Hunted (BurningWillows & BloodMoon)

"My sleep?" she chirped, humming as his fingers skimmed her soft skin, "Refreshing. I don't think I'm ready to join the world outside this room just yet..."

She jumped on top of him, straddling his hips as his fingers skimmed down her naked waist. Elijah had commented the day before on her tattoos, something she'd grown used to in the last thirty years but for him was a new look on her. Reyn had always held her flawless skin as a top quality, and the tattoos in her eyes did nothing to change that; if anything they enhanced her tanned skin, making her sexier and dangerous looking.

With her own hands she pulled at his shoulders until he was sitting under her, tasting his lips as the sleep fell away from both of them.

"One more round..." she murmured into his lips.

B~

She had woken up. Her perfect little voice dryly calling out his name. A soft smile pulled at his pink lips as his eye’s looked down at hers, as she struggled to open them with the light.
“How are you feeling? Do you need anything?” He asked softly, watching her sluggish movements within his arms.
“You needed me, no need to thank me.” He grinned, her small frame pulling him over her as her eye’s slowly opened to look up at him. While he worried for her, she wasn’t feeling as bad as what she could, but he wanted to make sure. His soft eye’s took her in, watching her perfect beauty as she awoke. His head lowered, kissing her lips ever so softly.
“I’ve never found anyone near as captivating as you” He mumbled, his words vibrating against her immaculate pink lips. He took in her soft but sweet smell, happily taking it in, as he lost himself in perfect, everlasting violet eyes.

She reciprocated, pushing into him and their kiss became playful, her teeth chewing his lip. He wanted so much more of her, but Xael knew better than to push her. Just in the few days he'd met her, Xael knew she was resigned, but sweet, and shy but fiery.

And some part of him tugged to make their moments last, to stretch each one out until the next came. So as their lips parted he playfully kissed her nose then pulled back the covers.

"Don't move," he ordered, moving around the bed, "Not an inch. I'm bringing us breakfast in bed."

Her presence had rejuvenated him, making the pounding headache more of a dull pain in the back of his head. Escaping through the bedroom door, he made his way down to the bar and ordered two plates of scrambled eggs and toast, with coffee to help their hang overs.

They arrived quickly and he scooped both plates and coffees onto a tray he insisted on using, returning to the little wolf waiting upstairs for him.

"Breakfast," he grinned, walking into the room.

They lay there, for what felt like hours but was only minutes as they stared at each other, letting the other wake up in their arms. The smell of bacon and coffee wafted into the room and thoughts of undressing him turned to thoughts of food to filling her empty stomach.

"Coffee helps hang overs, right?" she smiled, stroking away a strand of hair falling into his eyes, "Before we meet up with the others, can we eat? Just the two of us?"

Braxton agreed, and to take precautions only he went down and ordered it, bringing the food back to the room so they could eat in peace. By the time he returned she was dressed and cleaned up, although her headache was growing worse by the second under the bright sun shining through the windows.

Sitting on the bed, she happily took a plate and dug in, thanking her handsome man profusely.

L~

Her lips melted against his. Something within her pulled at him more, but the wolf pushed it back, unfamiliar with that odd feeling developing within her chest and lower ribs. She nipped softly once more before he pulled back and kissed her on the nose. Her large wolfish eye’s watching him with shock. Her stomach growled softly, and she watched with a slight smile as he told her to stay. While demand’s weren’t something of her nature, the girl laid quietly with both silver orbs watching the door. Tilting her head, his foot steps came closer after several minutes. The scent of food flourished within her nose, and her mouth drooled at the sweet smell of bacon. A sweet smile pulled at her luscious pink lips as he entered the room.
“Thank you” She replied, both silver eye’s watching him happily.

He sat down on the bed, sitting cross-legged as he put the plate down on the blankets. Handing her a coffee and a plate, he dug into his.

"I have an hour before the meet up," he exclaimed between bites of egg, "We are meeting at the south gate, which is only a couple minutes from here."

His posture was completely relaxed around her now, his eyes soft every time he looked over at her.

"I just want you to know I won't tell anyone," he smiled, finishing a strip of bacon, "About you being a werewolf. I guessed it back when you caught that wild cat, but I'm not about to shout it to anyone who would listen. I know the feeling of wanting to keep to yourself. Being a vampire isn't always fun. Best example, the sun looks beautiful outside and I'm wearing a cloak to hide from it."

His mood sobered slightly but he pushed the feeling away, "I wish you were coming with me Luna."

