I wake up in a strange positing, I can feel my back against the rough bark of a tree but my head against something else, and something warm is wrapped around my neck, holding me gently.
My eyes flutter open as sunlight tickles my skin, I see the trees and shrubs around.
Strange, where did the fire go? Why the hell am I not in my sleeping bag?
With clouds of confusion in my head, I look at the human limb around my neck. The events of last night flood in my head. Oh…
Carefully unwrapping Luke’s arm from around me, I pull back, my eyes fall on his face. Goddess, he looks exhausted.
Mindlessly, my eyes travel down to his very bare front and before they could go further down, the realization hits me hard.
I jump to my feet and sprint back towards the camp. Once back, I slap my hands on my burning cheeks. Oh my moon, oh my moon, oh my fucking moon. Thank universe I didn’t see anything! I’d have died from embarrassment at the spot!
Why the hell didn’t he have clothes on?!
Mostly when werewolves or Lycans shift, they take off their clothes or rip them apart. Since no one wants to shift back in their birth suit, packs arrange a witch to enchant some clothes on us. So when we shift back, we can save our decency.
Wait…
My hand falls on my pocket, feeling the silver key.
Do I have to go back to give him this?!
Unbidden, blood rushes to my face. I shake my head vigorously. No way am I going there.
But if I don’t go, how the hell will Luke be unlocked?! The chain is unbreakable!
With a groan, I bump my forehead against a tree. Why my universe?
Okay, I can do this, the moment I see a speck of him, I’ll throw the key and run away. Yeah, I can do this.
Pumping myself up with motivation, I start towards the spot where Luke is. Keeping my eyes as close as possible without tripping and quite possibly cracking my skull against a rock. I see a hint of wavy hair, a shade of brown so
dark it’s almost black.
“Luke?” I call from behind a tree
A moment later, a raspy voice reaches me “The key, Hazel.”
I huff. Asshole.
I toss the key in his direction and breathe a sigh of relief. Only, it's cut short by a familiar voice.
“You threw it too far.”
Something between a whine and a groan leaves my mouth as I stomp my foot in annoyance.
“Well, I’m not getting it,” I say
“Oh, and I can spend my life chained to a tree.” Comes the snappy reply
“Don’t be so pessimistic, Luke,” I chide him “Maybe some lucky lady will find you.”
A low growl reaches my ears, a laugh escapes me.
“Get me that damn key, Hazel!” Luke says
“First you tell me, why the hell aren’t you wearing anything?”
“Enchanted clothes don’t work on me.”
“What are you? Anti-magic?”
“No. I’m annoyed.” Luke’s voice reaches me, hard as ever “Now stop this nonsense and give me the key.”
“Ask nicely.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” I smile to myself “Ask me nicely, or we might as well rest for a day.”
“Hazel, I’m not in a mood for this.”
“Fine,” I shrug even though he can't see me “I’m going back.”
I take a few steps forward, humming to myself.
“Wait!” he sounds almost desperate, I bite my lip not to laugh
“Yes?” I ask innocently
He takes a deep breath “Please get me the key.”
“What did you say, Luke?” I ask like the innocent soul I am “I didn’t quite catch it.”
More deep breaths, then he says a bit loudly, his voice slightly terse;
“Hazel, will you be kind enough to get me that key? Please?”
Smiling contently, I turn around and start walking with my eyes towards the sky. I see Luke’s head from my
peripheral.
“What are you doing?” he says “The key is on the ground!”
“Oh, right,” I close my eyes “Where is it again?”
“I can't believe I’m doing this,” Luke mutters before saying “Two steps on your left.”
I take two steps to the left and crouch down on all fours, hands searching the earth.
“A little forward.” I crawl forward and hit my face against something hard, like a tree
“Ouch!” I rub my nose before saying in an accusing tone “You did that on purpose!”
“Why would I?” a hint of amusement leaks in his voice “Just at the base of this tree.”
My hands search around and touch something cool. I snatch the key and stand on my feet.
“I’m tossing it,” I say
“No!” Luke says quickly “Just walk towards me and hold it out.”
I walk in the direction of his voice and hold out the key. Warm, callous fingers brush against mine as he takes the key, causing them to tingle slightly. The sound of a padlock opening reaches me, then the sound of a chain rattling.
“Now go and wear something,” I say, my tone more authoritative than I intended “I’m going to wait here.”
