems to get more interesting by the day." She mumbled.

A knock sounded on the door, and Hope already knew who would be entering. Her cheeks flushed as she called out a greeting.

The door opened and Nicholas stepped through returning her greeting by holding up a smuggled bag of McDonalds.

"I have the goods. You sure your doctor is going to approve this?" he asked.

"I have a feeling my doctor might be ok with it." Hope smiled knowingly, "So what have you brought for me to try today?"

Nicholas smiled, starting to empty the contents of the bag on the tray table beside her bed. "Only an American classic that if you had ever eaten you would be sure to remember!"

Hope's eyes widened as she moved closer to Nicholas, unconsciously she leaded forward, breathing deeply of his scent. Woodsy with a small underlying scent of something clean smelling she couldn't quite place her finger on. Just one full breath of his smell left Hope feeling grounded and better than any of the other medicines she had been on in her short stay at the hospital.

Nicholas looked over her shoulder at Hope, grinning lopsidedly at her, before turning back to the food in front of him. "Here we go. Fries, check, big mac, check, coke, double check. Ready to eat now?"

Hope nodded, looking suspiciously at the food. She could smell everything in it and it didn't smell as appealing as Nicholas was leading her to believe it was. Sitting on her bed she grabbed one of the boxes, and opened it. Holding the burger in both hands she tentatively took a bite, chewing on it slowly.

Nicholas looked at Hope, "Well? Any flash of a memory? A spark of sanity?"

Hope's looked up with saddened eyes, asking softly, "No...should there have been?"

Nicholas realized his mistake, setting down his burger and taking the one from Hope to place beside his own; he pulled Hope into his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

Hope curled into the embrace, burying her face against his hard chest and inhaling deeply, trying to settle her emotions.

Resting his chin on top of her head, Nicholas said softly, "Hope, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. Your memory is going to come back to you, I know it will. Stop trying to force it and just let it catch up."

Hope leaned back, looking up at Nicholas as she asked, "Do you think it will? It's been over a week now and I haven't even remembered my own name...how do you know I will remember anything?"

Nicholas smiled, "I don't know how I know Hope, but some part of me just knows. I don't know when, or how, but I know it will. Is that enough for you? Knowing that eventually it will?"

Hope nodded, "It will, but I don't know what will happen once I am discharged from here. One of the nurses said it could be any day now. I have nowhere to go, and you and Samantha are the only people I have even really talked to since I got here."

Nicholas nodded, looking quickly at the door before his gaze settled back on Hope, "I have been doing a lot of thinking about that actually. Your discharge paperwork will be brought to you tomorrow. There isn't any reason for you to continue staying here at the hospital. You're healthy, in good condition with nothing broken and no need of any additional services to help you cope."

Hope cut Nicholas off, "But where will I go? One of the nurses mentioned a shelter earlier where homeless people go, but what if I am not homeless? What if I just don't know where my home is?"

Nicholas tightened his arms around her, breathing deeply at her neck and grounding himself in that musky vanilla scent. "I have been doing a lot of thinking about this Hope." He breathed gently against her neck before moving to look her in the eyes. "I would like you to move in with me. I know my hours can be a little crazy sometimes, but I have some vacation time left since I came out of the woods early and I can take it to help you get settled in. But I would really like it, I mean really like it, if you would come and stay with me."

Hope started to say something but was cut off, "I have a spare bedroom, so before you say anything like that I don't expect you to sleep with me. I mean, like in the bed with me I have another bed. Not to say I don't want you in my bed..."

Hope held the tips of her fingers to Nicholas's mouth to hush him. "You're going to dig yourself a hole if I don't stop you now. And I appreciate the offer Nicholas and I will move in with you." She smiled as she removed her hands from his lips. "I don't know why, but for some reason, I feel at ease with you. Like I have known you all my life..."

Nicholas ran his hand under her hair to brush his thumb in the sensitive spot below her ear, "I feel the same way. It's weird for me because I know I haven't met you. I would have never forgotten if I had."

His thumb brushed back her hair and he noticed the small mark there. "Hope, when did this happen?"

Hope touched the small mark on her neck, frowning slightly as she replied, "I don't know really. I had such a strange dream this morning, but maybe it was just covered by a bruise?" She hoped he would think of that as an acceptable answer.