by Roxanne Lee
I huffed out a breath. The wolf definitely enjoyed the attention, I imagine she rather liked the male currently shoving his face in my shoulder. I however, much preferred halfway intelligent conversation. As I weighed up the merits of pushing him off or stabbing a little welcome hole into his side, Ty decided to make an appearance. I caught a glimpse of his shoes as he stepped up behind the Alpha and I caught the tensing of shoulders as his presence registered to the male who had just found his mate. I had the time to put a small hand on one thick forearm before, in a single blink, Ty was against the wall held a foot in the air by a large, rough hand clenched around his throat. I rolled my eyes at the Alpha's back, no doubt he'd decided Ty was a threat to his newly found mating - he had yet to realize he had more issues than just Ty. It wasn't until I heard the absolute disgust and anger in a rough whisper from the man choking my brother that I understood it was more serious than I originally thought.
"Bottom feeder."
And if any words were guaranteed to turn my vision red, it would be those two. Like gazing through ruby stones I saw the landscape tinted crimson, a bloody canvas for my insecurity and its resulting burning fire. I stepped in between the two men and shoved my body into the tiny gap when the raging wolf didn't move and became almost rock solid with the attempt to keep me out. My own animal was slightly conflicted, she certainly didn't want her brother hurt but neither was she overjoyed at the thought of damaging her mate. I simply reminded her that this man had insulted us with those words and she once again became that crystal clear perfect cohesion, just like the human - a little bit vengeful, a little bit sadistic, a lot of ego he had battered with his disgust. Her claws came out - a serious threat to his beating heart. Our existence had been a self serving one, since childhood we'd lived to save only ourselves and Ty. In the end, whatever fate had decided for us, whatever pretty package she'd wrapped it in, would not be more than the life I'd worked so hard for.
I took a moment to marvel at the claws she gave me - something that should not have been possible yet, a wolf no older than fifty human years and already we'd synced so completely that we were one fluid entity of skin and teeth. I looked up from between the two rigid men and flicked my eyes to each in turn, faces carved in icy fury, one blond looking slightly crazed in his anger and, behind me, Ty's dark hair falling over his blistering eyes. I didn't think that either would be particularly open to conversation at the moment and so I simply took those chrome hardened talons and stabbed a couple into the Alpha’s side. Blood ran quickly, though it only joined the rivers that must have poured to cover his saturated clothes. I cast a quick glance up at the Alpha, his head had dipped to look in curiosity at me, a full foot and a half below his giant height. A tiny smile and something akin to pleasure shot across his face as I retracted those claws, satisfaction, as if I'd just given him some great gift. Fabulous - I'd been given a lunatic as a mate. Annoyance ran through me, his fist still wrapped around Ty's throat, clenching hard enough to turn his normally sun kissed face to ashen grey.
"Get off my brother, arsehole."
Utter horror fell across his face. I almost grimaced at the thought that the sudden horror was realization that his mate was some sort of genetic mash-up of good and evil -like a bad parody of some moral ridden demon. He could smell the wolf inside me, a thick and strong essence that almost bled freely from my pores. The empath hid, concealed beneath the shifting beast, a caged sin and damnable surprise. He'd smell the wolf on Ty but it was subtle and mixed heavily with blackened silk - all wicked virtue and honorable villain. Ty may not be a blood relation but the Alpha didn't need to know that and we'd easily pass as siblings. I had his midnight black hair and slightly tanned skin - enough to have a resemblance. There was an obvious difference in stature of course and his blue eyes to my burnished Amber, but enough similarity to be believable.
He took an immediate step back and released his hold on Ty to a series of coughs that showed exactly how tight his fist had been. I was overly impressed with my brother for allowing the Alpha to squeeze so hard, he could quite easily have let some of that rage out and returned the favor and yet he'd kept hold of those reigns and trusted I'd fix the situation. Steel eyes flashed anger and vile hatred and some sort of grief of which I didn't understand. Perhaps grief for the mate he would never claim, and so in my own assumptions I became even more clear in my path.
"I'm Sasha." I swept my hand to the side to indicate the man still rubbing at the redness on his throat in the shape of one huge hand print. “And Ty...”My voice dropped slightly lower as I couldn't keep the hiss out of my words, "..my brother ." Grey eyes flashed shiny steel and I may have thought it a wince if a sudden and confusing smile hadn't appeared across his mouth, "We were only here for some information but it seems we have no need of it any more."
Ty flicked a frown my way but remained silent. I nudged him to start walking and he took a few slow steps towards the forest, I followed with my back to him, facing the blond who did nothing but stare blankly at me with a decidedly creepy smile on his face. I backed further away as Ty picked up the pace and I saw Conall appear from the pack house, hair wet and in some towel dried mess. His face instantly lit into a grin until he saw us backing away and the Alpha staring at our retreat.
"Aw shite." Conall jogged from the house to the blond and touched his arm lightly to gain his attention. The Alpha only cocked his head in Conall's direction and kept his stark eyes glued to me. "Yer a bit early, Lane."
