LOGINShare
The Ways of Women
Last Updated:
2021-04-12 21:56:21"He said what?!"
"He said, 'I know it's your first time and it's hard, but if you wanna go at it again, I got you, babe,' or something like that."
"He called her 'babe'?"
"Uh, no, but he might as well have."
Isabelle slumped back into her chair and sighed. Celia was sitting on an ottoman beside her, still leaning forward. They were in one of the many student lounges on campus. This particular one was Isabelle's favorite because of the overstuffed furniture and heavy wooden tables. It reminded her of her mother's sitting room.
Isabelle lay as far back as she could in the overstuffed chair. She clasped her hands together and rested them on her stomach. Celia stared at her friend's face, waiting for her reaction. She had just told Izzy that she had seen Hunter and Ash kissing in the library. She also told her about what she'd heard Hunter say to Ash, including what she thought he meant by it.
"She didn't tell us about it," Isabelle whined sadly
Related chapters
The Girl Cried Wolf Blood!
Ash sat on the floor next to her tattered uniform and her mobile phone. Her hands were clasped over her head as she stared hard at the floor in front of her. Her heart was racing in her chest and she was breathing hard just to keep up. With all the anger she felt, she wanted to run outside, find Hunter and take him apart with her bare hands.Ash wasn't particularly athletic: she didn't have a sport like her friends did. She wasn't very strong. She did a lot of manual labor and menial chores at the orphanage but at Saint Blaise's there was nothing to do but study and there was nothing to clean and no one to clean up after. She wasn't out of shape since she jogged with her friends every other day, but having good cardio wasn't the same as having actual combat skill.While Ash had been involved in a few scuffles growing up at the orphanage, she couldn't count any of it as real fight experience. They were just skinny kids brawling over broken toys and petty insults.
Last Updated : 2021-04-15The Girl Cried Wolf Tell Me and I'll Kiss You
Ash and Hunter sat on the floor of the back building. It was getting dark outside but they didn't turn the lights on. Turning the lights on might have called attention to them, so they chose to sit in the semi-darkness. They kept the door ajar, letting in just enough light for them to see each other's faces."You and I, we're werewolves," he said simply.Hunter's face was serious. He didn't smile like he usually did, which made his face seem unfamiliar to Ash. She was used to seeing Hunter as a friendly guy. Even as he seemed out of reach for her, he always had a happy air about him.The boy sitting in front of her now seemed to be a different person. He didn't have his usual positive charm, and it made Ash feel uneasy.Hunter's unsmiling countenance in the darkness didn't look at all like the Hunter Guzman Ash saw around the school. It was unnerving seeing him like that, even more so considering what he was saying."We exist here, at this time, in
Last Updated : 2021-04-24The Girl Cried Wolf Take You Home
“Tell me and I’ll kiss you,” Ash said.Hunter tugged at her hands and inched his face closer to hers, smiling playfully.“I’ll tell you everything and THEN I’ll kiss you,” he said, challenging her.Ash pushed her cheek against his, avoiding his lips. And then she whispered in his ear.“Tell me everything and I might let you.”Hunter liked the game she was playing. He didn’t know the rules yet, but he was willing to play along.“Okay, deal,” he said, smiling, into her ear.Ash didn’t pull back. She stayed where she was and rubbed her cheek against his.“Go on. Tell me,” she said, whispering in his ear.Hunter swallowed as he felt her breath on his ear. The contact was making him feel unbearably warm inside. He wanted so badly to just kiss her and drown in the warmth.“You ran away from me, in your werewolf form, and then
Last Updated : 2021-04-28The Girl Cried Wolf Secrets and Lies
"I want to take you home,” Hunter said to Ash.Their faces were flushed and the night left very little light to see inside the building. They were two shadows on the floor and the sound of their breathing seemed to fill the otherwise empty room.“What . . . what do you mean by that?” the girl shadow asked the boy shadow.The boy shadow seemed to respond only in panted breathing.Ash bit her lip. She wasn’t sure what Hunter meant by “taking her home” and the longer he didn’t answer, the more conscious she became of their bodies touching. She could see Hunter’s eyes in the half-light and they were still blue. She wondered what she looked like, what he saw as he looked back at her.She tried to move off of his lap, but he tightened his arms around her.“I wanna take you home, Boots,” he said, resting his chin on her shoulder.“I heard you the first time, Hunter,” Ash
