Chương 15: Anger
Huck's words sparked an anger in Cassia that went up like a forest fire. Before she could stop herself she pulled her hand back and slapped him hard across his face. The sound of the crack it made seemed so loud in her ears but she was too angry to care. His eyes snapped back to her after being knocked aside by the hit and the anger there matched what lay in her violet ones. She stepped back from him then and did something she never liked to do. Without undressing, she held still, closed her eyes and shifted out of her human form, not caring what form she took, just wanting one fast enough to get her far away from Huck. She felt herself ease and shift down into her familiar fox shape. As soon as the tingling in her skin stopped, her eyes flew open and she dove out of the pile of clothing, making a dash for the trees. Behind her, she heard Nico and Ivan call for her. Huck did not.
In the safety of the woods and undergrowth, Cassia felt her chest burning with anger. Huck had no right to be so upset with her, she'd done nothing! Then to expose her in front of Ivan and Nico was just mean. There was no way Ivan could just ignore his words. Not and let Cassia continue to be with his family. Ivan would ask her and she couldn't lie to him. Their whole lives, Cassia and Huck hadn't made it known who Cassia was even to their own people. Now, after insisting she and Nico hadn't been friends long enough for her to trust him, Huck had all but told the man the truth himself.
Cassia stewed in her anger, letting the muscles in her four grey legs burn. Diving under low branches and leaping over fallen trees, she weaved around, not paying attention where she was going. So lost in her irritated thoughts, she tripped over a rock and sent herself tumbling forward. When she came to a stop, panting and thankful her fox body couldn't cry the angry tears she knew her human one would have given way to by now, she curled in a pile of leaves.
The gray fox lay motionless there letting her mind replay not just this fight, but every fight with Huck she could remember. The problem was, there were not as many as she had hoped for to continue to stoke the fire. She and Huck bickered as you would expect when two people spent most of their time together, but they rarely argued with the anger she felt now. Several of those arguments that had been bad, had to do with Cassia trusting people too much and Huck trying to get her to stop. They'd had a fight similar to this about her trusting her sister Selene not long ago.
Huck had grown up in a house of wolves, both literally and figuratively. His father, Byron, was an enormous brown wolf, almost as big as Huck and a lot of his siblings had ended up being wolves as well. His mother had died not long after having his younger brothers and they had all been left with Byron. There were fourteen of them and their father had loved to pit them against each other. There never seemed to have been enough food to feed them all so he would sit back and grin as they fought one another for what ever there was. Huck had been one of the younger children so he had usually been left hungry. His father had also enjoyed stealing things his children loved then telling them he'd seen another one of them with it. He would laugh watching the little boys and girls fighting in the dirt as humans or animals. Byron said it made them tough and maybe it had but it had also caused Huck to never trust anyone, especially not his siblings.
Cassia was still fuming when she heard something coming through the brush. Her fox ears perked up and swiveled as her eyes searched for what ever it was. Her stomach growled from missing the noon meal and she hoped what ever coming was edible. Her nose sniffed the air though and she knew it was not. A great buck stepped gracefully out into the clearing in front of her, all muscle and grandeur. His antlers spread wide above his head with twelve deadly points. He stepped over to her and lowered his head to study the grey fox with purple eyes. Cassia was still but her wet nose inhaled a familiar smell. This impressive animal was Ivan.
Ivan turned away from her and she noticed there was a small bundle tied to his back. He moved away, back into the bushes and she made no move to follow him. She knew what he was going to do. A few minutes later he stepped from the bushes, a human man again. He looked down at her and she wondered if Ivan had actually been born with a disapproving expression. He crouched down in front of her, propping his elbows on his knees. "I brought your clothes," he jabbed a thumb backwards, "They're back there in the bushes." Purple eyes blinked but gave no sign she was listening. "You can ignore me Cassia but I assure you I'm more stubborn than you are and we're not leaving here until we talk. You have some things to explain."
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực