Revolting

Chapter Twenty Three - Good Impressions Hannah

I dragged the brush through my hair over and over. I loved the way it felt, the slight scratching on my scalp, the tugging of the strands, as I pulled the mass of red-brown locks over my shoulder and brushed it over and over. I smelled faintly of strawberries, and I loved the texture, so soft and smooth and clean. Always before my hair had been limp, dirty, and greasy. I pulled it forward, so that it would cover as much of my scar as possible, and braided it loosely. I didn't have a mirror to see the results, but I felt nice.

I glared over at Heath, who had still done nothing to prepare himself. He was staring dejectedly into the fire, and rubbing absently at his shoulder as if it still pained him. I propped my hands on my hips and chewed my bottom lip. I picked up the new clothes the pack had given us and threw them in his face. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even see them coming, and he flinched when the soft clothes smacked him in the jaw.

"The least you could do is TRY." I said. I needed this to go smoothly. I needed Heath to behave himself. I needed him to squash down his absolute hatred of pack wolves just for this one night. I desperately wanted the pack to like him, and accept him, the way it seemed to have accepted me. But more than that, I wanted Heath to like the pack. I wanted him to see and believe that they were different, they were good. They were kind and fair. "Take a bath, will you?" I wrinkled my nose, "You stink."

He glared at me, "What, you want me to smell all fruity and sweet, for who?"

"For me." I snapped.

Magic words. For all he was being a grouch, Heath loves me, and dotes on me, as much as he can in our situation. He knew I wanted him to make a good impression. So with a grunt, he pushed himself away from the fire, picked up the bar of soap, and started trudging toward the little stream. "Don't forget the shampoo!" I called after him.

Fifteen minutes later he climbed up the bank, looking for all the world like a drowned wolf. His shaggy hair was plastered to his head, and his beard was dripping on to his clean t-shirt. I wish he could have gotten a shave and a haircut, but we had neither scissors nor razor. Not that he would have done it anyway. He did at least accept the hairbrush that I held out to him. I watched him from underneath the fall of my hair.

Heath is a good-looking man. I might be biased though, because he is my brother. He is tall and broad-shouldered like my father was. He used to be muscular, but his sickness had wasted away a lot of his body mass. I knew it would come back, eventually, especially if we continued eating as well as we had for these last couple of weeks. He had been up and moving around more, exercising his body and trying to regain his strength. His hair was a little redder than mine, and always seemed kind of shaggy. When it got too long and started annoying him, he would pull it into a pony tail, and then hack it off with his knife.

He pulled on his old combat boots without any socks and laced them up with a look of grim determination. "Okay kid, let's get this over with."

I hated it when he called me "kid." He was only doing it now to annoy me, so I ignored him and started leading the way back to the pack lands. I felt eyes on us as we crossed the boundary. I could see Heath was nervous, his eyes shifting, checking the shadows, his hand hovering over the knife he had slipped into his pocket. I hoped the Rebel Moon pack wouldn't mind that he was carrying a weapon. But the patrols had been forewarned that we were coming, and they did not harass us. I took the most direct path through the trees, which eventually lead us to the back gardens.

Heath froze at the edge of the lawn, his brown eyes anxiously scanning over the farm house, the gardens, the training grounds beyond. I could tell that every fiber of his being was on red-alert. One wrong move, one shift of a shadow, one unexpected noise, and he would go into full flight-or-fight mode. I felt sad, observing him. His hypervigilance had kept us alive this long, and it was the only way he knew to survive.

I took his hand and squeezed it, trying to offer him comfort and reassurance. And then I pulled him toward the back door. I climbed the familiar stairs and knocked on the door. I kept a firm grip on Heath to make sure he didn't make a run for it. After a minute Daisy's bright smiling face appeared, yanking open the door.

"What are you doing, silly? You are a guest today; you should come to the front door." She grabbed ahold of me and squished me in a hug, and then she looked over my shoulder at Heath with raised eyebrows. "Well hello there, stranger. You sure look a lot better than the last time I saw you! Come on inside." She pulled me in, and I dragged Heath in after me.

We made it over the threshold, that was a promising start.

"The Alpha wants to talk in the office before dinner." Daisy said, sashaying down the hall, her blond curls bobbing after her. I felt Heath go stiff behind me at the mention of the Alpha. "Don't worry," I whispered under my breath. "He's different. He's nice. I swear."

We followed Daisy into the "Alpha's Office", which had not yet been remodeled. It still had ugly, peeling floral wall paper and scuffed hardwood floors that needed to be refinished. An old desk that looked like it might be original to the house had been arranged in front of the windows, and an assortment of mismatched chairs were arranged so that they faced each other. Shane was already there, bent over some paperwork, his inky black hair falling in his face. The Luna was perched comfortably on his knee, her arm draped behind him as she scanned the same document. She looked up at us with a welcoming smile.

"Hello Hannah. Good to see you again. And Heath. You are looking well." Her golden eyes went to the toddler who was playing with a pile of blocks in front of the desk. I knew what she was thinking... Heath was well because the baby had put her magic hands on him. "Welcome to our home, Heath. This is my husband, Shane."

Shane looked up and smiled. He had a broad, handsome Polynesian face, sparkling dark eyes, and a friendly smile. "Welcome," he said, gesturing to the chairs. "We are not very formal here. Please take a seat. We are just waiting for William. He'll be here shortly."

I felt my face warm at the mention of the Beta. I had not spoken to him. I had not even been near to him since the day he found me hiding under the tree on the boundary. But I had been watching him from afar as he worked and trained and interacted with other members of the pack. Every time I saw him, my heart squeezed in my chest, and I felt a little giddy. I felt myself holding my breath, and straining to hear his footsteps on the old creaky floors.

"I want you to know that within these walls, you are safe," Shane was saying firmly, his eyes on Heath. "We judge people on their character and their actions. So if you are a good man, you have nothing to fear."

Heath's jaw twitched, and I prayed he wouldn't say anything rude. I know he distrusted the Alpha, and he would reject anything he said on principle.

"We called you here to discuss this matter of poisoned arrows." Shane continued, his brow furrowed, "Obviously, this is deeply concerning, knowing that hunters have a new weapon in their arsenal."

"It wasn't a hunter," I was startled by the Beta's voice in the doorway. I spun in my seat, and felt myself grow warm as I took in his tall, lean form, his half-unbuttoned shirt showing a teasing glance of his well sculpted chest. I was so busy gawking it took me a moment to realize that something was very, very wrong.

William's hands had gripped the frame of the door, and his knuckles had gone white from the force of his grip. Beside me, Heath was ridged in his chair, his hands curled into fists. Their eyes were locked across the room as if none of the rest of us even existed. I saw Heath's nostrils flare, and his chest heave. I saw the Luna's eyes widen, and the Alpha smirked.

"Well, this is an interesting development." Shane chuckled, lacing his hands on the desk in front of him. "Heath, meet my beta, William❞