Stolen Fates - Anna

Blue Flames

Anna followed Charlie to his room on the fourth floor once they'd reached the pack house. She hadn't missed all the eyes that had followed their movements. She read a range of emotions among them. She could barely breathe from all the tension by the time they reached Charlie's room. Leaning her back against the door once it was closed, a small smile fluttered across her lips as she closed her eyes. She'd never felt more aware of everything around her. 

"You can feel her, huh," she heard Charlie's soft voice and slowly opened her eyes, nodding her head to his question. In the dark recesses of her mind, she could recall the same feeling back when she'd been thirteen. Her parents had called her crazy, going so far as to admit her into the psychiatric ward of a hospital and putting her on a steady diet of neuroleptics. She had little memory of her time in the hospital but a nauseous feeling took over her stomach any time she tried to remember those two years. 

"She's tired...but happy," Anna said with a gentle laugh and pushed herself away from the door. "I need a shower," she continued and started to move to the bathroom door. Charlie caught her wrist and spun her around, draping his arms around her waist and buried his face into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply. 

"Would you like some company," he breathed against the skin of her neck and Anna chuckled low in her chest as she ran her fingers through his sandy colored hair. 

"As much as I would love that...I actually need you to do me a favor," she replied and felt his sigh before he lifted his face from her neck. He pressed his forehead to hers, looking into her eyes. "I don't have any clothes here. Would you go back to my apartment and get me some things," she asked with a slight lift of one brow and brushed her nose against his. 

"Thank you," she heard him say as little more than a whisper and tilted her head in confusion. "For not asking to go yourself," he explained with self-conscious shrug of his shoulder. "I know you probably won't want to...but...I'd rather you stay here for a little while...until you can...control...your wolf," he continued and she couldn't help but to sigh as she took a step back from him. 

"Charlie," she began and moved her hands to his chest, resting her palms against him. "You know that I can't stay here forever...right," she asked him gently and watched the adam's apple in his throat bob when he swallowed hard. "I have school...work...a life that doesn't have anything to do with all of...this," she continued in that same gentle tone and saw his eyes turn from hers and down toward the floor and he nodded minutely.

"But...this is...a part of your life now, Anna. I-I thought...," she heard him begin with his eyes still turned down from hers. He cleared his throat and sighed heavily before taking a small step back and offering her a forced smile. "I-I'll be back in an hour...or so," he nodded his head with his words and stepped around her to exit his bedroom quickly.

Anna watched the door close quietly as Charlie left and immediately felt the heaviness in her heart from his absence. She'd been the one to ask him to go...what right did she have to feel sad that he'd gone. Turning quickly away from the door, she headed into the bathroom and turned the water of the shower to its hottest setting. 

She peeled Charlie's t-shirt over her head and stepped under the hot spray, feeling her very soul warm under the heat. She let the water wash away the dirt clinging to her skin and turned her back to the spray to wet her hair. Her eyes glanced around the enclosed shower, looking for some type of shampoo to cleanse her blonde locks. She eyed a bottle in the corner and opened the top, pouring some of the gel into her hand. Her nose caught the scent of the shampoo and her mind was flooded with images of Charlie. 

Stay calm, little one. Just breathe, she heard a calming voice in her head and pulled a deep breath in through her nose, trying to focus on the voice instead of the images. She didn't know why the voice was so calming to her but it was like a balm, soothing her raw nerves and emotions. 

In control of her breathing and mind once more, she used Charlie's shampoo to wash her hair and turned off the tap when the last of the suds had disappeared down the drain. She wrapped a towel around her body, knotting it between her breasts and stepped out of the bathroom. She ran her fingers through her wet hair in place of a brush and let her eyes roam over the room. She'd have to find something to put on until Charlie returned with her things.

Her fingers tangled in the ends of her hair, the knot pulling her attention and her eyes from the room around her. Her breath caught in her lungs when she looked down at her fingers and slowly pulled them from the tangled mess that was her hair. The blue flames that danced along her petite fingers was almost translucent and odder still, they didn't burn her skin. 

