Split in Time Ch. 04

He spread dinner out as Keira set to the box to the side for Ghan to put away later, and together they ate in comfortable silence. She yawned as she tried to stay awake; although she had slept a lot already, she was still tired. Grinning he stood and scooped her up before he quickly deposited her back on the bed. Done so quickly in fact that she didn't even have a chance to utter a protest. He returned to the table and tied the plates quietly before taking them out and giving them to a guard to deal with.

He crawled into bed beside her but he resisted his instinct to pull her close, instead he just rested beside her lending her his body heat to help keep her warm.

****

A few days after coming to the temple, Ash opened the door to the library and glanced into the room, his eyes focused on a napping Amy. He crept into the room as silently as he could and over to the shelves he sought. Running his fingers over the spines until he found the right spot, he lifted the heavy tome that was in his hands and carefully put it back where it belonged before he grabbed volume two. He glanced over his shoulder as he slowly pulled the book out making sure Amy was still asleep. The book slid from his fingers and fell to the ground. He grimaced just as it struck the ground, he held still for several moments listening intently to see if he had woken Amy.

He sighed silently and quickly picked the book up and turned to leave, he jumped and nearly dropped the book again as his eyes met Amy's amused ones. "Sorry," he said gently and down cast his eyes, Sally had given them all strict orders to leave Amy be when she was in the temple, that she was working hard and needed to rest.

"It's okay, I was awake the moment you opened the door." She told him.

He frowned, "but I barely made a sound."

She shrugged and gestured him to come closer, "I'm kind of Were, I have a beast, so when I sleep my beast comes forward and is alert, when I am awake she is asleep. You sneaking around had her very alert, better to have just stomped around and she would have ignored you."

"Why do you refer to your beast as a separate entity?" He asked as he sat next to her.

"Because in most ways she is... it's hard to explain, see the minds overlap a lot, my humanity is infused with her primal nature and her primal nature is infused with my humanity. We are different but we take aspects from the other and use them when we are in control. I am always aware of what is going on when she is in charge and she is always aware when I am in charge, unless I'm asleep when she takes over." She corrected at the very end.

"I don't get it." He stated shaking his head.

She sighed and sat back, "it's hard to explain the relationship between the two minds, you're human, you're used to being the only one in control of your body. The beast is primal, an opportunist, it cares only for its needs, to hunt, to mate, to protect what is hers, everything else is ignored. The human is a planner, we organise our lives, we plan for the seasons, other things take more importance than just the things the beast acknowledges as important."

"So your beast can just... take over your body." He asked trying to understand all this.

She nodded, "She can if I let her however it's always about control. I control my emotions to control the beast; she reacts to fear and rage violently so I have to be careful. Most of the time I let her come forward, I let her have our body and she lets me have control of her body, we share."

He nodded thoughtfully.

"So what are you reading?" Amy asked.

"When Arthur learnt I could read to a 'decent standard' he bumped me to the other class rotation, we are reading Were and Other history, I finished volume one and decided to start volume two. I asked where I could get a copy and Vivian directed me here." He glanced down to the book sitting in his lap and carefully ran his fingers over it. He could remember when his mother taught him to read her precious books, he also could remember watching them and her burn when there was a terror raid, only now did he realise it wasn't Were who had taken his mother from him.

Almost as if Amy was reading his thoughts, she wrapped an arm around him and hugged him to her body. "How old were you?" She asked gently.

"It was my tenth winter, this is my fifteenth." He said in a matter of fact tone with no emotion, he had never cried for his mother, he simply hadn't the time. When the fires went out he returned and found himself alone, he had been forced to grow up quickly and take care of himself. Eventually he had found other orphaned kids and knowing it was safer in numbers he had joined them only to be chased and hunted by merks until they joined the merks to simply stop being chased.

He felt her hand cup his jaw, "I am sorry that happened to you," she pulled him close and rested his head on her chest. "It's time Ash... you can cry for her if you want."

"I can't... it won't bring her back." He told her.

