OoC: Words: 500+
She waited for the raking claws, the snapping fangs, the immutable strength, but... the pain did not come. Shaking from head to toe, Coli wiped her mouth clean, daring to sneak a glance at the man towering over her. He took several steps back as she stared with wide eyes, the darkness and illusion seeming to lessen as the starlight illuminated his body. He had more scars than she'd remembered; crossing up his wrists, and one ugly wound down his chest, crossing from one side to the other. There were fresh cuts, too; small scrapes that must have been recently inflicted, though Coli did not know from who or why. He wasn't fully shifted, she realized, seeing the hard muscles rippling beneath the bulky "halfling" form he had invented. She was transfixed, staring speechlessly at the nightmare that had sought her out from the darkness. She had almost forgotten what he really looked like, relying on her own reflections to remind her. Haku Soul was terrifying in person.
He spoke then; his voice an angry snarl, contradicting the words he spat. Coli hesitantly pulled her snow-encrusted legs to her chest, sitting in a defensive curl. She was utterly helpless - why did he need to spin his spider's web of words, luring her into trusting those beautiful blue eyes? When he didn't hoist her up by her hair and demand her to quit the pack, she blurted out the first thought that returned to her panicked mind. "Auntie Mew said you were sorry you hurt me." She swallowed hard, her voice hoarse from the scare. She felt a strange sense of satisfaction, though - everyone she had met here in Dahlia had told her Haku had changed, he was different, he could be trusted. Mew loved him unconditionally, to the point where she had asked Coli not to tell her how he had wronged her, so that she could preserve her illusion. Cercelee had explained that the Lilium was more loyal to their pack than his own agenda, and she trusted him with her life. Even Firefly had said that she would die defending Haku, believing that it would be a vengeful Coli striking the first blow. But... they were all wrong. He hadn't changed; he had just gotten better at hiding his madness. At the very least, she understood the monster... After all, there was a chance of her going down the same path. A chance that was increasing by every moment he terrorized her.
Her blue eyes were cold, hard, chips of ice as she glared at him, daring him to reply. She didn't know where this night would take her, whether he would decide killing her would be worth the penalty after all, or whether they could reach some uneasy truce. She would keep her brothers safe, if she could. Or was it only females that set off his temper? Coli sucked on her lip, sucking the blood from the small cut as she glared defiantly, her cowardly courage returning little by little.
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