Status: fin.
Love Like Winter
thirteen;
Lucas sighed and took the photo from Aurora, staring down at the image of the once happy pack. He tapped the faces on it for a few moments before speaking. “Aiden was my best friend throughout my entire life. I grew up on the same grounds as he did; we were neighbors. His father was pack master and mine was his second, so it was natural that Aiden and I become brothers. It was always a contest of masculinity with us when we got older though. Always fighting for girl’s attentions or trying to bring home the biggest kill.” He smiled at the memory, still staring at the image between his fingers.
“When we were pups we were off trying to get this deer. We had been tracking it for hours and Aiden thought that he had it. He made to give the killing blow but a grizzly appeared out of nowhere and nearly killed him. I jumped in front of him and it nearly killed me instead. But we got away. We ran like whimpering girls back to our mother’s and told them what happened. Naturally, our father’s were informed and a search party was sent out.” He sighed, frowning even deeper before throwing the picture across the table and finally looking Aurora in the eye.
“First born is always the one to success his father in the pack, so naturally, when it was time Aiden would take over. His father didn’t want anything getting in the way of that so that bear had to be destroyed. The bear killed my father but not before he took it down a cliff with him. After that Aiden’s pops kind of became like a second dad to me.” There was anger in his eyes and Aurora almost flinched away from him because of that anger and the sudden heat in his tone.
“You’ve got to understand that there’s a law, Aurora. There is a law that every wolf must follow and if those laws are broken execution or exile is what must be done. I broke the law. I should’ve been executed but I suppose I was spared given my relationship with Aiden and his father,” he muttered, looking away at the table of photographs he kept. Aurora hadn’t given them much thought before but she supposed if she were to study them she would find images of him with Aiden and his father.
“What did you do?” Aurora asked, her hands balling into tight fists at the thought of what it could possibly be. What could a wolf do that was so bad that he had to be exiled from his pack? That he was supposed to be executed for? For all she knew she could be sitting with a murderer right now and she didn’t even know it.
She pondered all the possible things that Lucas could’ve done to earn him execution. Each more horrible and twisted than the last and she could only sit there stiff instead of running for help like she so willingly could do from Aiden. For a moment she almost wished she had run too Aiden and begged him to protect her but then Lucas smiled and she didn’t feel so scared any more.
“I fell in love with a human,” he murmured, picking a picture up from the table she had previously been staring at. He stroked his thumb over an image on the frame.
“Oh.”
Lucas chuckled, glancing at Aurora before handing her the photo. The girl in the image had chocolate skin and warm blue eyes. She was laughing at something and she noticed that the edges of the photo were frayed.
“That’s all I have left of her,” he muttered and suddenly that hard exterior made sense. “The penalty for infidelity is exile. But falling in love with a human is execution for both you and the human,” he whispered, wiping at his eyes hastily.
“What? That’s insane! They’d kill you for being with someone who doesn’t shapeshift into a wolf?”
“You don’t understand,” Lucas said with a laugh. “A wolf being with a human is like…a dog being with a cat. A bird with a turtle. It’s unnatural. It’s not supposed to happen, but sometimes it does.”
“A bird and a turtle have never hooked up, I’m pretty sure,” Aurora said, her eyebrows high as she watched Lucas struggle to come up with a proper analogy.
“You understand what I’m saying, though.”
“Yes, I get it. But why? I mean,” she stood up then, walking to where he stood by the table of photographs. She placed her hand on his arm. “We’re the same. This skin. We speak the same language. What’s so different about it?”
“You don’t turn into a wolf,” Lucas stated bluntly. “You won’t ever turn into a wolf. That’s the difference.” He pulled away from her touch and sat back down. “Now, I need you to tell me what happened at that lake. Everything.”
Aurora followed his lead and sat beside him at the table again. “Aiden was showing me around, he took me for a hike and we went to that big cliff and jumped in the lake.”
Aiden shook his head and ran his hand down the length of his face. “Idiot,” he grumbled. Then at Aurora’s offended look, he added, “he took you into pack territory.”
“Oh. Well, we were swimming and then I saw Isabelle and she was like…growling. Next thing I know there were two enormous…werewolves in front of me, so I ran.”