B~

Bringing the plates in, Braxton grinned largely at Ash. Both haunting white eye’s never leaving her as he handed her the plate, filled with pancakes with a small amount of whip cream, bacon, eggs, and even fried potatoes.
“Is it good?” He asked, looking fondly down at her as they sat on the bed, the man taking a sip out of a fairly old white mug. Taking several bites, the man couldn’t help but watch her. Scooping up a small amount of cream on his one of his fingers, Braxton grinned quickly reaching over to smear it on her nose. Tilting his head a soft laugh erupted from his mouth as the look of whip cream on her nose amused him

She wrinkled her nose at him, staring cross-eyed at the cream to make him laugh harder. His laugh was music to her ears, but the cream was getting itchy as it dried so she grabbed his hand to scoop it off.

"Gimme," she muttered, gripping his one hand and scooping the whip cream off.

With a sultry grin she moved his finger to her lips and licked off the cream, her tongue grazing his skin.

"Eat nicely," she teased, freeing his hand and moving back to her plate, "Or I'll smear whip cream all over you!"

Vaguely she thought about the time, and got up to checked how high the sun was. They needed to be at the south gate in less than hour, she calculated, giving them not a lot of time left to fool around while they ate.

"We gotta eat fast," she kissed the side of his face as she returned to her spot, "Then we gotta dash, or we'll leave Xael waiting. And I don't like being late."

~~

Half an hour later they were rushing out the door, hand in hand. As they walked down the corridor another door opened ahead of them, and an all too familiar pink head popped out, spotting them almost right away.

"Hey Elijah," she called, looking back into the room, "Guess who I found?"

L~


His words brought reality back… He was right… They were leaving for contracts today. How could she possibly leave someone she was only just feeling attached to? For her, she’d only ever known being by herself. While she hadn’t been with him long… There was something there.
She nodded softly, looking down as the girl sat up, the bottom’s of her feet pressing together as she sat comfortably.
“That’s odd… My employer told me leaving through the South gate was the quickest.” She added, her hand’s gripping the cup as she looked down into the tar colored liquid.
But then, she could feel an odd sensation run up her spine. She stiffened, and her eyes closed as he acknowledged her race. She’d been shuned for it, thrown rocks at, beaten, and so much more… But his words made the sensation dissipate as he comforted her. She looked up shyly at the man, both silver eyes looking up under thick, black lash’s.
“Thank you Xael…” Her appreciation seeped into each word, her hand reaching out to softly extend her fragile hand under his chin, her talon’s softly resting against the scruffy hair of his beard.
“At least you’re not shunned for being a beast” She replied softly, her head tilting slightly in understanding.
“I wish I could come Xael…” She whispered, her eye’s looking at the man sadly.
“I don’t want to leave your side… I don’t know why, but something inside of me feels… Sorrow at the thought…” She replied softly, a softened sadness taking over her vibrant silver eyes.

"Your not a beast," Xael argued, mad she would even let those words faze her, "Don't listen to that. You belong, just as much as everyone else. I've been called names too...so has Ashlin. No one likes hunters, because we are different. But please, don't call yourself a monster, because you aren't one."

Her next words made his heart sore, but the fact of the matter still was he was leaving town, possibly for weeks.

"You could come with," he offered as he put his empty plate as well as hers on the tray, "If your contract is in our direction, you can do both. And then Ashlin won't kill me for letting Elijah tag along, because your there."

"You don't have to come though," he continued, "But I will be gone for at least a couple weeks. And I don't know how you'll feel about that. It's ultimately up to you, Luna."

~~

An hour later they were walking out of thier inn, Xael's hood pulled low over his head to keep the sun at bay. Normally he didn't notice how low he had to wear his hood, but with Luna beside him he noticed how the hood cut off some of his vision, so he had to crane his head sideways to see her. It became too much of a nuisance to look at her, so he stared ahead, moving his arm around her shoulders instead so he knew where she was.

They'd agreed that she would tag along until they had to split for their separate contracts. Neither of them wanted to be far from the other, as if some invisible force was pushing at them to be together. Even thinking of not being able to see her smile, or hear her laugh for more than a day made Xael nauseous. As they pulled up in front of the south gate Xael pulled her into the shade of a tree. The street was empty and quiet, mostly because people rarely left the city, so there was no reason for townsfolk to be wandering near the gates. It gave him and Luna a few more minutes alone, before Braxton and Ash arrived. Tugging at his hood, he pulled it back enough so he could look down at her and smile. With two fingers he tilted her chin and planted a soft kiss on her pale lips, making her smile.

"I couldn't help myself around you. I had to steal one more," he grinned, "Your intoxicating to me, Lunar."

