Dichotomy

VISITORS

Charlotte stood at the top of the stairs stunned for a moment.

Who would drop in so unexpectedly this late at night? And why were her foster parents so freaked out?

Maybe she could find out.

The kitchen was right next to the basement door, and she could hear the low murmur of voices.

Pressing her ear against the door, Charlotte concentrated her magic on amplifying her hearing. She wasn't sure if it would work but almost immediately, the voices sounded louder.

"...What brings you here?" She heard Walter ask.

"You know why we're here. The girl. Outsiders are not welcome." Someone answered.

"Jacob, we would have told you sooner, but the agency didn't give us much notice," Elaine said. "And it was already agreed at the last council meeting that we could take a foster." She continued.

"It was agreed that you could take in a young child." The man named Jacob responded. "It was more than gracious for the council to allow you that much. No one would give a second thought to an imaginative five-year-old spinning tales about men and wolves. A teenager is much different!"

"You put our entire community at risk." Another person emphasized. Greg, she presumed.

"What risk is there? The rules are old. They made sense before the change, but what does it matter now?" Elaine argued.

She was stopped by an angry growl.

"The Alpha will return with a cure for our condition soon. What do you think he will do to you two once he finds out you've broken the most basic of rules?!" Greg snapped.

"The Alpha is not coming back. How long has it been? 5 years? 6?" Walter stated defensively.

"How dare you? My brother will be back soon enough." Jacob said angrily.

"The girl will not be here for long. Less than a year at most." Elaine soothed. "She will likely be gone before your brother returns to us."

"It is not right, Elaine. She must leave immediately!" Greg asserted.

"Please, Greg! We need the money. You know it has been hard for us to find income since Alpha left. The state pays us well to keep the child. Can we at least plead our case in front of the council again? And put it to a vote?" Elaine begged. "If the majority wants to get rid of the girl we will."

For a moment there was silence.

"Very well," Jacob sighed. "We will bring the issue before the council and see if they want to put it to a vote. In the meantime, we will tell everyone to continue as usual."

"Thank you, Jacob!" Elaine said in relief.

It sounded like the conversation was over. The men were preparing to leave as Charlotte pulled her ear away from the door.

Charlotte was confused by their conversation. It left her with more questions than answers. The most important being who and what was the Alpha and why didn't he want her here? Her thoughts swirled with different possibilities.

It turned out she had plenty of time to think about it because the next day she was only allowed out of the basement for breakfast and dinner. She spent most of the day pacing like a caged animal.

On Sunday, Elaine again came and got her for breakfast. Neither Danny nor Walter were there. She wasn't sure where they'd gone off to, but she was grateful.

Charlotte felt a little more brave being one on one with Elaine.

"Elaine, would it be ok if I took a walk after breakfast?" She asked cautiously. Charlotte was going stir-crazy just sitting in the basement all day.

Elaine rolled her eyes from across the table. "You don't need to ask. Do whatever you want girl, just don't piss Walter off and make sure to be back before dinner." She said.

"Thank you!" Charlotte said brightly. She hurried to wash her plate so she could leave the house.

The house sat on the edge of the forest. Lush green trees line the back of the property. It was honestly breathtaking. Charlotte could easily see why someone might want to live here.

She wasn't sure which direction to go so she just went straight, head first into the thick forest. Soon she stumbled on a foot-worn path, which she followed down to a river.

The water was fast-moving and loud as it splashed against the rocks. It looked beautiful and dangerous. Too bad she didn't have a notebook to draw in, Charlotte thought.

Instead, she sat on a nearby rock and let her mind wander. Charlotte was lost in her head when she heard a deep growl behind her.

Gasping, she turned to see a massive black wolf staring down at her from the top of a nearby rock cliff. Its muscles were tense, as if ready to pounce, and its teeth were bared ferociously.

The beast was about to shred her to pieces, she realized with horror.

He leaped off the rock cliff, easily crossing the short distance between them and landing in front of her. His massive form hovered over her. Its eyes pitch black.

Charlotte tripped over her own feet in her haste to get up. She was quivering with fear as she tried to convince her limbs to move while also keeping her wide eyes glued on the animal in front of her. The wolf didn't move, he suddenly went completely still as if a statue. A magnificent, terrifying statue that could easily kill her at any moment, she thought fearfully.

Charlotte started to back away from the wolf but as she climbed the bank her foot got caught between two small boulders, causing her to tumble.

Shit. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought it might bruise itself against her ribcage.

She could feel the wolf's unnaturally black eyes boring into her as she hurriedly struggled to her feet and started running.

Charlotte wasn't sure how she found her way back but she didn't stop running until she saw the house.

Leaning against a tree she tried to get control of her breathing and heart rate. There was no way she could walk into the house like this.

***GIO***

Gio was on his way to the river when a scent hit his nose.

'Human', Gio growled in his head. He followed the scent down to the riverbank.

How dare a human trespass on his territory?

They would soon realize their mistake. Gio would shred them into pieces.

The scent grew stronger as he approached the river. He could see a small female figure crouched next to the river. Her back was turned to him so all he could see was her long mahogany brown hair. It reached all the way down to the small of her back.

Gorgeous.

Gio shook his furry head trying to expel the sudden attraction from his mind, not sure where it had come from.

He had to kill this girl. This was his territory, and she was nothing but a dirty trespasser, no matter how pretty she looked.

Gio growled as he prepared to jump down and confront her.

He pushed himself off the cliff, landing before her. The girl gasped, as her dark golden eyes met his.

Holy. s**t. He felt his own eyes darkening in response.

Mate.

All of the anger and hatred escaped his body in one fell swoop, like a deflating balloon.

Gio felt his stomach clench as waves of emotion crashed over him, battering him with their intensity. Love. Devotion. Desire. Lust. Need. It was overwhelming. He had heard it was intense when you found your mate, but nothing could have prepared him for this. Like a deer caught in the headlights, he couldn't move, it was as if time had stopped. His whole world had tilted, shifted, and snapped back together.

Everything now revolved around her.

He watched in horror as his little mate fell over in her haste to escape. She disappeared into the woods as he stood paralyzed in shock.