Chapter 50: A Simple Door

Winter had come to Franome City and Merrie had been at the mansion for three months. Outside, the wind howled and leaked in through broken windows and rotted walls. It seeped through the cracks in the porch and blew in eddies of brisk cold that sent a shiver along Merrie's naked skin. The house was heated but the warmth came from various heating stones that Kine stole during his frequent late-night visits to practice his trade.

One of them was dangling on the side of her cage and the heat swirled around her in warm comfort. The heating stone was a caught elemental, a tiny spark of almost sentient flame bound between metal wire wrapped around a hoop. It looked like a dream-catcher, except for the glint of platinum strands and flickering blue inside it.

Merrie stretched out, basking in the warmth. Her breasts bumped along the blanket beneath her and she enjoyed just rocking back and forth. The friction against her nipples brought up little sparks of pleasure.

She reached out and tapped her cage door. It swung open, silent on the freshly oiled hinges. She watched as it slid into the bars of the other cage. The impact rang out in the confines of the cold porch.

Tamin looked up from his cage. He woofed as he looked for an intruder. Behind him, the others hounds did the same.

The door swung back, tapping against the entrance of her own cage. Merrie smiled and pushed it open again. At the same time, she reached out with her mind and comforted the hounds to keep the silent.

Her master rarely locked the door when he was out of the house, which was most days. Only when Merrie misbehaved, did he lock it before leaving for the night. It was a pleasurable torture that always brought a smile to her lips and a heat to her pussy. When he released her, he always fucked her hard against the cage; she loved how her breasts fit between the bars of the cold metal as he pounded her from behind.

A warmth tickled her pussy as she remembered the last time. It was a week earlier after she deliberately spilled her bowl across the kitchen floor. It interrupted the screaming fight between Kine and Rimmy.

In anger, Kine took her away to spank her, fuck her, and cage her. But after the fact, he was smiling as he padlocked the cage shut. And the screaming had stopped.

She wondered how she would misbehave again.

It wasn't that Kine didn't fuck her frequently. He did it almost every morning after he came home red-eyed and exhausted from a night of stealing or partying. But ever since Rimmy moved her cage to the porch, Kine would finish by leading her from the bedroom and into her cage, shutting her into porch with the other dogs.

He never mentioned bringing the cage back. And when Rimmy declared she wanted Kine, there was no question from him. She felt a pang of jealousy every time Rimmy shot her a triumphant smile and followed Kine to his bedroom.

But, when morning came and the cage wasn't locked, Merrie would wake up with her master. Yawning, she crawled back across the mansion and woke him up properly: with her mouth, pussy, ass, or tits. She smiled at the warmth from the morning's fuck. He rolled her on her belly and pounded her ass, crushing her tail under his hips and smashing her face into the pillows. She came hard, whimpering just the way he loved it.

When he left in the evening for a simple theft, there was a smile on his face and her juices coating his cock. She watched him leave, sprawled out in his bed with cum leaking from her ass.

Merrie rolled over on her back. Her legs braced against the bars of the cage as she looked down at her stomach. Her belly was taut with just a hint of muscle. Her legs and arms were just as healthy as the day she left the Puppy Mill. Two hours of exercise every day kept her fit. All because of a simple time keeping spell and the need for structure in a chaotic household.

The only things she couldn't do was shave. Her pussy was a patch of dark hair. She knew that Kine didn't care for it, but he didn't do anything about it. Instead, she just watched it grow and wished that he would take her to the bath tub, hold her tight, and make her bare again. Someone did it before and it was one of the most intimate moments she had in her life, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't remember who held her like that.

The alarm spell activated. It was a tickle in the back of her spine, reminding her of the second exercise session.

Her heart beat faster as she flipped on her wrists and knees. She nosed the door open.

In the other cage, Tamin and the other dogs watched her. Their tails wagged back and forth. They had lost some of their wildness in the previous months and Merrie knew it was partially because of her. Their minds were almost as chaotic, but they obeyed her silent commands. She wished they could talk to her, to give her some way of expressing herself as an intelligent being, but there was no one to project with.

