Dawn Redeemed

Torr didn't miss a beat. When he said he was an excellent multitasker, he wasn't kidding. Without a pause he continued his assault on her body as he unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned, and jerked his jeans and underwear down with his free hand. His world tilted on its axis at the sensation of her timid brush against his bulging erection. Nothing, had ever felt better in his whole life than the building pressure of her palm, stroking up and down his shaft.

Erica could have knocked Torr over with a feather. Instead, she used the weight of her palms against his hard chest to guide him onto his back. He was magnificent. Sunlight dappled patterns of light and dark on across his bare chest. His erection stood at full attention, hard and proud, protruding out of a mass of curly dark hair between his thighs.

She kept her eyes locked with Torr's. Awestruck by the sheer masculine beauty of him. The woods were truly where he belonged. His boots made a clunking, hollow sound as he kicked them free of his long feet and they landed empty on the ground. The denim jeans whispered softly as he wiggled one leg free and then the other. Somewhere along the process he'd ridded himself of his socks and underwear. God, he was a sigh to behold, lying boldly on a blanket with nothing on but his birthday suit, every muscle twitching and rigid with eager anticipation.

Erica meant to straddle him between her thighs and impale her body onto his. Instead, in a movement so smooth and swift, that she almost missed it, she fell onto her back, his hand gently cradling her head. He assaulted her mouth with his lips and tongue as his hands sought out softer, sleeker, gentler places with equal vigor. All she could do was hang on tight and enjoy the pleasurable sensations that swept her away.

Torr planted his mouth on the softness between her thighs. Gently, nipping the most sensitive spots with his teeth. Her body was tense, hips arched and lips parted with whispers of pleasure riding on them. He took his time, tasting her heat and marveling at the sweetness tickling the tip of his tongue. Her nails grazed his scalp. The light stinging pain, nearly drove him right over the edge with her. His body begged him to position it between her legs and dive in to the sleek, moisture of her depths. In good time, he would.

He focused on her needs and her responses. Carefully, gauging each and every reaction, no matter how subtle, she was so close. He wanted to feel the orgasm rip through her body. Feel the tight squeeze of her thighs clamp down on his shoulders. Hear the soft whispers of her sighs of pleasure. Touch the very depths of her as she spasmed and gripped him with her walls. And taste, taste the sweetness of her release as it flowed over his tongue.

Erica tightened her thighs around Torr's shoulders and gripped his hair with her fists. Her breaths were a series of desperate pants and her hips moved of their own volition. Nothing had ever felt so good. She felt her body careen out of control. The orgasm built, layer upon layer. Pleasure mounted to almost intolerable pain and an insatiable ache yearning for fulfillment. Just before the pleasure and the pain reached critical mass, the orgasm ripped through her tossing her about with cascading waves of sheer sensation.

Torr kissed her mound and climbed up her body. Her cheeks were a blaze with the rubor blush of orgasm and fulfillment. Possessively, he positioned himself over his woman. She opened for him, spreading her thighs to welcome him. He was hard and ached for her beyond reason. Her moist juncture slicked his throbbing head as he pushed his way into her entrance. She was so wet, so warm, almost searing him with her heat, and so very tight.

He wasn't going to last long. Already with the first few thrusts, his body tensed, and the pressure in his groin was rapidly reaching the point of no return. She felt so good. Too good to stop. His fingers locked through her hair and fisted the locks. Their bodies made slapping sounds, pounding together in a rapid succession of thrusts and lunges. He clawed at the earth beneath the disheveled blanket and ground his molars trying to bring his disobedient body under control. But, it was far too late for that and the joining of their bodies felt too damn good. The battle lost, he shot into her and filled her with his heat.

Erica cradled Torr in her arms, using her body as a cushion for his bulk to rest upon. She'd certainly never experienced an outing in the woods quite like this before. The sex was in a word...amazing. There were a few inconveniences to be taken into consideration when baring it all in the wilderness. She shifted uncomfortably and tried to slide from atop a rock that had firmly planted itself in the base of her spine. The blanket was a balled up heap beneath them and more of them was off the blanket than was on it.