"Wh-what...is...happening," she gasped and could feel the walls of her throat closing with her panic. 

Hush, little one. The fire is yours, as much as it is mine, and would never harm you, spoke the calming voice in her mind once more. Her eyes widened as the flames spread down from her fingers, covering her knuckles and then the whole of her hands. 

I can't control the flames for much longer, little one. We must go outside. We must go back to the clearing the wolf took you to earlier today, the voice said in the same calming tone but the words became more rushed. 

Anna didn't question, though she did wonder why, the voice and pulled the door to Charlie's room open and ran down the stairs to the main floor. She held the towel to her chest and ran out the front door, voices calling out to her from behind as she fled to the outdoors. 

She didn't clearly remember the way to the clearing Charlie had taken her to but her feet carried her in that direction nevertheless. She didn't feel the thorns of sticker bushes as they brushed her legs, pricking her skin and drawing pinpricks of blood. The fire crawled up her wrists to her forearms, abandoning her fingers and hands. She could feel its warmth as it tickled along her skin and honestly, it felt oddly pleasant. 

She burst through the trees and into the clearing, falling forward and bracing her hands to catch the weight of her body. On her hands and knees, she drew in deep, rushed breaths and felt her lungs burn for oxygen. Her muscles trembled and her eyes watched the flames creep up her biceps and over her shoulders. 

Well done, little one. Be strong for just a moment or two longer, the voice called through her mind and she felt the warmth of the fire slowly gather on her chest, over her heart. The flames absorbed into her skin and she gasped as the warmth entered the muscle of her heart, spreading quickly through her body along her veins. 

"Wh-who...are you," she asked the empty clearing, her breaths still coming in short bursts and the muscles of her arms shaking as they held her up from the ground. 

I am Nivara, little one. We have met before...but only once. Only when you needed me most. Now...relax little one. This will not hurt...not like the wolf, Anna heard the voice growing louder in her mind, her ears ringing but she did as Nivara instructed.

Anna took a deep breath and felt her muscles relax, leaning back to sit on her heels. She felt the flames against her skin before she saw the but didn't fear them this time. The warmth started slow from her heart and grew, spreading outward until her entire torso was engulfed in the bright blue fire. She stood to her feet and walked more toward the center of the clearing, the flames spreading to her arms and legs as she moved. 

She stopped at the center of the clearing, tilting her head and closing her eyes as the flames licked up her neck and covered her face. Her hair swirled around her, the blue flames dancing on the breeze. The fire expanded around her, growing like a sphere to surround her, and the flames grew so bright that her form could no longer be seen. 

When the ball of fire all but consumed the open air of the clearing, the flames enveloped in to the size of her frame...then exploded like a star in the heavens. 

The moonlight reflected off the white scales and golden horns of the large dragon now standing in the center of the clearing. Her height was just short of the four-story pack house and when she spread her wings, they touched the trees on either side of the clearing. She opened her jaws and let a loud roar echo to the moon. Her white eyes scanned the clearing, her senses picking up the sound of snapping twigs and the smell of fear.

Don't be afraid. I will not harm you, she called out with her mind and lowered her body to the ground, folding her wings onto her back. She watched as several wolves of all colors slowly crept from the darkness of the trees, their noses scenting the air. Then Anna's mate stepped through the gathering of wolves, still in his human form and simply gaped at her for several long moments. 

"Nivara...where is Anna," he asked and raised his hands as he walked closer. 

She is here...inside...safe. Your mate is safe, she spoke into Charlie's mind, emphasizing the word safe. I will return her to you soon. At this moment, however, there is something we must do, she continued and lifted her body from the ground, stretching her wings. 

Before Charlie or any of the wolves could protest or even react, Nivara gathered the wind into her wings and pushed up hard from the ground with her legs. She flew over the treetops and away from the pack territory, her white eyes scanning the mountains beyond. A sudden roar filled the sky from the mountains and Nivara pulled her wings in tight to her body, diving toward the source of the sound.