Bite Me.

Chapter 10

        I'm gonna keep this short. This chapter moves very quickly between Avery's and Rick's POVs so just pay a little more attention. And for this special chapter I have put off to the side a picture and the song Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift and Civil Wars. I love this song! Please comment cause a LOT is about to happen...

please enjoy

Avery's POV

The first snow of the season.

White, fat, fluffy flakes falling lazily through the air from the soft gray sky above.

I have always enjoyed the snow. Each individual flake is different. Unique. I used to, and still do sometimes, spend hours staring up into the sky trying to see each beautiful unique pattern. I would wear black clothes just so I could study them. For hours on end I would sit outside until I was piled with snow, my nose and cheeks would be tinged pink, and the light would have long ago faded, then and only then would I make the trek home to the Pack house.

But this wasn't today.

Today I lay, sullenly, under a tall evergreen. The sky had slowly turned a dark, foggy grey over the hours I had lain there, immobile. Not even paying attention as the fat flakes collected on my crossed fore paws. I don't know how long I had been laying under this tree. Honestly I didn't even know where I was. It just had simply been so long since I had allowed myself to shift that my body seemed to ache in need for the freedom the shift would allow.

...and maybe it would help me forget...

But even after I discarded my clothes and ran deep into the light snowfall the ache did not stop. It remained deep inside my chest. Like cement had been poured into my heart and now grew hard and cold. My limbs felt heavy and my brain was fogged. After running for the gods know how long I had simply collapsed under the first tree I saw and have stayed here since.

The soft snowfall had slowly over the hours piled upon my snout and shoulders. The large fan-like branches above helped to keep most of the snow away but around the edges snow fell through.

But I did not care. For I was numb. Not from the cold, but from something deep inside of me. For the second time in my entire life I felt alone.

I had always preferred my privacy and liked to spend hours alone. But never once living with the pack or afterwards had I felt the icy claws of emptiness such as I felt now. They burned as they dug deep into my soul and I wished only to cry out for it to stop. But no matter how much I cried or begged this loneliness did not leave. And although I wished to leave its source unknown, a piece of me knew...

Rick Kodiak.

After I had shut the door on him THAT day it had seemed as if he had taken a piece of me with him. I had lain there crying in pain until suddenly I had arisen and raced down the hallways yelling for Rick.

How hypocritical of me to slam the door in his face only to run after him minutes later? But by the time I had left my sanctuary... he was already gone. Leaving behind this emptiness within me.

I don't know if I forgive him, for I don't know if I blame him.

Everything happened so fast that day. So fast I could not fully comprehend it all. But when I found myself at my cabin, alone. I reflected. I thought of everything. Not as bits and pieces but as a whole. From the first moment I laid eyes on those warm honey orbs to the moment he looked up at me from the floor of my office with confusion and hurt.

The tingles.

The warmth.

The emotions.