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Chapter 13 - White Caress (pt. 1)

Nereyda

I giggled as I hopped from stone to stone down the dark river that ran under the castle, Braeden following close behind me.

"Christ's sake Rey!" He hissed. "Be careful, you're going to slip!"

Although his concern for me was endearing, he really had nothing to worry about. I had jumped along this river more times than I could remember, as a child it had been my secret escape route down to the gardens.

"Catch me if you can!" I teased over my shoulder, loving the look of playful determination that came over his face.

We were on our way back from the gardens now, having just spent the day together in the tenth garden that sat at the bottom of the deep valley. No one ever went down past garden five, save for the gardeners, and I'd known that they were only on duty towards the end of the week.

When we were halfway down the river, I stopped on a larger, flatter rock, turning to see Braeden hop up to me. I grinned and embraced him in the dark, stealing an illicit moment with him under the castle that had tortured me my whole life.

His arms wound around me without hesitation, his face bending down to nuzzle into my neck. Warm, pleasant tingles spread from where our skin touched, the effect making me shiver and push closer to him.

"Nereyda-" he started in a serious tone before I hushed him with a 'shh' and a finger against his lips.

"Braeden," I whispered reverently before rising onto my bare tiptoes to press my lips against his.

The rushing sound of the frothing river echoed off the rock, making me feel like we were standing in the eye of our very own tornado of water.

Braeden made a strangled noise in the back of his throat before his hands came up to caress my face. I felt them shake as they tangled in my long hair and pulled me close. I gasped as his tongue stroked my bottom lip and he took the opportunity to possess my mouth with his. His tongue languidly flicked against mine as it made gentle pushes into my mouth.

A breathy moan made its way out of me without my permission but at that moment I couldn't care less. Liquid heat dripped into parts of me that I hadn't known existed and my leopard arched my back, pushing my breasts into Braeden's chest.

Something hard pushed into my hip and my lust filled mind had no problem figuring out what that was. My leopard purred, rubbing my body against him.

"Fuck," he gasped, ripping his mouth away from mine.

His eyes glowed as he looked down at me and I could see the light my own glowing eyes cast on his face as our animals stared at each other.

"I want to be in you," he murmured, pushing his hips into mine.

"Well," I whispered conspiratorially. "Maybe if you win the fight tonight I'll let you," I winked at him before bounding off down the river once more. I had no idea I had it in me to be so coy.

I was pretty sure my good mood was mostly down to my parents being out of the city and me being able to spend the whole day with Braeden. My parents being away had meant I felt safe enough to smuggle him into my home to show him a bit of where I lived.

Additionally, the King's trip meant that, according to Braeden, he had a fight scheduled with a man named Delair. I was a bit worried about this upcoming event, only because the last time he had been in a fight was the second time I had ever seen him and he'd been really torn up. I hoped that he would allow me to support him tonight.

We emerged from the cavern under the castle into the cool night air at the side of the castle. The goods lift was on the other side of the castle so it would be quicker for us to just take the stairs, something I would never dare to do if my parents were home.

"Race you down!" I exclaimed, dancing fluidly away from Braeden and around the front of the castle where the gigantic staircase was located.

My bare feet hit every third step and I felt like I was hurtling towards the ground as I looked towards my destination at the bottom. I heard the slap of Braeden's shoes behind me, something I still didn't understand about him. Wearing shoes really was a peasant's thing, only labourers had any reason to protect their feet from the ground.

My sensitive ears could hear him gaining on me as I neared the middle of the stairs. A high pitched squeal tore from my chest as I increased my pace, taking four steps at a time now. My stomach dropped as the steep angle I travelled at caused me to feel like I was free falling.

I could hear Braeden continuing to gain on me as I reached the three quarter mark, and that was when my distraction caused my foot to slip out from under me. I teetered on one foot on the edge of a step for a split second before a pair of hard arms pulled me backwards. My heart thrummed in my chest as my head swam at the sharp change of direction.

A growled curse reached my ears as I was swept upwards into Braeden's familiar embrace.

