Changing Oneself (Entangled side story)

5, Anger

During the bath, Yenthyr left to go do whatever, but Ieli stayed and started washing me. He started with my hair first, dousing it in soap and scrubbing it using slow, massaging movements. 

"If you're able to talk, I'd like to know your side of the story," Ieli said. I struggled through a swallow and closed my eyes.

"I set out to find a pack, to start off my plan. It took a while, but I found one. It was hurting and dismantled because a disease had killed half of them off, including their Alpha, so I offered to take over and help them. We moved locations, somewhere I had thought was unoccupied by anything other than humans, but I found out a whole city was ruled by vampires, so I was stuck only claiming the land outside of it. And then one evening, after a very long day, a Beta and I were searching for a good coffee joint, and along the way I smelled this incredibly strong vanilla scent, and I was lured by it to this half-library-half-cafe, where I met Vanilla," I murmured. 

Ieli scooped up some water and poured it over my head, then continued to scrub through my hair. I was sure it was fairly oily at that point, because it had been over a week since I'd last had a shower. "And let me guess. You fell in love with him on the spot? Your classic love at first sight?" Ieli said. I thought he'd make fun of me, or say the words in a snide tone, but he sounded genuinely curious and lightly playful.

"Sort of..." I mumbled. "I was surprised, and kind of excited. Here was a lone wolf with a strong scent I could only assume was a silent call for another werewolf, either to help him or to mate with him. And when I saw his vampire collar, I thought his scent was his subconscious way of crying for help. I thought he was imprisoned, a slave. But the more I talked with him, the more I realized that he wanted to be with the vampires, and he didn't want anything to do with me. Apparently, his strong scent was just who he was. An anomaly he had no explanation for."

"I was... convinced, though, that he had been brainwashed to like his vampires and like being a pet, and I became determined to free him. Because he was perfect. He was a submissive werewolf, his beast side was calling out to me, and aside from his Masters, he was alone," I added. "I thought our whole meeting had been fate. Like it was all meant to happen."

"But he told you 'no', and that bruised your ego," Ieli noted. I nodded.

"Yes. It... it pissed me off," I told him honestly. "And that anger only grew each time he said no. Because each time I had asked, we had made more progress, and I thought I was finally getting through to him, or I thought he was finally warming up to me. I couldn't understand why he wouldn't want to come be my Luna."

"Well," Ieli said, pouring more water over my head to rinse the soap from it, "things like that take time to develop. And you weren't exactly attracted to him simply for him. It was for you. You saw someone capable of breeding you pups, and you told him as such. And do you really believe someone wants to be kept as a broodmare, not as a lover? Of course he would tell you no, even despite whatever you two did together, because he knew the end result was always going to be a life of servitude to you. And he was obviously content with his life of servitude to his Masters. And that should say something, shouldn't it?"

I gave it some thought, as Ieli then took out a loofah and soaked it in water and soap, and began calmly scrubbing my body. I guessed he had a point. It was unheard of for a pet to actually enjoy being a pet, to choose pet life over anything else, mostly because of the reputation vampires had. Most pets were forced into it. It was why I thought Vanilla was so brainwashed. I thought his vampires had messed with his head, using hypnotism or putting something in his collar. But after Ieli had shed light on the fact that vampires couldn't brainwash their pets, I finally realized that Vanilla's feelings towards his Masters were real. And that probably meant that they took good care of him, so much so that he didn't want to leave. Not even to be with other werewolves.