The Skin Walker

15 | Not a Monster

"There'll be no rest for the wicked."

No Rest for the Wicked Lykke Li

R U T H

Eyes as silver as the moon stared back at me, their feminine glow holding me captive. Traces of blue streamed like rivers in the woman's eyes, but not nearly as noticeable as the silver. Her pale skin gleamed, as clear as water. I had only taken note of her eyes, and the colour of her long, blonde hair. It almost resembled mine; wild and curly.

"Zoloto," Her mouth moved, and a siren-like voice flowed through. "Straight through the heart, Ruth."

I tilted my head, confused. My hands reached outward to touch her, to make sure she was real. I was dreaming. I had to be. Her presence was too ethereal to be real.

"Do you know what zoloto is?" The woman asked.

"No," I replied, feeling a shift in the air. It was humid now.

"Gold. Straight to the heart."

"Of who?"

"Of your enemy. Pierce gold straight through the heart of your enemy," Her voice became a whisper, fading.

"What's your name?"

My feet were stuck to the ground when I tried to move.

"Who are you?"

Her mouth morphed into a smile.

"You'll wake up now. He needs to know you'll stay," The woman spoke firmly, beginning to turn around.

"Wait-"

A loud knock startled me out of my weird dream, and I sat up instantly. The bedsheets covered me, and I glanced behind me to the sheer curtains. Sunlight beamed through. I slept through the entire night again.

My head snapped to the door when the person behind it knocked again, almost impatiently.

"Yes?" I shouted at whoever woke me up from the dream that gave me chills.

"Ruth, meet me in the living room," Reese's voice boomed back. "We have something."

His words made me shoot out of bed. Within five minutes, I'd freshened up, changed and charged down the stairs. Eager, I found myself walking into the living room with every intention of getting to the bottom of Jerome's schemes.

Only, I stopped in my tracks at the sight of five strangers standing behind Reese and Ander. Rueben was nowhere in sight, as usual. I counted two men and three women, all of whom stopped talking to look at me, and I felt my anxiety weigh me down again. I hated when people stared.

"Some of our most trusted warriors," Reese pointed to them all. "Noelle Cohen, Tiger-Lily Iver, Grant O'Brien and Elias Zhang. Most skilled of our pack."

I nervously gulped as they gave me polite smiles. My lips tipped upward automatically, trying to return it.

"This is Anika," Ander stepped aside to reveal a woman appearing to be of Nigerian descent. Her thick brown curls haloed her head, moving smoothly around her as she stepped forward to grin at me with perfect white teeth. "Zeke's mate."

I nodded at her, at a loss for words. Her tribal tattoos decorated her skin with pride, and I admired Anika's confidence as she held a hand out to me. I shook it. This was Zeke's soulmate, the one his soul was designed for. She was beautiful, and I was glad he had someone so strong. A warrior.