She'd come to the deep forest to escape the judging eyes of her pack mates. Well that, and her guardians. Earlier that day, she had interrupted the Chief's morning address by accident. The Annelise had no intention of drawing attention to herself. The meeting was boring but it was one of the few times the full pack was drawn together. Annelise enjoyed taking in everyone's different scents. Her nose perked up over the subtle but essential differences. Even so, she had been antsy to leave. She just couldn't sit still.
It started with her wrists. At first her left wrist felt annoyingly itchy, like a host of mosquitoes were feeding on her all at once. She rubbed her wrist against her pant leg, hoping the friction would cause the sensation to dissipate. The swish, swish of her skin to khaki only alerted her right wrist that there was something to be bother about. As she was beginning to feel relief, Myrtle swatter her with a looming brush. Annelise gritter her teeth. But the itching stopped so her tucked her hands in her pitS. Then her knuckles began to feel swollen. She popped her knuckles to ease the tension. But each knuckle her popped only transferred the tension to the next. This cycle continued. She clamped her arms down onto her hands, trying to muffle the sound against her body.
"Does everyone understand?"
Annelise agreed in chorus with her pack members. But her focus was easily diverted to the warmth her palms were gaining. She sighed and fidgeted. She went through a third cycle of cracking her knuckles. The pops were clear and Annelise began to wear an uncomfortable grimace. She was well aware that her actions were beginning to disturb the meeting. But if she ignored the pressure in her fingers it felt as though her hands were burning. Myrtle swatted the fullness of Annelise's thigh again. The girl bit her limp and swallowed a grunt. She glanced over at Myrtle.
Penny like irises glared, and the woman's bobs barely moved as Myrtle shook her head. Annelise pouted and shrugged. It wasn't her fault. Evenso she began to build in her hands. By the fourth crack she earned a few dark glances from a few members around. Then the tension hit her shoulders. Annelise had twisted around to no avail. Amos ordered her to sit still, but as with most of his commands she ignored him. When the tension moved to her back, Annelise was unable to stand it anymore.
Of course, by this point, several reproachful glares were thrown across to her area. Annelise would normally shrug these off, but her shoulders seemed locked into place, painfully. She knew better and understood she was flirting with seriously pissing Easton off, but she had to move. She couldn't stay seated anymore more. So, Annelise, without permission and without a care, stood.
The hall quickly hushed. Annelise could feel everyone's eyes fall onto her. She heard her guardian whimper and spit at her determination to draw attention. Annelise didn't make eye contact with the Chief, but instead walked to the back of the room. A small bit of relief flowed from her knees and hip sockets. That was all she needed, just a little bit of movement. Just enough to ease the tension. It took a few moments of pacing before she was able to sit down again.
Even after the meeting, she was made to stay. Her muscles cramped and her eyes stung with frustration. But she wouldn't cry, no matter how painful it was.
Annelise gritted her teeth as her body trembled. The pain in her head had not fully abated, but she'd take that over the torture she felt earlier that day. She was scared. Scared that someone had followed her into the woods, no one ever followed her. Scared by the pain her body had been in when she couldn't do anything. Am I going to die?
We will not die!
We?!
Annelise bit her lip. The voice was clear now. And clearly female. But the trepidation she had once felt abated.
You. Me. Us.
Annelise stood and readying herself to attack, "Who are you?" She ran barely forward and swiveled her head, trembling slightly. "What do you want?"
"Now that's the strangest greeting I've received in sometime."
Annelise stiffed. There. She pivoted and held her hands out. Annelise narrowed her eyes at the direction of the voice.
The barer held a large branch in her fist. Annelise felt a growl start but she eased out of her stance. Her eyes adjusted to see that the branch was a staff. The hand that held it was wrinkled and quite small. Annelise passed her eyes owner the rest of the body and the old woman's voice replayed in her thought. Her voice did not sound the same as the one she had heard before. Annelise sniffed and recognized the woman as a part of her pack. Though Annelise's memory couldn't recall the woman before.
"Nor will you."
Annelise took a step back as the old woman answered her thoughts. "You-!"
The woman waved a frail hand and gave a wry smile. "Calm you tempers, my child. It is not hard to read your thoughts. I can see it on your face. Speaking of, Annelise, I thought Chief Easton forbade you from entering the forest alone?"
Annelise shift on her feet. "He doesn't need to know." She replied and twitched her fingers. Pack members had a nasty habit of all too willingly reporting Annelise's mistakes straight to the Chief.
The old woman nodded, still smiling. "Ah, yes. Well, I suppose what Easton doesn't know won't hurt him."
"You would disobey an order?"
"Ha!" The old woman hobbled forward and shook her finger at Annelise before continuing. "I'm old enough to be his mother. As if I would take orders from him."
Annelise raised her brows. No one spoke so boldly about the Alpha, unless they should have a death wish or… "Are you his mother?"
An irritated huffed was followed by the old woman's dry voice, "Hardly. Anyway, that matters little now." The old woman promptly whacked Annelise's legs with her walking stick with enough force that Annelise reevaluated the woman's supposed harmlessness. "Move it!"
"Watch it!"
"You watch it. We don't have time to waste. We are late enough as it seems."
Annelise rubbed her temple tentatively. It surprised her how her guard had dropped enough to acknowledge pain in front of the woman. "Late for what? Is there another one?"
"Yes. One you'll lose your life for missing."
"For what?!" Annelise hopped top the side before she realized the old woman had made a swipe at her ankles again.
"Less chatter. More walking. Move it, girl."
Annelise rubbed her head again and bit her lip, the edges of her mouth twitched and pulled against her will. She tested her tongue along the boundaries and stretched her lips out. She hid the foreign smile behind a snort before, and she followed after the older female without resistance. Finally someone who gets me.