She smiled to herself and crawled out. Circling around, she grabbed a scoop of food and dragged it over to nine bowls next to the dog's cage. She filled each one with a scoop of the food, her stomach rumbling with her own hunger.

As soon as she finished, she crawled over to the dog's cage and reached up for the latch.

Tamin reached through the bar and licked her from belly button to breast. His breath was hot against her skin and a dribble saliva ran down between her legs.

She giggled—it came out as a chuckling woof—and pushed the bar up. It swung out and the cage door swung open.

One by one, the dogs stepped out of their cage. Each one was huge and towered over her, but they walked calmly over to their bowls and sat down.

With a smile on her face, Merrie crawled over to the ninth bowl. It was next to Tamin. She glanced over at the calm creatures and gave a nod.

The room burst into movement. All eight dog doves into their food, slobbering as they shoved the bowls around.

Merrie dove into her own, eating as fast as the others. It was plain food, dried meats and cooked grains, but it was far healthier than the greasy food that her master and Rimmy ate. Kine and Rimmy burned through their food with their frequent trips through the shadow. Every time they spent the night on a job, they spent the entire day scarfing down food and never gaining a gram.

She finished eating only a few heartbeats after Tamin. She licked the bowl clean and sat back, enjoying the pressure in her belly and the feeling of being satisfied. She also felt a warmth flickering inside her; she was eating from a bowl like a dog and it gave her a thrill every time she bowed down eat. It didn't matter if Kine wasn't watching, she still felt it in her core.

One of the dogs whined and padded over to the back door. The winter wind leaked through the cracks underneath the door.

Merrie hesitated, staring at the door with trepidation. Even with the heating runes underneath the tiles, the wind nipped at her naked skin.

The dog pawed again. Tamin joined him, the heavy dog striding to the door and sitting down.

Merrie gave him a mock glare and padded after him. Reaching up with both arms, she strained to turn the knob. It was icy against her skin and it slipped repeatedly until she managed to force it around. It clicked and Tamin shoved past her to open it.

Icy wind howled around her. Her nipples crinkled at the bite of wind. It swirled around her and she shivered violently. She brought up a spell to defend against frostbite; it didn't keep her warm but prevented any damage from crawling naked through the ice and snow.

Taking a deep breath, she crawled after the pack. The ice tore at her senses but she forced herself through the snow. Her knees dug into the soft padding and she felt the tiny sparks of pain from the cold.

In the far back, the dogs were already doing their business: peeing and shitting in their various corners. She joined them and they parted away as she found a clear spot on the snow. Her master has renewed the cleansing rune and she didn't have to shit, but he still found her peeing on the ground fascinating and erotic.

She crouched down, spread her legs through the thick snow, and relaxed. A hot stream of urine poured out of her, steaming as it hit the ground between her. She let out a pleasurable sigh and closed her eyes, enjoying every moment as she emptied herself.

When she finished, she shook her hips but a few droplets continued to cling to her nether lips. With the icy wind, the droplets began to freeze over and she squirmed trying to get them clear.

She felt a presence behind her, looming.

It was Tamin. The large dog had stepped behind her. There were no clear thoughts in his head, just an unreadable sense of primal chaos.

It wasn't an attack, but his tongue. The thick, hot member ran up her legs and he lapped at her pussy and ass. She gasped at the sensation, jerking forward from the force of his lick. Tamin's breath seared her backside as he forced her tail out of the way and lapped harder. The wet tongue ran up her pussy, a long slurp that ran from her clitoris to asshole. He seemed to linger on her ass, swirling his tongue around the wrinkled opening before licking her again.

Merrie slumped forward, her legs spread widely. The tongue sent pleasure coursing through her senses and contrasted with the sharp pain of ice against her face and breasts. She gasped into the icy crust. It clung to her face, eyelashes, and nipples.

The massive dog stepped forward, forcing her down to the ground. Her ass was lifted and exposed, like a bitch in heat. He lapped harder, swirling his tongue along her inner thigh and up to her pussy. She could feel him cleaning every droplet of pee from her body.

