Opportunist

"I didn't mean to... I swear... I didn't mean to set a fire..." 

My eyes snap open just as a sob crawls up my throat. Breathing heavily, I scan my environment, a sigh of relief escapes me to see I am still in the cabin, on the couch where I intended to keep watch but had somehow drifted off to sleep.

Looking over at Alaric to assess his condition, I find his eyes are open and staring straight at me.

He's conscious, and from the look of it, he has been for a good while. How long did I sleep for?

Alaric's gaze on me is unsettling, his expression is unreadable and his eyes reveal no emotions. I cannot tell if I have again incurred his wrath or something worse.

The silence is oppressive and I fidget uneasily before breaking it. "Are...are you still in pain?"

Alaric does not respond immediately and just when I believe he does not plan to respond, he finally speaks. 

"The locket." Two words, a cold demand.

I blink, staring at Alaric in confusion for a moment and Alaric stares back at me, his brows furrowed. "Do not act like you do not know what I'm talking about. I saw you pick it up."

His words are not a question but a statement daring me to deny. Only then do I recall the small pendant I snatched in the last moment before escaping the burning cabin.

The pendant that was probably the reason Alaric had gone back to the cabin when he realized it would surely be burned.

"Right... it's right here." I stammer, my tone shaky.

I reach into my pockets to pull it out and hand it over to him but my shaky hands let the pendant drop, crashing to the wooden floor.

Only now do I realize it is not a pendant but a small locket and the locket opens at the fall, staring back at me is a small picture of a grinning Alaric and...me.

'Not me, the Luna supreme.' I quickly remind myself.

Momentarily, I am stunned at the exact resemblance. Save for the hair color, everything including our eyes are the exact same and it looks as though I am staring at myself in the mirror.

I understand now why Top, Tech and Tracker had been so surprised when they first saw me and why the Lycans insisted I am the exact replica of the deceased Luna Supreme.

"Give it here." Alaric's harsh tone snaps me out of my musings.

I quickly grab the locket and walk over to him, placing it in his outstretched hand before returning to my place on the couch.

An awkward silence settles over the small cabin and I keep my gaze fixed on anything but Alaric, unsettled to be in the same space with him after what he had done in his car the last time.

"Do not think that anything that happened today changes my opinion of who you are." Alaric breaks the silence with a cold and direct statement.

His words are not surprising, his lack of gratitude is even less surprising, and this time, I cannot help the rage that surges through me at his words.

"And what kind of person do you think I am?" I bite back through gritted teeth, almost regretting my words when Alaric's eyes narrowed.

"An opportunist who utilities the pain of others to her advantage and for her own selfish purposes." Alaric replies blankly.

His words leave me wincing at the harsh truth in them, it is undeniable that I have tried to approach Alaric banking on his love for his deceased mate and my resemblance to her.

Despite that, I hold my ground this time, my hands clenched into tight fists at my sides. "It must be quite aggravating, that this opportunist saved your life."

Alaric frowns slightly, sitting up on the couch, his gaze locks on mine. "What do you want then? A thank you? A good fuck?"

I shake my head in disbelief at his harsh, coarse words. The insulting tone burns far greater than just a sting and I bite down harshly on my lip to keep myself from saying anything I will regret.

"At this moment...all I want is to be as far away from you as possible. But even that is too much to ask, isn't it?" I murmur underneath my breath.

Rising to my feet, I storm over to the door of the cabin, stepping out and slamming the door shut behind me.

The cold night air is chilly against my skin and I tilt my head back, my eyes going closed as I let the anger churning through me fade away.

Sniffing lightly, I smell the rain just before a clap of thunder tears through the sky and it begins as a light drizzle before graduating into a storm.

The atmosphere is freezing but I do not mind it, instead, the storm is very welcome.

Hours pass by and I just sit on the porch, watching the storm douse the golden glow of the wildfire in the distance, till the glow is nothing but a cloud of steam and smoke.

After which I watch the moon all the way till it gives way for the crack of dawn.

As the first streaks of daylight paint the sky in colorful hues, the door to the cabin comes open behind me and I catch a glimpse of Alaric's boots through my peripheral vision.

I do not glance up or acknowledge his presence.

"The wildfire will be gone now. We should head back before Top storms the forest." Alaric said.

Before I can respond, a leather jacket drops carelessly onto my shoulder and only then do I even realize I am shivering.

Alaric does not wait for me to say a word, he strides past me and heads off in the direction we had come from and I am left to pull on the jacket and hurry after him, keeping pace some distance behind.