Phantom Warriors: Arctos (8 page)

* * * * *

Caitlin woke to fal ing snow. She was snuggled under the blankets, but Arctos was nowhere to be found. She frowned and looked around the room. Everything was as she remembered. Was it al a dream?

She shifted, feeling the aches that could only come from mind-blowing, body-melting sex. No, not sex.
Love.

Every tender kiss, every fevered touch came rushing back.

Caitlin sighed, resting her forearm over her eyes. What had she done?

The cold light of day highlighted some harsh realities.

She needed to set Arctos straight before he got any crazy ideas that this was anything serious. Pain radiated from her chest. This couldn’t be happening.

“You of al people should know better,” she chastised, then swung her feet over the edge of the bed and got dressed.

Caitlin searched the cabin, but Arctos was nowhere to be found. For a second, fear overwhelmed her. Had he left her here al alone? Even as the thought fil ed her mind, she knew in her heart that he’d never do anything like that.
He’s
probably out gathering more wood
. Yes, that made more sense.

She picked up the rabbits he’d caught the night before and did her best to prepare and cook them. Not exactly her ideal breakfast, but it beat the heck out of starving. The rabbits were stewing away over the fire, when Caitlin heard the first rumble outside. “Arctos?”

There was no answer.

It would’ve been so easy to ignore the noise, except the sound came again. This time it was answered by another and another. Caitlin tiptoed across the room and glanced out the window. She counted five polar bears before fear took over and she moved away. Their little haven was surrounded. Her gaze shot to the rabbits cooking over the fire. They’d smel ed the food. Even as the thought entered her mind, she was already searching for a weapon.

They hadn’t tried to break in yet, but Caitlin knew it was only a matter of time. She shoved one of the chairs in front of the door, then snatched the poker out of the fire and stood back. Where was Arctos?

She glanced at the bubbling pot. Should she toss the rabbits outside? Would that make the polar bears go away? Unfortunately, that would require opening the door.

Caitlin didn’t think that was such a good idea given the circumstances. She glanced around the sparse cabin.

Other than the smal window in the bathroom, which a greased squirrel couldn’t fit through, and the one facing the front, there was no other way of escape.

It made perfect sense given the cabin’s purpose, but was of little help now. If she could just hold them off until Arctos returned… The crazy thought entered her mind, then was quickly dismissed. What could he do? It was one thing to scare away a single polar bear. Quite another to chase away five. She scanned the rafters. The ceiling was a crude pitched design that didn’t hold any beams. So there was no way she could climb up and hide.

There was a loud snuffle at the door. Caitlin took a step back. Acting on autopilot, she grabbed her backpack and fumbled for her phone. She punched in a number that she knew by heart. It rang and rang, then eventual y Al ie picked up.

“Al ie,” she whispered, even though there was no doubt that the bears could hear every word.

“Caitlin? Why are you whispering?” She sounded sleepy and somewhat out of it.

“I’m whispering because I am surrounded by polar bears and I think I’m going to die.” In that moment, al Caitlin wanted to do was see Arctos one more time.

“What?” Al ie shouted.

“They smel ed the food. I didn’t think…Oh God, there’s nowhere to hide.” Caitlin whimpered as sharp claws raked the outside of the door.

“I’m coming,” Al ie said. “Just stay on the line, so they can trace your phone.”

“It’s too late for that,” Caitlin said as the clawing grew in volume.

“Don’t say that.” Al ie sniffled. “Where’s Arctos?” Tears wel ed in Caitlin’s eyes. “I don’t know. When I woke up, he was gone.”

“I love you, Cat” Al ie said, no longer trying to hide her crying.

“I love you, too,” she replied.

“Just hang in there. Help is on the way.” Caitlin hung up. The last thing she wanted was for her friend to hear her die. Where was Arctos? Something hit the door—hard. She screamed. There was another loud thud and the wood cracked. Caitlin grabbed a kitchen knife to go along with the poker and backed into a corner. She wasn’t going down without a fight.

* * * * *

Arctos heard Caitlin scream. He’d been out hunting so they’d have enough food to ride out the snowstorm. His blood chil ed in his veins, when he scented the air and caught the musk of several bears. Before he had time to think, Arctos took off running. His mate was in danger. He’d left her unprotected. If anything happened to her…

He reached the cabin in time to see the first polar bear break down the door. Arctos’ bel ow of anger fil ed the air a second before his bones and muscles twisted, giving way to his beast. He charged the cabin, knocking the other polar bears aside as he hit the male who’d gained entry.

