Fur vs Skin | on hold

10.

↠C h a p t e r   T e n↞
THE LYCAN LIFE

❝I threw myself to the wolves, only to learn of the tenderness in their howl and the loyalty in their blood.❞

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The conversation between Santha and I implanted itself within my brain like a seed, slowly sprouting with each drop of information that caused its growth. It only fueled my curiosity about this world. I've come to know so much yet so little in a short period of time. There were still small meaningless questions that I wanted to ask, but I decided to keep them to myself to discover on my own.

I let her continue her enthusiasm over Arsen and I's attraction with one another, her utterances of what's to come between him and I slightly amusing me and honestly exciting my being as well.

Ever since then things haven't been the same. Finally knowing what caused this connection between him and me, it was like it only added to the nerves of being around him; the knowledge of what we were made me revert to a shy girl around her crush. Fresh in my mind, I could no longer stand near him without my face lighting up like a Christmas tree of red.

He seemed to know of my odd behavior but was unknown to the knowledge that I had acquired. I tried my best to remain neutral, to not let those accidental contacts of skin between us get to me or the way his lingering stares would burn a delicious imprint on my body— all in all, it was a hard task.

On most days I would be left daydreaming about the possibilities and it only left a part inside of me giddy. Succumbed to my thoughts, I was oblivious of Santha's presence looming behind me until her slender fingers curled upon my shoulder; an unearthly squawk seeped past my lips, as I lurch off the couch in a heap. From the kitchen, Arsen's body becomes alert as he whips around to find the cause of the noise I made, only to find Santha giggling to herself; he relaxes as his gaze skates up and down my form with the twinkling appearance of mirth.

Heat surges from beneath my skin to my cheeks as I hoist myself from the ground with Santha's help.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she states, dusting my arm off for me. "You were so deep in thought that I couldn't get your attention."

"It's okay," I say, pulling strands of hair away from my line of sight while getting my bearings back.

In her eyes, the question revealed itself yet she kept her lips tilted in her regular smile.

"Well, I was saying that Marcus and I were talking a few days ago about you." she begins, stepping away and slowly making her way back to the kitchen. "He was expressing his concern that he forced you to stay indoors and that he didn't want you to feel trapped."

Shaking my head, I can only offer her a smile of reassurance. "It's fine, you aren't at all. I forced this solitude onto myself."

Her eyes flicker up and down my face, searching for something that wasn't there. Those brown eyes seem to reach farther than the ocean that stretched across the world, with its intensity only increasing, I look away to escape the searching effect of her gaze only to find myself trapped in another cage; the capture belonging to none other than Arsen.

My vision blurs away the surrounding objects, only consisting of me and him in the small bubble that encased us, getting lost in the combustion of green, brown and a tinge of grey that resembled the earth: the longer I stared the more I started to see the visual of an extended hand inviting me further into the depths of them.