AvaleaSomething has changed between Aldrich and I. I felt it in that stunned look he gave me when I came out of the privy, and I can feel it now, the minute he walked into the hut.He’s avoiding my gaze and looking in my direction all too much.“Is everything alright?” “Yes. Sure. Why shouldn’t it be?”Why is his voice strangely high-pitched? He is behaving really oddly. “I’ll clean the hare outside. Wouldn’t want to get it all bloody and messy here.”“I can…”He steps out.“... clean it up.”Well, that was interesting. I’ll talk to him later, when he’s ready. Meanwhile, I have a ritual to prepare for. The Blood Ritual demands that one be pure, physically and mentally. I have to cleanse. I wish I could have a real soak in a steaming tub of hot water. Unfortunately, that’s not a luxury we have. But I have my magic. I hug my middle, a huge smile on my face. I have been feeling so invincible in my own power lately. To think I was only restricting myself to what the Council allowed.
AldrichI cannot believe my ears. I cannot believe what I’m about to do next.Walking into the hut and seeing Ava naked–it blew my mind. She is exquisite. I knew she was beautiful, but she is beyond beautiful. She’s ethereal. Her skin is so soft, so delicate underneath my rough hands. I fear merely touching her will leave marks. But I want to mark her, want to make her mine. I want to bite the tender flesh at the junction of her neck and shoulder, right next to her collarbone where I can see her pulse racing. My wolf is dying to be unleashed. He wants to taste her too. He wants her to be ours.I tell him it cannot happen. She can never be truly ours. The huge chasm between us because of the circumstances of our birth can never be overcome.But at this moment, I have her. That has to be enough.I smoothen out the animal-skin rug on the pallet. It is dusty from our adventure last night, and I hesitate to lower Ava on it. She’s a princess, used to all sorts of riches. I wish I could
AvaleaDid Aldrich actually bite me? It hurts, but the pain feels so good. Why does it feel so good? I want more of it, more of him, more of everything. Something tells me he hasn’t even begun to pleasure me yet. Even then, I’m nearly out of my mind. I’m writhing underneath him, craving for him to make me his.He scrapes his teeth over my collarbone again, moving down, down, down. His face is nestled between my breasts. From there, he looks up, his eyes boring into me. I see the wolf inside him so clearly. It sends a fresh thunderbolt of desire right down to my core.The tight nub hidden between the folds of my sex is throbbing in earnest, begging for his touch. But Aldrich is taking his time. I want to urge him to hurry up. Something tells me he will not heed my words.His tongue darts out, circling one pebbled peak. I arch my back, begging for more. When his lips close around my nipple, I cry out his name, my hands pulling his head closer to my breast greedily. With his other hand
AvaleaAnn got away. She is safe.Ann got away. She is safe.I chant this over and over again in my mind as my feet carry me away in a direction they’ve deemed safe. My silk bedroom slippers are no match for the rough forest floor. Sharp pebbles and thorns tear at my feet, just as the low-lying branches are making short work of my nightgown. I’m covered in scrapes and bruises, and my tired legs stumble on a gnarly root that I failed to notice in the darkness. Neither of the two moons have made an appearance tonight. The canopy overhead is so thick that only the barest hint of the brilliant starlight is able to make its way through the gaps. How long I have been running I do not know, but I can still smell the acrid stench of smoke as the fire destroys everything in its path. Or am I smelling the residual smoke clinging to my now ruined-beyond-repair nightgown? I’m not certain. One glance behind me will tell me if I have come far enough, but I cannot look back, nor can I stop my feet
AldrichI gape at the apparition lying on the pallet of hay in my hut, unable, unwilling to believe my eyes. I move closer, making as little noise as I can in order to get a better look. My feet feel heavy, leaden, as I inch forward. If she indeed is who I think she is, it’ll mean a world of trouble for me and the pack. More trouble than we can handle at the moment. First rays of sunlight illuminate the inside of this hut, which is my secret safe place. I come here when it all gets too much, when I need an escape. Nobody is aware of its existence. Well, nobody was, I think with a grimace. I’m now standing only a couple of feet away from her. She’s lying on her side, her face turned away from me. It is her. There’s no mistaking her identity, not with the unique color of her hair. It is tied in a single, disheveled braid and falls down her back. The very end of it sinuously curves around her slender waist. It is silver, and even shines like the metal when polished to perfection. I s
AvaleaWhen the Werewolf leaves, I force myself to rein my tears in. Shame and unease wash over me. I should not have shown him just how much of a wreck I am right now. Werewolves are savages. And after what the Council and Father did just last month, they hate my kind more than ever. What’s to stop him from killing me once he knows how weak I am?I don’t know what caused me to shed tears. Perhaps it was a delayed reaction to the happenings of last night, perhaps it was realizing how well and truly alone I am now, or perhaps it was just relief, knowing this Werewolf isn’t one of those who invaded our palace last night and murdered my father. Ann and I might not have seen the faces of the assassins, but we heard them speak. I know with an unshakable certainty that this Werewolf wasn’t one of the assassins.Or perhaps it was his kindness towards me that caused me to shed tears.Despite my vulnerability, despite knowing I was probably defenseless at that moment, he did nothing to hurt m
AldrichI run through the forest as fast as I can, my powerful legs eating up the floor. The forest serves as a boundary between the city with its civilized, refined residents, and us beasts. Until a month previously, we too lived in the city, albeit on the very fringes, in cheap housing complexes constructed for our ‘benefit’ by the ‘benevolent’ rulers. If only Connor hadn’t…I force the thought to the back of my mind. What’s the use thinking about it now? It’s in the past. All we can now do is make the most of the situation. Not everybody agrees with my views though. Not everyone in my pack wants to make the best of a bad situation. My folks are extremely angry at the injustice of it all. Yes, the Council was within its rights to mete out this harsh punishment, yes the terms of the treaty were violated, but not everything is black and white. The ruling elite often choose to ignore the various shades of gray. I cut through the thinning woods on the edges of the forest and emerge int
AvaleaI don’t know how long I was unconscious, but when I come to, I’m once again staring into the Werewolf’s silver-gray eyes. They’re not glowing this time, thanks to the bright sunlight flooding the hut. I try to sit up, but wince as pain shoots up my leg. I’m still feeling light-headed.The Werewolf is looking at the blood-soaked remains of my nightgown and the pool of blood on the floor with horror. “What the hell!” he exclaims.“My thigh…” He reaches for the hem of my nightgown with hesitant fingers. “Go ahead,” I whisper.He tries to push the fabric up my leg, but it’s stuck to the open wound along with the bit of the fabric from my sleeve I had used to staunch the flow of blood.“I’ll have to cut it away.”I nod, too tired to speak. My eyelids feel heavy, and I feel myself slipping back into unconsciousness. “No!” His sharp cry serves to open my eyes. “Don’t close your eyes. Here, look at me.”The authority in his voice forces me to follow his command. Somewhere in the ba