Howl

Up from Below

"These fucking books took ages to get, Sara. I had to charm this fucking old lady to let me in the damn room. Do you know how sick and wrong that is?" I peered up from my computer to see Ava walking in with a man carrying four very large books. Standing abruptly, I knocked the table several feet away.

"What the hell are you doing, Ava?" The man was in a trance, his eyes glazed over and the small veins turning dark. "How long has he been like this?" I strode over, taking the books from him and pushing him back towards the door. She scoffed and went and sat on the couch.

"It was only a few hours. He was following me anyways, the bastard. And I wasn't going to carry those ancient ass books myself. I've held people longer." Her laugh held a mischievous edge to it, a ball of anger settled in my stomach.

"Ava, this sort of behaviour ends. Now. I will not tolerate us using this kind of power over the humans freely. There are consequences on them-"

She jumped up, "Since when did you become the advocate for the humans?! The Sara I knew hated them for their weakness. She knew she was above them, she loved the control she had. Everything you are, should not be..." prickles of pain crossed me, the change slowly starting. My wolf's anger was constantly at a high, and this made it worse.

"Should not be what? Finish what you have to say before I-"

"You found your mate. And they're human. Again. This change in you happened once before, I remember because you left me. For a human." She stalked towards me, something lingering in her voice that I couldn't place. The emotion in her eyes was unreadable, and I was ready for a fight.

Muscles tensed, I took one step forward and straightened my shoulders. "We were never together." Keeping my stare level, I watched every emotion ranging from anger and hate to disbelief and the same unreadable emotion from earlier. Taking a deep breath, I felt my wolf calm down with my next thought, I had to bring the hammer down. Making her my pack member wasn't going to suffice, not for her. She pushed me to brink of insanity with her constant nagging and belligerent attitude towards me. She was challenging me with all this annoyance. She was seeing if I would actually make a Law with my Alpha status.

Realization struck, "Paint whatever fucking fantasy you like, Ava. I'm not here to indulge in them with you. I asked for a simple task from you and you turn it into a game." Pointing at the man still in a daze, "Do you not know what repercussions come of this?"

"Get off my back, our power, this power we yield before them is great. Why you never use it is beyond any of the packs." She strode over to him and whispered into his ear. Light touched his eyes and he turned and left. His green eyes were bloodshot, the vein around them were still turning black. She turned back to me, tears pooled in her dark grey eyes.

"Did you find your mate?" The pain in her eyes was something I was all too familiar with. That was the emotion earlier as well, I knew it was something I felt, but I didn't connect it to the pain I felt when I lost Tegan before.

Exhaling a breath I had no clue I was holding, I took a small step back. My hands nervously clasped behind my back, "Y-yes. I did."

She let out a sharp laugh, the tears flowing freely now. "If a Law needs to be made between us, do it now." She swept her hair from her shoulder and showed her mark.

My wolf pressed close to the surface, a trail of goosebumps rose where she touched. She wanted to make Ava stay away from us, we belonged to another. But I couldn't do it. There was a part of me that knew we weren't Tegan's just yet. I was making every effort lately to avoid her. Ignoring her put my wolf and I into a weird depression.

It wasn't uncommon for wolves to not get with their mate right away. We also had our problems like humans, we were in another relationship with another wolf, we weren't ready. But most of the time it was because they were humans, and humans in our care died so often we became used to the pain it brought on. But I had spoiled my wolf in the past, letting myself love and be with her. Being away from her was not in question, but I wanted to go into this with more knowledge instead of diving headfirst and losing her again.