She was never afraid of his darkness,

or the demons that lurked in his eyes.

He thought no one could ever love him,

if he revealed what lurked inside.

Daisy woke up pressed against Jay's body.

She loved the feeling of him against her.

Slowly, so she wouldn't wake him, she turned around and watched him sleep. She smiled at his unguarded face and how young he looked.

Her smile faltered though when she saw his pillow.

Bitten.

It was shredded.

Daisy softly touched the vomiting pillow, as the material flowed out. It took her a moment to realize why.

She reflected back to last night, her eyes closing and savoring the memory.

How Jay's body was over hers, their rhythm, their pressing.

Daisy gasped and grabbed him, wanting him closer, wanting more. She grabbed his hair, pushing his mouth to hers as he continued his rhythm, continued invading every part of her.

She felt tears in her eyes and looked up at Jay. His eyes were bright and a small bead of sweat trickled down his face. Daisy moaned at the sight.

Together they reached their peak, Daisy almost screaming Jay's name as he relentlessly continued. She heard his moan and felt his face fall to the side of hers as he stilled, letting her feel the full of him.

That had been when it happened Daisy realized, coming back to reality and taking in the pillow.

Instead of biting and marking her, his senses exploding with the sensation and the need to do so, he had taken it out on the pillow. Something about the sight of the deformed object made Daisy sad. It made her blush in mortification.

But she wouldn't be marked.

She was marked by the moon and no one else.

No man could mark her, and no man could own her.

She belonged to herself.

She had thought, that first night, that Jay would ignore her pleas, and bite her anyway. Part of her begged for it. There was a small part of her that always wanted it.

But the bigger part inside of her- the part that knew better- knew that she didn't want to be marked.

She felt tears collide within her eyes as she realized the pain she was putting Jay through, every time they showed their love. Every time they were together. The pleasure, the pure joy and ecstasy and yet, the pain. The pain as she reminded Jay in every way that he didn't and never would, own her.

He stirred in his sleep and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him and flushed against his bare chest.

She pressed closer and wrapped her arms around him. She loved sharing his bed. Loved the nights when they were caught up within each other, and the nights when all they did was simply hold each other and sleep.

"Morning Hot stuff," she said, kissing his chest.

A throaty growl that gave her goosebumps emerged from his throat. He looked down at her, his eyes shining gold.

Daisy gazed at his wolf, unafraid at meeting him.

"Morning," she whispered again, acknowledging the other presence in the room.

Jay leaned forward and sniffed Daisy's shoulder. She stiffened and held still. A growl emerged again from Jay. It was angry.

Daisy watched as Jay grabbed his head and clutched it. She watched as he swore and winced in pain. She wanted to reach up and help him but he glared at her.

Finally his eyes returned back to their original black.

Silently Jay got up and started to dress.

"Jay?" Daisy said. She knew what had just transpired. His wolf in all his anger. Angry at Jay for not marking his mate. Angry at her for denying them the privilege of claiming her.

Jay remained silent. He leaned forward and gave her a small kiss on the top of her head, wincing slightly at the sight of the pillow, before walking out.

She went to the window, wrapped in the blanket from the bed, and watched him silently there.

He emerged from the pack house and fell to his knees. Daisy gasped and moved towards the door but stopped when she saw an odd sight.

Grace was coming.

Daisy felt a moment of confusion over why Grace was there, but then she saw Stephen, following loosely behind. He must have brought her to eat with him at the pack breakfast.

Grace waddled to him as fast as she could with her heavy burden.

Jay was so big already that Grace did not need to bend down. She softly soothed Jay's hair and whispered unknown words to him while Stephen stood by, glaring at unseen wolf's who were watching their Alpha's moment of weakness.

Jay gripped Grace's arm and Daisy shivered at the tight knot of jealously that wound its way around her heart. She was a messenger of the moon. Someone blessed by the power of a divine spirit. She should not be feeling these hurtful and petty emotions. But she did.

