Through my Blood

Chapter XX: When Wolves Howl

Remus turned around to see a familiar face he hasn't seen in a long time.

"Aela." he smiled briefly before giving her a short nod. "Yeah, it's me."

There was an unsettling grin on the woman's face that made Serana uncomfortable. Still, she doesn't seem to notice her being there.

It was very unsettling for Remus because he was more used to Aela's stoic demeanor instead of... whatever he's looking at. "Excuse me for a moment." he turned back to Adrianne. "I'd like to change first. I'll drop the armor by soon after."

"You got it." Adrianne smiled before turning her head towards Aela. "And, how many arrows do you need? I'm surprised you came here. Where's Eorlund?"

"Old man's down with a fever. Just fill this up." she tossed the quiver to Adrianne, who managed to catch it perfectly.

"Anything else?" the blacksmith asked firmly.

The huntress smirked. "I suppose not."

"Then..." Adrianne turned back to Remus. "Find something else to wear then leave your armor here. You can get it back in a few hours." She picked up the sword from the cooling bucket before reheating the sword she was working on earlier back in the forge.

She glanced at Aela. "Now if you're going to talk, take it someplace else. You're in the way of my work."

"Thank you very much." Aela answered in a slightly mocking tone before going back to her conversation with Remus as they moved to a shade on the other side of Warmaiden's.

She started walking closer to him. The woman looked at him from head to toe.

"You've grown. Wilds do that to you?" she asked, a cocky grin not escaping her lips.

"Yeah, I suppose."

"That's not the only difference from when I last saw you." Aela responded before suddenly grabbing his arm. She whispered, "Your blood... it's so much stronger. I'm still wondering how you manage keeping it under..."

Remus shot the woman a glare before yanking his arm free. "That's got nothing to do with you."

Aela suddenly burst out into laughter. "Oh, but it does. You see we've discovered something just right when you vanished in thin air..."

As soon as the woman said this, Remus turned away gritting his teeth. Seeing the man's agitation, Aela added, "... but you will hear the details from Kodlak himself."

Remus didn't respond.

The woman added, "You're really not much of a talker, are you? Always a man of action..."

"No, just to you lot." Remus replied with a smile, but sarcasm lingers in his tone.

"You mean the Companions?" Aela laughed. "You're practically one of us."

"We've talked about this. Not interested. After two years, I still haven't changed my mind." Remus replied with a slightly contemptuous grin. "Besides, the reason why I was helping out was because I owe the Companions a favor."

"That's too bad." Aela then whispered something to herself which Remus couldn't make out.

She moved her face closer to him. "Still... Your scent has definitely changed... I like you better this way..."

Suddenly, Remus heard a loud clicking noise from behind them.

It was Serana. Remus could feel that the vampiress was staring daggers at him causing a cold sweat break from his forehead.