Dawn's Path: Completed Work

Drew blinked in shock. Tala was a woman with a woman's needs. He could smell her desire like an exotic lush scent perfuming the air. She blushed and flicked her eyes from his stare. She had the body of a young woman in her prime. It was her mannerisms and way of speaking of things a woman as young as she appeared would have little knowledge of. Somehow the magic he was just barely coming to terms with had frozen her in time. She'd stopped aging somewhere in her early twenties. But, she had the maturity and experience of a woman almost twice that age. "You've never?"

Tala twisted out of the circle of Drew's arms. This was not a discussion she wanted to get into. In human terms a thirty-five year old virgin sounded absolutely pathetic. Even in the terms the pack used to define age and prime it was kind of sad but not unheard of. "No, I have not."

Glowering at Drew's unabashed question, she stomped off in the direction of the compound. So much for the lonely guy she'd mistook him for. He may have done it like a jackrabbit before. But, unless he wanted strapped with a mate, those days were over. She supposed that in some ways it was better not to know the pleasures of the flesh at all than to experience them and do without. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost. "And you, no doubt, have an entire stock of women at your beck and call."

Drew threw back his head and roared in laughter at Tala's not so astute assumption of his non-existent sexual conquests. He easily caught up with her and draped his arm over her shoulders, cinching her into the line of his body. Kissing the top of her head, he chuckled out of the sheer humor of her annoyance with him. "Sorry to disappoint you. But, you don't corner the market on cold showers. It's been almost two hundred years for me."

Tala stopped mid stride and stared up at him. His eyes glittered with humor. But, she saw the truth in them. Stuck with a mate she didn't want or not, she would not wait two hundred years for the right one to come along. She wrinkled her nose and swallowed down a chuckle. "Ouch. That's a lot of cold showers."

Drew dipped his head to give her a peck on the cheek. Sex was important. But, there were things more important than the meeting of flesh and the pleasure that came with it. He held her hand. Not to lead her back to the compound, but for the sheer joy of holding her dainty fingers gripped in his palm as they walked side by side. Wherever this was going there was nothing wrong with taking their time to figure it out and enjoy the toe curling giddiness of the possibility of new love along the way. "Indeed it is, Tala. Indeed it is."

Chapter 63

They had the kitchen to themselves. Drew sat, perched on the edge of a stool he'd positioned so that he had full view of the vacant rooms and of Tala. She picked at the food on her plate. Spearing a bite or two every now and then and stuffing it into her mouth. He watched her chew and swallow down the chicken Anna had neatly packed into containers for dinner. The food smelled as spicy as it looked. Bits of red pepper and garlic dotted the thick red sauce coating the chicken. He was curious, not about the food but about her. Or more precisely why she found the idea of choosing a mate so repugnant. "You said you mate for life. Does that mean there is no such thing as divorce in your pack?"

Tala chewed and swallowed down the bite she'd been savoring. Anna's garlic chicken had just the right amount of spice without being overpowering. Her tongue tingled from the hint of chilies and red pepper in the sauce. "It's rare, but sometimes mates can separate. Not often though. Usually, the longer we stay human, the better the odds that a bad mating tie can be broken. But, if we don't shift and allow our spirit wolves to communicate with the outside world, we lose the ability to do so at all."

"And you lose your immortality and your youth as a consequence?" Drew asked. Tala wasn't eating enough. He took the knife from the edge of her plate and cut one of the larger pieces of chicken in two. Her food was getting cold and the sauce was thickening to the consistency of glue. He may not be able to eat. But, he could not stand the thought of food being wasted. In his day, a good meal had been a rare thing. Many died from starvation and lack.

Tala speared the bite he'd cut for her and put it in her mouth. She was not a child and could cut her own meat. But, she humored him just to be polite. After chewing and swallowing, she wiped her mouth on the corner of a napkin. Shaking her head she said, "I'm not immortal. We age normally until we reach the age of maturity. It's a little different for everyone. Some sooner. Some later. My aging slowed to a crawl with my first shift when I was twenty. I worry more about losing my connection to the goddess and to my spirit wolf than anything else. I've always known about my wolf, what I was, and what I was born to do. I can't imagine any other life but the one I have."