Last Updated : 2021-04-30The Girl Cried Wolf She Shouldn't Have Lied
When someone tells a lie, they draw a line between themselves and the truth. The people who hear the lie and know the truth are made to choose sides. Do they side with the liar or do they side with the known truth?Ash had lied to the group at dinner and every girl at the table knew it. The question that hung in the air was “why?”Why would Ash lie about seeing a boy at school? Why wouldn’t she just tell her best friends about it?Isabelle could not understand why Ash would keep her relationship with Hunter a secret from them. They would have been happy for Ash if she had told them about her boyfriend or fling or whatever it was that Hunter was. Isabelle’s feelings were hurt. Didn’t Ashtrust her best friends?She looked at Ash quietly eating her dinner across the table from her and Celia, and she wondered, concerned with what was happening to their friend Boots.Celia, on the other hand, was angry. She did not sa
Last Updated : 2021-05-04The Girl Cried Wolf Prelude to Danger
When Ash woke up the next morning, Celia was already gone.Ash wasn’t surprised. Celia liked to go for a morning run every so often, so she did sometimes leave at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to get a good workout.Ash didn’t make too much of it. She knew that Celia was probably mad at her for lying about not seeing Hunter, so she figured Celia was just letting off steam with an early morning run.Ash thought about going back to sleep since it was only 6:00 am. Lying in her bed, listening to the sound of the quiet morning, she realized that she was finally alone after so many days of being around other people.She thought about sending a text message to Hunter, asking him to meet up for breakfast or something just to talk.[Are you sure you just want to talk to him? You only really talk about half of the time that you’re together.]Ash shuddered at her own inner voice. On one hand, she was positively ecstatic that Hunter lik
Last Updated : 2021-05-10The Girl Cried Wolf Bagels for Breakfast
Celia woke up on the bleachers. Her head felt heavy and she was chilled down to her bones. She had felt so tired and had fallen asleep in the open. It was so cold. She knew she should’ve just walked back to the dorm to sleep but she couldn’t help herself. Kind of a stupid move, but whatever, Celia already knew she had a knack for doing stupid things.Celia walked back to the Girls’ Dorm, eager to take a hot shower and wash away the cold on her skin.***Ash gathered her hair and tied it up in a nice high ponytail. Isabelle had told her once that she looked pretty with her hair pulled high and back.”You have a lovely jawline and a graceful neck, Boots,” she had said to Ash. At the time, Ash had laughed at the phrase “graceful neck.” How can a neck in itself be graceful? She had joked about several stupid ways for a disembodied neck to move to be considered “graceful.”Now that she wanted to
Last Updated : 2021-05-12The Girl Cried Wolf Happy Birthday, Boots! (1)
On the night before her birthday, Ash wanted to go to bed early. While Celia and Isabelle ate dinner at the cafeteria, Ash packed a duffel bag with clothes for the two-week holiday. She had already decided that she was going to spend the holidays with Hunter getting to know his parents and learning more about their shared werewolf heritage.The problem was, she had no idea how to tell her friends about her decision. With the awkward way things had been going with the three of them lately, telling them she was staying with Hunter out of the blue sounded like the premise for an elaborate prank.No one at school would have believed it. But then again, no one would believe that living monsters in human form walked the halls at Saint Blaise’s either. Staying with Hunter for the holidays was far more believable. It seemed improbable, but at the least it was possible. As it was, it was definitely happening.She stared at her hands on the unfolded shirt in her lap
Last Updated : 2021-05-14
Latest chapter
The Girl Cried Wolf Revelation
