Faline

Orion's been nodding while watching what I'm doing, he finally answers when I look back up at him.

"It is possible I could be called a dire, sure. As I'm sure there are ancient cat breeds somewhere, probably very rare though as species are extinct."

Makes sense. Oh yeah, he's a cat, right?

"Do you know what kind of feline I am?"

"Are you assuming that since I'm a cat that I know every type of cat?"

Well damn, don't have to be so obnoxious. Shrugging I turn away, looking for Kerry, she can't still be pissing. Looking to Maii for a possible answer, he just lifts his hands and shoulders.

"If you're looking for Kerry, she was requested by a patron. Before going to them she found me and asked a favor; if I could come to the kitchen till she can return. Wanna explain to me why I'm needed here?"

I snort. His attitude is really starting to bug me.

"You're not needed here as you can see, so you can leave whenever you like. You'll just get in my way anyway."

My problems usually revolve around Vampires or Weres, but now it seems I can add obnoxious Shifters to that list as well. I wave my hands at him, motioning for him to go. A box is opened with more force than needed, pulling out the meat to start thawing.

The way they're packaged, not sure if they'll be thawed by the time I need them or not. Another submissive in the area gets called over and told to pull out the pork rib racks so they can start thawing now and may be ready by dinner.

Wait.

"Kerry wasn't called to that one Vamp again was she?"

He just shrugs. I start feeling mean and extremely annoyed.

"Don't know much, do you?"

"Mean little thing aren't you?"

My time to shrug.

"With the shit I've had to go through, be glad I'm civil at all. Or even cognizant for that matter."

Was originally glaring at him, but my eyes go to the painting. His gaze follows mine before his black eyes narrow.

"Kerry had mentioned there was something that needed to be talked about, but couldn't go into much detail at the time."

I start waving the knife in my hand around as if motioning to everything around me, my gaze taking in everyone in the room. No Vamps or other animals aside from me, him and Maii. Ones in here now are all human.

"Oh, I dunno, the fact that I'm not supposed to be here? That she thinks my sister is some mythical wolf thing? That I found out last night that my rapist and captor has been sending people after said sister to kill her? That I've been blind and stupid and didn't see what was in front of me? Could be any number of things."

I say it all flippantly, watching his face the whole time. Kerry said he can be trusted, guess we'll see. His face has steadily been hardening since I said I'm not supposed to be here.

Orion's eyes hold confusion when I mention my sister and wolf then go to anger as I finish. His face goes to Maii who just nods with a sad expression.

"Okay, rewind, and start again. What do you mean you're not supposed to be here?"

"I was taken and held against my will, turned Vampire, then woke up here after trying to kill those who hold me."

His face is grim as he nods, almost as if he'd figured I'd say that.

"And the mythical wolf thing?"

That one I shrug about, still a little confused myself. Which I'm sure shows on my face.

"She was trying to tune me and my sister's recent life events to some old stories and prophecy or another about a Silver Wolf and change and whatnot. Told her it isn't possible since she said this mythic wolf won't be harmed by other wolves - I was in her mind as she was being abused by one."

My eyes had wandered, and when they come back to him, surprise is on his face, as well as excitement. Oh God, please tell me I didn't just put her in more danger. I can feel my face harden as I look at him, wariness there as well.

"Kerry said you can be trusted. I've already gone through two attempts on my sister's life, and have a feeling more will come before Nicolaus is done. Whether she is a damn Silver Wolf or not, she doesn't deserve more pigs going after her."

"Agreed. Every clan has stories of the Silver Wolf. More fantasy than anything, but I have been hearing a lot of rumors flying around lately that one has been seen. Some even saying they heard it as it cried out in pain. That they felt the wolf's agony and pain of a lost one..."

His eyes widen as he looks at me again. I'm confused. Orion looks to Maii who looks just as confused as I do. Black eyes flash to a bronze color before going back to obsidian when they land on me again.

"I take it Nicolaus is the cause of all this, isn't he? I heard he was wanted, as well as his pet wolf. Both of them a danger to the secrecy that protects us all."

"Then if people know where they are, why has nothing been done?"

My temper had been getting riled already, so I turn away and stare at the fridge before I lash out.

"Same reason many things are so messed up. Politics. That's why so many are excited about the rumor and the coming of change, and why others are in an uproar to find, control, and harness this wolf's power for their own, wanting to effect change in their own way."

I look over my shoulder and glare at him, feeling even more ridiculous in this damn outfit.

"You're all insane, and my sister would say the same. Your system sounds even more fucked than the humans'. Neither she nor I have anything to do with any damn political move for power."

"You sure about that?"

Turning, I look at him in disdain as I motion to myself with annoyed anger.

"Do I look like I have anything to do with anything political?"

"Actually, yes."

I scoff and look at him as if he's crazy.

