Fur vs Skin | ✎

19.

↠C h a p t e r   N i n e t e e n↞
HALF-BREED

❝Only a true wolf will fall in love with the moon.❞

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DYANI'S LINGERING WORDS play through the walls of my skull. The walk back to the cabin was silent as usual, my gaze flitting over the snowy scenery and its atmosphere, my mind far from the reality of the world. Arriving at the cabin was the same cycle, I rushed through the doors to hide away from the coldness the weather brought as it stationed a home within my bones. The fireplace roared with heat, swaying viciously in its signature dance of life, its essence wafting through the air to warm the chill in my body.

Arsen's build towers over mine as he follows me to the living room. Plopping on the cushion of the sofa, I allow myself to relax completely into its cushions, removing my coat from my shoulders and throwing it over the back of the sofa. A heavy sigh slips past my lips, my head sinking back as Arsen settles beside me quietly.

His gaze singes the side of my face, willing me to lock eyes, the apparent question swirling in the dark depths of his irises. I nod to the unspoken question, hoping my eyes portray somewhat the truth. He squinted but didn't egg any further with a follow-up.

Half-breed. The words strike my mind once again, plaguing my thoughts with their existence, craving for the knowledge behind them. Grey spoke the word with such disdain; it felt nothing more than an unsolicited insult. Everyone watched me with the same knowing glint in their eyes, whenever we crossed paths their noses would flare, catching a whiff of my scent; and when they did, their facades were all the same.

The front door closed with a slight thud! as Santha moved to hang her sweater on the coat rack. Marcus locks the door with a heavy sigh, keeping his focus locked on the surface of the door for a beat. Stroking a few loose locks from his face, he turns to follow Santha as they both pad their way to the kitchen. Tension rolled off him in waves, swarming above him like a thunderstorm cloud yearning to burst with its earnest fury.

My mind flickers back to the expression that painted his face as he spoke with the elders, the cause being none other than myself.

Santha clatters with a few pots, setting them on the stove. "Anyone hungry?" She asks, her eyes following Marcus as he sits at the island counter.

"I'll take something," I tell her, reaching for the television remote on the coffee table.

Arsen grunts a reply in agreement before choosing to lay his head in my lap, swinging and curling his body into the couch— curling into my side. A deep purr vibrates through his being, the sound one of satisfaction. I welcome the rush of electricity and tingles that multitude the veins within me, taking them in as a sense of comfort and pleasure washes over me.

My hand drops to his face, loosely removing strands of hair from his forehead, clearing any obstructions from my sight. He was achingly beautiful with a touch of darkness. I distract myself from the elephant in the room by switching the television on and skipping through channels, caressing and admiring Arsen while he lies in my lap; indulging in the bond that sparked between us.

Santha and Marcus's hushed whispers, as she prepares dinner, do no justice to quench the ever-growing rage of anxiety that spirals through me. Half-breed clouds my mind, intertwining with the images of Marcus's brooding expression as he spoke with the elders. My nerves even so much as conjure the false manifestation that the word falls from a mouth or two.