In The Shadows (Re-written)

-FIVE-

No, it was better if it just stayed something between us. If he wore it, that was more than enough to make me happy. I didn't need other people knowing I had made it for him, I just needed Coda to know it.

I looked down at the silver fur coat, smiling softly to myself as I remembered the process it took for me to get it to such a state. I hadn't needed to start from scratch but there had still been a lot of work that went into it. I had needed to cut the pelt into several pieces and stitch them together again to conform them to the shape I'd wanted. I had spent several days glazing the fur, dampening it over and over again and arranging the hair in the direction I wanted until it was finally perfect.

Truthfully, I wasn't sure if Coda would like it. It was different from the style most of our community members wore. I had reversed it essentially, putting the fur on the outside and lining it with a smoke colored tanned deer hide. It was also a lighter coat for spring and autumn. The ground hairs had been stripped and with them the majority of the warmth.

For a moment I was filled with self-consciousness and almost snatched the fur back up. I feared that being rejected would hurt me beyond what I could take. A rejection from Coda would crush me because I felt as though in some small way, he had accepted me.

I exhaled a breath, closing my eyes and withdrawing my hand.

No. This was something for Coda to decide. I would let him make the choice and not take that away from him because I was scared of his answer.

So, giving a firm nod at my finished product, I left it on the kitchen table.

I wasn't able to sleep that night. I tossed and turned, worrying about what Coda would say tomorrow, if he even said anything.

When morning finally came, I sprang out of my bed, hurriedly dressed and sprinted out of the house.

Only, Coda was not waiting for me. I was instantly distraught, feeling the panic rising up within me as my brain, whirling with thoughts faster than I could process them, came up with a thousand and one negative things that could have happened.

Before I could fully immerse myself in my nervous breakdown, a werewolf came up to me. "The beta wants you to meet him at Bird Lake."

Instant relief flooded through me only for my nerves to once again take over.

I was jittery the entire trek to the lake, muttering to myself that everything was going to be fine. Things would be normal and I hadn't made it weird by giving Coda a gift. An apprentice had the right to gift their master, right?

"Except that you're not really his apprentice," I berated myself.

When Bird Lake came into view, I immediately saw Coda, standing with his back to me as he stared out across the thawing lake.

He wasn't wearing the coat I had made for him. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

I carefully picked my way over to the beta like a mouse would creep by a sleeping cat.

I stopped a few paces behind Coda, pulling at my fingers nervously. I didn't say anything because I knew that the beta had heard me approach.

Silence stretched between us and with every passing second the beta opted to not say anything my heart sunk further and further in my chest.

Then the hunter turned to me and my eyes immediately caught on the coat that was in his arms.

My breathing picked up. Damnit, damnit, damnit! This was because of the coat. I knew I shouldn't have left it there.

The male's salt and peppered hair blew lightly in the wind as he stared down at me with hard eyes. His voice wasn't any gentler than the serious look he was pinning me with. "Cleo where did you get this?" He demanded. It wasn't laced with the usual growl that he used when he was losing his patience or actually angry.