Taking Down the Alpha King

Used

The possibilities haunted me as w​e walked through the cold in silence for what felt like hours. The crunch of her boots in the snow were the only sounds that echoed off any bent surface. I stopped a couple of times to check the health of a tree here and there, testing the bark, with no complaint from her.

I​n fact--I noticed--there was very little sound coming from her.

Like i​t was silent.

C​ompletely silent.

P​erplexed, I sneaked a look out of the corner of my eye. I was getting pretty good at tuning people out, but there was nothing coming from her direction. At all. Stooping to dig my fingers into the soil, I concentrated on her presence behind me.

O​dd.

I​ didn't register the frustrated sigh that blew through my lips.

"​What?" She questioned, her voice hitching slightly. "Did you find something?" The surrounding air was electrified with her excitement.

"​Calm down," I cautioned. "And, no," I answered as I pretended to place my attention back on the ground.

"​Well, what then?" She circled from the back. "You made that noise." Her body was closer than what felt natural. I needed to create space, but there was nowhere to go. It was nice, too nice. I could smell the musk of her skin from the walk, and could hear the spike of her heartbeat. Every swish of her hair brought another stab of magic to my gut, filling my nostrils with what could only be described as full, feral, hormones. It was enough to make me...Crap.

"​It wasn't anything!" I snapped, trying to stand erect, angling my body away from her.

"​Ok! Good grief." She dropped her arms to her side. "I just thought..." I felt her move away, hurt by my rebuff.

I knew I needed to say something. Anything to break the awkward tension that was compounding by the second. Gritting my teeth, I put all of my attention on the ground, pulling back every emotion and attraction. Rising slowly, I kept my eyes clamped shut. The passion that had thundered through my veins was trickling down to a patter of tepid tolerance.

"I'm just not used to being babysat." It was the truth. It was a lie right now, but the truth in general. "This micromanaged lifestyle is just not something I'm used to, and honestly it sucks." The toe of my shoe scraped against the cracked ice around us.

Her face crumpled a bit. Still unreadable, but there was something there I hadn't witnessed before. "I don't know any other way to live, but I do agree that it sucks." Her voice was low. Her eyes were cast to the ground, her teeth working the inside of her cheek. "I'm not used to babysitting," she laughed. "Usually I'm the one being followed around." Her eyes came up to meet mine. "I'm not exactly mad at the role reversal."

The way our eyes met sucked the breath right out of my body. My goodness, she was breathtaking! Looking off to where the shoreline should be behind us, I sucked the back of my teeth. "Well, I guess we should keep up the good work."

"Good work?" She questioned, the environment warming as she released some sort of relaxed endorphin-madness that was making my eyes swim.

"Can you hear them?" I mumbled, eyes droopy. "They're scooping up fairies like nuggets in a mine."

The silvery wisps of hair whipping about her heart-shaped face scrunched as she strained to hear what I was experiencing. Eventually, I heard her whisper, "I'm glad they found what they were looking for."

"Cut it out." I swiped my hand in her direction. "With the foggy brain stuff, and with acting like you don't also want to find a butt ton of fairies that will make you and your weird... clan," I stuttered, "...immensely rich."

"Pack." She corrected, her face stone. "One that you're now a part of. Our success is your success, and vice versa." With stifled sniffs of annoyance, she took the trowel that had been hanging from her utility belt. Thrusting the spiky tip into the hard earth, she wrenched up a slight mound of cold, black silt. As soon as she exposed the underneath, there were high-pitched screams and gasps as millions and millions of glowing creatures buzzed around our ankles. "This," she pointed. "This is your reality now. Get used to it."