Muddy River — The Shape of Dreams

"Mine" he growled into her as he took her into his embrace, encouraging her to roll over so the two could spend a blissful moment together in the shelter of the woods. The shadows of the trees stretched long as the sun sank down to the horizon. Despite the terrain being less than ideal, somehow the scene had turned magical in a sense with fireflies sparkling in the air and crickets singing the tunes of dusk. She'd made her decision. She'd decided that she would give herself to Caedwyn. He'd been eager to make his claim of her. He'd acted eagerly. Or... he'd started to do so, to say the least.  Within moments, the scene went from perfect bliss to a disaster. He left her. He left her standing there and alone. She panted, looked back at him, and stared at him in disbelief. He left her and had moved away from her. What... what had happened just now? Why did he leave her, when she'd finally, finally let herself fall into his embrace? Enya's heart pounded in her chest as she turned her body fully around, staring at him in disbelief. He panted equally as hard as she did - a result of such an embrace - and he turned his head away from her.  So... this had been his plan. This had been his cruel, sick joke all along. He would lure her in, like a siren of the seas, and just when she finally let her guard down, he'd rip himself away. She'd believed him. She had believed him when he told her that she would be his equal. She was a fool. She was a stupid god damn fucking FOOL to fall into such a trap. Her addiction had played her just as much as Caedwyn had. Enya's ears folded back and her tail came down low, between her legs. She felt red hot, and part of it was because of what had just happened between the two of them, but most of it came from sheer embarrassment. She hadn't been ready for this - especially for Caedwyn to play her with such a sick, cruel joke.  "I'm sorry" he whispered, hardly loud enough for her to hear him past her labored breathing and her pounding heart. It felt like it was going to burst from her chest. Her legs quivered as the panic started to set in. Panic, because if she couldn't trust Caedwyn, how was she supposed to trust anyone else here? She. Was. Alone. Six months. Six months she'd spent alongside Caedwyn, and he'd played this joke on her. Half a year she'd been here with him, sharing dens with him, sharing meals and stories and conversation. "I'm sorry" he had said. Sorry because she'd been so stupid? Sorry because she'd believed him? Sorry because it had taken him this long to woo her? He really had been in it for the long game. He'd always been in it for the long game, she started to realize. He'd brought up their first meeting. She'd called him by his nickname he'd offered to her. He'd reference the necklace. He'd given the necklace to her, and yet here he was. He still wouldn't look at her. He could at least let her see the wicked grin she was sure was plastered across his face. Was it her eyes seeing things, or was he chuckling? Was she hearing laughter? Was the laughter coming from him, or was it coming from her own mind screaming at her how fucking stupid she had been? Her heart pounded harder as she felt a rage build within her. How dare he lure her in as he had done.  Enya felt a sudden urge to rip Caedwyn to pieces, to finish the fight they'd had so long ago with one another. He hadn't forgiven her. He'd held a grudge this entire time, and took advantage of her vulnerability. No, she'd let him take advantage of her vulnerability. Her lips pulled back as she barred her fangs but ceased to growl alongside it. 'I told you so' her mind taunted, 'I told you it was a horrible idea. This is your mistake. Deal with the consequences of not keeping your paws to yourself after I warned you.' She breathed heavily as she started to take short, quick breaths. His back was turned. She could leap upon him and rip his neck before he could have time to react. Better yet, she could use her power over water to freeze him, or even boil him alive from inside. Her options reeled in her mind as she stared at him, stared at the wolf who wouldn't look at her, yet her body remained motionless and still - aside from the shaking and lip quivering.  "I'm... sorry?" she repeated, her tone low and dangerous as she stared at Caedwyn with daggers in her eyes. It had to be daggers, because if it wasn't daggers, she was afraid they would be tears instead. How could she do this. How could she let herself believe that the relationship between her and Caedwyn had been something akin to friendship? She knew how. He'd been so fucking good at playing the part. That was how. He'd made her promises of walking beside her when she needed some comfort. He'd made her the promise of finally having a home, something that the two of them would create together. He'd even fooled her into believing that such a thing was the truth, meeting up with her to exchange information and details, depicting what the realm they were in was full of, and how they might take advantage of it together. Tonight, he'd wanted to take her as not just Queen, but as his Queen.  He had embraced her, then tore himself away, making Enya feel absolutely positively disgusting. Whore. That's what Enya was. She was as dirty as they came, letting her promiscuous side rule and dictate her life. Ever since she'd discovered that side of her, she had embraced it. For fuck's sake, she'd had two mates at the same time at one point in her life. It had taken her only months to fall for Meliodas. And in between? She'd spent plenty of time in the darker parts of town, or in the brothel's of the kingdom. She was beautiful. She was elegant. She was strong. It was easy for her to find someone to spend the night with. And yet with Caedwyn, she had hesitated. She had hesitated because she didn't want to ruin it. Yet it had been ruined anyways. She should have said no. She would have been able to avoid his whole plot if she had just listened to her god damn fucking brain.  But then... why did he say sorry? What could possibly cause him to utter such words to her, when he'd just played her so brilliantly? Caedwyn was a loyal wolf, wasn't he? He was a wolf who was trustworthy. She'd turned her back on him in his time he needed her - his pack - the most, and yet still he had set aside their differences in the end. Tsillah had passed her judgment on them. Tsillah had gifted them both a second chance of life after both had nearly lost (or did lose) their first. Tsillah had placed the two of them together in this realm for them to find one another once more. He was a believer of Tsillah. He'd referenced her multiple times in the past months they'd spent here together in this realm.  Tsillah also prided herself in raising tricksters.  Perhaps Caedwyn was loyal to her and not to Enya herself. Perhaps this was Enya's punishment for seeking guidance from other gods aside from the one. It was hard to hear anything past her hammering heart, past her short, quick breaths, past the panic that crept up, past the internal wound freshly opened by Caedwyn himself. "Why..." she growled out, her body refusing to obey her mind once more. It was the only syllable she was capable of muttering as she fought back the hurt and ache from his actions, from his rejection. There had to be more to the situation, else she feared that she'd run from Caedwyn, abandon this 'home', and never trust another wolf ever again. If this was the sort of life she would live, the one wolf she trusted playing such cruel tricks on her, then she would curse Tsillah. She hadn't been ready for this. She should have told him no, and owned herself as Queen, like her mind had screamed at her to do. 'Live with the consequences' was all her mind echoed with sheer mockery.  "Speech."