Chapter 10: Compulsion
The next morning Brooke woke up slowly. She blinked her eyes and looked around her, disoriented. The clock nearby read 8am. It took her several seconds to realize where she was. When she did, a small smile crept onto her face. Watery rays of sunlight streamed in from the wall of windows, their light dappled through the leaves of hanging plants. Avery’s room was like an indoor jungle, full of light and life. It suited her personality.
Brooke suddenly realized she was half-naked and pulled the covers up over her legs self-consciously. Not five minutes later, Avery walked in.
Brook hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet. As soon as they laid eyes on each other, matching smiles bloomed across their faces.
“How did you sleep?” Avery asked.
“Better than ever. Seriously.” Avery beamed and made a beeline for the bed and Brooke sat up to kiss her, letting the covers fall down around her waist, forgotten. “Hmmm,” Brooke hummed, puzzled.
“What is it?”
“Why am I not self-conscious around you? I mean, look at you! And look at me!” Brooke pinched the belly fat currently resting on her thick thighs. “Is that a werewolf… mate… thing?”
Avery cocked her head, gold eyes glowing slightly. “You could say that,” she replied. “…but it could also just be that you’re the most beautiful person in the entire world, so what would you have to be self-conscious of?” Brooke blushed and smiled, pulling Avery in for another kiss. “You should probably get dressed though. We have to get to class.”
“Oh yeah, you’re probably right.” Brooke noticed that Avery was fully dressed already in a long sleeved emerald green button down with black jeans, her hair pinned back along the sides to keep it away from her face. Brooke felt the first fingers of pain creeping through her head. “Do you have any coffee?”
“I think there’s usually some in the kitchen. Sugar and non-dairy milk, right?”
“Yeah, thanks.” Avery jumped up to go get it. Brooke envied her boundless energy. It was a real shame that werewolves were born and not made. Brooke found the sweatpants she’d been wearing the day before scrunched up at the foot of the bed and pulled them on. She opted not to change the oversized shirt of Avery’s she’d slept in. It smelled like both of them. Like warm covers and lazy dust motes. She didn’t bother with makeup, but she did twist her hair into its customary messy bun, securing it with a scrunchie since they were the least likely to trigger a migraine. She was fully dressed by the time Avery came back with her coffee. A feat she was very proud of. She was having a pretty good morning. Avery showed no signs of fatigue despite the five flights of stairs she’d just climbed.
“Thanks, babe,” Brooke said, accepting the cup gratefully. She drank deeply, pacing herself to prevent a caffeine crash in the middle of history. “Do those stairs really not bug you? I mean, don’t you get sick of having to hike up and down them every time you want a snack?”
“I guess I never really thought about it,” Avery responded. Brooke scoffed. “At least not until you came along. I was serious about looking into that elevator you know. But until then…?” She trailed off, raising her eyebrows pleadingly.
“Yes, you can carry me down the stairs,” Brooke said, chuckling. “But only because I’m worried you’ll be late for class if you have to wait for me.” Avery grinned broadly and Brooke barely had time to set her coffee cup down on the bedside table before she was swept into Avery’s arms.
Brooke clasped her hands around her girlfriend’s neck, sighing contentedly. She loved it when Avery carried her around. Supported in her strong arms, her lungs filled with the sweet scent of cedar and crushed pine needles, she felt at home. And incredibly turned on.
Brooke leaned up and kissed Avery’s neck, her lips lingering. Avery made that low growling sound in her throat that Brooke was quickly learning was not a sound of aggression. Brooke could feel every curve of their bodies pressed together.
“I really do have to get to class,” Avery said, her voice breathy.
“Mmm, I know, but I can’t help myself,” Brooke replied, trailing small kisses down Avery’s collarbone.
“Keep that up and neither of us will get there in time.” Brooke relented, reluctantly. Avery leapt down the last flight of stairs five at a time, landing with a resounding thud.