Tala blinked back a tear of frustration. She wanted Drew and he wanted her. But, she refused to give in and admit he might be her destiny. The life of a wolf was long. And she'd only just met him. She really knew next to nothing about him or his world. And even though she wanted him so badly it hurt. She wouldn't risk a random encounter with someone she wasn't absolutely certain of. Never. Not without love. Eventually, there might be love. Maybe, they'd be one of the rare lucky ones who stood up to the test of time. But, they were so different. And there was no way to answer the question burning in her mind. Would she be enough for him or would he be enough for her in the long run?

"Our rules are similar. But, bonding requires the exchange of blood and bodies in order to complete the mating. Until then, we're free to be with whom we choose." Drew gave up on feeding Tala and scooted his stool closer to her. Draping an arm over her shoulders, he pulled her close. His need for her was squashed by his concern for her. She thought she was cursed. It was more of a curse to live such a long time and never find someone you could connect with on a level beyond the physical. Wolf magic did that for them. Bound two individuals as one forever. And forever was a weighty word and an unanswered question hanging over both of their heads.

Tala pushed her half eaten plate of food to the side. The goddess had played a cruel trick on the wolves. She'd fashioned them physically and psychologically, after natural wolves. Instinct dictated what they must do down the very core of their beings. Her body wanted things her heart and soul did not. Her biology cried for a mate. And sometimes, it was damn hard to ignore the urgings of her hormones. Her body responded to the powerful alpha male sitting next to her. He resonated masculinity from every pore. And the call of it, of him, was difficult to resist. "And in almost two hundred years you've never chosen?"

Drew sat back on the stool and blew out a breath. Much like her wolf, she always went for the throat. Direct in her questions. And he owed her the truth. "Never. Tala, I loved my wife. They say things get easier with the passing of time. They don't. Sometimes, it feels like it was only yesterday. She died because of my selfishness. I killed her trying to share my gift. I wanted...I wanted us to have forever. To me, the few decades we could have had forever weren't enough. She died in my arms, Tala. And out of all the things I've done, I've never forgiven myself for that."

Tala nodded. She understood the grief the loss of a mate could cause. It happened in the pack. And sometimes, people never got over it. Her father hadn't. "I'm sorry."

Drew reached up and tucked a stray strand of hair that had snuck free from her braid behind her ear. "Don't be. It was a long time ago." He smoothed his fingers over Tala's cheek and gently cupped her jaw, lifting her chin and forcing their eyes to meet. "I see glimpses of her in John Mark, in his humor. And sometimes, Dane, when he smiles I swear it's like looking right at her. We had our forever, just not the way I planned. The people we love. They never really leave us. They live on in here," he said, guiding her fingertips to his heart. "In our children's children and the generations that followed.

"Immortality can be a curse. Humans plunge bravely forward into the future. They have so little time. We vampires, we cling stubbornly to the past. Reliving what has already been lived because it's easier. And tomorrow is just too damned hard. The present moves so quickly, sometimes too quickly. I've been alone a very long time, Tala. Too long." Drew stroked her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. Her skin was smooth and soft as silk to the touch. Warm. Alive. And he'd been removed from the land of the living, his heart dead, cold and still inside of him, for far too long. Only now, did it beat wildly in his chest brought back to life by her. "I thought I was content to live a thousand lifetimes alone. I'm not. Not anymore."

"What changed your mind?" Tala had seen Drew's cold stoicism. She'd watched his interactions with the brothers. There was a closeness between them, a bond knit of blood and purpose. But, he so removed emotionally removed from them. He served his purpose. Led the Sons as he was destined to do. He lived. But, she doubted he'd actually been alive in a very long time. He was now though. His fingertips hot on her cheeks. His eyes searching, pleading with her to give him the reason he searched for, beyond duty, beyond the brotherhood, to live again.

