Dark Hunger

"She is going to be fine," Auril replied, as he shook his head out of pure relief. He had never felt this afraid in his life, not even when he was caged by his mother. "You have to keep her warm now." Well, thank the gods, they were all saved now from the wrath of Caleb, the mightiest sorcerer.

"I will," Caleb murmured. "You both can leave." 

"Your Highness, I will help clean the queen when she wakes up," said Laurel. "She would be too weak—"

Before she could complete the sentence, he said, "Go fuck yourself!" 

Laurel audibly gulped, her eyes widening. She was so flustered at his rudeness that she just stammered, "Ok— m— my—" 

"Get out!" he growled so dangerously that instantly she got out of the room to go to hers. 

"Make her drink more blood and then give her a hot water bath. She should be fine," Auril said. He knew that along with the medicine, it was his blood that healed Elize. He closed the door behind them softly and walked to his room, feeling… good. Mates… crazy people… 

--- 

Elize had fallen into deep sleep and was coming in and out of consciousness. The bed beside her felt strangely cold. Where had he gone? She wondered. Was he again in danger? The thought made her fight to come out of her stupor. She wanted to hold him, see and smell him once again just to be reassured. 

"Lizzy?" a soft, yet faint voice from distance came and she clamored her way to the surface of water that she had sunk beneath. The voice sounded warbled. She opened her mouth to say something but words didn't come out. It seemed the man had entered her dimension. He gently moved her head until she faced him and looked at her. So beautiful… she thought. Her eyes were half open. "Lizzy?" he called her again, his voice not as warbled as before. "I am going to give you a hot bath." 

She wanted to nod, but her body was so limp. Why was it limp? She felt him picking her up and taking her to the shower. Over there the man lifted her in his lap and turned the shower on. She loved it. She loved the nearness of his body more than the hot water sluicing down her, down them. After a long time, when he was satisfied, he dried her with a towel and brought her back to the bed. He must have changed her clothes to a thin nighty or perhaps she wasn't wearing anything, but he had wrapped his body around hers beneath the soft comforters and then she was surrounded by his warmth and the security of his arms and the pine and mist scent that comforted her always. Elize closed her eyes. "Come back, Lizzy…" he said in a voice so pained. He tall, muscular, dark-haired handsome a fuck man. "I won't let anyone hurt you again…" he promised her. 

She wanted to speak, to move. She struggled. She knew she could do it, she had to do it for him. She strengthened her mind, she had to swim out. She started making her way up. Struggling…. Struggling… Fighting against the odds. She shoved herself up through the water-like state and tore it. She sucked in a deep breath as she coughed. "Caleb?" 

"Lizzy! By Skadi! Of thank the wolf spirits! Now we all will live!" 

Her eyes opened up slightly as she drank in the features of his… chest? The wolf was only in his pants. A semblance of smile returned to her face when those big palms held her face and pulled it up to see him. "You are safe, my dear," he said. After what she did God-knows when, he was happy to see her unharmed. He is mine. 

"Caleb," she said and then he pressed his lips to hers. No more words were needed. He pulled back and then sighed as he wrapped his arms around her and tucked her face in his neck. 

"Do you want to drink more?" he asked, his chest vibrating against hers. 

"No…" Her voice drawled and she trailed off in a dreamless sleep. She heard him saying something like they would be on the road in a few hours, but she didn't care anymore. 

--- 

Laurel paced in her room with anxiety. She was not able to sleep. After the way Caleb spoke with her, she was sure that the king was extremely angry with her for not looking after the queen. She was forming her excuse with careful words. She was going to say that Elize left the restaurant to go to the washroom and then without telling her, she walked into the forest. "Yes!" Laurel said aloud. "This would be a great excuse!" She was sure that Elize wouldn't know what she was doing because she had cast her spell very efficiently. A smile came upon her lips. Obviously, she wasn't responsible for the queen's reckless behavior. She shrugged and then her eyes lit up as a smug smile came upon her lips again. The bitch vampire was lucky this time. She was going to make her very very unlucky now. She walked to her bed and then went off to sleep. They would be moving in a few hours now, and if she needed her plan to work well again, she needed rest. But one was there—Elize didn't have any mental shields up and so she could easily bend the queen to her will. She chuckled, closing her eyes. "You will soon be gone, Elize… Caleb will be mine and also the Amber Moonstone." 

--- 

Caleb was in the restaurant to discuss some plans with Auril leaving Elize alone only for a while to get dressed. For the last few hours, she had slept comfortably in his arms and even he had drifted off to sleep. It was so good and relaxing that he was in a buoyant mood when he woke up. It was 4AM and he left her with a wakeup kiss on her head. "Get up Lizzy.. We have to go."