Just then, probably drawn by the noise, Avery’s brother, Joseph, came bouncing around the corner. He was wearing baggy, ill-fitting exercise clothes.
“Oh, hey, sis,” he called. “Sis’s mate.” He nodded his head in a mock-ceremonial gesture towards Brooke. “So this means you’ve finally filled her in? Great!” He straightened up and pulled his t-shirt off over his head, chucking it in the corner. He made to take his shorts off too but Avery’s shout stopped him.
“Joseph! Goddess! Just because she knows we’re wolves doesn’t mean you can just randomly start stripping for no reason!” Avery chastised him, her voice stern.
“Awww, come onnnn! You know I hate human clothes,” Joseph whined. Avery just glared at him. Sighing, he hitched his shorts back up, and when he turned to pick up his shirt Brooke couldn’t hold in a gasp. All across his back were thick ropy scars, stretching from his right shoulder down to his left hip. There were four of them, all parallel, standing at least a centimeter proud, white against his light brown skin.
“Joseph put your shirt back on,” Avery said in a strangely flat voice, devoid of emotion. Looking up Brooke could see no hint of expression on her face, but she could feel the tension in her posture. Joseph quickly grabbed his shirt and pulled it on, suddenly self-conscious.
“Sorry,” he said. “So, where you two off to?” Joseph continued as though nothing had happened.
“Class. You might want to follow our example,” Avery said, her tone closer to normal now.
“Aw, come on, it’s my senior year!” Joseph made a dismissive gesture. “I got good enough grades the first 3 years, I can afford to slack off a little.”
“Just go to school already,” Avery said, sounding a little exasperated but mostly affectionate. Joseph vanished in the blink of an eye, reappearing at the front door, grabbing a backpack that was already waiting there, and turning to wave goodbye while flashing them a goofy grin. Brooke waved back as Avery made for the door as well, walking at a normal pace. He was gone by the time they got there.
Still carrying Brooke, Avery descended the stairs, not able to help herself from skipping every other one. It must be frustrating for her to move at human speeds, Brooke thought. Avery set her down next to her motorcycle, both their bags already strapped to the rack on the back, and handed her a jacket and helmet. As before, the jacket was far too big for her, but it smelled like Avery and Brooke liked that. She climbed onto the bike, wrapping her arms tightly around Avery’s waist. They took off, out of the clearing and back towards town.
It only took them about fifteen minutes to get back to the campus. Brooke was pretty sure Avery didn’t follow the speed limits. After a brief stop to drop Brooke at her dorm, Avery headed into class. She was five minutes early.
Brooke didn’t have history until ten so, thankfully she had time to do the reading she was supposed to have done over the weekend. She didn’t mind. So far, her history teacher had chosen interesting topics to study and used primary sources wherever possible. It was a much more balanced take than the history classes she’d taken in middle and high school.
When she logged into the portal to get the reading There was a pinned message from her teacher that she had a migraine that day, so class was cancelled. But they should still do the reading and write a comment about each on the usual online forum page. Sweet, Brooke thought. I don’t have to get dressed until form drawing at 2 and that teacher is way more chill. Brooke was encouraged to see her history teacher take one of the two migraine days a month she’d informed the class she would probably be taking on the firstday. It wasn’t the same as Brooke’s, but maybe she would have an easier time than others understanding why Brooke often had to take days off.
She finished the assigned reading in about 45 minutes. Stretching, she stood carefully and crossed the room to make herself a second cup of coffee. She hadn’t finished the one at Avery’s so she could still afford the caffeine. Setting the mug down on a crocheted coaster Alex’s mom made, Brooke sat down heavily in her desk chair.