She could feel a new need rising up inside Tamin, a need to mate. Her heart thumped louder as she realized she was in the position for breeding and it would take only another step forward before his cock was in a position to impale her.

Gasping, she reached out with her mind and pushed back.

Tamin resisted, struggling to mount the bitch before him, but his animistic mind was no defense against Merrie's power. He stepped back with a shake of his head.

Merrie lifted her face from the snow and glance back at him. She wanted it, she wanted to feel the hard cock slamming into her. It would fill her like she craved, but it would also betray her master. She would fuck Tamin, but only if Kine wanted her to.

It hurt not to get satisfaction, but she needed to serve her master.

Standing up, she sent out a pulse of warmth and comfort.

The rest of her pack, silent in her mind but capable of feeling her, wagged their tails. Two of the younger ones spun and tackled into each other, wrestling in the shadowed ice of the World Tree.

Merrie grinned and let them play. She crawled out of the snow and back on the porch.

Tamin followed her, sniffing at her ass as she moved. She felt a trembling of fear, but there was no anger or rage in the dog's actions. Instead, he turned around and sat down next to her.

She looked up at him, wondering what went on in his head. She could feel his needs, not emotions or thoughts, but just a creature living in the Now and doing what his instincts told him to. But, deep beneath the simple animal, there was also magic; Tamin and the others were dogs of the shadows. They felt with the master came home, but they didn't even have Kine's chaotic control over their own talents.

Warmth enveloped her. Merrie gasped and returned her attention to Tamin. The dog had leaned into her, his body's warmth pushing away the cold.

She relaxed and smiled. She sank against his muscular shoulder and enjoyed his heat. She didn't have to say anything to him, even if she could. He was doing what he needed to and she did what she could.

Together, the bitch and the alpha watched the pack wrestle and play. The six dogs were cheerful as they barked and whined. They tore up the snow and ice and turned the entire back yard into a muddy pit of slush.

Just as the dogs were running out of energy, the shadows grew suddenly sharper. The fuzzy edges turned knife-edge strong and the feeling of power ran down Merrie's spine.

She looked up sharply and then around. The world has grown black and white, with the shadows turning into inky black voices. Blinking, she looked up at the sun still in the sky. Something felt different with the changes, her master or Rimmy never came home during bright sunlight.

Next to her, Tamin tensed up and a bark rumbled in his chest. Out in the back yard, the others also stopped and looked around. Some of them whined while others wagged their tails.

The master had come home.

Merrie crawled back. Something was wrong, she felt it as a clenching in her gut. She turned her back on the yard and crawled into the house. As she moved, she reached out with her mind, trying to find the center of power. It was on the first floor, in the northern wing.

Hopeful, she rushed through the kitchen and dining hall. Her bare knees and wrists tapped on the ground. Behind her, Tamin followed with his steady thumps. The others remained behind, milling in the yard and porch but they would go no further unless Merrie allowed it.

She came up to Kine's door and pushed it open, but there wasn't the familiar inky depths of her master's arrival. She frowned but looked around anyways. The shadows were black but they didn't the darkness that felt like a portal to another world. He wasn't in the room, but they were close.

Closing her eyes, she focused mentally. The mansion was draped in darkness, a haze of shadows that permeated every meter of stone and wood. She had gotten used to the smell of her home, but its magical presence stole her breath away. It was as difficult to focus on as it was on the physical world. The repulsion wards were thin and wispy, but thousands upon thousands of castings had wrapped the entire place darkness.

She frowned as she pushed her senses through the murky shadows, forcing her mind to spread out to find her master or his mistress.

The darkness bore down on her, tugging on her and she followed it. Her mind pushed through the warped, shifting world of the mansion's wards until she found where the world had turned into a pitch black void, a ragged tear between two worlds that wasn't sealing up. Something was on the other side and she felt a presence scrape against her mind, light and caressing but utterly alien.

Whimpering, she wrapped herself in her shields. The pressure and tightness cut off the foreign mind from her and she struggled to identify the physical location of the dark. It was further down the hall, past the clutter and mess.

