a Primal Pursuit

six

TW; blood from injury/knife

My heart grew weary, tears forming in my eyes at the thought of my sister. "We have to go."

"Tulip..." Asra sighed.

"What?" I huffed. "My sister could be in danger!"

"You don't know that." He crossed his arms.

"Neither do you!" I spat. "I will go my damn self!"

"You shall not!" He rose to his feet.

I scoffed, jumping to my feet to face him. Who did he think he was? Rising so he towered over me, I thought we were equals?

"You cannot control me, Asra. If my sister is missing, I want to know where she is." I glared. "If you had a relationship like this, you would understand!"

"I have a brother, you know."

"Oh yeah, when was the last time you spoke to him?" I cocked my head. "You know he is safe. But with Arabella-I do not know where she is."

He growled, his upper lip curling slightly. "Give me the day, Ailia, and I will look into it. I will shift my entire day around to get some answers."

"Fine." I huffed, throwing my hands in the air. "Please do!"

"Okay, I will!" He snapped back.

"Thank you!" I snapped. "I'm going to work now!"

I stormed away without another thought; the door clicking shut behind me. My fists were tense, anger radiating from my body as I made my way to the kitchen. I was quick to wash my hands and adorn my apron, the other chef eying me instead of greeting me with open arms.

Glancing at the menu for lunch, I busied myself preparing the vegetables to go with the stir-fry. My knife banged against the board with every slice, taking my anger out on the onion and chilli. My mind kept trying to wander, to think of the turmoil my sister could be in. Immense guilt filled me at leaving her to my mother's decisions.

How could I just leave her there?

I'll admit, we didn't have the closest relationship, but Mother was always a thorn between us. She divided us, praising Arabella for her ability to make friends and get an education. I was just a slave, a worker; she wanted the poster daughter, and that was Arabella. Not the girl with the untamed ginger hair and permanent grimace.

"Hey, watch what you're doing there, you might-

The voice in my ear startled me.

"Fuck!" I cursed as the knife went straight through my thumb.

I grimaced at the sight of the blood that pooled from the cut, and Vanessa worried beside me. She apologised profusely for making me jump, and I shook my head at her. I cupped my hand to my stomach, shooting her a concerned look as she panted.

"Oh, god, are you okay? I didn't mean to. Please don't-oh, god, that's a lot of blood." She swallowed, pinching her eyes closed.

My thumb throbbed as I made my way toward the sink. Running the cold tap, I cursed loudly when the stream was too strong and flared up the injury. I could feel my pulse through my skin, watching the water turn red as the cut streamed viciously.

"Ailia?" Vanessa muttered.

"Sorry." I muttered, glancing over my shoulder. "It's fine."

She looked ghastly pale, her eyes wide with worry. I noticed everyone else in the room was watching me warily, the few wolf blooded people cringing as they caught sight of my injury.