To Mend a Broken Heart

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Ryah had been about to settle down for the night when she heard his voice and her body tensed then relaxed. As much as she cared for Aztrex, she'd ran away from him for a reason. After what happened tonight it solidified the fact that she was nothing but trouble. Always getting caught and having to be rescued like some damsel in distress. Aztrex was better off without her. He wouldn't be so worried or stressed. He could focus on his....friends. Hell he could even start a romance with Kandice, even though the thought of that made her fur bristle.

"They tried to breed me." She spoke softly, as if still in shock to the whole situation. It wasn't the first time someone had attempted to breed her. Ryah was fertile but for some reason, her body had rejected all attempts to breed her. "I became alpha tonight." Sighing softly she crawled towards him and licked his muzzle. "You're blocking the only way out with your big head." She joked and waited for him to leave the entrance to her den before she crawled out.

She'd been stitched together well but she hadn't really been cleaned. There was blood caked everywhere on her beautiful fur. It was most prominent around her throat where the dog had tried to kill her. Her front paw was practically useless, she'd either dislocated it or broken it in the fight with the Champion. She was holding it up as she limped towards him and sat down in front of him, her torso pressed into his fur where she felt safest.

She wanted to tell him how she felt, why she'd run away but he would only come back with calling himself a monster and that would start a fight and Ryah wasn't in the mood for a fight. There were so many conflicting emotions inside her. She wanted to be angry at him. How dare he come for her. She'd run away explicitly to get away from him, to keep him safe. At the same time she was overjoyed and relieved to see her mate. Even if he didn't see himself as that.

Instead of yelling at him or forcing cuddles on him she pulled away and began limping back to the general vicinity of where she'd ran away from. Dead set on not asking for help even though her paw was causing her so much pain and all she wanted to do was lay down and cry. But she wouldn't. She wasn't a damsel in distress. She'd been beaten, almost slaughtered and almost bred tonight. She'd killed another and had been called Alpha. No more. She was tired of being captured all the time.
 
He'd expected a lot of things. Her to be hurt, used for fighting, bait, all those things. But he hadn't expected what she had told him. 'They tried to breed me' she had said. He could feel the anger building inside him and he wanted nothing more than to turn around and hurt everyone back in the compound. How dare they try and hurt her like that. How dare they! The surge of emotion through him off balance, surprised. He wasn't sure why he felt so strongly about it, didn't understand, but nevertheless, it was there and he was about to embrace the enhanced power that came with an Enraged Beast, but Ryah spoke again, snapping him back to his senses. And she crawled up to him, commenting about how she couldn't get out because of his head.

He shuffled backward quickly to give her room to get out, watching her, cautious. She came up to him, limping. He studied her, the blood in her fur, around her throat and his blue eyes glanced back in the direction of the dog fighting ring, ready to go hurt someone. But the female pressed herself into his fur and he froze, not daring to move. He didn't want to make her leave again. What ever he had done to upset her, he'd apologize for, try to fix it. He didn't want her leaving.

He could hear Kandice and Lukan circling around the back of them and hiding out of sight, downwind so Ryah wouldn't smell them and far enough away so she wouldn't hear them. But he didn't care. When she started limping away, back toward the compound, he stared at her for a moment, surprised, before he leapt to his paws and bounded over to her.

He stopped in front of her forcing her to stop and he stared down at her. "You can't go back, Ryah," he said and then sighed, "Look, what ever I did to upset you, i'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Just talk to me and we can work it out.. Please," he almost begged. He felt so lost, so out of his depth, having no clue what to do, but he wanted to help, sort things out, find out what he had done to make her leave. He didn't want her getting hurt any further, didn't want her leaving. Especially seeing as one of her paws were hurt. She couldn't go anywhere like that. She would only hurt herself more.
 
Can't go back? And why the hell not? Her things were back there, all her clothes. She didn't see any of the bags with him. Was he purposefully keeping her away. Did he not want her back? Did he want her to run away again? She'd do it too in a heartbeat. She knew this day would come eventually, knew that Aztrex would get bored of her and tired of looking after her like some pup who couldn't seem to learn. It wasn't her fault that trouble just seemed to follow her wherever she went.

Unlike him, she wasn't trained to survive out in the wilderness. She didn't know the first thing about it! Her hunting abilities went so far as small animals and most of the time they were misses. He didn't seem to want her companionship, not in the way she wanted it anyway. He seemed to barely tolerate her as it was. What more could she give him besides herself? What more did he want from her? And now with her mood instabilities....she was more of a danger then anything. She didn't know what Arpahia was capable of.

Sitting back to give her paw some rest, she sighed softly. "You didn't do anything, Az." That was the problem. He didn't do anything and it frustrated and confused her to no end. "I left because I can't give you anything else and I'm more of a burden then help anyway. I always seem to be dragging you into some sort of trouble. I attacked one of your friends, why don't you hate me for that?!" She paused, unsure of how to continue.

"A part of me sees you as a mate and I know the feelings won't be reciprocated. Its begun to hurt not being able to be with you in the way my wolf wants to be...." She trailed off. She was revealing so much now. But it was now or never. He could reject her feelings and she'd turn away and find some other way to live. "And the human part of me...has fallen in love with you somewhere along our journey." Her gaze had turned down to the snow. She looked utterly defeated. She was doing this just to get it off her chest and let the final blow fall.

Tonight she'd come to terms with her feelings for him. Had understand that the reason she'd been so advert to being bred was because she didn't want to mother babies that came from someone other then him. The realization had terrified her at first but she'd come to terms with it. "I don't want to keep hurting you, Aztrex. Someday it might be you that gets in the way of Arpahia's fury and I wouldn't be able to live with that. Or someday you won't be able to rescue me and it'll end badly for both of us."
 
