Not edited

The words don't register. They don't land until several hands managed to tug me away from Hunter. I strain, and I snarl as the hands succeed in dragging me further and further from the prone body on the ground. Words come to mind and leave my mouth in a quick burst like a gunshot. Though I have no idea what I say, the adults in the room do and I feel the mood drop. Hands tighten on my arms and shoulders, tight enough to leave bruises.

"He will die if you continue." A gruff male voice gowls, full of strain and anger. "YOU ARE KILLING HIM!" He practically shouts in my ear, still the words barely pierce the pleasurable fog swirling in my brain. "Hunter." The words are barely audible, but come in like a 5-tonne truck thundering right towards a cliff.

A breath leaves me, realising sinking in. Hunter's blood gushes from the multiple bite wounds. He was slowly dying with every laboured breath. 

NO! 

YOU ARE NOT LEAVING ME WHEN I FINALLY FOUND YOU!

My thoughts are swirling with ideas to stop the bleeding but are dismissed one after the other. 

BLOOD. 

MINE AND HIS MIXED LIFE. 

It is the thought that keeps returning, getting more assertive and more dominant and my body moves on its own. Moving my left wrist to my mouth I bite down hard enough to draw blood. The piercing pain helps clear the fog in my head and I calm down. My focus narrows down to Hunter and nothing else. 

HE NEEDS TO LIVE!!

My instincts scream at me to do something, whatever is necessary to make sure Hunter survives this. That means getting close to him so he can swallow my blood and replenish his own.

But that means the bond between us can't be broken anymore. It will be for a lifetime. It will be for all time. 

There is a small voice in the back of my head cautioning me about the dire consequences of my actions. Shoving the thought away I explode into sudden movement, causing the hands that grip my arms to loosen enough for me to break free. 

"Ainsley!" My name is shouted from someplace far away. "Don't! You are not ready yet!" The voice pitches in height with worry but I ignore it. Hunter is more important than that voice, far more important. There is no hesitation as I lower my face to Hunter's and once again I am struck by his beauty and the strong lines on his face. Tilting his head back slightly, I nudge his mouth open with my thumb and slowly dribble the blood in my mouth into his.

Please Live!!

Come on...Come on...

Work!! 

WORK DAMMIT!!! 

DRINK!!!

Despite my pleading, my shouting, my cajoling, Hunter does not move, does not swallow. Tears stream down my face as reality sets in, a life without Hunter, is a life not worth living. My thoughts turn dark and dangerous as my body sags over Hunter's. Sobs fill the room, it takes me a minute to realise they are mine, and they sound heartwrenching. How could they not, my heart is broken, torn from my chest, and lies gasping on the floor underneath me. Slowly dying, because of my stupidity.

"Hunter, you are my heart, the breath in my lungs, and the blood in my veins. How am I to live without you?" The words are barely a whisper, no sound left my lips but something happened. My bleeding wrist miraculously still is positioned above his mouth, still bleeding is struck with fangs.

My head jerks up, jarring my left wrist from his mouth. A hand snaps up, caging my wrist to his mouth for a few seconds before it is released and I stare dumbly at the sealed wound, before looking, gazing into Hunter's face with his previously closed eyes now open. Colour slowly crept back into his skin, due to my blood.

"Hunter?" The words barely leave my mouth before I am thrown backwards, landing flat on my back with a grunt. I open my mouth to speak but Hunter is on me without a pause, snarling like an animal. His hands clamp on my shoulder and twist my head to the side, exposing my heart vein. The points of his fangs tease the skin, dragging a line, up and down my throat, without piercing the skin.

My body loses the tenseness, if he can hold himself back to tease me like this, he is not lost to me. "Drink." That is what I intended to say but don't get the chance as pain and pleasure shoot through me at the bite. I gasp and choke a little as emotions I do not recognise thunder through me as the fledgling Bond between me and Hunter solidifies into something unbreakable, unshakable, undoable.

Mine

The word echoes through our bond, filling me with a sense of relief. A sense of ownership. I know I should baulk at the thought, but somehow I don't, and I seem not to particularly care.

FINALLY, AINSLEY IS MINE

Then I realise why I am not bothered by the words. These are Hunter's thoughts, Hunter's feelings about me. And I can do nothing but accept them. My heart overflows with emotion as the frantic pulling on my vein calms down and Hunter settles against my chest.

It's gonna leave a scar.

I jolt as Hunter speaks to me, not expecting this to happen, to even be possible. Nothing in the stories and legends I read about Bonded stated that something like this could happen. There were instances that a Bonded couple could feel each other's emotions, and general thoughts but nothing like this. I could hear Hunter's thoughts as he spoke them out loud.

Sorry. I didn't mean to...

"It's okay," I reassure him, hugging him tightly to my chest. "I love you anyway, and you're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

His body shakes a little, and I realise he is silently laughing at me. I thump him on his back "Don't you laugh at me, mister! This is your fault anyway." The shaking stops and I sober a little as the reality of our situation reasserts itself like an unwanted, unremovable stain.

