Lacking Humanity|Crescent Moon

Chapter Three

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Sage's wolf started growing fond of the males around her, and a playful attitude had begun to spark in the days following. It made either of them feel guilty as she looked so damn desperate to have contact with her own kind.

Luke didn't have an estimate for how long she was imprisoned here, but it was enough to make her close to mute and have little fight left in her.

With such close proximity, he noted a few things. Perhaps his brother too, but at the moment, his brother was taken elsewhere. And to pass the time and find a distraction, he shared a neutral gaze with Sage across the ways.

She was currently tapping her fingers in a rhythm that he couldn't understand or figure out, but he made himself focus on it to crack the code.

It was some kind of pattern, something that she felt the need to learn and ingrain in her head. And while Luke turned his eyes elsewhere, his attention landed on the ID padlock beside the main door. Bingo

"Is that for the door?" His voice always earned a reaction, and her eyes danced between him and the door. While her nose scrunched together, obviously in annoyance as he disturbed her thought.

Her lack of a response prompted him to ask another question. Otherwise, his brother would give him an ear full about bothering her.

But he wanted answers, and this was the only time he could pick them out of her.

"Are your bars silver?" Now that caught her interest as her brows narrowed in confusion, but it also paired steadily with the will to learn. So he sighed, knowing what he needed to do, and leaned forward to touch the bar.

His action was soon followed by a sharp hissing sound, and the smell of burned skin filled the room. So much so that her hand shot out to cover her nose, throwing her into an upscale panic as she shook her head and crawled back against the stone wall.

Luke hadn't meant to scare her, but after her thoughts clear out, her own interest caught up with her—Wondering if she would get hurt by touching it as well. He'd seen her doing pull-ups their first day here and every day since, and so he watched with wide eyes to see what would happen.

And the anticlimactic moment passed with nothing short of a hum that showcased Sage's wonder.

The metal just felt cold on her end of the spectrum, as it no longer held the ability to cause any more pain like it was known for.

"No hurt." She mumbled, looking at her fingers and sniffing them over to make sure that she missed anything. "Doesn't hurt...It doesn't hurt." He corrected, causing her head to tilt.

Nobody had ever really corrected her on her grammar before. It was just set up in broken English, and everyone just went around the thought of teaching her properly.

So she cocked her head to the side, and her eyes blinked slowly in the act of putting her attention back onto him. "Say it with me, 'Doesn't hurt,'" She swallowed thickly, never having been forced to speak like this before.

But the eldest son knew how to be patient, having watched his brothers grow up from small little pups to nearly active warriors in the pack.

"D—does—does..."

"Doesn't hurt. Does not hurt." There was a spark in her eyes. He knew the girl wasn't dumb. Far from it, actually, because she was more of a listener.

Even if she tried to hideaway.

A part of her still wanted to learn.

"Does it hurt?" He questioned, and she shook her head. "Doesn't. Hurt."