Wolfe

6

Chapter 6

"Here, you probably want to get all that dirt off. Bathroom's in there." Jace offered as she handed Marley a small bundle of clothes, the wolf having reluctantly covered herself with a towel when they had returned to the cabin after their hunt. Marley took the offered clothing, a soft noise of discontent leaving her before looking to where Jace was pointing at.

She stared at the bathroom through its open door before looking back at Jace. The human looking back at her with calm light brown eyes.

"I don't know how that stuff works."

"Seriously? Werewolves don't have showers?" Jace questioned, her hands resting loosely on her hips while Marley shook her head.

"We use springs to clean ourselves up." Marley explained, Jace giving a low hum before she headed towards the bathroom. The wolf followed behind, placing her new clothes on the sink counter and watched as Jace sat on the bathtub's rim with her hand reaching for it's nozzles.

A soft noise of intrigue left the werewolf when water began spurting out of the pipe in the tiled wall. She moved closer to the tub and pressed herself against Jace's back as she leaned forward at the waist, her chest resting atop of the human's head.

"Humans are so inventive." Marley hummed as she reached a hand out towards the water and watched as the clear, warm liquid coated her hand and streamed down into the tub.

"Alright, I'll give you some privacy." Jace murmured, Marley taking a step back to let the human rise up from her sitting position. She watched as the human began to walk away, Jace's hand wrapping around the door's knob when Marley spoke up.

"Want to join me?"

Jace stilled, her back stiff, and looked at Marley from over her shoulder. Light brown connected with soft gray before the human let out a huff-like laugh through her nose.

"Funny." Jace chuckled quietly before walking out, closing the door behind her and leaving Marley to tilt her head.

"I wasn't joking..." She murmured, pouting lightly as she stepped into the tub. A soft rumble leaving her as the hot water hit her skin, her muscles immediately beginning to loosen. She moved her face under the water, running her hands through her hair as she took a step back to look at the several bottles in one of the tub's corners.

She reached for a plain white one and opened it, her nostrils twitching in surprise at the soft scent of fresh linen that emanated from it. It reminded her of Jace's scent as she poured the soft-scented liquid on her hand, spreading it around her fingers while an intrigued hum left her throat.

< >

Canis's arms crossed loosely against her chest as she watched the human gut the caribou, both she and Lupus hidden in the tree's foliage. The eldest twin sat cross-legged on a thick branch while Lupus's legs lazily swung about as they hung off the branch.

"She's awful strong for a human." Lupus commented as Jace placed the animal's entrails in a large metallic bucket to the right of her. Canis let out a low grunt in return, watching as Jace lifted the hollow carcass and hooked it onto a couple of meat hooks.

"Her scent is odd."

"Really? I just smell tulips and linen. It's a pretty soft scent for someone so strong to be honest." Lupus murmured as she looked to her twin. Canis nodded in agreement at the words before gesturing with her chin towards the human, The both of them watching as she carefully began to skin the caribou.

"Exactly. You'd think her scent would be stronger. Potent. But it's soft. That ain't weird to you?" Canis explained, Lupus letting out a soft hum before shrugging.

"Human scents and wolf scents are different, Canis. Maybe her scent's all soft to make us underestimate her."

Lupus's legs continued to sway slightly as they continued watching the human. Canis's ears twitched as Jace wiped at her face with the upper part of her long-sleeve, the human having paused in the skinning and simply looked at the nearly-finished carcass. The human's back shifted as she rolled her shoulders and went back to finish up the carcass when her cabin's back door opened, her gaze moving towards it.

Canis and Lupus's ears grew pointed as they focused on their hearing when their baby sister walked out of the cabin. The young wolf was wearing an oversized hoodie whose sleeves went over her hands and black sweatpants, the redhead moving to be beside Jace.

"What'cha doing?" Marley questioned, Jace looking up at her from her crouched position before she gave the carcass a light tap with the knife in her hand. Marley looking at it for only a second before her gaze went back to the blonde and settled into a crouch beside her, her sleeve-covered hands wrapping loosely around her knees.

"Skinning him."

"For?" Marley drawled.

"You." Jace chuckled softly, the werewolf's head tilting slightly at the answer. Canis and Lupus's ears twitched in surprise at the human's words while Marley shuffled a bit closer to the human, Jace's gaze moving to connect with the redhead's.

"Me?"

"You." Jace repeated with a light grin before she looked at the carcass.

"It may have been six years but I still remember how quickly you ate everything you could find in my kitchen. So this big guy is for you. You get nice and fed and I get the knowledge that he didn't go to waste." She explained, tapping the caribou with her knife once more and not watching as Marley's eyes softened.

The wolf moved even closer to the human, nuzzling against the blonde's neck and recieved a light noise of surprise. She continued her nuzzling, it causing Jace to fall on the ground with a soft grunt.

Jace released a low grumble when Marley laid beside her and simply continued her nuzzlement. The human's gloved blood-coated hands hung stiffly in the air to keep any of the blood from dropping onto the wolf, Jace's tongue flicking out to lick her chapped lips when Marley gave the scars on her neck a soft lick.

"Marley, come on. You just showered, you don't want to get all dirty again and I got blood all over my hands." Jace sighed.

"Don't care about a little blood." Marley mumbled against Jace's neck and simply pressed herself tighter against Jace. The human let out another sigh and moved to lay her arms down on the grass. Her eyes roamed over the slowly darkening sky, taking notice of the bright half-moon, before her fingers twitched when Marley licked at her neck once more.

She wasn't getting up anytime soon, that's for sure.