It wasn't Hunter's fault this happened but mine. All mine and my stupidity. Before I could sink in my bleak thoughts a sound jars me back into the present.

"I wanted you to bite me. I wanted our Bond to be unbreakable." I blink owlishly, unsure if the words were out loud or if they were in my head. A deep chuckle vibrates my chest with its sound, and Hunter's piercing eyes tell me Hunter spoke out loud. "All is how it should be." He practically purrs against my ear, rubbing his nose down my jawline. The warm fuzzy feeling that came from the feeding slowly changed into something else with every swipe of Hunter's nose along my skin.

A dry cough pulls both our attention away from each other and towards the sound. Turning my head I notice a pair of shoes near my head. Looking up I see Hunter's father standing there looking slightly worried but glad. "Good to see you in good health son." His accent deepened into a more ancient pronouncement, lilting and leaving out certain letters. Hunter's response is a deep growl and shifted his body so he was facing his father, lip curled and showing fangs as long as my fingers.

"He is MINE!" Hunter's voice is a rasp, sounding like gravel. All kinds of warnings shoot through me, it should have brought me fear, instead, lust and desire roared through my veins. Biting my lip to keep from moaning, it pulled Hunter's attention as a bead of blood rose to the surface. The look of need passed over Hunter's face and it took him a good while to get it under control.

It is yours.

A beautiful smile splits his face, as he leans down to suck on the bead. I didn't expect anything else and jerked as his tongue licked along my lips. Panting, Hunter took advantage of the opening and stuck his tongue in. Battling with his tongue with my own required all of my concentration. My hands find themselves in his thick hair, urging Hunter's face closer. Hunter's hands find my hips in response, pulling them closer. My legs widen to accept his weight, bringing our groins together.

We were rolling our hips, trying to find friction to ease the strain of my desire. With a wet sound, our mouths separated, gasping to get some oxygen in my starved lungs. My mouth opens and closes a couple of times, unable to form words. 

"While this obvious display of affection is most certainly inspiring. It nonetheless should not have happened at your ages." Aleksandr calmly continues, ignoring the snarls from Hunter. Murmurs from the other High Council members confirm his statement.

"So you mean I should just let Hunter bleed to death is that it?" Everyone in the room quiets down and I can feel them looking at me, but I focus my attention on Aleksandr instead. " Since all of you were too busy dragging me away from him, none of you thought of calling a doctor or medical personnel to save him. ALL OF YOU WERE READY FOR HIM TO DIE!!!" My body strains to contain the power that flows through me, and the burning anger in my gut starts to stir up the flames once more. "So don't you dare say we are too young for this, old man," I ground out through gritted teeth. "This is meant to be." My voice sounds strange, even to my ears it sounds otherworldly, ethereal. 

My body lifts off the floor, and despite Hunter's bulk, I am lifted even higher. Hunter drops on his shapely rump with a thud as my form rightens itself to look Aleksandr in the eye. Power pulses from me in light blue waves that cascade all over the room. "Do NOT Forget Aleksandr Ivanov, Son of Illanon Ilvanov that the blood of my mother Lady Elisabeth Marion, Prophet of the Ivory Tower flows through my veins." Aleksandr's eyes widen at the mention of the Ivory Tower. "I am her one and only son and HEIR to both my parents' legacies."  I turn in a circle to face the other members "And don't you forget it either."

Having said what needed to be said, the power leaves me and I drop to the floor darkness encroaching on my vision. The last thing I see before I succumb to the darkness is hunter's worried ashen face. 

"Oh, my darling child." a lilting feminine voice calls to me in the darkness. "This is not what I wanted for you." There is a sigh as if the speaker is resigning herself to something she doesn't like.

"Mother?" I ask, looking around wildly but I see nothing but blackness. "Where are you? Why can't I see you?" I want to see her face, like when I saw her when I was younger. "Mother?!" My voice echoes all around me and a sob escaped me. "Please don't leave me, mother, I need you!" The childish urge to stomp my feet and wail until she appears has me screaming at the top of my lungs. "MOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Her presence has left and now I am all alone in the darkness, left behind like unwanted luggage at a station. My eyes fly open, arm outstretched, "Mother!" Hands grip my shoulders, pressing my back down. "Let me go!" I snarl, struggling against the weight.

"Stop! Ainsley STOP!" Hunter's familiar voice stops my struggle and his face is hovering close to mine. There is relief in his eyes as he looks at me, his usually sharp eyes are haggard looking and his hair is dishevelled. He looks like he hasn't slept in days.  

"What...." My voice trails off as I finally see the room we are in and it is the stark white of the hospital wing. I am in a bed with white linen sheets tucked tightly around my body. 

"You have been unconscious for the last three days. Ainsley." The Head Master says as he walks into view. "We need to talk."