Concern and fear filled her. Even during their fights, neither her master or Rimmy had ever appeared that far from the beaten path in the mansion. And when they did step through the shadows, there was no lingering darkness behind. But, it was there, a harsh rip into the world they both stepped through and it wasn't closing.

She whined and looked at Tamin.

The large hound cocked his head. His instincts were responding to her needs, but there was nothing for him to defend or protect. Drooping his ears, he waited.

Merrie crawled out of the room and down the hall. It was less than a meter before she had to crawl over a pile of carpets and then up on top of a dresser. The glossy polished wood was slick underneath her limbs and she slipped, but the fear drove her to keep crawling. With every passing inch, the feeling of darkness and danger continued to rise.

Behind her, Tamin followed. His panting was loud in the cramped quarters of the hallway. The dresser creaked underneath his weight. His presence gave her some comfort, a balance to the fear that pounded through her veins.

She stared up an armoire. It blocked the entire hallway and she couldn't find a way around it, except for a large gap above it. She whimpered and reached up for it. Her arms caught the edge, but when she strained to pull herself up, she slipped off.

Whimpering, she tried again, her ankles pawing at the front of the armoire as she tried to find purchase. She slumped back, slamming hard against the dresser behind her. She slid over the top and she let out a cry before she slumped against Tamin.

The shadows grew darker, a suffocating pressure that bore down on her. She could feel it tearing at her mind. It was the gap between worlds and it was sucking at her spirit.

Merrie threw herself at the armoire, clawing and pawing at it. Her severed arms and legs were useless. The carved front of the doors, elegant silfae murals, cut at her ankles and thighs but she pushed through the pain in efforts to force herself up.

She found brief purchase on the top of the armoire. Gasping, she dug her ankles into the front and scrambled up. She crushed her breasts against the front molding as she clawed further. Just as her mounds hit the top, she slid back. Crying out, she pawed helplessly as she slid back.

Her legs smacked into Tamin's head. The hound had crawled up behind her. She landed hard on his rock-hard skull, her tail was crushed against his face.

He let out a woof and pushed her up.

Merrie whimpered and sent out a frantic command, guiding him to give her the boost she needed to crawl up on the armoire. Up on top, her legs splayed out for balance, she sneezed at the dust that curled around her.

Tamin peered up over the armoire. There was no way he could follow her.

She gave him a pulse of thanks and peered down the other side of the armoire. She couldn't see in the pitch darkness but the armoire was over two meters tall. If she dropped down, she could be landing on the floor, furniture, or even glass.

Gulping, she peered back the other side, at Tamin watching her. She could lower herself down, but when she fell, it would hurt.

A groan drifted from the darkness. It was her master.

All fears evaporated. She turned around and stuck her thighs into the darkness. Reaching out with her mind, she drove Tamin to reach up as high as he could and open his mouth.

He obeyed, shoving himself into the gap. He blocked the light from the hallway, but even in the pitch darkness, she could see his glittering teeth. His mouth was huge and the powerful jaws could snap her in half.

Gulping, she shoved her arms into his mouth, resting against the bottom ridge of his teeth. Her body grew hot and slick, but she didn't know why. The only other time she ever had her arms in a wolf's jaw was the day she was cropped, of the most terrifying days of her life.

She cringed at the next step. With a mental push, she ordered Tamin to bite down on her.

The powerful hound only hesitated for a second, then snapped down. His teeth pierced her flesh and he clamped down hard on her bones, grinding them into each other.

Merrie cried out in pain. She held him still, ordering him to hold her as she lowered herself into the darkness. Her knees kicked the smooth back. She wasn't falling though the pain was excruciating.

Blood pooled on top of the armoire. Tamin's mind was torn, he wanted to defend her but she held his body in an iron grip, forcing him to dig deeper into her flesh and lower her.

Sobbing with pain, Merrie searched for something in the darkness to brace herself. One ankle brushed against a shelf of some sort. She reached back and braced herself against it.

Fresh blood dribbled down her arm and splashed against her breasts. She cold feel the teeth grinding on her bones, tearing at her flesh, but her master was in danger.

Bracing herself, she released her command on Tamin. The hound snapped open his mouth and released her. She slipped down but caught herself on a wooden shelf.