As they proceeded towards the south gate, Lunar’s bold silver eye’s looked around at their surroundings, taking in the lack of activity farer outwards. While she over watched that, she notice the lack of response from the devilishly handsome man behind her. But as soon as the thought came across her mind, he slipped his arm comfortably around the girl, keeping her within arms reach. Curling her arm around his waist, Lunar curled her head up into Xael’s chest. As they arrived, Lunar looked back up towards the handsome man, smiling softly as he directed her to the shade, his form leaning in and kissing her sweetly as they did so. Her body melted into his, her hands sliding up to rest on his chest. A soft whimsical laugh melting out of throat at his response.
“And your my knight.” She grinned

B~

Her expression was priceless. A deep, chest rolling laugh booming out of his lungs, his white haunting eyes never once leaving her breath-taking features. But quickly, the whip cream had begun to dry, leaving her scooping up his large hand to remove the cream with one of his fingers. Quickly, the girl popped his finger into her mouth, her soft, warm tongue grazing the rough callused skin on his finger. Braxton’s head shifted back slightly, his blackish-brown hair ruffling slightly with the movement.

“Damn it Ash…” He groaned softly, as she referred back to the time.

“Now that’s just cruel” He chuckled, gripping her hips softly and pulling her down into his lap before she could fully sit back down. His hand moved up, sweeping her soft hair as Braxton kissed the back of her neck sweetly before eyeing up his breakfast.

“So hurry up eating…” He chuckled, still kissing the back of her neck softly.

“Yes,” she scolded playfully, scooting off of him and stealing her plate away as she sat at the end of the bed towards him, “We can play later.”

She broke off a piece of bacon, tossing it in her mouth and chewing, watching him all the while. Broken pieces of the night before were coming back to her, and Ashlin was regretting the amount of alcohol she had consumed yesterday.

Making idle conversation as they ate she asked, “So how’d we get back to the hotel last night? I remember leaving the pub…and then waking up in your arms.”

"Don't feel like a knight," he murmured, "But I'll try to be one for you."

He found a spot in the grass against the tree and sat, pulling Luna down beside him so her head rested on his stretched out legs. Softly he stroked her hair as they spoke, watching her big silver eyes light up as she spoke.

"They should be here any minute," he exclaimed, looking down the street, "I'm surprised they aren't already. We'll just wait here until they arrive, okay angel?"

B~

Braxton chuckled softly, both eye’s taking in her beautiful violet orbs.
“I’ll keep ya to that” He smiled, taking a piece of bacon and shoving it into his mouth.
But as she brought up the topic, Braxton looked up as he took a mouth full of pancake. Swallowing, the man nodded slightly.
“You where pissed last night, so I carried you.” He commented, tilting his head as he took another mouthful of pancake.
“Do you remember the nightmares…?” He approached softly, trying to be careful about what he said. With several other scrapes along his plate, Braxton looked up, ready to leave when she was.
L~

Her head tilted slightly, both silver orbs caressing his feature’s as her thumb still softly stroked Xael’s jawline. The two moved to find a nice grassy spot underneath the tree, Xael’s arms softly leading her down next to him, allowing the red head to rest her head against Xaels legs. Lunar smiled contently up towards the man, taking in the broad line of his jaw, the strictness of his eyebrows, and the soft line of his cheekbones. She couldn’t help but examine them and appreciate every little thing to the man.
“You are a knight Xael. In a very sexy trench coat.” She grinned, a hand moving up to softly hold his. Slowly the girl held his hand up, matching their hand’s to each other’s to expose the smallness of her hand next to his.
“I’m completely ok with that, just means I get more alone time with you.” She smiled sweetly.

"I don't mind either darlin'. I could spend hours under this tree with you, and it would feel like only seconds past. And we've only known each other for just a few days. But I'd like to know everything about you. Where you came from, what you like, what you don't..."

He trailed off, noticing a look flash across her eyes.

"The nightmares..." she repeated, swallowing what was left in her mouth as a few images flashed through her mind, "Uh...yeah."

Now that he mentioned them, her memory begin bringing bits and pieces back, none of which she wanted to remember. It didn't take her more than a few seconds to realize what nightmares she had had, and worse, Braxton knew about them too.

"How much did you hear?" she cringed, nervous to speak on her past, "Be honest."

L~

Her smile broadened slightly, her fingers softly rubbing against his skin as she chatted with the handsome man. But then he asked about her, and she could feel the tightness build up within her chest.
“Give me a starting point?” She asked softly, unsure of what he’d wanted to know.

He wasn't sure if he had made her uncomfortable or not, but he could feel the tension in her muscles as she held his hand. He decided to place a feeler out, hoping he could gauge her reaction and avoid making the tiny girl upset.

"Tell me how you became a werewolf? Was it the outbreak or birth? I've only met one other werewolf and they were born with the gene."

B~

Braxton took in her features and her expressions. It showed that it wasn’t an easy topic.
“Enough to worry.” He commented softly.
“What happened…? If you don’t mind my asking?”

