Born of Blood

Chapter 5

The cells are cold.

It was the beginnings of winter, leaves had begun to fall from the towering trees on the perimeters of the pack house. It was beautiful, the auburn leaves falling through the chilled air, lightly gracing the ground. The grass beginning to curl up, the earth becoming firm and brown, as a chill crawled through the area. Dark grey skies lightly dropping snowflakes from drastic heights, allowing them to settle on the frozen and frosted ground. Birds lightly sang in the afternoon, but were more and more silent during the days as they slowly began to travel to their warmer climate during this time of year.

Scarlet missed the birds.

And Scarlet hated the winter.

Her body as a child had always been resilient to injury, picking back up where it left off, her baby fat providing a slight protection from the change of season. Though, at her age now, she no longer had her baby fat. Her limbs were very little muscle and mostly bone, no nutrients circulating through her system to assist in lighting a fire under her skin most werewolves contained. She felt the bite of winters chill more, stiffening her muscles and freezing her bones- moving became harder and harder for the young woman. Her fingers would freeze in the position of the shovel handle while she scraped the frost off the driveway every morning. Her arms and back trembled with hidden shivers from the frosty air of the pack house while she tended to the members messes, cleaning rooms and kitchens and laundry units. Aches formed deep within her fingers, elbows, spine, she was stiff with winters settling frost and she knew it would only get worse as the wether increases in severity.

She could always see her breath.

Werewolves in the Malkún pack house were lazy in the winters, their animal counterparts encouraging foraging and rest during these times. They were naturally warmer during these months, leaving the home with no heat circulating. It was freezing to Scarlet, her teeth chattering their song for warmth wherever she went. It was comfortable to all others, their Beasts with their thick coats rolling in the frosted grass, igniting a fire in their belly's when resigned to their Flesh.

They needed double the food, the colder temperatures burned more calories and brought the need for winter fat, and extra cleaning as they were too lazy to clean after themselves once they finished their multiple heavy meals. The property would need managing in the winter, shoveling driveways and sidewalks for any visitors, covering the Lunas garden at night to keep her coveted plants from the frost. The warriors of the Malkún pack trained during the afternoons, splitting patrols so they would never be in the freezing temperatures too long, Scarlet was to serve them their balanced meals at all hours. She would have alarms set to run them to their respective owners no matter the temperature, no matter the task she was in the middle of completing, and no matter the time of day (or night).

They could stay in their wolves bodies and be perfectly warm in the winter, while Scarlet was a slave confined to her Flesh. She was not allowed to shift, she had never been allowed to shift, her beast had been beaten into defeat by those so much larger and stronger than her. When she turned seven and had her first turn, they beat her unconscious, until she reverted and woke up in her Flesh again. She didn't know what her animal counterpart looked like, she didn't know the sound of her instinct, she didn't know anything of her other soul.

She only remembered the pain of her being held down and attacked until her breaking bones from her wolf surfacing felt like the gentlest of caresses. Scarlet had been shoveling the entryway from the woods to the pack house- again. Apollo was expecting guests to start arriving for his birthday celebration this week and needed the way to be safe and clear for their travel, though the snow was light and fluffy on the ground it was expected with the coming rain it would flatten to ice.