Changing Fate

The Wolf

Stretching, Ash felt the soft sheets against her legs, confused she felt her legs. Instead of her padded trousers, there was only thin cotton.

Ash bolted up, throwing off the heavy duvet.

Staring into the rooms full-length mirror, she took in the thin white nightdress she hadn't gone to bed in.

In horror, Ash fumbled with the duvet, searched around the bed, and looked through every cupboard and drawer. Her armour was gone.

'You dont need it anymore.' Came a singsong voice.

Ash whirled, hands balled into fists, Lily sat on the bed watching her, Ash hadn't seen her come in, and the barricade was still in place.

'Give it back,' Ash snarled, closing in.

'You dont need it anymore,' She rolled her eyes with a little huff.

'Besides, it smelt awful.' She complained, wrinkling her little button nose.

'Give it back,' Ash repeated furiously, really wishing she had something to threaten her with.

'We're going in circles.' She rolled her eyes again, bouncing up.

Ash felt vunerable, and not just because of the ridiculous nightwear, how had someone managed to change her without her waking up?. She didn't like even the thought of it happening.

'Come on,' Lily said breezily, sauntering into the dressing room.

'Im here to civilise you, teach you how to dress and behave. Make you presentable to society.' Lily began rumaging through the dressers, taking things out and neatly laying them on a well lit dressing table.

Ash remembered the pouty girl from the night before, sulking that Dahlia had taken 'her turn'. Ash knew what to do.

'First I need to dress you like a proper lady, do something about your hair,' She went on mostly to herself.

Ash pulled the heavy sofa away from the door, opening it wide.

'Oh, but first we'll fix that smell,' Lily went into the bathroom, Ash moved silently behind her.

It had occured to her to kill the girl, but it made no sense to risk it in enemy territory when she had no real means of escape.

Instead, she settled for picking the tiny thing up, Ash's arms wrapped around Lily's waist.

'Put me down,' she squealed as Ash lifted her off the floor. She was surprisingly light.

'Put me down now,' Lily said again, voice getting more shrill. She attempted to pry Ash's arms off but one convincing wince, and she froze, just as Ash had thought she would.

Depositing her into the hall, she had the satisfaction of the dumbfounded look on her face before she slammed the door and heaved the sofa back into place.

'Ill not be requiring your services,' Ash panted slightly.

Lily banged on the door, demanding Ash let her in, but she had moved on, Ash knew Lily could likely push through with one hand, but like before, there was a boundary they seemed unwilling to cross

Ignoring the insistant pounding She got on with washing and dressing. Lily wasn't wrong her armour did smell, and it smelt of the Edge and the things she had done to survive.

She kept Lily waiting a long time, putting on makeup and debating what to wear.

Eventually ready, she moved the sofa aside again.

Lily sat in the hall watching the door in slump, her eyes went wide as Ash opened the door.

Wordlessly, Ash tuned on the spot.

'You'll do,' She said, pouty. Taking in pale blue lacy dress, the v neck looking vaguely greek with metallic treads spread over the flared skirt like veins of marble. It wasn't exactly to Ash's taste, but she imagined it'd be the sort of thing Lily might pick, and that had been the point.

'Nice shoes,' Lily glared sulkily at the suede ballet pumps, finding nothing to criticise.

She stood up carefully, eyeing Ash up.

'You'll be needing a haircut,' She said bright and happy again.

'I'll cut you,' Ash said seriously.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief as Lily retreated, with nothing more to do her job was done.

Hungry Ash decided to get breakfast. She hoped it would be empty. She planned to find a way out of here that included taking anything she could get her hands on, starting with whatever food she could take back. She just had no idea how she was going to do it yet.

'Hello, little one,' Oren smiled as she peeked round the door.

Ash paused, considering just going back to her room as it all came rushing back. The tingle of his skin on hers, the warmth of his chest, and the pounding of his heart in her ears.

His eyes were more violet than blue today, the desire for him building as their eyes met.

Suddenly, all Ash wanted to do was go to him, feel his thick hair under her fingers as she pulled him down so their lips met.

Ash snapped herself out of it, saying nothing as she turned away opening the fridge.

Ash took a shaky breath, her heart racing. Even when she wasn't looking, the desire was still there, coiled in the pit of her stomach.

I'll need a cart to get all this back, Ash thought, distrating herself.

Grabbing a carton of orange juice, she turned back.

Oren sat across the kitchen, lounging on a stool as he watched her.

'Did you sleep well?' he asked his voice seductive, Ash continued to ignore him.

The sooner he gave up, the sooner she could go home.

Blantantly, Ash searched through the cupboards until she felt something brush against her neck.

Ash turned around as Orens arms appeared eith side of her. He smirked. His violet eyes playful.

Ash froze. At this distance, he smelled amazing, like pine but somehow richer, warmer.

As he leant down, his light brown curls brushed against her face as he whispered in her ear.

'You aren't ignoring me, are you?'

'No,' Ash breathed, his scent overwhelming. Ash breathed heavily.

He was easily close enough that Ash just had to tilt her head up.

Heat pooled at her core, and Ash bit her lip.

'You look amazing,' Oren said huskily, burying his face in her hair and inhaling deeply.

His chest rumbled as he pinned her against the counter.

Ash might have protested, but all words were lost, and her breath caught as Orens lips brushed her neck.

