Someone sighs loudly in annoyance. "I know what I said. But this is too soon, too close. What will the police think? She lives close to the woods!" a guy hisses, anger lacing his words.
"I couldn't help it! It just—happened!" someone else exclaims. This one sounding younger, but just as frustrated.
Again there's a sigh, this one saying 'what am I going to do with you?'
I open my eyes and look around the room. The room had red walls, or maybe they were really, really hot pink, I didn't know. The dark crimson curtains were pulled closed, a faint glow coming from the crake between them. A small dresser at across from the bed I was laying on. The door was closed, a thin crack of light seeping under the door.
I sit up, clutching the blankets to my chest. I was wearing a plain black shirt which was too big for me and no pants. I was relived to find my underwear still on.
I must have looked like a hot mess when they'd found me. I shivered, imagining finding my body torn up, my stomach ripped open. It would have been gruesome. I lift my shirt, expecting to find a bandage wrapping my stomach.
But there's no bandage, only my smooth stomach covered in thin red scars.
I swing my legs over the side of the bed, thinking it odd that I was healed. Had I been in a coma or something for the past few weeks? There was no way I could be healed. I walk to the door, noticing the voices had vanished.
The door creaks open and quickly slam it at seeing a guy walking down the hallway naked. I hear a door open then close after a minute. I reopen the door, relived to find the hallway empty. I step out and look around the brightly lit hall.
One way lead to a dead end and the other lead into what looked like another room. The sound of laughter drifts from the other room, instantly inviting me to go that way. I pad down the hall and towards the sound.
I see a pool table, with a few coloured balls dotting it. Two people were standing around its edge. One was a girl, sandy blond hair falling down her back and the other was a guy, also with blond hair. "Sorry babe, but you're going down," he laughs and taps the white ball with the stick.
"No, no! That's impossible.' The girl groans as the white ball shoots around, hitting two edges then taps a green ball which rolls into a whole.
"Not for me." The guys reply's moving around the table to get another shot but as he does his eyes seem to spot me and he straitens. "Looks like your awake," he comments smiling.
I nod as the girl turns around. She appeared older then I through she would be. Not old, old, with wrinkles. But from the way she had stood somehow made me think 16 or something. But she appeared to be in her early 20's.
"Hey. Let me guess, you're hungry? Come on, I'll get you something to eat," she says motioning down the stairs which branched off the side of the room. Well, it wasn't really a room, just a balcony that was large enough to be a room. I saw what appeared to be a lounge room beneath us.
"Hey? What about our game?" The guy calls, jabbing a stick towards the girl.
"What about it? We both know you're going to win" she grins before leading me down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Oh by the way, my names Carson and the guy kicking my ass up stairs was Sky."
"Irana..." I say awkwardly.
Carson looks at the pantry for a minute before pulling her head back out. "Do you like Mac and Cheese?"
I nod my head, wounding when I should ask what I was doing here, or when I could go home.
Carson dances around the kitchen, grabbing a pot, shrikes as she nearly drops the pot on her foot, nearly drops the packet, then results to pocking things with her spoon as she sways on her feet like she was drunk.
I jump onto the counter as she cooks, seeming to be enjoying herself. Carson glances at me, flashing a warm smile. "Carson...Why am I here?" I'd meant to ask 'why am I here and not at a hospital?' But I didn't know if I could trust my voice for that.
Carson glances back over her shoulder at me. "Um....well that's... Nice timing Bray. Care to tell..." Carson shakes her head "Iana why she's here?"
The guy who'd just walked in, Bray, shakes his head and smirks. "I'm leaving that up to Ash." He laughs walking over to the sink. I frown at them. Who the hell way 'Ash' and why were they making him tell me?. "Nice to meet you though Arana," Bray says filling a glass with water.
Before I can say anything Carson turns on him, eyes narrowed and her look only semi-playful. "Irana," Carson corrects pointing a spoon at him like a weapon.
"My apologies, Irana, it's nice to meet you," he says bowing, and then walks out, not giving me any time to reply.
Carson stares after him for a minute, her lip caught between her teeth.
"Carson, you're going to burn it." I motion towards the pot sitting forgotten on the stove tops.
"Crap!" Carson mutters turning to it.
A few minutes later I've eaten all I can eat and Carson's grabbing my bowl to wash it. "Talk to Ash," she says when I try to protest.
I frown at her. "Where is he?" I ask glancing towards the lounge room.
