The Taint of Wolves

The Stars

Chapter Three: The Stars

"You're back!" Sunny cried, launching to her feet as I stepped into view. I flinched at the sudden pitch of her voice, seriously beginning to worry about her exuberance. She had met me only a few hours ago and she seemed happy to see me.

Blood clung to my white clothes and soaked through my shoes and socks. Each step was an obnoxious squelch. I slowed as Sunny approached me, her arms rising. My lips peeled back, a growl rasping in my throat.

"Sunny," Darren stood quickly, his tone sharp. A hand curled on his sister's shoulder, restraining her.

"Sorry," Sunny's cheeks darkened. "I'm a hugger. Mamae always said it was a bad habit to hug people who didn't want it."

Something sharp and bitter knotted in my throat. I couldn't find it in me to spit something at her, because I had been like that once. Bundled in warmth and good intentions. I could have hugged a stranger without worrying about bad intentions. I cried at a fluffy kitten and laughed at stupid jokes.

"You shouldn't be so trusting," I croaked eventually. "I'm helping you now, but don't mistake this for kindness."

Sunny rose onto her toes, seemingly restless. "We heard noises. Terrible, awful screaming and something ...roaring! A beast that doesn't sound like a Lycan."

My gaze shot to the bared windows. I wanted to lie in the snow. "I heard it to. I barely escaped with my life."

Darren cocked his head, drawing Sunny back as he examined me. My lips peeled back as my cheeks warmed. I hated – hated being watched. I spent most of my days being examined, poked and prodded by doctors. Grown men watching how I reacted when they tried to rest the limits of my pain threshold. I may have been a beast but even I felt terror and vulnerability when strapped down, unable to stop the doctors from slicing me open.

"Don't look at me," I hissed at him.

"Sorry," He averted his gaze quickly. "That's one of my bad habits. I see a conundrum and I want to fix it."

"How am I something to be solved?" I ran a finger along the dusty shelves. Some of the books were still intact – only sections of stories meshed together. I had read scraps over the years, imagining that I was anywhere else but here. There had been one intact shelf still left in the Maze and I had enjoyed reading stories of dragons and werewolves and great wars before someone else in the Maze destroyed it. That could have been years ago – time moved strangely in here.

"You're vicious and yet, you're keeping us alive." Darren mused. "Your bark is worse than your bite."

"My bite is far worse than my bark." I didn't turn back to him.

"You kept us alive because of snow." Darren risked a step closer to me. My head whipped to the side and he stopped, raising his hands. "You say you only came to our aid because the doctor gave you something you wanted, but..."

"Snow." I interrupted him. "He told me it was snowing outside."

"It's the dead of winter." Sunny was pacing the room, running her fingers through a section of shining hair that she had draped over her shoulder. Her agitated energy un-nerved me. "Darren and I were attacked during a snow-storm – just snatched as if we weren't trained Lycans. As if we were just little hu..."

I levelled my gaze at her. "Just a little human. Like me?"

Sighing, Sunny paused. "Sorry again. I'm getting nervous and I'm going to continuing babbling until all this nervousness just goes poof." She started pacing again, her tone quickening with her steps. "Just, I heard that beast and it makes me think of all the stories I've heard about what the Ravi are trying to do."