My Protector, Mallory Davis [freenovel24 .txt] 📗

                           “It’s time” I whisper into the darkness. I know he heard me because he moves soundlessly, effortlessly across the room. Dakota’s lean body sways back and forth, but those beautiful, majestic, green eyes stay locked onto mine. I heard a crash and a moan in the other room. He was beating her…again. My uncle is abusive. He beat my aunt and I regularly. I wasn’t his usual target. It was mostly my aunt, but once in a blue moon I will get the worst of it. Tonight is my eighteenth birthday. I’ve waited years, years to be free and tonight I was. I couldn’t walk into the kitchen tomorrow and see her sitting at the table smoking a cigarette black and blue again. I couldn’t stay up another night listening to her screams of mercy. I couldn’t wake up another morning to the smell and taste of blood. The worst part is she loves him, in those eyes I see pain, yes, but most of all I see longing, desire for him…lust. That’s why I hate her. She could have gotten us out of this, but instead she was too caught up in her own sick fantasy. Now why Dakota and I sneak though my open window and into the woods I feel no remorse. I almost feel...feel…happy (almost). I walk numbly through the thick, dense, forest. Letting, trusting Dakota to lead us. Now you might be wondering, who is Dakota? Dakota is…my dog, yes, that’s the more practical word. He is more of a wolf. He has jet black, wiry, fur that bristles when he’s angry. He`s broad, alert, and strong. He is my everything. My friend, my protector. Many times he has saved me from my uncle’s wrath. In which he has received a kick in the gut himself in return. We have a special connection. He could leap higher, run faster, and understand better than anything I’ve ever seen. He was huge too. Growing taller than my waist, almost the size of a bear. Now, I just follow his lead not knowing, not caring about what might be in store for us. We walk deeper and deeper into the woods until Dakota stops and sits down. “I guess were sleeping here tonight boy” I say as I slide my backpack full of food and water off my shoulder. Then, I curl up on the cold ground. Dakota lies down next to me and I bury my face into his warm, fur. Just like I have done so many nights before. At some point I start to cry…sob actually. I cry, and cry until my eyes are swollen. Then I start to shake. No, Dakota does. I quickly sit up and stand back. Was he having a seizer? I scream at myself. Then…he…morphs. His paws become hands and feet. His hair into tan, beautiful skin. Slowly before my eyes he transforms. Not into a beast, but a man. I look at the man standing before me. He was, in fact, not a man. He was a boy around my age, not quite a man. He had silky black hair and he was tall and muscular. He had the same eyes as Dakota. The same green eyes. He reaches out and touches my cheek lightly “Riley?” he whispers. Then his lips connect with mine.

I gasp in surprise. His lips were warm, salty, and inviting. I relax against him. I run my hands through his hair. His lips part and he murmurs something against my lips, but I was lost for word. He makes a deep rumbling sound when I run my hands down his chest. What was I doing??  “NO! Stop” I say. He pulls back a fraction and I was suddenly aware of him. Aware of his arms around me, his breath that stirred my hair. This was Dakota as a…man. With my eyes still closed I take a couple steps back. “Open your eyes, look at me, it’s me Dakota.” He said. Then I realize I was crying. “Don’t cry” Dakota whispers his voice suddenly hoarse. I open my eyes. He was so beautiful. “I’m sorry, I...just…I needed” he stuttered and ran his hands through his hair. “How?” I whisper. He sighs and leans against a tree. “I’m your protector” he says so quietly I can barely here him. I snort “Then you weren’t doing a very good job” I say. There’s a moment of silence and I look up. His eyes had shown nothing, but pain, regret. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that I’m just so confused.” I say and he looks at me. “No your right. I didn’t protect you like I should” he said and he sounded like he blamed himself fully. “I was assigned to you. Every werewolf or any other downworlder is assigned to one person. They didn’t give me much information, but I need to take you to the institute. They can tell you all the details.” He says and locks eyes with me. “I know your confused, I know you, the look on your face right now. Your scared, and yet you trust me because.” He takes a step closer to me and takes my hand. He lays it on his chest were his heart is. “Because I’m the same Dakota that you talk to, cried to, cling to every night. It’s me, all that time.” He whispers he was so close. All that time it was him. I feel his heart beat under my fingertips. Thump, thump, thump. It was him, I remember because it was that heart beat I listened to every night. I pull him into a bear hug. I squeeze him tightly, afraid of losing him. “I’ve dreamed of this moment” I whisper and buried my face into the crook of his neck. Which was true. I’ve dreamed of Dakota as a man, because in my mind he was always more than a dog. He was my friend. “Me too” he whispers so low I wonder if I imagined it. He holds me a while and eventually I fall asleep to the sound beat of his heart.

I awaken to the warm sun beating down on my face. I open my eyes. It takes them a moment to adjust, but when they do I shriek. A guy was holding me, in his arms, against his solid chest. He looked like he was still asleep so I sneak silently, out of his protective arms. Then last night’s memories flood back. I touch my lips were he had kissed them. So sweet and warm. I look at him really look at him. He had high cheekbones and long eyelashes. He had black hair that fell softly around his face. I remember running my hands through it. It had felt like heaven. He was broad chested and tall. That was saying something since I was tall myself, but unlike him I had blue eyes that some people would call “cold” or “calculating” which I didn’t really care. Dakota was beautiful there was something about him that…draws me in. Maybe it was the eyes, I don’t know. “Checking me out?” Dakota says and his eyes open widely. I just back in surprise, with a blush creeping up my cheeks. Dakota laughs and I give him a murderous look. “So how are we going to get to the ‘Institute’ anyways?” I ask, suddenly serious. Dakota just stare for a moment. “Look, Dakota, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me but I don’t want pity ok? I can take care of myself” I say. Judging by what happen last night apparently I couldn’t. “PITY?” Dakota spits the words at me like venom. “Is that what you think this is?” he asks me. Why was he so mad? I just stare at him. “You don’t get it do you? I CAN’T I’m drawn to you somehow I can’t explain it. I need you like I need air to breath. Ever since that day I followed you home from school. Most people would have been scared, but you weren’t. You walked right up to me and petted me.” He says and smiles “That’s when I knew you were special. Then I couldn’t stay away, couldn’t get enough.” His voice drops to a whisper he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “So if this is pity, it’s not for you it’s for me.” He says I pinch myself until I bleed. Yup, this is real. “Ok, but one condition.” I say and he smiles “anything” he says. I hesitate a moment. “You can’t touch me like that” I say and the smile vanishes from his face. I keep going before I lose the nerve. “I-I can’t think when you touch me like that.” I say avoiding his gaze. There’s a long agonizing silence. “Ok, next time I…touch you it will be because you asked me to.” He says and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I hug him and he stiffens. “Just this one-time” I whisper and he instantly relaxes. He buries his face in the crook of my neck and takes a deep breath. This was going to be hard to resist. Every part of my that touches his tingles. I give him a lingering kiss on his neck and I hear him moan. He mumbles something I couldn’t hear into my hair. “So very, very touching I mean really I wasn’t expecting that.” A voice says and I jump. Dakota stiffens under my grasps. We pull apart. “Oh, don’t let me interrupt” he says. The man steps out from the shadows. Every hair on my body was on edge. The man had blonde hair and black eyes. Fully black with no white what so ever. His eyes flicker to me. “She’s not that bad looking either maybe we can have some fun before I kill her.” Dakota went rigid all over. His hand clench into fists and his eyes went hard and unmerciful his gaze alone could bring a mortal man to his knees. When he spoke it was like ice, razor blades in one. “You won’t touch her” and I believed him too.  The man flew on Dakota so fast it