Hunted

Chapter 10 - Anxiety and a wolf

Notice: I have injured my back a bit. Break's off, updates will still be posted daily but the editing may not be as obsessive from now on- sitting isn't easy! I write my stories in blocks of about 20 pages and then for this site break them down into 4-6 page parts. So you'll more or less get a full 'block' of work (with a storyline conclusion) each week and that's how it's structured to be. The stories may be long but you're more or less guaranteed to get a daily update. :)

If you like the idea of updates a bit longer, like 10 pages, feel free to leave me a note or something. Or casting ideas. Interaction is good. Story status- I'm ahead of what's up on Wattpad!

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 I tried to think. To breathe. He was acting on memories I didn't have, I knew, but I couldn't just – I wasn't even sure what it was I could or couldn't do. I was confused. Angry. Maybe it wasn't all at him either. There was another side of me too, the instinct of the wolf, that didn't seem to understand what the fuss was about. Didn't know why I didn't just let him. I tried to ignore it. What was wrong with demanding strings attached from both sides? I didn't love him and that made me a slut. Didn't it?

Somehow in the space of two seconds, between him getting up and heading out the door, my head had already twisted itself around these thoughts several times. I lay there for a long time, breathing hard, and slowly tugged the sheets back over me. Maybe it was a few seconds. Maybe it was minutes, maybe even an hour, I couldn't tell. My head was swirling and my body was still feeling what we'd just done, it wouldn't let go of it, holding onto the memory of his body against mine.

At some point though, as the sheets cooled, I felt my old fears rise back with a vengance now that I was alone again in the dark. I had to locate candles or something. I swore softly, or find a better way to cope with this fear. Now that I was awake I couldn't fade back into a sleep and my anxiety over this, over what we'd just done, it wasn't exactly relaxing. I could still feel it, taste it, feel the heat of his body in the sheets, and the darkness crowded in on me big time. I started to get a full on panic attack, breathing hard, panting, aware that I could not just lie here now.

Sliding out of the bed, I tiptoed, listening for the sound of a shower starting. There was none. Just the creak of the stairs, the gale outside, and a sleeping house.

When I still heard no shower, I stood up and found something to pull on, pants, yanking them on in a hurry. I tried to follow the smell he'd left behind, the trail, the dark making it difficult in an unfamiliar house. My heart raced. Darkness. Yes, I was angry too, but there were more important things. Why was I afraid of the darkness anyway? It seemed to press in, even with my eyes being able to see better, conceal, hide things... and I had to stop thinking about that, because it wasn't helping either.

I found Nick's scent on the staircase and it seemed to help me relax a little. I stepped down each step, clutching to the banister, feeling my way with my toes, a gust of cold air rushing in up the staircase from a door that had been blown open. I stood in it, trembling as snow, ice and wind found my bare arms and thin clothing, staring outside to where Nick's trail ended.

He stood there in the blizzard, bare feet, still in boxers, clutching at his hair, his arms and legs shaking, his back to the door. I could hear his heart, his blood rushing, wondered what the hell he was doing. Making my way outside, bare feet aching on the freezing snow that sunk up high around my legs, I tried to touch his shoulder, my arms tucking around me.

"Nick?"

"Better than any damn cold shower, don't you think?" Nick's smile was tense. He held his arms out in the snow. Let it fall all over him, all over his skin, his teeth already chattering somewhat, skin blue and pink with the freezing cold of it. I didn't answer, just watching him, my own arms trembling slightly in the cold. He hesitated, stepped forward, a quick lick of his lips as he started at me. Face loosing the smile, just the intense look he seemed to only be able to give me, head twisting to the side. "Why did you follow me?"