They're human and they're pretty nice. "It's fine." She shrugs, not really understanding why he looked so disappointed with her answer.
Chapter Two: Exploring
The hotel is really impressive, bright lights and expensive-looking furniture everywhere. She doesn't know what to do with herself and keeps herself all curled up, trying to take up as little space as possible. Her mom had sent her out with her best dresses and most comfortable running attire. She's wearing a dress that her sister-in-law had given her. It's wrinkled up in places and hugs her breasts a little too tightly, but the important point is that the base flares out and hides her fluffy rabbit tail.
She's sharing the room with three women that she doesn't know very well. They're already discussing among themselves excitedly so she excuses herself after getting her bag settled in to explore around the hotel. It's all very new and exciting for her.
Darnell seems to have the same idea because he's waiting for her at the elevator, arms folded and frown etched in place.
"What's wrong?" she asks.
"They cancelled our meeting with the organizer," he says. "He was held up."
"He'll show up tomorrow right" she says, trying to make him feel better. She knew how much he was looking forward to seeing him. Apparently, the man's a self-made billionaire who hailed from a village much like theirs, making a name for himself despite all the cards stacked against him. The fact that he's an Alpha Werewolf only makes Darnell idolize him even more.
"It's not the same," he says- pouts really.
She can't help but laugh at him a little bit as she walks over him to press the button on the elevator. He follows her in when it gets there.
"You should talk to him. He has a vested interest in shifters like you."
Her ear twitches, like they know he's talking about them. There are always people who think that because she has long bunny ears and a round fluffy tail, she's more animal than human and have specific and frankly, quite disturbing fetishes about her. She shakes her head. It doesn't matter, really. "You're the smart one, Dan. I'm happy farming the rest of my life in the village," she says. "Maybe get married when my heat finally comes and have my own burrow." She's kind of looking forward to getting her own warren. She sees her brothers with their little burrows and all her little nieces and nephews and hopes her heat will come a little bit earlier... even though she's kind of terrified of being claimed. There aren't that many shifters in her village and she's not sure who's going to come for her.
It's different with her brothers. They knew who they wanted as their mates and went after them. Most of them had traveled to different villages to find their does- their wives. She hopes she can get her own buck one day, but she doesn't really know how it works. Her brothers had taken them home and started their burrows near their parent's, so maybe some buck is going to come and take her away from home too. Would her mate see her rabbit ears and think there's something wrong with her and not want her? She worries about that, sometimes.
Darnell has that expression on his face where he's thinking about something unpleasant and doesn't know how to say it out loud. She considers asking him but changes her mind. Maybe he's thinking about going after his own mate. She doesn't really know how wolves find their mates.
"You should talk to him, though. I bet he can help you with your university applications. Weren't you accepted into a bunch?"
He shrugs. "That was years ago," he says, but he looks kind of hopeful.
Darnell has always been ambitious, graduating a year earlier than his peers. He's very smart, but he can't do much without money and while some of the village kids are fortunate enough to get scholarships, Darnell wasn't able to get a full one that would cover both his education and also have a place for him to live and make sure he doesn't starve while he's attending university. He had been heartbroken to find out that he couldn't go. He had siblings to take care of and his family was reluctant to have him leave too. She thinks that's what this event is for, so talented people like Darnell can get the help he needs in order to make more of their lives. Darnell has what it needs to succeed. He just need financial help to get there. She hopes he gets it.
She doesn't mind being chained down to the way of life she has now, though. It's nice and peaceful.
She enjoys running, though. She loves the feeling of adrenaline coursing through her veins, prompting her to run faster than she's ever run before. She's in all the events for the day and is excited to win all of them. Or at the very least, she's excited to run in all of them. All those hours in the bus is enough to make her feel a little trapped.
They have lunch with the voucher that they're given when they checked in and they spend a good long while at the buffet dinner, trying absolutely everything they have because they've never seen so much food at once before. It's really very amazing and she can't believe they have grapes right now. It's not even in season! She knows there's a farmer who grows whatever he wants whenever he wants regardless of season. She thinks he must be magic.
"It's not safe for you to run out here," Darnell says when he notices her bouncing on her feet after dinner. "You need to stay indoors. You'll be doing plenty of running tomorrow," he says, so irritatingly reasonable that she can't help but roll her eyes at him.
She hasn't realized how restless she had been feeling until he pointed it out. And then it seems to be all she's feeling. "We could go to the mall?" she suggests hopefully.
"We?" His eyebrow arcs perfectly and her heartbeat betrays her by skipping a beat.
It's kind of unfair how hot Darnell has gotten over the years. It's easy to forget that he's really very good looking since she remembers how awkward his teenage years had been. He grew into his ears and sort of just- developed muscles in all the right places and turned into the village heartthrob. All the girls in her year are sort of crazy about him and get insanely jealous when he comes to pick her up from school and walk her home.
She's just sort of used to him, except when she forgets and really looks. He's really very gorgeous, all chiseled chin and crooked smile, muscles in all the right places. She likes how he holds her when they're outside too. He's like one of her brothers, strong and a little bit possessive.
"It'll be an awesome adventure," she offers with a bright smile as they make their way out of the hotel.
It's a terrible adventure.
Chapter Three: Safe
Oh no.
She hops over the sidewalk, her lungs burning as she walks as quickly as she can. She's wearing comfortable walking slippers and not running shoes. If she were home, she would've tossed the shoes already, but the ground here is ragged and painful and her paw pads are soft. She makes a mental note to listen to Darnell when he tells her to stick close. She had been distracted, though. There were so many new and exciting things to see and she sort of just- drifted away, drawn to one shiny thing after another before she realized that she doesn't see Darnell anywhere anymore.