Fur vs Skin | on hold

6.

↠C h a p t e r S i x↞
MAKING ENEMIES

❝You don't need to throw me to the wolves; they come whenever I call.❞

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        I scramble from my seat on the sofa, nearly tripping over my own feet as I quickly shuffle away from the window, the eyes following my movements. The irises dilate to tiny specs of black.

"Amelia!"

Santha's voice sounds from behind me as she moves away from the kitchen and towards me, my breaths come out in short pants with the sound of my blood rushing through my veins. Those eyes hold me in place, the fear within me spreading down the length of my spine, they stare through me and feed on the terror that's coming off my being — it brings me back to the incident that took place in the comfort of my home, where I lost my mother.

The sudden sound of a door slamming open and thudding against the wall causes me to jump and look to the side in time to see Arsen hop from the top of the steps all the way to the bottom; his face was half shifted, what was once his nose now in place of a snout, patches of hair covering the skin of his face. Small specs of his canines peek from his mouth, snarling with dangerous intent.

He was in front of me within a second, his large frame blocking my view of the orbs that glowed from outside the window, he was so close to me that I could feel the heat his body produced and see the small tremors that shook his form. His warmth wrapped around me like a protective blanket dispersing the fear and terror that took control of my body — an animalistic growl vibrated the particles in the air, shuttering against my own chest.

I stare at his back in shock, his stance rolling with aggression, the muscles within his back contracting as if he was holding back from jumping through the glass. The feel of a hand on my elbow brings my attention away from Arsen to see Santha standing beside me with a serious expression.

"Calm down Arsen, it's just Grey," she says, her voice soothing.

He only growls in return, the trembling in his body increasing in intensity. Santha quickly glances at me, giving me a look, I frown at her when she turns her eyes away to glance at the window.

"Come inside," she orders to the eyes that flicker to her, she doesn't look away as the eyes stare intensely at her before they flick back toward me.

I tense, Arsen's growling grows in volume his arm shooting back to push me further back and out of sight. My mouth opens in a silent gasp at the small sparks that erupt at the slightest brush of our skins; soon the yellow eyes were gone from the window. Santha sighs from beside me and moves around us.

"I didn't expect visitors so soon," she mumbles to herself.

I step away from Arsen and move all the way to the other side of the room, breathless and avoiding his gaze as I swallow the lump in my throat: my nerves still buzzing from his touch. I can feel his eyes on me when I turn to look at Santha who seemed to be in deep thought.

"Who was that?" I ask, watching as she blinks and shifts her focus to me.

"That was one of our people," she answers, scratching at her nape. "I specifically told them all to avoid this area."

I sneak a quick glance behind me, Arsen standing near the sofa with a thoughtful expression as he looked at me with pursed lips. I stand momentarily stricken at the sight of emotion on his face, and at that moment there was a knock at the door that caused his expression to fall away, his focus snapping to the door. Santha moves toward the structure and as her hand hovers over the knob, she looks over her shoulder at Arsen.