King Vyxen

6.

"How did it go with your Mother?" Olivia finally whispered after an hour of sitting on a wooden bench outside.

Arisa was startled by her sudden question, too focused on her quaint surrounding, she had been absentmindedly wondering why she had felt that odd undercurrent from the place the other day.

Aside from a few men in their early twenties, all in cornrows or buzzcuts walking around, no one else really came outside, the houses all seemed empty, not even a subtle wind to move the curtains that hung by the windows, it was as peaceful as it was lonely.

"Did you have enough time to think about it?"

Arisa hummed, swaying her feet trying to give off a sense of nonchalant.

"I've decided that it doesn't matter, someone told me if I keep my head down I'll get to go home really quickly, something tells me I should trust him" she half-lied, she was very serious about leaving this place and returning to some semblance of normalcy but she definitely was doing it after she learned what that thing was and how to ensure that it never showed up again.

Olivia's eyes seemed to shimmer with tears for a moment before she smiled sadly "that would be for the best but we all know how you are" Olivia muttered "You are the cat that curiosity killed"

"Who would want to stay here anyways" she heard Olivia mutter, Arisa gazed at her, seeing the line of worry marring her forehead "for the most part it's such a sad place"

Arisa frowned, aside from the loneliness and lack of vibrancy that places with human habitation it didn't reek of abandonment like that desolate area they had passed through, everything looked well kept "Why?"

Olivia looked up, a knowing look on her face "You didn't even last a minute"

Arisa rolled her eyes "Are you ready to talk about it?"

Olivia stiffened, her eyes turning to ice before she turned from her "Let's not go there"

"If you don't talk about it now you're going to get really bitchy" Arisa offered up, knowing Olivia's tendency to bottle things up then explode at the most unlikely times.

"Just drop it Arisa" Olivia snapped, Arisa stuttered to a stop.

that was quick

"You have this tendency to push me when i'm already in a bad mood!"

"I'm not pushing you" she fired back "I'm telling you facts about yourself, what's the point of bottling up if you're only going to lash out and cause a scene later?"

"So should I be like you? not thinking before I speak? say whatever I want when I want?, it doesn't work like that here Arisa!"

"I could care less about how what works here, is it some kind of big secret that you can't even tell me? your best friend?"

when Olivia remained tight-lipped and cross Arisa huffed "Fine, whatever, we're big girls we don't need to share everything but I'm not pushy and if you weren't such a bitch you would see that"

As soon as she stormed off, she felt like screaming, Olivia's words about her not thinking before speaking coming back full force.

she shouldn't have said that she knew she shouldn't have said that.

she felt even more agitated than she did pretending she was fine earlier, not only was her Mother treating her like a complete and utter stranger but now she had isolated her one friend and had no idea when Ms. Kang would be back.

she was utterly F'd.

She thought of going back to apologize but knew Olivia would probably just ignore her.

"We shouldn't be out here"

She turned with a jump, Olivia was behind her, eyes weary and arms wrapped around herself.

Arisa blinked "Why are you here?" she didn't mean to sound so deadpan but hadn't they just had an argument?

"I can't leave your side," She said it so seriously that for a moment it reminded Arisa of those men who spoke in clipped tone and bowed whenever Beta Jeremy or the dark-eyed man was around, chills washed over her but she quickly shook them off.

She looked around her, all that she could see of interest was a simple grey brick building with a high roof, and stairs leading to it, nothing too outrageous, why was Olivia so nervous?

"Why's that?" Arisa questioned

"Because I gave the order" both girls turned around wide-eyed, staring at the dark-eyed man who glared at their small forms, his face all hard angles and his body wrapped in a dark blue suit. "Alpha" Olivia bowed, voice quaking a little, the Alpha didn't acknowledge her, just leveled Arisa with an accusing stare.

She shrank into herself only for a moment as his words played through her mind, but straightened when she realized what she was doing.

A few seconds passed and Beta Jeremy joined him, Arisa froze as he too fixed them with a glare, this one directed specifically at Olivia, Arisa walked before her without thinking.

Jeremy was about to say something and from the look that crossed his face it was something harsh and Arisa prepared to fire something equally as harsh back at him if he dared insult her friend but a car pulled up on the gravel entryway and parked right in front of them.
The driver got out and dutifully opened the front door, a foot popped out first, wearing a black business shoe, and soon the owner of the shoes exited and Arisa took a step back when she came face to face with a man made of brick.

He stared at the girls, his eyes hardened watching as the younger girl stared straight into his dark blue orbs, his lips curled eyes darkening dangerously "Arisa" she heard Jeremy's harsh whisper and felt Olivia's painful grip on her shoulder but she couldn't tear her eyes away as something she thought could only happen in movies played out before her eyes.

She heard someone shuffle behind the man whose face was contorting in weird angles but his eyes remained fixated on her, the wildness of a beast blazed in their depths and she knew.

She knew to the very core of her being to look away, to cower but she couldn't tear her eyes from him and just like that, in a blink of an eye a massive five foot wolf stood where the snarling man once was ready to pounce, and as she felt her knees give out, darkness creeping around the edge of her vision, the sound of her heartbeat dulled by her shocked state she saw a flurry of gold tackle the wild chestnut beast to the ground, the sound of snarls and grunts filled the air and that was the last thing she heard before darkness completely surrounded her, sending her into a restless slumber.