"I've heard talk of a Vampire prophecy as well, it's more closely guarded so not many know or have heard about it. The younger Vamps know nothing of it, but the older ones do. I'd rather not say anything until I know more though, so I'll get more information and get back to you. Watch yourself even more girl, if you are the one it talks about, you're in even more danger than you know."

Oh, lovely. Because I don't have enough to deal with. Throwing my hands up in exasperation, I walk away and ignore him. Not only do I have to worry about what Nicolaus is sending against my sister, but also have to watch over my ass even moreso from undead idiots. Not just the one who holds me, but all of them.

By the time I turn back around, Orion is gone. Good riddance. With my desire to cook anything now non-existent, I wander around the kitchen. Kerry had come back at some point but stayed over by the counter with Maii who keeps watch over me.

I don't know what's wrong, my whole body is antsy while emotions keep spiking randomly. Quickly going back to the counter, I talk to Kerry about changing the original plan for lunch from gyros to chicken salads.

She looks a little confused, so I describe them while writing out how to do it. The chicken will be easy since there's already thirty-some pounds of breast meat in one of the fridges. Also tell her about the rib stacks that are thawing and that we need to get more meat from the freezer and put into the fridges so we don't have to deal with last-minute thawing.

Kerry listens to everything intently. She'd tried to apologize when I'd come back over, but I told her it wasn't important; we all have things we have to do. I plan on helping as much as I can, but if things get worse with these constant mood shifts, I need to go elsewhere before I hurt someone.

With no grill, the chicken gets cooked stovetop with a little bit of oven time. Even cut to smaller pieces, thirty pounds of chicken goes pretty fast as people come in, eat, then leave. The animals eating much more than the humans.

Towards the end of the lunch serving is when things start going to hell. A small tunnel opens up between me and another as I feel their extreme negative emotions. Anger and rage get heightened. Frustration. Helplessness. Confusion.

Between the waves flooding me, I gasp at Maii to take me to the solarium, not wanting to go back to that damn room. Leaving Kerry with the instructions on what to do with me not there, the boy and I run to the sunroom. Don't care if there's sunlight streaming in there, I need to shift and get away from everyone. Luckily he knows how to get there since I have no damn clue.

Almost dropping to my knees and screaming at one point, we get stared at as we run past. I see the door coming up to the room, and it'd better not be locked. Hitting it full bore, I rip it open.

Once inside I fall to my knees again, my mind whirling in fear and anger, ripping the apron off me as I shift at the same time. A sense behind me lets me know that the boy shifts just as I do. Kicking off the stupid leather dress then taking off into the darkened interior, I find out the hard way that some areas do have sunlight coming through. My whole body shudders in pain from running through it, wisps of smoke rising from me even after I'm past it.

Having the sense to dive into one of the pools before the burning gets worse, the scent of burning fur dies just as I hit the water. The smallish coyote stays near the edge of the water, looking at me through that white mask of his. For some reason, it reminds me of a sugar skull. The whirling of emotions calms enough for me to know they're coming from Kierra, not originating from me.

I don't know what happened, and the thoughts I'd been getting had made no sense; it was as if she were running away from herself. For the next hour, I get flashes of images and emotions that burst through me out of nowhere.

At one point I know she gets hit by a car, my breath shuddered as I felt it with her. The whole left side of me feeling broken as my right gets road shredded. Breathing became hard, but she still got up and ran away.

I learn to stay out of the trees since I've fallen from two of them now, equilibrium shot all to hell as I see through my eyes and hers at the same time. One moment I'll be fine, then I start feeling frantic for no reason, an overwhelming need to get away from someone, yet that 'someone' seems to change constantly.

Lunging at the small coyote at my side as I get images of my sister fighting off a pack of dogs, I'm able to fight it down before I injure him. I'm not very tall in this form, around two feet at my shoulder, whereas coyote Maii is at most a few inches shorter. He's small but quick, able to stay near me and dart away when I start lashing out randomly, for which I'm very thankful for.

I hope he knows I'm not doing it purposefully. The deep and creepy feline vocals that come from me are enough to send anyone running. Really need to read up on this breed as soon as I get a chance, they're just too weird.

One of my small reprieves finds me resting under a tree, panting from my constant running when my heart randomly starts to pound. The young coyote bobs and weaves a few feet from me, side starting to throb again at the feel of her broken ribs.

Having not healed from the Vamp attack last night and then getting hit by the car a couple of hours ago, I'll be very shocked if she heals correctly, the feeling of the floating pieces is really worrying. Catching my breath, I shake my head hard.

I love my sister, but I can't be going through her crazy with her when I have to be aware of my own self and surroundings. As is proved when a large cat comes barreling out of the brush and knocks into the small canine. Tawny fur flashes as Maii yelps.