Samdhya walked into the morning light, her dark hair glinting and her eyes determined. She needed a long hard run to calm her whirling brain. All night she had been wracked with constant dreams of wolves. They wanted her to join them. The Shapeshifters. She was sure of it, and almost didn't know how she was going to stop them. They were truly a powerful species.

As she jogged into the woods, she felt the wind rush by her ears and enjoyed the fierce beating of her heart as it slammed against her chest. She raced along; jumping over branches and fallen leaves and felt her body soar. Her mind cleared and she didn't look where she was going.

Satyr watched the Goddess fly along the trail from far up the road. She was a beauty as well As Surya. But in a different way, he found. Surya was sunlight. Samdhya was twilight. Her dark hair and red mouth belonged in the night.

As she neared where he stood, lounging against a tree, she slowed and saw him, stopping completely, her face flushed with exertion, and her eyes shining brightly. “Goddess,” he greeted her, wishing he could kill her. But he wouldn't, for he would certainly be executed if he did that.

She looked him over with a faintly disgusted glare and then she smiled slowly. “You're a Shapeshifter, aren't you?”

He wasn't surprised. She had heard the wolf's call. He could see it in her wild, hot aura. “Yes, and you're a Goddess. I'd run along. We don't mix.”

Samdhya raised one dark brow and her hands went to her hips. “That may be true. But I'll make my own decisions, thank you very much. Your kind is stalking me in my dreams. Do you know anything about that?”

Satyr was intrigued. So Iona was trying to get to Samdhya was she? He wasn't shocked by that either. Iona was a devious woman, and she would use any means to get her beloved Shahla back. “I know nothing, Goddess. I am not part of the Shapeshifters right at this time. Although that will change.”

She eyed him for another moment and then seemed satisfied. “Well…then, I guess you are of no use to me.” With that dismissive sentence, she was off running again, and he leant against the tree, wishing Surya would have run by like that. However he was interested in her sister. Not sexually, but mentally. She was obviously troubled, and he wondered what exactly Iona was trying to do.

~~~

“Hello Raka.”

Siran nervously watched him turn around at the sound of her voice, and his welcoming smile was so familiar, tears sprang to her eyes.

“Siran,” he breathed, walking through the gardens of her old cottage to the gate where she stood. “What brings you here?”

“I thought…well…it would nice if we could see each other again.” Siran leaned against the wooden fence with it's peeling paint and thought how it was five years ago, he would have reached across, cupped her cheek and kissed her softly, but with growing passion. Now they were reduced to base pleasantries.

“Nice,” he repeated and then nodded. “I suppose so. How have you been, Siran?”

She laughed quietly, without humour and their eyes met. “At first…I was not well. But now…I have Nora, and life is…well, I am content.”

His expression was blank and she could see that he wanted to weep, but he wouldn't. Not with her there. “That is good, Siran. I wanted you to move on. I might have…if I didn't still love you with all my…damned soul.”

She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. He stared at her lips and she licked them nervously, her stomach boiling with heat she remembered well.

“Why a woman, Siran? I am just curious.”

She shrugged and her hands slid along the shiny paint of the fence. “I knew she would be gentle with my heart. And no man…no man could ever live up to you, Raka.”

His eyes went hot, and his fingers entwined with her's. Her skin cried out at the touch of his flesh, the flesh that she knew better than her own. “But I am happy with Nora,” she continued. “You have been gone too long, Raka. I cannot…hurt her. I would never be able to forgive myself.”

He looked as if he wasn't listening, as if his mind was drifting back in time, as he spoke, “Remember when we would come out here…lie in the fields and watch the stars? Remember how I would kiss you…and make love to you out here? And it was as if we were the only two people on Gwenhwyvar…”

Siran felt burning tears fill her eyes and drip down her cheeks as their hands clenched and the times they had spent together swam like ghosts before them. “We cannot go back,” she reminded him softly and he leaned over, pressing his lips briefly to her cheek.

“I know, Siran. Go now, back to your love. I am fine, here, and I accept it is over,” he murmured sadly, and she smiled tearily, trying not to sob as she watched him walk away the second time in her life.

~~~

Surya lay on her bed, roused from sleep by the wind rushing by her window. She had had two appointments that she cancelled that day, because she simply did not want to leave her warm covers and silken pillows. A messenger had come to tell her earlier that they had found an old woman dead in the woods, mauled by wolves.

Surya closed her eyes as she thought about the terror the woman must have felt. She felt so helpless. She should have saved her, should have done something. Now Surya knew that she had to mount the war. Up until that moment, she had still been wary about the battle, but now she knew she had to. To save the people who were being killed by these evil animals.

