Once the tea was finished both girls started to pack up. They had packed up the maps, and the table. They broke down the cots and found that they all had their own self contained storage pouch underneath. About the time that the girls were getting ready to start moving things out of the tent to take it down, Taji and Lyle walked in. Anna bounded up and gave Taji a hug. She breathed in deeply. "Mmmm. Much better! Good you are just in time to help us move all this out and onto the truck and then we need to take down this tent." Taji sniffed at Anna. His face fell. "You drank more of that tea?" He looked down at her disappointed. Anna's eyes looked confused and a little frightened. Lyle and Amaris were looking at them also. Lyle took a quick look at Amaris and then walked over to Taji. He put his hand on Taji's shoulder. "Maybe now is not the best time. Lets get everyone to safety and settle again and then you can talk with her about what you both want to do about that
After the contents of the tent were taken to one of the waiting trucks, the three of them worked together to take the tent down and roll it up. The tent too had one of those handy pouches attached and it stowed quite easily. Lyle did not return. Amaris kept an eye out for him as soon as she had cooled off some. Alexis and Nikos walked over and told them that they needed help with a couple more tents in the back and then they would be ready to move out. Since most of the rest of the camp was already packed it was only men and vehicles that could be seen. Nikos turned as one of the men walked up and spoke in his ear. "Scratch that. It seems its all set and we are ready to go. Taji your with me. I need to talk with you. Ladies, You are going to the second truck. It actually has a back seat so you won't need to ride in the bed with the rest of the guys." He smiled and dragged Taji away. Taji gave a goofy sheepish wave and was pulled down the line to a truck about four or f
Once the door was shut again and the snake was gone, Anna turned on Amaris. "Mari! What the Hell!! I know that Andreas said that snakes were one of the animals associated with Apollo, but Geez! Give a girl some warning next time! Preferably enough so that I can be a few miles away." Anna was angry. "Shh." was all Amaris said in return. Anna had a look of outrage on her face which changed to a look of curiousity. Anna watched as Amaris closed her eyes again. She started speaking out loud. "Go under the truck and keep heading to the back. Look to both sides. Ok keep going under the next." Anna stared at her in wonder. "Amaris are you talking to the snake?" Anna asked not sure if this was cool or creepy. "Shh" Was all that came from Amaris. "Nothing there either, go under the next. Slowly. I hear voices. Look side to side. goto the end but stay near the tire. Quickly under the next truck stay in the middle but look side to side. There is that a foot in the dista
Anna did not know what was going on and could not see what Amaris saw. "That's right. Curl up under the seat. Everyone is fine." Amaris saw briefly that Taji was in the back seat screaming like a girl and climbing into the back storage area of the jeep. Lyle laughed at him and told him to hang on. The keys must have been in the ignition because Lyle started driving out of there. Amaris could hear shooting, and also cheering from the men that were still on their knees at gun point. The jeep flew down the line of trucks. Lyle said something to Taji that Amaris could not make out. She heard nothing else until the jeep stopped. Suddenly she felt Anna's hand on her shoulder. "Mari they are here. Let go. It's ok now." Amaris let all of it drop. She slumped against the door of the truck. Anna started pulling the clothes down off the windows. Amaris heard them before she saw them. "Did you think that blocking the windows would keep them from finding you? I think that woul
Lyle looked at Amaris. He was both proud and sad at the same time. "Ok. I will start on our way out of here, you coordinate with Alexis. He knows where Marco and Christos should be." He turned around and put the truck into gear. Amaris saw that Taji and Anna were in their own little world holding hands in the space between the seats and talking quietly facing the window. Amaris suddenly found herself envious. She knew that she should have what they had right now, but Lyle had changed his mind. Sheshook the feeling off, she could not think about that right now. She needed to focus on what she needed to do now and then she could worry about whether there would even be an 'us' in the future for her and Lyle. Amaris reached out and mind linked Alexis. "Alexis. Where are Christos and Marco right now. I think that we should go and meet up with them, and then we need to find your brother and see if there is some thing that we can do for him." Amaris could feel Alexis' surpris
Amaris turned and walked toward the passenger side of the truck. She and Lyle got in at the same time, although Lyle was slower. He was still in conversation with Alexis. After a moment, he stopped and looked over at Amaris, and then he started the truck and put it in gear. He drove in silence for a while. Amaris said nothing, she was just trying to get her thoughts in order and figure out what she was going to say. She knew that they needed to get things out in the open, and this was going to be a long ride. It would be a good time to do it when he could not walk away and disappear like he has twice before. While Amaris was still collecting her thoughts, Lyle started first. "That was quite a show you put on back there. Was that really necesary to embarass him like that? Especially in front of the men that he commands?" Lyle took a glance over at her. His look slightly wary, as if he was rethinking challenging her or he might end up in a mouse filled bubble, or worse. Am
