38: Saga
1352 Words
He knows what we are?
Aurelia knew Robin couldn’t read her thoughts; her question was mine to answer.
He hadn’t warned her that Felix was aware of our kind.
“It’s been a while,” I purred, resting my hand on Felix’s shoulder.
He was as tall as me, and his muscles were exceptionally well defined, for a human; when I grasped his shoulder he was flooded by adrenaline, and it overpowered the stench of sheep’s blood that was permeating the venue after whatever ridiculous display they had put on in the name of their art.
He still thought I was attractive; that much was clear.
“Right...” he smiled nervously, looking at me properly at last.” I wasn’t expecting you to be here. It’s been..." he swallowed nervously, “... a while.”
Six months, give or take, since our last encounter.
He had drunkenly propositioned me, suggested that I transform him into a wolf, then spent the rest of the night crying in my room when I told him I couldn’t act on my feelings for him, because he could never be like me and Robin.
It had been a night of emotional torture for us both, and I was beginning to think coming to see him was a bad idea.
“Too long,” I smiled, but my words sounded insincere, and he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to my brother and Aurelia.
“We’ve never met before.”
He held his hand out to Aurelia.
She was nervous, and I could tell she understood what was being said, but she wasn’t confident enough to respond.
“We haven’t known her for long,” I whispered, in English. “She isn’t from our pack.”
“I’m sorry,” Felix apologized swiftly. “I assumed you were a member of Robin’s pack. I hope that wasn’t offensive or anything.”
“Robin’s pack?”
I bit my cheek to stop myself from laughing at Aurelia’s reaction as I locked eyes with my brother.
He was flustered, and trying to cover it.
“Aurelia is my girlfriend, Felix. She’s not a member of my family.”
“Oh?” he looked confused. He wasn’t sure whether Aurelia was a wolf, or if he was dangerously close to revealing a guarded secret. “I’m sorry again, I didn’t even consider... I assumed you were from Canada,” he murmured, awkwardly.
“She’s like us,” I leaned closer to Felix and whispered against his neck. “She could tear you apart just as easily as I could.”
Except she wouldn’t be doing it as a wolf for the foreseeable future, thanks to Robin.
“Saga,” my brother warned me. We weren’t alone, and Felix was the only member of the band who knew about wolves.
The rest of them saw Robin as dripping with natural talent and charisma, and me as a vacuous b***h.
“You really missed the gig because you had to wait for her to get dressed?” a familiar voice questioned loudly in an American accent.
I already knew it was their bassist, Scott. He smelled unpleasantly of sweat at the best of times, and he was endlessly insecure about the fact I was several inches taller than him.
He always tried to make me refer to him by his stage name: Eradikator.
I preferred not to talk to him at all, but I refused to use that stupid name when I did, and he hated me even more after I told him I would only use it if he stopped spelling it that way.
He folded his arms across his chest and stared blankly at an old amplifier on the floor by the side of the stage to avoid looking up at me.
His sandy hair was dyed black, and it was just past shoulder length on one side, with the other side shaved close, revealing a stylized Norse raven tattoo.
He saw himself as an equal to my brother: in his head he was a tall, muscular, tattooed heartthrob with charisma and talent.
In reality, Incel would have been a significantly more appropriate stage name for him. Perhaps if I suggested he spell it Inkel, he might approve...
“I was ready for over an hour before those two decided to emerge.” I nodded at Robin and Aurelia.
I wasn’t trying to embarrass them, but I wasn’t going to let Scott treat me like an unreasonable diva when I had been sitting by the door for ages waiting for Mr & Mrs Insecure to act like reasonable adults, either.
Scott hadn’t even noticed Aurelia until I mentioned her, despite the way she was dressed; his attention was completely focused on me. He was only so unpleasant and threatened by me because he found me attractive and knew he didn’t stand a chance.
That wasn’t arrogance on my part - I could read his thoughts, and he was deeply insecure about finding a woman like me attractive.
Felix was intelligent enough to realize that I wasn’t an airhead. He respected me even before he knew what I was.
“You need to find someone less high maintenance,” Scott scoffed at Robin. “f*****g around with a gothic barbie doll isn’t worth pissing off your true friends.”
Robin stepped closer to Scott before I could respond. He was actively trying to be a condescending prick, but he didn’t know how dangerous it was to insult the woman Robin was in love with, and I almost felt bad for him.
“We don’t have to put up with your shitty attitude, Scott. If you’re going to be like this, we’ll go.”
“Wait,” Felix interrupted, hastily. “Can we just pick somewhere to hang out? I want to catch up with you, even if he doesn’t.”
Robin sighed, and I noticed him rest his hand on Aurelia’s lower back.
She didn’t look pregnant yet, but he was protective enough of her that it was probably obvious to any human that wasn’t a total moron.
“I’m sorry,” Aurelia said, but Scott wasn’t going to acknowledge her apology and she had nothing to be sorry for.
He narrowed his eyes at her, and I noticed her flinch and move closer to my brother; I didn’t know her too well, but I didn’t think her father would be happy if he found out she had spent the night feeling uncomfortable and anxious around an arrogant human man.
“Hotel?” I shrugged, as if I was throwing the suggestion out.
Felix shook his head immediately.
“The others went back to the hotel.”
There was no need for him to explain further-the rest of his bandmates were at the hotel with the kind of people who found the sight of a sweaty man drenched with sticky animal blood irresistible.
“Come back to our Villa, then?” I suggested without thinking, and Felix had already agreed to it before Robin could interject.
“I’m sure Caius will be thrilled when we arrive with two strange men,” he muttered, but I rolled my eyes.
He had no reason to be upset; we were all more than capable of keeping Aurelia safe, and it wasn’t like he had any right to be jealous.
“I don’t think he will even notice. I assume he’s too preoccupied by Talia right now.”
My brother’s eyes widened for a moment; he hadn’t thought about the fact she was probably spending time with Caius, and he was afraid of how Talia would treat him if they had to speak again.
Aurelia was too distracted to react, and she clearly wasn’t finding her glimpse into Robin’s world an enjoyable experience; her trepidation at staying in the venue was enough to convince Robin that it wasn’t an awful idea to invite the others back and my reminder that Talia was probably there meant he saw the value in bringing people she wouldn’t be able to shift forms in front of.
- Writer
