Blood on Sand

NICE AND COLD

Wojtek had re-potted all of his orchids in seven days—all 727 of them. He'd rearranged them, made sure the ones that didn't fit on the walls around the house were standing in the windowsills on trays with damp gravel to increase the humidity level around the plant. He only allowed himself to fill his bedroom from floor to ceiling; the other rooms were more tastefully decorated. But, no matter how much he tended to his flowers, he couldn't ignore Zoe being in the house.

His scent was everywhere, and it got under his skin. He didn't smell bad once Satul had cleaned him up a bit—Wojtek had thought he would, but he didn't. No, Zoe smelled humid and a little musty, but not bad. He was used to the warm musky smell of werewolves, not this... It wasn't cold. He often told himself that it was a cold smell, but how could a smell be cold?

Argh! He threw the plastic ewer against the only wall in his bedroom that was free from pots; water splashed and ran down the grey wallpaper. He needed some space.

He stomped down the stairs to the bottom floor. Zoe and Satul were in the kitchen, as always. If he didn't know better he'd have thought they were best buddies by now, but they weren't. Zoe didn't say shit, much to Satul's admitted frustration. Wojtek didn't care. If Zoe wanted to be quiet, that was just fine with him. They weren't here to socialise—something Satul failed to see. He would so win their bet!

The soles of his bare feet padded on the floor as he walked; there was no way they wouldn't hear him coming. He liked announcing his presence, liked how Zoe's eyes filled with blazing anger whenever he entered the room.

He didn't give them any time to greet him, just grabbed Zoe's arm and started dragging him toward the cellar door, looking back over his shoulder at Satul. "You and I are going to the arena early today, leaving now." He didn't wait for Satul's answer, just continued toward the cellar.

Zoe didn't resist, much to Wojtek's chagrin. Couldn't he at least struggle? He would've loved to be able to tussle with him a little, feel that skin under his hands again. Not that anything stopped him from putting his hands on the man, but... Why didn't the little fucker fight? Surely he couldn't be that indifferent to what was happening to him?

He had seen him slay many a man, and even though Wojtek probably was twice as strong, the little crawler had some neat tricks up his scales. He didn't even lose balance as Wojtek hauled him down the cellar stairs. Maybe he could've been fighting today. Wojtek knew how thin he was—his fingers could easily encircle his upper arms—but maybe Satul was exaggerating his poor health. Maybe he wasn't as bad off as it looked; some people were simply thin. Probably best to wait another week. He didn't want him to get himself killed just yet. There would still be plenty of money to be made off this warrior if he only could prevent him from offing himself in the ring.

"Don't go into hibernation," he growled as he pushed Zoe into the wine cellar.

"Oh, haven't we learned some fancy words since we last talked."

Wojtek ignored him and locked the gate, some expensive iron shit his father had installed right before he went and got himself killed—leaving Wojtek in charge of the entire pack and the fighting arena.

****

Zoe's body was at war with itself. A human would shiver, and some part of him wanted to, but that wasn't how he worked. He couldn't do anything but wait until his body was the same temperature as the rest of the room. He wasn't afraid of the cold, but that didn't mean he enjoyed being locked up in a wine cellar. This time Wojtek had been nice enough to leave the lights on. His face scrunched as that thought flitted through his head. There was nothing nice about Wojtek; he lived off slavery and illicit fighting for crying out loud.

He was a formidable creature, though—strong and fast... and probably evil to the bone. He wasn't as big as Zoe had imagined, easily a head taller than himself but that didn't say much, and while fit, he didn't look like he was hopped up on steroids. Still, he cared more about his orchids than he did about the reptilians living in his slave quarters.

Zoe couldn't deny feeling some sort of satisfaction in getting a reaction out of him every time they were in the same room. He didn't think Wojtek was aware of it, but as soon as he met Satul and Zoe together, he inhaled and his eyes zeroed in on Zoe. More often than not they shone yellow for a second or two as if he was about to shift. Too bad he was a dick. When his eyes weren't burning yellow they were blue, dark blue. And the beard, the ring in his ear, and that ridiculous nose piercing—just a little stud that you hardly even saw unless the light fell on it. Zoe wanted to mess up the Mohawk he kept even in human form. Not that you could do much to mess it up, he was completely shaved on the sides of his head leaving only the hair on the top, he still wanted to run his fingers through that hair. Ridiculous! He'd always pictured the Alpha as a feebleminded monster with overgrown muscles, and he was still rather certain that he was pretty dim-witted, but he sure was nice to look at in his human form. So, there was something nice about Wojtek after all, even if it only was physical appearance.

The cold seeped in through his skin, gradually equalising his body temperature to that of the wine cellar. He wouldn't freeze to death, not in here, but if he was left for long he would hibernate. He would fall asleep and lie there as still as the neatly shelved wine bottles.

Well, if he was about to nap for a few months maybe he should try to have a drink. He'd never had wine—could be interesting to see what would happen. It wasn't like it would matter if he died, so why not? Broaden his horizons and maybe piss Wojtek off a little... or a lot.

He selected one of the dusty bottles and went over to the little counter by the far wall. The grime coating it was so thick he couldn't tell the colour of the label, let alone whether the wine was white or red, but that didn't matter. If it was old it was good, right? He hoped it cost a fortune.