Arctos tackled the bear, clamping onto his sides, pul ing him back until he tumbled out the door. They fought, clashing as only beasts can battle over territory. He bit, scratched, and clawed at the male al while sensing Caitlin’s unbridled fear. If he could sense that, then it meant she was stil alive. His relief was short-lived.

The other bears fought to get past him, each lured by the promise of food. Arctos fought valiantly, disappearing and attacking, as only a Phantom Warrior could. He eventual y chased the bears off, but at great personal cost.

Exhausted and bleeding heavily, Arctos col apsed onto the snow, his limbs twitching from the battle. His body shifted back into human form in an attempt to seal the wounds. It didn’t work. Warmth trickled down his side and wetness covered his chest. His lungs burned as he gasped for air. At least he would die with honor, having successful y defended his mate.

What felt like an eternity later, Caitlin appeared. The color leached from her face and moisture fil ed her stormy eyes as she stared at him. “You’re hurt. Bad,” she said, glancing at his mangled body. “They even tore off your clothes.”

Hot fat, salty drops hit his face as she bent over him.

“I’l live,” Arctos said, unsure if he spoke the truth.

Her gaze darted around the clearing. “We need to get you inside in case they come back. Help is on the way, so hang on.”

Arctos heard her, but her words made no sense. The Phantom ship wouldn’t be here for another day. So how could assistance be coming?

Caitlin put her hands beneath his shoulders. “You have to help me. I can’t lift you.”

He did what he could, but the intense pain hampered his movements. “Just leave me,” he said.

“If I leave you, they’l come back and eat you. Even if they don’t, it’s below zero. You’l freeze to death,” she said, sniffing loudly. “I’m not going to let that happen.” Arctos wouldn’t freeze to death, but he couldn’t tel Caitlin that, she was already distraught. It was more likely that he’d bleed to death. He didn’t think she’d take that news any better, so he tried to rise, only to stumble back into the snow.

“Come on,” she goaded. “You’re not going to let a little scratch keep you down, are you?”

He glanced at his shredded chest. Scratch? Had the woman lost her mind? Arctos gritted his teeth and tried again, wobbling from side to side. His legs didn’t want to work. He forced one foot in front of the other. Caitlin shouldered much of his substantial weight and guided him toward the broken door, up the stairs, and into the cabin.

She shut the door the best she could, then dropped him into the nearest chair.

“Don’t move. I’l be right back,” she said.

* * * * *

Arctos awoke on the bed with covers tossed over his waist. He blinked and looked around, trying to recal how he’d gotten there. It was then that he noticed Caitlin quietly sitting in the corner. She had pul ed one of the kitchen chairs into the room. Her legs were tucked against her chin and she held the same weapon he’d seen her fire at the bears. She hit a button and several clicks fil ed the air.

Arctos glanced down, expecting pain, but saw only fresh bandages.

“What are you doing?” he asked in confusion. His memory was coming back quickly. He recal ed the fear that had clutched him the second he’d heard her scream. The frantic race back to the cabin only to find it surrounded by bears. Then the brutal fight to protect his mate.

Caitlin didn’t immediately answer, her gaze drawn instead to something on the weapon. Arctos winced when he tried to sit up.

The sound caught her attention. “You should lie stil .

Don’t want to reopen those wounds.” She raised the weapon again and fired. A flurry of clicks later, she stared once more at the back of the weapon.

Arctos ran a hand through his hair and inhaled. Her scent, though sweet, held a tinge of sourness. She was scared and angry. The fear he could understand, but not the anger. He scanned her from head to feet. She didn’t appear to have any injuries.

“What are you looking for?” he asked, watching her closely.

“Did you know that I found you lying in the snow naked and bleeding?” she asked instead.

Arctos’ mind raced for an explanation, but came up blank, so he said nothing.

She pointed the weapon at his face and shot. “You know,” she said. “When we first met, I asked you how you were able to get away from the polar bear. You said something like ‘I chal enged it’. Even though I knew the odds of that happening was unlikely, I gave you the benefit of the doubt.”

“I spoke the truth,” he said, as tension caused his muscles to go rigid.

“Yes, you did…you just didn’t tel the whole truth,” she said softly, her face going pale. “Did you?” Arctos swal owed hard. “What are you looking for?” he asked again.

“The bear,” she said without inflection. “It has to be here somewhere.”

Silence fil ed the space until it became hard to breathe due to the building pressure. They stared, gazes locked, each one measuring the other. Eventual y Caitlin took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then asked, “What are you?”

And there it was the question that Arctos had hoped to avoid for a little while longer. At least until he’d completed the bond. He’d hoped to give Caitlin more time. Hoped that if they spent enough hours together that she too would see that they were meant to be together. But his time had run out and Arctos knew it. He stared at Caitlin. Was she ready to hear the truth?

