The Dark Ages of Wolves

Annoyance

Jade:

I wake up early in the morning. I stand up, stretch, dress, and head upstairs. Chery and Edmund were on kitchen duty, I'm to clean the upstairs. I straighten beds, bookshelves, the jars of soap in the bathroom. My back is beginning to hurt, but it's nothing for me to care about. I walk out of one of the bathrooms, leaving it spotless when I realize there was someone behind me. I look back, further down the hallway were two figures. The figures stand close to each other; lips pressed against the others. One of them notices me and pulls away from the other.

"Hunter, please," I heard a voice, it was Lilly's. Hunter pulls away and begins walking down the hallway towards the stairs. He passed by me without a word or sound, and his head was held so low that his dark brown hair covered his eyes. He disappeared down the stairs. I stand motionless someone throws me back faster than I can blink.

"What the hell?" Lilly growls. I don't dare say a word, let alone breathe. My silence is rewarded with a slap to the face. Lilly stares at me, searching my face for something. What, I don't understand.

"Why is it he acts so weird around you? What is it about you?" Lilly demands to know.

"I don't know," I whisper, and she slaps me across the face again. The impact stings, burning in my cheeks.

"Jade!" I hear a voice cry. A child's footsteps are running this way.

"Morgan, go back to your room," I call out to her. She stops, looking between the two of us and knowing someone's wrong. She backs off, about to run back to her room as I ask.

"I don't think so," Lilly decides. Dragging me behind her, she grabs Morgan.

"Let me go" Morgan pleads

"Let her go!" I demand.

"So daunting, to tell me what to do?" Lilly sneers, "You stay away from us wolves, that includes Hunter," she warns me.

"Ye don't care, just let her go!" I demand. Lilly's face twitches, briefly flashing her disgust in my sudden authority. The moment she lets Morgan go free, and the child takes off running.

"You stay away from Hunter," Lilly demands again. I nod eagerly. I wouldn't want to be around him anyway, so why does she see me so threateningly. Lilly warns me before storming off. I hold still, not daring to move, for a few seconds more, listening to the silence around myself before I pick myself up. I start for the stairs first, but there's Lilly and with Morgan, too.

"Call Morgan down, I decided we're going hunting," Lilly tells her. There's no other way to reach my quarters but heading down these stairs. So, I suck it up and begin with the silent prayer that if I stay quiet, they'll ignore me. I would prefer they ignore me then give me any notice and trouble. It's at the bottom that Hunter steps into the scene, and he notices me immediately. I freeze like a mouse, damning my decision to get up now and not a few seconds earlier or later. Oh, and he stares at me.

"Where are you going, Lilly?" Hunter asks. Lilly stops to respond, "Hunting, why is something wrong?" Lilly asks, blinking at me.

"No, nothing's wrong. How about you come with," Hunter suggests. I retreat a step back.

"No, listen, you said it yourself; you need a little space. So, let's take this opportunity to have a little space between you and me," Lilly states, and she looks dead at me, "You, come along now," she orders. Damn it.

Hunter:

I leave Lilly to go on her hunting trip almost so happy. Yes, I feel warry about Morgan and Jade going with her, but it was only a simple hunting trip and nothing more. Still, I feel worried, especially for Jade's sake. 'I'm just to warry. This must be because she's my mate,' I thought. I took a deep breath, rolled my shoulders back, and feel my muscles slowly begin to relax. Dinner would be served in a few hours. I entered the living room; Chase and Eric were there.

"Good afternoon Hunter," Chase says. I took a seat on the couch,

"good afternoon," I reply.

"Hunter, wouldn't you agree with me that Eric is a wimp?" Chase asks.

"Am not, Chase, you've always been a real wimp. I mean, look at you," Eric says and playfully punches Chase in the shoulder.

"Knock it off you two, I'm siding with Chase," I decide. Eric begins to pout.

"I might agree, that's quite right," Eric mocks Chase's speech, sounding like one of the humans in the wealthy region of the village.

"Jealous, you both wish you both spoke as properly as I," Chase fires back, his head held high, but Eric and I are still muffling our laughter. I heard Suzah call us in for dinner. We hurried in to sit at the dinner table. I saw outside through the windows that it was beginning to snow already. Chery walks in, carrying a tray of roasted deer. The smell of it makes my mouth water. There's another scent calling to me when Jade walks, but she looks.... broken. Her skin seems paler, and her brown eyes have lost their vibrance.

"Excellent work Miss Jade. I must say you've become quite a good servant," Eladia comments Jade looks up once, before looking back down at her own two feet again. She doesn't utter a single word, not a sound, just pure silence.

"Well, mother, I must say though she seems quite plain, a bit too ordinary," I speak up.

"Well, of course, son, she's only human. In-face all humans should be as obedient and as ordinary as Miss Jade is demonstrating," Vincent says.

"You really think so, Father?" I ask.

"Well yes, of course," he says. I begin to eat as well, but I can't enjoy the food like everyone else was. I feel... shame, sadness, but I shouldn't be. Jade's a human, she's our servant. I shouldn't have any feelings of any kind for Jade. Be happy, just be okay. You have an alpha female that wants to be your mate, a loving and loyal family, and useful servants. Perhaps, my decision to ignore her and try to go on was a bad idea. Maybe if I talk to her, I can fix this.

Jade:

I head for the stairs when he approaches me.

"Jade," Hunter calls No one, but us two in the corridor. I made the mistake of taking another hallway, and it is a less-used hallway. Fear courses through every inch of my being. I turn to face him, but I can't bring my eyes to his.

"Jade, pl-please don't be a-afraid of me," he starts stuttering, "Please don't fear me," he repeats himself. He takes a step towards me, and I took a step back.

"I'm not going to hurt you; I'm done hurting you. I don't want to hurt you, so please don't fear me. It hurts me, hurting you," Hunter pleads with. He began walking towards me, but I backed up until my back touched the cold stone wall.

"You said your wolf picked me," I begin, "What does that mean," I demand to know. He just stares, mouth hanging open ajar, and his ears turning red. "I don't understand what you wolves mean by 'your wolf' this and that. You speak like it is a separate part," I explain.

"Something like that. It's a part of us, but also a separate part. It's more primitive, animal, wolf. It crowds in on our sense of logic and reasoning," Hunter explains, "and it- I- I want you," Hunter says, his voice fading. Hunter stops a few feet away. My body trembles, and I desperately want to run. Hunter again steps towards me. He brings up his hand and brushes a few stray hairs out of my face. I tremble with fear and recoils away when his hand came down on my shoulder. I risk looking up at his face. I notice his usually green eyes were now golden yellow, ears pointier, and hair becoming thicker. His eyes widen, and he draws in a sharp intake of air. These are Hunter's eyes, yet also not his eyes. The warm, soft hands are not of Hunter's conscious, but of the unconscious, usually hidden and shy. Hunter gently began to pull me towards him. Hunter doesn't speak as he tries to pull me towards him. My heart is beating so fast it feels as though it might burst. A small whimper escapes my mouth. Hunter draws in a sharp intake of air, his eyes widen, and turn green again. He blinks rapidly and releases me finally. Hunter backs off.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I," he stammers before leaving me in the hallway. He disappears up the stairs. Rather than going downstairs to my cell, I run the opposite direction. I run out of the castle, ignoring the snow and run away from it all.