Lucas stood up abruptly then and grabbed Aurora’s arm. “What? What the hell are you doing?”
“Isabelle is going to accuse Aiden of infidelity with a human. Since he’s pack master he’ll be executed. They need to make an example of him. But first, they’re going to come for you.”
“When we were pups we were off trying to get this deer. We had been tracking it for hours and Aiden thought that he had it. He made to give the killing blow but a grizzly appeared out of nowhere and nearly killed him. I jumped in front of him and it nearly killed me instead. But we got away. We ran like whimpering girls back to our mother’s and told them what happened. Naturally, our father’s were informed and a search party was sent out.” He sighed, frowning even deeper before throwing the picture across the table and finally looking Aurora in the eye.
“First born is always the one to success his father in the pack, so naturally, when it was time Aiden would take over. His father didn’t want anything getting in the way of that so that bear had to be destroyed. The bear killed my father but not before he took it down a cliff with him. After that Aiden’s pops kind of became like a second dad to me.” There was anger in his eyes and Aurora almost flinched away from him because of that anger and the sudden heat in his tone.
“You’ve got to understand that there’s a law, Aurora. There is a law that every wolf must follow and if those laws are broken execution or exile is what must be done. I broke the law. I should’ve been executed but I suppose I was spared given my relationship with Aiden and his father,” he muttered, looking away at the table of photographs he kept. Aurora hadn’t given them much thought before but she supposed if she were to study them she would find images of him with Aiden and his father.
“What did you do?” Aurora asked, her hands balling into tight fists at the thought of what it could possibly be. What could a wolf do that was so bad that he had to be exiled from his pack? That he was supposed to be executed for? For all she knew she could be sitting with a murderer right now and she didn’t even know it.
She pondered all the possible things that Lucas could’ve done to earn him execution. Each more horrible and twisted than the last and she could only sit there stiff instead of running for help like she so willingly could do from Aiden. For a moment she almost wished she had run too Aiden and begged him to protect her but then Lucas smiled and she didn’t feel so scared any more.
“I fell in love with a human,” he murmured, picking a picture up from the table she had previously been staring at. He stroked his thumb over an image on the frame.
“Oh.”
Lucas chuckled, glancing at Aurora before handing her the photo. The girl in the image had chocolate skin and warm blue eyes. She was laughing at something and she noticed that the edges of the photo were frayed.
“That’s all I have left of her,” he muttered and suddenly that hard exterior made sense. “The penalty for infidelity is exile. But falling in love with a human is execution for both you and the human,” he whispered, wiping at his eyes hastily.
“What? That’s insane! They’d kill you for being with someone who doesn’t shapeshift into a wolf?”
“You don’t understand,” Lucas said with a laugh. “A wolf being with a human is like…a dog being with a cat. A bird with a turtle. It’s unnatural. It’s not supposed to happen, but sometimes it does.”
“A bird and a turtle have never hooked up, I’m pretty sure,” Aurora said, her eyebrows high as she watched Lucas struggle to come up with a proper analogy.
“You understand what I’m saying, though.”
“Yes, I get it. But why? I mean,” she stood up then, walking to where he stood by the table of photographs. She placed her hand on his arm. “We’re the same. This skin. We speak the same language. What’s so different about it?”
“You don’t turn into a wolf,” Lucas stated bluntly. “You won’t ever turn into a wolf. That’s the difference.” He pulled away from her touch and sat back down. “Now, I need you to tell me what happened at that lake. Everything.”
Aurora followed his lead and sat beside him at the table again. “Aiden was showing me around, he took me for a hike and we went to that big cliff and jumped in the lake.”
Aiden shook his head and ran his hand down the length of his face. “Idiot,” he grumbled. Then at Aurora’s offended look, he added, “he took you into pack territory.”
“Oh. Well, we were swimming and then I saw Isabelle and she was like…growling. Next thing I know there were two enormous…werewolves in front of me, so I ran.”
Lucas stood up abruptly then and grabbed Aurora’s arm. “What? What the hell are you doing?”
“Isabelle is going to accuse Aiden of infidelity with a human. Since he’s pack master he’ll be executed. They need to make an example of him. But first, they’re going to come for you.”