Ghost Stories

Bambi

Ekon stood at the end of the hallway with his back to me.

I couldn’t see his expression, but he wasn’t reacting. He was still at one of the empty suits of armor lining the hallway.

I wanted him to say something, ~anything~.

No, that wasn’t true.

I wanted him to say ~one thing~.

I wanted him to return my feelings, but his silence was killing me.

Had I said it too soon?

Did Ekon judge me for being so emotional?

No, I shouldn’t second-guess myself.

I said what I felt in the moment, and I didn’t regret it.

~Love is not a weakness.~

Ekon finally turned around, and I was startled by his appearance.

His fangs were bared, and his claws were out. His dark, stormy eyes stared at me with an intensity that I’d never seen.

~Is he angry with me?~

I whimpered as he stalked down the hall toward me, but by the time he reached me, he’d already shifted back to normal.

He gently cupped my face with his hands and looked into my eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I…I just needed to see you. I needed to see this moment with my own eyes.”

His lips were suddenly on mine, and the kiss felt like the release of a thousand worries.

Everything that had happened tonight vanished into thin air, and the only thing between us was the heat of our passion.

Ekon pressed his forehead against mine and held me close.

“I love you too, Bambi.”

My heart swelled with happiness as I swung my arms around my mate’s neck and began kissing him again.

I’d never expected to be in this place with Ekon, but now I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

I pushed him against the wall and began kissing his neck and running my hands across his firm muscles.

The loose robe I was wearing slipped off my shoulder as he lifted me with his powerful arms.

He kicked open the nearest door, and we found ourselves in a bathroom, kissing and biting each other with a sexual hunger.

As he set me on the ground, the marble tile felt cold against my bare feet.

I loosened the drawstring on the robe, and it dropped to the floor, landing at my ankles.

It felt odd, being completely naked, fully exposed, in front of my mate, but knowing he couldn’t even see my body.

But he could feel it.

As his rough hands ran across my smooth skin, I trembled at his touch.

I was frightened by the ferocity I was feeling. I wanted him to take me right here, right now, a desperate, urgent feeling that I’d never felt before.

But instead, Ekon backed away, like I’d done so many times.

“What’s wrong? Is it me?” I asked self-consciously, pulling my robe back on.

“No, you’re…perfect. More than perfect. You have no idea how badly I want this…”

“But?”

“But your safety comes first. This isn’t the time, even though I wish to the fucking Goddess it was,” he said in a low growl.

He pulled me in by my waist and kissed me again. “We’ll pick up where we left off as soon as I know that you and the rest of the pack are safe.”

I nodded, knowing he was right, but I worried for his safety too.

I knew I couldn’t bring up Matthias. If this was a bad time for sex, it was an even worse time to bring up that taboo topic.

All I could do was trust my mate.

“Please, be careful out there, Ekon.”

***

Victoria, Ela, Holly, and I huddled together on my bed, telling stories and drinking hot cider, while guards stood just outside the door.

It was a strange feeling to be chatting and laughing while a monster lurked somewhere in the woods, but it was the distraction that we all needed.

“Once, when I was thirteen, or maybe fourteen, I was closing up the bakery with my mother,” Victoria said in hushed whispers. “I was rolling out some dough for the next day, and I spilled some flour on the floor, and…I’m not even kidding. I saw footprints appear. And then little floury handprints on the wall. They were child-sized. It ~had~ to be a ghost.”

Holly gasped, covering her mouth. “Oh my Goddess, that’s terrifying.”

“And also total bullshit.” Ela laughed, rolling her eyes.

“Excuse me, it is ~not~ bullshit. I swear I saw them,” Victoria said indignantly.

“Victoria, a gust of wind causes a door to hit you in the ass and you think the whole building is haunted, so I’m sorry if I don’t buy your hazy childhood memories of ghosts.” Ela smirked.

I had to giggle as Victoria crossed her arms in a pout. She did have a tendency to overexaggerate.

“Well, I have a ghost story too,” Holly offered. “It might be too scary for right now though.”

“I doubt that,” Ela replied, ever the skeptic.

“Um…it actually happened just a few nights ago,” Holly replied. “But I don’t know if I should tell it.”

Victoria and I scooted closer to each other. Ghost stories weren’t really my thing to begin with, but especially recent ones. That made them way more real.

