Skins & Needles (COMPLETE)

Just Tonight Part 5

Charlotte

"You can't tell me," I muttered to myself as I moved to relock my door and head back to my room. I was pissed off, a little heartbroken, and overall determined as I began making my bed.

"You can't tell me, hmm?" I whipped the covers back to straighten the sheets and frowned as I swept some stray hairs off the pillow Arsen had been laying on.

"Well fine. Dumb Arsen Volkov. Stupid... dog. Or whatever everyone calls you. You don't have to tell me shit! I will... I will..."

I trailed off as I looked at the small pile of hairs in my hand, thinking back to when I had emptied Arsen's vacuum.

"Did you have a dog?" I'd asked. He'd said no, but his vacuum had been full of what looked and smelled like dog hair. Another image flashed in my mind, of Arsen's face going pale when we were watching The Lobster.

"Volkov means 'wolf' in Russian, so you're not too far off there."

Not too far off... Was I closer than I thought?

No.

No way. I had to be insane.

Okay, Charlotte. Let's start from the beginning.

Okay, brain. Thanks for keeping me level. The beginning.

The day I met Arsen, he had been with Adrian, who was getting another wolf tattoo. So what? They really subscribed to the last name thing. That's fine. Nerds.

Then Ryanne had come in.

"Playing with the dogs today, I see," she'd said upon seeing the Volkovs.

"Oh, don't be hissy," was Arsen's response.

Quick search of "Llywelyn" said it meant leader, or lion. That explained Ryanne's tattoo.

Then later, at Solstice, they had referred to Thane and his crew as "snakes."

So, all the circles adhered to the weird animal name thing. That didn't mean... I didn't even want to think it yet.

Alright, moving on.

The only other weird thing I remembered from that night was Kase's comment.

"For one, her scent was all over you when you showed up to the meeting."

Something about the "scent" comment stuck in my mind even then, and it was like an airhorn in my memory now.

I had to keep going.

Arsen lived in the woods. So did all of his family, and from what I gathered, all the other circles as well. At least, they had territory on some of the land outside of Phoenix. That was normal, right? I mean, they had their territories in the city too, like "normal" mafia families. But why did they call themselves circles? I guess I could ask, but I already knew Arsen's response.

"I can't tell you."

Okay, then. They lived in the woods. Big deal.

Next, some of Arsen's family came over for dinner, and it was a cool, fun time until they went for a run. In the middle of the night. And I wasn't invited.

Which wasn't that weird, right?

I recalled that night with a sting, reminded of how I'd felt so alone in that house, cleaning up while Arsen's family went on their run together, and how I had cried while I did dishes, listening to wolves howl in the distance.

Had I ever heard them before that night? I probably had. I mean it was the wilderness. But I couldn't recall another specific time.

I remembered the night Arsen and I had first kissed. A mountain lion had broken into the house, and when I awoke, Arsen had nothing to say on it and was wearing different clothes. Not sure why I hadn't dwelled on the mountain lion thing longer. That shit was wack. I guess I was just concerned with my time at Arsen's getting extended. He'd said it was because I was too close to something...

The next time we kissed, Arsen had left abruptly. Nathan shouted for him to go, and he had gone. But I never heard any cars coming or leaving.

The vacuum thing was next, bringing me back to the present. The hair from my pillow was still in my hand. I examined it carefully. It was dark, like Arsen's, but more coarse. Not quite human.

My hands were shaking.

When I'd been kidnapped, they'd called the Volkov's dogs as well, but backed off in questioning when I'd asked if they were talking about the Volkovs.

They thought I knew, but knew what?

I twisted the hairs between my fingers for a long time.

This was insane.

If my ridiculous line of thinking was in any way correct, then that meant everyone had to be in on this mess.

I remembered one more thing, from Solstice. I'd been talking to Ryanne, and before she even looked toward Arsen, she made a face.

Like she'd smelled something unpleasant.

Like... a wet dog.

Oh, fuck me.

I was losing my mind.

Or maybe I was just putting the pieces together.