Claws and Fangs

Decisions, Decisions

I'm worrying so much that I jump at a knock on the door -- the main door, the one leading outside and away from any allies I might have. Whoever it is, they're standing so I can't see them through the windows. I stare hard at the door, trying to use any latent mind control powers to make them go away, but they just knock again. Wait for them to knock one more time, hoping someone else will come handle the visitor, but I guess everyone is asleep.

My heart drops.

"Hello," Isaac sneers. I feel his breath on my face and take a step back in disgust.

"What do you want?" I grind out. The back of my neck prickles and I get an incredible urge to rip his throat out with my teeth. Mark might not be a real friend, but his father is definitely a monster.

"Oh, just passing the time," he replies. His voice drips condescension. "May I come in?"

He all but shoves me aside before I can tell him to get the hell out. We both know I can't really do anything about it; this is Quarter Moon's allotted space. If an Alpha wants to visit, only Hestia can send him away.

"If nothing else, Quarter Moon is excellent at choosing living space. This certainly beats a plastic tent." He eases into the chair Mark was sitting in before, eyes brightening as he picks up the scent. "Less so at choosing bedfellows."

"Quarter Moon is an ally," I say carefully, "And they work hard to get what they have."

He grunts. "They've always been soft, associating with humans and letting strays suckle at their teat."

Anger bubbles up before I can stop it. "And yet they're still better off than a backwoods cutthroat and his army of defeated pups."

Of all the times to get a rise out of him, this is probably the best and the worst. He steps right into my personal space and growls at me. "You would do well to learn some respect," he snaps. "Your father flaunted social order, too, and it never did him any good in the end."

"Better to die honorably than to live a coward," I snarl back. It's bordering on a threat, but he wouldn't dare lay a hand on me. I'm going to pretend it was that instead of pure stupidity that let me keep talking. "No matter how you try to twist it around, my father was a better man and Alpha than you can ever hope to be! There isn't a wolf here who wouldn't be."

The sickening grin returns to his face. "A better man? Perhaps. But as an Alpha he couldn't best me, not matter how hard he struggled. No matter how loud he screamed. Remember?"

His words hit my veins like ice, freezing me solid from the inside out until it hits the pit of fire in my belly. It's too familiar. How does he know...

Memories of that horrible night slam around my brain. I said goodnight to my parents, then stayed up all day until the minute darkness fell. I sneaked out of the house in a sparkly dress that my mother would kill me for wearing in public, a gift from a friend. I wanted to go to a human party like some of the others did, I wanted to have fun for once instead of studying or babysitting my brothers. I shouldn't have gone. I didn't, technically, they turned me away at the door because I didn't have an ID, but I shouldn't have tried. I went home disappointed, but I should have been grateful. When I returned to Half Moon, it was quiet. Unusual for so late at night, but there were a few flickering lights in the houses by the entrance, so I didn't think anything of it. I should have sensed it, heard or smelled something, but I was too tired or too upset that my plans hadn't worked out... I didn't. I walked right up to my front door before I knew something was wrong. The door was gone, the hinges twisted from ripping it out. I should have run then, but I didn't. I should have known when I stepped in a dark stain that smelled like death. Instead I walked further into a completely dark house until I found him spitting out a mouthful of blood on the floor. He looked fierce, a defiant victor; then he saw me and his face dropped.