There wasn’t much Braydon didn’t like about waking up the following day. During the night, their position had changed and now he was lying on his back with Miranda curled up alongside him. Her leg was draped over his, while her arm had spread out across his chest with her hand up near his shoulder as she clung to him.
Pins and needles had stopped long ago in Braydon’s arm, leaving only numbness in his limb and a deep throbbing pain in his shoulder. It could ache to the point of falling off for all he cared as he looked down to find her head nestled in the curve of his shoulder. Her breathing was light, even a little raspy and from where he mouth parted slightly the angelic image was ruined by the tiny line of saliva forming in the corner of her lips.
As if sensing being watched, she moaned softly; closing her mouth as she nestled in further against him – not actually waking. Miranda's hand released the curve of his functioning shoulder, sliding down across as his ribs as it tucked in against her own chest. The new location of her hand caused her breast to swell from the unbuttoned opening of her shirt, making other parts of Braydons body start to throb only this time not in pain. It was impossible for Braydon to move his eyes away and maybe Miranda knew this as she wiggled slightly, pressing harder against him.
Her hand went back to rest on his stomach, ruining the view he had found so alluring and also the moment as a snorting snore left her. Settling back into place, Miranda didn’t wake up and with great care and caution, Braydon reached over with his free hand to trace the shape of her jaw. This only made her flinch again, and rather move away from his touch her head tilted upwards slightly, content and comfortable in his embrace.
Braydon took the opportunity to study his sleeping beauty a little closer, identifying each freckle and imperfection as she faced him. The cut on her head was healing nicely; the other scratches and bruises slowly disappearing. She had to be the most beautiful girl in the world, and he couldn’t think of a single person he had previously known that would out shine her.
Carefully he looped some of her golden strands through his fingers, frowning slightly as he thought it had been softer that night he found her. Letting it go, he dared to shift his position unable to ignore the pain any more. Moving his arm, all he really wanted to do was stretch it and instead wiggled his fingers, sending a flurry of pins and needles up through his veins. Slipping lower on the bed, he was now able to rest his head on top of hers and with a content sigh, returned to sleep.
Miranda fought to open her eyelids, hating how they felt much too heavy to complete the task. Her hand felt hot and cramped underneath her and with a yawn, she rolled over onto her back – stretching before rubbing her eyes into an open state. Instead of a scream, she only gasped at the sight of Braydon’s bare chest beside her and looking up, she froze as his mouth was barely millimeters from hers. How did this happen, she wasn’t meant to be cuddling him.
Everything felt too intimate, and slowly she slid her leg off his while praying he didn’t wake up before she could move away. The second her foot reached the cold section of the bed; Miranda hesitated, unable to stop moving back towards Braydon and the warmth his body was providing. It was then she noticed his arm around her back and biting her lip in concentration, slowly lifted his hand from her waist and held his arm up so she could duck underneath it, using it as a divider between their bodies.
He didn’t move, instead lazily scratched at his stomach before rolling over further so now his back was like a wall in front of her. Sighing out of relief Miranda stayed where she was, wondering if she could get up without him stirring, to ingore ignore the idea to simply roll over and go back to sleep. Miranda did not like how comfortable she suddenly found herself around Braydon and so with slow, purposeful movements, she pulled back the blankets and managed to sit up.
Miranda had just stood and was about to step away from the bed when Braydon grabbed her wrist, making her scream and spinning around she managed to send her fist into his nose. Instantly he dropped his hold on her, only rather than run away, Miranda fell to her knees at the side of the bed. Reaching out, she didn’t hesitate to touch his arm as he grabbed his nose, more in shock than pain as all Braydon could think was how he definitely liked the first time he woke up better than this.
“Oh my god! I am so sorry!” Miranda apologized, “is it bleeding? Did I break it?”
“No. It’s fine!” He let go and Miranda dropped her hands to her lap, her eyes growing wide with concern. Braydon was right, it hadn’t done any damage and he made a point of wiggling his nose as he stretched his jaw, before sniffing as if to prove a point. “I’m fine.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just you scared me!” Miranda reached out to cup his face, her thumb lightly rubbing over the red mark that had started to appear on his skin by his nose. “Can you even get hurt, being all shifter-like?”
