Chapter 28: Nightmares

“NATALIE!” Blake yelled in a huff as he sat up quickly on the bed. The pounding of his heart echoed in the tiny room as his breathing became more and more erratic and short. It was another of those dreams that caused his wolf unrest. Another nightmare that depicted a violent bloodbath that always ended the same: Natalie lying dead at his feet. Two days he was at Angelo’s waiting for the moon cycle to end and hoping it would give him the distance he needed to keep his wolf from acting on the primal urges he felt when around her.

But the distance only proved to agitate the animal. Like a caged lion it wanted out and it wanted something Blake would never concede to. The springs in the tiny mattress groaned with every move he made on the old cot as he sat up on the edge finally taking notice of his surroundings. The room he slept in was no bigger than a closet, poorly lit and smelled of pine. Standing and stretching Blake noticed carvings on the far wall made by the claws of a wolf; markings he hadn’t noticed before and he wondered if it was something he’d done on one of the nights he was out of it.

As he opened the door to the bedroom he caught wind of bacon cooking close and he growled as a rumble of hunger erupted from his stomach. “Sleep well?” Angelo asked with a knowing smile as he stood over the stove preparing breakfast.

“Yeah it’s like a day at the Hilton!” Blake complained as he rubbed at the sore muscles in his lower back before dropping into a chair at the table. “Don’t cook it for too long, please.” Blake sat rubbing his palms over his face, trying his best to rid his mind of the images from his most recent dream but doing very little to resolve the ache it left behind.

Moments later, Angelo slid a plate in front of him and he glanced up at the man, thanking him with a nod as he took a seat across from him with a sigh. “They’re getting worse. How much longer are you going to pretend like everything is ok before doing the right thing here Blake?”

Blake kept quiet, pushing his eggs around with his fork ignoring the question. “Look I’m only asking because I’m concerned about you Blake and I’m worried about Natalie, she seems like a nice girl. I don’t want to see you do something that will hurt her.”

“You don’t know anything about her! Just leave her out of this ok?”

“If it was possible I wouldn’t even bring her up. But Dante definitely didn’t leave her out of it and neither will your wolf come next moon.”

“You know what? I wouldn’t even be in this mess right now if it wasn’t for you! You changed me! You made me what I am! This is all your fault. And now you’re lecturing me on doing the right thing because you know what that is for me? You’ve known me for what? A week? And somehow you’re an expert on my life?”

“Being a wolf is your blood right and could not be avoided! I told you I saved you before Dante got to you first because HE would have killed you Blake!”

“Then you should have just let me die!” Blake snapped and abruptly stood from the table. “Anything would have been better than this.” 

Angelo cleared the table as Blake stormed out of the small cabin, slamming the door behind him. He gave him a moment to cool down before he went in search of him, spotting him near the small lake out back sitting just on the shore. Blake didn’t bother to turn around as he heard the man approach.

Instead he remained focused on the clear blue water in front of him, making ripples with the tiny stones that sat near his foot as he skipped them over the surface of the lake. “I have her,” Blake started as Angelo leaned against a rock behind him. “After yearning for her and making up these fantasies about our life together in my head for so long I have her and now you’re telling me I need to let her go, that I can’t be with her. How is that fair?”

“It’s never fair Blake that’s why it’s called a curse. And everything you’re going through now I went through with my wife too so I know how it feels. We had our future planned, we were just starting a family, everything was going so well before this happened. I’m sorry this happened to you Blake but there’s no turning back now. I’ll get some things packed for you that may help you on your journey. And please, think about what must be done.” Angelo turned and started back towards the cabin, leaving Blake alone again with his thoughts.

They are becoming too real now. I can no longer overlook the urges of this animal. It wants…it craves flesh and it worsens every day I try to ignore it. I have to get help. I have to end this now before the beast tries to take away everything I hold dear. There is no more keeping my head down and hoping the hunger satiates with raw meat from the butcher’s shop down the street. No. After tasting the fresh rump of a deer last moon I fear the only thing that can keep me sane is more of the same.

I’ve heard tales of men like me; those blessed with the curse of the moon slaking the intense ache of yearning with the flesh of mortal but I cannot do that! I won’t allow this monster to be what takes me from the arms of society again. It is but by the grace of her that I struggle to retain what little humanity I have left.

I must go. I must end this before it is too late. This beast has already claimed two lives and their deaths haunt me daily; a constant reminder of what I really am, a monster…

                                                                                                                                -BF

Blake stood over the bed watching Natalie as she wrestled with the silk sheet covering her body before finally settling again in a new position. She looked so at peace but the more he was around her the less that was possible. Leaning over the bed, he gently pecked her forehead and with a distressed sigh turned to exit the room. “She’s finally sleeping,” he announced as he stepped into the living room.

“You mean you made her pass out?” Nick asked with a smirk as he watched Blake rummage a bookshelf near the dining room. “I mean of course after all of the ceiling banging and furniture falling which is kind of rude when you think about it. I stepped outside but that didn’t quiet your bedroom theatrics one bit.”

“Sorry about that Nick. I’d been avoiding her for just that reason but Natalie didn’t seem to let it stop her. She’s…amorous.”

