A/N: Ok, I hope you all like it :) I still have more stored up and I'll try to keep it that way!
And thanks to SlightlyTainted for pressuring me and harassing me via chat! Luv ya :P
Vchi's special snickerdoodles for those who vote and comment!! And they are spectacular!!!
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I sat across from Nails, who I now knew was named Caleb, and was currently undergoing the most awkward situation since I arrived. And it had nothing to do with Caleb.
After leaving Alpha's office Gypsy found me wandering the top floor and helped me settle into her room. I had gotten a good sleep on the free twin bed and woke up early and refreshed. Now I was suffering through beasty bug bites and a breakfast with the pack and the Elders were asking me questions.
If there's one thing I remember my mother telling me, it was to never―ever!― lie to the Elders. They would always catch you and once they did they were like a dog with a bone and wouldn't stop until they found out whatever secret it was you were hiding. Whether it was if you stole a cookie from the jar before dinner or murdered your brother, they would somehow weasel it out of you. I was determined not to let that happen.
They were seated at one end of the table and they questioned my relentlessly about my past. Why was I here? What had happened to my parents? Did I have any relatives? What were my parents' names? I refused to answer for any of them and evaded them. It wasn't skillful at all and I know they were after every little secret inside of me but I wasn't ready to bare my soul to the pack Elders when I wasn't going to be here very long, let alone the entire pack. If they were going to get answers it wasn't going to be in front of thirty other people and during breakfast.
Sure all of these questions and my less than clever evasions gave a sense of tension. The elders dogged inquisition had other people's interests piqued and everyone knew I wasn't being honest. It was their last question however that had me beyond mortified to the point where I could feel my entire face burning all the way to the tips of my ears.
"So I hear you haven't entered your first heat yet, when did your mother first have hers?" one elder asked. My jaw slackened and my plastic gaze was facing their direction. My eyes were so wide I momentarily afraid my prosthetics would fall out.
I spluttered a bit, trying to regain my footing. They couldn't possibly honestly care about when my mother had her first heat. Everyone knew that it wasn't based on parents but on your own chemical composition. The other wolves at the table seemed to bristle as well. The males probably because of what a private and feminine problem it was and the females because they all knew that wasn't the real question the Elder was asking. She was asking if my mother had been alive long enough to give me "The Talk".
After getting over my original mortification I was beyond angry. That was not something they needed to know and they had no right to know either. And I told them just as much. I earned more than a few gasps of shock at my behavior but I continued eating as though I had said nothing wrong.
I felt a kick to my shin and raised my head to Caleb, giving him an annoyed glare.
"You are more than stupid if you think you'll be allowed to stay here after that," he spit out in a whisper.
"They have no right to know when my mother had her first heat and you know it! You think I was disrespectful? They should consider their own behavior!" I shouted in a whisper of my own. I was enraged that these people had so little tact and then had the gall to pin all the appalling behavior on my head.
This time I couldn't eat as though nothing had happened and was stabbing my plate more so than my food. Every time I missed the fleshy eggs I growled lowly and lowered my head a bit more, feeling my face begin to heat up again until I finally gave up and put my fork down with a glare. When people finally began scraping their chairs back I stood and left the table with gusto. I had no idea where I was going but wherever it was, was definitely better than the dining room or kitchen. I needed to be alone for a little bit.
I kept rerunning the conversation with elders in my head. Every time that ball in my throat got bigger and my face muscles clenched. I started walking with my face up to keep whatever tears had been welling in my eyes and I tried to ignore the hole that was opening in my chest. When the voices I could hear dimmed to a mere murmur, I sidled up to a corner and curled my knees under my chin. I wrapped my arms around myself and made myself as small as possible. I tried to keep my thoughts on things like food or puppies but I couldn't keep my mother's face out of my mind. She was always smiling. Her lips would split open and she'd get small crow's feet near her bright eyes, making their dark brown melt into something warmer. The spatter of freckles over the bridge of her nose was a near perfect match to mine and her caramel colored hair would float around her face. She was such a dream. That was the only expression I remembered of hers but every time I thought of it, something twisted. It would change to her last day. Always. I would always remember seeing her in the middle of the street, in a ―
"Are you okay?" Gypsy asked. She startled me out of my thoughts and I couldn't be more grateful. I quickly wiped my cheeks only just noticing the wet tracks.
