Instincts - c.h.

Chapter 6

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One of the perks of being a werewolf has always been the heightened senses even in human form. I can hear and see better than normal people. I can also smell better. When Michael triggered the change I instantly smelled the fear on Selena. It radiated off her so strongly that it made me feel lightheaded. The idea of her feeling that way stirred something in me, something I couldn’t really explain. The overwhelming urge to protect her took over and nothing else really mattered, not Michael, not myself, not the town…just her. I knew I had to get her out of the house, to get her to stop feeling so scared, so helpless.

            I kept in step with her as we followed the dirt path through the thicket of trees behind the house. She mindlessly played with the iron ring on her finger, one that I’ve noticed is always with her. The clear stone glowed under the light of the moon, contrasting against the iron band around her third finger.

“What happened to Michael that caused him to hate witches?” she finally asked, looking up at me with innocent eyes, a look that made my stomach feel light and fluttery.

With a heavy sigh, I started Michael’s story. “Michael’s parents were very religious and constantly tried to convert people to their faith, always accusing the non-believers that they’d suffer in the end and all that crap. There was this woman who lived on the other side of the town and his parents seemed to constantly harass her an accuse her of practicing witchcraft, telling her she’d burn in hell and even started turning people against her. She’d never done anything wrong to my knowledge and just wanted to live in peace” I shrugged.

Taking her hand, I helped her step over a large branch that had broken off one of the trees. She didn’t seem to notice my small act of chivalry, probably too absorbed with her own thoughts and the words of the story. Her hand slipped from mine as soon as she crossed over the branch. This path probably hadn’t been used in a long time by all the rocks and branches scattered along it.

“So what happened to them?” she questioned.

“They were right about her being a witch” I replied, reaching out and grabbing her arm just as stumbled over a rock. I steadied her, noticing her blush the entire time.

“Thanks” she mumbled.

I nodded before continuing the story. “One day I guess they went too far. She put a curse on them, saying how their child would become a beast because of their ignorance. Not long after that Michael was born and they did everything to protect him from the curse. They practically drilled scripture writing into his head and brought him to the church service every weekend. Of course like any normal kid their over controlling caused him to rebel. He ran away when he was about fourteen. The irony in it all was that he happened to run away when it was a full moon. I don’t know whether it was the anger he had towards his parents or the moon, but something triggered whatever curse the witch put on him because he turned that night and ended up killing a late night jogger…” she didn’t say anything, just stared at the ground “Ashton found him not long after that and we took him in.”

            By this point we reached a break in the trees and I pulled Selena off the path to the patch of grass in the small clearing. She sat down, pulling her legs close to her, her palms pressed into the greenery. I sat down beside her, leaving a respectful amount of space between us.

“That’s terrible” she mumbled, not looking up. “I wish there was something I could do.”

I shook my head. “We try not to bring it up, which seems to work for him I guess.”

“All your stories aren’t as grim as his, are they?” she questioned.

I couldn’t help but admire the fact that she genuinely cared, even if Michael did resent her helping us. Her awareness of his resentment didn’t change her showing concern for him. I’ve never met someone like her. It was refreshing to see that someone outside of the pack could care.

“No, Michael’s story seems to be the most tragic” I answered.

She looked at me with large curious eyes. I guess she wanted to hear all our stories.

“Ashton just ended up making a mistake really. We were all from the same area back in Australia. He had been walking through some wooded areas with his little brother looking for their dog…the same area I had patrolled a few nights before. They’d been following paw prints.”

“Your paw prints” she cut in knowingly.

I nodded. “He tripped and fell face first into the ground. I guess some rain had trickled down from the trees or something because water had pooled in one of the prints and…”

“It got into his mouth” she mumbled, her gaze dropping to the ground between us “and he swallowed the water”.

“Yeah.”

“It was an accident Calum, you can’t blame yourself” she said softly, her hand reaching out to touch my arm.

“I found him naked and bloody in the woods after the next full moon, he’d gotten a hold of a rabbit” I added. “He’s told me he doesn’t blame me, but I can’t help but feel guilty for taking his life away” I mumbled.

            Her hand moved down to grip mine, her palm not being able to cover even half of my own. Turning my hand over, I laced our fingers together, feeling how cold her skin was compared to mine. It was colder than the normal body heat. I realized that her clothes didn’t offer much warmth with the short sleeves and denim shorts.

“You must be freezing” I commented giving her hand a gentle squeeze “, it’s 108 degrees over here” I suggested.

She smiled and laughed. “Did you seriously just quote Twilight?”

I couldn’t help but laugh as well. “The movie was crap, but there were some pretty clever lines.”

            Next thing I knew she scooted over to me, pressing herself into my side. I pulled my hand from hers only to wrap an arm around her, holding her close against me. A shiver ran down her spine as the cold was shocked from her by the sudden warmth. She sighed in content, her fingers gripping onto my shirt.

My instincts told me everything about this was wrong, that I shouldn’t be getting involved with a girl outside my kind. But my intuition told me that everything would be okay as long as I had this little witch in my life. For once in a long time I sided with my intuition over the instincts I’d learned to follow since I was young.

“What’s Luke’s story?” she questioned, tucking her head into the crook of my neck and shoulder, seeming to curl into my side.

Her hair was soft against my jaw. “Luke was just in the wrong place at the wrong time” I admitted.