“Fine.” The sound of his footsteps gradually becomes distant and I let out a breath I wasn’t sure I was holding
Well, you can’t blame me, my mother raised me to be a demure maiden. Though I didn’t turn out the way she wanted,
I did catch some of her lessons.
A few minutes later, someone touches my shoulder. My eyes fly open and I see Luke standing near me, thankfully clothed.
“Thank Goddess,” I say as we start walking again
Luke raises his brows “Since when are you so concerned about decency?”
I narrow my eyes at him “Since always.”
We reach the campsite and I see that Luke already packed everything. He opens his food bag and tosses an apple to me, taking one himself.
“Come on, we have to get going.” He says
“Wait,” I grab his arm
Luke turns to me, an eyebrow arched. I let go of his arm and cross my own across my chest.
“You promised me an explanation.” I level him with a steely look
Luke keep staring at me for a few moments. He looks so tired as if he’s been breaking rocks. The way he was looking like when I had knocked at his room’s door so many nights ago in our pack mansion.
It had been a full moon the night before.
Finally, he sighs “You’re not going to leave it?”
I shake my head firmly.
Luke drops his bags and surprises me as he takes my hand and pulls me towards the soft patch of earth I was sitting on last night. We sit down. Luke doesn’t say anything, simply traces the lines on my palm, causing a strange sort of tingly feeling to rise my skin. I think of pulling it away but then let it be.
Luke glances at me from under his lashes. For a moment I feel like something has stolen the breath from my lungs.
The sunlight filters through the trees, catching his eyes like the deep blue ocean. He looks almost anxious.
I internally shake myself. Luke Winters? Anxious? No way in hell.
“Well?” I’m surprised at the softness of my voice
“Hazel,” Luke tightens his hold on my hand, shifting closer to me “Whatever I’m about to tell you, should never reach anyone else. Understood?”
Pulling my brows together, I nod. Luke lets out a breath.
“I was born on an eclipse.”
I suck in a sharp breath, my eyes widen.
Lycanthropes born on an eclipse never survive. They die just a few minutes after birth.
“But,” I stumble on my words “That’s impossible! You- You’re the strongest Lycan I’ve ever seen!”
After last night… after I’d seen him almost pull that huge oak tree from its roots just by a tug…
Luke turns his eyes to my palm again, tracing the lines almost mindlessly.
“My mother was very malnourished, it was a miracle she survived childbirth,” he says “She couldn’t have survived again, that was clear. There would’ve been no leader of our pack after my father. In their desperation to save my life, they were willing to do anything.”
His finger stops its track on my palm, Luke looks up at me.
“They called Korra.”
Realization dawns on me. She’d recognized him at the starting line.
I swallow “What did she do?”
“Over the centuries, our primal nature has receded to almost nothing.” Luke says “Lycanthropes born on an eclipse can’t survive in this age, but they could before.”
Luke lets go of my hand, silence hangs in the still air.
“She made mine strong enough to survive.”
“But last night,” I saw you “I heard the growls and the rattling. What was that?”
“That’s where it went wrong,” Luke heaves a heavy sigh “It was alright in the start, everything was… normal. But as time passed, around the full moon, my primal nature heightened. It got worse when I shifted at 11.”
I stare at him blankly. Lycans usually shift at 13, werewolves at 16. It’s almost impossible to shift before that and if someone does, they usually die of the pain.
“I’d slept early due to how panicked I was feeling,” Luke says “and I woke up in the forest near the pack mansion, blood on my hands and the body of a dead animal at my feet.
“My Father called Korra again and she told us that somehow, my animal nature was still growing stronger,” Luke runs a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his forehead “When it got worse still, she gave my Father that chain to lock me up every full moon night.”
I pull my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around them.
“So this will just go on?” I ask quietly, trying not to think of how painful it must be “There’s no end to it?”
A shadow flickers across his face as he stands up “There is.”
I tighten my hold on myself “That is?”
“If this goes on, my animalistic side will overtake the human one.”
Luke turns around and starts towards where he dropped the bags “And when that happens, I’ll just be another monster to be killed.”
My heart twists horribly in my chest, my throat tightens.
“There’s no cure?”
Luke glances at me over his shoulder “That’s why I’m on the Hunt, to get a cure.”
And another time today, the realization hits me. The Alpha Supreme’s will is unbreakable. That’s what’s driving him, that’s why he’s always looking for ways to ensure his victory.
“Come on,” I stand up from my spot and dust my clothes “Let’s go win this thing.”