Playing in the mud

Considering they were in a deep dark forest that most people would be terrified of, Farkas finds drifting off to sleep incredibly easy, on the other hand, Ashina was scared out of her wits, every single noise whether that be a branch snap or an owl hooting made her practically jump out of her skin. Ashina's neck was getting sore at it snapping in the direction of every noise, she wasn't sure if this was because she expected Mori to suddenly appear or a giant bear.

Are there giant bears in these woods? I should've asked if there are giant bears.

Ashina thinks to herself looking down at his relaxed form, he seemed so settled, he also looked much younger when he was asleep just like he did when he smiled. Ashina so wanted to reach out and touch his face but even she knew that would probably be creepy if it woke him up so decided against it and decided to rest her head against the tree she was leaning up against.

Ashina takes a deep breath and closes her eyes trying to relax and push all scary thoughts out of her head, sure she was technically a werewolf but she knew she would probably be useless if faced with real danger, good job Farkas was here. She took a moment to make a wish, pleading for anyone who would listen to return her beloved cat, she knew nobody understood it, most of all Farkas but that cat was her best friend. Mori had always been there, the person who listened to her cry and comforted her the way nobody else had been willing to do since before Alpha Romulus had died.

Farkas's head lolled on Isabella's shoulder making her jump slightly, she almost reached to push his head away but instinct and maybe the mating bond already forming caused her to stay still. The contact no matter how small was somewhat comforting to Ashina, something that she had also not experienced since Alpha Romulus, particularly around men, they had been demonized to her in the past few years but she could already see that being around Farkas and even the little contact with Lucas that not all men were the same. It allowed her to believe that maybe one day she could be confident around men again.

She is pulled out of her deep thoughts by another rustling sound making her head turn to her left she making her head turn to her left, she watches with narrowed eyes as the rustling gets louder. Seconds pass with bated breath and Ashina feels a newfound confidence inches away from Farkas but as the noise gets louder she starts to feel terrified and is ready to shake Farkas awake when a familiar ginger cat pops his head from around the bushes.

Without thinking, she jumps to her feet with tears in her eyes causing Hunter to fall flat on his face on the floor. His eyes flutter open with a groan as he rubs his now-aching head. She heads towards Mori ready to pick him but at the last second, he turns on his heel and runs in the direction he came from. Ashina starts to chase close behind, and Farkas jumps to his feet to follow.

"Bloody cat" he grumbles angrily.

The chase continues until Mori reaches a fallen tree, he nimbly climbs straight onto it with confidence. Ashina weighs up her options, the tree is surrounded by thick, dark mud but the longer she stands at the base of the tree the further Mori gets, she simply can't lose him! Shakily, she climbs onto the tree and starts to try to walk across, halfway across the tree, Mori sits down patiently waiting for his owner to reach him, he somehow has a hilarious look on his face, Ashina could have sworn he was smiling at her but now was not the time to think about that as every extra step she took the shakier she became on her feet. Werewolves often have incredible balance but a lack of training or practice meant this skipped Isabella, she was the complete opposite, she usually fell over her own feet let alone trying to balance on a tree trunk.

It wasn't long before Farkas caught up with Ashina, he watched her with an amused look in his eyes. There was some concern but he was pretty confident that even if Ashina fell from the tree, apart from being very muddy she wouldn't come to any harm. There was no chance Farkas was going to climb onto the tree himself, he told himself that he wasn't going to do it because one of them needed to be on dry land if Ashina happened to fall into the mud.

Farkas watched on in confusion at how shaky Ashina was, it was basic training that most pack members did for balance, you built the basic foundations after shifting for the first time but it was something you were supposed to dedicate time to for the rest of your life to ensure something like this didn't happen.

As much as it was endearing to watch Ashina, he had never seen someone with so little grace when doing such a simple task, even some of the youngest werewolves would have already managed to reach Mori by now.

As she gets closer, Mori stands ready to turn around and go further back along the tree trunk.

"No Mori!" she yells in a panic "Stay where you are!" she begs to wave her arms around to show Mori to stay still but mainly to help with her balance.

"Be careful, Ashina" he shouts biting the inside of his cheek nervously.

