His Unbearable Desire 2 (11 page)

“So, Angelica, I was telling Colton about your trip in Europe, but I couldn’t quite remember all the places you visited. Can you tell us?”

“There were so many it would take a long time to go through them all. Besides, it’s not that interesting really. It’s only properly fun if you were there and had seen the same things.”

“I had family in Europe, I was interested to see if you’d been anywhere in the same regions.”

“Where were your family?” she asked.

“Mostly in Northern Europe, around the Celtic region.”

“Didn’t you say the tattoo you got was Celtic?” Ana said.

Angelica flushed a little and she cast her eyes downward.

“I’d love to see it, I know a bit of Celtic. It’s been passed down to me from generation to generation.”

Angelica was searching for a reason to not show them the tattoo but Ana and Colton pressed, and eventually she pulled down her pants and showed them. Ana stifled a gasp as she confirmed that it was the same symbol, and any false friendliness that Colton had on display was vanquished. Angelica saw the way he was looking at her.

“Ana, is he okay?” she whispered. Ana looked grave.

“Angelica, do you have something you want to tell me?”

“What do you mean?”

The three of them stood in the still air. As far as Ana could see there was nobody around them. There was a slight rustling in the distance, but that was most likely small animals burrowing around. She heard birds flutter and fly away, and the blue sky was far too calm considering the storm that was raging within her heart. She kept her hands behind her for they were trembling with nerves. She knew Angelica so well that she could see the signs of panic over her face. It was in the way her eyebrow was ever so slightly raised, and how her nose twitched as she breathed.

“Angelica, don’t lie to me,” Ana pressed.

She stepped forward. Colton reached out his hand, trying to hold her back and keep her safe, but she ignored him and continued walking to Angelica. Ana looked directly in her friend’s eyes and implored her to tell the truth.

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she denied, and started to turn away. Her eyes flickered over the horizon and she folded her arms across her body. Her clothes slipped back in their natural position and mostly covered up her tattoo, although the tip of a black mark was still visible.

“Angelica, I know everything. I know what the tattoo means. Please, it’s going to be okay. Just trust me.”

Ana reached out her hand in an effort to connect with Angelica but Angelica batted it away. Colton stepped in front of Ana.

“You don’t know anything,” Angelica growled.

Her eyes held within them a mysterious darkness that terrified Ana. It was a look she had never seen in her friend before, and she was filled with terror. It was like their whole friendship had been a lie and the person she thought she knew was no more. Colton was holding Ana’s arm, but his grip relaxed as he saw that Ana could handle things herself. Angelica’s face took on a dark complexion as she glared at Ana and Colton. Ana felt more terrified than she ever had before but she held her ground and didn’t back away from her friend.

“You’re just a stupid normal person who has no idea what she’s gotten herself mixed up in. You should have stayed away from them Ana. I tried to keep you in Trinity Falls, tried to show you that they weren’t worth fighting for. I didn’t want you to get caught up in this but you were so stubborn as always and you couldn’t give up. You were so obsessed with going to Newtown and nothing I said was good enough. I wanted to delay you until this was done but it seems you’ve chosen your side.”

Her words had a vicious darkness to them and her tongue was as sharp as a knife.

“I don’t want to choose sides! I don’t even know why you’re doing this? Why can’t you leave them alone?”

“They know why,” she said, and at this point she glared at Colton. The powerful man stepped forward, baring his teeth, but Ana held him back, resting her arm against his strong body. She managed to restrain him.

“I don’t! Tell me why you’re doing this. Have you always been this way, forever? Why have you never told me?”

“Because you wouldn’t have understood. People don’t understand what we are. Others revealed themselves and they were hunted down or trapped. He knows that better than anyone. I knew that I could never tell you. I never wanted to tell you.”

“You could have! I wouldn’t have told anyone. I’ve kept Colton’s secret.”

“And you’re a fool for doing so. You don’t know what these monsters have done.”

“They’re not monsters!”

“They are, and so is their whole family. Let me give you a little history lesson. The reason I went over to Europe was to find my brethren, and when I did they told me a little about what the Huntington’s did. I suppose he told you why they came over here?”

“Because the others wanted to take up arms against everyone else.”

“There’s more to the story than that.”

“Then why don’t you enlighten us,” Colton said through gritted teeth.

“It’s my pleasure,” she said, glaring at Colton, and then turning back to Ana. “When they all decided to take over a country they all agreed because we are the superior species and we deserve to be in control. We are the dominant species and it was a travesty that we had to hide in the shadows. Your pack were cowards and they sold us out to the others, leading to a massacre.”

“Lies!” Colton yelled.

“You don’t know anything! Your family betrayed the rest of us and then ran away to America, leaving us nothing but the broken pieces of our alliance. We were in fragments and we were hunted, and our population never recovered. They thought of us as monsters but we were the victims and you all got away with no punishment. Until ten years ago, when you killed others.”