My wolf made an embarrassing little rumble in my chest at the sound of his name and I shushed that animal before she made a fool out of us both. I nodded at the Irishman and resumed backing away from the staring Alpha. "Thanks, Conall. It seems we'll be leaving after all."
Green eyes flashed at me in disappointment, "but I didn't get tae show yer the faeries."
I smiled in indulgence, "another time maybe."
He looked quite severely upset and I could only imagine that most of the people here had already heard his stories a few too many times. He shot an annoyed glance at Lane as if the whole situation was his fault. Oddly, I felt more confident turning my back with Conall behind me and I swiftly moved to avoid those eyes that seemed to glare and consume so readily and in equal parts. I'd taken few steps before his rough, scraping tenor rumbled behind me.
"Run....little witch."
Chapter 9
Witch.
I'll give him witch.
We ran back to our cave and retrieved the items we'd left. I'd briefly considered staying and lying in wait for the Alpha, a little hideout right in the middle of his territory. And then I remembered his disturbing little smile and thought better of it, he'd probably sniff me out within hours and find a revolutionary punishment for my trespassing. I wasn't overly confident that he was playing with an entirely full deck.
Ten minutes after passing the border, Ty finally opened his mouth. I'd felt tiny glances on me the entire stint of walking away from the pack and I'd known my time was limited.
"So, got something with the Alpha, Sash?"
I snorted and shook my head, "not if I can help it."
"He seemed...friendly."
I squinted back at Ty, blue eyes glinting their amusement and a twitch to his lips that showed he was about to be an arsehole. "I wouldn't go that far."
"He's pretty."
I glared at the him and grunted rather roughly, "are you going somewhere with this?"
He shrugged and that smile widened, "oh, nothing. You just let me know when I need to start bowing."
I punched him in the arm, "don't be a prick, Ty."
"No seriously, I wouldn't want to disrespect my betters, oh mighty leader."
"Ty! shut up!"
He near enough giggled like a school girl and I felt my temper about to get the better of me. " I'll stab the crap out of you in a minute."
He feigned a flash of hurt on his face, "that's not very nice, and after I saved you from the big bad Alpha too."
I rolled my eyes,
"yes, you were very helpful distracting him with your throat while I went for the kill. Excellent work, I'm so lucky to have you around."
He grinned, purposefully ignoring my sarcasm. "Right? I had him right where I wanted him."
I huffed and shoved him to the side, knocking him off balance until he struggled to avoid falling. He laughed breathlessly and pumped his fist in a win as he succeeded in avoiding the tumble. I couldn't help but smile back and we ended up walking in contemplative silence for several minutes before he spoke up again.
"How does it feel to have a mate, Sash?"
I grimaced and took a moment to think about his slightly more serious question. I should have known he'd pick up on that right away, impossible to hide your deepest secrets from the one person who knew every little tell you had. How did it feel? It felt like I was about to kill something that would be irreplaceable and change my fate forever, stick two fingers up to the force that would probably destroy me for wasting what she had so generously bestowed. Then again..she had given me a nutter, it's not like she could expect me to be grateful. "Like nothing. I think we have to kill him."
Ty stared at me, "Bit extreme, you can always just say no."
I shook my head, "his smell, It was at Michael and Sarahs - he's the one."
Ty's face quickly fell into the same conflicting mess of swelling anger and churning regret that I knew he could see on mine. "Shit."
I echoed his sentiment. We had both always assumed we'd find our mate at some point and although it wasn't ranked the highest on our scale of things to do, it had been that distant dream of somewhere to belong, to be the most important piece of someone's life. A big fuzzy romanticized view maybe, but something glittering in a life lived colourless.
Ty blew out a heavy breath, "that's a lot of shit to deal with right now and I'm still a little hungover, how about we grab a bottle of anything alcoholic and fix both problems?"
I chuckled at him with lightness I didn’t feel. "Sure, sounds good."
Ty took the bag I carried and added it to the one he had, "seems you've got enough to carry, I'll take your load."
I squinted at him, "that was horrifically sweet."
He grunted and scowled, "shut up." His eyes brightened for a moment, "hey..does this mean we can kill the Irishman too?"
I huffed, "no, Ty. We cannot kill the Irishman."
He looked way too upset about that.
It took around forty minutes to reach the town from the border, we were walking at a steady pace and in no hurry once clear of pack territory. I was fooling myself if I thought it would be easy to lose that Alpha if he followed, my scent was now some bright white trail for him to walk and he seemed rather wonderfully built for stalking prey. I refused to rely on Ty's scent blocking, with my run of piss poor luck it was doubtful to work between mates. Or on creepy Alphas.
The same store we'd bought supplies at on our way to pack land beckoned as we entered the town, the afternoon sun was beginning it's dip on the horizon and a copper sky turned the early shadows glistening grey in creation's resplendent design. I was a little too eager to find a quiet place to sit and drink my problems away, perhaps needing that one night before my wolf would turn melancholic for years to come, sink into a deep blue sea of sorrow for what she'd soon lose before she'd even had a single taste.
