Merida (Age 20)153Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYuk0tPiJg
Present Day
If I'd known my mate would try to kill me, I would've came better prepared.
I grip my torn shirt tightly and stare down a red eyed crazed wolf. Mia or rather her wolf, who's name I didn't get the chance to ask, bares her fangs at my challenge. Melody scratches at the surface trying break free but I know if he does, all of us are screwed.
"Stand down." I order at them both. Please, Melody. You're really not helping me with this.
The obsidian black wolf growls deeply, riled by my order. Okay, it seems she doesn't like being told what to do. I roll my eyes. Go figure.
Dammit. If only I brought her mother with me. Her wolf Patience would know exactly what to do but like an impulsive idiot, I ran off the minute Father discovered her address.
"Mia, please." I beg. But neither of us are standing down any time soon. It seems more certain that with every passing minute a fight will likely ensure.
Her wolf strikes again going for my side but I roll out the way in the nick of time. I push myself up with an abnormal quickness as I scan the living room for any blunt weapon I could use against her.
Surprise surprise, there is none.
My chest tightens at the thought of hurting Mia but the logical side of me shoves the emotion down. Or at least I try to, before Melody digs it up to guilt me as he pushes at the surface once again.
I move out the way as she strikes again. Grabbing her neck, Melody slams into me, forcing my arm to swing out and release her, which results in me throwing her body into the wall like a rock. I drop on all fours as I battle against a raging wolf attempting to get close to it's currently injured mate.
Chill it. You're the one who caused it. The message earns me a painful growl that breaks through the both us causing Mia's trembling wolf to tense falling onto the floor once more as she tries weakly to stand. But it seems like Melody got the message once I no longer felt him trying to break every bone in my body.
I stay on the floor, waiting, watching her wolf fall again and again until it wore itself out.
After ten minutes, Mia laid on the cold floor in her skin side. Balled up and shivering. I pull myself from the floor careful not to turn away from her as I search in the first room I stumble across, which shockingly turns out to be her room.
I focus solely on finding what I need and return to the living room with a thick cover I pulled from her bed.
Wrapping it around her, I bend to pick her up. My wolf's instincts forcing me to get her off the floor and into her bed. We both flinch when she shoots up and backs into the wall trying to get away from me.
I ignore the sharp pain that pierces my chest at the sight of her fear and focus solely on making sure she's alright.
I'm shocked to see that she could even move in her condition. Not just because Melody threw her hard into the wall but also because it typically takes an average wolf at least twenty to thirty minutes to shift back and at least an hour before their good enough to move. An injured wolf would take even longer.
Her eyes are wide as they take me in. Mentally, I wished I hadn't gotten so roughed up so that I could have a better appearance when she first saw me but what was I to do when she suddenly shifted in under five minutes and came at me like a hellhound.
"Mia, how are you feeling? Does anything hurt?"
"How-how did you find me?" Crap. The elephant in the room I guess.
"We found your address. I just-"
"How?" She growled out. Madness coming to the surface once more. I stepped back immediately but was smart enough not to challenge her again. Especially when she's injured.
"Father had the pack trackers verify your location. It took them a long time because you kept moving around."
"Pack what? What's a pack?" Oh god.
"You should eat." My nature comes to the forefront and everything screams at me to take care of her. I ponder at which side of a mating relationship I'm at. The female or the male. "And put some clothes on. Maybe rest for a few."
She regards my words carefully. "I'll shower and eat."
"Maybe rest as well?" I ask.
"No." She says sharply. "Once I finish eating, you'll answer my question."
"Fine," I sigh. "But don't tell me what to do." I tag off lightheartedly.
"Don't be a smartass." She growls as she walks away into her room. My eyes stay on her noting every slight change in her body through the cover. She's changed over the last four years. Her curves more prominent. Her height matches mine. Her hair is now twisted and hangs to the middle of her back, likely a result of her wolf.
Once I hear the shower running, I tie up my hair with scrunchie I found in her living room and invade her kitchen to find something to cook for the both of us.
Thirty minutes and a pot of shrimp pasta later, I examine the set up at her island counter. Two plates, two glasses of lemon water, two silverware sets, and a bowl of pasta in the middle.
I nod with approval at my cooking skills. Eight years of personal lessons with Mom have really made me into a decent chef.
I turn my head as Mia pads her way to the counter and stares at the meal in front of her. She pauses for a moment before sitting down and helping herself to the bowl. I mimic her actions but wait for her to finish before picking up my fork and placing some on my own plate.
However, Melody steps in before I can even lift my fork, ordering me to wait and to watch. I smile to myself.
It seems that Melody wants Mia's approval of my cooking and I have to admit, so do I.
I watch her carefully as she moves the pasta around and my eyes wander a bit. Her thin black tank top provides evidence to the changes that she underwent in the last four years and my mind plays a game of deciding which changes were because of her wolf or time.
I start with the obvious. Her temper-she's always been temperamental at times but the extreme shifts in mood are the wolf's doing. Her long hair- the wolf. Her height- time. Her figure- both time and the wolf. My eyes linger on her chest and I have a hard time deciding. Since we always went shopping together, I know she was a C cup up until she left at sixteen. Now at twenty...
"Are you gonna eat?" My blue eyes meet her brown ones and I'm stunned for a moment before I realize she's eating. Taking that as a sign she likes the food, I dig into my own plate in attempt to hide the blush that rose in my face.
"So," I begin. "What's your question?"
She takes a few more bites before answering. "I have a few actually."
"Shoot."
"Why'd you break down my door?" I nearly choke on the pasta at that question as my mind races back to an hour ago. I stopped short at her door when Melody suddenly took over and ripped the thing off its hinges.
It caught me off guard that Melody would do such a thing until it clicked the minute we saw Mia's wolf.
"Melody lost control. It does that sometimes when I'm not thinking." Not the truth but not a complete lie.
She nods before moving on to her next question. "How did Peter find me?"
Her use of my father's name halts me for a second. I knew she wasn't fond of him, but I guess I didn't realize how deep her hatred ran. "He has connections to the pack out here. They told him. Our trackers verified it."
"What's a pack?" She asks right after I finish.
"Well, that's the reason I'm here. I want to help you learn about it. All of it."
"You broke my door because you wanted to be my teacher."
I broke your door because I discovered that your my mate. I contemplate telling her, but decide to hold off on it for right now.
"No, not exactly. I came here to bring you back."
"I'm not going back."
"That's not what I mean. We don't live at the house anymore. Look Mia, a pack is a group of wolves who stick together. A pack house is.. well the place they live at together. Of course some wolves, especially those with families live separate from the house but still close enough to the pack especially in case the Alpha needs them."
Her eyebrows raise at the word Alpha.
"Alpha is the term for a leader. The one who commands, leads, and protects the pack is called an Alpha. Father--Peter is the Alpha of the Saga Moon pack back in Minnesota. We originally lived in Iowa but members started moving up to there over time and since newly turned wolves were finding us as well, Father thought it was best to move to a bigger location and settle there."
She nods slowly taking in the information. "So what does that have to do with me?"
"We want you back-Mother wants you to come back. Just for a little while. I don't know the full reason but I know she wants to make sure your safe. Please, Mia. Could you come back for a few days? Just until Mother and her wolf are certain. There's also the plus side that you'll get to learn more about the pack first hand."
The mention of Stephanie and her wolf Patience stirs something in Mia. She takes another bite of her second helping before nodding. "Fine, but just for a few days."
My heart leaps out of chest. Finally. I finally got her back even if it's just a few days. If I'm lucky, maybe Mother can find a way to keep her there permanently. Now that that's out the way, I have a question of my own.
"What's your wolf's name?" I inquire.
She stops eating and places her fork down. "What do you mean?"
"Every wolf has a name. Mine's Melody."
"I don't have one."
"Nonsense. When we're first pulled through the shift, the sorceress gives us a name. Do you remember what she said when you first came through?"
Mia's body went rigid as her eyes burned through the table and for a moment her gaze became distant and cold. For a minute, it seemed like only her body and nothing else was sitting at the counter.
"Madness." She breathed after a long moment. "The witch called me Madness."
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