2 years ago, 6 months before meeting Eden
"Ayo 'Day!" he heard, before the scream was followed by the patter of small paws in the snow.
He immediately stopped and turned, causing the female running towards him to crush into his massive body.
"Hello, darling" he purred, watching as a clumsy red ball of fur lifts itself out of the snow.
Arashi was a Folix with fiery coat and whiter shades on her belly and tail, gray markings on her paws. Her eyes were pearly pinkish and always shone when she saw him. She bounced around Asmoday like a rubber ball, forever stuck to his side.
"Wanna come to the library with me?" she asked, finally brushing off the snow and staring at the male with a wide smile.
"Sure, why not. I wanted to study anyway" he shrugged, this time with a female by his side heading towards a well-known building.
He was quite popular among his peers and professors. He was almost always at the top of his class, but never tried to suck up to his superiors, and despite the time he spent studying, he never cut himself off from social life. It was also no secret that he had many admirers, and many speculated that he even had a somewhat intimate relationship with one of his tutors. He quite enjoyed life at the academy, even though some realized his true nature and tried to discourage others from associating with him. He never came off as malicious, but an utter lack of compassion permeated throughout his every conversation. From his tone, you could sense that he's always looked down on others, but many did not mind.
"How is the preparation for the exams? Have you heard that wolves with the best results will go on an expedition with Nazari?" Arashi asked, giggling softly, as if she was getting ready to say something stupid. "You'd love to go on an expedition with Nazari, wouldn't you?"
Uttering the second sentence, she nudged him lightly with the shoulder and laughed mockingly. Even though she still sneered at it, every time she mentioned their master, Asmoday heard jealousy in her voice. It wasn't a secret that his friend had feelings for him, but she believed so strongly that she managed to hide it, he never confronted her about it. Not that he particularly cared, he was comfortable with his current situation, and he really didn't want to lose a friendly soul by breaking her heart.
"Yes, I heard about it. But I'm more interested in that project itself than in Nazari" he sighed, rolling his eyes and opening the library door.
"Oh, come on!" she boomed, bringing them the furious stares of the wolves sitting in the library.
"Shut the fuck up" he hissed, trying not to laugh when he felt the glares of the angry students on his back.
"But I have to know if you are… you knooow" she whined, staring at him with her iconic, puppy eyes.
"You have to mind your damn business, birdbrain. Maybe then I won't have to save your ass every Tuesday" he remarked.
Nazari wasn't truly their professor. She was only one year older than them, but her expertise and knowledge allowed her to be a tutor, while she was still studying. You could call her an intern, as she was only their biology professor's right hand. Her thesis at the end of the previous year caused such a stir in the world of scholars that she received praise even from the royal couple. And yet, she was still stupid enough to trust him.
"I'm going to get the books, wait here" he ordered, disappearing between bookshelves that reached all the way to the ceiling.
He knew the way to the department he was interested in, even though it was quite well hidden. It wasn't hidden however because of the kind of knowledge it contained, rather because it was considered completely useless, containing legends that even pups weren't interested in. He turned left behind the alchemy section and descended a somewhat hidden set of stairs, landing in a section that was almost completely covered in dust and cobwebs, as no one else seemed to come here but himself. When his gaze landed on the two books he was interested in, Sins Of The Hunt and Flies Of The Jungle, he immediately pulled them from the shelf and put them in his bag. The first was about engineering, an art long forgotten by the world and considered a joke, the second was about ancient plants and their uses. Satisfied, he turned back through the shelves, blindly picking up three more books to use as a cover. After all, he didn't want his interest in "fairy tales" to be recognized as genuine.
"Astrology? Are you going to check compatibility?" Arashi laughed, looking at his books.
"Yeah, your compatibility to finally bone. But I'm afraid the only way you'll ever get laid is if you crawl up a chicken's ass and wait" he smirked.
"If I wanted to hear from an asshole, I'd fart" the female giggled when Asmoday rolled his eyes.
As it turned out later, both of them achieved great results in their final exams, qualifying them for the promised expedition. In total, five wolves set off, Asmoday and Arashi, Nazari with their professor and another female, whom they did not know very well, although they had seen her many times in class. They set out south, heading beyond the borders of the Kingdom, to regions where not a flake of snow was said to have fallen. Of the entire team, ironically Asmoday seemed to have the most knowledge of the area they were heading to, yet he didn't let anyone realize it. As the Asmoday was there the only male in his prime, everyone relied on him for safety, constantly ordering him to be on standby.
