4 - You're Not Breathing

~Aurora’s Point of View~

“Tired of waiting for the fall to take me. Here I am,” I mutter, before pushing forward, closing my eyes. I let go of more than just the earth beneath my feet.

I welcome the end, the tormented life I’ve created for myself. I’m completely stuck in my own head and there’s no escape. You can only get rejected so many times and not start to take it personally. None of my family wanted me, and I don’t see my adopted “pack” being any different. Waiting around for my wolf doesn’t even sound appealing anymore. I just want it all to stop, go away.

There are constantly whispers, talking behind my back. What’s worse is… I can’t even bring myself to go outside at night anymore. I haven’t in months. The darkness terrifies me not for what I can see, but what I can’t. What my subconscious somehow knows is there. There is something out here after sunset and try as I might, I just can’t put my finger on it.

When my body thuds against a hard wall, I know the pain is about to be great. All of me hit something and surely my head. When arms… yes arms wrap around me, I’m speechless and a different panic shoots through me. Stunned, I pop my eyes open. 

The deepest pair of brown eyes I’ve ever seen stare back at me. Though it’s pitch black out here, they’re only inches from mine. 

When I open my mouth to speak, to question this intervention, I can’t. Wind whips at my skin, my hair flies all over. Common sense dictates we’re flying, but that makes no sense. He doesn’t blink, he doesn’t do anything but stare into me and most surprising my body doesn’t freak out. If anything, it relaxes.

The intense smell that constantly tortures me, saffron and cardamom are literally all I can breathe in. He … is the smell. He leans forward and presses his forehead to mine. It’s cool, not warm like a shifter. But I welcome it. I welcome him.

We stay lost in each other’s eyes until there’s suddenly something beneath us. When he moves to stand me on my feet, they barely work. I finally take in the rest of his face. I think he’s a teenager, but older than me. His skin is a rich brown and he’s free of facial hair. His nose is smaller than most and rounded. My gaze drops to the dimples in his cheeks and I feel my face flush. He’s the most handsome male I’ve ever seen. My body welcomes his embrace, feels at one being so close.

His strong arms continue to hold me, and I’m honestly not sure that my legs could still support me on their own. I finally gather myself but I can only breathe out one word.

“How,” I say, packing so much into just three letters. 

How is he here? How did he save me? How does he fly? How…

I watch with great awe as his lips curl up and his hands fall down my back then move to my arms. He then takes my hands when he’s sure I can stand without his support. I blink several times as he takes a step back. My body feels cold without his hands cradling me and I can’t even believe I’m thinking that. But I am just wearing a thin dress, stupidly with nothing underneath. I was prepared to die and get washed away in the ocean, not this.

He’s wearing a thin white linen shirt that’s so long it would be a dress on me. But he’s quite a bit taller than me, which isn’t saying much. Everyone is. He’s then got tan linen pants and some kind of sandals. He looks absolutely nothing like any of the males at the pack. He somehow looks, distinguished? But he’s not old.

“In here,” he says, turning but still holding both of my hands. There’s a slight accent there, but only slight. I have no idea what it is though.

I finally turn and see we’re at a large house, something like humans would live in. Well, rich humans. I gape at it, having only seen something like this in pictures. We’re on a beach, a large deck that overlooks the ocean. I can’t really see it right now, but I smell and hear it.

The entire wall of the house is open and we walk in. There’s a few dim lights on and I can see a massive kitchen on one side and a living room on the other. He leads me to the sitting area and motions for me to sit. A breeze only serves to push more of his scent into my nose.

“What on earth were you thinking,” he snaps, making me jump. He’s still holding one of my hands firmly. My mouth falls open and I don’t know what to say. 

“I asked you first,” I say, likely showing my age. Well, it’s not like he doesn’t know how old I am certainly.

He cocks his head to the side, studying me. But he doesn’t … blink. His eyes only narrow and I know that look. He’s irritated. I stiffen my back. I definitely think he has far more explaining to do than me. He’s been taunting me for years!