The wood creaked once before it snapped. She let out a scream as she plummeted into darkness.

She hit the floor hard with her knee. There was a muted crack as her thigh snapped. She collapsed into the ground, slamming her head into the back of the armoire before hitting the ground hard.

The impact drove the air out of her. She clutched herself, crying out as tears soaked her cheeks and stars burned across her vision. Her mind was swamped with pain. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't do anything.

Painfully close, she heard her master's groan of pain. She couldn't see him, not in the pitch darkness, but she had to get to him. Desperate, she threw up her seeking spell and threw her fear into it. It spread out from her and she found Kine. He was only a few meters away.

Sobbing with pain, she crawled through the darkness for him.

Merrie slammed into a door and stars exploded across her vision. The impact rattled a door and a spear of light burst out from around her knees. The brightness was blinding and she had to blink away the tears.

Whining, she pawed at the door. She accidentally put her weight on her broken leg. It crumbled underneath her and she smacked hard against the door frame.

Inside, she heard Kine gasping for breath.

Fear poured ice down her spine and pushed away the pain. Her panting was loud in the darkness. She shoved her shoulder against the door. It shuddered but didn't open. The spear of light brightened and she saw movement underneath, a shadow wavering through the spear of light.

Desperate, she dropped to the ground and pressed her face so she could look underneath the door. Beyond was an empty room, filled with dust. Light came in through a half-covered window, spearing into the darkness. A thick cloud of rising dust danced in the beam of light. On the ground, in the pool of light, was her master.

A whine escaped her throat. Merrie pawed at the door, her wrists bouncing helplessly against the heavy wood. She moved frantically, trying to find the door handle but she only found a hole where the handle used to be.

Kine groaned again.

Merrie dropped to the ground, whimpering loudly. She peered through the light.

Her master was on the ground, clawing at his throat. His face was a blue, as if he was choking, but darker still was the magic around him. His own shadow was rising up from his body like smoke. It faded in the light as he continued to writhe on the ground. As she watched, his body blurred and a thick wave of shadows rose up from the air. But his body didn't regain focus. Instead, it continued to grow blurrier with every passing heartbeat.

Crying as loudly as she could, she reached out with her mind. She hit his shields and delved into them, forcing her way through the chaotic storms and fear that filled his veins.

Kine was standing with the rest of the team on the top of a building, ready to toast to their success. Quin, a pickpocket, had stolen a keg of beer from the pub below and was pouring it into five large mugs. The others were joking and laughing, the adrenaline still pumping through their veins from the heist.

After weeks of planning, they successfully stole a three million mark painting. The operation went as smooth as silk. Five different security systems including a squad of mages and their wards, had fallen.

Quin handed out the mugs. "To success!"

“Success,” said Kine and drank deeply. It was a good batch of stout, still sealed by the brewer's guild. He enjoying it pouring down his throat. With a gasp, he finished it and smiled.

But the smile froze on his lips. Quin was toying with his mug and watching everyone warily.

Kine felt a prickle of fear. He glanced over at the cask, but it still had the seal next to it. It couldn't be poisoned. Kine's stomach twisted, but he couldn't tell if it was his fear or something else.

“You bastard,” whispered Tulip, the safe cracker. She was glaring at Quin. "Damn you, you don't betray your crew."

Kine almost doubled over in pain. He could taste blood in his mouth.

Quin gave a grim smile and stepped back. "I'm going away from this damn city and this will give me a nice little nest egg. Sorry, nothing personal."

Tulip dropped to her knees, throwing up blood. She groaned, her eyes rolled up in her head, and she collapsed. The others followed, hitting the ground with thuds. The smell of shit and gore rose up.

Kine shook his head, sweat beading on his chest. He took a step forward and stumbled. He couldn't die. He had Merrie. He could never leave her alone in the mansion, she would die.

Merrie almost broke down at the thoughts burning through her master's head.

Quin gave a shooing gesture. "Go on, die."

Kine lunged for him but weakness grabbed him and he dropped to the ground. The impact shot pain through his knees.

With a laugh, Quin walked around him and head for the painting.

