The Wayfarer Way Station

Nokomis fumbled with her cloak's clasp under Sage's watchful eyes. "Aron." He called, startling the young woman. She looked up to see a man about two inches shy of Sage stalk over to them. He looked unhappy, with a permanent frown on his face. It confused Nokomis how the man could wear only a pair of traveling pants in this cold weather. "I'm assignin' you to watch over Nokomis. You're her guard."
"What?!" Aron barked out with an accent she had never heard before. She shuffled back a bit, sensing how angry the man was.
Sage's eyes flashed, "You are her actin' guard." Aron growled at his Alpha. "Are you challen'in' me?"
Aron's jaw clenched, everyone waited ready to react if the two wolves started to fight. However, Aron bit out, "No."
"Good. Let nothin' happen to her, understand?"
"Yes."
"Excellent." Sage turned to Nokomis, "You'll be safe with Aron." Nokomis slid her eyes to Aron who glared back and stiffly nodded. "You won't even realize he's there. I'm goin' to make sure the rest of the pack is set. Aron behave." He warned before walking over to the rest of the pack.
"If you wish, I can request another to watch over me, although I do not think I need one." Nokomis hesitantly whispered to her reluctant guardian.
"Don't bother, he won't listen." Aron rumbled out.
"I am sorry."
"Whatever." Aron dropped onto a nearby stool with his arms crossed.
"Will you be okay with only pants on?"
Still scowling, Aron replied, "I'm use to either single digits or negative degrees. Stop worrying about me." She nodded and turned back to packing, afraid she would anger the wolf more.
Amaris walked over to Sage and quietly asked, "Will my daughter really be okay with that man?"
Sage straightened up, "Yes. Aron may be bitter over havin' to play babysitter, but he is well in control over his shift. Besides my word is law, he'll take good care of Nokomis."
"Why did you assign her a guard? We never talked about it."
"I like her and she's human, better safe than sorry. Besides," Sage looked over at the young woman as she stared at her pack. "My instincts are tellin' me she is more than she appears." Amaris turned to stare at her daughter, she did give off strange vibes but she always had.
"I hope whatever it is, she stays safe."
"We will do our best. At least my pack and the Leap will. Dakota, the Wind Wizard, and the Siren I am unsure of."
"Dakota will most likely protect her if he needs to. They have been playmates since they were young, but I too am unsure of Corbin and Rhyme."
An hour later, the group left The Wayfarer and started their journey first to Montana. From there they will travel to Billings, MT and take a portal to their next destination. That is if Nokomis can use one, they were still unsure.
The large group didn't talk much. Nokomis stayed near Aron, all agreeing that he would be her primary guard unless something detrimental occurred. He still wasn't too thrilled at the idea but remained quiet as not to be punished by his Alpha. After three hours of walking and noting different plant species in the woods they walked through, Nokomis started to observe Aron. Now that she was no longer in focus of his annoyance and anger, she took more in of his appearance. He walked with his eyes always scanning the area as if he was waiting for something to attack. He flexed his long finger and was slightly hunched, ready to shift at a moment's notice to his alternate form.
Nokomis shifted her attention to how he perceived his other pack mates and vise versa. They seemed to ignore him for the most part or tease him whenever they grew bored. He'd stiffen when the other pack members talked to him but he took it silently, never snapping back. She found it curious considering how he reacted earlier, where he openly talked (yelled) at Sage, he never talked and rarely interacted with the other shifters.
After noticing those qualities, she shifted her attention back to the man himself. As she noted before, he was a tall man, perhaps mid to late twenties with medium/long hair that reminded her of dark Japanese cherry wood, tattoos similar to Sage's entwined themselves up Aron's left arm and spilled over to his chest and back, and now with closer inspection, she could see silver scars speckling his body.
Aron felt Nokomis's eyes on him and he turned his head to glare. "What?"
She looked at him momentarily shocked, but it soon morphed into wonder. He had two scars running down his left eye, stopping just as it reached his cheek and a single one cutting through the side of his lips. But the feature that most intrigued her was his eyes; his left was a pale blue while his right a jade green. Finally she answered, "Merely looking at you."
Aron's face bunched up, looking for hidden motives behind her words. He looked away, unnerved by her toxic green eyes that seemed to see through him to his core. He didn't trust her. "Stop."
She looked down and was silent for a few minutes until a question popped into her head. "Aron?"
"What?" He asked exasperated, he didn't want to talk to her.
"Do your tattoos carry over to your wolven form?"
He scowled to himself as he replied, "No. Sage's would, but mine doesn't."
Nokomis could hear how much Aron didn't want to continue this conversation and nodded, "Okay, thank you." Aron didn't reply and ignored her for the rest of the day.
That evening at the campsite, Chezza plopped down next to Nokomis as the latter prepared her bed roll. "Soooo, how was walking with master angry pants?" Chezza purred in Nokomis's ear.
"Fine and you should not be mean."
"Please, it's a lot nicer than what other Fey call him. I think it's because of where he stands in the pack."
"His reasons are his own."
"He's the pack's Omega."
"You are talking to me because you wish to gossip." Nokomis finally stopped what she was doing and looked at the older woman.
"Can't deny that, but don't you want to know more about your knight in reluctant armor?"
"If he wishes to tell me he can or I will ask."
"You're no fun, Noko." Chezza complained.
Nokomis couldn't help but giggle, "You are acting like a little kid."
"I'm the leader of my Leap, I can't at childish too often. Entertain me."
"What would you like to do?"
Chezza grinned, "Come dance with me." She pulled Nokomis up and over to the fire. "Mika, a tune." She commanded to one of her own. An upbeat tune began playing and Chezza started vibrating with excitement.
"I do not know the dance to this song."
"How can you exist in the supernatural world and not know this song?" The panther looked offended.
Nokomis gave her a look, "I am human, how often do I actually participate in anything? Most of the time I am running around to hand out drinks."
"Point taken, well now let me teach you to dance." Next thing Nokomis knew, she was being spun about. She had to admit, she was having fun but quickly grew to find the experience uncomfortable.The other group members either laughed at her or stared in disgust. After three dances, she bowed out and watched off to the side. The movements were beautiful and full of life, something she didn't think she could give to them. She knew she moved awkwardly and wrong.
After watching a few more dances, Nokomis quietly moved back to her bedroll. The one next to her was void of life and she did a quick look over the area to find Aron wasn't in sight. She grabbed her cloak and pulled it over herself like a blanket and quickly drifted off to sleep.