Carson points towards the door with a sponge, sending a small spray of water over the floor. "He'll come to you," she muses and starts humming song. I watch her for a second, washing the bowls. I had to admit she was really pretty, with warm tanned skin ashy blond hair that seemed to be dead strait with slightly lighter high lights streaking it.
I shake my head and go towards the lounge room, feeling self-conscious.
The sound of people talking, sound of a TV and the tapping of buttons as they were pressed fiercely drifts from the room. I hear guns and small explosions floats from the room, along with people shouting over the game. Intense music played in the background, a fast, rhythm that made you heart chase the sound, like it was trying to stay in time with the music fast pace.
When I walk in I find there's only Bray and two others were playing some war game. Bray was on the armchair, arms crossed over his chest while the other two took up the couch, shoving at each other and laughing. "No! Dude, no! Where on the same team! Come on!" One of the guys says throwing up his hands. "You just killed me! What was that for! I was soon close to winning!" he groans and slouches on the seat.
The other guy laughs, still pressing buttons rapidly on the remote in his hand. "I told you to watch your back!" He smirked instantly watching the screen.
"Yeah, but you didn't say from you!" The first one mutters glaring.
Bray glances at me before turning towards the two guys. "Ash, get your ass off the couch, you got explaining to do."
'Ash' didn't look up, he waves a hand dismissively before returning it to the controller. "Give me minute, I've nearly won."
"Now..." Bray snaps so harshly I nearly flinch.
Ash pauses the game, the guns and screams cutting off in the middle of their loop, plunging the room into an eerie silence. Ash turns to look at Bray. Well, look was a bit too kind of a word. He seemed to be somewhere between a glare and disapproving.
Feeling awkward I hunch my shoulders and look around the room. It had soft white carpet and dark furniture. The walls were deep blue with black trimming around the bottom.
Finally, after a long staring contest Ash stands up. He walks into the other guy's legs making them fall off the blood wood coffee table where they had sat but Ash however seems unfazed.
Ash stopped in front of Bray, looking down at the older man like he was ready to choke him for telling him what to do. I was suddenly afraid they were going to starting throwing punches at each other.
"What's your name?" Ash asks turning his attention towards me. His voice was sexy and deep, his dark hair casting dark shadows over his face. The way he stood made him look dark and tall. He seemed to take up too much space and I was scared if he punched Bray he's break the guys jaw. He seemed to be 60% sexy, and 40% menacing. "Irana," I state watching him walk towards me. He had thick dark brown hair and grey eyes, the kind that seemed to look through you. His skin was sun kissed and suddenly made me feel pale as paper, and his eyes seemed to entrance me in the way that made me forget what was happening, which would explain why the next thing I know he's standing over me, a tall, menacing tower that seemed to take all the air from my lungs. "Well come on," he says frowning at me slightly. "What? Sorry, I blanked out." I confess sheepishly. Ash cocks his head so slightly I'm wasn't even sure he'd moved until he straitens his head. "Outside," before I can say anything he walks towa
"You mean there are more than Carson, Ash, Bray, Sky and you?" I splutter. Christian nods lazily. "Yeah these still Ember, Vic, Ally and Tori," he says still flicking across the channels. I hear a door open and a draft of cold air reaches into the lounge room a second after the laugher and voices. Three girls clutter into the hallway, all semi-naked. I look away. Why was everyone naked all the time?! Even if you're wearing a bra and underwear doesn't mean you can just walk around like it! "Oh, and there's Mikki," Christian says totally unfazed by the nakedness of all three women. "What about me?" Someone asks. I didn't know which, but I wasn't going to cheek. I didn't need to see them naked. Gross. "Just telling Irana about the pack," Christian says glancing towards them. Either, this was a daily occurrence, or he was gay because he didn't seem interest in their bodies at all. "Oh..." Miki didn't sound too happy, instead she seemed a little put out and frosty. "Where's Ember a
"Come on Irana, you can do it!" Tori shout's suddenly. Her and Ally were so close they were like sisters. "Go Miki!" Ally calls without missing a beat and throws her fist into the air. I glance at Mikki. She had golden blond hair and dark brown eyes. She didn't seem to like me that much. But I wasn't sure if that was because she didn't like my personality or if she didn't like that there was a new wolf. Mikki had been changed only two weeks before me, about three weeks ago and she was still trying to learn how to change. All of her changes happened at random, just like mine did. So now, we were standing in snow past our ankles, half naked and shivering. We were told you're more likely to shift when you're cold, so that's why we're shivering our butts off. Mikki took a deep breath and closed her eyes. I felt the air around her shift and my skin prickled. Everyone turned to Mikki. Even I turn to Mikki to see if she'll get it. So far the best we'd done is made our selves feel sick. "I
