Chapitre 10: Chapter 10 Fire!
Grace’s POV
I woke up, not at all surprised at waking up curled into a huge gray wolf. After our meal, I felt the past few weeks catch up to me and I yawned long and hard. After being constantly tortured, humiliated, and raped over and over, my body was still feeling the aftereffects of everything that had happened. I might not be able to see them anymore, but I knew that my body was bruised and battered.
I needed time to recover, and I needed a clear mind to think of a plan. But with my belly full for the first time in ages, instead of quickening up, my systems seemed to crash and demand that I recuperated. And despite doing my best to fight it, it was quickly proving to be a useless battle…
Jack got up and once again prepared to shift. I asked him what he was doing, and he simply told me that a human would freeze without protection. He was going to shift into his wolf form and use that to protect me.
“You-you don’t have to-to do that,” I stammered, hoping that my voice wasn’t as weak as it sounded to my own ears. Of course, my dark voice instantly jumped at the opportunity to mock me again and while I hated to admit it, I was getting comfortable around Jack.
Too Comfortable!
He knew how to survive out here and he made me feel safe. Something I hadn’t felt ever since---
Since Cole…
“Until we reach your home, you’re my responsibility,” he said gruffly as if it was a discussion he was already done with. And just like that, he’d turned my world upside down again.
“WE?!” I exclaimed, feeling my throat closing up as hope made my heart feel tight. “You-you won’t leave me?”
He just shook his head and just like that, the dams once again broke, and the floodgates opened. I threw myself at him. Holding him, thanking him, and crying my heart out. I ignored the mocking at the back of my head, telling me how pathetic this was.
Right then, I just needed to cry…
Jack sat with me and while this didn’t seem like something that came naturally to him, he didn’t push me away. He continued to hold me and gently patted my head until sleep took me away.
So, yeah, I wasn’t surprised at finding myself buried in thick gray fur. And so nice and soft. And warm! Oh, God! After having finally gotten used to constantly being cold, and then waking up feeling warm and safe, I realized that this was a feeling I wasn’t ever going to take for granted again.
One big gold eye eyed me with interest as if wondering if I was awake or just pretending. I smiled and without giving it much thought, I reached out, stroking the huge animal over the head. I knew that Jack was in there somewhere, but his animal was in control right now, so it didn’t feel that weird. And as if agreeing with that, the wolf’s tail eagerly began to wag and pressed his big head into my hand, asking for more.
I still marveled at how big he was. I’d seen the other wolves in their wolf form, and they’d been big. At least the size of a small horse. But Jack was easily twice that size, towering over them easily. No wonder he’d ripped them apart despite being alone…
“What time is it?” I asked and while I didn’t expect the wolf to answer, he did get up and picked up a pile of clothes before running into the woods. I had no idea why he was doing that, but I soon realized that when nature called, you had to answer.
I got up and walked a few feet in between the trees, hoping to find a good hiding spot. And not get lost at the same time. I squatted between some bushes and while it was uncomfortable, I just pulled up after I was done. I washed my hands by gathering some droplets of water off the surrounding foliage.
When I returned to the campsite – or whatever – Jack was already there, dressed in the same jeans, but this time he’d put on a once-upon-a-time white T-shirt. Too bad, I found myself thinking. He had a really good body.
It was a shame to hide it away…
As if he’d heard me, he looked up, and instantly I blushed. Did werewolves by any chance read minds? As the blush spread all the way to the tip of my ears, I quickly asked him the same question I’d asked the wolf, hoping that it would distract him.
“6-ish,” he replied with a shrug while digging through his backpack again. Oh, I thought to myself, surprised. I hadn’t slept that long but felt fully rested. Hell, I hadn’t even dreamt about anything. Not that I wanted to dream about what had happened so I guess I should just count my blessing and---
“To days later.”
“What?!” I exclaimed, knowing that my eyes were bulging out of my skull at this point.
“You been sleeping for almost 30 hours,” Jack replied with that half-lip tilt he always did like it was no big deal.
Two DAYS?!
“Why didn’t you wake me?!” I exclaimed, still surprised. Hell, I knew I’d been tired, but I’d slept for over 24 hours!
