The Bite (Book 1)

Original Edition - Chapter 14: Friends

His face haunted all of my dreams that night.

Marcus' face.

He was a demon that plagued me. I thought maybe that I had escaped my past. Maybe it would stay where it should be, behind me.

But I was wrong.

Because during that whole fight, somehow Liam's face would contort into Marcus'. Every hit took me back to days where my life was punch after punch after punch. When I was nothing more than his punching bag, a weakling.

The sound of my own contorted scream mixed with a sad howl shocked me awake. I was covered in sweat and breathing hard. The dreams were relentless.

"Char?! Are you alright!?" Derek was on my bed checking me for any sign of damage while Elliot checked all the windows.

I nodded while the shaky breaths still poured out of my mouth. I couldn't say anything. I was ashamed and embarrassed. I was still so weak, so much weaker than I thought I was.

My wolf howled sad and low in the back of my mind. She disagreed, but the memories of my past life broke her heart. She couldn't help but be shaken up by them.

"You okay girl?" Levi was standing in my doorway with his arms crossed. His silver eyes were scanning me careful before they met my own eyes.

He knew.

He always seemed to know what was really going on in my brain. There was no hiding anything from Levi.

I nodded to him while Derek slipped into me bed and pulled me tight against him. He started to stroke my hair and wipe the tears away while I tried to calm myself down.

Levi nodded then headed out as Elliot climbed in on the other side of me so I was in a cozy vampire sandwich. My heart started to settle as the tears slowed down.

It was just a dream, just a very bad dream. That's what I had to keep telling myself at least.

"He can't hurt you anymore, you know that right Char?"

I looked up at Derek whose brown eyes were full of brother-like concern. "I know."

"The past can hurt. It may be behind us, but it still hurts," Elliot said gently. He took my hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"You're stronger than that, you know that right Char?" I sighed and wiped a tear away with my spare hand. There were some days I wasn't so sure. My wolf growled at the thought, she was strong. She was so strong. Sometimes I felt like the weaker one in the relationship, like she had to do all the heavy lifting.

"It doesn't always feel like that. Some days I feel so strong, so far away from what I was. Days like today, nights like tonight, I feel so weak. I feel like his memory can still eat me up, like I am still running from him."

"What would you do if you ever saw him again," Elliot asked quietly.

I laid my head on Derek's chest as he stroked my hair and chewed on the question, but there wasn't much to chew on. "I'd kill him."

They slept next to me that night, and the next nights after. I didn't see Liam for a few days, even though we were apparently supposed to start our training. Levi said I needed a break. I think they all knew I needed my space since our spar.

I had won that fight, but I sure as hell did not feel like it. I felt like I had unleashed a sea of worms from a can that wouldn't stop pouring out. Levi said it was because I hadn't come to terms with my past yet, made my peace with myself. I didn't know if I would ever truly know peace.