"Fucking hell Rey!" He exclaimed, panting in my ear. I gazed dazedly into his eyes, only beginning to comprehend how he had saved me again. He carried me bridal style and I tightly wrapped my shaking arms around his neck.

I bounced gently in his arms as he carefully carried me to the bottom of the staircase. "We are never doing that again," he hissed at me, his voice wavering slightly.

"Sorry Braeden," I apologised softly, "I guess I got a little carried away," a small smile came onto my lips.

His eyes were warm as he returned my smile. "Honestly, you scared the ever loving crap out of me," he tangled a hand in my hair and started to massage my scalp softly.

I said nothing at that, choosing to bury my face in his neck and softly stroke the hair at the base of his neck. I inhaled deeply, loving the smell of pine and cinnamon emanating from his skin. It was not at all how I expected a wolf to smell like but then I couldn't say seeing as he was the only wolf I knew. There were no cinnamon trees in Paladu so I assumed that cinnamon must grow wherever he came from.

"We should hurry," he said, setting me down at the base of the staircase, "I need to warm up before it starts." He was referring to the fight he had later.

We started away from the castle, but instead of turning towards the city like I expected, Braeden turned towards the forest outskirts that surrounded the city.

"Where are we going?" I questioned, following him hesitantly.

"We'll take the back way so we can phase," he winked at me over his shoulder.

"Phase?" I asked surprised, "Do I look like I'm wearing phasing clothes to you?" I walked beside him now and he turned to his side to give my attire a once over.

"Well..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say about my usual masses of dresses.

"You're going to have to help me change." I stated, turning my nose into the air teasingly. We had reached the edge of the towering pine trees now and began to make our way into the forest.

"Now how could I complain about getting an opportunity to undress my girl?" He teased me right back. We had become very comfortable with each other over the past few days and we'd spent more and more time together. I was sure that Braeden had other responsibilities that he should be attending to but as long as he wanted to spend time with me I didn't care. "C'mere," he smiled and pulled me closer to him.

I went with him easily, smiling widely. "Am I really your girl?" I questioned, not forgetting what he had said earlier.

He halted in his ministrations on my buttons and turned me around to face him. Grabbing hold of my chin, he looked seriously into my eyes. "You're my only girl Rey."

I smiled at his words and pushed forward so I could peck him affectionately on the lips.

"And I better be your only man," he murmured smiling against my lips, raising his hands to tickle me playfully.

I shrieked in delight and pulled away from him, laughing. He chuckled and turned me around so he could continue to work on my buttons. He undid them all the way before leaving me so he could undress and phase behind a tree. I quickly followed suit, darting behind my own tree, stripping myself of my dresses and then letting my leopard take full reign. She purred in delight as she was allowed to break free of my skin.

I pawed my way slowly around the tree, unsure of what I was going to see. I had never seen Braeden in his wolf form before and I was flattered that he considered me highly enough to show me the other side of himself.

What stood before me as I came out from behind the tree was no ordinary wolf. No ordinary wolf was three feet high and bigger than most leopards. Braeden's sleek black fur glistened in the evening light, his muscular legs rippling as he prowled towards me.

On any other occasion I would have been petrified, Braeden's wolf was one of the most fearsome beasts I had ever seen, paired with the fact that I had been taught to hate wolves all my life, I really should have been shaking from head to foot. However, the affectionate spark in the wolf's large, crystalline blue eyes belied his human nature, and the wolfish grin he gave me reminded me too much of the human for me to fear the wolf.

Overcoming my hesitation, I crossed the remaining distance to him and nudged his face lightly with my own. His blue eyes regarded me with surprise before he quickly returned the gesture, nuzzling his face into my neck. I had never felt more at home than in that moment.

A few moments later, Braeden's huge black wolf scooped up his pile of clothing in his mouth and started off into the woods. I followed suit, carefully picking up my dresses in my mouth before chasing after him into the dense woodland, loving the way the wind felt flying through my fur. My eyes sharpened as I dodged and jumped around trees, my nose easily being able to pick up Braeden's distinct cinnamony scent.

