It was dark. Things were... hazy. I didn't know where I was or how I got there. I remembered the shadows attacking me, the cold it brought before nothing. Now I was in a dark and hazy place with no idea how I got there.

Choices, choices, choices.

The voice was soft and rather amused as it echoed around me. I frowned, looking around in search of the source. There was nothing I could see, the voice sounded like it came from everywhere around me. It was too... twilight zone for me. I didn't particularly appreciate that.

Oh this is going to be fun!

The voice sounded way too excited for my liking. "Who the hell are you?" I frowned and turned around. I really didn't like what was going on. The fact I was clueless about where I was, was enough to irritate me but the mysterious and excited voice just sealed my agitation with the entire situation.

Everything and nothing. Your saviour and destroyer. The light and the dark.

"Oh jesus christ." I rolled my eyes, making a noise of disgust in my throat. "I am not in the mood for contradictions." I just wanted to know what the hell was going on. Not to be talked to by an omnipotent being that was acting contradictory and being weird.

"Rather mouthy, aren't you?" At the voice I whirled around. A woman dressed in black with a veil over her face moved towards me. She was absolutely stacked. I didn't swing that way but I could see why some women would, especially if there were women like that around. I looked her up and down as she did the same to me. "Interesting." She walked around me and I turned around with her, too wary to take my eyes off of the woman. "You're pretty enough." She said it so casually that I was a bit taken a back.

"Pretty enough? I think I'm pretty damn attractive." I hadn't gotten any complaints and had quite a few compliments from my bed partners. In fact most of them said I was exquisite. I took that as a high compliment.

"Ego too? Humans are so amusing." She let out a chuckle that had my neck hairs rising. She was so... fucking creepy. I didn't know who she was but she was really not helping my current zen. I was already all sorts of off today and I didn't want to add creepy veiled lady to that as well. "Well, he liked you so I guess I have to do as I said I would." She heaved out a sigh as if what she was going to do was a task for her.

I did not like the sound of that. "What are you going to do?" I couldn't help how wary I sounded. She creeped me the fuck out and I didn't want her to do anything to me.

"Save your life." At that she shot out her hand, grey smoky tendrils shot out from it and they struck me, stabbing straight through my body. I inhaled deeply, the pain was so sharp and quick that I didn't have time to scream. They felt hot and they burned me as they wrapped around me, shoving underneath my flesh. I shook, unable to breathe and unable to move due to the pain. I felt myself suffocating and the woman's laughter rang in my ears.

Choices, choices, choices.

The spikes of smoke twisted in my body and underneath my skin. It felt like snakes and I wanted to cry. The pain was so bad. It was chasing something out of me but it was a bitter and brutal battle that tore through me violently. I couldn't think, couldn't breathe, couldn't move. The pain was everything.

So many choices, little priestess.

I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth as she laughed again. The burning of the smoke grew worse as it shoved into my mouth and nose, burning my eyes and shoving into my ears. I was being covered by it, coated in it, taken over by it. I wanted to fight to scream as it felt like I was being burned from the inside out.

I made a choice for you both, a gift for him and life for you.

I felt like I was going to break, that my mind was going to crumble. I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to beg for it to stop as the smoke seemed to reach the very core of who I was, shoving into it hard and fast. It found torn edges, burning them closed before it shoved through it, tearing a new hole through my soul. My mouth dropped open in a soundless scream before I felt something attach to me, closing up the hole the smoke had made.

Enjoy it, or don't, it matters not to me.

The smoke and the pain were immediately gone all at once and I was suddenly falling, no air coming into my lungs as I fell further and further down through the darkness. I wanted to scream but I couldn't. I could do nothing but wait in horror to hit the ground. Panic filled me as I tried my hardest to inhale to scream but I couldn't. I just had to wait for the feeling of my bones snapping and crushing from the impact against the earth.

I hit it it hard, slamming back into my body with a force that shoved the air from my lungs and sent me gasping for air. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mene." The rumble of a voice penetrated my gasping and coughing for air as I settled back into my body. I didn't know what happened. I didn't understand what was going on. I managed to inhale the sweet air I needed to live and I started shaking, terrified as to what had happened and what was going on.

My teeth clattered together as Bastian held me closer to his chest. "W-w-w-what happ-p-pened?" I needed to know. My body felt freezing and I felt like I had just brushed close to death. It wasn't a pleasant feeling as my mind was slow to catch up with what happened.

