Bound Trilogy: Bound: A Supernatural Story (WLW)

Chapter Ten

Pen heard a ruckus carried through the station that sounded like metal being hit over and over again. She couldn't fight the urge to check on her new friend and to investigate what type of hybrid could be making that much robust noise. There had even been a growl which was yet another oddity. Pen didn't know much about hybrids, yet she knew one thing for sure.

Hybrids didn't growl. Not usually, that is. Not from what her father told her many times, nor from what her aunt had shown her. They were usually docile creatures, lacking any real power, or they were... Feral! What if she's feral?

Judging from her brute strength and overwhelming vitality, Pen couldn't imagine Xenia losing to anyone, yet her heart told her to go to the sounds. If not out of worry, then to satiate her growing curiosity. She decided to follow her instincts. Or at least, she tried to begin making her way there, but felt a hand tugging at her arm.

"Where are you going? Xenia has it under--" Jules began, but Pen needed to go.

"I'm sure she does...but..." Pen trailed off and glanced in the direction of the holding cells. She gently took Jules' hand off of her arm and moved forward. "I need to be in there. I can't explain it, Jules. Just...let me go in there really quickly."

"But... Pen!"

Pen ignored her calls, pulled by some unforeseen force that was slowly tethering her to something or someone just around the corner. As she made her way around it, she was vaguely aware of Jules staying closely behind her and taking her hand, but kept her head forward. A tantalizing scent filled her nostrils and she heard the sound of creaking hinges.

"H-How...is that possible...?" Pen heard Xenia's step-father say and felt Jules' hand trembling within her own.

She gulped and slowly crept toward the next to last cell, hearing someone speaking from down at the end of the hallway, "Hybrids can't shift."

Not the voice, but the hybrid's reaction sent a chill down Pen's spine and she let go of Jules' hand. "Stay here." She whispered as she moved closer toward someone she sensed needed help.

Pen couldn't quite explain it, or make sense of it herself, but her feet carried her there like her one mission in life was to give them a helpful hand. She didn't think Xenia would ever do a thing to the hybrid. In fact, she could scent that while Xenia was somewhat guarded from wherever she stood in the cell, she was also hopeful. Yes, Xenia was definitely hopeful. It was a palpable sensation and gave Pen the power to finish her journey.

When she arrived at the face of the cell, she saw the door was open and the hybrid had her back to her. She was crouched down onto the floor and crying in what appeared to be completely debilitating pain. There was such anguish that Pen wished she could snap her fingers to take and attack its source she could not find. The hybrid's breath steadied ever so slightly and she rose to her full height, which wasn't much taller than Pen herself. Then, she turned around.

Pen shivered when she met the hybrid's face. She couldn't, nor did she want to turn away. Two eyes stared back at her, one green and the other blue, brightly and keenly watching her with the same ferocity Pen found within herself. Nothing about the hybrid really stood out as overly attractive or stunning, but she wasn't unpleasant to look at either, aside from those bewitching eyes. It was more that she was averagely good looking and... Soft.

Despite the agitation Pen scented on the hybrid, the alertness toward her surroundings, she was so soft and inviting toward her and no one else. It enveloped Pen like shelter before a hurricane hit the coast. Like a protective light showing her the way home.

"Pen, don't...don't move." Xenia said from behind the hybrid, but Pen kept her focus on those above average eyes. "Keep with her like that. Her claws are retracting."