Bloody and Wild

Underneath the Skin

Ryder sat on his bed with his back propped up against the cold stone wall and his shoes still on. He took another swig from a bottle of amber liquid that seared his throat. Discarded bottles littered the room. One had smashed scattering shards of glass across the floor that crunched beneath Nala's sneakers. She approached him and leant forward to caress his thigh.

"No!"  He snapped. Nala flinched back and stared doe eyed at his stormy expression. "LEAVE ME!" He roared and he brandished his bottle threateningly in the air. Nala squealed and darted from the room. Ryder lowered the bottle once he heard the sound of the pounding footsteps fading into the distance. He was over her now. She had been nothing to him.

He groaned and took another long swig from the bottle. He needed to keep drinking until he forgot. The sound of her laughter, light and feminine echoed around his sore head. He squeezed his eyes shut and bellowed in fury. "WHY ARE YOU SO CRUEL?!" He roared throwing his arms up over his head as a barrier. He kicked off his heavy boots and pulled his legs up to his chest wriggling his toes to play with the soft folds of his bed sheets. He tilted his head back to finish the last drop from the bottle. It lazily trickled down the glass until it reached his eager tongue. Without looking he reached over and selected the next bottle from the shelf.

*

The wind quietened down that night but clouds guarded the sky, obstructing the shine of the stars and moon. All was quiet in the woods that night and Ryder's only reassurance that the world outside still existed at all was the infrequent footsteps over head from someone patrolling the wall. He lay sprawled across the bed now, one legs extended over the back of his chair whilst he lazily looked up at the cobwebbed ceiling. He closed his eyes and visualised rare silks, scented candles and bright plump cushions decorating leather lounge chairs. He had possessed everything, everything a society based on materialistic ideals could desire. But he didn't miss it. Draughty chambers were his lot, chains and screams were all that men like him deserved.  

A clearing in a forest appeared before him. Ryder looked up at the blazing sun high in a clear blue sky. He raised an arm to shield his eyes from the sun's glares. He must be dreaming he rationalised dully.

"Ryder!" A voice called. Ryder squinted into the bright, white light. He could make out the vague outline of a figure up ahead. He peered through the gaps between his fingers. He realised who it was before she stepped into view. Ember beamed at him.

Ryder stood in awkward silence as she skipped lightly up to him, she stopped when she was just a foot away and suddenly she appeared shy. She self-consciously played with a strand of her hair as she looked up at him through her lashes. Ryder was at a loss for words. How could he ever try to apologise for all that happened? There were no words. Now her smiles tormented him, he would have preferred her anger, if she would just try to strike him down. "I forgive you." Her voice had taken on a strange quality, as if he was talking to her through a pane of glass. "You're mine and I'm yours." She grinned happily and reached out to take his hand.

He gasped in surprise when he felt her touch. Her skin was warm and something similar to an electric charge shot up his arm went straight to his chest at the feel of her. Ember was gone and in her place stood Dona. The electric charge was the bond, the supernatural link that bound them to one another as soul-mates, which he could feel. The bond informed his brain that she was 'the one'. He may not be a werewolf but he wasn't human either, not anymore. He would feel the connection, the undeniable passion that would make him claim her as his and allow her to claim him in return. That was unless he broke it quickly. That was why...

Dona stepped forward and wrapped her arms about his neck. For a moment Ryder remained motionless until, slowly and with the stiffness of a robot, he placed one hand on her waist and the other on her back. Dona held him tightly, pressing her body close up against his so that he could feel the length of her. He buried his face in her hair, it smelt of...apples. "I love you." She whispered in his ear.