Kine closed his eyes and pulled. The shadows pooled around him, gathering in a cloak of darkness. Energy throbbed along his bones, a pulsating of coolness that burned away his life as everything slowed down. With a surge that felt like jumping into an icy river, he pulled himself out of reality and into the Shadow.

Darkness swirled around him, an inverse world of darkness and small patches of light. He staggered to the side, but he was only doing a short jump. Releasing it, he came back into reality centimeters away from Quin's fingers reaching for the painting.

Quin stopped in shock.

Kine grabbed the traitor and pulled again. The darkness enveloped both of them and they plunged back into the Shadow. It was a howling world.

Quin's scream was deafening.

Kine struggled to remain conscious. He remembered the spell his master gave him, the spell he could only use once in his life and it would bind his soul forever. It darkened across his mind, a calligraphic poem written in darkness itself. As it he cast it, he felt his life burning away.

And then it was there, a ripple of darkness on darkness. Kine couldn't focus on it, but he knew there was nothing to see. It just was a presence that beat against his soul. It was a Lord of Darkness, the closest thing the Shadow had to a god.

The Lord plucked Quin from Kine's hand. (He will never stop screaming,) came the inky words, spreading out across over his thoughts as words across his vision. And then the Lord and Quin were gone.

Kine staggered home, throwing up twice. As he moved, the world around him moved faster, shifting from city scene to scene. When he reached the house, a pitch black version of the mansion that glowed with magic, he stepped back into realit.

Merrie gasped. Her master was dying. She pawed at the door as her mind spun a spell furiously. It was the locator spell and she was looking for Rimmy. Rimmy could get to her master, if she moved fast enough. She threw the spell, aiming it toward the south. As soon as it was off, she threw it again and again, sending spears out across the entire city in desperation. As she felt the spell radiating out, she staggered from the exhaustion.

She pounding on the door, braced on her one good leg. She couldn't get inside. Blood poured down her arms. She had to get to Kine. She had to get to her master. Her skin tingled, it was a bonding but it shot off across her grandfather's lands.

A few meters away, Tamin howled as he tried to get to her.

An idea flashed in her head. She gathered up power for a new spell: domination. It came easily to her mind and she adjusted it for the pack. When she released it, threads of power snapped out and punched into the heart of eight dogs. She could feel their fear, but there was an obedience and submission she could use.

The detection spells came back in rapid succession: nothing found, nothing found, Rimmy was to the east, nothing from the north.

Clamping down on her location, Merrie impressed the direction into the pack but she was already crying. It was three kilometers away, Rimmy would never get back in time. They turned and raced for her, even though it would be too late.

She was in her grandfather's kitchen.

“No!” she screamed, "I don't have time!"

He said nothing and just spread out a spell across the table. "On the dog, but there will be consequences."

Merrie didn't hesitate. It was an intensely complicated spell, but it was burned into her mind. She threw it down the connection she shared with the Tamin, spurred on when she heard blood pouring down on the ground beyond a door she couldn't open. She felt the dog's mind blossom underneath it, power filling them, burning new thoughts across their mind and crystallizing their very nature.

Tears burned in her eyes as she slumped forward. It was hard to breathe. She was using too many spells, but she couldn't stop. She needed to get through the door, she had to save him. She was nothing without a master.

(Alpha.)

She froze at the new voice. It was deep and rumbling and the mind behind it was capable of only a single thought. It was Tamin. She could feel him in her thoughts, the beginning of an intelligence in the alpha dog.

Sobbing, she pushed the memory of Kine's passing into Shadow and the location of Rimmy. (Find her!)

There was a ripple of power as the shadows gathered around Tamin. Calligraphy, stolen from Kine's memories, burned across the hound's new intelligence. He used his own natural talents and her master's skill and he stepped into the Shadows.

Merrie screamed and pounded at the door. Blood ran freely down her arms, splashing down on her breasts and on the ground. On the other side of the narrow door was her master, dying.

She needed him.

Her body was shaking.

He needed her.

She was trying to bond.

If she could only reach him.

With a gasp, she realized what she had to do.

