Mated To An Enemy

Another day had passed, and still, they had yet to find the gate.

Myka was struggling to focus. There were sounds all around him, he could feel each living thing as though they were an extension of himself.

They hadn't traveled far from the village. No more than a few miles. But the forest in the area was dense. They could walk in one direction for an hour without knowing which way they had come from.

Myka insisted that it was close. Even though he couldn't separate all the sounds, he felt it deep inside. He knew that he felt the power of the ley lines nearby.

Alice and Ashleigh continued to hunt as he tried to focus on the exact location of the power. They were starting to see the pattern in the patrols of the fae. Four groups of three seemed to patrol the forest in sweeps that had two to three hours between them.

After taking out the patrols near the village, they hadn't seen anyone the next day. But this morning, they had almost been found before Myka felt the discordant rhythm of the creatures.

Ashleigh worried that if they took out too many of the patrols, the Dark Queen would know they were there, assuming she didn't already.

They stood in the middle of a small clearing, taking yet another break. If the Queen didn't know, she would find them soon enough. It seemed like every hour, they were pausing and resting.

It was frustrating. It felt as though they stood still with their hands and feet tied together while the monsters closed in on them.

Ashleigh wanted to push forward, even if they didn't know exactly where it was. Surely, if they at least searched the area, they could find it.

But she hesitated to push Myka any harder to find the location. Lily had warned her about his power, and as she watched him, she saw that it was taking a toll.

He was pacing all the time, sweating, and looking frazzled as though he was only half in his right mind.

Myka closed his eyes, breathing through his nose slowly.

"Myka?" Alice called him.

When he didn't respond, she stepped closer and tried again.

"Myka?"

He opened his eyes wide and looked at her.

"I'm going to look around the area. I won't go far enough that I can't see you," she said. "Will you be all right?"

He took a moment to answer but then nodded and smiled, giving her a thumbs up. Alice nodded back and then glanced at Ashleigh.

"I'm going to look around," she said. "Do me a favor, yea?"

Alice tipped her head toward Myka, and Ashleigh nodded. Alice smiled and mouthed a thank you before she walked away.

'Alice is worried about him as well,' she thought. 'I should keep an eye on him.'

Ashleigh set down her pack and sat in the grass, leaning back against an old stump as she watched Myka.

Myka hesitated to close his eyes, watching until Alice faded into the trees, then he took a deep, shaky breath. Finally, he clenched his jaw and closed his eyes.

He hadn't heard a word she had said.

He couldn't hear anything over the deafening sounds of growth, mutation, rot, and all the other natural processes of the forest. And below that, he listened to the unnatural things.

Layer over layer of sound. His entire body was tensed up, and he fought desperately to relax. Fearing that, at this point, he might crack his own tooth from the amount of clenching he was doing.

In truth, he hadn't been able to hear most of what Ashleigh or Alice had been saying all day. When he woke this morning, the forest was screaming at him. He had barely been able to pick out the sour notes of the creatures as they neared the camp.

It was pure luck that had saved them.

Ashleigh was already up when Myka woke. She came to his tent at the sound of his shout. She was worried, and Myka shouted that 'they' were back. He meant the screams. But she understood him to mean the monsters.

Because of that misunderstanding, their lives were saved. And as happy as Myka was to be just barely alive. He couldn't help but feel frustrated and angry that he almost let them fall into danger because he couldn't identify the sound of the monsters immediately.

So now, he needed to hear it all. He needed to separate it. To hear each note and know what it represented.

Across the clearing, Ashleigh furrowed her brow as she watched him. She saw the way his body shook, the sweat on his brow, and she heard the shallow breaths he took.

'Tell him to think of Peter,' Lily whispered.

'Why?' Ashleigh replied.

Hearing Lily's voice, even when it was unexpected, was something that Ashleigh was getting used to. She knew now that some part of Lily was always with her. She almost found it comforting.

