Wolf-blood

Tell Me No Lies

I woke to a tickle at my ear. I know, it sounds weird, but it just made my giggle. I swatted at whatever was tickling me and said, "Not now..."

BUT, PROTECTOR, IT'S SUNRISE.

"Minimus?" Slowly, I started to sit up and rub my eyes, just to find my mobility compromised. I glanced around in panic, half expecting ropes to be binding me, but all I saw was Mikey. I sighed in relief. It was just Mikey. 

Wait.

Why are we canoodling with Mikester?

My eyes widened and I screamed a bit. This finally made Mikey stir and he opened his eyes a bit. "What, Indie?" he asked. Then he seemed to realize the position we were in and immediately released his hold and we backed away from each other. "What the..."

"Let's not talk about it. Ever," I said.

"Agreed."

"I'm going to go meditate. You're free to join," I offered.

Mikey shook his head. "Nah. I think I'll just sit here and prepare for Orvar."

"Puh-lease. He is not going to hurt you. And if he does, he has to hear it from me." I smiled and left the tent. I turned towards the fire and was met by three sets of eyes. The bright green ones held mischief, the forget-me-not blue ones held confusion, but the icy blue stare held rage. I crossed my arms and gave them a, "Mention it and you die," stare. It worked. They all turned back towards the fire and I sat down in my usual spot between Lenus and Deu. I sank into a meditative state almost immediately.

I felt braver after my time with the Earth Mother. She never talked to me, but just being in touch with her, getting so close to her, has made me bold. I opened my eyes and noticed that everyone was gone. Excepting the last person on Earth that I wanted to talk to.

"What was that?" a colder version of Orvar's voice asked.

"I was meditating," I replied. I knew exactly what he was referring to, but I didn't feel like talking to Orvar about it.

"You know damn well that isn't what I was asking about."

"Don't swear at me," I said, incredulous.

"Tell me what is going on."

"Nothing happened. I was talking to him, it got late, and I slept in your tent. What is the big deal?"

"The big deal?!" he almost yelled. I shushed him and he lowered his tone. "The big deal is that girls don't commonly sleep in the same bed as a boy who almost killed them."

"It is none of your business whom I choose to sleep with," I told him. Then I realized what I had said.

"You slept with him?!" Orvar cried before I could stop him.

"No, you idiot! I'm freaking thirteen! Not a whore! What I meant was, what I do in my life is none of your business. I'm sorry for sleeping in your tent. Now can you move on?" I asked. I then got up and stomped in the direction of Lenus's tent. Time to get the truth.

"Lenus!" I shouted as I got closer to his tent. "Get up and get out here! Now!"

"Okay, okay, calm down, I'm right here," he said as he stepped out of his tent.

"Good. Now come on." I turned and started walking into the woods.

"Wait, what? Why?" I heard him ask.

I spun around and forced Vir into my words as I said, "Lenus, you are going to go into those trees with me right now." His eyes glazed over and he started doing exactly what I told him to do. I panted and glanced towards the fire where a gaping Orvar sat. Using my power, I said, "You will not tell Deu about this. You will not tell Lenus about this. In fact, you will forget any of this ever happened. You will meditate, and when you open your eyes, you will not remember any of what I just said. Is that clear?" His icy blue eyes, too, glazed over and he nodded slowly before sitting at the fire and closing his eyes. I then turned towards the trees and walked in to find a dazed Lenus.