Distinctly Defiant

Chapter 20 ~ Regret

Chapter 20 ~ Regrets

Vivienne huffed as she stared at the dwindling provisions. The food was almost out and they were miles away from civilization. She would need to stop in a nearby town to buy some more food for her. Everett didn't need any since in his wolf state he had no care for human food. Instead he dined on corpses of still warm small animals that he preyed on in the forest.

A howl sounded nearby by but she didn't stir. It was just Everett on his way back from another of his hunts. A twig broke and she turned her head in time to see Everett bound over a fallen rotting log.

Shadow uneasily shifted, his eyes never leaving the nearing wolf. Vivienne made a soothing noise. Shadow would have to get over his instinctual aversion to the predator. Everett wasn't going to leave her side anytime soon and nor did she really want him too. At the very least he was good protection.

Everett made his way to her and sat beside her, his pink tongue lapping at his snout at the wet blood matting the fur. Her fingers bunched in the thick fur at his neck as she stared at the other bloodstains that he couldn't easily get to. What poor creature had died by his hands or rather paws today?

"Can you understand me?" she asked him, staring into his blue eyes. Everett stilled, watching her intently. "If you can, give me a sign," she suggested. Everett cocked his head. She sighed. He didn't understand her. But he must in his own way remember and understand what was going on. For why else would he follow and protect her? "Never mind."

She dropped her hand and picked up her pack and shouldered it before checking over Shadow. She glanced at Everett as she mounted the horse and set the pace at a trot allowing Everett to easily move silently beside them through the forest.

After half a day's ride she dismounted in a clearing and waited for Everett to show up. He had taken to wandering off and every so often popping back to check on her. Finally she saw his white shape appear.

By then she had set up everything and was huddling in a blanket shivering with cold. Everett whined as he came closer; the next thing she knew his warm body was pressed up beside hers lending her the warmth she was lacking.

She ran her hands over his fur smoothing it. "Why are you in this form? Why not change back?" She pointed to him and then to herself. Everett whined. "Change back, I know you can do it." She tried a few other ways of conveying to him through motions what she was trying to tell him but every time he just whined. Perhaps he did understand partially what she was saying but that wasn't the problem here. What if he couldn't change back, ever?

She would have thought that shifting for a werewolf was based on instincts and that one would have no trouble changing into either form. Except what if a born wolf can only do that? What if Everett as a bitten werewolf had no control over it and was waiting for some miracle? What if her weird circumstance affected him since she was the one that turned him? Since she was an anomaly so too would be one that she bit and turned.

She felt tears prick her eyes. Everett might have done some bad things to her but he didn't deserve this, being stuck in a form that wasn't your own to begin with. She felt guilty for causing this to happen even if Everett and his group set everything into motion.

Everett whined and moved closer, his tongue darting out and licking her cheek catching a runaway tear. She touched her face unaware of the fact she was doing it. This here was proof that Everett understood something.

She yawned sleepily and closed her eyes. The heat radiating off of his felt so nice. She fell asleep quickly and slept quite soundly. A feat she never had thought would be possible prior to this night. Up until then she would always wake up occasionally never feeling quite safe outside.