Fire Bringer

Chapter 4: What's Expected

Chapter 4: What's Expected

The morning came too early for my liking. I had slept in my clothes and shoes; not caring as I fell into my jumbled sheets. My eyes wouldn't open even as the alarm clock beside my bed kept blaring at its maximum level. I just wanted to slowly be swallowed by my bed and never face the world again as I put my feather pillow over my sensitive ears. Just leave me alone...

I cursed no one in particular as I stubbed my toe on my bedside table as I slumped out of bed grumbling. I looked at my reflection in my full-length mirror and sighed. My hair was beyond repair without a proper shower, and my clothes had rips and tears from where I had torn through the forest the day before. My entire body ached as I reached to pull a twig out of my hair. I examined the stick as I walked to my bathroom to run a cold shower. Turning the faucets to my desired tmeperature, I sat on the side of the tub and rubbed a thin layer of ash from the stick.

I didn't have time to wonder over oddly cooked twigs, I had much bigger problems. I had blocked the pack link once I was a good distance into the woods. I knew that would get me into even more trouble, but I'd rather be in deeper water then hear the bickering and mocking of the pack.

I let the water run over my naked body as shivers ran down my back from its cool temperature. If only I could stay like this forever. I murmured as I lathered my hair with shampoo; my eyes closing as I squirted conditioner into the mix aswell.

I started to hum a song I couldn't quite remember the name to when I heard someone burst through my front door. I reached for a wash clothe and the bath soap as I heard footsteps leading to the second floor; where my bedroom was. I harshly scrubbed my body as I heard the footsteps hit the carpet at the top of the stairs and turn to the left towards my bedroom door. The twist of the knob sounded in my head as I grabbed my face soap. The footsteps wandered around my room for a while before heading to my bathroom. A growl rose in my throat as the person didn't even bother to knock as they pushed the door open.

I yanked back the curtain to relveal my face but cover my body as I yelled. "Who the hell do you think you are, coming in here! I-" My mouth stopped working as I stared at the man in front of me. "Alpha Redforce?" Shame and embarassment made my cheeks glow a bright chrimson as I covered more of myself from my panting alpha.

His eyes looked straight into mine, not letting me look away. "Where. Have. You. Been." His words  held no emotion, but held a great deal of effort to have them sound so calm. I had made the mistake of blocking my pack out of my mind link; no wonder he was after me.

"I'm sorry, Alpha. I was in the woods last night and didn't get back in until early this morning." I said as I grabbed a towel that was hanging on a nearby hook; shutting the shower off.

"Last night? Laza, we haven't heard from you in over a week."

If it hadn't been for the curtain, Alpha Redforce would have seen me in my birthday suit as I dropped my towel in shock. A week? Seriously? My mind was reeling at the thought of disappearing for a whole week and not even knowing it. I couldn't wrap my mind around it, I couldn't believe it. "A-a week?" I gulped.

Alpha Redforce had stepped out of the bathroom and behind its closed door as I panickly pulled on some clothes. My shirt was damp from not drying off completely and my jeans were fitted snuggly on what barely registered as a butt.

With his back to me, he looked at my mural of our pack on my wall. "None of us could reach you. Your mother, Grace, not even I could reach you through the pack link. We thought you had fled the territory."

I walked over to my dresser and picked up my crystal pendent that my father had given to me when I was a girl. Gently rubbing my thumb across its smooth surface I faced my alpha. "I'm sorry Alpha Redforce, I didn't mean to cause anyone a panic. I just... I had to clear my head." I looked out at the sun high above me and felt ashamed. "I had no idea that I was gone for... an entire week."