Chapter 8
Willow
“But I don’t like this… I want to honestly be away from you.” I told him, and he shook his head.
Regardless of my wishes, it wasn’t like he could just let me out the car and I’m off on my merry way…. I didn’t…. I didn’t remember what I heard…. I couldn’t recall why the panda shifter freaked me out… or why the vampires were so scary. All I knew was the last words the head one said… but even the details on his ‘order’, the very thing that controlled me in the first place was distorted in my memory….
“I understand. You saw the man’s meat process…. They leave nothing out. I bet you don’t remember the assembly line, do you?” he looked me in the eyes briefly, knowing full well that I didn’t… but he was still trying to be polite about it…
…. Assembly line? Thinking about details made my head hurt….
Everything was a haze… nothing seemed real, though the only injection I got… I SAW my leg heal in real time. Maybe it was that that had me so out of it. Yet… it could not be denied that in this mind fog, I was aware what was going on …
The silence spoke paragraphs… it made me uncomfortable, seeing as how Kaizen’s mouth was slightly covered in blood… I wondered did he eat someone…. The answer was obviously yes…
“I have no choice.” He said firmly. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to come off so rude about it, but I need Meat…and they didn’t have any cattle meat. This facility only processes men….” He looked almost angry about that fact…. Angry at himself for having to do what he Had to do….
“I get that… but couldn’t you have taken me somewhere… anywhere else?” I asked.
“No. But I think you’re looking more for an explanation… I need a higher calorie intake than my siblings… because of my abilities, my metabolism is Much faster. Hospitals would call the Secret Police, and I honestly… I don’t want to kill any more people. I would to protect you though.” He said looking at the road.
There was an anger in his eyes… some hatred of that statement…
“But that’s what you are… as scary as that is… I respect that.”
“… I fear the longer you stay with me….” He trailed off, but I finished the statement.
“The more I’ll see…” I said looking out the passenger side window…. I meant what I’d said. He saved my life… at the cost of his home. At the cost of having a regular supply of food, shelter, and his family….
And I lost all that because I knew too much…
“The entire process is behind glass, so when they have an inspection, there’s nothing they can hide. I understand you’re scared, but don’t be scared of me. I won’t harm you. I literally swore I wouldn’t but I understand. I’m a monster.” He said calmly.
I didn’t ‘forget’ he read my mind and knew my feelings… but I was human… I was a woman who didn’t know a Thing about self-defense… next to a man eater…
“Yet even under this spell, I don’t see myself without you.” I said honestly…. I couldn’t see myself without my protector… but this could be all the magic stuff they did to me…
“That makes me happier than you’ll ever know….” He looked like he debated on saying something, but chose to change the subject. “But in the meantime, there’s a hotel off the next exit. I know you’d like to sleep in a bed rather than in the car.” He said with a small smile… When he looked like that, even knowing what he’d done…. One could momentarily forget.
“I would.” I agreed. “Plus, that gives me a chance to take a shower… that place made me feel dirty.” I said shedding tears, suddenly feeling sad.
“When you get some sleep, you should be free of both the vampire and unicorn effects.” He said pulling off the road. He wiped the tears off my face as gently as he could. “I’m sorry.” He apologized, but honestly, he didn’t have to.
“I’m alright.” I lied, and he kissed me on the top of the head when pulled into a old dusty hotel… it looked like an old truck stop time forgot, with all the doors to each room on the outside of the cracked, litter covered parking lot.
He hummed gently, and it made me lean into him… His touch took all the bad away… I forgot all the worry I held if only for a moment. That was addictive…
“They say love is a drug.” Said Kaizen kissing me once more ….It took my breath away this time.
It gave me goosebumps. I felt almost as if I were being shocked…
He kissed me on the lips…. It was soft, yet forceful. I knew I was kissing a prince…. I could feel it in his touch that he was a leader… It aroused me…his grunt did too. “I’ll go inside. If you want, you can stay in the car.” He said leaving, knowing Full well what he’d done…
I silently nodded, and Really thought about his words…. I was his mate… That Kiss Proved that…. I really did get the connection I wanted. When I got a chance, we would talk more about this….
But as it was, now that he wasn’t in here, the sadness of the unicorn magic came back. It was strange being like this for no reason…. They used the magic in the first place because of Kaizen anyway.
Being his mate held a lot of power that I should have flexed at that Meat Market… The vampire might not have bewitched me…. The panda shifter might have been nicer….
But I also understand it….
Why be nice to someone who’s going to die?
They also saw me as… as food…
As cruel as a place like that was… how Terrible that there were humans bred on farms to be turned to hamburgers…. That if it wasn’t there, I assume they would still need to get the meat somehow… That meat kept the things that go bump in the night…. Bumping somewhere else.
Of all the things that I didn’t remember… I remembered that the place was spotless…. And the people were clean….
… I swear I saw enormous wolves in the trees. It stopped my train of thought.
There was No way…. But I also heard people talking. I couldn’t understand the language, but I know one of them yelled at the other. I didn’t See these men, but I knew they were here, probably at the crappy rest stop, arguing that they should have paid more money to be somewhere else.
They left before Kaizen came back. As a monster to the other monsters, I assumed they were just scared off by him. He wasn’t his full size or anything, but I’m sure they knew.
He got in the car and pulled around.
“I couldn’t get a double-bedded room…. So we’ll have to share.” He said nervously.
“…We’re adults, we can just put a blanket between us.” I said seeing him nod.
“Yeah, that’s not happening.” He said getting out once we parked in front of 143, and he opened the door for me. There was a large king bed in there, a Tv, and a bathroom….. “It’ll help with your sadness.” He said opening the door for me too.
This place was a dump…. I’d had my fair share of cheap motels while traveling because I didn’t have a lot…. but this was by far the worst one. “I assume they didn’t ask for ID or anything.” I said with a small smile.
“Nope.” He said getting both our bags. I didn’t know he had any luggage… He also brought in the cooler too… That was what made me kind of freak out. He plopped it on the floor, since there wasn’t a fridge…
I ran into the shower after I snagged some stuff from my bag…. I was in there at least an hour, washing my hair and scrubbing the memories away…
It didn’t work, but it didn’t stop me from trying. When I changed and got in bed, he went into the small bathroom... I’d used the only towel, but if he needed one, I might have a clean one left…. I had almost an anxiety about sharing a bed with him.
Maybe we could go back and try to get a bigger room…. They looked pretty sold out though.
“I do bite, but not too hard.” He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Oh shut it.” I complained squealing when he leaned forward. “Ah!”
He shook the bed with his weight, getting in with me. He was Too close… but it felt nice. I found myself having my worries washed away. I should have resisted feeling this good from his company, but I hugged him. He pulled the sheets over top us….
“If you never mark me… if we are to stay in one moment, let it be this.” He said flipping me around, so my face was on his bare chest… He was in just sweats…. I could see the Horned One’s symbol on his belly button…. A circle with horns….
“…Kaizen…” I said sheepishly… Why wasn’t I resisting….? He was-
“I know… I’m hard, but let me have this.” He hissed. “It’s hard not to be. A temptress is in my bed.” He snickered.
“You’re hot yourself.” I said pushing him away playfully. I could tell he let me… but I could Also tell that he never took his hands off my waist…
God his touch lit me on fire… His playful gaze told me he’d heard me.. but his loosened hold also told me he wouldn’t try anything.
“Goodnight little mate.” He yawned.
“Goodnight big mate.” I said relenting to this feeling….
I went to sleep with him being the big spoon… I’d never experienced that before… True affection, not just a façade because they want to get with me…. He said nothing. He was already asleep…