hat.
“Hey,” I replied with a smile, crossing the room to sit on the bed, pulling my knees up to my chest.
I wanted Holbrook to join me, hoping to curl up in the comfort of his arms. Instead, he shifted from one foot to the other, running his fingers along the brim of his hat.
“I need to go check in with the team,” he said after a while, his eyes dropping to the floor. “Will you be okay?”
“Oh, yeah. No problem,” I replied, trying to hide my disappointment behind the ghost of a smile. “I’ll be fine.”
The thud of the door closing behind him echoed through me, reverberating in my middle like a solemn bell. I didn’t want to admit how much it had hurt to see the shadow of guilt on his face, or how eager he had seemed to get out of my room. It had taken more effort than I cared to admit to open up to him and let him see the hurt and broken parts of me stripped bare.
Guess that didn’t mean as much to him as it did to me.
I hated feeling like a spurned teenager, yet I couldn’t do anything to stop the well of emotion that rose to the surface, moistening my eyes and making me feel like a fool. I hadn’t willingly let anyone get that close to me in years, and now I had to wonder if it had been a mistake. Wiping the back of my hand across my eyes I flopped back on the mattress and stared up at the ceiling. Hurt and anger warred in my chest, burning hot and acidic.
“I sure know how to pick ‘em, huh?” I said aloud to my furry companion.
Like a bull in a china shop, Loki plowed into my side, rubbing his chin along my hand where it lay across my stomach. Grace was definitely not one of his strong suits.
“But you won’t leave me, will you buddy?” I asked, running my fingers along the length of his spine and down his slowly swishing tail.
He answered by leaping up onto my stomach, forcing the air out of my lungs with a loud “Oof!” Like I said, he’s not the most graceful and dainty creature I’ve ever known. Still, he was the closest thing I had to a friend or family, and he hadn’t left me yet. Settling on my chest, tucking his paws underneath him, he began to purr, rumbling like a motor. I shouldn’t have been tired after sleeping the afternoon away as the wolf, but as I lay there scratching behind Loki’s ears, I felt sleep’s siren song calling out to me. Closing my eyes I let the sound of Loki’s contentment wash over me, soothing my hurt feelings and lulling me into sleep.
* * *
I wasn’t sure what woke me, the sound of a car door slamming, or perhaps a truck back-firing. I still wasn’t used to being surrounded by humans; the various sounds of their comings and goings, and the pervasive stink of their existence, grating on my already strained nerves. I knew of weres who had chosen to live in urban areas, but I couldn’t fathom how they could bear to be inundated with the constant cacophony of mundanes scuttling about like a plague of locusts.
Opening my eyes, I glimpsed fat, fluffy snowflakes drifting down through the holes in the roof of my temporary shelter, and beyond, the dark night sky. Drawing a deep breath I let the crisp scent of the winter air slide over my tongue and fill my lungs until they felt fit to burst. It had been too long since I had smelled such pure air, tinged with the scent of pine. Too long my nose had been filled with the stink of piss, shit, and sweat. I’d never let them lock me away in a hole again.
Stretching limbs sore from over-exertion and cold, I rose with a groan that worked vocal chords rough from disuse. Swaying on my feet I reached out blindly for the wall, fingers dark with dried blood and dirt splayed against the rough wooden planks of my shelter. I shivered as another blast of cold air tore through the ramshackle shed I decided it was time I went in search of some clothes, and another meal. The three hunters had sated my hunger for a while, but the beast inside was already eager for more, and I needed fresh meat to
“Hey,” I replied with a smile, crossing the room to sit on the bed, pulling my knees up to my chest.
I wanted Holbrook to join me, hoping to curl up in the comfort of his arms. Instead, he shifted from one foot to the other, running his fingers along the brim of his hat.
“I need to go check in with the team,” he said after a while, his eyes dropping to the floor. “Will you be okay?”
“Oh, yeah. No problem,” I replied, trying to hide my disappointment behind the ghost of a smile. “I’ll be fine.”
The thud of the door closing behind him echoed through me, reverberating in my middle like a solemn bell. I didn’t want to admit how much it had hurt to see the shadow of guilt on his face, or how eager he had seemed to get out of my room. It had taken more effort than I cared to admit to open up to him and let him see the hurt and broken parts of me stripped bare.
Guess that didn’t mean as much to him as it did to me.
I hated feeling like a spurned teenager, yet I couldn’t do anything to stop the well of emotion that rose to the surface, moistening my eyes and making me feel like a fool. I hadn’t willingly let anyone get that close to me in years, and now I had to wonder if it had been a mistake. Wiping the back of my hand across my eyes I flopped back on the mattress and stared up at the ceiling. Hurt and anger warred in my chest, burning hot and acidic.
“I sure know how to pick ‘em, huh?” I said aloud to my furry companion.
Like a bull in a china shop, Loki plowed into my side, rubbing his chin along my hand where it lay across my stomach. Grace was definitely not one of his strong suits.
“But you won’t leave me, will you buddy?” I asked, running my fingers along the length of his spine and down his slowly swishing tail.
He answered by leaping up onto my stomach, forcing the air out of my lungs with a loud “Oof!” Like I said, he’s not the most graceful and dainty creature I’ve ever known. Still, he was the closest thing I had to a friend or family, and he hadn’t left me yet. Settling on my chest, tucking his paws underneath him, he began to purr, rumbling like a motor. I shouldn’t have been tired after sleeping the afternoon away as the wolf, but as I lay there scratching behind Loki’s ears, I felt sleep’s siren song calling out to me. Closing my eyes I let the sound of Loki’s contentment wash over me, soothing my hurt feelings and lulling me into sleep.
* * *
I wasn’t sure what woke me, the sound of a car door slamming, or perhaps a truck back-firing. I still wasn’t used to being surrounded by humans; the various sounds of their comings and goings, and the pervasive stink of their existence, grating on my already strained nerves. I knew of weres who had chosen to live in urban areas, but I couldn’t fathom how they could bear to be inundated with the constant cacophony of mundanes scuttling about like a plague of locusts.
Opening my eyes, I glimpsed fat, fluffy snowflakes drifting down through the holes in the roof of my temporary shelter, and beyond, the dark night sky. Drawing a deep breath I let the crisp scent of the winter air slide over my tongue and fill my lungs until they felt fit to burst. It had been too long since I had smelled such pure air, tinged with the scent of pine. Too long my nose had been filled with the stink of piss, shit, and sweat. I’d never let them lock me away in a hole again.
Stretching limbs sore from over-exertion and cold, I rose with a groan that worked vocal chords rough from disuse. Swaying on my feet I reached out blindly for the wall, fingers dark with dried blood and dirt splayed against the rough wooden planks of my shelter. I shivered as another blast of cold air tore through the ramshackle shed I decided it was time I went in search of some clothes, and another meal. The three hunters had sated my hunger for a while, but the beast inside was already eager for more, and I needed fresh meat to
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