Blancafied

**BLANCA**
When I turned eleven years old, I finally stopped hoping that anyone might come to the prison in search of the truth. On that day I accepted my fate for what it was and retreated inside of myself to a place where nothing could hurt me. Altering my worldview so that my daydreams could serve as my reality and my reality could serve as a constant nightmare.
I must attempt to do something similar to that now.
It only takes seconds for Max to whip out into the hallway behind me. I know he's about to embarrass me, I know he's about to start screaming, so I freeze in my steps and press my back up against the wall. Concentrating on the cold of the surface at my back, I try to let the feeling spread, but for *some* reason it is not working. The tears continue to fall and the harder I try to withdraw from emotion, or detach myself, the faster they drop.
Standing just a few doors away from his bedroom, is where he spots me. Keeping my head hung low, I will my tears to dry. I clamp my eyes shut briefly, cutting off the traitorous liquid at its source. The moment Max steps in front of me, he reaches out for my chin, jerking it up angrily and robbing me of breath. I can only stare back at him and hope my face is dry.
He growls at me, his eyes spiraling in various shades of gold. He sneers as he spits, "I just finished warning you not to-" But then his mouth suddenly stops moving and his head jerks backward in horrified silence.
I say nothing, *do* nothing. It's obvious that he's noticed my tears, so I simply keep my gaze focused straight ahead. But that doesn't mean I don't see the sudden panting of his breath and the way his eyebrows draw together in dismay. Gently releasing my chin, he steps back and scowls at me.
"Beta Jared," he calls out with his eyes still on me, "let's get moving." As Beta Jared steps out into the hallway, Max says, "Follow me, please."
A moment later, we're stepping out of the front doors and into the sunlight and my world tips on its axis.
Every single inch of my skin - even the flesh that is covered - suddenly throbs with warmth. My face tips toward the sky and I allow my eyes to burn for that half a second that I am able to look directly at it, the sun. That giant ball in the sky, that star that nobody ever truly sees, is touching every piece of me. Painting me in a bath of yellow light that almost feels like love. Before I know it I am smiling so widely that my cheeks begin to hurt. Closing my eyes, I can no longer hear what Max and Jared are saying - in fact, they're not even here. Wrapping myself in a tight hug I pretend my sister is holding me. I try to imagine that she is whispering in my ear, but the moment I try it, something happens.
The voice that I haven't heard in eight years suddenly speaks to me, as loud and as clear as a bell. *"You're not allowed to die, my Blanca. You never were. Do not forget that, no matter what new hardship may come.*
I gasp, inhaling sharply as my eyes pop open. Then I spin in a circle, scanning the landscape for the source of the voice in my head. Of course, I don't find it. However, I *do* find a pair of utterly silent male shifters that appear to be in identical states of bewilderment. They are posed to enter the car, but it seems whatever they observed me doing altered their progress.
"Oh?!" I startle, embarrassed. I walk slowly toward the backdoor of the sedan, noting both pairs of eyes and how they follow my every move. "W-was I talking to myself or something?" Just the *possibility* that I may have repeated the words I was hearing out loud, is enough to send my heart into complete overdrive. When neither of them answer right away, I bite my lip nervously.
"No," they say in unison. Both of them are still staring.
I sigh heavily, taking one last look at the Alpha's giant house before we leave. Despite that he told me never to get comfortable here and that this is *his* house... I can't help but feel the strangest attachment to it. Maybe it is because he and I are mates, or maybe it is because this is the first place that I have slept in ten years, that wasn't a straw hut or a stone prison, but it's almost as if I can feel the house *longing* for me. Like it has a presence or a life all its own that wants me in the same way that I want it.
Max's words cut my silent farewell short. "We're going to be late for the branding. Get in the car."
I nod, casting a wistful glance at his bedroom window before I comply. "Yes, Alpha."

