I snarl in annoyance. This is so wonderful. Just what I needed. Some asshole interrupting my me time. I turn to glare at this stranger, and the first thing I see is amber. Deep, rich amber eyes that are as vivid as they are striking. I roll my eyes dramatically, only partly to force my eyes away from hers.
"Actually, it runs to get the door for me every day, but then stands directly in my way while acting like it deserves a gold medal." My tone is dry, and I almost sound bored. The amber-eyed stranger cackled anyway.
Her voice is rich and deep; it reminds me of honey in a strange way. Her eyes could definitely be described as honey-like. Her hair is short, an impossibly rich dark brown, and I refuse to admit that there are honey tinged highlights from the sun. I gawk at this syrupy stranger out of pure shock.
"Who even are you?" I snap. She's grinning in a way that kind of pisses me off.
"I'm just a visitor," she says with her ridiculously honey rich voice, "from the Emberheart pack."
Emberheart territory is decently far away, I'll likely never see this woman again. Perfect. I can be as much of an ass as I want. I don't know much about the Emberheart pack, but I've never seen much point in learning about any other packs. I'll never get the chance to travel. Not when I'm such a useless omega.
The stranger steps closer to me and I catch her scent. She's an alpha, she smells like woodsmoke and sap and everything I love about forests. The forest is rich with the smells of plants and pollen. The hum of insects working and the dancing of the leaves in the wind remind me that I'm in my safe place. That everything will be ok, at least for a while when I'm surrounded by it. And this smirking alpha smells like my safe space, my home. Thief.
"Something distracting you omega?" The alpha speaks very smugly. I scoff
"Yeah." I sigh dramatically, I fluff my hair and flutter my eyes at her in a mocking flirtatious way. Then I straighten my posture and I glare at her. "Some weirdo interrupted me on my walk."
"Looked less like walking and more like abusing pebbles." She says with a challenging glimmer in those vivid eyes.
I laugh dryly. "You don't know their backstories, maybe it was justice."
"For being awkward with doors?" She says with a toothy grin. I think she's enjoying this. Which is weird considering I'm not doing anything other than snapping at her.
I feel the urge to stick my tongue out at her like a child, but that would definitely bring her too much satisfaction. I raise my eyebrow slightly instead. "You'd be surprised how many people are abysmal when it comes to opening doors for cripples." I turn back to the river. "Maybe it should be a criminal offense."
I hear the honey eyed alpha laugh behind me. "Well, since you're more experienced in this field it wouldn't be my place to disagree." I hear the crunch of gravel as she follows me to the water's edge.
"Do you want any help enacting justice?" I swear her eyes glimmer as she speaks to me. I just stare into those glittery eyes in confusion. She gestures grandly to the riverbank. "There's a lot of rocks here, we could have a lot of criminals on our hands."
She earns a smirk from me with that line. For some reason it does seem more fun to talk to this strange alpha than just sit here in silent misery. If she doesn't seem to mind my short temper, why not be miserable beside someone for once. It's not like I'll ever see her again.
I give her a firm look. "Only if you promise to never let the power get to your head." She quickly wipes the grin off her face and replaces it with a solemn expression, she places her hand on her heart like she's making the most important vow in her life. "I swear on it." She says with the utmost respect.
Shit, she's really fun. I lick my lips and smile at her and not once does she break her serious act. I wish I could know more about her, this woman who smells of campfires and looks and sounds like honey. I wonder would my wolf like her if given the chance? My smile drops as I push away that thought.
I point at a rock. "That guy stares at me all day and then just walks into me like I don't exist." The alpha glares viciously at the rock, stalking over to it like a predator.
She picks it up, shows it to me, and points as if to say 'this guy?' I laugh and nod. She turns her attention back to the rock. "Justice must be served." She whispers. Then she chucks it into the water, it splashes into the river obnoxiously loudly.
It feels like I laugh harder than I have in months, if not years. I pick up a random rock this time. "This one is definitely a nasty piece of work." I say. "It builds buildings with far too many stairs. Unnecessary ones too!" I throw it in the river and now it's the honey alpha's turn to laugh.
"So is this your calling? Serving justice to weirdo rocks?" She says through her laughter.
"If they weren't dumb assholes I wouldn't have to waste my energy drowning them." I probably say that too harshly considering I am genuinely pissed off. My arms are just going to be tired tomorrow, it's objectively a waste of energy. But I don't know how to breathe without a stupid outlet like this every now and then.
Instead of being put off by my tone of voice, she just looks at me with curiosity. "What would you want to be doing right now?" She says softly.
I look at her. Something about the question unsettles me, not what I should be doing, not what I need to be doing. Just what I want. It seems like such an impossible question, but that's laughable. It's a simple question: what do I want? I notice my legs are wobbling so I flop down onto the rocky shore.
"Right now?" I say quietly. "I don't want to be in pain." I huff and wait for it. The dismissiveness, the probing questions, the endless 'solutions'. But the alpha says nothing. I look at her. She looks at me. She says nothing.
I growl. "You don't know what it's like!" I snap, "It's constant pain and exhaustion and thinking. I have to think through worst-case scenarios for everything! You might think you have problems but I can bet they're fucking nothing. You can prowl around and come visit other packs and talk to people without constantly thinking." I'm properly yelling now. "You don't know. And you'll never understand. Not fully."
I'm shaking with anger and frustration. She just keeps looking at me with a strange expression. "You're right." She says matter-of-factly. "I don't know."
I glare at her, but somehow it's the closest to perfect thing anyone could say. She lifts a rock, crouches down and holds it out to me. "Justice?" She offers.
I sigh, a frustrated noise of defeat. "No." I say. "Waste of energy anyway."
She shrugs and stands up. "Fair enough." I watch as she throws it into the river. "That one was annoyingly rude." She states.
I could leave. Walk home, try to avoid comments that'll just make me feel more depressed, and go to bed. Sleep might not come easily but it might be worth a go. But something about her makes me stay. My anger slowly ebbs as I watch her throw countless rocks into the river, telling me their backstories every now and then.
Eventually my eyes grow tired, I grumble something about going home, and she helps me stand up with surprising strength, although now that I look at her, she does look pretty strong. She hands me my crutches and looks at me with a serious expression.
"Enacting justice is hard work. I'll take the night shift, you must refuel and rest so you may fight crime another day." She speaks with such gravity that I almost agree instinctively.
I roll my eyes and smile at her. "Enjoy your travels."
She calls after me as I walk away. "I'm Darcy by the way! What's your name, you beautiful stranger?" I nearly stop in my tracks at the compliment. "Anne!" I yell back at her.