"You." Drew guided her face closer, their mouths hovering so close to a kiss he could almost taste the spiciness of the garlic chicken lingering on her lips. Tala swiveled in her chair and broke free, shattering any hope for a kiss. Tears glistened on the fringes of her dark lashes as she closed her eyes to trap the fall behind closed lids. She was bound by rules that in them selves were a cruelty Drew cursed the goddess for creating. He had not, by choice. She had not, because of lack of them. It was unfair and harsh, a punishment of nature. They were attracted to one another. So badly it hurt. And they could not without risking their very souls. He captured a droplet of moisture from her lashes with his thumbnail. He hated to see a woman cry. There was something about their gentle tears that made him crumble. Made him want to fix whatever was wrong and make it right. This rule of nature he could not undo. "It's ok. I understand."

"Do you?" Tala twisted out of his grip and snatched the plate off the counter, moving a safe distance away from him. Dumping the contents into the garbage. She was tormented. He was the first and only man she'd ever wanted. There were many pursuers over the years. And she was no stranger to the charms of an alpha male. None of the men her father deemed suitable had ever measured up. She'd kissed plenty of men. And tiptoed damn close to crossing the line with a lucky few. But, none of them made her feel the way Drew did with nothing more than a brush of a thumb across her cheek.

"All too well, Tala." Drew rested his hands on her slender shoulders and guided her toward the door. The analytical man in him was already sifting through their options. If they were meant to be together and if they wanted it badly enough, somehow, they'd find a way to make it work. He was never a big fan of rules. They were nothing more than suggestions and as such, meant to be broken. If he'd been ...if he were a man that played the hand fate dealt to him...he would have died on that battlefield. Hell, he would never have been there in the first place, for that matter. He would have given up his home and let the U.S. Government have every last acre of it. He just would have slunk off peacefully into history an unremarkable and forgotten man.

He preferred to ruffle fate's feathers. And he had the sense that Tala did too. He didn't know how to go down without a fight. She was terrified of destiny's influence in her life. Afraid she made none of her own choices and the who and what she was would do it for her. She was young. And there was so much she still had to learn. Primarily, that sometimes, destiny placed you at a crossroads and no matter which path you chose, you ended up exactly where you were supposed to be. All of this, the man he'd been in life and had become in death, his brother's secret, and her, here with him at this time and in this place, had happened for a reason. He could not speak for her. But, for him, the reason was her. "Take a walk with me?"

The gentle pressure of his fingers on her shoulders sent zings of delight down her spinal cord. A walk? Placing one foot in font of the other was the best she could do as he guided her toward the foyer. He plucked her jacket off the peg and she smiled at the gentlemanly gesture of him holding her jacket wide so that she could slide her arms into the sleeves. His skilled fingers buttoned the buttons on the jacket, gingerly brushing over her cheeks as he drew the collar up around her neck. And the sensation played sheer hell with her and her wolf's libido.

Blushing furiously, she followed him outside. The night was cold and clear. Stars glittered overhead to form a canopy of glittering light. The gentle hum of the night sounded in a symphony of life around her. A little red fox sniffed out his dinner as a gray field mouse darted for cover. An owl perched on a high branch hooted and flapped his wings. The pine trees rustled softly, stirred by the breeze. Not quite ready to surrender winter's hold, a thin layer of shimmering frost clung to the ground.

Tala longed to shed her jacket and her clothes and give chase. Let her wolf out to play and bask in the beauty of nature. And her wolf was in full agreement. The fox might have missed out on a good meal. But, her wolf would not. Mice were quite tasty, or at least that was her wolf's opinion of them. Tala would rather not think about the things her wolf ate when she had control of the body they shared.

Drew gripped Tala's hand and strolled at a leisurely pace through the woods. Her wolf was there just beneath the surface. And he thought holding Tala's hand might help to ground her and keep her in her human shape. Well that and just because he wanted to. The contact was innocent enough. But, any contact with her was good contact. And it had a lot more meaning to them than it would a casual observer. Her fingers were warm and so tiny, dwarfed by his bigger hand. "There is still so much I don't understand, Tala. I can feel the wolf inside of me. The woods beckon me to become one with them. And yet, I'm terrified of what I might become if I do."