“Yes, we can be hurt.” Braydon didn’t hide his smile; enjoying her concern he considered pretending it was more painful than it actually was. Instead he put his hand up to cover hers, holding it still on his cheek. Neither moved for a moment and again Miranda found herself too close to Braydon. Blushing she pulled her hand away, getting up and busied herself getting the soap and toothpaste from the table. Her clothes really needed a rinse too and looking around went over to the bed, getting Braydon to stand up. Instead of making it, she pulled off a sheet, surprised to find it had two fitted covers over the old mattress and without saying a word started the walk to the river.
“What are you doing?” Braydon followed eagerly behind, resisting the urge he had now to hold onto her all the time, not just when sleeping.
“Washing. Can you, give me some privacy wolf boy?” She teased, yet she wasn't joking.
“Privacy?” He wasn’t sure what she meant by that and he wasn’t going to leave her alone.
“Yeah. No watching me. Sure you got away with it as Wolfy, but I know your secret now!” Miranda looked back over her shoulder at him, clearly unimpressed.
Braydon couldn’t deny that he was disappointed, but nodded anyway. “Ok.”
“So stay.” Miranda stopped to face him, holding up her hand as if to block him before pointing to a fall tree trunk beside them, “Sit and then stay until I call you!”
“You can’t order me around like, like a dog!” He argued.
“Then don’t act like one! You’re lucky I’m choosing to forget you were being a creepy pervert by hanging around me practically naked, as, well, as your wolf!” She growled straight back.
Something had definitely changed between them now. His anger didn’t frighten her any more, mostly because Miranda knew he wasn’t going to hurt her. In fact, she felt almost at peace about what he was, accepting even. She wanted to freak out more, she wanted to be afraid, but it just wasn’t happening. A shift in power and control had started and Braydon was left speechless as he did as she said, sitting down with a huff.
He definitely liked her better asleep.
Satisfied with his location, Miranda hurried her walk, finding the right spot where there were not only a few rocks in the water, but an overhanging tree branch too. She had no idea if Braydon was going to listen to her demands, so she moved quickly, taking off all her clothes they got washed as best she could and hung out on the branch before welcoming the cold rush of water as she went to bathe.
Already the warmer days were taking away the freezing temperature of the water. It wasn’t warm by any means, but then again she could just be getting used to not having instant hot water. Miranda moved to hide behind one of the rocks, even though Braydon hadn’t made any appearance and the wilderness carried on around her as it always had.
An eagle soared over head, unbothered by the lone creature in the water. Sizing up its target beneath the surface, Miranda watched breathlessly as it dived nearby; a rather nicely sized, slug of a fish in its talons as it headed back up into the sky, over the trees and away to feed. Not for the first time in her life she wondered what it would be like to fly, to literally be as free as a bird. Leaving her daydreams behind, Miranda soaped up her hands, quickly rubbing the bubbles through her rather neglected locks.
While she stood thinking of hair salons, complete with expensive shampoos and head massages, Braydon decided he wasn’t going to be told what to do. He meant it when he said she couldn’t order him around like a dog and the wolf in him agreed. Coming out of the trees, he was expecting her to be in front of where the over used trail emptied out and instantly he panicked. Had that all been a trick so she could try getting away?
Anger, rejection and fear coursed through Braydon, running towards the bank, her scent was easy to find. Looking up stream, he couldn’t see her and running, he hesitated in calling out incase she was nearby – not wanting to give his location away. It wasn’t long before he saw the movement on the tree, the white shirt like a flag to her location and yet Miranda wasn’t there, or so he thought. Movement from a little way out into the middle of the river made him stand still, the wolf powered senses of smell and sound turning on to full strength.
The dome of her head appeared, before a gasping breath broke the otherwise quiet world. The splash of her strokes back towards shore came next and Braydon looked over towards the trees. If he ran back now, she’d see him and he knew he didn’t want to hear what she had to say about him being there. So instead, he dropped down, practically crawling over one of the boulders to hide. That didn’t stop him from peeking over the top of his hiding place, unable to resist the urge to see her in all her naked glory. Thinking of how he had been able touch and hold that figure in the night only worsened the returning ache in his groin and for some reason it felt more right that wrong. Rubbing his eyes he tried to ignore it.
