Not his fault. Not his fault. Not his fault. NOT. HIS. FAULT. 

How many times would she have to tell herself that before she could truly believe it? Frustrated, she ran a hand over her face. “I want to believe you had nothing to do with it… I want to believe it so much. Maybe it is the grief talking, but I just keep picturing someone leaning over my baby wolf. Someone with fangs, and enough anger to rip out his throat. All I can picture is you. I realize that it’s not you, you have convinced me of that, but you are the only vampire I know. The only pair of fangs I have ever seen.” She looked at him with a sad look in her eyes.

Maybe she needed to allow herself to grieve. How could she do that? Anger and the want to revenge still owned most of her energy. His interactions pulled her back to the present. “Of course it isn’t your fault. I’m the one who did this.” She stood up angrily. If she had walked away. If she had kept her head. If she had watched over her pact like she was supposed to. If. If. if. A scream of anger erupted inside of her, she drew her fist back, and punched the closest tree. The tree splintered, and her fist was covered in small bits of bark. “Son of a b*tch!” She pulled her fist back to her chest and bowed her head over it for a moment.

With her anger slightly spent, she came back to sit across from him again and began to pull the wood from her fist. His name made her smile. Devin? It suited him. “I think deciding not to kill you, and deciding not to blame you earns me the right to know your name.” She flashed him as smile then continued to work on her hand. The wombs healed as soon as she pulled the wood from her hand. “Werewolf.” she held up her hand, still covered with wet blood, but flawless skin. “We have this natural ability to heal. When I first change, I tried to run away. I fell, cut my hand only to watch the skin stitch it back together again. My alpha at the time, told me how quickly I healed, even for a werewolf. Neither of us knew then, but I was, and still am, the quickest healing werewolf.” She put her fist back down. 

“Everything blends together over time.” She brushed her fingers over her knees. “Time blends into a never ending stream. Night. Day. Night. Day.” She laughed. “I’m Avina. If you don’t want to remember that, or it blends with all your other names, then it’s fine by me. Such is the curse of immortality.” She put her hand over her face again. “I’m sorry, Devin. I should not attack you, and I should not have blamed you for the act of one. If I was judged by the act of any single wolf, I would always have a negative light shining on me.”

It should not have taken her as long as it did to read his body language. From the way his eyes roamed her body, to the stiffness of his body, to the way he trained his eyes on her face it all pointed to his uneasiness. Through it took her a while to figure out why he was reacting so weird. Was he surprised that she looked human? She tilted her head to the side to study him. Did he see her change through the bushes? Was he bugged by the idea that she went in looking like a wolf and walked out on two legs?

It dawn on her slowly, and she let her eyes fall down onto her naked body. Of course! How could she forget? A blush rose on her cheeks as she looked back up at him. “Um… May I borrow your shirt?” She asked, suddenly feeling shy and very self-aware. She pulled her knees up to her chest and crossed her ankles trying to hide everything. Never had she felt like she should be ashamed of her bare form, it was a weird feeling that sent tingles into her stomach. “I’ve never had to worry about hiding my body before.” she told him, hiding her face in her knees.