Eclipsed Hearts

Backtracking

[Ian]

The bathroom door opened just before Mari could tell me what her real name was. I growled at Keaton as he came out and eyed us both. He frowned.

“What the hell is going on here? Why does it look like some sort of television drama in here? Get the hell off of her. And if you fuсking growl at me again, I’ll beat your ass.”

His command made me only want to stay where I was even more. Mari was mine until I let her go. He couldn’t tell me what to do with my mate.

“He just wanted to know my real name so he could reject me.”

“Don’t tell him your name, Mari,” Keaton commanded. “If he rejects you, then he and his pack will suffer. The intensity of his pain will render him unable to contribute, and without any grounding, he may easily lose control and overreact. The partnership between a dominant wolf and their mate is crucial in ensuring the well-being and security of the entire pack. Among his pack, he is one of only three adults. If he dies, do you think that two damaged werewolves are going to support a dozen children?”

Mari went completely still, as if turned to stone beneath me. I looked at her and noticed a solitary tear welling up in her right eye. She averted her gaze, allowing it to glide off her face.

Why would that make her all teary-eyed? She was a hunter. A killer. A Damson.

I let her go. With shaky legs, Mari stood, her eyes glued to the ground, her hand reaching up to brush away the tear on her cheek. Keaton moved closer and put his arm around her, like a protective shield.

“It’s a lot to take in. He can’t reject you here and he knows it. Ian, you need to stop trying to get rid of her. Livy and Oliver have been working on a project to help when Alphas need to find a new mate. As long as you two can let the bond stay, we can go to Storm Moon when this is over.

“Mari will have to be sequestered without outside contact and she can’t know where we are going at all, but I will guarantee her safety while she is on that trip. Will you trust me, Mari?”

Stepping back from him, she straightened her posture and adopted a cold, unyielding expression on her face. Mari shed her human facade and transformed into the stone-cold hunter she truly was. If it was any other hunter, I would’ve wanted to kill when I saw that look, but instead, it hurt.

“If I’ll live and I won’t be tied to a werewolf anymore, then it’d be worth whatever needs to happen for them to feel comfortable. I can tell you now, I don’t like raids and I don’t agree with them. Is there any way I can convince you not to turn the children, though? They should be given a chance in life and what chance could they get as werewolves?” Mari asked.

I turned away to hide my eye roll before she caught me. The hunters had a lot of false beliefs about their surroundings. I never educated the hunters I worked with about the ridiculous notion that being a werewolf was a curse transmitted through a bite. Some were already ready to kill children. I wouldn’t provide them with any additional justification.

“We don’t turn children. It’s not possible to transmit lycanthropy that way. It’s an old wife’s tale,” Keaton told her.

“Wh… what?”

“It’s genetic. Like having red hair or green eyes. Your people kill our people because of something we’re born with. Something we can’t change. Can you imagine how many people who didn’t want to be a werewolf ended up getting killed for it? How about the ones who lost everything and everyone they loved? Just because they were born different,” I said, cutting Keaton off, but not turning back around.

Mari was silent behind me, but I fought the urge to check in on her. I didn’t want to lose the upper hand I had now. She thought this was a curse foisted upon us, but still didn’t try to stop them from killing us.

“Mari, are you alright?”

“It was easier when I thought there were some bad ones, but the others were afflicted, suffering. It made it easier to cope with the raids. Now, it’s… harder. I’ll do what I have to, then. There’s no bargain I can make that’s going to save the kids,” she responded to Keaton’s question.

I wandered into the closet and started looking for my things. Before we went to breakfast, I needed to be ready and not feel like I was going to jump Mari if she looked at me with those big, soft eyes again. I needed to get away from her.

I pulled out some clothes and tried to focus on the mundane tasks, but my mind was racing. Despite my desire to keep her at arm’s length, I couldn’t shake the feeling that lingered on my lips, or the warmth of her in my arms. I knew she had a hard life, and that she had seen things no human should ever witness.

If there was a different way to get rid of her that wouldn’t cause me to need to kill her or have a mourning period where my wolf would act as if it were mourning a dead mate. We didn’t need that, neither did the pack. I would be more than happy to give this a shot. I couldn’t abandon my children. This was really the best option.

Heading to the bathroom, I tried to ignore them and just focus on moving forward. We needed to do whatever we could with Gino to ensure that the bastard died. I wouldn’t have been as pissed if he hadn’t proved he was exactly the same type of man I thought he was. Sick bastard.

My shower was quick. Just enough to wake me up and get me moving. Mari took a shower when I finished, and I struggled not to follow her in. She needed one more than Keaton or I did, but werewolves cleaned themselves more when stressed. It was because of our human sides, since it wasn’t a wolf trait to do that.

I looked over the itineraries for the day with Keaton and we made plans for changes so one of us could be with Mari at all times today. We would have to do this daily, but I knew it was important.

“What the hell was that about? I thought you were going to wait and give her a chance,” Keaton said quietly as we worked to rearrange the schedule.

“You told me to wait. I chose not to. She’s a hunter and a human. I can’t keep her as my mate. The last time my family trusted a Damson, my entire pack got slaughtered. I’m not trusting her again. If this thing your friends can do to help to heal from losing a mate and moving on will let me get rid of her, I’d give anything. I don’t want Mari Damson as my mate.”

“She’s not really a Damson. Why won’t you hear me? I thought you were going to make the sensible move. You said you’d give her a chance. What’s wrong with you?” he groaned.

Before I could answer, the bathroom door opened, and Mari came out. I could smell her damp hair, mixed with a subtle soap scent that was meant to slightly alter her natural smell.

How was she so beautiful? I didn’t want my heart to ache like it did. I wanted it to be made of stone or something harder and less brittle.

“So, what’s the plan?” she asked, keeping her distance from me.

Damn it.