'To calm and give him a focus,' Lily replied. 'He is trying too hard. If he keeps pushing, he will overload his brain.'

'Shouldn't he stop altogether if it's that dangerous?' Ashleigh asked.

'No,' Lily whispered. 'There are dead that cling to him, whispers he doesn't realize he hears. They will only be silenced if he can feel accomplished in his power. Thinking of Peter will settle his mind and his heart. But, at the same time, the bond was built from the power of the ley lines. He will be focusing on it without realizing it.'

Ashleigh nodded.

Myka let out a shaky breath, and a loud scream went off in his ear, followed immediately by metal grinding. Another screech, the howling of the wind, and the sound of a tree snapping in half.

It was getting louder with each new sound, growing increasingly hectic inside his mind. Tears ran down his cheeks, and he wiped them away angrily.

A tap on his shoulder surprised him into falling onto the hard ground. His body felt the shockwave burning, and Myka was sure he would scream out his frustration.

But then a sound came to his ear, clear and soft.

"Peter."

Myka furrowed his brow and looked up. Ashleigh stood above him, a look of concern in her eyes. She was talking, but Myka still couldn't hear her.

"…Peter…" she said again. "… on Peter…"

What was she saying? What about Peter? Was he all right?

Myka wondered at each question. His heart was racing, and his mind ran a mile a minute. He imagined the worst things he could think of… what was she saying?!?

"Think of Peter!" she shouted, grabbing his shoulders. "You…. Focus… Peter!"

Her scattered speech made it difficult for him to understand. But she wasn't saying 'hurt' or 'injured.' She wasn't looking at him with pity. Instead, she looked at him with intention, like she was trying to make him understand something important.

"Focus on Peter!" she shouted again, but this time, he heard her.

"Peter?" Myka questioned.

"Yes!" Ashleigh nodded happily. "Think of Peter. Let your memories of him fill your mind."

Myka swallowed. He didn't understand, but if he was honest, he didn't care either. Thinking of Peter was something he would happily do.

His memories slowly came to him.

He thought of the day by the river. He was washing himself and his clothing when Peter stumbled out of the trees. Myka had felt the pull, but he had no idea what it was or what it meant. Not even when Peter got closer, and he felt the excitement inside of himself rising to the surface.

The memory faded and changed to the night that Peter left. The emptiness that Myka had felt, the loneliness. A misunderstanding but a betrayal in their hearts for each of them.

He saw himself throughout the years apart from Peter. Every night he lay awake in his tent, looking at the spot beside him, smiling and talking as though Peter were still there. He told him all his thoughts and feelings. His concerns, his regrets.

Every night he prayed to see him the next day, and every morning he hoped it would be that day.

The memory shifted again to that first day in Winter, the first moment they saw each other again. Their kiss, Peter's anger.

Myka laughed as more memories played on. As he saw them grow closer, he felt Peter's love pouring into him with each kiss, whisper, and hug.

Myka took a deep breath, only now realizing he could. He laughed again, the sound all around him was still there, but somehow, he felt Peter through it all. With his mate's comfort, Myka could feel something unique. Something like Peter, pulling at the strings deep in his heart.

He stood up and stared into the trees, tilting his head as he tried to see what was calling him.

A soft hum. Barely there, hidden among the chaos of all the other sounds. If he focused only on it, he felt it. It was soothing and gentle. It touched his soul and made him feel at ease, as though it was, and always had been, a part of him.

Alice returned. She saw the strange expression on Myka's face and quietly approached Ashleigh.

"What's going on?" she asked with concern.

"Sshhh…" Ashleigh whispered. "I think he's almost there…."

Ashleigh kept her eyes on Myka, watching as he looked into the trees. Alice watched him as well, trying to look past him to see if something was out there.

"There," he whispered, lifting his arm and pointing. "It's there… I can feel it."

"Feel what, Myka?" Alice asked.

Myka turned with a bright smile and tears in his eyes.

"The way gate," he replied with relief. "I found it."