"I'm fine," I said, willing her to believe me.
"Okay, if you say so."
"I do." I breathed in and noticed another scent besides Gypsy's sweet rosy one. It was richer and smelled like the earth and pine. I inhaled a bit deeper to make sure and listened closely. I heard a slight shuffle and knew we weren't alone. "Who else is here?" I asked.
The footsteps retreated quietly and Gypsy lied and said, "No one."
"And I'm a purple penguin," I glared. "Come on, out with it," I ordered.
She hesitated and I could hear her shifting, probably looking the way the other person had left. "You won't like it."
"I never said I would. I'm just wondering who else had to see that embarrassing display."
It seemed I had cracked her because she sucked in some air before releasing as quickly as she could, as though she was ripping off a band aid, "Calebwastheonewhofoundyouandcametogetme."
"Him?" I checked.
There was silence before, "Oops! Yeah Caleb. Sorry I was nodding."
I nodded at her, slightly surprised he hadn't made a move to humiliate me more. I didn't dwell on it. He was probably one of those guys who became helpless at the sight of tears.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again, putting her hand on my knee.
"Yes I'm sure, see?" I stood up and spin in a little circle. "I'll be around, I'm going to go exploring. I just need to get my cane," I told her and she led me back to our room. I tried hard to memorize the path. In the room I gave Flapjacks a pat in the head before heading back out and down the stairs.
My aim was to find fresh air. I followed my nose for the scent of pine trees which surrounded the area. Of course my nose led me astray and straight into someone's chest. I was so engrossed with my sense of smell I forgot to listen.
I rebounded of his muscular chest and stabilized. "I'm sorry," I said and continued on my way. As I left the man the smell got a bit fainter until I felt a breeze on my skin that carried the smell of the pine trees with it. I smiled and stepped outside into the sun. It was now June and hot outside. Humidity was thick on the air and clung to my skin, making me sweat. I stood still for a bit trying to get a bearing on my surroundings. It sounded like there was a stream to my right, a ways through the trees so I headed that way.
I encountered prickly bushes and roots that I missed with my cane. I slowed when the dirt began smelling damp and was softer underfoot. I stopped and took my shoes off when my cane made a splash. I carefully stepped in to the stream. It was cold and sharp against the heat of the air. It was a bit lighter here with the stream breaking up the canopy of needles overhead.
I waded carefully into the water and decided to ditch my clothes for a swim. I peeled off the slightly sticky articles and threw them onto the bank I had come from, leaving me in my bra and panties. I still had some decency and enough rationale to know that skinny dipping this close to the pack house was not safe.
I considered slowly letting myself further into the water but decided that just letting myself get covered in one go would be better so I braced myself before crouching and belly flopping in the knee deep stream.
I made sure my face got covered before rolling over to float on my back. I kept my arms behind my head in case I floated into a rock. I was drifting slowly and made sure to keep roughly in the same area so I could locate my clothes.
When I got tired of drifting I collected myself and sat against the bank, my body still submerged in the water, only my head and shoulders were above it. It tugged at my long hair and I let it drift with the current. As I played with pebbles at the base of the stream I thought about what I had left behind when I left. I didn't think much about the orphanage, I wasn't there long enough to be missed, but more about what came before that, the family I always wanted. I wasn't so melodramatic to say that everyone I became attached to was taken away. I wasn't so cynical to think it would happen again, especially considering that any ties I made here would be severed by my own hand. But I was still upset. Two brothers, a sister, and two loving sets of parents are what were missing. I would make friends here but I couldn't gain those necessary factors. I didn't want to replace them, I just missed their closeness.
