I set the ladder up and ascended it as quickly as I could.
“Ashley!” I called out her name as I ran to what I assumed was her huddled under a drenched fur.
“Axon?” She peeked her blonde head out fromunder the blanket. Her wet hair was sticking to her face and neck and she was shivering from the cold.
“What are you doing here?” She asked through chattering teeth.
“What am I doing here? What are YOU doing here?”
I automatically reached out to help her up.
Ashley stared at my outstretched hand for a long moment before turning her chin up at me and letting me know, “it’s none of your business.”
She stood up on her own and draped the fur back over her head.
“I’m not going back.”
Was she crazy? “You have to go back. You’ll freeze to death out here.”
“Maybe so, but I’m not going back. Not yet, anyway.”
She stomped off, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the sway of her hips as she walked away with her wet clothes clinging to her body, revealing every delicious curve she had to offer.
I shook my head to bring myself back to the present. Ashley was currently climbing up the wall and moving the ladder to begin her descent.
“I see you’ve come to your senses.” I leapt down ahead of her. “I’ll lead you back to the mountain.”
Ashley looked me up and down, eyeing me with a cross expression. Then she turned and started to walk along the trail in the opposite direction.
“What are you doing?” I jumped ahead of her, blocking the trail.
“I told you, I’m not going back. I obviously can’t stay in the kala while it’s raining, so I’m going to find some shelter to wait out the storm.”
“Wait out the storm? Don’t be ridiculous. I can smell that this storm is going to last for days.”
The rain carried with it a strong scent, thick enough to let me know it would not be stopping anytime soon.
“So be it.” She gave me a wide berth as she walked around me and continued on the trail.
“Ashely!” I growled her name in exasperation as she attempted to keep walking.
“You can’t stay out in the forest! You’re going to get hurt!”
I blocked her path again, and we stared each other down.
“Move, Axon.” she commanded through gritted teeth.
“You need to come home with me right now.” I demanded.
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do if I don’t? You gonna carry me home?”
She stared at me with an expression that clawed at my heart. It was a mix of longing and pain, an expression I was all too familiar with.
Her words hit me like knives. I wanted to touch her, and the fact that I couldn’t hurt her immensely.
A droplet of water trickled down her face as I stood in front of her, not making any move to touch her or hold her or haul her back to the mountain like any of my brother shifters undoubtedly would have.
Anyone else could have mistaken that tiny drop of water on her cheek for rain, but I knew better. I knew Ashley’s face. I’d stared at it long enough whenever she wasn’t looking. I knew her eyes weren’t usually that puffy or red. I knew that droplet of water wasn’t rain, but a tear streaming down her face.