Ash’s wolf eyes opened to see two girls cowering together on the bed in front of her. She could smell their fear distinctly: an acrid smell that caused her nose to twitch. The smell was emanating from these two girls and these two girls were her friends. She knew this in her heart. They weren’t prey animals.Ash moved to bring comfort to her friends, seeking to calm them. She opened her mouth to speak and a low keening howl escaped her throat. The sound seemed to reverberate around the room. The sound was monstrous and offered no comfort to the human ear.Celia screamed, afraid. Izzy, however, remained perfectly still. Her fear was still palpable but there was an underlying courage that kept her from swaying.Ash could sense an aura coming from Izzy. Something yellow, with lines of sky blue. It was warm and soothing.[Ash, please, Celia is scared. Please stop] A voice echoed in Ash’s head.[Izzy, is that you?] Ash thought.[Yes, it’s me. Please stop this.]Ash locked eyes with Izzy in
The Girl Cried Wolf Wendell Carson
The silver-haired man looked like he was in his late forties, perhaps fifty years old at most. He had sun-warmed skin that contrasted with his pale blond, nearly silver hair. He looked like an outdoorsman in his denim jacket and worn gray jeans.“That’s Wendell Carson to you, my boy. Grandfather was an old life,” the silver-haired man replied with a half-smile.Hunter didn’t say a word. He did not know what to say. He only knew that he had said something he wasn’t supposed to say.The man turned toward the girls and smiled.“My name is Wendell Carson. I’m a wildlife expert from The Wolf Sanctuary in Mountain Range. In an old life, I was Hunter’s known grandfather.”Ash’s eyes widened. She had only ever heard of Hunter’s grandfather from Lavinia, Hunter’s mother. The story of him killing and eating Lavinia’s horses shot through her mind. Her heart beat faster and her palms began to sweat.Celia and Izzy merely looked on, confused.“You will call me Mr. Carson and that will be all. No o
The Girl Cried Wolf The Assembly
In the middle of the first week back, the headmaster called all the students to the Grand Hall for an assembly. This was unusual as Assemblies were usually set for the beginning or end of term, and certainly not done mid-week.The students shuffled in at an early 7:00 am, with much grumbling and fidgeting.The Head Master looked out to his early morning audience and began his speech. He spoke first of preliminary matters, welcoming the students back from their holidays. After the brief niceties, a somber look came upon his face and he continued.“There are a few matters I will be addressing this morning that is of great importance to the Academy.First, I am sure that all of you have heard of the tragic incident that occurred over the holidays in the restricted area behind the school. It is true that a man was found thereon, but I would like to assure everyone that it was not a student of this school. Those of your peers who have yet to arrive from their holidays will be accounted for
The Girl Cried Wolf Rumors
Monday Morning: At lunch, the cafeteria was abuzz with chatter. It was the first day after the holidays and rumors were flying.Rumor 1: Apparently, a man had been found dead in the woods behind the school.Apparently, the man had killed himself and the body had been eaten by animals, leaving only his pecked clean bones. Others claimed it was one of the school staff that killed himself.Rumor 2: Celia, the new money girl, had apparently tried to stab the orphan Boots girl at the fancy restaurant in town. Her vulgar rich parents had paid off the orphan to not press charges, and apparently, that was why trailer trash Celia new money wasn’t back yet.Rumor 3: It appears that there was some truth to Rumor 2, as Hunter Guzman had suddenly seemed to take an interest in Orphan Boots.They had been seen jogging together at the quad in the early morning and they seemed to be chatting away. He also
The Girl Cried Wolf Mother and Father
Lavinia had a powerful aura about her. She was not a shifter, yet she was clearly the alpha female of the Guzman house.Madame Guzman was of average height, but she stood tall and walked tall. The hems of her flowy pants never creased at the bottoms. She never dragged her feet.Ash wasn’t sure if Lavinia was actually taller than her (she wasn’t) but the woman just seemed to stand over her, literally and figuratively.Lavinia spoke with authority and moved with a dancer’s grace. With her wavy black hair, curling softly about her shoulders, she looked regal: the rightful and noble queen of a castle. To Ash, even her name sounded fancy: Lavinia.And yet, Mrs. Guzman was also warm and motherly.“It’s not too tight, is it?” Lavinia asked.“No, ma’am,” Ash replied.Ash sat on the floor of Mrs. Guzman’s sitting room as the lady of the house braided her long dark hair. Mrs. Guzman herself had offered to do it. It had seemed so natural to sit at this woman’s feet and sink into the gentle grazi