He increased his pace as we travelled deeper into the woods and I had to concentrate on moving my legs fast enough to keep up with him. He was obviously a very strong wolf, what with his size and now his speed. It was evident why my father was so against the wolf population - they were obviously a thread to the leopards. I wondered if Braeden belonged to a wolf pack and if he did, I wondered if he was an alpha.

My sense of direction was a lot better when I was in leopard form and I could tell that we were circling around the edge of the city towards the South end which was furthest from the castle.

Although my sense of direction was infinitely better, my sense of time seemed to be infinitely worse and I had not idea how much time passed before we slowed coming up to the clearing that lay on the outskirts of Braeden's campsite. Braeden's wolf disappeared behind some familiar green shrubbery and I knew that he was phasing behind it. Finding my own sturdy looking tree I followed suit, shivering when the cool evening air came into contact with my bare skin.

I stepped into my dresses, fastening what I could before emerging into the clearing to find Braeden already leaning against a tree waiting for me. His grey blouse fell around his hips unbuttoned, exposing the hard planes of his bare chest.

I tried unsuccessfully not to stare, causing him to smirk as he advanced towards me. The corners of my mouth lifted as he briefly pressed his lips to mine before quickly doing up my buttons. He really was getting better at that.

His long fingers twined with my delicate ones as he led me across the clearing and into the campsite. I looked around in awe at the masses of tents pitched in the huge field. The sun was setting over the Western side of the forest, clearly illuminating the castle on the mountain which seemed to loom over the whole city.

Braeden tugged me over to a tent in the closest corner before disappearing inside for short few moments. He came out holding a swathe of black silk in his hand.

"Lena has a spare, she won't mind you borrowing it," he thrust the fabric into my hand.

As I began to unravel the material I realised why the name sounded familiar. Lena had been the girl who had helped us brainstorm for the charity, she was helping me run it. The black silk was, in fact, a long cloak with a hood. I cocked an eyebrow at Braeden, wondering why on earth he had given me this article.

He motioned with his hand for me to put it on, causing me to frown with discomfort.

"What?" I asked. "I can't wear this, it's black." I knew that I had done a lot of rule breaking with Braeden but this one surely this was going a bit too far. I had never worn black in my life, if my father found out... I couldn't.

"Yes you can," Braeden encouraged gently. "It's all part of the experience."

I stared at the clothing in my hand for a few more seconds, undecided.

"Don't worry," Braeden said suddenly, "You can put it on later."

I smiled at him, grateful that he understood me so completely.

"We really do need to hurry though," he was staring at the setting sun with a frown on his face. "I need to warm up."

We made our way back through the forest towards the inner city, Braeden holding my hand as he lead the way. The sight that met me when we reached the streets was something that I could never have been prepared for. Hundreds of people, men, women and children, all ran barefoot down the cobbled white street, the hoods of their black cloaks concealing their faces.

"You might want to put that cloak on now," Braeden whispered in my ear, obviously amused.

I did as he said without question. It was obvious that I would stand out more without the cloak on than I would with it on. Braeden easily tugged me into the crowd after I drew the hood up over my white hair, joining the people in their mad dash towards the centre of the city.

A few minutes later the crowd separated into two fluid black columns. It seemed that the men and a few women made their way into what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse whereas most of the women and the children continued past the warehouse on their way towards the city hall.

Braeden stopped where the line divided and turned to me. "You should go with everyone to the city hall," he said in a whisper so as not to disturb the quiet around us. "There will be food and activities for everyone, you can get to know some of the other women," his eyes pleaded with me as if expecting my next words.

"No way!" I whisper hissed at him. "I came here to watch you fight and that's what I'm going to do!"

It took a bit of persuading on my part but he eventually gave in and pulled me into the run down warehouse. We bypassed the queue quickly, earning us several curious looks from onlookers. I blushed and ducked further beneath my hood, trying to subtly push all my white hair under the hood.

The volume of the crowd increased as we passed through each set of doors until it was so loud, I could hardly hear myself think. I was starting to understand why Braeden hadn't wanted me to come in here with him. 

--- A/N --- 

Part two will follow next week. Asher fans be ready! ;) 

- Zoe x