His hearts clenched. He somehow doubted it. “Please put the weapon down,” he said, careful y. “It is not necessary.”

Caitlin frowned. “What are you talking about?” He pointed to the thing in her hands.

She laughed, but the hal ow sound held no humor. She lifted the object. “This isn’t a weapon. It’s a camera.” His brow furrowed.

“I use it to capture images,” she said. “Tel me the truth, Arctos.”

He sighed. “As you have already surmised, I am not from here,” he said.

Caitlin shrugged. “I’m not from Alaska either.” He shook his head. “I’m not talking about Alaska, my Cat.”

“Don’t cal me that,” she said, putting the camera aside so she could wrap her arms around her knees in an attempt to distance herself.

Arctos searched for the right words, but there didn’t seem to be a good way of tel ing her that he was a species from another planet, so he blurted out the news. “I’m not from Earth.”

Color rose in her cheeks and she straightened in her chair. “What do you mean you’re not from
Earth
? You have to be. Where else could you come from?”

“You know, my Cat or you wouldn’t have asked me what I am. Something in you senses my Otherness, even if you’re not ready to face the truth.”

Caitlin dropped her feet to the ground and climbed out of the chair. “That’s crazy. You’re crazy. Al ie was right.” She hugged herself and began to pace.

“I am not insane. You would not have given me the gift of your body had you truly believed that to be the case,” he said.

* * * * *

Oh my god, I slept with an alien!

Caitlin thought her head was about to explode. The pressure in her temples throbbed out a steady beat, promising to blossom into a migraine. No matter how she analyzed his words, they just didn’t make sense. There was no such thing as aliens, so how could Arctos be from another planet? Scientist couldn’t even agree if alien bacteria from Mars existed and he was tel ing her that he was a little green man.

She glanced at him. He didn’t look green or gray for that matter. His pale skin was flushed with blood and his dark eyes were rimmed with red. Why would he make something like this up? Logic told her that he wouldn’t…

unless he was crazy. He hadn’t seemed crazy. A little odd, maybe, but not insane.

Caitlin stopped and pinned him to the bed with her gaze, when he threatened to get up. “You cannot just say that you’re an alien and expect me to believe it. You have to know how that is going to sound.”

“I do,” he said quietly, almost as if he were trying to stay calm so that she wouldn’t go into hysterics. Wel , it was too late for that. She was freaked out. Big time.

Caitlin thought about the bears that had attacked the cabin. She’d been too afraid to glance out the window until silence reigned. One minute she saw a polar bear, panting and bleeding, the next she saw Arctos lying in the snow naked. It had to be snow blindness or maybe it was some kind of brain freeze. Yeah, that made more sense than the fantastical. She began to pace again.

“What about the bear?” she asked. “How do you explain that?”

“You are referring to my beast,” he said, as if to make sure he understood her correctly.

She stopped. “Your what?”

“The creature you mistook for another polar bear is actual y my beast. My other half. It rests inside of me and is as much who am as the man you’ve lain with,” he said.

“Are you tel ing me that I slept with an animal?” Before he could answer she blurted, “I think I’m going to be sick.” Caitlin rushed into the bathroom and pul ed up the lid on the port o’ potty. Her stomach lurched and she proceeded to throw up until nothing came out. Trembling and in shock, she turned to the washbasin and splashed some freezing water from the melted snow over her face, rinsing out her mouth at the same time. It took a few minutes before she was composed enough to return to the room.

Arctos’ face flushed with fury. Gone was the warmth and understanding that had been simmering in his brown eyes. Blood red irises now stared at her. His jaw clenched and unclenched. He opened and closed his mouth several times as if to speak, but anger halted his tongue.

Caitlin took a step back.

He exhaled, which sounded more like a snort than a breath, then rose. Blood seeped through the bandages, but Arctos didn’t seem to notice. His gaze riveted on her. “I am a Phantom Warrior from the planet Zaron. Like al Phantom people, I carry a beast inside of me. The beast is part of me, not a separate entity. We are one and the same,” he said through teeth that appeared sharper than they had only moments ago.

Caitlin took a breath. He growled, his red eyes flashed in warning, when she thought about interrupting.

“You did not sleep with an animal, when you laid beneath me. You surrendered to me and only me. And whether you like it or not, you are my mate,” he ground out, not looking at al happy with the idea.

The film snapped inside Caitlin’s head. “I can’t be your mate. I’m not anyone’s mate nor wil I ever be. If that’s what you were looking for, you should’ve pursued Al ie.” Arctos shook his head. “You do not understand,” he said, taking a step closer.