Unaware of Braydons trouble a few meters away, Miranda hesitated as she exited the water. Her eyes scanned the trees, but nothing seemed to move or be out of place. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t alone, and groaning she hurried over to the sheet. One corner had a hole in it, maybe from rats or moths chewing at the cotton and with a grunt of effort, she had the sheet tearing apart. One part was used in an attempt to dry her skin and the other was wrapped around her body to keep some modesty while her clothes and underwear dried.
It was as Miranda turned to hang up the piece of fabric to dry that Braydon took his chances, sprinting over to the tree line and taking refuge amongst the foliage. Taking loud, purposeful steps he didn’t hide his approach as he burst back out of the greenery, and Miranda spun around to glare at him.
“I told you to stay!” She didn’t know where this confidence had come from, but it raised doubts of pushing him too far so he would wolf out and maul her. Previous fears started to reappear, causing her to step back, ducking under the branch as she considered running. Did wolves swim well? All dogs she had known loved the water, but did wolves? Braydon had only splashed around in the shallows, not going deeper than his belly, could she swim her way to safety if he attacked?
“I told you I’m not some lap dog to boss around!” Braydon yelled back, rolling his eyes.
Stopping in front of her, his eyes wandered to the black set of her lingerie dangling in the breeze and Miranda moved forward, clicking her fingers in front of his face to get back his attention.
“They wont fit you, our sizes are a bit different,” she said, not hiding the humor behind her words.
“What?” Braydon mumbled, scratching his head.
“Never mind.”
Miranda didn’t look at him as she fussed about, putting the sheet on the branch a little more securely. With a sigh, he saw the soap by the edge of the water and went over, not worrying as he took off his pants and proceeded to wash himself as her habits rubbed off on him. He would wash himself occasionally, but since he spent the bulk of his time in his wolf skin, it hadn't been an issue.
Hearing him enter the water, Miranda turned, the oh sound making Braydon look back at her as she covered her eyes with her hands. It didn’t help that she got caught up in admiring the muscles that tensed across his back or the athletic shape of his legs. It wasn’t right to feel some, well any attraction to a kidnapper, especially not one that can sprout fur and howl beautiful, sad songs at the moon. Again her thoughts had Miranda slapping her forehead in frustratio. She needed more people around and for more conversation to dilute and distract her mind from developing any kind of feelings for him. Sure Braydon seemed nice enough, but it wasn’t as if they could run off into the sunset for a happily ever after. He wasn’t even human!
Moving over to a soft patch of grass, Miranda tried to focus on other things. Her coffee machine, the brand new pair of unworn designer shoes sitting in the top of her wardrobe, Jason. Miranda became lost in thought, wondering about what her crush, well her boss, was doing. Had he already hired a replacement or did Rory take her place? Did he miss her - mourn for her? How long had she even been away for? The days out here all blurred together, was it days or weeks? Her brain started to hurt to try and remember and the pain of missing home left her head and went into her heart. Holding her stomach, she felt her anxiety grow, home sickness creeping up on her.
The minty whiff of air that caressed her face had Miranda opening her eyes, only find Braydon once again invading her personal space. “What?”
“What are you thinking?” He flopped down beside her, staring up the sky before turning to look at her as he waited for an answer. A comfortable air settled between the pair, more like old friends who were simply hanging out with one another. It was another sensation Miranda didn't want between them.
“I am thinking…” Miranda hesitated, deciding not to tell him about Jason, “about my coffee machine. I could kill for a decent coffee right about now.”
“Yuck, I hate coffee,” Braydon screwed his face up in disgust, “My Dad always used to drink it.”
The mention of his father reminded Miranda about the promise made before bedtime. She knew he died, and Braydon had said he didn’t do it. Sitting up slightly she looked at Braydon as he looked back up at the sky. His jaw was clenched tightly in anger, yet the tiny drop of a tear forming in the corner of his closed eyes told her of his pain.