"What?" They had both spoken at the same time. Amaris did not make out all that he had said, but got enough to get the gist of it. Lyle seemed to want to back up the conversation again too. "Amaris, what I did, I don't even know how I did it for starters. You were right. I was scared, feeling sorry for myself, and I went back on everything that I said to you back at the Oracle. I had dug myself into a hole emotionally and when the mark disappeared, I panicked. I felt embarassed, and did not know how to explain to you what I had done, not to mention I did not know what it would do to you. I was a coward, and I did the coward thing, and instead of going to you to talk about it and see if we could figure out what happened together, I ran. For that, and so much more, I am truely sorry." Lyle said. With this last part he took his eyes away from the road and looked at Amaris. Amaris was a little confused. "What do you mean that the mark just disappeared? Tell me exactly what
Amaris looked straight at Lyle now pinning him with her stare. He tensed and looked genuinely nervous. "What is there to talk about. I blew it. I lost my chance and do not deserve you." Lyle started in. Amaris cut him off. "Don't give me that cop out. You told me before that you still wanted to be with me. Was that the truth?" Amaris wait with folded arms. Lyle snuck a peak at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Yes. That has always been true. You know that." Lyle said with emphasis on the last. "And is it still true?" Amaris questioned him further. "Of course it is. I will never stop loving you, or wanting to be with you." He looked at her as if to proove his sincerity. "The gods have seen fit to take away that option for me because I am not..." Amaris had had enough of his wallowing. "Oh bull shit! You were the one who did it to your self. Did you not listen to a word of what I just told you. When you wished in the shower that we had never marked each other, it ca
Amaris and Lyle sat at the table in the RV which had now become their home. They had settled into their life together on the run. They drove through the European countryside acting like all the rest of the tourists. They stayed away from areas that were known concentrated werewolf areas. They fell into their day-to-day routine, and Lyle had even taught Amaris how to drive the RV. Amaris was starting to show now, and Lyle was concerned that she did not have the proper doctor's care for her pregnancy. More than once he had tried to see if he could find a pack doctor that was willing to see her that was not loyal to the crown. However, they were in Europe, where the werewolves were most loyal to the King or Queen, since they were so close to them. He had not had any luck. They had not had any contact with anyone that they knew, as they had planned. Lyle had bought a burner phone in case of an emergency, but had not even turned it on yet so that there was no way to trace them. To further
Amaris bent down to see Anna at her feet holding her bleeding leg. She had changed back and was now naked. Amaris stripped off her hoodie and gave it to her grateful best friend. "Are you okay?" Amaris asked Anna while looking over to see if Lyle had moved. "I'll be fine. It's nothing Taji can't take care of when he gets back. Go check on your mate." Anna said watching the torn look on Amaris' face. Amaris looked back and gave Anna's shoulder a squeeze, and then hurried to Lyle. Amaris dropped to her knees between Lyle and The King's corpse. Lyle was breathing. It was as if he was asleep. Amaris knew that he must be like the others that she had brought back. It would drain her of her energy to do it. Then she took a look at the area around her. There were so many men and women that were injured and needed help. She knew that Taji could not do it all on his own. Amaris thought about how to heal them all for a moment, and then came up with an idea. She took a deep breath and closed her
Alexis and Andreas' men were attacking in their wolf form. They were coming in from every side, and from the look of it they had The King's men out numbered. The clearing was in an uproar with men and wolves everywhere. Before Amaris knew what was happening, Lyle had transformed into his wolf and leaped between her and The King. His muzzle wrinkled as he bared his teeth and growled in warning. The King looked at him and merely laughed. He reached behind him and grabbed the staff that he had back at the palace. Lyle seemed to recognize it and backed up a few steps. The King laughed at his retreat. "Smart lad. Hand her over and I will not have to use it." Lyle backed up a few more steps and this time he leaned into Amaris pushing her back too. The fighting was still going on around them. Many of The King's men lay upon the ground, and most of the rest were fighting two or three wolves now, since they were severely out numbered. Amaris saw that many of the wolves were making their way cl