"Its okay. It will be alright." Bastian shushed me gently as he pressed my head to his chest and held me tightly. His heart beat frantically in his chest and it matched the frantic beating of my own. "Everything is okay." I shook my head. Something was wrong. My body was slow to heat but all I wanted to do was cling to the shifter and never wanted to let him go. That meant something was definitely wrong. I didn't cling to a guy for anything.

"What h-happened?" My voice was more sturdy and despite the fact my teeth clattered together, I didn't stutter nearly as badly as I had at first. The world was starting to comes back to me. I was aware that we were on the floor in a room I hadn't seen before.

"The shadows came for you and I asked Mene for a favour. She saved you." He said it before he buried his face into my hair, his grip growing tighter on me. I hated how nice it felt. Everything was so fucking confusing. I never should have felt that way for him. He fucking kidnapped me. "She saved you." He whispered it and I pulled back, searching his face, looking for something that would tell me what the hell was happening to me.

He cupped my cheek, the touch making my shiver as heat rolled through me. His brown eyes were rich and warm as they met mine. "You are okay." His voice rolled over my and my eyes fluttered at the feeling. I felt odd, my heart thudded in my chest before jolting as his lips brushed mine. "You are okay." The words brushed over my lips, rich and tempting, as my eyes closed. Instincts I didn't understand rose up in my and I kissed him back. I reached up, grasping the back of his neck as I did so. I leaned into him, needing more contact with him.

My body reacted to him as if he were a livewire and all control went out of my mind as I clung to him. My hands frantically moved over his skin, needing to feel more of him underneath my hands. His hands moved across me just as frantically as we kissed. He pulled back, his lips sliding down my jaw and to my neck. I arched into him, unable to help myself. "What's happening?" I didn't understand it, didn't understand why being close to him made my nerves tingle and light up and why his touch made me melt as it was.

"Dunno." It was a rasp in my ear that had me shuddering with a sudden need for him. I bit my lip, moving forward and nuzzling his neck. The urges were unfamiliar but overwhelming for me. Something inside of me needed contact with Bastian, needed his hands on my skin and his lips on mine. A heavy growl rumbled from him and faint fear floated through me but it was gone nearly as quickly as it came as my shirt was tugged up and over my head.

He kissed me again and I shifted over him, leaning against him as his rough palms slid over the bare skin of my back. I felt a moan escape me and another deep and dominating growl escaped Bastian as I was suddenly picked up. I wrapped my arms around him before my back hit the softness of a mattress, Bastian leaning over me as he kissed me, dominating me as his hands slid over my skin, removing the rest of my clothes.

Everything was frantic, movements were jerky and hands grasped and groped as any flesh and muscles that came underneath our palms. I arched into his touch, a slick heat pulsing through me as he stroked my sensitive skin. His palms were rough against me and it stoked the fire inside of me that much higher.

I couldn't understand why I craved his touch so much. Something had been changed within me. There was a connection I had to Bastian I couldn't explain. I couldn't control myself as I sunk my hands into his hair, nipping at his skin as he shifted me higher onto the bed. A heavy growl erupted from him, it sent the air vibrating against my skin and I let out a moan before he kissed me again.

I slid my hands from his hair down his chest. He was slim and I could feel the scarring on his chest underneath my fingertips. His own hands slid down my sides, causing me to gasp against his mouth and arch into that touch. He was there, I felt him so keenly attached to me. "What's happening?" I whispered the words against his lips and he pulled back. I didn't understand it, why did I want him this much?

He met my gaze, his eyes fiery and heated as he cupped my cheek. "I don't know." It was a low rumble that had my cheeks heating as he stroked my cheek with his thumb. "I don't know." He gave a slow shake of his head before he pressed his forehead to mine. There was a moment as we gazed at each other before we met in the middle for another kiss. I was glad that we both had no fucking clue what was going on. It made me feel less alone.

I have made a choice for you both.

The echo of the voice sent shivers over my skin as he slowly caressed my side. His lips moved over mine softly but as the flames started to roar within me, the kiss grew more demanding and fierce. I raked my nails over his skin as he slid into me. I gave a heavy moan, wrapping my legs around his waist. He moved within me and gave a low growl, tensing over me.

I arched my back, rubbing my hands over his back, gripping him tightly. "Oh god." I felt over heated and sensitive as he slowly thrust into me. I closed my eyes, biting my lip as I rolled my hips upwards.