"Being a wolf, having the spirit trapped inside of you is equal parts blessing and punishment." Drew didn't quite get it. He still refused to admit the truth that it wasn't just any old spirit wolf inside of him. It was the Great White Wolf, the father of all spirit wolves. Her body vibrated and hummed with the need to let her wolf out to play. The woods were alive with life. "You have no idea how compelling the world is when we're in wolf form. How tempting it is to give in to nature and never go back. Being a wolf is easy. No thought, no worries. Nothing matters but the pack, nature, and the goddess."

Drew could kick himself for the random thoughts popping into his head. He was curious and he shouldn't be. "You don't um...with natural wolves? While in um...your other form?" He stumbled over the question. Uncertain if he had the right to ask. He knew little about vampire sex, other than the sharing of blood between partners during the act resulted in bonding and was, according to the glimpses of things he'd rather not know about his brothers, quite enjoyable, more so than the orgasm itself, and therefore very common. He knew nothing about wolf sex other than it happened, obviously.

"No." Tala wrinkled her nose in distaste and nudged his shoulder playfully. "That's gross. Never. Just because we all look alike to you, doesn't mean we are. Natural wolves know the difference. And we sure as hell know the difference between one of them and one of us. Bestiality and all that, really Drew? Even though nature and instinct take over while we're in our wolf form our basic morality remains intact. We'd never even think of mating in wolf form. Our wolves are sacred creatures of spirit and an act such as that is forbidden. It's too taboo to even think about. We'd never."

Drew blushed in shame. He shouldn't have even thought it, let alone asked. "What about humans? What happens if one of your kind chooses a human for a mate?"

Tala rolled her eyes, half amused by the questions he had. He was so childlike sometimes. Innocent and guileless. "So many questions. We are not free to do with our bodies as we'd choose. The only way to chose a human mate is to leave the pack. And there are those who have chosen humanity over their wolves. If one of my kind chooses a human and a child is born of their mating. The child might carry the gene and it might not. What we are is made of pack magic. And if there's no pack, there's no magic. The gene is dormant, passed on from parent to child. But, without a pack there's nothing to awaken the magic. No magic." She shrugged bitterly, thinking about all the children that might be out there carrying the gene and denied the greatness of their destiny. "No wolf."

"Is that what has happened? Is that why there's so few of you?"

"Yes." Tala stopped walking and turned to look Drew in the eye. "This life, like yours, isn't for everyone. Our choices are few and our sacrifices many. We call them, the progeny of those who have left the pack, the Lost Children. There are others out there. Packs in hiding. We have searched decades for them. And have found not a trace. We have but a fraction of the magic we could have if we could unite the packs and bring the children, the people who don't know what they truly are home."

"I hate to keep asking questions, but I need to understand. I need to know why my brother kept his family a secret."

"You know why," Tala answered softly. They'd walked a wide circle through the woods and were back at the ivy- covered entry to the compound. Standing under the scrutiny of hidden security cameras. She wanted to stretch up on her tiptoes and give him a gentle peck on the cheek. And if it had been just the two of them, she would have. "I wish he were still with us to answer your questions himself. But, know this. He died bravely. A hero. Defending his goddess and there's not a day that goes by that the pack doesn't mourn his loss."

Drew tugged gently on Tala's braid, pulling her in line with his body. He wrapped his hand around her waist, holding her tightly. Pressing his cheek against hers. He whispered, "Thank you." Her scent flooded his nostrils and the soft brush of her skin against his sparked his desire to life. Slowly, he dipped his head to kiss her. The lush fullness of her lips called to him. Begging him to claim them as his. He paused, millimeters between them when her hand gently pushed against his chest to stop him.

"The cameras," Tala whispered.

"I don't give a damn about the cameras. I'm a man first and foremost, a servant to my goddess and leader to my people, second. And if I want to kiss a beautiful woman, I will. I don't care who watches." Drew finished what he started and claimed her lips in a wild, desperate, passionate kiss.

Tala sighed against the soft assault of his lips against hers. Ignoring the invisible prying eye of the camera, she focused on him and the persuasive teasing of the kiss. She looped her fingers around his neck and inched closer. Blocking the camera's view of their joined lips with her arm. The gentle press of his chest against her breasts sent tingles of arousal down her spine. His body molded to hers, leaving her marveling at how well they fit together, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, finally united at last.