On her next step, Ashina completely loses her balance, one leg goes up and her arms flail around before she crashes down to the side falling spectacularly into the mud with a SPLAT. A small scream leaves Ashina's mouth, this time Farkas has to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing, she wasn't hurt, and honestly, she just looked adorable.

When Ashina managed to resurface from the mud she has a smile on her face before breaking into laughter which is music to Farkas's ears. He lets out a laugh too as she struggles her way trying to get out of the mud.

Mori decides he has worried her enough and makes his way across the trunk towards Farkas with ease, he sits at his feet with a look of 'Hurry up, what is taking so long?' to Ashina as she squelches her way out of the mud. He finally takes pity on her and reaches his arm out for her to grab onto, misjudging his strength, Farkas pulls too hard causing not only Ashina to come flying out of the mud but she lands right against his chest leaving an Ashina-shaped mud patch over him leaving them both laughing again.

Heavy with mud, apart from Mori of course, the three of them head back to the huge pack house/castle, now wide awake and happy Isabella finally can appreciate the beauty of her new home. A cold shiver spreads across her body not only from the mud but also because of the thought that THIS was her new home. Farkas pulls Ashina closer to him to share his body heat, he was like a hot water bottle.

Ashina and Farkas take their shoes off at the door but it is almost futile as they still manage to leave a muddy trail in their wake. She glances over her shoulder and winces at the mud covering the floor, she starts to turn around to clean it up but he grabs onto her hand and pulls her towards him gently.

"Someone will sort it" he shrugs, she feels uneasy and although she doesn't say anything it is written all over her face for Farkas to see "Look, Ashina, I'm Alpha and you're their future Luna, we need to focus on cleaning ourselves not the floor, they will sort it"

She winces again, she wasn't sure she would ever get used to having so much freedom and control but the one thing she knew for sure was that she would ensure that she or nobody around her ever treated someone the way she was for as long as she lived.

The happy mood didn't end, Ashina barely registered that Farkas had started to peel the now-drying muddy clothes off of her body. Farkas had only pure intentions of getting Ashina clean dry warm, he could even tell that she was relaxed which he knew was unusual so was enjoying the moment while it lasted.

Despite her relaxation, Farkas ensured he told Ashina every step of the way what he was going to do next giving her time to protest or stop him, he also made sure that for every piece of clothing he took off of her body he did for himself to show they were on a level playing field.

Farkas leads Ashina into the shower and watches as the mud starts to slide away from her pale skin, as if realizing what was going on, Ashina wraps her arms around herself awkwardly, in silence, Farkas reaches over and looks into her eyes to watch for her reaction he gently takes her arms from around her body, to ensure she doesn't feel exposed, he pulls her against his chest, he runs his nose along the length of hers letting the water cascade over them both before he washes them both with soap.

"You move quickly" she whispers with a small smile on her face, although this was moving quicker than she had ever expected it didn't feel wrong or bad to her and she welcomed it.

"Only as quick as you want baby" Farkas replies planting a soft kiss on her lips but pulls away to make sure he doesn't cross the line. It was hard to know where the line was with someone as secretive as Isabella but Farkas was dedicated to making sure she felt happy and safe.

Smile cover both Ashina's and Farkas's face until he separates himself from Ashina to reach over for the shampoo to clean her hair, he looks down and his eyes linger on numerous scars, too many to count. Some scars had a faded, healed look while others look as fresh as a week ago, despite werewolves healing any injuries that caused scars that took much longer to leave the body.

Farkas feels a pain in his chest that he never had before almost as if a knife was plunging into it, he drops to his knees and wraps his arms around her waist, he didn't truly know what he was doing, he had never been faced with this before.

As if clicking back into reality from her happy place moments before, she rips herself out of his grasp and looks at him in horror, how was it possible to not even realize that he would see them, how could he have such an effect on her that she could barely think of anything other than him?

Ashina quickly turns on her heel to escape the enclosed shower that suddenly seemed far too small making her panic. As she walks away it gives Farkas the chance to see the scratches and cuts on her back which make him feel nauseous and furious at the thought of hurting someone so pure as her.

"Who did that to you?" she hears Farkas yell over the roaring water above his head, she said nothing and did not turn around, if she had she would've seen the pure red eyes on Farkas as the anger was flooding his veins making him shake.