I shook the depressing thoughts from my head but submerging it and shaking my hair out until I needed air. I still felt empty and hollow when I thought of them, like my thoughts were bouncing around inside a big empty shell. I decided not let that bother me and go wildlife searching to see if I could find any crayfish.
After probably an hour of turning over rocks and trying to quickly dash in, in case one was scurrying away, I finally found one and the event was marked with a high-pitched screech and a couple choice curses.
"You bit me! You little jerk! I wasn't even going to try to hurt you I was just trying to say hi! God!" The little thing was still hanging off of my thumb and I pinched its body and pulled it off. I put it in my hand and let it crawl around for a bit before I tossed it gently in the water.
"I see you're just as charming with animals as you are with me," Caleb's voice shot out unnervingly close to my ear. His evident stealth was unsettling. I had freakishly good hearing but somehow I never heard him. I was off my game. Ever since I neared this pack I've been way to lax.
"You both bite, you perv."
"Actually he pinches," he pointed out.
"Same difference, but I'll alter it a little. How's this? You're both annoying," I sneered.
"He didn't seem to annoy you while he was just hanging out in your hand," he pointed out.
"How long have you been here?" I asked, losing my patience with him quickly.
"I don't know, probably since you stripped, nice bod by the way," he said and I could hear the smirk in his voice. Never in my life had I itched so much to punch someone. Not even when Keagan thought it would be funny to hide my contact-like prosthetics when we had guests. And I hit him. Hard.
"You're disgusting," I said with loathing. Stuffing my hands beneath my thighs so I didn't do something I would regret.
"You can't even see me," he said, still smirking. Maybe I should just hit him and shove him in the water. It would be like he fell and his eye landed on a rock. I could work with that. No regret.
Still, I tried to keep this verbal, "No matter how pretty the shell is, it doesn't mean the inside is the same."
"You think I'm pretty?" he mocked.
"No, but you obviously do."
"Trust me babe, you would too," he leaned closer, letting his breath pass my neck. I shivered slightly, and resisted the urge to wipe the trace of it away, hating how my nerves were reacting to the slightest movement now that they were so sensitive.
"You keep telling yourself that. Would you pass me my clothes?" I asked, straining to keep my voice civil and not snarl at him the way my vocal chords were wont to do if I wasn't careful.
I heard movement followed by a small splash next to me and the pressure of wet fabric as it drifted into my leg.
"You… You JERK! WHAT THE HELL YOU ASSHOLE! WHAT THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO WHERE BACK TO THE HOUSE?!" I screamed, fingering the soaked through cloth and standing over him.
"It's okay, they know that girls have a hard time keeping their clothes on around me anyway," he smirked. I swear if I had to hear that smirk in his voice one more time I was going to do more than punch him. I'd give him a serious case of blue balls. You know what screw that; I might as well go for the gold and just cut them off. Blind lady with a knife that I would be, he might "accidentally" get a few misplaced cuts.
Still keeping it verbal though I threw out a comeback that was designed to wipe the smile of his face, "That's just because you're heir to the alpha title. You think those girls would be nearly as persistent if you weren't?" I told him, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Or are you just that naïve?"
I heard a low growl rise from his previously low point on the ground until it was quite a few inches above my head. Well, he was no longer smirking but it still surprised me a bit. Although this was my goal and I was pretty confident I could achieve it, a part of me still thought he would be too inflated to take it personally or seriously. This hair raising and admittedly intimidating response was more than I accounted for. It told me that either I was not the first to broach this subject or he did not take well to being underestimated and his pride was not to be played with.
I don't know what came over me or when I grew the ovaries to do something nearly as stupid as I was about to do. And I knew I shouldn't say what I was about to say, the way I was about to say it, even before I said it and yet I let the words role of the tip of my tongue with a malicious smile, "Sore spot?"
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