Her eyes drifted to the door as it was opened and Shahla stepped inside. “Surya,” he frowned, “They tell me you have not been out of bed all day? Is something wrong, adora?”

She shrugged and snuggled further under the covers. “I had a dream,” she said simply and he sat down on the bed beside her, taking her hand in his.

“What was the dream about?”

She sighed heavily and looked away, not altogether anxious to tell him. “It was about…you.” His lips tightened but he said nothing, simply squeezed her hand encouragingly. “You…turned into a wolf and…you ripped out my throat. Then you turned back into your present form…and you laughed. You stared down at me, bleeding and dead, and you…laughed, Shahla.”

His throat seized and he wanted to shout with despair. Surya had dreams often that would predict the future. But he would not let this happen. This could not happen. “It was just a dream, adora. Do not worry.” Leaning down, he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and drew her into his embrace. She went willingly, but stiffened at first and he yearned to weep.

“Do you want me to leave?” he inquired quietly, without any feeling. If she felt unsafe around him, he would leave. He never wanted to cause her pain.

She tilted her head back and gazed at him with incredulity. “Why on earth would I want that, my darling?”

“Because of that dream…Surya, if you feel unsafe with me…I will leave the palace,” he paused and was pensive for a moment. “I am beginning to think I should anyway. I might be a danger to you.”

She laughed softly and kissed his lips sweetly. “No, you most certainly are not. I love you, Shahla. And dreams do not mean anything.”

“Your dreams often do,” he reminded her but she ignored him, drawing him closer and breathing against his ear.

“Make love to me…please Shahla.”

His head reared back and he looked at her with shock. “You cannot…you want that now? After that dream…that nightmare you had? Surya…I don't know if that is a good idea.”

She ignored that as well and kissed him, her tongue tracing his lips with passion he could not deny. Groaning, lost to her, his hands slipped underneath her nightgown, curving around her tiny waist as she straddled his hips.

“I love you…” she muttered against his mouth as they kissed and kissed, their panting breaths the only sound that could be heard in the still and silent room. She whimpered as his hands cupped her breasts and he teased her nipples with his thumbs, his tongue in her mouth and his body hard against her's.

Surya's head spun dizzily. Whenever he made love to her it was as if the world fell away and all that was left was her and her lover. His tongue traced a wet path down her neck to her breasts as he rid her of her nightgown and closed his mouth over one throbbing nipple, sucking and pulling the bit of flesh until she was writhing beneath him, clawing at her his hair and wrenching the shirt from his chest and back.

“Ahhh…Surya…” he mumbled against her stomach, before he buried his face between her thighs, his tongue sliding up her hot cleft as he inhaled her musky sweet scent. She gasped, panting madly as she felt his fingers slide inside her as his tongue teased her clit. Her hips moved, pressing closer to his face and he smiled faintly at her eagerness, removing his fingers and replacing them with his hot tongue. She screamed, her head moving from side to side as she felt burning fire sweep up her thighs and her orgasm hit her and white stars appeared before her eyes. Pressing a kiss to her inner thigh, he slid up her body and gathered her in his arms as she shuddered with the aftershocks of her release.

Without a word, she stared deep into his eyes with a naughty grin and then pushed him onto his back. He grinned at her lovingly and watched as she kissed her way down his chest, taking the time to suck gently on his flat male nipples and then press her face into his stomach. “Mmm…” she murmured as she grasped his cock lightly with her fingers and closed her mouth around the sensitive head, her eyes never leaving his.

His body jerked and he groaned, biting his lip as her lips sucked on the tip of his raging erection, and then travelled down until he was encased fully in the hot cavern of her mouth. He felt as if her tongue was molten lava as it swept over his flesh and her fingers caressed what her lips did not.

“Surya…” he groaned, his fingers delving into her hair. “I want to…come inside you,” he choked out but she shook her head.

“No…” she breathed and lowering her head, she took all of him into her mouth, ramming him to the back of her throat and sucking as hard as she could. His throat working noiselessly, he felt his whole body convulse when he came, and she swallowed every drop as it flooded her mouth hotly. Licking her lips with satisfaction, she smiled and crawled up the bed, working her way into his embrace.

He chuckled softly as he recovered and kissed her damp forehead. “I'll make you pay for that later,” he warned her and Surya giggled, her hands caressing his sweaty chest with pleasure.

“I'd be disappointed if you didn't, my love.”

He laughed again and felt his heart skip a beat. This woman was all he wanted for the rest of his life. For all eternity. She gave him light where once there was only darkness, filled his every hour with laughter and sweetness and hot kisses. He loved her with every fibre of his being…how could that dream she had be true? There was no way he would ever hurt her. He would die first.

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