Polaris Skies

Chapter 23

NSFW: Erotica

"Is this safe? Sven keeps railing at me that Hana's brother is closing in on us," Nat asked Yeller. They were wandering the alleys of a desecrated downtown neighbourhood, searching for vegetable gardens and houses that didn't have shattered glass or doors. Their hope was food. Though the wolf within allowed their bodies to consume carrion without ill effect, neither Nat nor Hana could complete a transformation. Nat's wounds would tear if he allowed Sven to take over and had been banned from shifting. Hana had yet to obtain the entirety of Sven's life mate.

"I wouldn't doubt Sven's senses, but we must find you food of more substance than medicinal teas," Cashia chaffed. Nat denied a reply, finding the creature more intimidating today than usual. Cashia, though able to speak with Tereza momentarily, had been edgy and grumpy with everyone. He was more keen than usual to keep Yeller in the background today.

They had found a particularly affluent neighbourhood on the west end of downtown. Large backyards and cracked in-ground pools hid behind every fence. "Here, let's try this one." Yeller switched out with Cashia. Tightness in Nat's shoulders loosened at the tone. His friend went about hoisting Nat up and over the mid-height brick wall to a stately mansion with a wraparound verandah.

"Why this one?" Nat asked before he spotted the obvious, yet desolate, raised beds, indicative of a long past vegetable garden. He watched Yeller pick the bolt in the backdoor. The rotting wood gave way with a sharp crack. Inside, it was apparent the house had been hastily abandoned. Many high-end valuables stood in curio cabinets and littered about on tables. Layers of dust and cobwebs spoke levels of how long the property had gone untouched.

They found, to their relief, a fully stocked kitchen and butler's pantry. "We should move the gang over here," Nat said in appreciative awe at the grand amassment of non-perishables categorically arranged in the shelves of the pantry.

"Could be nice if we were sticking around for the summer, but it's easier to keep the other house warm with that wood stove." Yeller hunted through cabinets in the island of the kitchen.

Nat squatted down next to him, slowly rummaging through drawers before giving up. "What are you after?"

"Basket, bag, something to carry the food back in." Yeller pulled out varieties of speciality appliances and dishes.

"What Hana said? Is that true?" Nat sprawled out, resting his back against the fridge, his feet tapping away at a cabinet drawer handle. Getting over the garden wall, even with Yeller's help, had made his shoulders burn.

Yeller tensed at the question, suddenly wary. He ran through the myriad of conversations he had had with Hana. "About what?" Yeller continued with his rummaging.

"I had a fever, so I'm playing the delirious card. She admitted she didn't love me, which I get. If I was in her position, I wouldn't know what to make of the situation either." Nat studied the swirls in the tile floor. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Yeller interrupted, "I guess if she said that, then it'd have to be true."

"I meant," Nat sat up to fiddle with a cut-glass bowl Yeller had slid out of the way, "the part after she said that." He glanced up at the man.

Yeller moved on to another cabinet around the island. "What part?" he asked, knowing exactly where Nat was going, and dwelling on an overwhelming sense of panic.

Why do you feel such embarrassment at these thoughts, child? You've admitted them all to but the one you care for most. Cashia asked Yeller.

Not you too. Could you not call me a child? Especially at this exact moment. It feels...wrong and super creepy. Just, no. I am beyond my teenage years, and though I still know little of the world, leaving me feeling less than an adult some days, I am not a kid in daycare. Yeller quelled.