The Girl Cried Wolf The Old Master
Hunter was even more touchy than usual. He hugged Ash just before they entered the house. When he pulled the chair out for her at breakfast, he gave her a squeeze on her shoulders just before he sat down in his own chair.Lavinia glanced at her husband, speaking with her eyes. “Are you seeing this?”Silverio nodded, subtly.“Ash, come by my study after morning training,” Lavinia said, with a hint of a smile. Ash smiled back. She had an inkling that it was going to be about her suits, but she didn’t want to say anything. She was excited but she didn’t want to jinx it.***Ash stood in Mrs. Guzman’s reading room. There was a pile of leather-bound books on the mahogany writing table, a bowl of crystals, and two sets of cards. Ash looked around, trying to find the package that contained her new suits.The door opened and Mrs. Guzman came in with a large black box.“Don’t you just look excited?” She teased Ash.Ash got dressed in the adjoining powder room and emerged. She wore a set of dar
The Girl Cried Wolf Fate Sealed
When I woke up that morning, I felt like the world was finally my oyster. For most of my life, I endured pain. When I was little, I suffered through the pain of rejection. I was already “too old” when I arrived at the Orphanage. Most couples wanted babies or toddlers: too young to know that they were abandoned, easily raised and molded, no need to tell them where they really came from until they were adults themselves. We were taught to appeal to the visitors. We were to stand in a line at the doorway to greet them and smile when they walked past. We were to stand in lines arranged according to height and sing a song about how sad it was to be a child alone in the world. The visitors were allowed to cry, but we were not. We were told to smile and play. We spoke only when spoken to. We were not to speak of our parents. The guests could say whatever they wanted to us. They could promise us new toys, good food, a new home, a new hope of belonging: we were supposed to smile and act shy.
The Girl Cried Wolf Self-Control
Two weeks into the holidays, Ash could feel herself getting stronger.Every meal she ate at the house was the most fabulous meal she had ever eaten in her life. Everything was fresh and delicious, many of the dishes were ones she had never had before. She used the softest towels on her body and slept in the biggest, softest bed she had ever slept on.The Guzman’s refrigerators were the most wondrous things she had ever set eyes on. Double doors, a built-in ice maker, and each one was always full of food. If she wanted a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich with olives and feta cheese at ten in the evening, she could have it. There were bottles of sparkling water, infused water, and even alkaline water.The casual abundance of their home was both comforting and exciting.The training was hard, but her body seemed to recover fast. Her days were filled with training and grand pockets of leisure in between. She had full use of the family library, and in
The Girl Cried Wolf The Bite
The next few days revolved around training. There was an hour of running in the morning, an hour of weight training in the afternoon, and another hour of running in the early evening. The household staff had returned and there was a semblance of normal in the Estate. Apparently, none of the staff, with the sole exception of Fernan, knew that the Master of the house and his son were werewolves.“What would happen if anybody else knew?” Ash asked, early one morning.Hunter’s head was buried between her breasts and he looked up at her with a dazed expression in his eyes.“Huh?”Every morning before their daily run, the pair had taken to making out in the bedroom almost immediately after waking. It was very difficult for Hunter to keep away from Ash at night, but he abided by the most important rule and did not share Ash’s bed while she slept. Every morning at the crack of dawn, however, he would barge into the bedroom and