"No... it won't..." she admitted, "but it will make you feel better. Trust me, I know; tears help to heal the soul, holding them back only makes it worse."

He thought about it carefully but it was almost as if he had forgotten how to cry. He'd learnt quickly that tears didn't help get food, take away the pain of an injury, chase away loneliness or cold, or generally help at all. "I don't know how."

"Okay..." she said calmly, "tell me what you remember about your ma."

He thought for a few moments, since Amy had come into his life everything had gotten better, for the first time since his mother's death he felt safe and cared about. She was the one who had been there the first night in this big house, reassuring him and the others that the beds were safe, they wouldn't collapse and they didn't have bed bugs, even to the point of curling up with him in his bed and sleeping in the dorm just to prove a point. Since meeting her, she had never steered him wrong so she had to be right about crying. He tried to remember his mother, for long moments he searched then suddenly he almost jumped out of Amy's arms. Her arms tightened holding him tightly to her body. "What's wrong Ash?" she asked.

"I... I... I can't remember her face," and as if a dam broke inside him he started to cry.

Amy pressed his face to her shoulder as he clung to her; tears welled in her eyes as she felt his pain and let it be her pain, sharing his grief. She helped him lie back on the couch and just let him cry out all of his pain. He held her tightly as he sobbed himself to sleep. She kissed his forehead and gently stroked his back, she wondered for a moment about his future and the future of all the children she had rescued, she would make sure they all had homes and families. Although she knew if she could take them to her pack she wouldn't have to search or even try to find them homes, they would all be snapped up before she could blink.

She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep. Her beast came forward, alert and in protection mode, she had a cub to guard, she sniffed at his head for a moment then started to purr. About an hour later the door opened, the beast's eyes snapped open and she growled a warning at the intruder.

Vivian stilled and held up her hands, we were just wondering where he was. This wasn't the first time she had triggered protection instincts in the beast, she had walked in while Amy and Sasha were napping and got a growl and a swipe of claws when she had tried to move Sasha back to her own room. She now knew better, best to just let leave them be and not to approach. At first this had confused her until Taylor had explained that the beast just reacted instinctively, the cub was safer with her rather than a non-shifter even if the non-shifter was her mother. Taylor had also added that she shouldn't take it personally, the beast was an Alpha, she would swipe at anyone going near a cub under her protection unless it was another Alpha... well... one who she considered stronger or equal to herself.

Vivian backed out and closed the door putting a do not disturb sign on it. The beast closed her eyes, rubbed her face against his head and started to purr again.

****

Keira read between receiving visitors, as she recovered three days after her fever broke, she felt a little useless as Ghan refused to let her do anything but read and play chess until her arm healed. Her blond hair was tied back in a simple ponytail and she was dressed just as simply in a pair of heavy woven pants and a large fluffy grey sweater. Ghan walked in holding a heavy jacket. She looked at the jacket but didn't get her hopes up, as it easily could be his jacket.

"I promised to show you around, Blast says its okay now, your wounds are knitting together." He offered her the heavy coat, already wearing his own jacket. She was on her feet instantly, putting her book down as she stomped her feet into her boots then quickly laced and tied them. She took the coat from his hands and quickly shrugged into it excited and pleased to be getting out of the room.

He unhooked the chain from the loop in the wall as she did the coat up, and coiled the chain up to take up the excess so that neither would trip over it. She dug her hands into her pockets when they walked outside to keep her hands warm. She expelled her breath and it came out as a mist, proving just how cold it was.

"We grow a lot of our food, we also preserve it. We can't grow during winter though. We hunt as well." He explained as he walked her through some of the growing fields in which the last of the season's crops were being picked and preserved. "We also go and harvest wild wheat, rye and whatever we can from the land. We do however grow mushrooms all year round."

