Dawn's Shelter

"You know there is a way that you can spare his life," Eloise said with careful calculation. "Torr is not completely unreasonable. Perhaps the two of you could come to a compromise."

"What kind of a compromise would you suggest, Mother?" Jan practically spat the word mother with such venom even Nash, as hardened as he was, flinched.

"You for Thomas. You agree to come back to Texas and take your place as Torr's bride peaceably. And in return, he spares Thomas's life." Eloise coolly shrugged. Her daughter already hated her so she saw no need in pretending pleasantries or consideration neither one of them felt. "It sounds like a fair agreement to me. Everybody wins."

"Especially you. No thanks, Mother. Thomas and I will handle this on our own." Jan moved to sit on the bed and placed an arm around Thomas's shoulders. Defiantly meeting her mother's eyes.

"Jan, you must understand that I did what I thought was best for you at the time. There was no way I could have known the man that Torr would turn into. If I had..."

"What mother? You would have given up your aspirations. Spared sacrificing your daughter? I'm not that stupid, Mother. You sold me. Got what you wanted. And now, you need me to seal the deal. That's just how it is. You counted on me to cooperate. How disappointed you must be that things didn't work according to your plan." She kissed Thomas on the top of his head. "I think its time for you to go, mother. And do give Kacie my best."

Eloise shook her head. Jan was unreachable. She stubbornly refused to listen to reason. Jan could play it her way. Handle Torr and the mess that resulted on her own. "Think about it. If you truly love Thomas, you'll do the right thing. Anything, no sacrifice is too great to save him."

"Goodbye," Jan said pointing her chin to the door. "Lock it on your way out." She turned her attention to Thomas. Sighing a relieved breath as her mother stalked out of the bedroom with Nash on her heels closing the door behind him.

"God, what a fucked up day," Thomas mumbled. He rested his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist. Drawing her close and absorbing what comfort he could wring out of their last few minutes together.

Jan hazarded a glance at the watch on Thomas's right wrist. Time was up. Any moment now someone would come to escort Thomas to the bluffs. She planted her lips to the tip of his nose. "It's not over yet."

Thomas scoffed, for him it was. He didn't need to see his watch to know that his time was up. He tipped up his chin, drinking of Jan's lips in a wild, desperate last kiss. His tongue traced the border of her mouth. Darting along the sleek tip of her berry tongue. Tasting her. The kiss was brief, but it seemed to last forever. A light rap on the door interrupted them. Shattering the moment to bits. Thomas looked into her eyes. Exchanging a glance that said everything that words could not. He released her from his arms and moved to unlock the door. Grasping her hand tightly in his as he led them through the threshold.

Chapter 26

Torr easily followed the vampire along the rugged, snow-slicked terrain leading to the bluffs. The woods were silent. Bathed in dim evening light that washed down from the gray cloud streaked sky above. The air was fresh. Heavily scented with the pungent essence of evergreens and cool frost. The snowy ground beneath his feet was dotted with tracks, deer, rabbit, the five-fingered handprint of a raccoon, and of course, paw prints of the wolf. The hunter buried beneath his skin wanted to give chase as he spotted a buck, lazily munching on tender shoots uncovered by his hoof. Torr quelled his instinctive urges. He was here, in this peaceful surrounding, on business, not pleasure.

He'd had all afternoon to himself. To think about all the possible outcomes and scenarios that flitted through his mind. He could let the man live. He could kill him in one blow. He was not a murderer and going after a defenseless human in cold blood was not self-defense or any way to claim to any rights to Jan. It was exactly what it was. Murder. He shivered beneath his heavy black fleece hoodie. Squashing his conscience like a bug. Things were the way they were, and nothing could change them.

His father depended on him. The future of his pack rested squarely on his shoulders. And it was an unfortunate fact that both he and Jan had to live with. Thomas's blood would stain his hands. Over the years, many more stains would be added, deepening the mark of his sin. Pack life was brutal and harsh. Death came quickly to the disloyal and faithless. If he did not return with Jan in his possession, his pack would see it as a weakness and turn on him before he got the chance to destroy his father's world bit by bitter bit. He wasn't so interested in his survival. But, he wanted his father alive long enough to see his world crumble down around him.