She didn't want Grace there comforting her mate.

The better part of her knew though, that she was the one who was causing him the pain.

And as she thought this she saw Grace straighten up and examine the house. Her eyes stopped when she saw Daisy watching from the window. Daisy gave a small wave, but Grace did not return it. Instead she glared at Daisy with so much hate and fury, Daisy had to take a few steps back, to hide herself from it.

She had never had someone hate her.

She had always felt emotions of gratefulness, comfort, awe, jealously and want, whenever she was around. Never hate though. She had never inspired anything so mean or malicious, and never thought such emotions were trapped inside of Grace.

Suddenly Daisy felt caged. She wanted to leave. She wanted to flee and abandon everyone. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to be traveling. Exploring new packs and helping new mothers and the sick. She didn't want to be here, confined in the confusion of another pack and held within the grips of its policy and rules.

She got dressed and went down to breakfast. The rest of the pack warriors whom she had known through the months greeted her silently. They looked at her shoulder with disgust, instead of remarking on her t-shirt that read, "Straight outta bed."

Jackie gave her the usual smile and hug, but something about it seemed strained. Jay, Grace and Stephen still had not come in.

She decided to find him after a few short bites of her bacon and eggs.

Pushing away from the table, she ignored the looks and went outside.

Jay was still outside in his position. He was shivering now, and Jackson was beside him, coaching his Alpha on how to breath and to relax- to calm down.

Daisy rushed over and grabbed Jay's shoulder.

He turned back and snarled.

Daisy jumped back at the sight of her mate. His teeth were deformed, he was almost in mid-shift. Wolf features could be seen on him as he struggled to reign himself in.

"Daisy! You need to leave!"

Jackson grabbed her and tried pulling her away but she protested, "Stop! Stop! Jay what's wrong!? Jay!"

The sound of her voice seemed to pull him further into the darkness he was fighting. Jay looked up at Grace, panic and pain within his eyes.

Grace's own face matched his as she watched his struggle, "you can fight this Jay. You've done it before. Come on Jay. Come on. Don't let him win. Don't let him win."

Jay shivered and curled up further within himself.

Daisy stomped on Jackson's foot and moved her elbow around, hitting his face, and catching him by surprise at how swift and accurate her movements were.

In his confusion he released her and allowed for Daisy to rush near Jay.

"Jay," she breathed.

He turned to her and she lost her breath at the sight. Golden eyes ringed with red. He lifted his head and howled his pain.

Daisy hugged him close to her. "Shhhhh Shhhhh, it's okay Jay. It's okay." She tried comforting him, soothing him and whatever he was struggling with.

"It's okay hot stuff. You have this. Come back to me."

Jay gave her a pained look.

He opened his mouth and fought against his extended canines to speak, "Daisy...get...back..."

His voice was garbled and hard to interpret, and tears flowed from his face at the pain he was enduring.

His body spasmed and Daisy clung closer to him. Before she could protest, he gently wrapped her in a hug, surprising her that he had any softness left with his shivering and extended fangs and claws. He quickly pulled away and whispered something to Daisy. He raced ahead into the forest. Jackson and Stephen exchanged panicked looks before stopping at the edge. Daisy saw within the gaps of the trees, Jay turn into something.

Her eyes widened as she took in the deformed wolf. She had seen his wolf before, but this wasn't it. It was as if his previous wolf had been bulked and inflated. Daisy knew if he stood next to her, he would be tall, taller than her height. He didn't run on four legs either. He was a mutant- part human part wolf. His growls caused Daisy to shiver as cold hard fear that she never felt before ran through her. Then he was gone. One second there, the next, nowhere to be seen.

Did you guys figure it out?

I'll give you a hint- there's one in chapter 17 (*wiggles eyebrows*)

Until next time all you peeps and peepers (what you want more?! *slaps hand away* no! you must wait!)

Loves,