He didn't do anything? Then why did she leave? Why just run away without saying a word to him? Why? He didn't understand. He was about to ask her when she started talking again, telling him why she left. That she was burden, she dragged him into trouble, she attacked one of his friends. Friends? Oh, right. Kandice. He was about to tell her that none of that mattered, when she started speaking again. And her next words had his jaws slackening, shocked. She thought of him as a mate? She loved him? How could that be? No, he was hearing things, surely.. Right? He stared at the female in front of him, at a loss for words.

This was so out of element, he wanted to turn tail and run. Go back to being on his own like he was used to. Put distance between them and hope that his heart would slow down in his chest. If he was in his human form right now, he knew for sure he'd be so red, so he was very thankful he was in his Wolf form. She couldn't see that. But he still lowered his gaze, embarrassed.

When she said she didn't want to hurt him, however, he almost laughed. "Ryah, you're not going to hurt me, I promise you that," he told her honestly and then sat down, "as for Kandice, she deserved it. She's had that coming for years now. If not from you, from someone else. She's a pain in the ass," he knew if Kandice and Lukan could hear them, Kandice would be offended, but he didn't care. It was true.

"And," he started, looking away, feeling a little shy at that moment, "I appreciate your feelings," he paused, tempted to just leave it at that, but didn't want her misunderstanding or getting hurt, "and.. Well, uh... I.. care for you," he couldn't say it. Wasn't sure if his feelings were that strong, didn't know a lot of things apparently. "You're not a burden.. I want to protect you, be there for you, help you. If I didn't want you around, I would tell you or I could have just left you a long time ago. I want to be around you, spend time with you.. I might not show it, but it's true, Ryah, every word.. And, uh, um.. yeah," he stood up again and took a step back, feeling like he had done or said something wrong and he looked to the ground, feeling completely lost and confused.

"You really don't have to worry about hurting me. I can take care of myself.. I'm.. Different.. to most people," he wasn't going to explain what he meant. That was his secret he wanted to take to his grave.
 
She hadn't been expecting a declaration of love out of him, she knew she probably would never get it out of him. As much as that hurt she was fine with it. It just wasn't in his nature she was sure. It was her own fault for falling for a guy who had trouble with his emotions. She wasn't sure if she appreciated that about him or found it annoying. Right now it was annoying. As he spoke she watched him get all flustered and at a loss for words, it was kind of adorable that she affected him like this.

Him caring for her wasn't exactly love but she'd take it....for now. But she knew there would come a time in the future where him just caring wouldn't be enough. Even if he only said it once in their life it'd be enough to satisfy her for the rest of her life. When he said something about different she cocked her head to the side and flicked her ears at him.

"I know you're different, Az." She paused. "And I know you don't feel comfortable telling me why you feel different." Everyone was different but Az was hiding something and she knew it. She wouldn't pry though. Just like there were things in her past that she wasn't going to reveal there were things in his that she didn't really want to know.

She probably wasn't going to be telling him she loved him again anytime soon. In fact, she was adamant that now that he knew she wouldn't say it again unless her feelings were reciprocated. Sighing, she stood and limped over to him. Nipping his shoulder playfully to let him know all was well between them for now. "Alright, Romeo, since apparently I'm not allowed in your house thing anymore where can I go to get off my paw and get my clothes?" She figured if she changed the subject he'd grow more comfortable around her again.
 
Az almost sighed in relief when she said she knew he was different but also knew he wasn't comfortable with revealing what that was. He was thankful that she understood and wasn't going to pry into it. When she limped over to him and nipped his shoulder playfully, asking where they could go, he relaxed, glad to be on a different topic. He was about to speak, but Lukan decided to show himself at that moment. The Cheetah walked over to them and yawned before stretching his back legs and flexing his paws. "No, Casanova here didn't mean that. You guys need to come back as we still need to talk to you, Az. Plus, Ryah, you need to be fixed up. Can't have you walking around with your paw like that," Lukan said lightly, ears flicking, feeling quite content. Now that he knew he had no hope with Ryah, he didn't bother trying to flirt. He wasn't an idiot and wouldn't try and step in between them. If anything, he'd attempt to help Ryah get Az.. If she'd allow him.

Aztrex looked over at Lukan with an exasperated look before he sighed, defeated. "That's right, I actually came all the way out here for a reason," he muttered to himself and then glanced at Ryah, "It's a fair way back. I've got my clothes if you want me to shift and carry you back? It'd be hard walking on three legs for such a distance," he offered, looking at her in question.

Kandice then hesitantly stepped out and walked toward them, looking quite hurt. She flattened her ears against her head, tail tucked as she approached Ryah before crawling on her stomach as she whimpered. "I'm sorry for upsetting you," she apologized, hoping she'd be forgiven. She liked Az, had for many years, but she knew he didn't like her. She could tell he card a lot more for Ryah than he did for her. So she'd give up. In time, she'd get over him. Kandice wasn't a mean girl. She didn't want to get in anyone's way.

Az and Lukan watched the tiny Jackal crawl toward the wolf, trying to receive forgiveness. Being a Jackal, she was tiny, barely even weighing in at 10Kgs(22lbs), so it was surprising to see her submit and ask for forgiveness. Submitting made openings and though Kandice was quick on her feet and could escape if Ryah tried to attack, she was a sincere person and wouldn't move if the bigger female attacked. And if Kandice didn't fight back at all, Ryah would easily have the ability to kill such a small target. Az and Lukan could only hope the female wolf would forgive her. As annoying as she was, she was an irreplaceable member of their team.. Or former team, now, really.
 