She was back in her grandfather's kitchen. "Release the bond."

"I cannot. You haven't gone through enough lessons. I—"

She didn't wait. Surging across the table, she landed on him. "Teach me!"

Her mind plunged into her grandfather's. It hurt, but she knew no other way. She forced herself through his lessons, the images flashing up with dizzying spell. She knew her physical form was screaming and there was blood coming out of her nose and ears, but she needed her master. She felt herself growing more solid as spells, lessons, and patterns burned across her mind.

Her grandfather screamed and clawed at her, but she couldn't stop. She saw how Haviston had created her grandfather's image, triggering him to slowly teach her lessons. She plunged deeper, finding where he left little hints to release her bond. A bit here, a bit there.

In a heartbeat, she had it.

The spell flashed across her mind as she assembled it with rapid speed. It was exhausting and she felt the blood dripping down her face and a pounding headache. She threw the spell and felt the spells sealing her bond away shatter.

With a gasp, she felt the connection suck back into her. It was raw and tingling, but seated in her physical form. The leash, something she hadn't seen in months, appeared from her chest. Her entire body was on fire, from the blood dripping her arms, her broken leg, and the searing tingle that plucked at her skin.

Words rose up in her mind: an alpha doesn't live beyond her master. She may be bonding with a man who was about to die.

The connection stretched out, questing. She concentrated on it, guiding it through the door to the man who needed her. She felt it reaching for him and then there was a snap as it caught the edge of his senses.

She was a little boy in an orphanage, cowering in the shadows. He just tried to steal something from an old man, but he was caught. He managed to escape. The guards were looking for him but he knew how to hide from them. A failed theft and no one would ever know.

Merrie almost buckled from the memories rushing through to her. There was a chaotic storm of them, flashes of her master's life as he was dying.

Pain shot out from his shoulder as the old man, his mark, pinned him to the wall with his walking stick. He was skeleton-thin with large dark eyes. He leaned forward and chuckled. His breath stunk of alcohol fumes. "You like hiding, don't you, boy?"

Power rushed through her. She could feel it flowing from her master into her. The ghostly white leash darkened into a braided cord of darkness. She stared at in shock, feeling it grow solid in a heartbeat.

Kine was between Rimmy's legs, thrusting with all his might. He had just lost his virginity, but it didn't feel like anything but a wet heat wrapped around his dick.

Rimmy laid there, moaning but he knew she was faking. He wasn't her first lover, even if she was his first. It was just a last minute thing, something to do while Des was talking to the headmaster.

Merrie clutched her heart, smearing the blood across her face. She slumped against the door. She lived through her master's life, from the lessons from the old man, the lessons of Shadow. She felt every pain, every mistake, every love that he experienced.

Rimmy stood over the corpse of her best friend and husband. Blood dripped from her blade as the sun burned down on them. She looked at Kine and then a wail ripped from her throat. She dropped to her knees and sobbed.

His life slammed into her, drowning her out. She could feel her mind cracking from the force of his personality. She tried to shield herself, but couldn't. All of her defenses were bypassed by the black cord that bound their souls together.

Kine sat alone on the edge of his bed. There was no reason for him to do anything. In his hand, the final resignation letter felt like a brick. There was no reason to do anything but take a long walk in the Shadows and hoped he never came back.

Merrie clawed herself out of the ocean of her master's memories. She tried spells to defend herself but he was coming from the depths of her very being. There was no spell, no shield that could keep her mind from being torn apart.

She could feel him dying. She was dying with him. Her heart pounded in her chest as the life sucked out of her. She felt her veins burning and she pawed at her throat. She couldn't breathe.

She was losing herself to him. His life was becoming her own and she found it hard to find out where her thoughts ended and his overwhelmed hers. She was losing her very sense of identity in the onslaught of the connection.

(No!) She couldn't lose herself. He needed her. She was his bitch and his alpha. Merrie couldn't give up, not now. She struggled to grasp her identity, the part that called herself “I”. There was too much, almost twenty four years, and it slipped through her mental fingers. She let parts of it go, some of it easier than others. Her old life before the mill was the easiest to let go and she clutched to what remained.

