petrichor [rosalie hale]

xviii. mixed signals

The small black wolf snarled as it spun in a circle, snapping its jaws backwards as it tried to rip off the attacker. It had leeched on to her, and now she was in a battle to get it off before things got worse.

"You know, it would be easier if you just let Emily cut your hair, like Leah."

Kiara snorted in annoyance as she continued to twist and turn, ignoring the voice of Paul as it echoed through her head. The larger wolf let out laughs, noises that would have resembled small barks had Kiara not been able to hear Paul physically laughing through their pack link.

She sighed, knowing he was right but refusing to stoop to cutting her hair. She had spent so long trying to grow it out nicely, and she wasn't in the mood to lose that too after the chaotic few weeks she had just gone through. Sam had told her that if she kept her human hair short, her wold coat would be much more manageable. Leah had tried to convince her to cut it with her, saying that it would help her feel like she was going through more of a fresh start.

To be fully honest, Kiara didn't want to have a fresh start. She didn't want to embrace the wolf life-style, she didn't want to abandon her dreams of going to college, she didn't want to be cursed with the knowledge that her and Rosalie were literally mortal enemies. She wanted her life back - not a new one.

"I'll get it, stand still," Paul told her, nuzzling alongside her and swiping his front paw through her shaggy fur a couple of times to rid her of her attacker: another small broken tree branch that was burying itself into her fur. She thanked him, nuzzling his shoulder with her snout before they continued to walk their patrol route in a comfortable conversation.

Sam had paired her and Paul up for most of their patrols since they had returned from the Canadian border, especially since Leah and Seth had both gone back to school now. She was set to return the next day, something that the entire pack was dreading on her behalf. Since she couldn't get changed back to La Push High, Kiara was about to be the first shapeshifter to have to navigate attending school with the Cullens.

Kiara had caught glimpses of some of them - occasionally she'd smell then spot Emmet and Beverly taking a stroll on the other side of the treaty line when on patrol. Paul often paid them no notice, but Kiara would often pause for a second. If Paul noticed the short flashes of memories that Cullen sightings would give Kiara, he kept it to himself.

There was something ironic about how the one wolf who had hated the Cullens more than anyone had found himself trying to become intolerant to them rather than agitated. He supposed it was for Kiara's benefit, especially with how much time they were spending together with their minds linked.

"Look, I got the tattoo but I draw the line at cutting my hair," Kiara told Paul, the other wolf nudging her shoulder as they walked. He knew that she was stubborn so it had genuinely surprised him when she had gone ahead with getting the tribal tattoo on her shoulder. Truth being said, he was also pretty sure that Sam had instructed the elder that had done it to make it smaller than the rest as it didn't seem to be as obvious as Leah's and the rest of the boys.

Paul hated the way the pack looked at his best friend. He'd always been on the receiving ends of the look they gave her, knowing that he was a ticking time bomb with an awful temper. It turned out Kiara Black had a wolfy temper that matched his, without the years of control under belt that he had. He knew it was making her anxious, to the point that she was actively avoiding spending time with Jacob and her father because she knew there were various arguments brewing under the surface.