And then everyone returned. She'd had a feeling that they'd had an audience but she wasn't sure just how much they heard and she effectively withdrew back into her shell for a bit. That was until Kandice basically submitted to her. Ryah could practically taste the tension in the air and for a moment she could feel Arpahia begin bubbling up inside her before Ryah slammed her down. She didn't want to have such dark thoughts again when she would never hurt another person. She wanted to tell Kandice that it wasn't her she'd upset but someone else but that required revealing more about herself then she was comfortable with. She didn't know either of these two. "I'm sorry I...attacked you. I don't usually do that." She paused, unsure of what to do now. "I forgive you." There that sounded suitable enough.

Turning her attention back to Aztrex then in the general direction of the house then back to him. Her paw was beginning to grow sore and she had a feeling she was doing more harm then good by walking around on it. So for now, she'd put her stubborn values down and nodded at him. "Fine. But I'm going to pout the whole way and demand you put me down. Don't listen to me though." Honestly, she was just trying to make him feel better. He still looked so....awkward.

True to her word, Ryah did pout the whole way back and demanded a few times to be put down because her 'womanly pride was being tarnished' as she put it. She found she was unable to shift back into her human form though. It wasn't really a new thing for her. Whenever she broke something in either form she couldn't shift till she was all healed. She was pretty sure it was some sort of survival thing. That and it made for splinting and bandaging her paw to be easier.

She wouldn't let anyone but Aztrex bandage her though. Not wanting to cause more bad blood though she went against her fear and nudged Lukan with her paw before opening her thoughts to him. "Physically, you remind me of someone in my past that...hurt me. Don't take it personally." Thats all she would say thought before grabbing one of the blankets in her teeth and throwing it over her as she laid down in front of the fire, as close as Az let her be, to nap.
 
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When Ryah apologized as well, Kandice was quite surprised. What did she have to apologize for? She didn't really have to apologize. When she said that she forgave her though, Kandice practically jumped to her paws in glee and licked Ryah's cheek before she bounded off with a new found energy. Az watched the Jackal for a moment before returning his attention back to Ryah as she started speaking to him. He nodded and went behind a cluster of trees before shifting into his human form and shrugged off the bag he had been wearing. He was quite surprised at how well it fit him in his feral form. Opening it, he grabbed out his clothes and yanked them on before tightening the straps on the bag, shrugged it back on and walked back out.

Gently picking up Ryah, careful not to harm her paw, Az looked at the Jackal and then the Cheetah and nodded. And then they started the trek back to the safe house. It took them over double the time to get back as they were walking instead of running, but none of the trio seemed to mind. Ryah, on the other hand, complained and demanded to be let down, but Az promptly ignored her, not listening to her demands. There was no way he was letting her walk on her own with that paw.

When they got back to the safe house, Az asked Lukan to get a split and some bandages, as well as something to clean out Ryah's wounds. He set her down on one of the couches and he knelt in front of it, thanking Lukan, how leaned on the arm of the couch, having shifted back to his human form and dressed, watching as Az cleaned her wounds, splinted her paw and bandaged her wounds. "It's a small break," Az told her, "It won't take long to heal," he nodded, happy with his handiwork and then sat on the other side of the couch.

He glanced across at Ryah and Lukan as she nudged him and told him he looked like someone that hurt her in her past and Az was glad he didn't actually know this man as he wasn't sure he'd still be here. Lukan just gave Ryah and easy going smile and shrugged, "tis' cool, I understand," he told her lightly as she went and hid. Az was grateful that Lukan was such an easy going guy. Quite loud and thought himself amazing, but a decent guy nonetheless.

Kandice was back in her human form as well, dressed and leaning back on a chair, staring at the ceiling in silence. Az glanced at Ryah as she curled up next to him, a few inches away and fell asleep. He didn't say anything and he looked at Lukan. "Thank you for your help today, guys," he said to them and they both looked at him and shrugged.

"It's what a team is for. Working together is what we do best.. Besides, we didn't really do much except tag along," Lukan stated and Az gave a small smile.

"It's been far too long since i've seen you guys.. Almost 5 years hasn't it been? I've actually missed you guys," Az said and Lukan smirked at him, "we can't stay here for too long, though," he glanced down at Ryah to see if she was asleep, listening to her breathing and heart beat. Once satisfied, he looked back at his two team mates, "staying in one place for too long is dangerous, they could find us. And you know who they'll send, what they'll do," he reminded them and their expression fell momentarily. They knew, understood, they were in the same boat, after all.
 
Ryah slept for a good half hour or so, not as long as she usually did but still relatively long for what she had endured. But just because she slept didn't mean she had a nice sleep. Usually, when Ryah slept she would toss and turn and make a mess of any blanket she slept with. But this time she was deathly still, had it not been for the rise and fall of her chest and her heartbeat it would've been easy to mistake her for dead.

It wasn't necessarily a dream, more of a memory. A young twelve year old Ryah was bawling her eyes out in the filthy basement she was kept in. Covered in blood and shrinking away from a dark mass at the end of her bed. Her first miscarriage It had been an awful feeling for her, so young. She barely understood the changes going through her body let alone the confusing hormones of pregnancy, motherhood, and miscarraiges. That day she'd hidden the mass of blood and tissue in a box, terrified of what her master would think if he saw it. It was all one memory after the other, all featuring the same thing. In her lifespan Ryah had had over eleven miscarriages and two still births. She'd almost killed herself twice for being unable to protect her babies.

Unable to handle anymore images of blood and innocent death's Ryah jolted awake, still under the cover of the blankets she'd curled up under. Once awake the sounds of hushed murmurs would reach her ears. This was clearly a conversation she wasn't supposed to be listening, but it was hard not to.