It took me some time to feel the eyes on me, more time than I could forgive myself for. Glaringly obvious once I felt them so heavy a gaze and furiously thick an aura. I glanced to my left and came up empty, the liquor bottles in front kept my bodies attention while my eyes flicked from side to side trying to catch a glimpse of the person that watched. That atmosphere ebbed and swayed, peaking the wolf's curiosity and the feeder's interest. This could only mean the watcher was full of intent, dark and complex emotions that called to the empath and exhilarated it's feeding frenzy. I felt a rush of displaced air as a body swept up behind me and I turned to see a wolf I wasn't particularly happy about.
"Afternoon, lass."
Auburn hair fell heavily across his forehead as if he'd been too busy since the last time I'd seen him to bother with a cut. A sickening smile spread wide on a roughened face and he dwarfed my size with his. A discreet splatter of blood stained the side of his combat boots and I had a thought back to the blood that had covered Lane. The empath inside loved his presence and that made me seriously uncomfortable.
I played at ignorance, I may have seen him that day in the previous Alpha's office but there was no way he'd noticed me before. "Can I help you?"
His smile grew in amusement, "ah yes, you most certainly can."
I frowned at him, if Lane was creepy this guy was seriously disturbed. "How's that exactly?"
"It seems we have a mutual acquaintance, the new Alpha ta be specific."
I raised an eyebrow, "I wouldn't call him an acquaintance."
The red head flashed even, white teeth my way, "what would you call him then? Mate perhaps?"
I couldn't imagine Lane would be bragging about his half empath mate so soon. "Depends on whose asking now doesn't it?"
"Duncan, lass. You be sure ta tell him that won't you?"
My wolf stared through my own amber eyes, taking the males worth and finding him lacking. She was not an animal to take lightly and she had a fluid relationship with the feeder that hid beneath her bulky frame. She warned him with a rumble and received one in return. This could very quickly turn to disaster in a human owned store.
Tapping steps echoed on the tiled flooring and for once, I smiled at Ty's noisy entrance. We both turned to the footsteps and I saw him casually walking down the aisle, a bag of cheese balls in his hand and stuffing handfuls into his mouth until bright orange crumbs littered his mouth and fell to dust over his shirt. He chewed noisily and took extra care to open his mouth wide with each bite. I shivered in disgust and by the look on Duncan's face, he had the same reaction. Ty stopped at my side and stared at the red head while sucking the fake cheese flavor off his fingers. He held out a saliva covered hand to Duncan.
"Hello."
Duncan stared and looked a little ill, the hand went ignored. "Why are you here, boy?"
Ty smiled in return and shrugged, "I'm with her," he cocked a thumb my way and for a moment I debated denying any knowledge of him, "right sis?"
I snorted and hummed in response while Duncan rolled his eyes and dismissed him in one scathing look."I'm going on a visit now actually, see my old friend. Maybe you'd like ta accompany me?" His smile was an invite to deny him and face the consequences. I rather enjoyed consequences.
"No, thanks all the same. We're a bit busy right now."
He rumbled deep in his chest and a wolf flashed anger in eyes that viewed us both as beneath him. "I donae think ya understood me"
Ty smiled at my side, his snack forgotten, "oh we understand just fine. Shoo, Scot." He waved his hand towards the door to emphasize his point and I felt the anger rise from Duncan until it poured unfiltered from his skin. He took a step toward me and Ty's eyes flashed that icy blue that always made me freeze in place for a second.
"Suffocate."
The word was whispered low but I heard it clearly from the man I'd grown up with, a word I'd heard from him many a time before.
Duncan's breathing stopped and his chest expanded, an automatic reaction to the body cut off from essential air. Choking gasps leaked from his throat and the first signs of panic came from a wolf so confident in his own strength. The skin of his neck and cheeks turned a bright red as pressure built within his throat and chest.
Unfortunately, It wouldn't kill him and would eventually wear off. It was the feeling of choking not an actual constriction of the airways. Still, the panic was an unavoidable reaction and this time, I liked seeing that effect more than usual.
The Scotsman started clawing at his throat and Ty's smile became decidedly evil. "Oh don't worry, buddy. It'll wear off eventually. In the meantime, it was nice meeting you and I hope to see you again soon. Come on, Sash. Let's
get going."
I turned amused eyes his way and dutifully followed him out of the store, leaving Duncan slowly sliding to his knees. "Well, that was interesting."
Ty grinned, "see, told you I was helpful."
Chapter 10
She had gold eyes.
Gold.
Like little stars that shone a glorious fire.
As Vega burns to be Lyra's brightest star, so she burned for me.
I like shiny things.
But she was a feeder. Wolf didn't like feeders, they made him feel sick, like tar slicked across skin and oil that slid in sticky residue along veins that shut down from clogging.
Perhaps she'd agree to not be a feeder. Cease that vile fading that consumes a body til it withers.