**MAX**
The Branding House just so happens to be on the very edge of our territory, just a half mile or so from the Rim. A twenty minute drive with Jared behind the wheel, apparently. He's driving five below the speed limit when he's normally *flying* thirty above it and I almost want to reach down and press his foot harder on the gas. *Didn't I say we were going to be late? I could have sworn I mentioned it thrice.* Not that an Alpha is *ever* late on his own land, but that's not the point. It's not like there'd be anyone to pull us over the way there would be in the human territories, so what gives? Maybe it's because there's a female riding with us for the first time and he's trying to be safe, or *maybe* it's because he can't seem to stop himself from gawking her in the rear-view mirror.
I'm beginning to think it's the latter, especially when he asks Blanca, "This is the first time you've seen the sun in years, isn't it Blanca?"
My brow furrows as I listen for her response, absently rubbing at the ache in my chest while I do.
"Yes," the soft sigh that is her voice says. "I'd forgotten what it felt like to be under it. It was a pleasant surprise."
"You'd forgotten?" Jared replies, shocked, and she nods. I'm just as astounded as he is, but I maintain my silence. "That's why you looked so happy when we stepped outside and you decided to dance with yourself."
"Dance with myself?" she questions, in a light and jovial tone that carries the innocence of a child. "Oh! You mean when I started spinning?"
"That too," Jared answers. "But no. I meant when we first stepped out. You hugged yourself and started swaying and humming."
Her eyes spike wide. "I d-did? Oh my Goddess. I didn't realize. I was just trying to savor the warmth on my skin. So *that's* why the two of you were staring at me that way."
"In *what* way?" Jared prods.
I steal a glance at her in my side view mirror and see that she's blushing. "Like I was standing there naked, or like I was talking to myself."
My throat closes for a second and *fuck!!!* Standing there naked? Really? Just picturing her *half-naked* is like a sharp slap to my balls and I silently curse the Moon Goddess as I am forced to adjust my pants. Suddenly my dick has a posture all on its own and I make a mental note to call the seamstress. I'm going to have the crotch of all of my fighting leathers adjusted. *Blancafied* if you will. Speaking in a detached voice, I tell her, "If you had been standing there naked Blanca, the *looks* we would have given you, would have been the least of your worries."
"No shit," I hear Jared say under his breath and I can't help but glare at him for a moment.
*Stop staring at him, idiot. You never care when he flirts with Fiona and you're about to get engaged to her. Blanca cannot be special. She's just an extremely attractive slave that happens to have been blessed with a body that the Goddess designed specifically to tempt all of creation.*
Unfortunately for me, the Goddess did a damn fine job and Jared looks to be *almost* as uncomfortable as I am. *I say almost, because I'm sure that my dick is harder and bigger.*
"Of course, Alpha," she says in a small voice. "It was only an expression, I would never *truly* do something like that."
*The fuck? Seriously?*
Curious whether she's as clueless as she seems, or if she's just being sarcastic, I glance over my shoulder. Interestingly enough, it's as if I had scolded her and she appears reprimanded. She *really* had *no idea* what I was trying to say.
*She was cut off from the world when she was ten years old, remember? What do you expect?*
But the look on her face is haunted and empty. The way that it was back in the hallway of my house. Just after she ran out of my bedroom. My anger blazed when she charged past me and out the door. So I'd told Jared to wait in my room and chased after her. When I saw her standing against the wall, I snatched her face in my hand (too roughly) and fully intended to punish her for her disobedience.
But then her hair fell away and she peered out at me with a dead, unseeing gaze. Yet, tears were *streaked* across her cheeks and a solitary droplet hung from her chin. In that second I was hit with a blast of pain just behind my chest. An explosive inferno that swallowed every piece of my heart and the space around it. Pain seared across me, taking away my ability to speak for that moment.
When I realized she wasn't trying to be defiant, I let her go and stepped back. I tried to shake off the feeling, but ever since it happened I've been fighting a permanent frown. When I stop paying attention, I catch it. The downward turn of my lips because my body refuses to deny that I'm disappointed.
And… because she was only trying to protect herself.
*From me.*