Still hurt from her barrage of memories Ryah moved underneath the blankets, curling up into a little ball and wishing she had a tail to warm herself with. She managed to slow her breathing and her heart rate down by going into a sort of cat nap like phase where she was technically dozing but still aware of her surroundings, including the words being said. Az was talking and Lukan and Kandice. She knew that much. Vaguely, she couldn't help but wander who was after them and who they'll send and why these three fighters were so terrified of whoever was after them. For the first time she actually found herself wishing Az had told her more about his past.
 
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Az glanced back down at Ryah, thinking he had heard her heart rate speed up for a moment, but when he listened again, it was still steady. Putting it up to his imagination, he turned back to Lukan and Kandice, watching as Lukan stood and went and sat next to Kandice. "We had heard that they're training a new batch," Lukan told him and Az tensed and screwed up his face. "Yeah, I know. And apparently it's for the specific use to hunting the rest of us down and dragging us back there. Trackers. And security there has tightened a lot more. Kandice can longer sneak in there without being detected. It's changed a lot, Az. Stricter. Everyone there no longer have personalities. The new generation are all like robots. Mindless puppets that do what ever the Director tells them to. They can't think for themselves. Only the older generations, like us still have a mind of their own, but save the few like Michael's and Clarrysa's teams, the rest are made to stay inside the compound and train the younger generations. Poor Imogen is there. She got caught. Her team mates Paige and Linkon are furious. They want to get her out, but it's virtually impossible. It's overrun with them," Lukan explained to him.

Az practically growled at the information. "Of course Machael's and Clarrysa's teams are still on duty. They're all twisted. I swear there is something mentally wrong with everyone in those teams," he huffed and leaned back, staring at the ceiling for a moment before he looked at Kandice, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, "are there any weak spots around the compound? Any way someone could sneak through and see what's going on? Paige could do it in her feral form. Being a ferret and all... Ah, but if they spot her, she'd be caught. She's not exactly very quick compared to the others.. Damn.. Wait, do Paige and Linkon have their microchip trackers out?" he asked.

Kandice nodded, "Yeah. They got each other to take them out. Risky, I know, but they had no choice. We were just lucky that we met Alex and she was willing to take them out and knew what she was doing," she said and Az sighed heavily and ran a heavy hand over his face.

"I'm not sure what we can do, then. It's good they have their trackers out, so they won't be so easy to find, but there's nothing we can do for Imogen.. Or they can do. Not yet, anyway," he told them and they nodded, agreeing with him. "Lukan, you should get in contact with Linkon, tell him to just bide his time. We'll think of something. Until then, if she's not going out on missions, she'll be relatively safe inside the compound," he said and Lukan nodded and stood up, going outside to do what Az guessed was get in contact with Linkon. He groaned and bowed his head. "This is messed up," he muttered under his breath and then glanced over at Kandice. "Get some rest. You'll need it. We won't be staying here for much longer," he told her and she nodded and stood up, walking up the stairs and shutting her bedroom door behind her.

Aztrex groaned. It was worse than what he thought. If they were creating trackers, it'd be a lot harder to stay off their radar. Stay away from there. He didn't want to go back.
 
All these names were confusing to her. Go back where? Who was the Director? And the compound? Trackers? The hell was that? Just how much was Az hiding from her? Ryah wasn't the one to pry but now she wanted to know. She could help them.....more or less but she could help in some sort of way. But would Az even let her help? He didn't seem to want her doing much so of course she felt relatively useless.

Stirring under the blankets, she woke from her short cat nap and poked her head out to flick her gaze around the room before it landed on him. Should she be worried? He certainly looked worried and distressed and....was he scared? Leaning up he licked the back of his hand gently before nuzzling his chin with her snout.

For now she would not clue him in on the fact that she had heard their entire conversation. She'd keep it to herself and if he tried anything that worried her she'd let him know that she knew. "Follow your own advice, Az. As invincible as you make yourself out to be, you need sleep as well." She wagged her stump of a tail slowly and nudged him until he was off the couch and she was able to stretch her body out so he couldn't go back on the couch. "This time I'll sleep on the couch. Its warmer down here anyway."

As playful as she was trying to be, worry still painted her features. She was horrible when it came to hiding anything. Not only that but her thoughts were also on the barrage of memories she'd suffered in her sleep. She'd never be able to fall back to asleep again. She was tempted to ask him to stay and lay with her. She could try and make him feel better that way. She could groom him and relax him but she knew he'd never have that. He'd almost attacked her last time she'd slept with him but she wasn't about to risk it again.
 
Az heard Ryah stir next to him, but he didn't move, his mind moving a mile a minute, trying to think of a way to help Imogen and keeping away from prying eyes at the same time. But he couldn't think of anything. If what Lukan said was true and security had tightened, he wasn't sure what to do. H cast a fleeting glance in Ryah's direction when she licked the back of his hand, but he didn't react any further than that. When she nuzzled his chin, however, he straightened, lifting his head.

When Ryah spoke about taking his own advice and sleep, he jolted in surprise and stared at Ryah, surprised. If she heard that then what else has she heard? But he momentarily let the thought slide when she nudged him off the couch and proclaimed she'd be sleeping there and he'd be sleeping in a room. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He noticed her worried expression and Az couldn't help but be suspicious as to how much she heard. How long until she brought it up? Questioned him? Pried into his history?

"You get some sleep yourself. You're the injured one," he told her, watching her for a moment before he turned and walked out the front door instead of upstairs to a bedroom. He walked over to Lukan. "Did you get a hold of Linkon?" he asked as he stepped into the snow and walked out to where Lukan stood a fair distance away from the safehouse. The taller male shook his head and his shoulders drooped.

