Page 117 of Phobia

“We’re bonded, Silas. You’re mine, and I’m yours. You belong to me, now.” Her words were breathy. I could feel my balls tighten as she released moan after moan. I was close.

“Come, Cress. Now.”

“I’m coming.” She cried out as I buried myself deep inside her, releasing everything I had. I growled and grunted, coming in the moonlight. She closed her eyes and squeezed every drop of me into her while the moonbeams broke through the clouds, softly illuminating her beautiful smile.

I slid out and kissed her back as she rested on her stomach. As I laid down beside her, she wiggled up to me and laid her head on my chest, humming lightly. I gently ran my fingers over her shoulder listening to her. I didn’t know where to go from there. The night was unexpected. She was unexpected, but it was perfect.

She stopped humming and was quiet for a while. I asked, “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head pulled the blankets over her chest, smiled, and said, “Nothing. Everything feels... right.” She glanced up at me under long eyelashes, flipped out at the end. Her natural features were undeniably stunning. I turned to my side to face her and lay closer to her. I could see she had a few freckles on her nose. I ran a finger over them and cupped the side of her face, still not knowing what to say so I exhaled and stared at her. Finally, I managed, “Itdoesfeel right.”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah... I’m just worried about this transformation.”

She looked up at me, reassuringly. “I know. Iamgoing to help you, Silas. I mean it. Do you trust me?”

“Yeah, I do. I just don’t want to scare you off.” I leaned in and kissed her forehead, pausing there for a second before pulling back. I hoped she understood what she was getting into with me.

Through a pretty giggle, she said, “I’m not scared of you, wolfie. Let’s clean up and we can talk through everything.”

I chuckled, “Wolfie, huh?”

“Yeah,mywolfie.”

I smiled, but wondered if she was truly ready for it.

Chapter 6

CRESSIDA

The night felt magical, like a dream and I didn’t want to wake up. I couldn’t believe it. After my shower, I went downstairs to the kitchen to make coffee while Silas showered. My mind was running a marathon and I felt like I couldn’t keep up. This hadn’t been my intention when I wanted to help him, but there was no denying the pull between us. After fumbling through the cabinets, I found the coffee and started a pot.

Our time together kept replaying like a movie in my head. “You’re mine,” he said to me. I wondered what it meant to behis. We were bonded.Arebonded. He was who the Shaman told me I’d help; I just didn’t know it at the time. It seemed unreal, all of it, but it was.

I was sitting at the table, lost in my thoughts, when I heard, “Let’s talk some more.” Silas was standing next to me, with a big smile. He had a great smile, and it was nice to see for change. So different from his usual closed off, brooding self.

I leaned up, kissed him, and slid him a cup of black coffee. “I didn’t know how you take it.”

“Black, two sugars. You?”

I smiled. “Same... Tell me about your family, Silas.”

“Yeah, it’s time.” His expression turned sullen as he dropped two sugars in his coffee, stirred it in, pulled out his chair and sat down. For someone afraid of hurting others, he moved with a calm gentleness. He looked at his coffee when he spoke, occasionally looking up to meet my eyes. I sat in silence and let him get it all out. “I was seventeen when my family was killed. My mother, father... and Gabriela... my little sister. We called her Gabby. She was only fifteen. She was my best friend as much as a little sister could be.” He paused and cleared his throat.

I took that moment to ask a question. “What were your parents’ names?”

“Ramona and Javier.” He smiled briefly, as if recalling his love for them. I could tell he was deep in the memory because he kept staring at the coffee in a trance. It was late, and I was asleep in my room. Gabby was asleep in hers. I heard muffled yelling and what sounded like the grinding of table legs against the wood floor downstairs. At first, I thought my mother and father were arguing, but that was rare, especially in the middle of the night. After a few more seconds of listening, I could tell the voice wasn’t my father’s.

I got up and opened my bedroom door to peek out into the hallway. I could hear my mom crying, so I went to the landing to look downstairs. My mother looked up at me and held up a hand, signaling me to not come down. Tears were streaming down her face. She pointed to Gabby’s room like she wanted me to wake her up. My heart was racing. I went to Gabby’s room and quietly went in and closed the door. When I went over to her bed, she was sound asleep. I placed my hand over her mouth and then put a finger to my own with my other hand, to signal her to be quiet. Her eyes went wide, but she understood. I whispered to her that someone was in the house, and we needed to get out. She quietly got up and we snuck to the top of the stairs to try and see what was happening.

There was only one way downstairs, and I knew we would eventually have to get out. When I went halfway down the stairs, I could see my mother and my father lying on the floor. They weren’t moving and blood was quickly pooling around them. I knew they were dead. No one could survive that much blood loss. Thankfully, Gabby couldn’t see because I think she would’ve screamed. I gritted my teeth to keep myself quiet because I was half raging, half crying. I looked at Gabby and pointed to her bedroom because I wanted her to try to escape through the window while I fought the piece of shit off. When Gabby moved, the floor creaked. That’s when I heard the guy’s footsteps coming toward us.”

Silas looked up at me, catching his breath. “I’m so sorry, Silas. What happened next?”

He looked at me and then down at his coffee again, wrapping his hands around his mug before he continued. “I turned to Gabby and told her to run. I pointed to her bedroom and whispered the word, ‘window.’” Silas paused again as he took a drink. I was trying to keep myself composed but I could feel the tears pooling in my lower eyelids.

Finally, he took a breath and spoke in a shaky voice. “I ran down the stairs toward the sonofabitch. When he came around the corner, I saw him holding a large bloody knife. He was dressed in all black, wearing a ski mask. Then he swung the knife at me, but I was able to block his arm before he connected with it. The knife flung out of his hand so I tackled him. I could hear Gabby calling my name and crying, but I needed to stop him from hurting her. She was the only family I had left. I yelled for her to run and call the cops. Me and the guy wrestled on the floor, exchanging blows until he landed a hard punch to the side of my head. It sent me to the floor. Everything was spinning. I knew he was going to go after Gabby, so I tried to go after him but my body was reeling. I couldn’t keep up with him. I was dizzy and my legs were giving out.