"Will a bath help your mood?" His arm unwrapped from around her and Brittany quickly got up, stepping away from him. She made out the subtle switch of his tone, assuming that her mindless words might've upset him.
"I-I…I'm so—"
"Will a bath help?" He repeated, his thick brow raising as he stared up at her with his steely eyes. It was so easy for him to switch from a grin to a glare.
"Okay…" Brittany pursed her lips together and scurried for the exit but paused in place when she drew back the door. She was more than willing to abuse the tub while she had the chance, but was he going to insist on getting in with her again?
She held the door open, "W-Will you also---"
"Yes."
Her foot quickly drew back in. "Then I'm fine."
"Shall we take a walk outside instead?"
"O-Outside? So s-suddenly?"
"By now, the others are likely away from the pack house and the surrounding houses must be empty." Standing to his feet, he closed the file on the desk and switched off the lamp. Then, he took the phone sitting next to that and tucked it into his pocket. "There's nothing to worry about."
Brittany's eyes flickered with reluctance. She had been dreading this very moment since the day she arrived. She often smelled other wolves, but didn't hear a peep from outside…not even the tweet of a bird in the mornings. The silence made her uneasy, so much so that she was scared to even peek out the windows. She didn't trust him at all. And if not for the hunger that almost knocked her over yesterday, she wouldn't have even touched anything he offered her either.
"I-Is it an attack?" She asked hesitantly. "Why would they desert the pack house?"
"We just have a few customs that are different from other packs."
She wondered if he was referring to the rituals he mentioned before. She was beginning to think they were part of some strange cult.
"B-But I---"
"Be quiet."
Brittany slammed her mouth shut, this time keeping it closed. Taking her hand in his, Nathan walked them out the room, pulling her along like a child as she purposefully dragged her feet slowly across the floor. Before long, they reached the bottom floor. Pulling the front door open, he tugged her into the dark of the night. She looked back at the open door behind them as they drifted further and further away, and felt her heart thump faster, as if wanting to force its way through her chest. Now, there was no turning back.
Brittany was wary, constantly glancing around and sniffing the air. But like he said, she did not see nor hear anyone. As usual, she could only smell them…distant, but there.
They walked down the dusty terrain, and the cold night breeze sprinkled goosebumps across their skin. Her fingers clamped down between Nathan's while her other hand grabbed onto his upper-arm, holding onto him for dear life. For the first time, she was hoping he wouldn't let her go. There might've not been anyone around but she felt there was something eerie about the place, something that felt evil.
And it wasn't until she turned her head to glance towards the woods, that she realized what exactly made her feel that way.
At the edge of the dark forest and between the trees, she could suddenly make out dozens of golden eyes lurking, watching them from the distance. They were wolves, a lot of them. But what stood out even more than those scary wolves…was the single pair of blood-red eyes that glimmered amongst them.
That one, was not a wolf…
"W-What is that?"
Nathan turned his head to look, but his gaze only lingered for a few seconds, and he didn't say a word. Whatever it was, she was certain he knew.
Red eyes… such vile, evil things were only native to one species and one species alone; witches…full blood witches. But their kind were no more. It'd been over a hundred years since the last of them was hunted and killed. Everyone knew that. But…the mere fact that she, a white wolf, was alive, was proof enough not to blindly believe what the masses said. If and only if…that thing was truly a witch, why was a species sworn to forever remain the enemies of wolves, lurking within a pack full of them?
"It seems we might've come out too soon." Nathan broke the silence. She tore her gaze away from the forest as he unclasped his fingers from hers and grabbed her hips instead, pulling her against him. "Let's head back in." He turned on his feet without waiting for a response and switched sides, now she was on the right and him on the left. She hid behind his tall figure and kept her eyes on the ground. Was it too late to play it like she didn't see a thing?
They were near his front door when Nathan's gaze flickered back to the forest and a bright golden swirled within his eyes then reverted back to its usual amber before Brittany could notice. But that mere flash of golden, even if a split second, was enough to send those lingering wolves his command. Within moments, they had dispersed, disappearing like the wind and leaving behind the speck of red amidst the darkness.
Clicking his tongue, Nathan's hand lifted to run his fingers through her messy hair, combing most of it towards one side of her face. "Fucking shit."
-
-
The night of the party had come quicker than Brittany could mentally prepare herself.
She sat on a small chair in the room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. After a woman came and helped with both her makeup and dress, Nathan left the house and hadn't been back since. He didn't say where he was going or when he'd be back, but she assumed he'd return before dark.
Contrary to what she expected, no one had barged through the door with pitch forks and torches. At midnight, just a few hours after she and Nathan returned inside the house, pained howls filled the prevailing silence of the night, coupled with loud, distant screams. While Nathan did not even shift in his sleep, she had curled up in the corner of the room, her hands over her ears.
She tried desperately to tune it all out but no matter what she did, it felt like those howls were echoing through her. He said his pack was different and that they did rituals, so she might've been worried for nothing…but still, she couldn't shake away the gut feeling that those screams were actually cries for help and that thing…whatever it was…was dangerous.
Setting those thoughts aside, her eyes ran over her face for the umpteenth time and drank in the sight of herself. It was her first time wearing makeup and though light, it made her look different…a little more mature. She brushed her cheek that was painted with a flush of red and then swept her hand around, pulling her hair together in her hands and wrapping it at the back with a hair tie. Her gaze moved over the collar that Nathan insisted she kept on and travelled to her upper arm, examining the symbol they carved onto her.
The wound was closed but the mark was still there with no signs of disappearing. With a trembling hand, she touched it, feeling the skin tingle lightly upon contact. Now that she had the chance to really look at it, it seemed undeniably familiar. She couldn't remember the exact pattern, but she felt there was something about it, something that linked it to the one that was burned into the skin of her chest long ago.
That day, years ago...was the very beginning of her memories.