Erica's incessant wiggling brought Torr to his senses. "Am I squishing you?"

"No, I've got a rock under my butt."

Torr snickered and rolled onto his back. Grinning, as the sound of Erica's sigh of relief echoed in his ears. He was so relaxed and the air felt so good whispering over his bare skin like thousands of tiny fingers. He reached an arm across his chest and pulled Erica tightly against him. He cupped the back of her head with is wide palm and guided her forehead to his lips, "We'd better get dressed."

"You heard something?"

Torr nodded, casually taking his time to stand and locate his clothes. "Hikers some distance off yet though."

Erica bustled around the site searching in desperation for her bra and panties. Hopping on one leg, she slid her foot through the leg of her pants. "Oh shit," she muttered in a panicked voice. Hurriedly, she buttoned her blouse and smoothed her hair. Bits of dried leaves and grass fluttered to the ground. She tried to wipe the guilty expression off her face as the hikers waved and passed by, not giving her much more than a stray glance.

Torr snickered under his breath as he folded the blanket over his arm and gathered up the trash. He led their way out of the woods, Erica was too busy in her self-imposed embarrassment to do much more than follow. "There's going to be a celebration tonight at the bluffs. I'd like it very much if you and Fallon would come. I've got some people I want you to meet."

"How are we going to get up there after dark?"

Torr shrugged, "We'll worry about that closer to time. Will you come?" He took her hand and guided her away from the path curving gently to the right. Torr was going to have to keep a very close eye on her in the woods. The girl could not find her way out of a paper bag with a map and a compass. "This way."

"Sure, a party sounds like fun."

Chapter 113

"Don't even think about it," David warned.

"But, I'm hungry," Theresa whined. "I haven't had a shower in days. My clothes are filthy. The sun is giving me a hell of a headache and my damned feet hurt. Can we at least stop long enough for a quick snack?" She eyed the old lady hunched over in the garden, lovingly tending a spindly rose bush and licked the tips of her fangs in anticipation.

"You can not go around snacking on people!"

"Why not? She's going to die anyway? She's old. How many years could she possibly have left anyway? She's practically ancient. I'm doing her a favor, if you think about it. I'll be quick and painless. The cancer gnawing at her insides won't be." Theresa said, wrinkling her nose at the scent of decaying flesh. The old gal was as good as dead. She just didn't know it yet.

"Doesn't matter." David gripped his sister by her upper arms and gave her a hard shake, "What the hell is wrong with you? We don't eat people."

"Really?" Theresa rubbed the tip of a fang with her tongue to further prove the point. "You don't eat people. I do. Why waste a perfectly good opportunity? I could grab a quick bite while you chase after her flea ridden cat, if you must, or, we could share her. I'm sure there's enough in her for two. We could shower and sleep in clean beds tonight."

"Do you like living?" David hadn't explained all the rules to her yet. At this point, they wouldn't matter much to her anyway.

"I wouldn't call this a life."

"Well, its all we've got. C'mon, we've gotta keep moving."

"David...please. Why did you do this to me? Why did you save me only to make me suffer so cruelly."

David shook his head at his sister and cast his eyes away. "What else was I supposed to do? You would have died if I hadn't."

"Sometimes, I think that would have been better."

"So do I." David melted into the cover of shadow provided by the thick of woods

behind the neat little cottage and stared over his shoulder. He hated himself for what he'd done to his sister. He despised the greedy thing she was turning into. Their salvation hung by a thread. The only hope he held for either of them was that the Sons would find them before he could stop her from killing again.





Chapter 114

Families gathered in loose bundles amongst their pack mates. Ruby held Evan's hand tightly in hers and picked her way through the groupings to come to stand beside her sister. It was some consolation that there was one person in the crowd that looked more uncomfortable than she did. "Hello, Carter." She smiled as Carter tipped his head in reply.

Shayla blinked at her sister. "Ruby...I'm surprised to see you. I didn't think you would come." Her smile faded to a frown as she realized that Hanning was unaccounted for.

Ruby couldn't help but follow her sister's gaze as it scanned the crowd of familiar faces. "He's here somewhere."