She turned on the tablet in front of her and opened the drawing program her teacher wanted them to try. Brooke had always favored paper and ink over pixels and bits, but she had to admit that this one had its advantages She found herself sketching in the default black the outline of Avery in her wolf form. She filled in the fur, narrowing the diameter of the tool she was using. When she got to the eeyes, she used an effect to give them a gold halo so it looked like they were glowing against the black fur around them. It wasn’t bad. And, with a few modifications, could be tweaked to fit the requirements for the assignment her form drawing teacher had given them over the weekend.
Brooke set her tablet up against the wall and leaned back with a sigh. She wished her desk chair had a headrest. Hopefully her next one would.
She thought back to Avery’s large bedroom, so reflective of her personality. Definitely big enough for a second desk.
Her girlfriend was a werewolf. It hadn’t properly hit her until then. It felt like a dream. One she might wake up from at any moment. But her dreams rarely had pain in them. No, this was real. Her girlfriend was a werewolf. Brooke smiled, considering what her preteen self would have thought if she could see her now. She’d gone through an unfortunate twilight phase and for several years she’d fallen asleep to visions of a dashing superhuman love interest just waiting to come along and sweep her off her feet and fix her increasingly uncooperative body with a gift of eternal life. She’d been about half right.
Avery should be getting out of class about now. And if Brooke remembered correctly, she had a couple hours before her next one. Brooke pulled out her phone and typed out a message.
Brooke Johnson: Wanna come over and hang out between classes?
The response came within minutes.
Avery Black: Absofuckinglutely
But don’t you have a class?
Brooke Johnson: Cancelled
Avery Black:Be right over
Avery was true to her word. They spent that night together, too, in Brooke’s dorm room, then walked together to Chemistry the next morning.
As they took their customary seats at the front of the class, Brooke was very aware just how close they sat to each other. She had a difficult time concentrating on the morning’s lecture on molecular geometry. Avery was so close she could feel her body heat radiating across the space between them. Brooke kept sneaking sideways glances at her, and more often than not Avery was already looking in her direction. Their laptops were open in front of them but neither had taken any notes.
After some time, Avery suddenly stood and crossed to the door, looking back at Brooke meaningfully before leaving the classroom. Brooke followed a few seconds later. Avery was waiting for her in the hallway, and as soon as the door swung shut, she took her hand and led her towards the women’s room. Brooke was getting a strong sense of déjà vu, and of excitement.
As soon as they were inside Avery kissed her, passionately, desperately, and Brooke returned the kiss with at least as much enthusiasm. Avery’s hands trailed down Brooke’s sides, over her hips, cupping her ass and squeezing, then moving even further down. Brooke felt the pressure of her hands on her thighs, lifting, and immediately understood, wrapping her arms around Avery’s neck so she could lift her up onto the counter, her legs spread apart.
Avery cupped one of Brooke’s breasts in her hand, the other slipping up under the hem of her shirt to rub her lower back. Brooke twined her hands in Avery’s thick hair, giving just the slightest tug. Which, in retrospect, might have been a mistake. Avery rumbled low in her throat and started to kiss her way down Brooke’s neck, her lips desperate and clumsy, her skin feverish. Brooke threw her head back, sighing in pleasure. Avery paused at the spot where her neck met her shoulder, sucking the skin into her mouth, her teeth nipping gently at the spot.
“FUCK!” Avery cursed, throwing herself backwards across the room. She hit the stall divider opposite with a loud bang but bounced back, uninjured. She started to pace back and forth. Maybe pace was the wrong word, it was faster, more like a lope. She tugged at her hair, her fingers catching in the thick black curls. Brooke still sat on the counter.
“Avery? What’s wrong?” Brooke asked, concerned.
“It won’t fucking stop, that’s what’s wrong. I can’t even kiss you or sit in class next to you without wanting to mark you. I thought I could control it, I thought I would be stronger.” Avery stopped pacing and turned to look at Brooke, her expression pained, her gold eyes brightly shining.
“It’s okay,” Brooke said in a reassuring voice. “If what you’re feeling is one tenth as strong as the longing I’m feeling for you right now, then you’re stronger than I am. Not everyone would even try to restrain themselves, right? I mean, Rachel didn’t. Aren’t you just delaying the inevitable?”