That night he stood watch while everyone else slept in a cave on one of the peaks. From the high mountain there was a view of an unprecedented landscape. Instead of bare clearings covered with snow, before them was a dense forest of leafy trees. There was indeed no snow to be seen, and the temperature grew warmer the closer they got to the forest.
"Hi there, handsome" Nazari's silvery, low voice sounded in his ear.
He didn't really care for her, in fact, he developed a relationship with her only to get away with a few abuses. But he had to admit that she was extremely attractive and her body and voice did… things to him. As she purred, rubbing against his chest, he felt the familiar tightness in the pit of his stomach. She was a slightly plump female with long, silver fur, black ornaments along her back and on her paws, her passionate eyes were the shade of jade. She smelled of herbs and flowers, with deeper woodsy aromas.
"They will see us" he hissed through his teeth.
"We are not doing anything wrong" she smiled, finally sitting down next to him and snuggling into his body. "I missed you."
The male sighed deeply, but said nothing more, just enjoying the warmth of her body. He felt and heard her heart beating, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered what would happen if he bit her throat. How long would it take for the rest of the team to realize something was wrong?
"You are acting weird, Asmoday. You are so rigid, and your research approach seems to have nothing in common with the goal of our expedition. I don't even have anything to talk to you about because you're not focused on what we're discovering."
Shit.
"How can I focus when such a beautiful thing is constantly distracting me?"
"I'm not stupid, Asmoday. Even if you seduce me and deceive me, I'll still find out what's up" she threatened.
It is true that he had a different purpose. According to his calculations, in the area to which they were heading, he was to find the entrance to the ancient laboratory, and the knowledge accumulated there.
"Don't be mad at me, Nazari" he whined, sinking lower to rub his cheek on hers. "You know I don't like to argue."
"I'm not mad, I'm worried"
He also couldn't be mad, she was right to be suspicious of him. Maybe if she'd kicked him off the expedition a little sooner, it wouldn't have ended so badly.
Finally, after days of wandering, they crossed the border of a strange forest. Its local biodiversity is impressive, they've never seen anything like it in their lives. On their first day in the tundra, they discovered new species of insects and reptiles, they had not yet noticed any predators or threats, except for thorny plants that could not do them much harm. Asmoday was still constantly distracted, focusing on collecting new, fascinating relics. When no one was watching him, he was fiddling with the components, taking them apart and strictly recording their size and shape one by one. They were mostly exquisite mechanical parts, with unique style, which was not likely to be found in the handcrafted artifacts known to the Kingdom. Despite the fact, that it was an official research expedition, they did not lack good humor and fun, mainly due to the company of Arashi, who would be able to revive even a cemetery with her energy. She jumped around the wolves, constantly telling her terrible jokes and laughing at the top of her lungs.
At one point, she rushed ahead, to find something relatively interesting. After a while, from the depths of the forest, came a terrible, blood-curdling scream. Everyone instantly froze, and Asmoday sprang forward, running towards where the scream came from. Finally, he spotted a terrified ball of fire tearing blindly through the forest. Her eyes were wide open in shock, tears streaming down her cheeks. And only a few leaps behind her chased the beast, which at first glance resembled a cat, but was as big as Asmoday. It had long claws and fangs that protruded beyond its mouth, it was fast and agile, thanks to its long tail that helped it keep its balance in pursuit. It had a slender, yet extremely muscular body, covered with a short, brown-orange coat with many black markings. Asmoday felt extremely excited by the beast, and his blood began to run faster in his veins. He immediately rushed forward, but some strange force seized both him and the beast chasing the female. Their professor stood not far and used his magic to trap Asmoday and the creature in a snare made of tree roots, allowing Arashi to escape and hide right behind him.
The male slowly released the beast from the trap, and the confused animal fled in a safe direction, leaving the wolves alone.
"That was some of the stupidest shit you've ever done" the older male finally admitted, bending down to glare at the student who was thrashing around in his bounds.
"I just wanted to examine it" Asmoday groaned, as if offended that he was not allowed to risk his life.