Shayla nodded and took Ruby's free hand, giving it a sympathetic squeeze. Hanning's work was instrumental in the pack's fight for the right to be standing here on the verge of a new era. She knew he wouldn't miss it. "How are you doing?"

"Confused, but, good."

Shayla leaned in closer and whispered into Ruby's ear. "There's still time." She dropped R.J. into the baby backpack strapped to Carter's broad shoulders and adjusted the straps, giving the sleepy tyke a pat on the head.

Eloise released Nash's hand and took a deep breath. This was her final official act as a pack mistress. The bluffs were an easy hike through the woods. The miles that awaited her would be the longest miles she'd ever walked and the most difficult. She held her head up high and called her pack to order. Tonight she would lead them, not down a familiar path through the woods, but into the uncharted territory of a new destiny.

Nash split off from Eloise and beamed proudly at the faces staring at him expectantly. He'd worked so hard to bring his people to this point. Their journey hadn't been an easy one and it was far from over. They had traveled so far, overcome many unseen obstacles along the way, and tonight, they would complete one journey and begin a new one. Over the decades, the burdens of pack master had put more than one gray hair on his head. Sometimes, he felt as if his back would break from the weight of the pack's heavy load. Yet, turning over the people he'd led for so very long was bitter sweet.

Torr draped an arm around Erica's shoulders and pulled her closer as he guided her through the mass of people. Fallon gripped his free hand and inched nearer to him. He squeezed her hand tightly in reassurance. He wasn't sure which one of them needed reassuring more, him or her. He rounded the crowd and brought them to the front of the enclave of bodies. This was it. After this last act, his short stint as a pack master would be over. Dear old dad was probably turning in his grave at what he would have considered to be an embarrassing failure on his son's part. His father would have never understood that sometimes a strong leader had to let go and hand the reins over to someone else for the greater good.

Nightfall lowered her velvet black skirts over the sky. Random stars glittered like rhinestones over the fabric of the night. The full moon shone down like a jewel adorning her sleek neck. Drew stared out across the sea of faces. His brother had planted the seed. And that one, tiny speck of life had grown into a great race. Two hundred and eleven pairs of eyes looked to him to unify them as one and guide them on this new path they had willingly chosen. The Great White Wolf greeted the three pack masters with a nod of his chin and took the first step onto the path that led to the bluffs.

The Sons waited on the bluffs for the Packs to arrive. Dane heard the sound of hundreds of feet making their way up the trail. The beating of hearts and rapid exhale of breath whispered through the woods like the sound of a gentle breeze rustling through leaves. The bejeweled pendant was heavy around his neck and cold against the bare skin of his chest. He was second, only out ranked by the Great Father himself. Keeping control of the Sons was his job. With a gesture of his hand he called his brothers to order. They snapped to attention like a well oiled machine.

If things went bad, they were going to go very bad. By sheer numbers adding the packs to their ranks made the Sons the largest preternatural force in the world. Hard not to attract attention with this many preternatural beings in one location. Tactically speaking, not only was concentrating a majority of their numbers in one spot a bad idea, it was a nightmare. Exactly, how were they supposed to keep their secret a secret?

One consolation Dane could think of was that the wolves had been taking care of themselves for centuries without any intercession on anybody's part. Their history had been a brutal and bloody one. Dane had seen them in action and they were good. Limited by their forms in their ability to defend. A wolf was most lethal in its wolf form, but the human form did the job quite nicely as well. The extra numbers, while pointing a great big neon sign over their heads, would be a great asset to have on his side.

Dane looked over his ranks, good fighters, loyal men and women that he had and would risk his life for. They had and would do the same for him. They formed a protective wall of black leather clad and heavily armed menace around the border of the bluffs. He was proud of them and proud to lead them into this new era. He prayed, it would be one of peace and prosperity. How different would that be from anything they'd ever known.

Drew emerged from the woods and entered into the wide moonlit clearing. The place he sat his feet upon was hallowed ground. Grass bent beneath the weight of his footfalls as he walked to the center of the meadow. Spires of shale and granite rose up like sentinels around the grassy knoll to bear witness as they had for countless ages. Wars had been fought and blood had soaked into the ground beneath him. Loves had been discovered and lives merged together in this sacred location. The souls of the dead had been set free in pyres hewn from the trees that flanked the flat, grassy earth. Old lives had been ended and exchanged for new in this holy temple made of rock, tree, and sky. He knelt and bowed his head and felt the endless presence of the goddess wash over him.

