A Bit of Wolf in Her

7. Fucking mustard

He took up a lot of space on the balcony. Even though he was leaning against the wall calmly; it looked menacing. Oz bared his teeth in a sinister smile and Winnie didn't react, knowing he would get off on seeing her fear. She didn't move except to close the door behind them.

"I never understood why you tried to quit," he said, breaking the tense silence as he took a cigarette from the pack still on the balcony railing. With hawk-eyes, she watched him take a long drag, his movements slow and comfortable. Like he was visiting an old friend.

"How did you find me?" Winnie asked, glad her voice came out even and firm.

"You've been a real pain in the ass this last year, Winnie. Running around like a headless chicken." He finished with the cigarette and moved toward her to lift Winnie's chin up with his other hand. Her lips parted, and he slipped the cigarette back in between them with a smile, trailing his finger down her cheek. "Billy wanted you to have your fun, but you had to get mixed up with Wolves."

His tender touch turned to iron as he gripped her throat, lifting her up so her feet were off the ground. The cigarette fell from between her lips as she gasped out in surprise. It was useless trying to get his fingers away from her neck, so she settled for digging her nails into his skin as deep as she could. It did little to deter him.

"Oz."

Winnie felt her airways constrict painfully. His expression was stone cold and there was a sudden burning sensation in her side. Winnie opened her mouth to cry out, but her vocal chords were being crushed by the hand still around her throat. Oz brought their lips together, kissing her angrily, and Winnie smelled blood.

"Winnie! What the hell?"

The voice pierced slightly through the veil of fear and it was the only thing she could hear over the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. Her vision started blurring, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she recognised the voice. Elijah. He hadn't left after all.

Something changed within Oz when he looked over to where Elijah was. Winnie hadn't seen it in a long time. Fear. He let Winnie drop to the ground and her chest burned as she tried to fill her lungs with air. Shooting Winnie one last glance, he disappeared as the world around Winnie spun out of control and darkness took hold of her.

_

Winnie sighed, shifting around to get rid of the uncomfortable sting in her side. She pried her eyes open and blinked away the haziness. Her surroundings were unrecognisable and panic set in Winnie's chest. When she spotted Elijah in the doorway, it lessened only slightly. Without a word, he turned and left, offering her absolutely no reassurance that she wasn't about to die. Deciding whether she should yell out for him, she stayed put until he returned with an anxious-looking Noah behind him. The sigh of Noah made her almost choke out a sob of relief. 

She must be in their house, she thought as Noah's eyes scanned her up and down frantically. 

"Hi there," he said, although his expression was a direct contrast to the playfulness of his words.

"Am I dead?" Winnie's joke didn't go over well and Noah's frown deepened. "Where am I?" she asked, trying to recover from her poor attempt at humour.

It looked like they were in someone's bedroom, although there were little tells to hint at whose it was. If Winnie had to guess, she would have said it was Elijah's just by the sheer lack of personality – mirroring Elijah's own bland disposition.

"You fainted," Elijah spoke from the doorway and Winnie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Why am I here?" She gestured to the room.