"No, there was no answer, the same for Paige. They had said they weren't going to do anything yet but what if Linkon got impatient? You know what he's like," Lukan went on and Az placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"They'll be fine. Paige is the voice of reason, she wouldn't let him do anything rash. They'll contact us once they've realized we tried to call them," Az said and Lukan sighed, feeling defeated. "Go inside. You're thinking too much. Get some rest," he told him and the other man nodded and trudged back to the safehouse and walked upstairs, to his room. Az stared out over all the snow and trees and wondered briefly if he'd ever sop running. Maybe going back would be the easier option for him. Go back. He'd go back to his old life. Follow orders. That's all he ever had to worry about. Follow orders and finish the mission. It was so simple.

Shaking his thoughts, he turned and walked back inside and glanced across at Ryah, "if you need me, just call," he told her and walked upstairs and into his own room. He laid on the bed crossing his hands over his chest and staring up at the ceiling. He highly doubted sleep was going to come any time soon. His mind was working in over drive. Sleep was but a thought at this point.
 
Ryah wagged her stump of a tail slowly in response to his words to yell if she needed anything. Though thats the last thing she'd do, he needed more sleep then she did. She wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon anyway for fear that her memories would make a sudden and unexpected appearance. She dozed for most of the night but didn't really fall asleep and would wake up when light began to peek through the window. It was quiet upstairs so she assumed everyone was still asleep....or just laying very still. Her paw felt much better now so she spent a good few minutes tearing the bandaging and splints off with her teeth. Vaguely, she considered going upstairs to check on Az but she doubted he'd appreciate that.

Shaking her head she stepped off the couch and trotted to the door. She was hesitant on stepping out but she was hungry, not having eaten in a couple days does that to a person. It wasn't hard to get the door open but the snow would prove to be another problem as she sank up to her ears in it. Huffing lightly she managed to get out a few paces before she just gave up and went back inside to the warmth of fire and blankets. But she was bored and hungry. There was food in their bags but the bags were upstairs in the room Az was sleeping in. Maybe if she just snuck in and was really quiet he wouldn't notice.

With this thought in mind, she snuck up the stairs and nosed the door to Az's bedroom open. She was practically silent as she snuck up to their bags, shifted into her human form and started rummaging. Bringing out some clothes, food and a bottle of water for herself. Honestly, she couldn't help it. This felt like a covert secret mission and, under her breath, began humming the Mission Impossible tune. As she hummed it she would sneak out of the bedroom and into the bathroom where she was able to shower and continue humming and eventually singing softly. She had this habit of singing in the shower.

After she was showered and dressed she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen to further seek out nourishment for herself and maybe cook something for the others to eat. But her cooking expertise consisted of reheating what other people had cooked in the microwave. No wait, she could do this. She'd found some eggs and butter in the fridge, she could make scrambled. They looked pretty easy to make but obviously were not easy. Only she could burn scrambled eggs and set the pan on fire. "Christ! Fuck! No stop! Go away!" Panicking she ended up throwing the pan out the door and into the snow where it promptly set itself out. Glancing at the kitchen, she could see the horrible scorch marks everywhere from her attempt at cooking.
 
Aztrex had been awake the whole night, trying to think of something to help Imogen and the other trapped in the compound. But every one resulted in him getting caught, someone getting hurt or someone getting hurt. He wanted to save them, not get them killed. Everything ended badly, so they were useless. There was nothing he could think of and it was frustrating him to no end. Ruffling his hair, irritated, he huffed and sat up. In the other rooms he could hear Kandice fast asleep and in the next one, Lukan was reading a book from what he could hear. Downstairs, Ryah was awake. He listened as she went to the door and he sighed before laying back down, flopping on the bed with a grunt. Not even two minutes later, Ryah was back in the house and he almost chuckled. Obviously the snow had been too much for her.

He decided to give his thinking a rest for a few minutes - hopefully - and he closed his eyes with a sigh. He heard Ryah coming upstairs but figured maybe she was coming in here to grab something. Indeed, he heard her nose the door open and then start searching through the bags. He cracked open his eyes, curious as to what she was getting when he got an eyeful of something he wasn't expecting. Full side view of human Ryah, wearing nothing. He almost choked at the sight and instantly squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could until he heard Ryah leave the room and shut the door. He released a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and his eyes widened, completely shocked, face bright red. He certainly hadn't expected to see that.

He shifted uncomfortably, sitting up quickly and rubbing his face, his body feeling very odd. So he did his best and tried to think about rescuing Imogen and the others once more as he shifted again.


Lukan paused his reading when he heard a commotion downstairs and he closed his book and slowly walked downstairs and to the front door, which was open. Ryah was standing in the doorway and when he looked beyond her, he saw the pan and the attempt at... what ever it had been. The tall male chuckled and walked to the kitchen, staring at the scorch marks on the stove and back wall. He sighed heavily and shook his head. "Ryah, dear, you sure did make a mess in here. I see you have the cooking skills of Kandice... Actually, no, i'd say she's a little better as I don't think she's ever almost burnt down the kitchen," he said light heartedly with a grin. He went and grabbed the pan from out of the snow, washed it clean and dried it.

He glanced back over at Ryah and he placed his book on the kitchen counter and then took off his reading glasses and placed them on top of the book. "Next time you're hungry, feel free to ask me to make you something," he told her and smiled as he took out some eggs, butter, milk and salt. He also put on two pieces of toast as he grabbed the loaf sitting on one of the top shelves in the cupboard and he glanced at Ryah. "Kandice loves bread," he stated. Always had to place bread out of reach of the tiny female.

Once the food was cooked, he buttered the toast, put the scrambled eggs on a plate, placing the toast on the edge of the plate. He grabbed some cutlery and then placed it on the dining table. "Here you go," he said to her, pulling out the chair with a wide smile before he stepped away to give her room. After a few minutes of pondering, he grinned and walked to the opposite side of the table, facing Ryah and resting his large hands on the table top. "So, what do you plan to do to win over Az's heart? You've got a lot of work ahead of you with that one, that's for sure. But if you want, I can try and help," he offered and smirked.
 
