Bound

Sandra

CLAIRE POV

Far enough from the hustle and bustle of humanity that the only sounds were that of the wind rustling through leaves and the steady heartbeat of the ocean tides, sat a small house nestled into the forest. Forest met sea along a small stretch of beach, with clifft to either side. Circling seagulls and a small figure staring out to sea were the only signs of life in the soft morning light.

The hem of her dress was heavy with sea water, anchoring the billowing magenta mass. Tawny hair flew wild in unrestrained gusts, but she herself did not move.

"Sometimes she stays like that for hours." Tracy, her psychiatrist, joined me on the porch of the rustic cottage lying comfortably in the treeline. She handed me a light blue cotton wraparound dress, which I accepted gratefully as I had flown in, and the breeze rolling in off the open ocean was cold.

"Is she strong enough for a conversation that will disturb her?" I asked, struggling for a moment with the ties as the cold fought with dexterity for control of my fingers.

"She feels shame and confusion around the 'black period' but is the same woman that inspired over a hundred independant wolves to follow her into the unknown." The doctor patted my shoulder and turned to attend the piercing whistle of a tea kettle inside "Even if she doesn't particularly believe it at the moment."

I considered this for a moment before stepping off the porch and letting my tired feet sink into the cool sand. The constantly shifting foundation made the going tough unless you slowed down to consider how to step in just the right way. Sand always shifted in a predictably unpredictable manner. Unlike everyone else in my life.

So it took awhile for me to reach the shoreline, and the difficult conversation that I had been avoiding for quite some time now. The first time I met this wolf she had tried to tear me limb from limb, which had inspired my first shift into wolf form. That fit of brutality had also wrenched an alpha command from a desperate place inside of me, which resulted in my promotion to Alpha of her pack.

Subsequent meetings had been similarly frought.

Yet in the haze of mystery-drug fuelled madness, she never left the pack. Cut herself off from them, yes, but not leave them.

"Seline told me about Alexi." Sandra's lips barely moved as she breathed the words in a toneless whisper. Without enhanced senses I would not have even known she had spoken over the gentle rush of the reaching and retreating tide.

"I need to know the truth of what happened." I stated, glad that Sandra had cut to the heart of one of the issues I flew in to discuss. Small talk designed to build rapport would have fallen into awkward silence, having been borne from an insincere place. Nobody cared about the weather when every previous interaction had resulted in an attempt of grievous bodily harm.

"Don't you trust your mate?" She asked with a sardonic twist to the words that belied the lack of expression hanging from her features. I stood by her side and considered the view. It was shaping up to be a perfect kind of day, one where you can't really tell where the sea ends and the sky begins, so swimming takes on the dreamlike quality of flying.

"I trust him as much as any creature I have known for a bare handful of days. This mating link is really something. I would sooner cut out my heart than hurt the man, but that does not mean that I believe him to be infallible. What happened?"

Sandra looked to her feet, then back up to the endless horizon with the same deadpan expression. But I could feel the roil of emotions twisting deep inside her emotional centre. I could also feel how desperately she was trying to jam them all down. My mind reached across the divide to brush against her consciousness, extending an inquiring tendril. Asking if she would prefer to show than to speak.