Wolfe

15

Chapter 15

Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama. Your works were an inspiration to many and will continue to inspire more and more. May your successor continue to make you proud.

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"I'm not wearing clothes, Marley. I don't give a damn if it makes that human of yours uncomfortable. " Rigel spoke with each word possessing the underlying rumble of a growl, her arms crossed over her chest as Marley and she glared at each other. Marley let out a low growl of her own, Rigel's lips twitched as she struggled to hold back her sneer when Jace entered the kitchen.

"It's fine, Marley. Nudity's the least of my concern right now." Jace spoke, moving towards the dining table and sitting on the chair that was opposite of Rigel's. Her sleeved forearms rested against the table's oak top with her hands loosely curled into fists while Marley moved to be beside her human (half-human now?). She sat crouched on the chair and ran a gentle hand over Jace's left forearm, feeling the tensed muscles beneath that soft tanned skin, before moving it back to rest on top of her knee.

"My grandmother wasn't a werewolf."

"I beg to differ, pup." Rigel murmured lowly, her right hand's fingers drumming lightly against her left arm's bicep. Those mismatched eyes watched as Jace's brow furrowed as her own gaze seemed to roam randomly over the simplistic dining table that was between them, the human's fists clenched in an irregular rhythm.

"H-how is that possible? How could she have not-...Why didn't she shift then when..." Jace muttered quietly to herself, Rigel's chin tilting up a bit at the human's words before she continued.

"Our wolves, our spirits- are linked to the wild, the forest. Lady Moon and Mother Nature blessed us with our abilities and to ignore them, to basically turn away from them is like taunting the two to take them back." She explained, Jace's eyes flickering to look at her through her lashes as her tongue poking out slightly to wet her lips. Marley shuffled a bit closer towards the blonde when Jace's scent slowly became sour as distress and confusion covered the usually soft and gentle linen. Rigel remained as she was, smothering the irritated growl that rose up in her throat.

Wolfe's blood or not, Rigel wouldn't comfort a human. But she wouldn't anger her niece.

"S-So...So my grandmother's wolf, h-her spirit, was taken away? That's why she couldn't shift anymore?"

"Not her spirit. Lady Moon and Mother Nature can't take our wolves, they are as much a part of us as a limb or our organs are. They can however make us weaker, softer. That's probably what happened to Wolfe. She stayed away from the wild too long and thus her spirit grew dormant, weak. Human." Rigel finished, her arms uncrossing in order for her to lay her hands flat on the table.

"Canis and Lupus said you smelled soft. But they're still young, their noses still wet. I, however, led four pack generations before I gave Argo my place and my nose can't be tricked like a wet pup's. And you absolutely reek of it."

"Of what?"

"The same strength your grandmother possessed. The skill. Your wolf. Don't let it become any more weaker than it already has." Rigel finished, her mismatched gaze watching as Marley rested a hand atop one of Jace's. The human's hand was curled into a fist with it seeming to clench weakly before her fingers unfurled in order to let Marley interlock them with hers. A near inaudible rumble left the older wolf before she rose up from her chair, Jace and Marley's eyes both flickering down to Rigel's scarred hands when her claws had extended for a second before retracting.

"You carry Wolfe's blood so I know my niece and even that little runt are in good hands. Argo will take my word when I tell him to stop hovering." She told them as she made her way to the kitchen's back door, her hand wrapped around the handle before she spoke once more. Her voice while as firm as earlier was quieter, nearly a whisper in how quiet her next words were.

"I only hope you don't make the same error that Wolfe made. Our spirits are wild, they are meant to be free and untamed. Humanity, their arrogance, their ignorance...they are nothing but chains and cages to us. Wolfe led herself into her cage and chains. But I won't let Marley do the same. So awaken your beast, Jace. Or I'll wake him up for you."

"Thank you, Aunt." Marley whispered and Rigel's pointed ears twitched. She looked at the two from over her shoulder, her bright blue eye seeming to glow even more as she stared them down.

"...Don't make me regret it, Marley. Nor you, Jace."

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"...Y-You okay?" Ronan asked softly, her gills fluttering when Jace had seemed to knock out of her stupor. The blonde turned her head towards the mer, licking her dry lips before a sigh left her and her eyes turned back to the TV.

The spikey-haired guy and his son was fighting another blonde overly-muscular spikey-haired guy that was shirtless and laughing as he went about wreaking mayhem.

"I'm thinking." Jace answered. Ronan flickered her gaze back and forth between the TV and Jace as she tucked her knees to her chest, her feet overlapping each other. Her chin rested atop her knees as the two stayed silent.

"...We haven't been to the lake since we found you." Jace stated, her eyes a tiny bit red due to staring at the TV.

"No..." Ronan murmured, her lips pursed slightly in confusion at the statement.

"Do you want to?"

"T-together, right?" She stammered out. Jace's gaze flickering from the TV to Ronan, raising one of her hands and rested it atop of the brunette's head. Hair-like scales poked at the human's calloused palm as she gave the young girl a gentle pat on the head.

"Yes. Together."

"Okay. W-We can go tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan." Jace answered, her voice soft. The corner of her lips quirked upward when Ronan grinned weakly at her.

Marley watched the two from her spot leaning against the kitchen's threshold before she pulled away in order to stare up at the sky from the small window in the back door. The moon was in its crescent stage with hundreds of stars surrounding Lady Moon.

'Wolfe led herself into her cage and chains. But I won't let Marley do the same.'

'Jace isn't a cage, Ronan isn't chains. I don't know about Wolfe's situation, but Jace makes me happy. My wolf howls for her. And Ronan... It's only been a moon cycle, but I already think of her as mine.'

'Even if they were cage and chains, I would walk into them gladly. Because they're mine.'

'I thank you for your gifts but if having them means losing Jace and Ronan, then you can gladly have them back.'

Marley gazed up at Lady Moon for a few moments more before backing away from the door. She turned around and headed towards the living room, a gentle rumble vibrating in her chest when she heard Ronan let out a small cheer.

The TV's volume having been raised back up and letting Marley hear as the men powered up with a goosebump-causing roar.