My Place- Randall Carpio Love Story

These are my Demands

*

Remi sat in the living room of the den as she watched Lilith pace in front of her. "You have to talk to Willow and get her to understand that she cannot do her job without you."

Hamish walked into the living room with a metal basin of ice. He moved behind his makeshift bar and set the ice down on top of it. "You two have to live harmoniously."

Remi let her head fall to the back cushion of the couch. "I've already heard this spiel. I get it. We have to be on the same page."

"It took you four hours to change back yesterday," Lilith reminded her, not that she needed the reminder. She was very aware of how far Willow had run off. Thankfully Timber, Lilith's hide, accompanied her the entire trek across state lines. They nearly hit the beach before Remi was able to coax her back in. It was an awkward wait before Hamish could reach them in his car.

"You can't let Willow have free reign like that."

Remi groaned and stood up. "I know! I know!" She palmed her face as she turned away from Lilith and Hamish. "I try! I talk to her and she just- she doesn't want to be put away again." She could still hear Willow's words in her head. It wasn't so much the little voice she always named her conscience. It was something deeper than that. Something so well entangled with her soul she couldn't discern the two.

Hamish mixed some liquor into a silver tumbler and added a sprig of rosemary and some ice. "Have you tried talking to her now?"

She dropped her hands to turn and face him. "Now?" He nodded. "Can she... hear me now?"

Both of them nodded at her.

She looked up in thought. Willow?

Yes.

She jumped and gave a small gasp that had both wolves laughing at her.

Lilith patted her shoulder in passing. "Go find a quiet place and talk it out with her. You and her have to get on the same page if you're going to be a champion."

She frowned at the thought of losing everything she had just gained. "I think...I think I'm going to go down to the basement. Back to where it all started."

They nodded, but the twinkle in Hamish's eyes told her that was a smart move.

She left them in the living room as she took the stairs down to the basement. The room with all the artifacts caused her to pause. So much knowledge on past champions and how they handled their hides. She could learn a lot from them, but somehow, she knew she had to find out how to handle Willow on her own.

She slipped past the artifact room to where the lockers were.

Willow purred deep inside of her at the sight of her own locker. The top door had been closed since she emerged, and the sleek small black box looked so different from the others. Willow didn't need extraveangence or space. She had been perfectly fine in her small locker.

Or was she?

Remi sat down and sat her back to the stone wall so she could face Willow's locker. She stretched her legs out until the tips of her toes brushed against the bottom of the locker.

She let out a long, slow breath to try and harmonize her own heartbeat to the deep pulse living inside of her.

Willow?

Yes.

Her breath shuttered at the deep resonance of the beast inside of her. She couldn't make out the tone or pitch of the voice. She wouldn't be able to recreate it in reality, but she just knew the voice belonged to Willow.