Torr had no choice but to do what was necessary to defend his father's position as leader, expand the pack, and secure his future. One man's death was of little consequence when he considered how much was at risk in the bigger picture. He squared his jaw and marched up the steep embankment. Digging his heels into the frozen earth beneath his feet, prepared to do what duty required of him.

Kacie cursed under her breath as another wrong turn led her straight into a dead end. She'd spent hours wandering aimlessly, searching for her sister and hunting for an exit. And now, she was no closer to either one than she had been when she slipped away from her mother. The underground lair sprawled for miles. Burrowed beneath layers of rock and stone. Her wolf had no point of reference. No breezes. No scent. No sun to follow. Her wolf was as lost and trapped as she. Her watch ticked away. Reminding her that she was running out of time, if she wanted to see her sister before the fight.

"Lost?" Tristen asked as he slipped up behind her.

Kacie let out a startled yelp and spun on her heel. Posturing in a fighting stance with her knees bent and hands clutched into fists at her side. "Shit Tristen, you scared me to death."

Tristen grinned. "Sorry." He shrugged nonchalantly as he fell into step beside her. "Got any clue where you're going?"

"Out, I hope." She paused at a four way cross section of corridors. Trying to remember if she'd been this way before or not. The lack of landmarks, non descript beige walls, and uniform earthen colored terra cotta tiles beneath her feet did little to aid her in deciding which way to turn next. All the halls looked alike to her. And so far, they'd all led the same place, nowhere. Randomly, she picked a direction and hung a right.

"You think this is the way out?" Tristen asked.

"How long have you been following me?" Kacie glared at him through narrowed slits of her eyes.

"Long enough," Tristen snickered. "You want some help?"

"No," Kacie huffed. She picked up her pace. Time was growing short and she had to find her sister.

"Ok, suit yourself. But, I don't think this is the way out."

"You don't think or it isn't?"

Tristen snorted and crossed his arms. "I thought you didn't want my help."

"I don't," Kacie huffed.

"Are you sure you haven't already gone this way before?" Tristen taunted.

Kacie grumbled low in her throat. "I'm not sure."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Do you want my help or not?" He tapped on the face of his watch. "You're running out of time."

Kacie bit her bottom lip. She knew Tristen was baiting her. The man's sole mission in life seemed to hinge on driving her nuts. She cocked her head to the side. "Which way?"

"Ask me nicely."

Kacie rolled her eyes. Begrudgingly sugaring each word, she said, "Tristen, could you please show me the way out?" She even batted her eyes innocently at him for effect. Jerk. He knew how badly she wanted to see Jan and how short time was getting.

"Sure." Tristen smiled and pointed to the end of a long corridor. "Straight ahead."

"But," Kacie stammered. She thought she'd gone this way before and the corridor had been short and came to an abrupt end. There was definitely not steel door with an electronic palm reader at the end of the dimly lit hall. She was sure that it hadn't been there before.

Tristen snickered. "Vampires, tricky bastards aren't they?" The dead end was nothing more than a creative visual illusion projected from tiny cameras hidden in the faux rock above the door. Tristen paused and pressed his palm to the reader. Silently with a soft hiss the door slid open, letting in bitingly cold northern air. Even if she had found the door on her own. The palm reader would have prevented her from getting out.

Kacie frowned as the projection of a beige wall shone down on her. Broken into a thousand tiny bits of light against her parka. She slid her hood up over her head and shivered as Tristen guided her along a narrow overgrown path. She could have wandered those halls for hours and never found her way out. Begrudgingly, she said, "Thank you," to the cocky, smirking male casually resting his hand against her elbow as he led the way.

Tristen looked across the tree line at the pale yellow sun dipping below the stark fingerlike projection of barren branches. They were running out of time. "We have to hurry." He paused for a second to smile down at her. "And, you're welcome." He quickened his pace. Impressed by how gracefully she was on her feet, keeping up with him on nimbly agile limbs.

Thomas squashed back his fear as the flat, snow covered clearing, nestled between scaling walls of gray and black rock and dense forest became visible through the thinning tree line. His time was up. He had no master plan, no great strategy. His plan was to go forward, rushing headlong into his destiny, whatever it was. And see it through until it was over and his life gone. Should take a whole five minutes or less.