“If you were a werewolf, we would have done it right away, no hesitation. I would have marked you, and you would have marked me, and that would have been that. But, it’s different. You’re a human. You can’t mark me back. Which just makes it even more fucked up. I don’t want to brand you as my property. I don’t want to be forced to scar someone I love.” Brooke felt there was something more Avery wasn’t saying but she didn’t want to push when she was already so distraught. “But this is fucking torturous. And it’s only going to get worse.” Avery leaned against the wall, her head in her hands. All Brooke wanted was to comfort her. She lowered herself to the floor, one hand on the counter so she wouldn’t lose her balance. She crossed the room and grasped Avery’s wrists, pulling them away from her face and closing the distance between them, wrapping her arms around her waist in a tight embrace.
“It’s okay,” Brooke said, trying to put all the emotions she was feeling, gratitude, affection, sympathy, into the hug. “Let’s just go back to class, huh?” Avery nodded and Brooke stepped back, took her hand, and led her back to their chemistry lecture.
Brooke didn’t miss the judgmental look their teacher shot her for missing even more class. It hurt, but she tried to ignore it and just take whatever notes she still could.
After class, Avery drove Brooke back across campus to her dorm so she could get some fresh clothes. Avery made a point of staring at the opposite wall while Brooke changed.
“What’s this?” Avery called from across the room. Brooke looked around, only half dressed in jeans and a bra. Avery was holding the sketch she’d done two days before. The one that attempted to capture the way Avery had looked when she asked Brooke to be her girlfriend. Blushing slightly, Brooke crossed the room, peering over at the charcoal line drawing.
“Oh, that’s just something I was messing around with,” she said, slightly embarrassed. “It doesn’t really do you justice.”
“I love it,” Avery said, her voice awed. “Is this really how you see me?”
“Of course it is. I don’t know another way to see you,” she chuckled.
“Can I keep it?”
“Oh you don’t want this, it’s just a draft, I’ll make you a better one. Something with some color.”
“I like this one,” Avery said. “There’s something about it, I don’t know, I just like it.”
Brooke reexamined the sketch, noting every flaw. The angle of the nose was crooked, the lighting was inconsistent, the shading of her hair was slightly off. But art was all in the interpretation. “If you really like it, of course you can have it.”
“Thank you,” Avery said, leaning down to kiss her tenderly. “And I don’t like it, I love it.” Brooke crossed back to her closet to find a shirt. Alex’s red blanket was still covering the window, where Avery had hung it. Brooke smiled at the memory. She picked out a light green blouse and pulled it on. It was long sleeved and high-necked, with lace cutouts on the shoulders and across the top of her back. “Oh I almost forgot…” Brooke turned back towards her, crossed the room, and sat down heavily on her bed, out of breath just from the effort of getting dressed.
“What?” Brooke gasped between deep breaths.
“I’m supposed to invite you to a party this weekend, at the pack house. It’s kind of a welcome party for you and Alex. A lot of people are pretty excited that Rachel and I found the two of you. It’s seen as a sort of, I don’t know, good omen for the future of the pack that we both found our mates so young. Probably just a dumb superstition.”
“I don’t know…” Brooke responded uncertainly. “I’m not too big on parties, too crowded, loud, bright.”
“I promise I’ll make them keep the noise and lights low. And it’ll probably be outside so it shouldn’t be too crowded. But, of course, if you’re not comfortable with it that’s completely fine. We can just go out to dinner that night instead. Or stay in and have a movie marathon. Whatever you want.” Brooke considered for a moment.
“No, I’ll come. Having you and Alex there will help.”
“Thank you so much, babe, it’s really important to the pack. And we can always leave early if you need to.”
“Thanks,” Brooke said. She took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. A werewolf party. It would be a hell of a weekend.