Silver Skin

16

A trail of hope
~
Accalia
~

Accalia was up before the sun was, but her eyes squinted from the morning skies of light that peeled through Lycus's room, pooling the area in radiance.

Thoughtlessly, her hand skimmed across the dark green silk, searching for something she could not claim and once smoothness was all she could touch, she retracted her hand to her chest.

There was nothing more she craved. The rough, but gentle caress of his touch. He was rough and callous by the making of his environment. He was impulsive but protective because that was all he knew.

Lycus always could love, it showed in his actions, even if it meant hurting them in the process.

He had hurt his brothers.

His people.

His lover.

Accalia slept in his room every night and after a while, it became hers. She moved all of her belongings out of the other room down the many stretches of hallways and into the master room. It slowly washed him out, his woodsy and earthy scent and the window by his bed in use for him to flee to his forest to be closed at all times.

Breathing heavily and wiping at her swollen eyes, Accalia didn't settle in the sheets and got up before the sun could rise above her.

____

"I don't plan on being gone long," Accalia explained to the Beta as they stalked around the perimeter, nearing the fringe of the border. "Just one night, at most."

Tala waved her off and was all smiles even if her eyes didn't show it. "It's all good, Accalia. I reckon it's important Rexton goes and sees Gabriel."

Accalia nodded in agreement and went back to important matters before she left for the trip. "Cora isn't on duty, right?"

Accalia wouldn't have known. She broke a habit that didn't settle well in the chest, leaving her tense all over. She hadn't stuck by her rule book and didn't bid Cole a visit like she had every previous morning.

Tala's smile immediately faded at Accalia's question and her lip curled into a disdainful growl. "Fortunately. The fucking nerve of that bitch to try and do that — mind you, I'm glad I didn't walk in on it. We should banish her."

The Beta was always swift to bark orders and it was always in the best interest of the pack. Her faith in her territory was why Lycus bestowed the title upon her and it was why Accalia remained grateful to her.

"She would have no one then," Accalia commented solemnly.

"Who cares?"

Accalia smiled ruefully and watched as the pack awoke upon the sun rising over the trees, the liveliness filtering through the pack as a new dawn came.

The young wolves were up first, running across the dirt and seizing the world in their hands as if they could catch it.

Two young she-wolves, younger than teenagers, bounded across the soil at an unnatural speed and when one tripped, the other descended too, skidding across the earth and by Accalia's boots.

Dust picked up around them and Tala coughed, whipping her hand around as her face turned into a scowl.

"Watch it," Tala growled at them and their faces rounded in fear.

Fearful, the two girls picked themselves up to their feet. The dark-skinned girl with long braids straightened up and peered up at Accalia, giving her a hard look that she found endearing.