Dane led Thomas and Jan. Doing his duty, silently. His hand rested on the hilt of a broadsword secured to his waist by thick leather straps. He hated this. Hated that Thomas was taking his place on the bluffs and enduring his private trial on the sacred ground, like so many others that had gone before him, undergoing their own trials and moments of doubt and sacrifice on these holy lands. Thomas was at his very core, a Son, and subjected his own version of trial by fire. The ways of the goddess were abundantly clear. Nobody was exempt.

Jan sucked in a deep breath as her feet crunched through the frost covered layer of glistening snow. Faking bravery for Thomas's sake as she palmed the dagger tucked away in the deep pocket of her winter weight snow jacket. It was too late for indecision now. She would carry out her plan and hope all the years of training came back to her when the moment arrived.

The woods bristled with preternatural energy. Eloise could feel it running along her skin like an electrical current. In her human form, she couldn't see the eyes that stared from the thick woods out at her. But she felt them as they followed her steps to the bluffs. She skidded to a stop, bumping against Nash's chest as one of the wolves slid from beneath the cover of thick underbrush pausing to stare and sniff the air as it crossed the footpath. "One of your pack?"

"Yes, Hunter," Nash answered. Gripping Eloise's arm, he guided her up the rugged footpath and onto the frigid plane of the clearing ahead. His pack was on high alert, patrolling the windswept bluffs. Anything could happen. And he wanted to be ready for it.

Drew stood in the center of the barren snowy clearing alone, unarmed, but far from defenseless. Tala, in wolf form, guided his pack over the miles of frozen woods. Positioning them for attack. His Sons were out making runs over the steep cliffs towering on each side of the wide, open ground. He felt the presence of his goddess in the raw power reverberating off the towering inclines of stone. Humming through his body from the hallowed earth beneath his feet. Soon, the battle would begin. And the ground would swallow up the sacrifice of blood and offering of pain.

Torr brushed through the last border of thick pines, entering the wide expanse of the snow covered clearing. His eyes skimmed the broad open space, locking on Thomas and Jan as they emerged from a narrow gap in a dense grouping of knotted brush and spindly vines. He slid free of his hoodie and his t-shirt, tossing them in the snow at his feet. He was unaffected by the bitter cold wind that nipped at his exposed skin. His adrenaline flowed freely keeping him warm as he drew closer to the center of the flat, broad plane and his focus honed in on Thomas.

Jan refused to let Thomas go. She could not will her fingers to loosen from their grip on his hand. If she did, he'd go to the center and take his place standing beside Torr and wait for the battle to begin.

Thomas plodded through the ankle deep snow. Shivering in his boots, he tried to convince himself that his nervous quivering wasn't out of fear and he was simply cold. But, he doubted that was really the case. Torr stood almost casually in the center, as if killing him wasn't going to be a big deal, really no trouble at all. And Thomas didn't think for a second that Torr wasn't right. He was human and when compared to Torr, very fragile. Hell, Torr didn't even have a shirt on. Muscle bound and bulky, not even shivering from the cold, evaluating him through a hardened, chilly, calculating stare as he watched them approach.

Jan forced her fingers to release Thomas's hand. She had to be far enough away to take aim and fast enough to deliver the blade right through the middle of Torr's black heart. She planted a kiss to Thomas's cool, wind burned cheek and wiped away a tear as he gripped her in his arms and buried the cold tip of his nose against her neck. "I love you."

Thomas swallowed the sobs that rose up in his throat. He was man enough to cry. And this was one of those times when even tears weren't enough to express the anguish that welled up inside of him. A husked, "I love you too," was the best he could muster as he released Jan and crossed the few feet of snow caked earth that separated him from Torr. He walked the last few feet alone.

Thomas's eyes scanned across the frigid, empty lot that was a beautiful meadow when the summer sun kissed the open space. How odd that instead of dying in a beautiful place on an amazingly warm and sunny, fragrant day, he should die here, in the middle of winter, when everything around him was frozen, bleak, and cold, in a state of hibernation and death. Of course, death was a cruel trickster, wasn't he?

