09 Daughter of Fury

Rocks Hurt

They threw rocks at me. I remembered. The children in the camp had attacked me when they’d seen how malformed I was with my pale eyes and unsure demeanor.

The other pups had reacted by throwing rocks.

They had clustered together and the way they’d sent a barrage my way, I’d always guessed that it was one of the alpha’s sons that threw the first rock.

Which means either Ajax or Jamie could be my enemy.

One of them might be nice, but the other for sure, was cruel.

I remembered the humiliation, sorrow, and eventually the pain that day had wrought. A swirl of anger built in me. Growing and expanding like a nurtured seed as I looked around me.

I watched the males arguing heatedly until they stopped.

It wasn’t hard to guess which of the alpha’s sons had likely been the one to throw rocks at me.

The same one who is glaring daggers at me now. I suspected.

I shook my head at the two of them and left. Retreating back to the sanctuary of my home.

And my mother.

She was pacing the hut when I walked in the door. She turned to watch me walking in and waited for me to close the door behind me before she said. “Tell me everything.”

***

This was apparently the outside ball.

The alpha had commanded me to attend but I still wished to be anywhere but here.

It’s too much. My eyes scanned nervously side to side.

It was too loud. And the torches burning around the perimeter of the camp were too bright. Their vivid shades hurt my eyes nearly as much as the sun had when I’d first left the hut after regaining my sight.

I squinted and looked away.

There were a group of men already celebrating. Some were beating on wooden barrels and another whistled happily while two others clapped them a beat.

Other pack members were dancing. Laughing merrily as they skipped in circles. Females held their skirts up as they skipped forward then back.

Pack members moved around me. Strolling in every direction as some went to get refreshments and others partook of the food burning on several spits.

I found myself turning to keep everyone in view because I naturally wanted to protect my back. Years of my mother teaching me that any pack member may want to kill me had taught me that I should never let anyone be behind me.

She taught me to hide from them, to stay from view, and always to avoid the pack members.

Standing surrounded by them now was terrifying. All of my instincts were screaming. The hair on my scalp lifted shifting every time the hackles on my inner wolf were raised.

And it felt like all eyes were on me.

I lifted my gaze from all those skipping feet as another female bumped past my back. Making me step forward to avoid contact with her.  

When I did, I met the fierce blue gaze of the huge, dark monster across the camp from me.

The creature that always watched me with that hateful expression. The alpha’s eldest son.

Ajax.

Even now he glared at me. His face written with disapproval. His arms were crossed over that massive, bare, chest. A black bit of corded rope wrapped his neck. A small silver insignia hung from it which depicted his family’s mark.

The Gallions mark.

That bit of silver caught the light, flashing against my eyes. Making me turn them so I only watched him in my peripheral.

He wasn’t blinking and he looked as though he wanted to strangle me. His expression was pure wrath.

I’ve done nothing to him.

I understood that it was likely sheer hatred for the fact that I had been nothing but an outcast a few moons ago. Maybe he even resents that I’m here at all.

I swallowed and tore my gaze away. Seeing the friendly smile of his brother, Jamie, a bit further to my right was a relief compared to that cold, calculated study.

Jamie waved eagerly as he spotted me.

I averted my eyes, ducking my head. I looked furtively to the sides of me and spotted the red haired male that liked to leer at me. He still was not looking above my neck. As if his only interest was my body.

It made my skin crawl.

And to the left, further away, was that dark-haired boy who slowly eased behind a hut as I looked at him. Vanishing into the shadows as if trying to escape my gaze in the same way I yearned to escape that of the alpha’s oldest son.

My heart raced and I twisted my hands into my skirt trying to comfort myself. Don’t be overwhelmed.

Still, telling myself that didn’t make it any less overwhelming. I summoned my mother’s words right before I’d left the hut with the alpha tonight.

These are my pack now. They won’t hurt me. But I felt otherwise. Deep in the core of my body, I felt someone’s hatred.

I tightened my fists until my fingernails bit into my palms. I ducked my head and tried to calm myself. Drawing a few long breaths and exhaling them slowly.

I understood that the others could sense I was afraid and could view it as weakness. That didn’t mean I could just banish it.

I chewed on my cheek and imagined myself somewhere else. Until I felt the telltale alarm of my body beginning to calm. Everything slowed down in me as I imagined myself standing down in the hollow. Waiting for that hand to land in mine.

Just as it always did.

It always worked when I put myself back there, in the hollow. I inhaled and caught the faint odor of moldy yellow leaves coating the ground. And the crisp scent of algae caught in the frothy edges of the nearby water. And further away I could perceive the acrid scent of that cave that they boy had once taken me to.

Though another might’ve found those combined aromas repulsive, to me they brought my world to life. I found potent scents exhilarating.

With my eyes closed and my focus on that former world, I suddenly caught the faint scent of the boy. A familiar smell that filled my flaring nostrils and stirred the wolf deep in my blood.

I liked this smell even more than the familiar smells of dirt and leaves in the hollow.

I kept my eyes closed and remembered that scent in the hollow, and the faint silhouette of the boy’s shadow moving upward. I registered that the smell of the leaves was so strong because he was throwing handfuls at me. They scattered in the air and fell around me like rain.

I imagined his touch on my hand as he turned it palm up atop his.  

I waited trustingly as he trailed a leaf over my hand. Letting the ridge caress along my skin. My fingers instinctively folded over to catch its damp layer between their tips and my palm. I giggled, enjoying the feeling.  

I looked up at him and smiled. Only able to see the shadow of his head in the sunlight. I was unable to make out any distinctive features. No matter how I tried to focus. Not even when I tried to close one eye, then the other. Though I couldn’t see him, I sensed he was smiling.

“Are you laughing at me?” I asked. Humor lingering in my voice because I knew I didn’t have to be afraid when I was with him.

I heard the distant single syllable which let me know he was saying ‘no.’

He caught my shoulder and lowered to a crouch with me. Just in-front of me, he followed my forearms down to the leaves and pushed my hand into the depths of a pile he’d gathered for me to wiggle my fingers in.

They were cool, a little damp, and squishy rather than dry and crinkly like they had been a few days ago.

I looked up at him adoringly because I wanted him to know how much I loved it. As I moved my fingers under the leaves, I felt something odd wiggle back.

Worms? I thought hopefully. Mother had taught me about them but I’d never managed to find one.

He saw me pause and dug through the leaves to lift my hand.

He lifted the worm so it dangled before me.

I couldn’t make out anything but its shadow. But I could tell how it writhed side to side. An involuntary shudder escaped me and I leaned back from it.

The boy was making that distinctive sound that told me he was laughing. He dropped the worm and helped me scoop up some leaves without catching further worms.

We stood together as he helped me throw them in the air and stand beneath them as they poured back down. Raining over us.

I remembered that happy exhilaration and found myself smiling as peace washed over me.

My friend. My mate. I have to find him.

***

I focused on his scent. It was both in the reverie and here in the camp. Which means he’s here somewhere.

Though I didn’t know how to gauge the distance or how to follow it. Those were things that were instinctive for pups to adapt to, but I had never learned them.

“Stop it!” The snapping bark of an angry man had me shifting my eyes open even as he captured my hand and lifted it to inspect it. “What is this!”

I stared guiltily at the small half-moon cuts in my palm.

“You’re bleeding, fool girl. You would do this here?” The dark haired man held my hand up between us as he turned his head to look around in disbelief. “In the middle of all these wolves!”

Ajax had crossed the camp without me even knowing to catch my hand and tell me what a fool I was for digging my nails through my skin.

“What’s wrong?” Jamie walked over.

“She’s hurt herself.” Ajax stepped aside to thrust my hand towards his little brother. As if I was now Jamie’s problem.

I shrank into myself. Embarrassed that I had done something that would be such a big deal.

Jamie gave a dismissive shrug. “No major offense, Ajax.”

“Yes it is! I can smell her across the camp.”

Jamie caught my elbow, pulling me from his brother as he offered me a friendly smile. “Care to dance?”

My brows shot up and I shook my head. “I don’t really...I...I don’t...”

“Just get out there.” Ajax snarled. Giving me a light shove which pushed me into the dancing ring.

I stumbled and nearly fell. Horrified that I was now within that ring. With the angry man behind me. Boreing holes into my back.

Fortunately, Jamie was still holding onto me. Helping me stay on my feet. He shot his brother a quelling look. “Can you not be so sour? For once!”

I sent a panicked glance toward the fringe of tables where I’d been huddled earlier. Yearning crept through me as I thought of getting back to that spot.

The alpha ordered me to mingle with the pack members. I reminded myself. Not wanting his anger landing on my head.

“It’s okay.” Jamie reassured me. Taking my hands slowly. “Ignore him.”

“I…”

“Just dance with me.”

“I don’t know how!” I objected. “That’s what-”

“You don’t have to know how.” Jamie said. Pointing downward. “Just follow my feet. Yours will learn.”

I tried, but I found myself stumbling everywhere. Unable to keep up, I bumped into Jamie. Lacking all coordination that every other wolf possessed.

I wasn’t born with it. I’m still learning. My wolf defended.

This is going horribly. I should just get home! I told myself for the tenth time since the alpha had made me leave the hut.

My head was beginning to ache and it was like trying to think through a fog.