She took a step back and held up her hands.

He stopped. Pain flashed across his face before his expression became unreadable. “I had no choice in the matter. You were dying. I couldn’t al ow that to happen.” Arctos fel back onto the bed and his chin dropped to his chest.

“What do you mean I was dying?” Caitlin touched her side.

He looked at her, guilt shadowing his eyes. “I wasn’t fast enough. I didn’t reach you in time.” She shook her head in denial. “It’s just a scratch.” Panic wel ed inside of her.

Arctos glanced at her. “You were bleeding to death. I had no choice.”

Caitlin’s heart hit her ribs, sending pain crashing through her chest. “What did you do?”

This time when he met her gaze, his didn’t waver. “I bonded my essence to yours.” His voice cracked. “It was the only way to save you. Not that it matters. The Goddess decided our fate long before we met.”

“I don’t believe in bonds or fate. And I certainly don’t believe in destined love,” Caitlin said, even though it hurt her to do so. She wasn’t ready to admit how much Arctos had gotten under her skin. Now she wasn’t sure that she’d ever be. What had started out as a wild night had turned into something altogether different and it scared her to death.

Arctos looked at her, pity shimmering in his eyes.

“Where I am from, there is no other kind of love. When you have so few women, you learn to cherish each and every one of them.”

It hurt to look at him. Arctos was laying himself bare and asking her to do the same. Caitlin couldn’t do it, even if she wanted to. She’d spent her whole childhood being shuffled from house to house. Change was the only thing
permanent
that she could count on. Love was fleeting, not ever-lasting.

“I don’t believe you,” she said, hoping to push him away.

Arctos rose, not at al concerned with his nudity. One second he was standing by the bed, the next his image shimmered and a bear appeared. Caitlin screamed and wedged herself in the corner. The bear didn’t move, but stil managed to take up a big part of the room.

No, not a bear. Arctos
.

Caitlin had been so spooked by his appearance earlier that she hadn’t real y
looked
at him. Now that she did, she realized the creature had the same red eyes of her lover. She paused. Since when did she think of Arctos as her lover? She tucked the thought away.

“It’s real y you, isn’t it?” She took a smal step forward.

The creature bobbed its head, then shimmered into nothingness.

Caitlin gasped, then searched the room. Arctos and the bear were gone. Where? Warm hands slipped around her waist and pul ed her against a hard chest. She squealed. “How did you?” was al Caitlin got out before she noticed it wasn’t just his chest that was hard.

Arctos rocked his hips, his shaft gliding over her bottom. He kissed her neck, then nibbled on her earlobe.

“You’re hurt. Remember?”

“Not anymore,” he said, nuzzling her.

“I don’t know if I can handle this,” she said.

“You are stronger than you think,” he countered.

Caitlin bit her lip and closed her eyes as sensation shot through her. “What do you want from me?”

“Everything,” he murmured, holding her tight.

Before she could wiggle around to look at him, he latched onto her neck, his sharp teeth breaking the skin.

Moisture trickled down her back and the sweet copper aroma of blood fil ed the air. Caitlin struggled to get away.

Arctos growled deep in his chest and she instantly stopped moving. A second later, she heard him swal ow.

He’s drinking my blood. Why am I not freaking out?

The cock at her back seemed to grow impossibly larger. He slid his hands up her body and cupped her smal breasts. This time there was no gently touches. Gone was the man. Al that remained was the beast.

The pain from the bite quickly melted into pleasure as Arctos lapped at the spot. One hand left her nipple and slid between her thighs. Caitlin whimpered as he pressed two fingers against her sex.

“You are mine,” he said in a guttural voice that she hardly recognized.

“You’re making a mistake,” she murmured.

“No mistake,” he said.

The metal ic glide of a zipper reached her ears. A moment later, he shoved his hand down her pants and gripped her sex, her very moist, very swol en, total y turned on, sex. His thumb quickly found her clit and savaged it, while his fingers fil ed her.

Caitlin’s hips bucked and she moaned. “We should talk about this some more,” she said. “You can’t just drop something like this on me and expect everything to be okay.”

“No more talk.” He grumbled.

There were al kinds of reasons that this was a bad idea, but for the life of her, Caitlin couldn’t think of a single one. Her mind remained focused on what Arctos was doing to her body. Like a woman possessed, she rode his thick fingers. He didn’t let up. Never let her catch her breath.

Arctos continued to push her until she didn’t think she could take another minute.

He pressed down on her clit and she writhed in his arms, throwing her chest out. Her bottom slammed against his rigid shaft. Arctos grunted, but continued ravishing her.

Out of control and half out of her mind, Caitlin tumbled over the edge.