Under the Midnight Sky

Chapter 2

The beautiful Jessica Alba is my muse for how I imagine Ella Walters to look physically. Please feel free to imagine whoever you like of course!

It was dark and the wind lazily rocked the fir trees making them creak softly in the silence. The needles on the ground rustled as a mouse scurried over them, and the moon was bright enough to see clearly by. The sky was alight with stars.

Nikolai Givenchy blinked up at them from his position flat on his back on the ground and sat up startled as one of the stars winked at him. He grinned loopily and shook his head.

He was freaking wasted and he knew it.

He patted the bottle of Jack Daniels beside him fondly and settled back down in the grass to observe the stars again while pondering on his pathetic existence. He crossed his feet at the ankles and held his breath listening to the complete quiet around him. It was almost spooky if it hadn't been so peaceful. But at the same time if was incredibly lonely.

He reached for the bottle of Jack again before pushing himself drunkenly to his feet and weaving in place. Whoa, why was the ground spinning? He laughed hysterically a minute before stabbing a finger at the ground and ordering it to stay still. When it didn't, he frowned frustrated before clutching the bottle of booze to his chest and wandering through the trees.

He didn't want to go home. It was too lonely. Maybe he could drop by Faye's. He knew she and Colin weren't there. His drunken self did manage to remember that much. But Faye did say to check up on the place right? He could visit the chickens.

He nodded and headed in that direction, feeling his stomach churn uncomfortably. He hadn't had anything to eat all day and while he didn't realize it yet, all the alcohol on an empty stomach was taking its toll. He pitched through the trees headlong in a crazy half-jog, half-run that would have looked deranged had anyone seen him.

Halfway there, he tripped over a rock and face planted on the ground, his arms, and the bottle of Jack, flung akimbo. When he went to push himself up, his stomach rebelled and he gagged, his chest heaving as he spewed the contents of his belly everywhere. When he was done, he rolled over on his back, exhausted, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Ew, gross. Nasty. I wanna sleep."

He finally picked himself up, but had no more energy. Faye's house was too far away, but he remembered there was a pitiful rundown shack not to far off that he could sleep in for the night. And that's all he honestly wanted to to do was sleep.

So, walking slowly, he made his way there, a bit more sober than he previously had been but nowhere near his right frame of mind.

When he got to the shack, he kicked the door open with his foot and immediately recoiled at the abominable smell that wafted to his nostrils.

"Ugh. Skunk."

He bit his lip, chunking the nearly empty bottle into the black abyss of the cabin and listening to it clatter around. No other noise was made though and he shrugged. Maria might complain a bit about washing his clothes tomorrow, but he wanted a place to sleep too badly to care.

So he felt his way inside the cabin letting his wolf search for any dangers and finding none before he crawled onto the makeshift pallet on the floor he had made on previous occasions.

As soon as he laid his head down, his eyes closed and he was out.

Ella Walters had been rudely awakened from an anxious sleep, her sharp ears attuned to every sound even when she was resting. She jumped up, grabbing her backpack that held everything she owned, and eased open the window. That was footsteps and they were approaching slowly and somewhat erratically but still. A strangely enticing scent mixed with the strong scent of alcohol was in the air but she gave no heed to it.

Whoever was approaching was planning on entering the shack, and she had no plans of being inside when that happened.

She nimbly climbed out the window and flattened herself against the rough side of the shack, feeling the wood dig into her back as she clutched her backpack to her chest. She heard the shack door slam open and then a thud and a grunt as something hit the floor and rolled around. Something shuffled across the floor and then not even a minute later, a loud snore hit her ears.

She frowned and hit her backpack with the palm of her hand angrily. "Damn," she scowled.

She was aggravated that someone had disturbed her den in the middle of her sleep. Ella cursed again and moved away deeper into the woods. There went her getting any rest.

She knew she was on Nikolai Givenchy's land. She paid careful attention to whose property she squatted on, and she knew he was more lenient than most if he caught shifters on his land. Also, she knew he was mateless or so the records stated, and that was something that tended to make males regard mateless females with more caution and concern. Ella wasn't worried about him catching her. Her scent was masked pretty well and there was no way he would sniff her out unless he was attracted to skunks and she highly doubted that.

She snorted at the ridiculous thought and wondered who the hapless drunk that invaded her shack was. Making her way through the deepening gloom, she found herself a tree and climbed up, settling against the trunk and making herself semi comfortable. It was going to be a long night.

Nikolai woke the next morning, his head pounding and his ears ringing. He groaned as he closed his eyes against the glare of the sun beaming in the open window. That hurt like a mother. He rolled over on his stomach and nearly gagged at the strong stench of skunk that had permeated the pallet he was sleeping on. It was time to get out into the fresh clean air before he puked everywhere. He couldn't fathom how he had even managed to fall asleep with everything smelling so bad.

He pushed himself to his feet, bleary-eyed and not entirely sure he was in his right mind quite yet. He stumbled outside and bent over and retched, his hand braced against the doorframe. Good grief, how much had he had to drink? His head felt like it was going to explode.

He stood upright again and headed towards the river. A mouth rinse and a quick dip in the water would help clear his head. He hoped anyway.

Ella woke with the first light and stretched like a cat nearly tumbling from her perch in the tree as she did so. Looking around, her bad mood from the night before returned. Thanks to some random drunk she'd had to sleep outside. She grumbled her whole way down the tree. If she hadn't wanted to stay hidden so badly, she would have kicked the person out. It was important that no one knew she was present though.

She stretched again and decided to take a quick bath in the river before heading back to the shack to see if the stranger was still there. Her best guess is he would stay passed out for a while judging by the strong smell of whiskey she had caught the night before.

Her fur stirred remembering the other smell but she chalked it up to his cologne. She had always had a deep appreciation for anything male scented. She preferred the strong spicy scents to the more feminine floral ones. As she headed to the river, she pondered her next move.

The night before had been a close call. If she hadn't heard the stranger in time, she would have been caught. Perhaps it was time to move on.

.......

Welcome back my shapeshifters!! How are you all this fine day? Here is an early update for you because I'm going to be busy all weekend and I love you guys too much to make you go two weeks without an update! Anyway thank you for tuning in to Under the Midnight Sky! I look forward to seeing you guys in the next chapter.

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Desperately ready for it to be the weekend,

Scarlett McLeod