His mother stood huddled between Mack and the Shaman. Thomas was glad that she had them to keep her going and to take care of her once he was gone. Dane stood with Chris, his wife. John Mark, and Robbie, as stoic as ever, flanked Dane and Chris. Hiding the depths of his emotions behind a mask of cool indifference, Thomas nodded to Claire. He'd miss her almost as much as Jan. She was bundled up to her eyeballs in a thick, wool scarf. Meeting his eyes, she blinked, looking away as she cried softly to herself. He was glad to get the chance to see her one last time before he met his demise. He shot one last glance over his shoulder at Jan. Winking at her as if he didn't have a care in the world. His face turned deadly serious as he turned to size up his opponent and soon to be executioner.

Torr stood tall. Indifferently looking across the open snowfield. Witnesses were present. Jan, who turned away when their eyes met. Eloise stood shoulder to shoulder with Kacie. The pair of them protectively sandwiched between two males. Their eyes locked for a brief second before Eloise glanced away. Torr saw no concern for him in anyone's gazes. No one gathered here on this snowy plane would care if he lived or died. It would be better for all of them, if he did die.

He grunted and turned to face Thomas. The only man brave or stupid enough to stand up to an ill thought out challenge. In a way he pitied the man. To die knowing that the woman he loved was soon to be bedded by the man responsible for ending his life. Knowing that he died for nothing and that ultimately, his sacrifice made no difference in the outcome whatsoever. Brave. And. Stupid.

He respected the man who would face a certain death to honor the woman he loved. Thomas's death would be quick and painless. May the doors of heaven open up and take Thomas's soul to a better place. A place Torr was certain his soul was not destined to see when his turn eventually came.

The sounds of chanting, hauntingly beautiful and eerily mystical, echoed over the bluffs carried by the winds to some secret place beyond the paling purple horizon. Thomas let the music carry him to that place where sound and soul mingled as one. The freezing gales of wind tousled his hair and slapped against his cheeks. But, he paid the cold no attention. He slid free of his coat. The layers of down and nylon fell at his feet in a soft whisper. With the toe of his boot, he kicked the coat out of the way.

Leveling his stare, he met the eyes of his executioner. He supposed that he was lucky in a way to get to look the deliverer of his death in the eye. Few got to have such an opportunity. Old age would not sink its teeth into him and gnaw away at his body bite after bite. Disease would not weaken him and drain away his life, gulp after greedy gulp until it was gone. Injury would not snatch him away in its cold, uncaring, clutches. He was choosing exactly how and when his life would end. And he would meet it with his head held high without fear.

Drew shut down his emotions, becoming the leader that he was, the Great Father, patriarch of the Sons, Psaiwiwuhkernekah Ptweowa, Great White Wolf, Supreme Pack Master of the wolves. His glance bounced between Thomas and Torr, reading their icy stares. Neither one of the men was going to back down. He lifted his voice, breaking through the stillness of the woods with its deep boom. "A challenge has been issued and accepted. May the goddess guide your hands and strengthen you in battle." He stepped aside, leaving the two men to their destinies.

Jan palmed the dagger. It was now or never. She stood alone on the frozen plane. No one was close enough to reach her before she aimed and delivered the point of the weapon into Torr's heart. Carefully she withdrew the blade feeling the cold, hard, steel between her fingers. Her eyes narrowed against the gusts of wind and snow blowing off the tall bluffs encircling the clearing. Taking a deep breath, she centered in on her target. Her stare locked at the point where the dagger would stick. Without a doubt and with no thought of consequences, she drew up her hand and focused on Torr's heart. Her fingers flexed around the dagger's hilt.

Torr flexed his rigid muscles. His eyes fixed on the point where his hands would lock on Thomas's neck. One hard swift movement, the sharp cracking of bone, the fleshy sound of tendons and muscle as they tore from the force, and the man would die. Quickly. "You are an honorable man. You do not deserve the cruelty or the irony that your destiny has laid out for you. I would spare your life, if I could. But, things are what they are. And it seems that neither one of us has a choice. It is regrettable that you should meet your end in this unfortunate way."

Thomas crouched low. Ready for the attack. He knew exactly what Torr was going to do. Break his neck. Sheer the spinal column in two, a quick and efficient, almost humane means of ending his life. His eyes narrowed as he studied Torr. He needed assurances. "Promise me two things. First, that you'll take care of Jan and her family and second, that when this is over, you'll leave this place. Forget what you've seen here, and never return."

"You have my word."