Chapter Twenty-Two

"Why do I feel like something is about to happen and it's not going to be good?" I shook my head, walking into the house. Meg bounced in behind me, humming in response.

"Oh, because something is about to happen. I want to see how much control he actually has if you're being threatened." She glanced in my direction.

"I don't think that's the best of ideas." I rolled my eyes. I was not looking forward to this at all. "Not to mention, you said you came here to help. That doesn't sound like it's going to help with anything."

"Oh, but it will." She grabbed my arm tightly and threw me into the wall.

"Damn it Meg!" I hollared at her. I saw her nails growing longer as she stalked towards me, her eyes shifting to the color black. *'Oh god, I'm going to die.'*

"MEG!" Mark's body separated her and myself. I was still pressed against the wall. Mark's breathing was elevated, I could hear him snarling. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

"You. Are. Losing. Your. Control." She seethed.

"I am not!" He shoved her back. "Don't you dare lay a finger on her again!"

"What're you going to do about it? You can't always protect her!" Meg lunged past him towards me, my whole body shaking with horror. We needed her help.

*'What the fuck do I do? What the fuck do I do?!* I looked around for something, anything that I could knock her back with. *'Damn it, the one time I need SOMETHING and there's absolutely NOTHING around!'*

Mark managed to grab ahold of Meg's ankle and threw her back into the front door. His whole body was shaking. The aura eminating off of him was terrifying. Meg bounced off the front door and lunged again, except this time at Mark. Teeth bared, growls escaping from their chests, they started wrestling each other, each trying to pin the other to the ground. Mark grabbed ahold of Megs arm and twisted it hard. I glanced at his eyes. They weren't their normal Cobalt blues. They were completely pitch black!

"Mark?" I whispered. His head shot up in my direction, his eyes not reverting back. He was losing control. "What-"

"Morgan! Run! Run, now!" I heard Meg yell from underneath his grip. She was trying to maneuver herself to switch positions, but Mark wouldn't budge. His eyes never left mine. Cold shivers ran down my body, fear grasping my feet in place. I couldn't move. My mind willed my body to move, to listen to Meg and run. But those damn eyes kept me rooted to the spot, begging me to run. They showed no mercy. I took a step forward. Meg stopped squirming to watch what was happening.

"Are you an idiot?! I said RUN DAMNIT!" Meg's voice sounded distant. I was being propelled to move forward, step by step. My mind was silent, my body not listening to the orders it was being given. I reached out an arm towards Mark. Something inside of me knew just what to do, even though I had no idea myself. I couldn't move or do anything besides slowly step forward. I couldn't talk. Meg watched fearfully, not being able to do anything.

I inched my way closer to the two of them, Mark's eyes never leaving mine. A growl revereberated from his chest, warning me to stay away. I slowly moved closer, finally being close enough to cup his face in my now outstretched hand. Electricity coursed through my body, as it did any time we touched.

"Mark, please, stop this." My voice no more than a whisper. "Please. You can fight this. WE can fight this. Just let Meg go." I could see his muscles tensing, slowly releasing her from his grasp. She whimpered as she struggled to get free from him.

Marks Cobalt blues came back tenfolds, his face leaning into my touch. "See Mark, you need to finish the mating. You can't keep doing this. You're going to end up losing yourself in the process." Meg's voice echoed throughout the main room in the house.

Mark opened his eyes and looked at me, his eyes pleading for forgiveness. "I, I just can't." With that, he walked away from me. He walked out the door and slammed it shut behind him. I lowered my head, my arm slowly returning to my side.

"Stubborn ass." Meg scoffed. I turned to her, glaring. She popped her arm back into place and rotated her shoulder a few times. "If he's not going to initiate it, then you have to. We rely on our mates. Just like now, you were able to bring him back. However, unless that connection is established, he can go feral and start killing everyone in sight." She walked to the nearest chair and sat, running her fingers through her mangled hair.

"I will do my best, but I can't force him. What all does this 'mating process' require us to do?" I sat in a chair opposite of her. She grinned at me, leaning back into the chair.

"You have to have sex, duh. How much do you know about our species?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Little to nothing. I'm learning as I go."

"I can't really say much, considering that you're a human girl. But then again you have different bloods drifting through your veins. Part shifter, part sorceress. It's an interesting combination to say the least, but I believe you have more human than shifter blood in you." She looked so nonchalant about things. Mark almost killed her and she had a care-free attitude. How the hell do you manage something like that?

"Well, then teach me. I'm always willing to learn something new. Mark never talks to me. I try to initiate conversations about his past or get to know him more, but he just never talks. Then again, we have hardly seen each other in the past few months, so it's been really hard on us." I lower my head.

"There's really not much I can tell you about him. We were dropped at a church after we were born. We're twin rogues. When they first saw us shift into our wolves, the people at the church had no idea what to do. However, there was a shifter among them who helped us research our bloodlines. We're both from an Alpha bloodline, but the pack was diminished and destroyed. I guess you could say we were saved, in a way." She looked out the window, watching Mark pace back and forth. He'd glance at us through the windows, as if he knew what she was saying to me.

"Why does it seem like you're estranged then?" I questioned. Curiosity now brimming to find out everything I could possible find out.

"Because I found my mate at 16, after our first shift. He hadn't found his mate. He started to become frantic, and he just left one day. No note, no word, nothing. Just vanished, into thin air as if he never existed. I followed him for weeks with my mate. I always kept a step back, to allow him to find what he was looking for. He managed his way here after a few years of wondering. My mate, Troy, the other wolf you saw that day, and I found a house on the outskirts of this Township. We never once set foot on this land. We started to investigate it because something seemed wrong. And then I found out, Mark met you. Mark needs you. He needs his mate." She leaned forward, grabbing one of my hands in both of hers. "I can't watch him like this. I'll do anything I can to help get the both of you free from here, but in the meantime, the mating has to be completed," she glanced over her shoulder, "or we'll both lose him."