B. Donna - Blood Pool

“Good. I have two back by the clearing, and I’ve got my eye on this big male…” With an explosive burst of energy, the man called Running Bear threw his spear into the hide of the massive buffalo, hitting him right in his neck. The beast kept running.

Raven heard words coming from the other man’s mind-evil thoughts.

“I could throw my spear right into the chief’s heart and no one would know it wasn’t an innocent mistake-one of the dangers of the hunt. Then, White Dove would be mine.”

Only Running Bear’s brother, Red Hawk, didn’t know another warrior looking in his direction was thinking similar sinister thoughts. The faces melted into their present incarnations, Running Bear became Tobias and Red Hawk morphed into Frank. The angry warrior turned into Laroque.

Over and over, the scenes played out in Raven’s dreams of the love affairs between Nicolette and Philippe, Frank and Tobias. All three men vied for her affection, and in each lifetime, her heart belonged to Tobias.

The car swerved over a bump in the road and jarred Raven back to consciousness. She opened her eyes, her mind still a jumble of sights and feelings from times long since past. Feelings that were still very much alive in her present.

It was clear this drama would continue to play out in subsequent lifetimes unless there was some kind of resolution.

Could she also be enslaved to her own saga lifetime after lifetime? Was there a similar connection between Bethany, Bo and herself? Did she really want to create more drama in her own life? Maybe it wasn’t such a smart idea to marry him after all. So much of what they had was gone.

She loved Bo and there was still excitement between them, but on a different level. She felt so utterly human, and that disappointed her. Raven could no longer offer him the passion-filled nights they once shared-that much was evident her first night back from the hospital. She was mortal now, and one bite from him could kill her, or seriously maim her at best.

What could she offer him now? A boring life, one in which he would far outlive her, and she would age while he remained ageless, virile and handsome. Bethany would remain young as well. Her beauty would eat away at Raven.

Bo would notice his wife was old and grey with wrinkled skin, but his ex-lover wouldn’t look a day over thirty. Her body would remain lithe, taut and muscular from all the running they would do in the pack.

They would glimmer back into human form, sweaty and lustful from the endorphins coursing through their blood. Her voluptuous body would arouse Bo, her scent would drive him wild, and Bethany would get what she wanted.

Together they could have a decent life and a family. The commonality they shared was something with which Raven could never compete. She would never know what it was like to be a wolf. To shimmer from one form into another must be elating. The feeling of running with the pack, the freedom, the sense of camaraderie… She envied the shifters.

The feeling of having a family was something Raven would sorely miss.

Bethany had a history with Bo. His parents-at least his mother-supported the pairing of the two. Bethany would give the clan many strong children to carry on its lineage.

He would eventually wind up with her anyway. Why put off what was bound to happen? It was inevitable. Bo would be Bethany ’s mate, and Raven could expect nothing more. They would share the ability to love each other with complete abandon, without the risk to life or limb. It was the best thing for Bo, his freedom.

She decided she would set him free. All in the name of love.

And knowing Bethany as Raven did, she was certain she would take full advantage of every opportunity that came her way to seduce Bo, especially during their times with the pack.

In the end, Raven would surrender the one thing she sought to save: Bo. She would have to let him go for good. She would somehow learn to live with that. At least he would be alive and well. She couldn’t survive if something were to happen to him.

He would get over her. Bo would find a way.

Raven would move to another city and practice medicine…perhaps meet a mortal man and have mortal sex, which would produce mortal children, and then she would die a miserable, mortal death.

But Bo would be free.

The rain had stopped long before the sun rose. Bo woke Jade up to coffee and blood, the breakfast of champions.

“The bridges are open. Let’s go,” he ordered.

She wiped the remnants of sleep from her eyes. “Did you eat anything?” she muttered.

Bo stood tall, hands on hips. “Yeah, I chewed on my fingernails half the night and then I had a burger from the joint on the corner while you slept.”

Jade looked quite proud of herself. “You needed to eat. Raven will be very upset with me if you aren’t one-hundred percent when we find her.”

“ If we find her, you mean.” He felt engulfed in feelings of loss and hopelessness.

“Hey-what d’ya mean if ? We’re going to find her! Let’s get in the car and get going.”

“Jade, you’re acting too perky. I can’t deal with perky.”

Bo was withdrawn and tired. His usual optimism was gone. Without their connection, it seemed impossible to find Raven. All he had to work with were his tracking skills and a newbie Lamai who was just getting her feet wet with all her recently acquired powers.

And then there was her incessant talking. How could a woman find so many things to babble about? Many times he wanted to scream at her to shut up.

“How come I can be outside in the daylight safely? I never could understand that myth,” Jade asked as they headed toward the car.

“Like you said, it’s a myth. Although I hear there is a sect of vampires that can’t tolerate much sunlight, and their young ones can’t handle any,” Bo said. He started the engine, hoping she wouldn’t keep talking.

“So what makes the Lamai so different?”

Damn . No such luck. He sighed deeply. “Time. They’ve been around the longest. Queen Rhia has been walking the earth since-it seems since the beginning of time itself.”

“And Tobias?”

“Not quite as long, but long enough. I’ve heard over three hundred years.”

Which brought a thought to Bo’s mind. Where is Tobias?

Tobias had to leave, but his woman was not making it easy. “I’ll be back. Don’t worry, Em.”

Tears rolled down Emmie’s face as she grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. Most fae women did not handle pregnancy well. Emerald loved the fact that she was finally with child-with Tobias’s child-but the emotional rollercoaster ride was horrid.

“I-I don’t want you to go…” she sobbed.

He tried to be patient. “Em, I have to find Raven.”

She pouted. “You’re always leaving me. Now that we’re going to be married and start a family, you still want to go?”

He hugged her reassuringly. “I don’t want to go, I have to go.”

Another onslaught of tears barraged him. How could he tell her he was having second thoughts about marriage? He couldn’t.

“You don’t have to go! Bo is looking for her. He’ll find her. Come on, can’t you stay at least another day? You’re gone for weeks, months at a time, and I don’t say a word to you. Now that things have changed, I need you here.”

Fae women also apparently got very frisky when pregnant.

Emerald took his hand and placed it on her belly.

“Our child is growing within me. Please don’t go,” she pleaded as she kissed him. “Not tonight…”

In spite of his anxiety, Tobias found his body responding to Emerald’s brazen touch and fiery kisses.