Instincts - c.h.

Chapter 7

I felt the side of her face press against my chest, my heartbeat seeming to double in speed at her touch.

“Ashton and I had been trying to teach Michael self-control. We took him out into the woods to try and show him he could change without hurting anyone. The thing with Michael is that he was much faster and more dangerous when he first met us. We lost sight of him for a short while and found him circling one of the parks in the area. Luke had been out there with a guitar. Michael bit him before Ashton or I could do anything. Ashton took care of Michael while I kept watch over Luke, taking care of him till the next morning and explaining what was about to happen. The moment Michael bit him he became part of the pack whether he wanted to or not. He’d always been a smart kid and took the news much better than the others.”

She just nodded slowly.

            We sat in silence for a short while, a comfortable silence that brought some peace of mind. I couldn’t help but notice how right this felt, Selena close beside me, the forest quiet, and even just for a couple minutes not a care in the world. Without thinking my free hand moved to pull her hands from my shirt. Looking down, my cheek pressed into the crown of her head. I noticed her ring again, my finger tracing over the iron band and then feeling the small stone that stood out against the ring. I realized Selena’s eyes were closed, but she wasn’t asleep, her pulse told me she was still awake. Wanting to get a closer look at the stone, I started tugging on her ring, trying to slide it off her finger.

As the ring slipped from its place, now resting right on the joint, she suddenly jolted up, pulling her entire body away from me. “Don’t.”

            Her sudden actions surprised me. I looked at her with wide eyes, curious and a bit concerned. Her eyes were big as she quickly slid her ring back to its original place. Something told me that iron band was more than a piece of jewelry to her.

Before I could ask her about what just happened, something caught my attention. “Do you smell that?”

She breathed in through her nose then shook her head.

 I quickly stood up and sniffed again, confirming I was right about what I smelt. “Something’s on fire” I gulped.

****

            I stood up quickly, noticing how tense Calum now seemed. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me into the unmarked woods, completely abandoning any ideas about the path we took to get here. He moved with such stealth through the trees, glancing back every now and again to make sure I was still with him, even if he could feel my hand in his. Something told me there was still some curiosity about how I reacted when he tried to take my ring. I didn’t mean to act so dramatically, it just took me by surprise when I was in such a relaxed state.

            Less than ten minutes later we returned to the house. He was right, there was a fire. Brody sat on an old chair in front of a makeshift bonfire, just staring at the burning wood. Pulling free from Calum’s grip, I hurried over to my partner. He merely glanced at me before pulling out his lighter and a cigarette from his jacket.

“What are you doing?” I asked, noticing the case of beer on the other side of him.

“That house makes me feel depressed. Whoever lived there did not have a happy life” he shrugged, taking a short drag.

“So you built a bonfire?”

Calum came up behind me, gently touching my side to get my attention, his hand not moving from its place on waist. “I need to go check on the boys, I’ll be right back.”

My hand caressed his arm as I nodded, watching him jog over to his own backyard.

            Turning back to face Brody, I noticed the smirk on his face. I didn’t even have to ask to know what was going through his head.

“Shut up” I grumbled, taking a seat on the grass.

He handed me a beer.

“Just wondering if I needed to start buying flea collars” he shrugged, leaning back in his chair and pulling a beer for himself.

He was relentless when it came to teasing. “Shut up, Brody!” I whined, not wanting to get into this.

“I’m genuinely happy you managed to have a little fun, Sel” he nodded, though his tone suggested he was still teasing me.

“Don’t call him ‘a little fun’ like he’s a toy to play with” I defended quickly.

Brody stared at me, reading me in that silent way he always does. “Oh shit, you actually like him.”

“Brody” I warned.

“Sel…you can’t be serious.”

“Brody, this isn’t the time to talk about it” I snapped.

            He looked over his shoulder to see four figures coming towards us, obviously the boys. I began to feel nervous, spotting Michael with them. Brody turned back to me, all signs of teasing gone for now.

“You’re asking for trouble, you know that?”

“I am trouble” I mumbled, sipping from the bottle in my hand.

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