“They kidnapped my cousin and killed my aunt and uncle. They had no right to attack us.”

“They had every right! There is a blood debt you owe us and it has to be paid. Ana, you do not know what these people have done, how many lives they are responsible for. We lost so much and they escaped here with no scars.”

“You don’t know what we’ve lived through, what we’ve been through. You know nothing.”

“I know everything. I went to Europe and I found the elders. I got the mark and I came back to my own pack with all the information I needed. They told me where to find you and how to strike. And one by one we’re going to go through and destroy your line because you do not deserve to exist. You have always been apart from us and it is time to amputate the dead limb.”

Ana listened to what Angelica had to say, a million thoughts rolling through her mind. She glanced back and forth between Angelica and Colton.

“Listen, Angelica, whatever happened in the past, it doesn’t matter anymore. Colton and Glenn aren’t responsible for what their ancestors did. You don’t have to do this. It isn’t right. Leave it in the past where it belongs.”

“You humans,” she said with utter disdain, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You have no idea of what our customs are. The blood debt has been owed for centuries and will be paid in full. Leave now and you will not be harmed, but if you stay by his side you have shown your true allegiance.”

“Leave her out of this,” Colton yelled, “whatever business you have it is with me. I don’t know why you’re so adamant to do this. I haven’t done anything to you. We’ve kept to ourselves. We haven’t bothered anyone.”

“You’re very existence bothers us. You are atrocities against nature and you shall be abolished. You were not true bears. You were all born from a gypsy curse and you ruined everything for all of us. We should have been sitting on thrones, but your family ruined that.”

“That’s not how it happened. Not what we were told.”

“Then you were lied to!”

“We got out of there long before any of this happened. If the people hunted the other bears that’s no fault of our own. And do not dare to question our legitimacy. We are proud of our heritage and I will not endure any more of these insults.”

“You will endure whatever I say you will endure. Your punishment will be served and you will pay us what you owe.”

“Angelica, this isn’t you,” Ana said desperately.

“This is the true me. Your eyes are opened now. You know everything. Whatever these things are they are not true bears. They do not know the true power that runs through their veins. And now I will show you. I have him!” She yelled, and Ana leapt to Colton’s side.

There was a loud rustling and a stomping of feet that felt like a stampede. The very ground vibrated underfoot and Ana found herself clinging onto Colton. Three bears jumped out and prowled around the three of them. Ana’s eyes went wide for it wasn’t a full moon. The three bears shifted, and revealed themselves to be the rest of Angelica’s family.

“I can’t believe all of you have lied to me all this time.”

“It was for your own good. Had I told you, you would have run to the press or taken advantage of me in some way. We do not tell our secrets to strangers, and we do not share our culture. That’s another reason why these bears are not the true sons. This is an internal matter and I will give you one more chance to leave, and live.”

Ana looked at Angelica and then at Colton again.

“Go Ana, save yourself,” he said, but Ana remained by his side, her determination was resolute. She clenched her jaw and glared back at Angelica.

“And
you
have one chance to apologize and leave here with your dignity intact.”

“You might think you know about us but you don’t,” Colton interjected, “I will not stand here and let you rip apart everything my family worked for over the years. If you want to try and take me on then do it but you will suffer casualties. You might have wounded me once but I will not let it happen again.”

Angelica threw back her head and laughed. The rest of her family chuckled as well. They were so smug and full of themselves, so confident, that Ana began to hate them. In their haste to condemn Colton they had torn apart everything that Ana and Angelica had worked for over the years. Ana’s eyes stung as she watched their friendship burn and turn to ashes.

“If you do this we’re never going to be friends again. Are you going to throw away all the years we’ve been together? All the time we’ve spent talking about everything and nothing?”

“Ana, this all goes back far longer than when you and I were born. I can’t change this. I have a responsibility to my people, and if you can understand that then there’s a chance for us, but otherwise our friendship is a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

That sealed it for Ana. She knew in her heart that Angelica wasn’t a true friend, and although it wasn’t how she ever envisaged them ending their friendship things were never going to be the same again. When Ana didn’t reply Angelica sneered at her.

“You’ve made a mistake, fool, and you will regret it. You are both powerless here. We have trained so that we can transform at all times, so you might as well get down on your knees and surrender.”

“I will never get down on my knees for you,” Colton said.

“So be it,” Angelica replied, and she gestured to her family.

They started to run forward, and as they did so they transformed into bears, big, thick beasts with terrible eyes and teeth ready to spear through flesh. Their claws were unsheathed, and they all leapt at Colton. They moved so quickly that he barely had a chance to react, and the three of them held him down. He struggled against them but he stood no chance against their might, and he was unable to reach his necklace with the silver potion.

Angelica was still in human form, and it was she who came forward to Ana.