Chapter 6 - Team work

Aram felt watched, raised his eyes and the she-wolf was standing at the kitchen door staring at him. He could smell her fear, and he didn't understand, since he hadn't even noticed her there. When he looked at her longer, he saw that she had changed clothes, she was wearing a sweatshirt set that appeared to be 5 times her size. What a fine job Szafir had done.

— What is it? Do you have something to tell me?

— I, I was wondering if you have any tasks that I can do. I don't want to sit on the couch looking at the walls.

He supported the axe blade on the ground before responding to her.

— You can, I don't know, watch TV. Take the opportunity to catch up on your favorite program.

— I don't have a favorite show anymore.

She replied to him in a very serious tone. Aram took a long breath, knowing that it would not be so easy to get rid of her company.

— Then you can go get all the firewood I crack and take to the pile in the shed.

He said, pointing to the large wooden building that was almost at the edge of the ground.

— All right.

Lucine responded and began to perform the task, he broke the trunks with great agility, but she gradually managed to keep pace with him. By noon, the pile of firewood was already a good size.

— You have to look inside, it may be necessary to start a new pile.

Aram went to check and saw that she was right.

— Yes, after lunch we can start another one. Now let's go in and heat up the food.

As Lucine went to the bathroom to wash for lunch, he quickly dialed Szafir's number, who answered the phone with two rings.

— These clothes were the best you could get? I know they’re yours, if it was to give my clothes I would have done it myself.

— Well, I thought you hated her too much, to the point where you didn't even consider borrowing your own clothes.

The other man replied sarcastically.

— Besides, I couldn't knock on the doors around, borrowing clothes for her. You know no one really wants her around.

Szafir sometimes used this more informal tone with him, especially when they were alone, as they were longtime friends and owed each other a lot. But it was nowhere near a suitable tone to use with an Alpha.

— Then go to the nearest town tomorrow and get something more suitable.

— You send it, man, oh, I realized I forgot to put socks in the bag, she must have frozen feet. I think you're going to have to get some of your own.

— Okay.

He said hanging up, because she was already returning to the kitchen. She hadn’t mentioned anything about not having socks, besides the cold, after all that hard work and movement, she might have blistering feet.

— You can serve yourself and warm up the food.

He ordered and passed her, went to the bathroom to wash himself and then to the bedroom to get a clean t-shirt. He looked at the sock drawer, hesitated for a moment, then opened it and took three pairs, returning to the kitchen.

— You can take these to use, tomorrow Szafir will buy some things you need in town, you’d better make a list.

She dropped the plate on the table and took the pairs of socks he offered her. She looked at the pieces as if she didn’t know what to do.

— I don't know if I put it on now, since I'm going to keep working, they're going to get dirty.

He seemed a little annoyed by her comment.

— Aren't you cold? Put on a pair, then change, if you need it, there's more in the dresser drawer.

— Okay, thank you.

She went to the living room couch, took off her shoes and put on her socks. When she lifted her leg from her pants to pull the socks up, Aram could see the wounds she had on her ankles, and that went up to a certain height of the leg. He couldn't help it and approached, to get a better look.

— What the hell is that on your leg, how did you get hurt like that? It was the werewolves who delivered you that hurt you?

She was a little surprised when he approached and tried to lower her pants quickly, she was not sure what to answer about her injuries and then thought the simplest would be to tell the truth.

— They kept me tied up in a basement, so I wouldn't try to escape,  but only worsened the injuries that already existed because of the Gammas. Don't worry, they won't stop me from performing the tasks, soon they'll heal.

— To hell with the chores, that’s pretty ugly, you might end up losing your leg, you should take care of it.

— I washed it well yesterday, it doesn’t look like it’s going to get infected. As long as I’m not tied up again, I’ll be fine.

She said, getting up to go back to the kitchen. He crossed his arms at chest height and took a step to block her passage, it was a very intimidating obstacle.

— First, what's this about being tied up? And second, I'm not giving you options anymore, we're going to take care of these injuries. The last thing I need is for you to die from some infection or tetanus.

She stared at him, keeping her gaze for a long time.

— But I believed that my death would be something beneficial to you, would save you a lot of trouble.

He kept staring at her before answering.

— Yes, your tragic and accidental death, not for something I could have avoided. I'm not that kind of man who kills kids. I saved you once, you should know that.

— I know, but I'm no longer a child, but a problem for you I still am.

He stepped aside to release her stride.

— Let's eat, after lunch I'll take a good look at it, and I don't want objections.

Lucine thought it best not to test the Alpha's patience, after all, her goal was to get out of there alive. The calmer she remained, the more chances she had to succeed.