She was a bitch.

Tears ran down her cheeks. His life washed over her and she let it drown her. Her master's life became her own, from his first step to his first spell. She felt every pain and love, the sorrow and the joy.

The only part of herself she saved was the her life since the mill. She needed nothing else to serve him.

Magic crackled around her. It sank into her bones, a cold throbbing from her joints. It was changing her, making her Kine's bitch.

His thoughts darkened for a moment, a ripple of his death.

Merrie forced her will back into her mind. She had to save him. She knew how to do it. Recalling his memories, she saw the spell that he used to walk through Shadows. It was easy, she grew up learning his magic, lived through all of his lessons and practice. With a surge, she wrapped the darkness around her.

And stepped across.

She was in the Shadows, the inverted world of darkness and light. The mansion glowed with the power of Rimmy's shade, but she inched forward. Every step was a hundred, but she had just grew up in the Shadows and she knew exactly how far to move.

With a rush, she stepped back out into the reality. She was next to her master, her only reason for living. Her one good knee splashed in a pool of his vomit and blood. He was still burning away in shadows, the fate of all walkers of the Shadows. When he died, he would simply burn away, but she could never allow that.

Merrie grabbed him and pulled him close. Her arms were trembling and she could barely see through the headache, but she could feel him in her mind. (Master!)

(M-Merrie?) His thoughts were weak. (Where are you? I can't see.)

There was another spell there, with the smell of her grandfather's kitchen. It was like the one Bass used, but instead of raw power, she could keep him alive by giving him her own energy.

She cast it without a question, knowing that any price was worth her master. Her world focused him and their heart beats matched each other. She crouched over him as the power flowed from her into him.

And then back again, a circle of energy that pulsed with the coolness of shadows and raw power. It flowed through her and magnified before she pushed it back into him.

She was in his thoughts and he was dominating hers.

Her body grew slick with heat as their hearts beat as one. The shadows poured into her, filling her from the inside out. It filled her with the taste of alcohol and ethereal. It became her core, her reason for living.

His shadow ceased to burn away and his body solidified. The spiral of death reversed itself and life beat once again through his veins. He took a deep breath, one that he never thought he would live through. It was the sweetest air he drew in.

She would give him everything.

Weak, her master wrapped his arms around her. He tugged at her and she sank down to his body. The magic continued to flow between them, each pulse of power bringing a stronger beat to his heart and anchoring him once again to life.

He reached out with power to close the gash in Shadows. She followed, giving him strength to seal the hole he left when he passed. It took the strength out of him but she replaced it with her own. His hand slumped down to hug her again, clinging to the women he knew saved her.

Everything she was.

“I… I heard you…” he croaked, his voice hoarse, “but I couldn't… say… nothing.”

Everything she would ever be.

Merrie sniffed and smiled at him, afraid to ever let him go. Tears ran down her cheeks. She spread her leg to straddle him, wincing as the bone in her leg scraped against itself. The pain shot through her body.

“You're,” he gasped, “you're hurt.”

Merrie sent a pulse of love. She could handle the pain knowing he was going to live.

He gasped as he stared at her, the shock of feeling her emotions blossoming in his thoughts. He never thought it was possible and hope filled him.

She shifted her body, ignoring the pain, and rested her weight right below his ribs. Leaning forward, she rested the crook of her arm against his shoulder and kissed his nose. Her action was from his memory, of the first time Rimmy shared a bed after Des died. It wasn't to remind him of her, but because of the emotions associated with it: hope, comfort, and a promise to remain together.

Her master gasped and his heart swelled, tears glittering his eyes. He relaxed on the ground, a smile on hips. “I… I'm going to be okay… aren't I?”

(Yes, master.)

His eyes widened and the smile grew broader. “I can hear you!?”

She hugged him. (I love you master.)

He held her tight, his strength returning with every beat of their hearts. He kissed her forehead, her nose, and then her kiss. It was soft, sweet, and filled her with sweet joy.

But, it wasn't Rimmy he was thinking of. She knew it from the very depths of her soul. She was his bitch, now and forever.

She had bonded.