Strong

[Lovely]

May 10, 2010
10:30pm
follows: Tango


It hadn't taken long to carry the couple back to the den, or for the family to dole out Billy's punishment, which Cady had not been able to particpate in the way she would have liked to. She had suggested that they tie the girl up so she wouldn't run, Az had argued that Wes wouldn't be able to run far.. a few minutes later it was 'decided' that Cady would keep her from running. She wasn't pleased with that but because he was her brother, Cady did it for Az but took out her frustration on Wes in a nonviolent manner. Whispers to frighten her, holding her in an unforgiving grip with her arm twisted behind her back and Cady's fingers wound tightly in her hair. Cady was actually impressed that Wes didn't faint, being forced to watch her boyfriend be ripped apart by a pack of angry wolves while one taunted and laughed in her ear.

For Wes, the past two hours had been horrific, she was understandably upset, traumatized really and the tears flowed down her cheeks. She was mostly quiet in her fear, having cried out only a few times and her hair was yanked harshly when she did. She stood with Cady, trembling and wishing briefly that she would have passed out and not witnessed all that she had. She'd gone from scared when first being taken from her home to being completely terrified and sure she was going to be the next course despite Az's earlier remarks to the contrary.

Their vendetta against Billy was complete. He was hardly more than a snack for the entire pack and there was little more than a few ungnawed bones to toss into the fire when they'd finished. Two of his brothers still chewed happily and slowly on a leg bone each as Azarius licked off his face and approached the girls. His stoic, square-jawed humanness returned in those few steps, replacing the blood-thirsty half-man she'd witnessed. "All better now," he said with a nod. "You can let go now, Cade. She won't run from me. Will you?"

Wes wasn't exactly in what one would call a sound state of mind as he approached and seeing him transform again didn't exactly make her feel very sane. At first she just nodded to what he said, not really processing his words but trying to agree.

Cady laughed softly from behind Wes and let go of the woman's hair, carefully untangling her fingers and then also releasing her arm. "Yeah.. anyway." She muttered and nudged Wes toward Azarius.

[Lovely]

He gave Cady a strange glance. "Something wrong? I saved you this," he said, holding up the remains of an arm for her. "Job well done, Cade. As for you... baby... she was right. You're my baby now. Billy's not here, well most of him anyway."

Cady tried not to show how delighted she was for the treat but couldn't hide it, her eyes lit up and she grinned, reaching to snatch it from Az. "Better now." She nearly sang and darted off away from the couple with the arm.

Wes went even more pale at the sight of the mangled arm, she waited to pass out but just swayed and remained aware, this wasn't right at all. She whimpered slightly and her legs felt like rubber yet they held her up and she couldn't get them to move. RUN! She screamed at herself in her head as she stood there trembling in front of this.. man, if you could call him that. "Please.." She whispered, pleading for what, she wasn't really sure. For him to let her go? She didn't believe he was going to do that. He hadn't hurt her and called her baby, said she was his baby now. Did he think she'd just melt into his arms or suddenly start to dote on him, because he said that?

"Time to rest, Wesley," he said gently in a manner completely unlike she'd seen so far. She was trembling and he moved slowly to embrace her before her knees decided to buckle completely. "You only know part of the story. Come with me before the others start taking a liking to you. Not to worry, though. They'd have to get past me, first."

He embraced her and the way he spoke had her doing exactly what she didn't think she would - melting into his arms a bit. His words both frightened and reassured her, scared of what the others would do to her and yet believing he would come between her and them. Her head spun and her hands came up to lay flat against his chest where she tried to hide herself. Her damp cheek pressed gently against his warm skin, she nodded but didn't trust herself to try to say anything just yet.

"Go ahead and have a good cry. You've been a good girl and you've earned it. Strong, like I'd heard you are. Have to admit... I do like the outfit, but you were wasting it on the wrong catch. Strong girl needs a strong man beside her, don't you think?"

The fact that he gave her permission to cry and seemed to understand her need to do so, had her pressing herself more firmly against him and the tears flowed unchecked. She nodded to his words a little but mostly just cried for a few minutes, not able to do much else. Finally she tried to stem the flow and wiped at her cheek, lifting her head to try to look at him through the blur. He'd told her back at the house that he liked her enough to.. she couldn't remember his exact words but was starting to think she might be getting the picture of what he wanted from her. "You mean strong like you.. don't you?" Her eyes narrowed a little almost like she was accusing him.

He grinned softly this time, ever so slightly. "I do mean me. You don't want anything to do with these other jokers, trust me. Ah, but that's not so easy, is it, not after what you've seen. Let's get you off your feet, someplace quiet. Back there," he said, starting with her toward the corridors of dark, cool stone that led away from the fire and his raucous brothers.