Call Wolf

Chapter Thirteen

HandmaiD

Maria never awoke with the sun. She wasn't certain if it had something to do with her powers or if it was simply her unhealthy sleeping-habits which were to blame, but she rarely found it in her to wake up before the late rays had warmed the room to a buzzing temperature.
The handmaid outside her door didn't have that rule.
There she stood, rigid and stern at the break of dawn, unwavering under Maria's disdained gaze and unruly hair crackling with agitated sparks.
"I'm here to get you sorted."
Maria's mind didn't link her thoughts to her mouth fast enough and so by the time she parted her lips, the handmaid had already entered the room and emitted several disgruntled huffs and puffs.
"Sorted?" Maria groaned, just the same as the door falling shut behind her.
"Yes. Sorted. You apparently have something important tomorrow and Alpha thought it best to get a head start."
"I don't have anything tomorrow, as far as I know... Did he say what it was?"
The chambermaid huffed another time and hurried back to the door, tearing it wide open with surprising force. In came a gaggle of young women, some holding brushes and others trying to keep silk fabrics from touching the floor as they entered. Maria widened her eyes. Last but not least was a team of four, heaving a wooden tub between them. It was filled with steaming water splashing about, trying to jump over the edge, but surprisingly little had actually spilled once it was placed down in the middle of the room.
"He mentioned a ball."
Maria paused her horrific staring at the tub to instead aim her wide eyes at the old woman.
"A ball -- the ball? That can't be right. What day is it?"
Not bothering to wait for an answer, Maria began counting her fingers. The women watched. She landed on her index finally, lowering her hand with a blank stare.
"It's tomorrow..." she murmured.
Maria felt stupid for forgetting but didn't find it incredible. She'd been holed up in the Den most of the first week and following the night when her and Kripkin got into a fight, she'd seen very little of both him and Charles. She hadn't been sure what she was allowed to do and had settled on staying in bed, catching up on long overdue rest.
And now it had come back to bite her.
"Get in the tub, please."

Being sorted was a tedious task for both Maria and the women. In her now riled up state, she was running fairly hot - the tub had to be re-filled several times as the water evaporated. Once that was done and she'd been scrubbed, doused in lavender, and gotten her hair put into braids that were easier to handle than "the rat's nest on top her head", everyone was rather tired of eachother. Some girls sucked on the small burn-marks on their fingers while others mourned the loss of their favorite brush or sponge, a melted victim to the heat.
"So, what now?" Maria trailed, standing in the middle of the room, only a robe hanging off her shoulders.
"What else can we do?" an anonymous voice spat. "You're making this impossible."
"Why is this ball even important? And why are you allowed to go?" another girl piped up.
A parade of hums showed that many agreed. And then suddenly all eyes were on Maria. Caught off-guard and quite done with it all herself, she decided to be honest.
To an extent.
"I'm not the one who wants this," she said, exhasparated. "It's Charles! It's all his fault."
Murmurs erupted. Some commented on her speaking ill of their Alpha and some thought it strange she uttered his name at all.
"Are you and Alpha... friends?"
Maria paused alongside the chatter. She tried to find the source of the voice but it was a hopeless cause. She supposed honesty was the only way now that she'd begun. And, God, was it refreshing.
"I don't know. I thought we were, that we had something special, but then he just..."
"Went off?"
She nodded.
A symphony of agreeing murmurs hugged her tightly, validated her frustration.
"They do that," a woman piped up. Her mouth was pulled together in a bitter expression. She was heavily pregnant. "Sometimes they just leave, even the good ones."
"But why?"
"It's just the way it is, sweetie. You'll do best staying out of Alpha's line of sight, I reckon."
Maria's head sunk further down between her shoulders. She felt awful. She just wanted to hop back into bed and, God be merciful, not wake up again.

A small hand was put to her shoulder, squeezed meekly. It was a teenage girl, no more than seventeen summers. She nodded as if she understood even though Maria wondered if that was possible.
The next hand, this one landing on her other shoulder, belonged to a woman much older. Running down the length of her face was a nasty scar. She nodded as well.
"These males can be unpredictable," the pregnant woman piped up again. "Us females - especially the lower ranking ones - have to have each other's backs. You may not be a part of the pack but you're clearly important, otherwise Alpha wouldn't indulge you, so consider yourself having of allies, fire girl."
It was then Maria realized that the warning she'd recieved from Charles about predatory instincts hadn't applied to her simply because she was an outsider, but it applied to packmembers as well. She looked around her. Some women were hugging as bad memories surfaced, some looked empowered by the pregnant woman's words.
Maria let her hands be swallowed by flames.
"And if you ever need an edge," she said, looking to the faces around her illuminated by her hands, "consider yourselves in possession of fire itself."

A/n
Sorry it's been so long. Truly. But I'm in the middle of a big move and have just started a new school so it's pretty hard to squeeze in writing.

I'll hurry better with the next update.

Please let me know if you like it
<3