He pressed a kiss into her neck, Ash unconsciously relaxing into his arms, now wrapped around her.

One hand on her hip, the other traced a pattern down her back.

Ash suppressed a moan when Oren caught her skin in his teeth, teasing her.

The juice dropped, making them both jump, ducking under his arm. Ash snatched it up, retreating to the far side of the kitchen so they'd swapped places.

Oren chuckled, his canines more pronounced, his eyes bright.

He pulled a glass from the cupboard, crossing the room to retrieve her glass.

'You look like a frightened little rabbit,' he teased, Ash's cheeks burned.

'Prehaps to a monster,' She snapped, taking the glass of juice from him.

She watched as he moved around the kitchen, gathering things and starting to cook. It was hard to hold on to the idea of him being any kind of monster.

'Show me.' Ash said suddenly, Oren stopped turning to look at her from the stove. HIs eyes still bright.

'Your true form,' Ash continued, licking her dry lips nervously, not entirely sure she wanted to see.

'This is it,' he said, smiling devilishly.

'No. Your other one, I want to see the monster.' Oren gave a short sharp growl at the word.

'I'm no monster little ine,'He said seriously.

'Then show me,' Ash demanded, crossing her arms.

'Fine,' He said easily, plating up the food. 'But first, tell me your real name.' he brought the plates over, sitting down on the stool next to hers.

Ash took a bite of her pancakes, not taking her eyes off him, watching him suspiciously.

'Tracy,' She said, saying the first name that popped into her head. The girl who'd lived next door to her before she'd joined the gang. They'd been friends until she died, throat cut in a back alley.

'Lie,' Oren replied, not even looking up from his food.

'Ash,' She said, watching closely.

Oren c****d his head to the side, confused. Something not quite right.

'Is it really?' he asked, putting down his fork and turning to face her properly, his eyes boring into hers. They were more blue now.

Ash sat very still.

She thought of her initiation, the first one when she joined the Spectres. When the girl she had been died and she started a new life, with a new name.

'Yes,'

Oren studied her for a minute.

'Okay, I'll show you,' he said.

As a small girl, Ash had been terified of the dark, convinced like so many small girls are that a monster might be lurking just out of sight. There never had been anything waiting for her in the dark, but the fear had always been there.

Only this time there was, it stood plain as day in front of her. She felt like a little girl again, the familiar fear.

Ash swallowed hard, years of training and conflict forgotten as she took in the wolfs enormous size.

Were they supposed to be this bog? She was sure they were smaller in the picture books, but this was not a regular wolf.

Beautiful and terrifying, it shook out its thick grey and white fur, dark blue eyes blinking as they adjusted.

Automatically Ash stepped back, the wolf snarled, its attention drawn to the movement. Huge paws moved silently closer.

Ash froze, not daring to move, not when it came to a stop in front of her or when it lowered its massive head and nudged her leg.

Mind flooded with images of it opening its terrible jaws and ripping open her flesh.

Minutes passed like this, the wolf still all the while. Its head resting against her leg, waiting.

Ash wanted to do something. She wanted to hun her hand through it's fur, or run for the door. Part of her wanted to scream and yell, but an instinct thousands of years in the making could not so easily be ignored.

If she moved, the beast would be provoked, and she'd be dead.

'He won't hurt you,' Dahlia said softly, slipping out the kitchen door onto the patio, hands held up in a calming gesture.

Ash jumped, her heart going cold at the noise.

'It's a wolf,' she hissed

'It's Oren' Dahlia was firm, returning Ash' unbeliving stare. 'It's still him. He just looks different.

She moved forward slowly, more to avoid spooking Ash than anything else, her hand touching Orens shoulder.

'It's alright,' She said soothingly, it wasn't working.

Ash looked down at the beast, her heart doing overtime. Deep blue eyes stared up at her concerned, conflicted. The emotion jumped out to her even from his canine face.

'Breathe,' Dahlia said, her hand sliding over Ashs, smoothing out her clenched fist.

Dahlia held her gaze, her wide amber eyes calm and confident.

Ash flinched as she felt the warm fur under her fingers, softer than she had imagined.

Looking down, she tried to see the logic. He hadn't hurt her. Hadn't even tried. If he wanted to, he could have killed her so easily.

Shakily Ash edged down the wall into a crouch, she searched the wolfs handsome face for Oren.

It wasn't just the eyes. She could see him in the shape of the wolfs face and the way he held himself.

Ash suddenly wished she'd witnessed the actual transformation, seen his bones shift and move.

He'd insisted she waited inside for that bit, but it would have been easier to reconcile the image of the man with this creature if she had seen.

'Oren,' she breathed, trying to dismiss the last doubts that this couldn't possibly be, The wolf sat back on its hunches, calmly watching.

'Can you talk?' She asked, looking at the wolf then to Dahlia, realising for the first time that she wasn't there.

It didn't really change anything, but Ash wished she had stuck around.

The wolf gave a high-pitched whine, unable to answer.

'No, of course you can't, you're a wolf,' Ash looked at him now, taking in how well built he was. Large and strong but not stocky.

He looked like a hunter.

'I think I like you better this way,' Ash joked, the adrenaline still pumping.

The wolf gave her a deadpan look. It stood up, turning smoothly as its fur seemed to shrink, and before Ash could really understand what she was seeing, Oren stood there in place of the wolf.

Naked.