“Did he? You would have been a kid, and no kid likes coffee. Maybe you’d like it more now that you’re grown up?” Miranda spoke softly, letting Braydon talk rather than try pushing him for answers.
“Maybe, I guess it’s possible?”
“I guess you’d never know unless you tried it!”
Now it was Braydon who sat up, looking at Miranda he smirked. Rather than be annoyed at what she was implying, he actually laughed as he nodded, agreeing with her.
“Good point, come on – lets get you home and get some coffee!”
Miranda wasn’t sure if he was being serious or not and opening her mouth to find out, he laughed again killing the hope that had taken seconds to flare up.
“Jerk!” She cursed.
“Sorry,” Braydon kept laughing, impressed at his joke.
“Well, didn’t you promise me something last night?” Miranda didn’t care if he got defensive now; a deal was a deal.
“Yeah I did.”
Turning serious, Braydon hesitated and daring to look at her the frustration Miranda was holding onto dissolved. All she saw in his eyes was the same sadness she had felt hearing the howl of his wolf, and fear crept over her as she didn’t understand how or why she was so affected by it.
‘Toughen up Andy! He’s making you pity him so you’ll stay!’ She reasoned, trying to stop seeing Braydon as anything more than her captor, though failing miserably. Miranda tried to tell herself she was smarter than this, but she didn’t think Braydon was. He wasn’t a normal twenty something guy, he had issues, he transformed into an animal and he lived in the wild. If she ever got out of this, Miranda had no doubt she was going to be making one psychologist’s bank account very healthy.
“Hungry?” Braydon tried to distract Miranda, already knowing her answer; only it wasn’t the one he got.
“No, I’m fine thank you!”
The look Miranda gave him, made Braydon want to crawl under a rock and swallowing nervously, wasn’t sure where to start. Since she knew what he was, he wouldn’t have to choose his words so carefully, and just as he was about to begin, he was saved by the pack. Their whines and yaps were only getting the louder and so getting up, he starting pacing – buying himself some time.
“Look, you don’t have to tell me if that’s hard to talk about,” Miranda sighed.
Braydon couldn’t believe his luck and just as he went to answer, the wolves came into view.
“Braydon look, they’re back!” Miranda stood up excited, grabbing his arm she pulled him with her as she started to walk in their direction, “it is the same ones right?”
“Yeah, it is!” He didn’t actually look at the wolves, too distracted by the smile on her fact and as she turned to look at him, it didn’t change or disappear.
The day went by much the same as the one before and the smallest pup was once again a permanent fixture at Miranda’s side. By nightfall, this was only getting on Braydon’s nerves. The guarding actions displayed by the pup went by unnoticed by Miranda, until what she thought was playful puppy fighting was directed at Braydon, and clearly she wasn’t playing anymore. Any of the animals who came here met the same growls and dominant display, most ignored it unless they were siblings who then wrestled with her until Miranda broke it up thinking they were getting too rough.
“I don’t think she likes you,” Miranda mused as they sat by the fire. The orange flames seemed to have the pup in a trance while the others lingered nearby, but not as close.
“She wouldn’t, I scare her and she doesn’t want to back down like she should do to the most dominant.” Braydon growled, making eye contact with the pup that did look away, but responded with a growl of her own.
“Don’t scare her!” Miranda forgot she was dealing with a wild animal, scooping up the pup so it was cradled in her lap to rub her belly. All she got in response was a series of licks on her chin.
“What I am scares her, the others just accept my presence. She wants to protect you so I am not only a threat to her, but to what she has claimed as hers.”
“Claimed? She is just friendly and likes to cuddle, don’t you sweet heart? Who is the cutest of all the pups, you are!” Miranda cooed, grabbing the small paws in her hands she wrested with her little protector playfully.
“Yes, because wolves love to cuddle?” Braydon answered sarcastically, glaring at the pup as it looked over at him as if to rub it in. It only made his chest rumble with displeasure as his wolf wanted to be let out and chase her away from what he saw as his, not hers.
“You didn’t seem to have an issue with it? I think you were practically purring the other day when I did this to you!” Proving her point, Miranda turned the pup over so she was standing and rubbed along her back as if she was giving it a massage.
The pup loved it, her lips curling into a rather wolfish grin. As soon as Miranda let her go she jumped back at her human, wanting more and that only made Miranda laugh and Braydon was fuming. “I’m not like them.”
As if sensing the hostility, the black Alpha cautiously approached and instantly that made Miranda nervous. She had a very powerful presence for an animal and Miranda had never experienced anything like it or at least so close. It was like seeing a Tiger at the zoo. Miranda was drawn to stare at the beast, its regal nature and raw power was breathtaking. With no cage or glass barrier between them, Miranda felt way out of her depth.
The pup went straight to its mother, jumping around her muzzle placing quick, little licks all over her chin as she had just been doing to Miranda. Braydon growled again, the warning received by the wolf who only dropped to her belly between the two humans, her pup now climbing all over her instead. The Alpha’s nose wiggled slightly, and with a groan she got up, daring to get closer to the flames to investigate the dinner leftovers.
“So Alpha’s lead the pack and stuff, do you, well did you have an Alpha or a president or something if you live human?” Miranda asked casually, not actually fishing for information – just curious.
Thanks to his own wolf paying her more attention now, Braydon was learning to read Miranda as well as he could the animals around them. Her tone of voice gave the majority of it away and when she thought she was outsmarting him, she never made eye contact. Taking a second to study her, he saw no hidden meaning. Her head titled towards him slightly as she sat back against the tree log completely relaxed. Braydon knew he did owe Miranda some answers to her early questions and so far he had been lucky enough to get out of answering them. Now seemed like the right time to share.
“We do, have Alpha. Our pack set up is a little different to these guys though.”
“Oh? How so?” Miranda was genuinely interested, leaning forward towards Braydon.
“We live in packs, each with their own territory. We are family. If you part of a pack, you live and work together, all to ensure survival and make sure our kind remains secret from humans. Size varies depending on your Alpha’s and how well the pack is doing. Some change if they find a mate or get chased out over disputes, but usually the pack you’re born to is yours for life.”
“So how are you here?” Miranda asked, shifting her position to get closer to Braydon as already the frown on his face had her worried.
“I am the son of an Alpha couple, and well, after my Mum died, my Dad wasn’t the same. The loss of his mate hurt him; it hurt all of us. Three years after her death our pack went from being one of the strongest and most respected to a mess. With no leader, we all suffered for it. My Uncle, the second in command, ended up challenging my Dad for leadership. It was the only way to try and salvage what was left so we would survive in the future.”
While Braydons face was showing only his pain, his voice was laced with venom; enough to keep Miranda from reaching out to try and comfort him. She said nothing, letting him talk at his own pace and it took Braydon a few minutes to gather his thoughts and continue.
“With an Alpha challenge, if the demand for the current one to step down is accepted, that wolf is chased out of town. They literally get five minutes to get out of the territory and if they return, the penalty can be death. If they refuse, it goes to a fight and again death is the penalty.”
“Oh Braydon, how horrible!” Miranda couldn’t hold her silence as her heart broke for the younger Braydon. He had lost his mother, and his father. Clearly he had decided to fight Braydon’s uncle and lost since she knew he was dead. Did Braydon have to watch it all while it happened? Her last thought made her cringe and she took his hand in hers.
“I didn’t expect Dad to fight, though now I look back and it is obvious. He wanted to die. He just couldn’t kill himself. His brother gave him an easy way out of this world, and he could keep his dignity as a fallen Alpha. Back then, the thought never occurred me, I thought he would leave and take me somewhere new. Live on our own; maybe join another pack where he didn’t have the stress of having others relying upon him so much. But he didn’t. He chose to leave me alone, all he cared about was himself and what he wanted! He was my father, my alpha – he isn’t suppose to do that to me!”
Hearing Braydon’s voice break with emotion had Miranda’s wet as his anger gave way to his own tears of frustration and he pulled away from her, hanging his head in his hands as his body trembled with silent sobs as the memory of the rejection and abandonment he had felt that night hit him hard.
