fiammetta
by fire be purged
Fiammetta mistook the horror on Tithe's face for disgust at her appearance, and she drew back from him as though stung. Something about his polite mannerisms had lulled her into a false sense of security, and she berated herself for thinking that he would be any different in his judgement of her. She was about to growl her annoyance, when the male's expression softened and he back up his earlier statement, leaving her rather speechless. If he still insisted that the morning light she donned suited her, then he was either too courteous for words, or she truly had misinterpreted his sentiments.
With renewed interest and a milder countenance of her own, she set to investigating him, running her single eye up and down his muscular frame. He submitted to her probing good-naturedly, and his relaxed demeanor soothed her mistrust so that, by the time a chuckle escape from his lips, every hair upon her shoulders lay smoothly. He spoke to her then of catching her scent in Asteraia, and she nodded evenly, “I myself would have spent no extra time there than was the due I had to pay. Now, I am free again.” She then cocked her head, a tentative question burning her lips, “What did you think of the king and queen who rule there?”
The silence between them grew thick for a few moments as the stranger seemed to be caught up in his own thoughts, and Fiammetta turned her head away to look again upon the view, so as not to press an answer from him. Eventually, a soft smile escaped him and he relaxed even further onto the hillside, as though trying to reassure her. She felt gratitude towards him for his efforts, but wasn't ready to fully let her guard down just yet. Giving her more time to adjust to his proximity, he spoke, introducing himself and his homeland. Fiammetta did not know much about Spirane, except that it was a land vastly covered by forests and ruled by an alpha whose father had ruled before him.
“I am Fiammetta, and I have no permanent home. I do not trust any other to lead me except myself.” He listened to her patiently before asking her yet another question, his beliefs shining in his eyes, and she smiled without mirth. He had unknowingly broached her favorite subject, and she took a deep breath before beginning, “Asteraia is a land of rapists and cannibals. Tobias' imprint leads there, and she ruthlessly tried to kill me after I endured The Burning, hunger in her eyes. Tobias himself has neither lord nor master, and isn't chained to emotions or a conscience. He would eat his own children if his mate did not stop him. I have experienced both his teeth and his lust before, and not a one of them was pretty to behold. All the wolves that join there either share the alphas' ways of life, or know about them and do not care. Both of these make them dangerous and merciless. Tobias has two litters of pups at the moment, and I feel that they should be removed from him and taught another way, before it is too late.”
Her passion and ferocity burned in her fiery eye, so that it seemed that to touch her was to be scalded by the force of her emotions. She was tiny in stature, this was true, but every fiber of her soul sparked with an energy unparalleled by most twice her size, and her thirst to rid the world of evil shadows was an all-consuming one.
No Home - No Family - 6YO - 22 in, 32 lbs