Blood Runs Red

Chapter 7 - Anastasia

As I walked through the forest, I couldn't help but smile to the touch of the wind, the only thing that dared to cut through the deadly silence of my side of the forest. I couldn't stop thinking of the nightingales a few nights ago, I couldn't stop thinking of that smile... That precious smile... I rubbed my face unable to believe that those things were even going through my head. He's the alpha's son, I'm the matriarch's daughter. This little adventure would get us both killed. But all of that faded when I saw him, illuminated by the moonlight, sitting against his rock, throwing tiny pebbles at the river. Something was wrong.

"May the moon be upon you, wolfy." I smirked before leaning against my own rock, he looked over at me with a raised eyebrow.

"You know the werewolves formal greeting?"

"I'm a clever girl." I shrugged and he smirked.

"May you have blood, princess." He nodded before throwing another pebble at the river.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He crashed a pebble in his hands "You of all people wouldn't understand."

"Then make me understand." I retorted, the fire in his eyes being enough to keep me stubborn.

He locked eyes with me, a frown glued on his face "Why are you so interested in me? We've only just met, and my past isn't the brightest."

I shrugged nonchalantly and stared at him. "I'm curious." He glared at me and I cursed myself for letting my cold persona come to surface with him around "Sorry, what I meant is, I'm worried." There was silence for a moment, a long moment when his eyes wouldn't meet mine "Wanna talk about it?"

He looked up at me, eyes colder than I had ever seen on him "Know what? Yes, yes I do. Cuz you know what? You were the only outsider that knew that there would be a hunting party this evening." I frowned, but he wouldn't let me even utter a word before he got up and continued "I let it slip, for one second my guard goes down and I tell you and then my whole hunting party dies! Then a mother comes back so that her cub can see her die! All because I let it slip, for one second, that they'd be there!"

"Hey hey. What's said here stays here." I retorted "You know that. What happened?"

He waved his arms around "Oh! You vampires are all the same! You cannot be trusted! Ever!"

I snapped up, the tip of my foot touching the edge of the river "You know nothing of me!"

"Now, that's a lie." The tip of his foot touched the running river as well "I know that you've been sheltered your whole life. I know that you hate having to follow all the expectations and rules set out for you. I know you have suitors coming from all angles just to ask for your hand. I know you want to see all this world has to offer. I know that deep inside that cold royal heart of yours, you want adventure and to experience what it really feels like to be alive."

"Oh!" I interrupted him "Then you also know that if I was truly just in this to screw you over then I would've left by now." he stared blankly at me "Look Angelo, I know I seem self-centered and that I don't care about anyone but myself but in all honesty, I'm afraid. I'm afraid of getting attached to someone and then they end up leaving me. I've had that happen to me once and it ruined everything for me. I'm not letting it happen to me again. I refuse to let myself get hurt. But then we come here and we talk and I know that everything's fine, that it doesn't matter who we are or what side of the war we represent, because here it's just Anastasia and Angelo, so don't come to me about vampires being all the same cuz if that were the case, you wouldn't be here, would you?" he didn't reply "Never mistake me for the Vampire princess. Ever! Caring is terrifying. Admitting you care is even worse, it's a death sentence on this side of the river but here I am, telling you of all people! You who just accused me of betraying your trust!"

He backs away a step, like my words were the punch I never threw, a deep breath making it all the way to my side of the river "Well... Quit while you're ahead..." he let his back slide down a tree until he sat on the floor.

"Why can't you just let someone care about you?" I asked, now an octave lower than before.

"Everybody that cares about me dies. My father learned that through my mother..." he said, as low as a whisper.

My heart ached and I turned my back to him hopping on my rock to push myself to the other side of the water, landing right beside him. His eyes going perfectly round as he saw me standing on his side of the river "What are you---? You can't be---"

I smiled at him "Nobody needs to know, right?" He still looked at me like I'd grown 3 heads as I sat beside him.

"You can't be here though, if someone sees---"

"Nobody comes here besides us." I shrugged "And you seem pretty shook. When I feel down, Yuri usually sits with me so I won't feel alone. That's what I'm doing."

We sat in silence for a moment "If you're found here, you'll get captured."

I glanced over at him with a small smile "Guess it's a good thing that nobody knows we're here, huh?"

He kept staring at me in disbelief until he tried to look at my eyes and had to look away "I'm sorry that I blamed you... It wasn't fair... It's just..." he leaned his head back taking a deep breath in and letting an even deeper breath out.

I looked back at the stars "You don't have to tell me. You are what you keep to yourself, my father used to say." I felt him look at me "The things you tell others, that's what you carve yourself to be before them. What you keep to yourself is what you're left with of yourself..."

I felt him look away, back at the stars "That seems lonely."

"Yeah... But the point is that you're allowed to keep things to yourself." I frowned for a second "It's the only way to survive back on my side of the river, really... You keep it all to yourself, never let anyone in." I looked back at him. Why was he different? Why was it so easy to talk to him? About anything... Why was I sitting beside him? Totally vulnerable, totally at his mercy... Totally calm...

He looked back at me, straight into my eyes "Then what are you doing here? With me...?"

"I don't know..." all I had was being honest, I couldn't look away from him "But I'm not leaving until you do. You don't have to tell me what got you so upset if you don't want to. You can tell me if you prefer. But I'm not leaving until you chose to not be in my presence anymore."

He looked into my eyes for a second more before he leaned his head on my shoulder. I didn't know how to react, I just leaned my head over his and we stayed like that...