The Bitten.

Things That Bump In The Night.

I was glad the tension of earlier had faded. Aamon had calmed after flailing backwards into the furs, and had settled into this makeshift bed with me. Stripped of his dirty dead man pants, he rolled and stretched his limbs about. Sometimes I was convinced there were multiple beings residing in this one man. He was an emotional chameleon, and it gave me whiplash.

He was almost playful, rolling about.  Just a massive wolf man relishing the velvety furs, as a dog would sun warmed grass on the lawn. He never rolled too close to me, but he'd softly growl and nip at my feet as if he wanted me to participate too. A branch creaked outside and he tilted his head, watching the room door. I took advantage, having lost his attention for the moment as he rolled again, and I studied the room.

Aamon had added more furs, and had lined the walls and ceiling with them. Dried flowers caught my eye, cut down in their prime and littered about the fur lined room. He had herbs strung up at random along the ceiling with sinewy bits of hide braided into rope. He had even brought a clay basin, roughly sculpted, full of water. Another similar in size contained dehydrated bits of meat, cured like jerky. I had no doubt when he would leave me for short bits of time, he'd come back here to ready this cabin.

"Do you like the flowers?" His lip curled to one side, a bit of jagged teeth exposed from his devious smirk. He had caught me.

"They smell good. They are pretty."

"I put them here for you. They have dried a bit, but they still serve purpose."

"Thank you." His ears perked.

"I had Owen help bring all the furs here. Even the extra. See? I told you it would be soft and warm here."

"You were right."

"How does your leg feel?"

"It's sore, but that's what I expected."

"It will heal quickly. Even quicker when I tend to it." He rolled me over and lifted my leg gently. He tugged the bandage back and cleaned it with his tongue. He stood and grabbed a few of the hanging herbs, wetting the skin with his tongue and pressing the foliage over my wound, tugging the bandage back over it.
He moved over me, sniffing and pulling a face.

"Ivor stinks. I can't smell anything but him. And Lilith. I shouldn't have let you in here until you bathed." I rose a brow.
"All our furs will reek."

"You have water, I have extra clothes. I can get the scent off myself and into some fresh pajamas if you'd like."

"No. We are going to groom one another. It's our first night here." He covered my body with his, resting on his elbows with his forehead against mine.

"I can't believe we are finally here." My chest tightened, guilt seizing me before I could stifle it. I felt strangely rotten for partially lying to him earlier.

"What's wrong?" His eyes shone with panic. That made me want to come apart, which was new to me. So, I gave a partial truth.

"I feel guilty." I admitted. Aamon cooked his head.

"Have you done wrong?"

"Yes. I've been a ton of trouble the whole time. Now, that I'm seeing how much effort you put in, I feel shitty that I hadn't done better. And I feel bad about earlier..." He was scrutinizing my facial expressions now.

"I knew you were covering something. I could feel it. The bond doesn't lie. I knew Lilith had told you more than she should, but I only told Ivor what you told me. She is safe, as I told you. My word is my word, I said nothing of any of it. I gave him your story, and it matched hers."