Ryah nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Lukan speak and quickly turned to face. Although she'd told him wy she wasn't comfortable with him, it hadn't exactly lifted a load off her shoulders. She still felt wary and a bit jumpy around the other male. Her body was tense as if ready to bolt as she eyed him carefully. She didn't respond to his words or try to chase him from the kitchen. She'd given up on that pursuit and would probably never cook again.

She watched him cook and knew she should be mentally taking notes but would never have remembered with the amount of work he did. If she ever had kids they'd probably starve....or survive off a diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and tv frozen dinners. Mother of the year award definitely went to her.

Once breakfast was finished she sat down to eat. At least the food was safe and edible, something she was sure it wouldn't have been if she'd cooked it. Though she probably should have waited on eating as Lukan's next words made her practically choke on her food. She had to take a long drink of juice before she leaned back and now started poking at her food, refusing to meet his gaze. "My experience with men is...." She trailed off. "Well, I've never had to worry about making someone like me." Especially not someone she felt this strongly for. Tamar had been easy. Just show him a bit of leg and he was hers, her masters were another story but she wasn't going to go into that.

"My dating history is pretty much just one guy and I'm not sure if I would even call what we had a relationship." At most, they'd been fuck buddies and someone to keep her safe...more or less. "I don't really have anything planned...I didn't know I would need to plan. But thats probably why I'm stuck sleeping on a different floor as him." She grumbled the last part under her breath before she began to eat again. She had to admit the food was good. It'd been a while since she'd had a good home cooked meal. "So...I guess I need help." She wasn't usually someone to ask for help but Aztrex was so stubbornly infuriating that she had no choice.

"I kissed him....three times I think. All on separate occasions."She felt the need to tell Lukan that. Maybe it'll help him give her advice on what to. "And he's kissed me once but I don't think he was meaning to." She was perfectly fine opening up about this half of her love life. Everything else was off limits.
 
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Lukan listened to Ryah speak, a small smile painted on his face the whole time. He didn't interrupt her once and thought about what she said, but gave a light hearted chuckle when she grumbled under her breath about sleeping on a different floor than him. When she admitted she needed his help a full blown grin graced his features and he pulled out the chair opposite Ryah and sat down, propping his elbows on the table, steepling his fingers together and resting his chin on top of them, intrigued when she told him that she'd kissed him three times and Az had kissed her once, however doubtful she was that he meant it.

He snorted lightly at that comment a shook his head lightly. "Not possible. Aztrex will rarely rush into things. He takes careful consideration in everything. Pros, cons, possible outcomes, Etcetera, Etcetera. He would have kissed you for a reason. What that was, I have no clue, but it's hopeful for you, Ry," he told her, giving her a nickname like he did for everyone he met. He thought for a moment, trying to think of something.

"Hmmm. Well try being a little more assertive? Az is a pretty closed off guy and can be quite shy around the opposite sex. He just doesn't know what to do. Wait for him to make a move and you'll be in your grave soon enough, still waiting," Lukan mused and then looked over toward the front door, lost in his thoughts. He thought of something a moment later and returned his attention back to Ryah.

"Wait.. Do you know that Az is a complete virgin?" Lukan asked and then smirked, "He's never slept with someone. I'm not even entirely sure he knows how," he laughed lightly, clearly amused by this predicament, "you're definitely going to have to be the one to step forward. I would suggest give him the silent treatment, but he's so freaking silent, he probably wouldn't care... So, you could either turn it up a notch and try to really flirt with him, see how he reacts, or, I know you're not entirely comfortable with me, but I'm not going to do anything, you could pretend to flirt with me when Az is around. See if he gets jealous or reacts at all. If he just sits there, then no, you haven't really got a chance.. But, for Az? If he leaves the room like he's forgotten to do something, then he's jealous... I'd just have to hope that he doesn't go for the offensive and clock me in the face.." he rubbed his cheek like he was remembering an old injury, "his last one fractured my cheek bone," he muttered and shuddered.

"So? What do you think? Like either of those ideas? I could suggest just jump him, but he'd freak out. Subtly is the best course of action for little inexperienced Az," Lukan explained, a mocking, gleeful smirk tugging his lips upward.
 
"He would have kissed you for a reason." Ryah tried to think back on that day to remember what it was that was said. She knew they'd gotten into a sort of argument. She was relatively sure that was the day she'd told him she wanted to travel with him and he'd assumed she'd have a safe life here. Ah yes, that was the day she'd blown up at him for her seemingly 'perfect' life. Maybe he'd felt guilty afterwards and that had warranted the kiss? She wasn't sure. She certainly hadn't been expecting it from him. They hadn't shared a kiss since that day though, mostly because Ryah didn't want to be pushed away.

Assertive. Assertive in what way? She only knew how to be assertive in bed and she assumed thats not what he meant about being assertive. If she cornered Az he might get angry at her. Neither him nor her were good with talking about feelings so that was out of the question. She supposed she could start small. But what exactly was small? Holding hands? Az didn't strike her as a hand holder and she wasn't really one either. She'd been waiting for him to make all the moves this entire time. Well, now she knew she was going about this all wrong.

"I figured he was a virgin." Ryah mumbled, more to herself then to Lukan. She'd dealt with men all her life, she'd know a virgin from a sex addict. But it did surprise her to know Az didn't even know how to have sex. Wow, something that she knew how to do and he didn't? Seemed like a miracle. And here she thought he was perfect in every way. She supposed everyone had to have their flaws though. She perked an eyebrow at his next suggestions and stared down at her half empty plate of food. The idea was appealing, flirt with Lukan to get to Az. Ryah was good at flirting with guys she had no feelings for. She'd done it all her life.