Lyle walked around the back of the house to the UTV as the truck drove away. He climbed in and looked at Amaris. "Decoy." He said with a thumb over his shoulder. "Where did you find him? He looks like your doppleganger." Amaris asked amazed. "Funny thing. When I went to get some of those items that we needed earlier, he was the supply clerk that helped me. I asked him to help me out this evening by taking the truck out for a test drive to see if the repairs I made earlier are going to hold. I told him I needed to drive a short way behind to see if it was okay." Lyle laughed again. "So that poor guy has no idea that he is bait?" Amaris was getting ready to get out of the UTV. "I did tell him that since we were hiding out that we need to be extra vigilent for the possibility of attack, which is more likely since we have been here for a while." Amaris got angry. "Lyle, that poor man could get killed because they think that he is you!" She turned and yelled at him. "We
Amaris' mouth hung open for a moment, and then anger grew. "Who? Who whipped you?" Lyle turned to look at her, then down to the floor. "Adam and Sveta. They were made for each other. They are equally twisted and driven by their need for power." Lyle said with a dismissive tone and then almost mechanically started taking the rest of his clothes off. It was clear that he did not want to continue this conversation any further. Amaris walked over and lifted his face to hers from his bent over position. "I'm sorry." She said in a whisper that cracked from the emotion behind it. "I did not want any of this, least of all for you to be hurt." she kissed his cheek tenderly. Lyle dropped the clothes that he was holding and put his arms around her. "This is not your fault. Don't ever think that. This is not something that you chose. You were as much thrown into this as the rest of us. This is all the fault of the ones who have greed and lust in their heart. The ones who have
Lyle dropped it back into the pack and put a few things in from the pile that he had set aside to go into the truck. Then he grabbed the pack that Amaris was filling and sorted through her things. He found a tracker there too. "Well, at least we know it wasn't Kliman. He never touched your pack." Lyle said as he moved over to the doorway of the barn. Sitting against the wall of the barn were a few dozen hiking packs waiting to be filled. Lyle grabbed two from the end and handed one to Amaris. "Fill them with everything that you will need. Only one extra set of clothes, and a couple extra pairs of socks and underware. Food, and matches, and so on." Lyle was moving so quickly that Amaris was not sure what to grab first to stay out of his way. "Quickly! We need to do this before he gets back, or anyone else comes along and sees us." They both hurried and filled their packs and then Lyle took them both and told Amaris to stay there and he would be right back. While Lyle wa
When Amaris' hand touched the young man's arm she suddenly was transported to another time. It was night here. There was the unmistakable sounds of fighting. Growls, and yelling all around her. The young man that Amaris had just been talking to was in front of her hiding behind a tree. He held some sort of black box in his hand and loooked to be waiting for something. "Where are we?" She asked the young man in a whisper as she stepped closer to him. The man did not respond. He did not even look at her. She reached up to tap him on his shoulder. Her hand went right through him. Amaris jumped back startled. She stared at her own hand, and then tried to touch the tree next to her. Her hand passed through that too. She took another look around her. She realized that the man standing next to her was speaking. "They are leaving now. Green transport truck. She is hidden in the back under the tarp. Out" The man said. He was putting the box away and turned to leave in th
Amaris stood there frozen and watched the back of Gran as she walked out of the room. She slowly sank back down on the couch next to Lyle again. He still had not moved from his spot, but seemed to be in deep thought. Amaris brought Lyle out of his stupor by grabbing his hand. "Did she just say what I think that she said? Are we going to have a baby?" Amaris thought about what Gran had said 'Little ones'. What did she mean? Was she talking about our children in the future? Amaris felt just like she often had lately after talking to Gran, more confused. Lyle took a deep breath and turned to Amaris. "According to the tapestries that we saw earlier, you and I will have one set of twins. A boy and a girl. Like you they will also have powers. Which means that like you they will also be hunted by others for what they can do." Lyle hung his head. He did not want to think about his children being hunted anymore than he wanted to think about Amaris being hunted. Now it was Ama
Amaris sat back and looked at Gran who had a big grin on her face. Anna walked over and squeezed in between Lyle and Amaris. "Sorry Romeo, but we need to get this meeting moving, and you just can't help yourself." She said patting Lyle on the shoulder at his disappointed look. Lyle rubbed the back of his neck again and smiled raising his hands in the air. "Got me." There were a few laughs and then everyone turned back to Gran. "Well, as I was saying. We will be splitting up." Everyone gathered around her nodded. Gran had presented this idea already, and no one seemed to disagree with her. "Lyle you will be taking Amaris and hiding. NONE of us is to know where you are." Amaris' eyes grew wide and worry now crept in. Up to this point she had been able to stay safe because she had the help of a lot of people. She did not want anyone else to die, and she was afraid that she would get Lyle killed if he felt that he was her only line of defense. Gran pointed a finger at Amari