Immortal Wolf - By Bonnie Vanak Page 0,59

for her first time.

He kissed her temple. “Better,” he asked softly.

Shyly, she nodded. Marveling at the ability to touch him without fear, she fingered his streak of white hair, starkly contrasted to his dark, silky locks. “Where did you get this? Was it one of those Cajun traditions?”

Raphael raised his eyebrows at her teasing tone. “When I went to the Other Realm and became Kallan. The lock marks my status.”

“What was it like, to take the test?” She raised herself up and studied her mate. “What did you have to do? Were you afraid?”

His eyes grew distant. “I had to make the journey and step into the mist off the cliff of the sacred mountain where all Kallans go to be tested. It was a long fall. Instead, I found myself in the Other Realm. Aibelle told me that to prove my worth and become our race’s Kallan, I had to perform one simple task.”

Silence descended over him. Absently, he began stroking her hair and then began talking again. “It wasn’t so simple, but a test of courage and inner strength. I had already proved myself in the battles I fought with Morphs, and how many of the enemy I had defeated. Now I needed to know what it was like to die as the transitions whose lives I would take would die.”

“You let yourself be killed?”

A humorless smile touched his mouth. “The elder Kallan whose place I would take did it. It was on a stone altar at the training place where all Kallans learn before assuming their roles. It was terrifying. I knew if my heart proved false and I was judged as unworthy, I would die and never return.”

She traced the white lock of hair on his head. “But you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t. But it wasn’t as simple as I’d been led to believe. The elderly Kallan struck me with disease, age and wounds first. Before my eyes, my skin wrinkled, my bones grew fragile and I aged 1,500 years. The pain was…intense.”

Her heart squeezed at the haunted look in his dark eyes.

“I resisted at first. The will to live came above all else. I fought the pain. I was proud, and nothing would fell me. The more I fought, the more the elder Kallan brought upon me. Then finally I realized it was time, and I begged him to end it.”

“Why did he torture you so?” Emily hugged him, wishing she could have been there to ease his suffering.

“Because then I learned why the role of Kallan was so important and how to surrender to death.” Raphael’s gaze grew distant. “That’s when he smiled, and told me, ‘Now you are ready to take my place. You have the strength to endure pain and the courage to ask for it to end. You know what your transitions face and why the Kallan is vital to our people.’”

Emily caressed his beard-roughened cheek. “You are. And to me as well.”

A shadow touched his face, but before she could question, he raised his head. His dark hair was tousled, and a small red mark flared on his shoulder from where she’d bitten him. “Let’s get back to your cabin. It’s getting too cold to stay out here, and though this place is safe, I’d feel better if you were surrounded by walls instead of trees.” He gave her an intent look. “But first…”

Erotic shock rippled through her as he slipped his hand between her legs. Her virginal blood coated his thumb. Raphael walked over to a dead maple tree, split down the middle from a lightning strike. He wiped his thumb on the tree, causing her to blush.

“A blood offering to Aibelle, goddess of the earth, to sway her from demanding your sacrifice. And a warning to your pack that I’ve marked you as mine now, and I never let go of what is mine.” His jaw was taut and the dangerous look came over him again.

Emily’s eyes widened as her blood sank into the tree and vanished. She gazed upward as new bark began appearing over the scarred wood. From the tips of the branches, small green buds appeared.

Raphael’s smile was tender. “You still have the gift to restore life, chere. This is why I harbor strong suspicions about your so-called death touch.”

Emily slipped into her dress. Raphael wrapped her in his leather jacket and picked up the basket and the quilt. When she winced slightly at the soreness between her legs, he picked her up in his arms