Tala, his wife, gently rested her hand on his shoulder. Without her courage and bravery from the very beginning, none of this would be happening tonight. She brought the first wolves home. She offered her wolf, and he his blood to bring the vampires and the wolves together.

Behind him he heard the scuffle of footsteps grow closer and closer. Nash's pack was the first to come. On nearly silent feet, they circled the clearing and filled the northern portion of the, flat grassy land. Eloise's pack soon followed and shuffled out to take their place in the east. Torr's pack was the last to arrive. They fanned out and filled the westernmost segment of the wide expanse of ground.

Drew rose to his feet and bowed low, turning counterclockwise, first to his vampires in the south, then to Eloise's pack in the east, next to Nash's pack in the north, and finally to Torr's pack in the west. "Many moons ago, when the earth was new. The goddess walked among her people. She cared for them like a loving mother should. Their crops were plentiful, their hunts successful, their bellies full and their beds warm, they were blessed beyond measure. They multiplied and filled the earth from corner to corner. When her brothers and sisters saw how content her children were, they begged their father, the creator, for children of their own.

"The Father knew his children well enough to deny their request. They were lax and arrogant, with a taste for war and suffering. Angered and outraged, by their Father's refusal, her siblings filled every corner of the earth with war, famine, and disease. They cursed the crops and dried up the rivers. They filled the children's minds with thoughts of greed and corruption, their mouths with sharp tongues, and their hearts with rage. They thought surely their sister's children would become like dried grass on the plane and wither away. The children did not. They were fruitful and became more numerous than the stars in the sky.

"Jealousy consumed the siblings. They thought, if our father will not give us children, we'll make our own. Without their father's ability to create life out of nothing. They took the life that was already in abundance and transformed it through the power of their blood. Their corrupted offspring hungered for blood and devoured every life that crossed their paths until the earth was almost empty and lifeless.

"Furious at his children's behavior, the Father planned to destroy all life on the planet and leave it a lifeless hull for eternity to punish his wayward children. Kokumthena, the daughter he loved best, begged him for mercy. She alone held the key to his heart and so instead, he beat his fist against the great land mass and shattered it to bits, scattering the people left like chaff in the wind. Between the shattered pieces, he stretched large expanses of ocean

"He gave Kokumthena the choicest of lands, plentiful with game and crops to harvest. On it he placed the children who had remained faithful to her and remembered the old ways and there the children lived and multiplied into a great nation. They never forgot their creator or their goddess and continually worshiped them.

"Tiny villages grew into great cities and the whole of the earth crawled with teaming masses. There were so many people that the Cursed People were forgotten and dismissed as fable. The people became smart and their curiosity grew and grew. One day, no longer did they stand on the shore and say, "I wonder where the ocean ends?" In great ships, they set sail to find out.

"The ocean brought ships to our shores in great multitudes. The Shemansee, white man, stepped foot on the shore and said, "This place is good. Let us live here." And so they came in unimaginable numbers and with them arrived a strange cargo, something no native to this soil had ever seen before. The Cursed People. Vampires.

"Kokumthena begged her father for help. Her brown people were defenseless against the vampires. The Cursed People consumed everything and everyone in their path. Villages lay in smoldering ruins. Entire races teetered in the brink of extension. Because her father loved Kokumthena more than any of his other children. He gave her his aid. Fearful of his children's retribution against her, he refused to wipe the Cursed Ones off the earth. In his wisdom, he gave her a way to fight them as equals.

"Kokumthena set out in search of a great warrior. For decades she wandered in desperation. Finally, she found such a man, a great warrior and leader of his people. She knew his heart and his desire for peace and unity. It is with him she shared the gift of her blood and gave him his mission. He would create a race to defend all of humanity from the evil of the Cursed People. And so, the Great Father was born. He passed the gift on and fathered a race of mighty warriors known only as the Sons."