"I don't think Az will pick up on just flirting. No offense to her, but Kandice was acting like a love struck middle schooler with her crush around him and he didn't even pick up on that." That was practically in your face flirting and Az had remained as dense as ever. This would be hard for Ryah, she was a subtle flirter and if Az hadn't picked up on Kandice he certainly wasn't going to pick up on Ryah. Ryah perked her head as she heard stirring upstairs. They were heavy footsteps so it had to be Az on his way downstairs. "Alright....I'm going to sit on your lap and flirt with you but don't try anything or I'll be the one clocking you in the face." She wasn't joking about that. She might even tear his balls out, who knew. She really didn't handle people she didn't feel comfortable with touching her in places she didn't say they could.

Once she got the ok from Lukan she stood and slowly moved around the table. As she neared him her heart would speed up in fear but she pushed it down. She sat sideways on Lukan's lap so her legs were dangling off one side of him. She took one of his hands and place it on the small of her back and the other other stomach. "Remember, don't try anything." A whole array of emotions were washing through her right now but none so strong as fear. She was fighting all her instincts to leap off Lukans lap and run away towards her mate that didn't know he was her mate. God she was going to have a headache after all this. She locked her gaze with Lukans, gave him a soft smile and started chatting with him about books. She'd seen the book he'd laid on the counter. She told him her favorite book, her favorite author. Pretty much anything she could think about books. She didn't even glance up at Az when he came downstairs.
 
Lukan couldn't help but give a light laugh to Ryah's comment about Kandice being all over him. "Nah, though it's true he might not pick up on flirting, the reason why Kandice doesn't affect him as he sees her as something similar to a sister. We've all been together since.. Well, a long time. Being around her 24/7 since you're young does that to a person," he said lightly. When she told him that she was going to sit on his lap and not to try anything, or she'd hit him, he gave an easy going grin and held up his hands in a surrender position. "I'll behave myself," he promised and watched as she came to the other side of the table, the side he was on and then slowly sat on his lap, legs off to the side.

He let her guide his hands to where she was comfortable with him touching. When she reminded him not to try anything, he just gave an innocent smile. He could hear Az coming down the stairs and glanced over there momentarily before looking back at Ryah. He could see the fear in her eyes clear as day and he suddenly felt bad for suggesting this, but when she started talking about books, his thoughts were forgotten and full blown smile graced his features, elated to meet someone else who liked books. He easily chatted with her, telling her all about the book he was currently reading, the author of it and a few interesting facts about it that really caught his eye. The way they wrote, certain phrases, the details, the emotion. He was quickly getting excited about the conversation, his bright amber eyes lighting with glee.


Az walked downstairs, stretching his arms high above his head with a yawn. Not having slept a wink in the past few days had finally caught up to him. His feet came to the bottom and he paused and glanced across the room. He had to do a double take. Ryah was sitting on Lukan's lap, looking like they were having the time of their life. Lukan was exceptionally happy. Apparently they were talking about books. His brow furrowed, unsure of how he felt about this. Since when did Ryah like Lukan? Since when? She had said she didn't like him. He had heard her tell him that he looked like someone from her past that had hurt her. Why would she like him if that was the case? Why?

Huffing at his spiralling thoughts, he walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water before unscrewing the cap and taking a drink as he walked over to one of the couches and sat down heavily. Behind him, Lukan said, "morning, mate," and Aztrex scowled, staring at the floor.

"Morning," Az muttered before he leaned back against the back of the couch, having a hard time to tune out of Ryah and Lukan's conversation. Before long, he got restless and felt an overwhelming need to hit something. He didn't know why, but it really annoyed him that Ryah hadn't even said a word to him and was talking so freely to Lukan. His knee bounced, irritated before he suddenly stood and looked toward Lukan. "Can I talk to you outside for a second?" he asked roughly before striding outside.

He heard Lukan stand up, saying to Ryah that he'd be back in a minute before he stepped outside, an easy going smirk on his face. That expression just pissed him off even more and just after Lukan asked, "what's up, mate?" Az spun around and punched Lukan right in the face. He heard a crack in the man's cheekbone and Az gave a satisfied smile. Lukan stumbled to the side before righting himself and then glared at Az, "what was that for, man?!" the man exclaimed before throwing his own hit at Az. It connected with his chin and Az managed to avoid a dislocated jaw by stepping back.

The taller man growled at Az and then tackled him and they both fell into the snow, practically sinking in it. When they both came to, both were in their feral forms, Az snarling and Lukan growling. They charged at each other, claws flashing, teeth snapping. Lukan's claws connected with Az's shoulder and the wolf growled before snapping his jaws at the cheetah and clamped down hard on his front left leg. The large feline hissed and they tussled for a while longer blood staining the snow before a tiny figure came flying out the door and pouncing on Az's face. The wolf tossed his head, startled and the Jackal landed on the snow and gave a sharp bark followed by a growl , turning her glare onto both men. They paused, staring at the tiny predator and then glanced at each other. They growled at one another, but Kandice gave another warning and they were silenced just like that. "Children," Kandice huffed, exasperated before she turned around and trotted back inside. She glanced over at Ryah as she kicked the door closed, shutting the boys outside. She shifted, not caring if Ryah looked and she said, "that's quite normal for them. Used to happen atleast once a week," she offered the other female a smile before she walked over to the linen closet. Lukan tried to nose open the door and she immediately threw a pillow at the door, causing it to shut on his muzzle. The cheetah cried out and hissed and Kandice yelled, "you two are not coming in until you make up!" and then she finally grabbed a blanket from the closet and wrapped it around her body, absolutely no shame. "Sorry you had to see that," she said with a heavy sigh, "they can be like kids, sometimes."
 
