The Queen's Half

Chapter 4

Mine

I awoke and found Finnic lying in the bed across from me. I sat up, and with a cry I kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backwards into the floor.

I was on him in an instant. Hand drawn back. Claws descended. Prepared to strike true.

He bucked his hips upward in attempt to get me off of him. "Selene! Selene," he groaned, grabbing my wrists.

I felt warm sparks where our skin touched, snapping me out of the fight. "Theo?" I whispered, horrified as the sleep left my eyes and I could see him more clearly. Theo lay beneath me, face red, hair mused about, blinking up at me confused.

I scrambled off of his chest, feeling cold all over. "I'm sorry! So, so sorry," I said, not daring to touch him again as he struggled to get up.

Before he could say anything, I turned and sprinted out of the room. I burst through the front door and shifted, not bothering to remove my clothes.

I heard heavy steps behind me as I ran into the woods, trees zipping past me in a blur. The sun had barely just begun to rise, the woods were still hazy, the grass beneath my paws damp with dew.

I ran and ran, exerting myself as much as I could. Yet the feeling of the cool morning wind rushing through my fur could nothing to dispel the bite of icy horror sloshing through my veins. I almost killed Theo.

Over the past two months, I've been haunted by Finnic in my dreams. I have awoken tangled in my sheets, soaked in sweat, my clothes sticking to my skin like blood.

In my sleep addled mind I thought Theo was Finnic. That he had struck a deal with some dark god and had come back to kill me.

Theo kept pace behind me. No matter how fast I ran, or how many turns I took he was there. I was tempted to start swinging from trees to see if he could keep up with me then.

At last I stumbled upon a lake and without thinking I dove head long into the crisp water. I shifted beneath the water, my head breaking the surface in time to see Theo pause at the shore. I gasped quietly when I took him in. He was tall and muscular even in this form, and his fur was black just like mine.

He stared at me from the shore, his green eye almost seeming to glow in contrast with his dark coat.

I bobbed along in the center of the lake, "I'm sorry," I said again, feeling tears prick my eyes. "I ... I didn't mean to," I croaked.

He shifted, his skin rippling as his fur disappeared, his bones and muscles snapping and reforming themselves. I turned away from him when he stood upright, naked as the day he was born. I'd grown up around naked people mulling about. Nudity didn't phase me, but Theo's did.

My breath quickened as I heard him enter the lake, and I jumped when I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Selene," he murmured, tugging me closer to him. "What happened?"

I looked up at his face and saw that there was no anger, only calm curiosity. "When I woke up, I thought you were Finnic," I admitted.

He choked back a laugh, "I'm surprised you didn't just maul me in the bed if you thought I was him."

"What!" I said pulling back from him.

He laughed outright now, "You forget I lived with him for fifteen years. I've been gone for a while, but I remember what kind of male he was." I watched silently as he shut his eyes, the pale light of the dawn setting his face aglow.  "Breathe Selene, I'm not upset with you," he said without opening his eyes.