L~

She thought about it, thinking of the stories her people told her.
“I was born a wolf… While my sister was born human… In my clan, our Alpha’s are brought up by how they’re born. If we’re born a wolf, then you’re the next Alpha of the pack. If your born human and turn wolf, then you’re an omega.” She replied, biting her lip softly as she thought of home. And the life she abandoned when she’d run from home.
“What about you? What’s your favorite color? And food?” She asked, eager to jump off topic.

What do I say? What can I tell him?

The genuine worry on his face told her he wanted to know, but more than that he wanted to understand. Ashlin had never considered telling a single soul about her past, even keeping secrets from Xael, but this man had her doubting herself. He'd seen her transform and shrugged it off, and now he wanted to know her nightmares, which she knew were in truth her past. Was she willing to tell him?

Sighing, she dropped her half eaten plate, her appetite gone, and crawled back into his lap, curling her arms around his neck as she kissed him. Then she stood up and started pacing, knowing every relived memory she spoke would make her upset.

"My first...nightmare, was a memory. I was young, I think around seven, and my...my father and mother were taking me from our village."

Your doing well, keep talking-

"I should rewind and explain that I was born after the outbreak, but close enough that I was still affected. A baby girl with violet eyes and raw, magical power -it wasn't popular amongst the villagers."

-still doing well. Your voice hasn't cracked yet. Keep going-

"Eventually my parents saw me as...as a monster. And not their c-child," her voice wavered and her hands shook at her sides but she kept pacing, refusing to look Braxton's way till she was finished, "They took me out to the forest and left me there. Stranded...and a-alone. They told me it was b-better this way, that I was...better off out there...whe-whether I live. Or die."

Ashlin's voice broke and tears threatened to over pour. Her pacing stopped as she clenched her fists and tried to remain calm. Why had I told him this? Why am I putting myself through this?

"A clan?" he asked, interested, "I didn't know there were clans. If your an Alpha why are you alone? Shouldn't you be running a pack, or something?"

Her switch in topic was obvious and forced and he went quiet for a few seconds, looking down at her cute face with concern. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Tell me when your ready," he whispered and pulled away, adding louder, "And I don't have a favorite color or food. I like it all. My start wasn't glamorous, or really much of a story. Ash says it is, but most people have better stories than I do...in my opinion."

He settled against the tree and started recited a tale he'd spoken many times, "Before the outbreak, I lived in New York City. It was busy -absolutely full of people at any time of day- and when the outbreak hit it became chaotic. People were running every which way, many were being trampled or hit by cars, or worse. It felt like hell had risen on earth, there was so much death and blood around us, everyone turning on one another to try and survive as people evacuated the city or found shelter.

I was one of the unfortunate ones to be killed. Yes, little wolf, I died. It's not a great feeling either. Somehow though the mutagen didn't turn me into a raging zombie, or leave me to rot. I woke up a few days later, when the chaos had died. Luckily I woke at night, but I was disorientated and confused. By morning I was insatiably hungry, but the sun burnt my skin so I had to hide till dusk. It was awful. And I won't say for the weeks that followed I kept control of myself, or that any part of me kept its humanity. I'll spare you the details. I wasn't the nicest person to come across...more like a beast than anything. Eventually, after a couple years of solitary and a lot of guilt I got better. I learnt how to travel in the daytime, and how to feed without killing. I took up hunting to give back what I took, and that's what I've been doing since."

B~

With that Braxton stood, his form slowly moving to the girl. He opened his arms before pulling the beautiful woman into his bold arms, pressing his lips to the top of her head. It was starting to puzzle together in his head, slowly tearing at his soul.
“They where wrong.” The words where soft, his deep voice muffled within her soft hair.
“So very wrong my little Ash” He mumbled, his hands stroking her back softly.
The sun shimmered against the floor, the rays streaming through the curtains of the room. While the time was ticking, Braxton tightened his grip around the girl slightly, offering comfort to the mystical sorceress within his arms.

E~

The man gripped her hips, throwing her off of him as he finished. Grunting softly, Eli reached up to scratch his broad chest slightly before his form slowly stood. His broad willowy form looming over his toy as he walked across the room, opening the curtains to look at the sun.
“Knowing you, You’re hungry.” Eli commented, his glowing emerald eye’s shifting over to the siren on the bed.

"Mm," she hummed, breathing him in until she was completely relaxed.

His words comforted her, but she quietly assured him it was the past, and only a nightmare, nothing more. Not wanting to waste anymore time, or look any weaker around Brax than she already did, Ash tugged him down for a long kiss as she pushed the negative thoughts away. Pulling herself back together, she gratefully used him to lean on as they strolled out of the room hand in hand. Just as Ashlin reached the top of the stairs a familiar voice chirped behind them, making her shudder.

"Oooh," Reyn's overly cheery voice oozed with glee, "Hey Elijah, look who I found!"