He took her inside before it got too cold, they went to the mess to eat and joined Crystal at her table. Every time she met the woman, she found her reaction to her lesson. She was relaxed and didn't even think of her as dangerous, at least not towards her. The only thing she couldn't figure out was what Crystal was and she didn't want to ask and make a fool of herself for not knowing. When they were done they went back to their room with Keira still chuckling from the stories Crystal had told of a younger Ghan and the mischief they got up to together. She grabbed the chess set and started to set up. Ghan smiled and sat at the table, glad that Crystal had been right, that chess was the way to earn her trust. They traded wits for an hour and when they he finally made his winning move he chuckled as she had almost had him.

"Check and mate." He told her.

"Almost. I almost got you." She told him.

He nodded. "Almost."

"Rematch?" She asked to which he nodded his answer. "Can you set the table I just need to use the bathroom?" She told him.

He nodded again and watched her leave, only after the bathroom door closed, did he reset the chess table like she asked. She joined him several minutes later. "Your parents have been talking to the elders." He told her, wanting to know how much she knew about what was going to happen tomorrow.

She nodded and moved. "I know ma came in and said not to eat breakfast tomorrow, that Blast said it was okay for them to adopt me now."

He moved a piece, she frowned, his move seemed almost careless. She ignored his move and countered.

He chuckled pleased that she hadn't taken the bait and moved again. "So... how do you feel, in a few days you'll be Were in every way." He asked, wondering how she felt about the impending changes.

"Not any different than I feel now. I was raised Were Ghan. I just didn't learn to shift. That will change soon." She told him honestly, as she made her move.

He took her pawn and she quickly took his bishop. They continued to play only this time they both had to concede defeat as they had come to a stalemate.

She got up and went to change into her pyjamas; while she was in the bathroom he got changed. She returned to the room and quickly jumped into the bed and under the covers. He chuckled and joined her as she rearranged the inescapable chain as she picked up her book and started to read. He was reading as well after a little while he noticed she had fallen asleep. Marking her page, he closed the book putting it on the bedside table. He turned off her lamp and packed up his own book before he snuggled down and turned off the lamp beside him.

He frowned as he could feel her slight shudder. Quickly he got out of bed and grabbed the extra blankets tossing them over the bed he quickly crawled in and warmed up before he pulled her to his body to help keep her warm.

**

Ghan woke slowly the next day, he tightened his grip on Keira as she mumbled and dug her head under his chin. He sighed a little, when she slept she had no problems getting close to him but when she was awake she would avoid his touch, he hoped that changed when her beast started having a say in her mind. Stroking her back gently his hand slid under her shirt to touch the silky skin of her back.

She moaned as his touch aroused her, he gently tilted her head up and kissed her.

Her eyes snapped open; she was suddenly wide-awake as he continued to gently kiss her. She tried to pull away but he held her comfortably against him as his tongue parted her lips to taste her mouth. She tried to break the kiss but he held her in place as he continued to kiss her. He coaxed her to respond, wanting her to enjoy this. She just kept on struggling.

"Do not fight me Keira, relax I just want to kiss you." He waited for her to stop fighting him. She stopped struggling and turned wary eyes to him, she knew if she continued to let him kiss her, her resolve to not have kids, to not get into a relationship would shatter. He tilted her face up and brushed his lips against hers; he pulled back and watched as she licked her lips. Leaning forward he captured her lips again; she tensed for a moment but relaxed as he wasn't hurting her and she reluctantly accepted that she wanted his kiss. Her hands splayed against his chest and she stopped trying to push away from him.

He felt a surge of arousal as he realised she had stopped fighting, that she was welcoming this and even getting involved. His hands moved from her back, slid down to cup and squeeze her firm backside. Tilting his head to the side to get better access to her mouth, he probed her lips gently, she opened her mouth for him sensing that was what he wanted, he groaned and ran his tongue against hers as he fisted a hand into her hair.

She felt heat pool between her legs and her nipples harden with desire, his kiss was making her want to do things she had never done before. Groaning, she ran her tongue against his, letting her instincts guide her. He gently rolled her onto her back and slid his hand from her arse up and under her shirt, releasing her hair he propped his body up to keep from crushing her.