Ryah was kinda hurt when Az walked downstairs and didn't seem to be affected by her current position. As much as she'd enjoyed the chat with Lukan about books, being an avid fanatic herself, she'd been hoping to get some sort of reaction out of Az. That and the fact that sitting on Lukan's lap was beyond her comfort zone. Even her wolf was pushing against her, wanting out to get away from the other male.

She stepped off Lukan's lap gladly when Az called him outside. Hugging herself she walked to the window just in time to see Az throw the first punch making her jump slightly. Alright, she'd been hoping for some sort of reaction but nothing so extreme and now she felt kinda guilty that she'd caused another person to get hurt just because she was chasing after a guy that would probably never like her the way she loved him. Then again, his reaction had proved that he at least cared for her but that could mean anything. As her thoughts strayed back and forth her eyes never left the battling males. She debated whether she should go outside and break it up but found she didn't have to as Kandice bolted out and gave the two males a good earful.

Ryah was still staring out the window when Kandice returned and shut the door on them. This was her fault. She should never had gone through with this plan. She shouldn't have listened to Lukan. But she didn't know what else to do. She was getting nowhere with Az. Damn it, he was just so stubborn and couldn't see what was so clearly in front of his face. Ryah was barely paying attention to what Kandice was saying, her attention still on the two males outside. As much as she felt for Aztrex, if her plan was to work she'd have to ignore him for now and side with Lukan. "I need to talk to them." She murmured to no one in particular before she stepped outside.

Intimidation wasn't her thing not that she was very intimidating in her small frame. That and she was so cold now that the trembling probably didn't help. Before she'd stepped out she'd grabbed a first aide kid, she knew the basics of first aide. She wasn't completely useless. But instead of walking to Az, like everyone would have probably guessed she sided with Lukan. Completely avoiding Az. She'd grown a bit more comfortable with Lukan after their chat about books so it wasn't as hard for her to push her fear down and remain completely poker faced.

Ryah couldn't perform first aide in the snow so she sat down on the front porch and called the cheetah over where she stitched up his worse cuts and cleaned off and disinfected his worse scrapes. She could do nothing for his cheek though. Setting bones was not something she had experience with. Once she was done with the cheetah, she cracked half a smile at him. As much as she wanted to call Az over, to check over his body as well, to smile at him, she didn't. It was hard for her and she had to quickly step back into the home before she completely broke and ruined everything. Sniffling lightly, she climbed up the steps and to the room Az had slept in. Once there she took the blanket and wrapped herself up in a ball before sitting on the bed. She wanted to cry and break down and run to Az but she also wanted to yell at him for forcing her to do this.

Now she really was a whore. She couldn't push that thought away because logic pushed it back to the forefront of her mind. Ryah had never cried before, not in front of Az. Ever. After all they'd been through, she'd never cried. But now she couldn't stop the tears from running down her cheeks. The pain in her heart was just too much. Climbing off the bed she quickly walked to the bathroom where she shut the door, locked it and collapsed on the floor. Sobbing her heart out. She didn't want to do this anymore. Az simply didn't want her and she'd have to accept this fact and move on. But that thought cause a fresh set of tears to fall down her cheeks as she continued sobbing softly. She didn't know why she was trying so hard to be quiet. They would probably hear her no matter what she did.
 
Az stared at the front door before he sat in the snow, not overly caring whether he stayed outside or was let back in. His thick fur kept him nice and warm, plus due to his past, the cold didn't bother him anyway, even as a human. Maybe it came with the loss of his sense of feeling pain. It was the same with Lukan and Kandice, they were the same as him.. For the most part. Huffigf softly, he curled his large tail around his paws before he turned his head and licked at a wound on his shoulder. Just because he didn't feel the pain didn't mean he liked the feeling of blood stiffening his fur.

Lukan glanced over at Aztrex and sighed heavily before Ryah stepped out of the house. He watched her carefully, bright amber gaze following her every move, wondering if she was going to keep up the ruse or go to Az. When she beckoned him over, he got his answer and he padded over to her, staying utterly still as she dressed his wounds. His cheek throbbed and he flexed his jaw, seeing if that was broken at all too. It wasn't. He watched as Ryah went into the house before he turned back at Az, watching the wolf carefully. Well, it certainly answered any questions about whether he harboured feelings for Ryah. "Just so you know this was all a set up, mate. Ryah wanted to see if you felt anything for her. Granted, the whole thing was my idea, but still. I would say it paid off. It worked quite well. I was hoping you wouldn't react like that, though I had a feeling you would. You always were one to act with actions more than words. Especially when it came to hitting me. I swear you take great pleasure in that," Lukan said, ears and tail flicking in mild amusement.

Az gave him a blank stare. It was a set up? Seriously? Damn it, he should have realised. "You are a dick, Lukan. And don't think i'm going to let you off, cause i'm going to beat your ass later," Az growled at him and Lukan just gave a cat-like grin. But then Kandice opened the door and glared at them.

"You two can be such children," she grumbled at them and then pointed toward upstairs, "you two have upset her! Go fix up the mess you two have made, you morons!" she practically yelled at them. The males glanced at each other and then padded inside, quickly shifted and tugged on some clothes before they both went upstairs, toward the sound of sobbing. The two boys came to the bathroom door and glanced at each other.

"Ryah?" Az questioned softly.

"Look, we're sorry, we didn't realize it would upset you.. We went a little over board," Lukan said gently, hoping to coax her to open the door.

"We're sorry.. I'm sorry.. Can you please open the door...? I don't like it when you're upset," Az told her honestly.
 
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