“So I heard. Did you tell her?”

“I told her what she needed to know. Here,” he handed Nick a book and grabbed up his bag and car keys from the living room table.

“You’re sure about this?” Blake nodded his head solemnly as he heard Natalie again roll over the bed with a contented moan.

“I don’t know how else to keep her safe and if Angelo is right about Dante he won’t stop coming for me until he gets what he wants. I can’t let that affect her anymore than it already has. Watch over her for me Nick.”

“I will, of course I will. Just make it back here in one piece Blake.” Nick walked his friend to the door and watched him slip behind the wheel of his Shelby and speed off down the mountain. He closed the door quietly and started back into the living room and turned on the TV, dozing off before long on the couch.

The next morning Natalie awoke to an empty bed. It didn’t seem odd considering she knew Blake kept strange hours and often found the morning sun as inspiration; it spoke in his work. She expected that he was most likely on the patio off of his studio painting something like she’d found him a few days before the first full moon. 

Humming to herself as she stretched, she tossed on a pair of shorts and tee before heading downstairs to start breakfast and found Nick sound asleep in the living room. She laughed to herself at the awkward position his body was laying and padded over to shut the television off in front of him before tucking the blanket more over his shoulders. 

She started rummaging through the cabinets looking for a pan for the eggs and pancakes, banging the doors shut which unintentionally stirred Nick from slumber. “Hey,” Natalie smiled as he entered the kitchen behind her yawning and stretching as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “I was just about to start breakfast. It should be ready in about twenty minutes unless you just wanted to grab a bowl of cereal or something.”

“I’m not really hungry.”

“Oh. Ok.” She paused as he moved closer and leaned against the countertop behind him. “Nick, I wanted to thank you for staying with me the past few nights too. I know I was a wreck and I really appreciate you being here and listening.”

“Of course Natalie. It was the least I could do.”

“So…are you ok?”

“Yeah I’m fine Natalie, just…fine.”

“Well if you’re looking for Blake I think he’s painting upstairs.”

“I’m not, Natalie I wanted to talk to you.” He handed her a soft leather binder with her name inscribed on the cover in Blake’s handwriting.

“What’s this?” she asked, turning the book over in her hands a few times before taking a seat at the island. Nick dropped down beside her as she untied the strings of the diary and began reading the letter that fell from its bindings.

For my dearest Natalie,

If you are reading this, then it means I have made my decision. There is a threat looming over us that I cannot ignore any longer. It is a threat that could cost me everything I’ve ever wanted and everyone I’ve ever loved. It is a threat that I have to face and keep from ever crossing your doorstep. Please understand that I…

“What is this Nick?” she asked dropping the letter to the counter without finishing. A terrified expression crossed her face as her brows furrowed along her forehead. “Why did you give me this?”

“Blake asked me to. He wanted me to explain why he had to do this and what it means.”

“What what means?”

“A sacrifice was needed in order to keep the two of you safe. Dante wasn’t going to let things go until he got what he wanted and Blake knew that. He knew that the only way to keep you safe was to take matters into his own hands so that is what he did.”

“I don’t believe you. Last night he told me it was all ok, that we’d be safe. He told me…”

“He was saying goodbye, Natalie.”

“No,” she whispered and jumped up from her seat. “Blake? Blake?” Natalie yelled as she pounded up the stairs towards the bedroom in search of him. “Where is he?” Natalie asked out of breath as she reentered the kitchen where Nick stood.

“Gone.”

“Gone? Gone where Nick? Please! Tell me!”

“He’s an animal Natalie and he knows the two of you can never be. As much as he wants it, it can never be.” Nick dropped his hands into his pocket to still their shaking. He was trembling in sorrow as he thought about the loss of his best friend once more. It was hard enough the first time, watching the pain in Blake’s mother’s face; seeing his casket lowered into the ground and covered in dirt. He didn’t want to go through that again, not with Natalie; he couldn’t. If there was any chance of saving Blake’s life, she was the only one who could. “He went to see Dante and end things once and for all,” he finally spoke, breaking Blake’s trust in him.

“What does that mean?” Nick fell silent and his eyes fell to the floor avoiding Natalie’s gaze. She rushed over to him and held him tightly shaking him a little as she started to beg. “Please Nick, tell me what he’s planning!”

“He uh…he’s going to separate himself from the pack. Become a lone wolf which means turning his back on his kind. Dante won’t let that happen so they’re most likely going to battle it out. Whoever wins will be crowned as Alpha.”

“What? That’s crazy! Blake could…he could die!”

“And with the numbers in Dante’s favor, I’m almost certain that will be the outcome.”

“So. You’ve come to face the music.” Dante’s smug voice ripped through Blake’s ears as unpleasantly as nails on chalkboard. Several wolves appeared from various sections of the train yard, standing in attack formation and awaiting orders from their Alpha. Dante moved over the railing near the front of the old building and smiled down at Blake in the center of the field. “I knew you’d come to your senses sooner or later. Luckily for you it was sooner rather than later.”

“I came to put an end to this once and for all. It’s you and me Dante, one-on-one; a fair fight. Let’s see if you got what it takes to beat an Alpha.”

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