I closed my eyes briefly, wondering how long it had been since we'd started this fight. It had to be over half an hour ago. Ash still had me pinned in the snow, and I still refused to give up. Everyone had wondered away a while ago. Bray was the only one left, telling me to just submit already also that if we were real wolves I would be dead by now. I pull in another sharp breath and open my eyes. Ash was looking towards the forest. I knew he'd rather be doing something else than wait for me to submit. But that wasn't my problem now was it. Nope, not at all. My problem as that Ash was nearly crushing me under him. All his weight was leaned onto me, pressing me into the snow so I couldn't move, pressing into my neck so I could hardly breathe. My fur was the only thing keeping me warm, oh, and whatever little body hear Ash's body radiated onto me. I wanted to scratch so badly! And not because of flees. I didn't have any....well; none that I was aware of. The snow had started to melt
I sat up strait, my breath catching and my nerves oversensitive. The sound came again, a head slitting howl that made my skin prickle and my breath to catch."Christian! Ember!" Bray shouted, doors slamming. "Ash, get your fucking asses up! Sky, move!" Bray barked and I heard people running around urgently, a thump on the wall, curses and people running scuttling around the halls and rooms.Another howl ripped through the night, making me flinch and throw myself out of bed. I didn't even see the clock as I stumble to the door. The hallway light was on, harsh and bright against my eyes. Bray stood in the hallway, only wearing a pair of sweats. I noticed he too had scars criss-crossing his chest and wondered if it was from him and Ash fighting like Ash and I had last night.Carson tumbled out of the room behind Bray as Sky entered the hallway and tears down the hallway before throwing himself down the stairs. "Irana..." Carson says surprised and stops, looking jittery. "It's nothing to w
I grunt at them and push my face into the pillow. It was too early! It was still night! I draw a deep breath, my ribs pressing into the mattress since I was on my stomach. I let out a small half huff, half groan and pull the pillow closer to my face. Another finger is jabbed into my side, harder. I grunt again and fling my arm lazily at them. "Wake up," Ash mutters jabbing my side. "I'm already away," I mumble into the pillow, remembering what had only happened last night. It already felt like a year ago however. Remembering I'd submitted to Ash made me angry. Why hadn't I pushed through? Why did I have to back down. "Get up," Ash says collapsing onto the bed. The bed dips under his weight, making me half roll into him. I make an unimpressed sound, still cuddling my pillow. My hip pressed into Ash's through the blanket. "Get up!" Ash complains jabbing at my ribs. I grumble some nonsense at him before shifting so my head was stuffed under the pillow. "Go away, the suns not up, so n
I leap a fallen log and keep running, feeling body's pressing into my sides. It felt too crowded, too suffocating. I knew this wasn't the whole pack but it felt like too many, too many body's, too much heat, too much fur. I could hear them panting, their barks, whins, yaps, their feet touching the ground, leaves crunching, sticks snapping. Uncomfortable heat pressed into my sides, too many scents made my head spin and the sunlight which pierced though the tress hurt my eyes. Mikki's shoulder rubbed against my ribs and I shy away, wanting to turn and snarl at her but feared I would trip. My shoulder brushes against Vic's, my tail flicks someone's chest and I'm nearly running into Sky's butt. Someone's paw brushes my back ankle and finally pushed over the edge, I turn to snap at them, fur rising. Christian recoils and skids to a halt in front of Ash who collides with him. The pack comes to startled standstill, bodies pressing into each other. Christian drops his head, ears back and sni
Water flicks onto my wrist and onto the back of my neck. I twist my wrist again, forcing the hair tie over my wet hair. It slides off my finger and holds. I lower my hands and look in the mirror. My hair was pulled into the crap bun, still wet. I wore a thin singlet and pyjama pants. I pull in a deep breath before heading down to the kitchen. Ember was in there alone, toast in hand. She looks up at me as I enter. "So you found your way out of the room. For a while I thought you may have got lost in there. My mistake." I ignore her and open the fridge. Cold air floods around my feet making my stomach clench uncomfortable. Finding nothing appealing in there I close the fridge and turn around only to find Bray standing in the door way. He didn't look as angry as I had expected him to be. Instead he looked calm and collected. And somehow that was worse. I say nothing and open the pantry door. I stare at the pancake mixture. I hadn't had pancakes for ages, I was craving them now. "What