Who did that?!
Jack just shrugged and gave me a looked that said: “You looked like you needed it.” And yeah, obviously! But---
“You stayed with me for two days?” I asked, still dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe he’d done that for me. I mean--- yeah, he said he was responsible for me, but there was being responsible for someone and then going above and beyond for that someone…
“Spending two days with a beautiful woman,” he asked sarcastically and arched an eyebrow at me. “How will I cope?”
Of all the things I expected him to say that was--- yeah, it didn’t even make the list! Sure, Cole had told me all the time and he’d even made sure that I always felt like the most beautiful person in the world. He always looked at me as if there wasn’t another woman around and he never made me feel insecure about anything in our relationship…
And just look how that ended up?
I knew I wasn’t skinny – at least not back then – but I was ok with that. I didn’t want to be a size 0 model and I didn’t want to live to be 100 years old if that meant not being able to eat chocolate cake. I wasn’t unhealthy and I didn’t have any insecurities. But even I knew that everything with Cole was way above anything a girl like me could ever dream of.
Hot, rich, and sweet?
Average Jane’s like me didn’t get that!
That’s why everything with Cole had felt so good and wonderful. Too good to be true and was one of the reasons why I always held a little bit back. Why I didn’t tell him that I’d loved him after only two dates and why I always expected him to lose interest in me after some time.
But nothing like that ever happened.
And that was why I felt safe falling for him. Why I let myself get wrapped up in his talk about forever and the future. Why I didn’t stop him from claiming me.
Mind, body, and soul…
And then he tried to kill me! And everything I thought I knew about myself, about love and even my ideals had been shattered to pieces. I heard that dark voice call me pathetic, weak, and not worthy of love.
And I believed her.
She called me ugly, scared, and used.
I believed her…
She said no man would ever want someone broken, wasted, and disgusting as me…
And she was right…!
So somehow hearing Jack say that made my heart flutter and the feminine side of me blushed like a virgin. The damaged part of me took another look at me, wondering what he saw that I didn’t. Because all I saw was someone who had been tossed aside, used, and abused by the man who claimed that he loved her.
And he said I was beautiful?
“Erm, thanks,” I said, trying to shake it off. He was just being polite. He probably didn’t even mean anything by it, I quickly told myself and for once the dark voice agreed. He just said that to make me feel less guilty. And he stuck around because he knew didn’t want to be responsible for my death.
That was all it was…
He didn’t say anything else but instead handed me a lighter.
“Do you know how to make a fire?” he asked, his stormy grey eye meeting mine. I nodded and went to work. Hey, I had watched enough documentaries to know something about nature. But when the great finale came around and it was time to light the fire, the lighter didn’t work.
I tried and tried again, while Jack prepared what looked to be chicken breasts for breakfast. Just watching it made me realize how hungry I was. And now I really wanted this stupid lighter to work.
“Work, you stupid piece of shit!” I hissed, feeling the anger build inside of me. And just like that, it felt like a bubble gathered in my chest. I couldn’t explain it, but it felt as if the anger inside of me took a physical form. It needed an outlet and without thinking I sent it down my arms, into my fingers, and into the---
Fire blasted out of my fingertips and a huge ball of fire hit the gathered firewood. The blast knocked me on my ass and even managed to push Jack off his feet.
Stunned stupid I kept glaring at the fire I’d just created. It quickly ate its way into the firewood and heated the surrounding area, making it look more like a movie set than two people – or at least one “people” and a werewolf – desperately trying to survive in the wild.
I created that…?
How?!
How the hell did I do that? Did something malfunction with the lighter? Had it exploded? Had I lost my hand and just not realized it yet? Fear gripped my heart as I searched both of my hands. But to my surprise, they were both there. Perfectly healthy and not even a scratch on them.
Well--- almost…
Glaring at the contraption in my hand I realized that the red smudge was actually the lighter. It had melted into my hand and there was nothing left but a crumbled piece of plastic. And what was even more shocking, was that I didn’t feel any pain. Not from the heat, or the plastic or---
“You’re a witch?”
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone