The Taint of Wolves

Normality? Restored.

Chapter Eight: Normality? Restored.

"Shit Meg," Lux rubbed her arms worriedly, head ducking as we crossed another street. Our shoes were soaked through and our socks were heavy with rainwater. She twisted around, checking the dimness behind us. "I thought I was going to wet myself."

"That would have been funny." My heart was thundering. I felt only fear on my tongue and I was distracted as I walked, my mind retuning to him as if he had it hooked to him.

"Maybe it would have lightened the mood," Lux shivered, glimpsing up at me uncertainly. Her blonde hair was plastered tight to her skull and her skin was getting mottled and pale. I didn't feel the cold as much, but I had not stopped trembling since I left the apartment.

"Doubtful." He was back. He was back and I was here. Not running. Panicked, broken thoughts whirred in my mind. I could only think of how hard it would be to start over again. How heart-broken I would be to have to leave everything I had earned here behind. Nights sleeping on the streets again. Searching for a job with no qualifications.

No. I wouldn't leave.

I had come too far and worked too hard to get even here. I didn't care if I spent the rest of my days cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors, because it was mine. We climbed the steps into the apartment and I shook my head, shaking droplets of water across the lobby.

"Ms. Carol is finally getting the wiring fixed," Lux pointed to an electrical van parked across the street.

I glanced at the monstrosity of a van briefly. 'Maira & Daughters electrical'. "You'd think that they'd know better than to park there. They'll be clamped in no time. Even in this rain."

Lux and I climbed the stairs to our floor in soggy silence. The hallway was quiet, though I was conscious of the noises pressing against my neighbours' front doors. The static of tv. The murmur of a lover's conversation.

When we neared my door, Lux pivoted on her heel, her chest swelling with a nervous breath. "Why don't you come into my apartment and we can watch movies, eat bad food and forget about what happened tonight."

"Are you sure?" I asked critically. "I wouldn't want to get in your way. Besides, everyone goes out for drinks tonight. Sad that I'm missing it, to be honest."

Lux blinked at me. "And why won't you go?"

"I've made a show of myself." I motioned to my sopping self. "A damned fool of myself."

"You handled yourself very well." Lux got that gleam in her eyes. "I mean, we could sit around all evening and let you stew, or we could be downing the customary 'end of show shots' with everyone else."

The idea was tempting. "People will be staring at me."

"Only until they're too drunk to care."

I eyed her. "Do you want to go?"

She stared right on back. "Only if you want to go."

One last party. If I did have to leave the town, at least I would go in style. Not sulking in my apartment. If a man who held the title of Alpha Supreme wanted to find me, I doubted a lousy wooden door would stop him.

"I should be running. I don't want to be chained up by some brutish male." We were leaving puddles of water in the hall.

"If he did that, he would throw eight years of his own hard work down the drain and would incite a county-wide revolt. His own followers would be disgusted to follow a man who turns against his own ideals." Lux smiled widely. "And if either of us wants to leave, I have two pints of ice-cream in my freezing and a new movie rented."