Hesitating for a second, Miranda shooed the pup away from her side so she could move to be beside Braydon. Kneeling against him her arm went around his back as she gently rubbed his, and resting her head on his shoulder he barely acknowledged her presence.
Her efforts at comforting him did nothing to help Braydon. He hadn’t spoken about that night since it happened and memories of a life that was returned to him. All the moments with his Mum, the grieving after her death – so different to what he did for his Father. Family holidays, pack meetings and a sense of belonging of home, the good stuff he never wanted to think of ran through his mind like a bad movie.
“Because I was his son, my Uncle feared I would try to reclaim the position from him when I got a certain age. I am an oddity in our community; I shifted for the first time when I was thirteen, not sixteen so now this also made them fear me. Any other time, I would have been taken in by my Uncle as he is my closest living relative, but I was given the same option as my father. Fight and die or run.”
Braydon took a deep breath, and Miranda knew the answer, her voice as shaky as his. “You ran, and ended up here.”
It was hard for Miranda to take in. A thirteen-year-old orphan, chased out by the ones who are meant to love and protect him because he became a wolf before he was supposed to? When he needed this ‘family’ group to be there for him, they turned their backs. No wonder he had issues and referred to others as bad people. It was barbaric, and all this time he had been suffering alone after their abandonment. It didn’t really give him an excuse to do what he was doing to her, holding her hostage out here, but it helped her understand a little better.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you Braydon, I really am! I promise not all people are like that. My parents-“
Braydon stood, not wanting to hear more about her perfect life. He hated the fact she had people looking for her, people that cared. He never did and it was also said to him their race were the more dominant ands superior on this planet, yet it didn’t feel like that now and again he was left confused, hurt and frustrated.
It was childish selfishness that made Braydon speak and his words cut Miranda like a knife. “Your parents what Miranda? They have abandoned you too; your old life is done because no one is looking for you! Even at the crash site, those two men left you to die under that wreck - I just helped you run!”
Miranda’s mouth opened and closed, speechless with his accusations. Sure she had thought over all the reasons for why no one seemed to be looking for her. A body count would have confirmed her to be missing; yet apart from that one helicopter, there had been nothing. Would she have died if she had been left where Braydon found her? If Rory had survived, she didn’t understand how she would have been separated from him so he couldn’t have helped her. Those answers would have to wait for another day and she didn’t want Braydon to be right.
As Braydon looked into her eyes, he saw her doubt, her fear and guilt ate at him making him feel nauseous. The pack began to move out, almost as if they wanted to avoid the situation and Braydon went with them, leaving Miranda silent by the fire struggling to digest everything she had been told – including her own situation.
An hour or so later, she went to bed and the chorus of howls followed her into her slumber. Twisted dreams of running around the forest lost tormented her, as well as bits and pieces of the plane as it fell from the sky. Miranda was in such a deep sleep she didn’t wake as the wolf returned home hours later to the point it was nearly dawn. Exhausted Braydon went to sit by the bed. Her pretty face was wet from tears, and the look of agony made him doubt every decision he had made so far in regards to keeping her with him. There was only one thing left to do – he was going to have to let her go. His run had led him to lower grounds and to his horror, and almost relied, the search party were getting closer.
Had he not gone to check, they would have had surprise guests within a day or two if they kept coming this way and now with his hours numbered, Braydon wasn’t going to waste a second. Carefully he got into bed beside her and rather than wake or move away from him, Miranda subconsciously spread herself over his chest. Her knee fell between his and slowly the frown on her face disappeared to a more relaxed and calm state. Braydon savored the contact, inhaling her scent as the feeling of her body against his was forever imprinted into his mind while the darkness of Miranda's dreams lifted, and her sleep became more restful.
It’s for the best; you know this is the right thing to do.
Yet even his wolf was lacking the same kind of conviction as he had earlier and giving in to the battle of his conscience, Brayden fell asleep listening to Miranda’s deep and steady breaths for what would possibly be their last night together. That alone hurt more than anything that had happened in past, but he had been selfish enough and it was time to let her go.
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Hm, so.... what do you think? Will he end up letting her go or change his mind and keep her?