He immediately grabbed my hip, holding me still. "Don't." He gritted the word out and I shook my head, arching my back again.

A gift for him, life for you.

The words seemed almost taunting me but I couldn't do anything but focus on the sensations that coursed through me. Bastian started moving and I couldn't help but moan as he started to move faster. The heat was building within me and I couldn't focus on anything but how he was making me feel. It had been too long since I had last had sex and nothing had come close to this. It was like I felt him in my very core, my soul.

Enjoy it, or not.

There was that cruelly amused voice again, the memory of the woman who had changed something deep inside me. She had altered me, changed me, shifted my focus. I couldn't help but moan as Bastian brushed his lips over my ear as I tilted my head.

She said to enjoy it and with my mind hazy with pleasure I couldn't help but obey. I tightened my grip on him, moving in tandem with his harsh thrusts as I bit my lip hard. The pain was fleeting before he kissed me hard and dominating, a heavy growl radiating out of his chest and throat.

The sounds that wanted to escape me as his hand grasped a breast and gave it a firm squeeze, got stuck in my throat. My heart beat in my head and I could see each thump behind my eyes as the pleasure reached the tipping point. I hovered on the edge, unsure if I would make it over with his movements before he pulled back from my mouth, his lips touching my neck for a brief heartbeat before teeth sank deep.

I gave a soundless cry as pain and pleasure shot through me. I had been shoved over the edge, writhing at the intense feelings that washed over me. I could feel him, feel the connection between us grow thicker and stronger. His bite had solidified it deep within me and I was too far gone with the pleasure to think about the consequences to his simple action. The claws of his one hand dug into my hip, as if holding me still as he gave several jerky thrusts. I could feel him coming in me and I let out a low moan, rolling my hips at the sensation it caused as he snarled against my neck.

He let my neck go, his tongue swiping over the marks and sending pleasure straight through me. I blinked sleepily as my hands fell from around him, my legs doing the same. I met his gaze as he pulled back, his eyes were dark and nearly feral as they glinted in the dark of the bedroom. I blinked at him, a lazy smile crossing my face. I was so tired but I felt so wonderful.

It matters not to me

Despite how languid the pleasure left me I was acutely aware of the warning the words held. Something had indeed changed inside of me and I knew it had everything to do with a veiled woman and the shifter male who was looking down at me with possessiveness. I blinked again, having a hard time holding my eyes open.

Feather light kisses brushed my cheeks and my forehead before he pulled away from me, leaving me feeling slightly bereft and just a tad sore. I gave a small whimper at the loss of contact, unsure why the sound escaped me as it did. He didn't stay away long, lifting me into his arms before he settled me underneath the covers of the bed, grunting a little in pain as he did so. He stroked my cheek with the back of his fingers and I let my eyes close fully.

Underneath the relaxed and warm feeling within me there was a frantic part of me that still didn't understand what was going on, a part of me that knew what I was feeling for the shifter was not normal. I shifted underneath the covers, curling up slightly before the bed dipped behind me, a warm arm wrapped around me tightly and I was pulled back to Bastian's chest. A content rumble escaped him and that tiny slice of fear returned. It was the part of me that was acutely aware that he was a shifter and I was as close to mundane as a supe could get.

That tiny part of me argued for reason in my exhausted brain. It repeated that he was dangerous again and again because he was a predator, he could hurt me without trying but the vast majority of me felt protected and comfortable in his arms. That scared me deep down even more than the fear of predators itself, it was the fear that I had been changed and my choice had been taken away from me.

The wound on my neck gave credence to that fear because despite how tired I was, I knew a claiming mark when I saw one and I didn't have to be a shifter to know what it felt like. It terrified me because I had a feeling the shifter had claimed me, body and soul, and I didn't know how to deal with that.

My brain shoved it all away, letting it grow hazy and letting me be content and sleepy. I gave a small yawn as warm breath brushed over the back of my neck. I needed sleep, needed the warm darkness that it brought because I knew that I had gone through too much, dealt with too much, to understand everything that had happened to me.

It would be okay in the morning. I told myself the words again and again and as I wiggled back to bring myself closer to the warm chest I was pressed against. That unfamiliar instinct driving my actions once again. I needed to be close to Bastian and before I could even begin to wonder why, I fell asleep.