Merry Christmas everyone x

Jaidan

Someone clicking their tongue woke me up as my hair was shifted away from my eyes like a curtain opening to the bright afternoon sun.

''They didn't hold back did they?'' Pale fingers left my face as River brushed my hair back out of my eyes and placed a bowl of what looked to be porridge in front of me. ''You slept for a long time, it's late afternoon.''

River smiled at me softly as I sat up and took the bowl from the dirt covered stone that served as my bed for the night.

''It's not bacon and eggs but it's food.''

''Thank you.'' My hand rubbed my sore throat through the collar that sat uncomfortably digging into my neck.

''It'll come off soon enough, the bruises may take a while though.'' He pointed to the collar as he knelt down a foot or so away from me.

''Does this happen often?'' The porridge was dry and clumpy, hard for my sore throat to swallow between words.

''Not really.'' His eyes seemed to be preoccupied with searching the forestry behind me.

''Often enough for you to know how long I'll be wearing a collar for.'' A soft wind blew past my ear rushing towards River, blowing my hair across my face and into my bowl of what tasted like glue and cardboard.

Suddenly his eyes snapped to mine, the golden colours seemed like they were being chased by fire, like they were moving within his iris trying to run away from the new swirling colour washing over it like waves.

''I know because the last person wearing that collar was me.'' His tone was flat and bored as he stood from the ground and glared over my shoulder as if calculating the way the trees danced in the wind.

My eyebrows scrunched together as I stared at the goo in the wooden bowl. Had River also been taken from his family and been subjected to this kind of cruelty?

''Why?''

''It seems you'll find out soon enough. Consider yourself lucky that it's only the collar.'' I caught a glimpse of his canines flashing but they were strange, his incisors lengthened almost as much as his canines did which wasn't a tell sign of a wolf.

A wolf's top and bottom canines lengthened slightly and sharpened, River's lateral incisors sharpened and lengthened to the same as a wolf's but his canines also lengthened considerably, he had two sets of sharpened teeth whereas a wolf had one set.

Maybe he was a shifter like Charlie was? I didn't spend much time staring at his teeth so I couldn't compare them at all, but he definitely didn't smell wolf.

''They're going to brand you tomorrow morning.'' River's voice was raised louder than necessary, or maybe it was just how quiet the forest had become, his voice almost echoed in the shade of the nearby trees.

My shoulder itched like it burned already from just thinking about a hot metal rod melting away the flesh and scar of my mating bond. A wolf's soul was bound to its partner, the pain of tearing a soul from another was something I would never want to imagine and now I was going to have to experience it.

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs about how unfair it was. I wanted to dig my claws into that feral man and rip the life from him. I wanted to take it out on anything; on anyone. Anyone that my body could reach I wanted to destroy to keep my connection to my mate intact and my bond unsullied.

Warmth cooling on my left cheek stilled my rage and reminded me that the sun began to show its first signs of dipping beyond the horizon, completely disinterested in my dark predicament. The sky was turning soft, as pastel hues of blue pink and purple faded together like watercolours on a soft yellow canvas.

The colours illuminated the pale colour of River's skin almost making it look translucent the way his veins seemed to glow a dark colour just below the faint surface. I took the chance to let my eyes wander his body and take in the finer details that made him River.

His legs were long and thin, like his arms and torso but he wasn't stick thin or sickly he was just healthy thin with a certain air about him; an effortlessly attractive aura that drew you straight to his strong face.

How a man could be so femininely masculine was something I couldn't understand. I knew my body was feminine in most aspects and I accepted that but his body was defined and strong like a man's, however his lips were plump with a soft cupid's bow and were almost a red, as if they had been stained with a pigment of some sort, while his eyes bore into you with passion and were tender like a mother's the way he watched over me caringly.

There were dark circles beneath the amber orbs that looked inattentively at his surroundings as if he wasn't impressed by them, however, his skin was devoid of any other blemishes, not even a mating mark was brandished on his shoulder.

''Have you ever seen it?'' My fingers fiddled with the cold chain around my ankle that clanked every time it dropped to the hard ground before they moved to my shoulder almost grazing the smooth leather of the collar around my neck.

''I'm no stranger to it. More times than I care to remember. Jaidan, I am many years older than you think. '' His voice fell before it rose to that loud volume from before. ''I'll bring you breakfast in the morning, the pack will be preoccupied with getting everything together so I'll be the only one hanging around. You won't have to worry about them bothering you until later in the afternoon. Maybe I can get that chain off of you and we can go for a walk.''

My eyes lit up at the thought of being free of the heavy chain that bound me making River smile at me warmly again, that comforting warmth seeping to his eyes before they became detached once more and flickered through the forest as he walked away towards the boulder again.

With my mind devoid of stimulation, my hearing could now pick up on the lack of animals and noise surrounding. Most were already in their dens for the nights or beginning their hibernation for the approaching winter apart from four small paws scurrying my way.

I'd know that plump little grey pudge lump anywhere.

My body lurched forward, chains rattling noisily causing Charlie to stop in his tracks before proceeding into my shaking, waiting hands. I would have been okay if this was a hallucination, a break from the loneliness and chaos as I pulled the mouse to my face and hugged it half to death.

His little squeak told me that might just happen if I didn't ease up. My eyes watered and spilled of their own accord, searching the surrounding areas for any hope of Tate, Alic and Dustin. The little paws that came to my cheek told me they weren't there, followed by a squeak for me to put him down.

Reluctantly doing so, I opened my hands on the dirt below, his body moving over the chain, sniffing it and recoiling immediately at the smell of the wolfsbane. I wondered if the herb had the same effect on shifters as it did wolves? Or was it more of just an unpleasant odour?

A moment later a howl broke free from the direction of the boulders all too soon signaling the time with my precious friend was up. Charlie couldn't stay here any longer.

His little paws touched the shackle, his black eyes connecting with mine a moment before flickering to the waning sun and back again, telling me he would be back when the sun rose again before he ran off back into the shrubbery and dark of the trees without a trace.

The sun finally dipped beneath the trees, the nocturnal animals waking up and starting to come alive in the dusk, however, there were still no sounds from the surrounding forestry. I was no stranger to the forests, I knew there were plenty more carnivores out there than me that would keep the nightlife at bay, I could only pray they left me alone.

The chain on my ankle was dipped in wolfsbane, I couldn't shift and even if I did I would break my wolf's ankle trying and my neck was a hell of a lot skinnier than my wolf, he would be strangled to death by this collar. My only chance of survival through the night was a prayer to the moon goddess that she'd keep me safe.

With the loss of the sun came the suffocating cold of the snow that was drizzling from the sky, no longer melting in the sun's embrace and I soon felt the foreboding of the days ahead.

I feel like I'm starting to fall off track with this story like I'm not as enthusiastic as I was. Maybe it's just because it's in a slow period where I'm trying to introduce this new character and nothing has happened for the last few chapters.   

The story will soon be ending so I'd like your input! What needs to be changed? What needs to be touched on? What do you want to see from them before we say goodbye for a while until they get little crossovers in Charlie's story?