His Muse

τριάντα δύο | adlegatio

32 | mission

The cage door clanged shut, and all the tired pairs of eyes fell on me. Darcy had once told me of a were's feral instinct to feed on humans, a commonality that was immediately abolished when the first human Luna was discovered. As more generations passed, it became a recessive gene that only surfaced during the first transformation, and mating of the wolf and its host soul - the actual human.

But it appeared when pushed to survival, those learned habits left, their eyes were red, their teeth constantly grinding and their senses heightened. Mason's weres lingered around, looking to catch a prisoner in a vulnerable position but their sport beared no fruit and they traipsed away soon.

Zach had twitched awake as the gate opened and held onto my hand when I settled back down.

"You were gone so long" he commented, leaning his head on the wall with his face facing the cement ceiling. Zach was starting to fray, with picking his hang nails until they broke off or, pulled further down. Sometimes, he'd pick at the concrete walls and when my eyes would wander over, I'd cringe, hoping that his nails wouldn't break.

Sadly, I believed that was because he was trying to be strong for the both of us. Zach was protective by nature, but it seemed to be at the cost of his own body.

I squeezed his hand, "sorry, it felt like a few minutes upstairs... and hour tops" I whispered. I shuffled next to him, it was freezing cold down here, but this didn't affect the weres here much, their warmth came down from their wolf and that energy came from unity as well as regular times when their wolves could be set free. I guess the only thing giving them warmth here was the shared experience of this torture - the unified experience as their wolves were restricted by their restrained humans.

"So what happened?" he asked, as I leaned even closer towards him. I didn't feel tired, if anything I felt more energised, pregnant with adrenaline and excited nervousness for what I was about to say. But mentally, I was exhausted.

Strung out.

Beat.

On the verge of giving up.

I was aware of the juxtaposition of such different energies and emotions within myself, and how that resulted in me being distracted.

Zach gripped my hand firmly, "Luna" he started, "...Ivory" he whispered more softly, almost inaudible as though unsure of using honorifics, "that sounded so weird calling you that in this setting".

The left side of my face pulled up into a wry smile "yeah it did but to be fair, it always has. I am more used to hearing Alpha Theo" I commented, my voice unexpectedly faltering when I said his name.

He pursed his lips determinedly as though stopping himself from saying something. Then his face softened and he squeezed my hands, "don't worry, keep the faith". I placed my closed palms over his, "I know how we're going to get out, but I'll need your help, and their help if this is going to work"

"What do you mean?" Zach inquired, a small jolt of electricity buzzed through his eyes and as I explained my plan, they remained lively for a few more seconds before doubt fizzled them out.

"These weres are not strong enough, I have only been here a few weeks before you, and I can feel my strength waning"

"I'm sorry but you don't know that for sure for them, have you even asked first?" I replied, agitated at his defeatist attitude.

"Yes, I don't know about them, but  I do about you and I do know myself and I'm telling you, with you on our side plus all this, we don't have much of a chance" he declared, "and this is not me accepting defeat"