“How did we get on this topic, again?” I genuinely wondered. There was a damn monster outside, and we thought it would be a good idea to scare ourselves?

“Go on, out with it.” Ela ignored me and goaded Holly.

“Okay, well, I was…practicing communication spells, and…I just got to thinking about all the people I didn’t get to say goodbye to,” Holly said, lowering her head. “I just…I just thought that maybe if I contacted the spirit realm, I could have that chance.”

Tears started to roll down her face, and my heart started beating faster. This wasn’t going to be like Victoria’s ghost story…not at all.

“So, I…I did a spell, and I think I did it wrong because…I saw them—all of them. But not the ones that had passed on peacefully. I must’ve contacted the souls that were still ensnared here.”

She was getting choked up, and I started to tear up myself.

“They were crying, screaming out in agony. Trapped and…and burned alive. I saw their scorched specters, begging for release, but I…I couldn’t do anything. I’m not powerful enough. I shouldn’t have even tried to perform the spell in the first place.”

As Holly broke down sobbing, we all wrapped our arms around her in comfort.

“It’s okay, Holly. We’re here for you,” I said.

That was far darker than I had anticipated. It had never occurred to me how hard it must’ve been for her to deal with all this.

She always wore a sunny smile, but behind that smile was so much pain.

Ela was sobbing too. It seemed some ghost stories could affect her after all.

But maybe it was time we changed the subject.

“No more ghost stories tonight,” I declared. “It’s an official order from the Luna.”

Everyone smiled as they wiped their tears away. They knew I only used my Luna card for levity.

“Okay, let’s talk about something stupid. What’s the stupidest thing you can think of?” Victoria said, trying to shift the mood.

“Men,” Ela suggested.

“Yes, please. Let’s talk about people who are alive,” Holly said, the color starting to return to her cheeks.

My thoughts returned to Ekon and the words we’d said to one another.

Tonight was a night of honesty and vulnerability, so I may as well include my closest friends in that circle of trust.

“I have something to contribute on that topic,” I said as they looked at me with baited breath. “I told Ekon that I loved him tonight.”

“WHAT!?” Victoria shrieked.

“Wow…just wow,” Ela said, shaking her head but smiling.

“That’s amazing, Bambi. You must be so excited.” Holly beamed.

I should’ve been, but instead, there was just a sense of dread and anxiety in the pit of my stomach.

There was no confusion about how I felt. I really did love him, and we had become close, but I was still keeping secrets from him, and they created a distance between us that we couldn’t close.

Maybe this wasn’t such a night of honesty after all.

Ekon

There was no sign of the mysterious intruder. The rain had washed away any evidence that would’ve been found.

I’d have to increase the guard outside the compound in case whoever—or whatever—this was came back.

It was probably just a stray rogue, but what kind of rogue would have the balls to come this close to a pack on their own?

After the incident at the Northern Pack, this didn’t sit well with me at all.

To make matters worse, I couldn’t get my mind off my mate.

She was constantly invading my thoughts, and after what we’d said…

I never thought I’d love someone the way I loved her, but even more unbelievable was that she loved me too.

When I got back to the compound, I’d do everything right this time.

I’d give her the mating ceremony of her dreams.

I’d make her Luna status official.

I’d do everything I could to make her happy…the way she made me happy.

“Alpha! Alpha, over here!”

I heard the rapid footsteps of a soldier approaching me.

“Some Delta guards found something suspicious,” the soldier said, out of breath.

“Lead the way,” I growled.

“It’s not in the woods, my Alpha. It’s at the pack house.”

***

As the soldier led me through the pack house corridors, my mind felt muddled.

What could’ve possibly been going on at the pack house that I was unaware of?

~I only sent soldiers here as a precaution.~

We stopped in the middle of a hallway on the third floor, and a Delta guard approached me.

“Alpha, you’re going to want to, uh…you should ~see~ this.”

Snarling, I let my wolf have just enough control to start shifting.

I felt my anger rising and my blood boiling as my fur and claws began to come out.

The darkness before my eyes started to materialize into a small room...what looked like a storage closet, converted into an office.

The walls were obsessively covered in articles and clippings about witches, about Matthias, about the Great War and…

About me.