His hand ran against her ribs and up to cup her breast. She moaned, she knew she was meant to be fighting him but she found that she couldn't fight, she needed this. Arching her chest up into his hand, his fingers massaged her breast before finding her nipple and starting to rub it. He broke the kiss and started to disappear under the blankets. She didn't notice where he was going until she felt a warm wet tongue circle her nipple before he gently wrapped his lips around her proud peak.

They were so caught up in each other that they didn't hear the knock on the door or hear it open as Gaby and Grey walked through the unlocked door. They watched as their daughter gasped and an undeniable lump shifted beneath the blankets. Grey coughed loudly to gain their attention.

Keira's eyes snapped open and she jerked her head up, she blushed when she saw her parents and started to push on Ghan's head to get him to release the nipple he was sucking on. He growled gently and bit her gently causing her to gasp.

"Ghan..." Keira said as she again tried to get him to release her. "Ghan my parents are watching." She told him self-consciously.

Ghan instantly removed his lips and flicked the blankets back; he turned his head as Keira pulled her flannel shirt down. She tried to get out from under him but Ghan pinned her to his chest and kissed her deeply for several long minutes, before he rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom.

Gabby grinned and sat on the bed. "So you're finally getting along."

Keira shrugged, "I guess so." She got up when she heard the shower going, really needing to use the toilet. She walked into the bathroom, her eyes picked out the silhouette of Ghan through the curtain.

She quickly used the toilet. Before she could finish washing her hands he was hopping out of the shower. She turned and froze, water dripped from his body as he stood blocking the door in all his naked glory. Her eyes couldn't help themselves and roamed slowly over his body; even from her limited experience it screamed perfection at her. Her eyes continued down until she came to his arousal, her eyes shot back up to his and she went a bright shade of red. He grinned and stepped forward she tried to step back but the sink was in the way. He stepped forward and grabbed her wrists.

He placed her hands on his erection and held them there as he leant forward to whisper in her ear. "This is what you do to me," he told her as he slid her hands down his erection. "This is what you've done to me since I first found you." His lips and teeth gently took her ear lobe into his mouth.

She tried to wrap her hands around his manhood but failed, he was thicker than her wrist and was quite long and he looked massive to her nervous eyes. She tightened her grip for a moment then released. He growled and pulled free of her hands, he couldn't let it go any further or he would make love to her right here and now. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply trying to madly control his rampant want. He forced himself to take a step back before he hopped back into the shower and turned the cold water on. She got out of the room before he lost control.

Gabby frowned at her daughter. "What took you so long?"

"Ghan..." was all she said.

Gabby and Grey chuckled as they could guess what Ghan had done.

*

Several hours later Keira was between her parents on a large bed. Her forearms were bared as an elder inserted a needle first into her mother's right forearm; it was connected by a glass tube to the needle he inserted into her left arm. He taped the two needles in place and repeated the process to connect her to her father. She tensed for a moment as her stomach surged wanting to empty its self but it was already empty as she hadn't been able to eat or drink this morning. Her arms started to burn. She shook her head, she now understood why she had been tied down so she wouldn't move, she also understood why a plastic bit was between her teeth.

Her muscles tensed as she tried to get free, Ghan held her head still as her parents leant in to comfort her. Adoptions were always hard on the one being adopted as Were blood and human blood didn't mix well. The body went into shock and convulsions as the Were antibodies reacted with the human antibodies in her blood. An adoption once it started couldn't be stopped until it was completed; it was a dangerous process if the person involved was human.

Keira however wasn't having as bad a time as they thought she would, over the years her parent's blood had gotten into hers through open cuts, not enough to make her Were but enough to change her slightly.

Ghan felt his heart twist, seeing his mate in pain was almost too much but he gritted his teeth knowing it was a necessary event in her life. Keira tried to force herself to relax but her body didn't want to obey her mind. For an hour she endured the pain, endured her body's reaction to her parents blood. After that, she spent an hour jerking and quaking.