Thrown out of the trap, he brushed himself off and looked around at the wolves that had gathered above him. His lover was panting heavily and full of worry, stared at his body carefully, checking if nothing had happened to him. If she could, she would run to him and check him out more closely, scolding him for his impulsiveness and stupidity, but she was too terrified of losing her job to arouse even the slightest suspicion on herself. She was supporting the third female, whose name was Haiko (as they had learned a few days earlier), as the younger wolf seemed to faint from fear.
Arashi was still crying, trembling all over, her eyes filled with fear. Asmoday was reluctant to admit it, but Arashi was probably the only wolf he cared about. He wasn't obsessed with her, didn't try to worship or fix her, didn't try to use her, he genuinely cared about her. He really liked about her company, that she wasn't afraid of him, that she didn't treat him differently, that she really tried to be bearable for him. The male also knew that despite her joyful sheath, she carried a lot of pain. And he respected her immensely for the fact that she was able to put a smile on the face of others despite being hurt herself.
Asmoday hugged her, and felt her falling apart in his arms.
"It's okay, you are safe now" he whispered.
"I-I… nnnh, I don't know w-why I'm crying" her voice shook, as she tried to laugh through tears.
Shushing her, he saw Nazari's face slowly twist into an unpleasant grimace.
That night, Nazari ordered him to go for a walk with her, justifying to others that it was only a patrol. They started the walk by talking about things related to their discoveries, about new species, about questions they could ask themselves after exploring the area. They also exchanged views on their evolution models and how it was related to the climate in which the species lived.
"I think it is really fascinating to see…" Asmoday continued his speech, when suddenly, he was cut off mid-sentence.
"What the fuck was that?!" she finally snapped, still unable to get the scene from a few hours ago out of her head.
She was never particularly possessive of him, knowing he was quite sought after by his peers. She couldn't be surprised, either, because even though Asmoday might look like a… monster, he had that dark charm about him. He didn't have the type of beauty that made wolves stop in their tracks to admire him, but the one that made anyone who managed to get close to him feel like he had just tamed some wild beast. In any case, he was attractive in his own way, especially with his hoarse voice, monstrous size, eyes that reminded you of hell, and the whole aura of mystery. The female was so used to the fact that she could call this beast her own, that when noticed him hugging and caring about Arashi, something started to boil inside her, and she eventually lost her mind with jealousy.
"What are you referring to?" he asked, completely confused.
"To that bitch! She got into trouble just to get your attention, and you just let her do that!" she barked, her eyes burning with rage. "Did you fuck her?"
Asmoday laughed, his low chuckle echoed through the forest, sounding like mockery to the female's ears. He was laughing so hard he couldn't even catch his breath, staggering to his paws and wiping away the tears of amusement that were coming to his eyes.
"Motherfucker! Don't you dare laugh at me!" she roared, trembling with fury.
"Oh, that's fucking beautiful. Please tell me you're not serious" he wheezed.
"I saw the way she looked at you!"
"She's just a friend, Nazari. Stop it, you are making a scene" Asmoday finally got serious, hiding his smile.
Furious lover approached him and with a quick whisk of her paw slapped him on the muzzle. His head flew to the side, as the force of the blow caught him by surprise. He licked his teeth, looking at her without moving his head.
"I don't fucking care. You are supposed to be mine" she sneered through her teeth, without even realizing what a huge mistake she had made.
"Did you just hit me?" his monotonous, calm voice was scarier than if he'd shouted at her.
Just then, Nazari comprehended what happened.
"Asmoday, I-" her lip began to tremble, as she started to back up, trying to escape from his gaze.
But it was much too late. No one could hurt him and get away with it… alive. He didn't care what they had in common, how her presence affected him. All that mattered was that she swung at him. A low growl escaped his throat, as he slowly advanced towards the female, when she continued to back away in panic, tripping over her own paws.
"I'm- sorry. I didn't mean to." Nazari she tried to explain herself as her voice began to crack.
She had never seen him like this before. His eyes seemed to burn, and their flames were about to consume her. His entire form turned into something wild, incomprehensible, terrifying. Asmoday's body, which had never been particularly muscular, began to tense and enlarge, his giant paws fell to the ground with a force she had never seen in him.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
"Asmoday, stop it, you are scaring me…"
Nagroda: 2 x 10 punktów do inteligencji
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