Chapter 21
Me. A hybrid.
It still didn't make any sense, and yet somehow I actually believed Kieran a bit. The next morning, I was met with half of the living room filled with shopping bags when I came downstairs. I paused at the bottom of the stairs as I stared at Kieran.
"What is all this?" I asked.
"Well, this is going to take a while, so I figured you might need clothes and necessities," he explained.
"So how do you plan on saving my life today?" I tried to ask casually, but inside I was nervous as all hell. Kieran hesitated.
"You're not going to like it," he admitted. Kieran sat me down and went on to explain that the weaker of my sides was the wolf. The fox was basically immortal, the more fox genes we could channel, the safer I would be. I didn't one hundred percent trust him, but I wanted to see what he would do. Then came the syringe. My eyes widened as I looked at it. I remembered it from when I was young.
"This serum is going to start you back at square one. You'll basically be a human again. No more shifting, and try not to aggravate the wolf side of yourself. We need to eliminate the wolf side of you completely; make it dormant," he explained.
"By doing this, aren't you just trying to weaken me?" I asked.
"Right after the serum, I'll give you some of my venom, it'll pull on the fox genes in your body. By then you'll know I wasn't lying to you. Fox venom isn't venomous to other foxes," he sighed. It was a risk. It would prove what he was saying, but it involved basically handicapping me first.
"Before you inject me, I need you to make another promise," I said nervously. He paused as he waited. I took a breath as I watched his face.
"If I want to leave, you'll let me leave at any time. No questions asked," I said. He sighed before nodding.
"I promise," he said.
"You're going to want to lay down for this," he hesitated. We went up to my room before he sat me down on my bed. I still had my reservations, but this was going to be the only way to test what Kieran was claiming.
I took a breath and braced myself as the needle was stuck into my arm. I winced as the fluid flowed into my body. Immediately, it was like my veins were catching fire. I grunted as I tried to hold it in but the pain got to be too excruciating. It was like I was shifting but in reverse. I found myself gripping the sheets as my eyes watered. I couldn't stay sitting up. I yelped as I laid down on the bed as my back arched. Kieran shifted his position beside me before holding my hand. I gripped it tightly as I turned towards him. Kieran hesitated before rubbing my back gently as I bit into the pillow to try to keep from screaming.
"Camilla, you don't have to hold back. I know it hurts," Kieran said softly. I released the pillow from my mouth before I screamed. I withered as I tried to get away from the burning sensation, but no such luck. It went on for hours. I was screaming and sobbing the whole time. It was excruciating. Kieran waited patiently before it finally started to calm down. I felt weak as I panted. It was exhausting. I felt human again. Out of curiosity, I tried to mind-link Aspen.
It didn't work.
That was something I didn't think about before agreeing to taking the serum. Luckily, I still had my cell phone if I needed to contact him.
I really was human again. Kieran sat me up gently before sitting in the bed behind me. I took a breath. My body felt heavy.
"What are you doing?" I asked as he leaned my back against his chest.
"Part two," he said gently.
"What-" I gasped as I felt his incisors break through the skin in my neck. His arms encircled me and held me in place. I tried to push his head away but stopped when I felt my body cool and calm down. I went from pushing to pulling. My body started feeling better and a bit stronger too. I sighed as my hand pulled at the back of his neck to get him closer. I knew it was wrong. I knew that I was technically allowing Kieran to mark me, but I couldn't care at the moment. The pain was gone and my body felt light. Kieran pulled away with a breath. He hesitated before his hand came from my waist to reach across to my shoulder. The wound was clean and it didn't hurt at all. Kieran wiped the small drops of blood from my neck. His fingers hesitated there momentarily before he slipped from behind me and held my back up gently with his hand as he stood.
"How's that? Better?" He asked. I nodded before sitting up myself.
"I don't know how to feel anymore... with you being so nice to me," I admitted. He smirked before picking up a hand mirror and handing it to me.
"Take a look," he said. I looked at my face in the mirror. My face seemed to have a glow to it, and my hair looked healthier, but besides that, my eyes were silver with fox-like slits for pupils. I almost dropped the mirror in shock.
"Why do I look like this?" I asked as I tried to take a closer look. I asked, but deep inside, I already knew the answer.
"Try to calm your nerves... and your lust first," he instructed knowingly. I blushed before clearing my throat and taking a deep breath. As I calmed down, my eyes went back to normal. I handed the mirror back to Kieran before he set it back down.
"I told you before, Camilla. You may have grown up as a wolf, but you're a fox, too. Do you believe me now?" He asked. I had no other choice but to believe him. I felt it in my body.
I really was part fox.