When I have that realization, I jerk my hand away from him and gasp. I cover my mouth in absolute shock. 

“You’re…” I trail off. 

Still, he doesn’t speak. Just watches me curiously.

“You were the one in the tomb,” I whisper, as it all clicks in my head. 

There was very little Matthew would tell me about that night. He boarded up the cave and permanently stationed a guard near it, demanding to know if I went anywhere close to it. He said it wasn’t safe, that it was off limits. He didn’t need to tell me twice.

When I explained to him that I hadn’t wanted to go there, that something made me do it, I thought for sure he’d tell me I was crazy. But he didn’t. Instead, he seemed… fearful. Nervous. Though he’d never really talk about it. It only added to my always recurring bad dream. The dark hole deep below the earth where I nearly died. I felt like that hole wanted me for some reason, wanted to claim me. Like a sacrifice.

“Yes I was Aurora,” he replies, as my eyes dart back to him. Nobody calls me Aurora, not since Brenna left. The few who do speak to me call me “Rory” or “Aurie.”

For some reason I study his face, then his chest. I rub my hands on my thighs and ball the thin material of my dress in my fists. I’m not surprised he knows my name, not if he’s been stalking me. There’s something far more dangerous and shocking though and I’m not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me.

“You’re not breathing,” I whisper, gaping at him. My mouth hangs open, and I’m practically daring him to deny it. I feel cold though the air is warm and it’s only serving to break me out in a sweat.

He nods slowly, then crosses his legs by putting his ankle over his knee. Maybe trying not to appear as intimidating. Am I scared? I have no idea. I can’t think.

“And thankfully you are. Now, what were you thinking? You will not do that again, do I make myself clear,” he snaps, making me jump. 

I don’t even realize it but I’ve fully turned my head to the side to stare at him. I must have been locked in that position for far too long because when I straighten, my neck is stiff. I lick my lips and suddenly realize how dry my mouth is. 

I blink and he’s gone, my eyes frantically dart all over the place. I press my hands into the sofa, ready to stand when a gust of wind blows by, making me shiver. Then, he’s sitting where he’d been, but holding a bottle of water.

“I should have realized, here you go,” he says, holding it up. 

When I reach for it, my finger rubs his and it’s cool still. My eyes move again to his chest which doesn’t move. I freeze, and the water bottle falls on the couch. My mouth hangs open again.

“It can’t be…” I trail off. 

He stiffens his back and sits up straighter, and gives me a small nod. 

“I was in the process of negotiating with your Alpha how exactly to approach you. I’m supposed to get permission, you see,” he says. His deep brown eyes stayed fixed on me.

My body goes limp as I fall back onto the couch. The Alpha? He knows about him?

That means Matthew does.

I pinch my eyes closed, suddenly feeling every bit of being a stupid, stupid pup. 

“The Midnight Protectors.” 

Protecting the dark. Well, what’s in the dark? All the things your parents warn you about, tell you are just tales meant to scare pups. The entire pack knows that the undead sleep below their surface, and moreover, they protect them. 

“The pack protects you during the day, while you sleep,” I ask, turning back to look at him. 

“Something like that, yes. We have an alliance so to speak. Though, your presence woke me far earlier than I should have been. I guess you could say, I couldn’t stay away,” he states, dropping one of his arms over the end of the sofa. I try to shake the fact that I love the sound of his voice. It nearly wraps around my very soul and comforts me. I need more.

“But…” I trail off, still trying to understand it all. 

When all the hairs on literally every single part of my body stand on my skin, a greater force pushes me out of the seat. I just feel the need to move. I find myself walking, and end up in the kitchen. There’s an empty spot where literally every appliance would go. 

I chuckle to myself. Of course there is.

He doesn’t eat like I do. He doesn’t need to cook.

Because he’s a vampire.

But also … my mate.