The hunt begins

Kai let out an annoyed growl and rubbed tiredly at his temple, these women were so annoying. “Then coffee.” His voice was deep and rumbled from his chest and through his throat dripping with the distain he felt towards the waitress at the moment. “And something to eat.” His yellow eyes finally lifted to really look at the woman and he felt a chill run through him. A low growl emitted from him and he had look away to calm himself. His wolf either didn’t like this woman or wanted her, he still didn’t always understand it.

Once the elf had retired to the bedroom Kashi took to serving her new customer. She placed a steaming mug of black coffee before him then disappeared into the kitchen to prepare him a plate for breakfast. It wasn't long before she returned with a large plate full of fresh sausage from the butcher, farm fresh eggs and a hearty biscuit. She placed the meal before him and leaned against the bar, using her elbow to prop herself up. "Should I take something up to your date?"

Kai grabbed the fork and dug into the meal, stopping only when he began to choke at the word date. He downed the whole cup of coffee to clear his throat before answering her with an amused smirk, “She isn’t my date and she doesn’t need anything. He had felt another growl from the beast when she had stepped closer to him and he watched her curiously as he continued to eat.

"She must be devastated then" kashi said with a soft laugh. Seeing his mug was empty she stepped back around the bar and refilled his glass with a fresh batch. She set the steaming liquid back down in front of him and with no effort to hide her wandering gaze her eyes travelled slowly up his form before stopping at his eyes. "I know I would be"

Kai’s eyebrow rose intrigued and surprised by the woman’s flirting, he hadn’t planned on picking up any company tonight but he wasn’t going to turn it down when it was offered. “You wouldn’t have to worry about that.” He set his fork down and leaned back resting his elbow on the top of the chair watching her closely. “I would never turn you down.”

"Oh really?" Kashi asked her eyebrow raising "You wouldn't even try to play hard to get?" She turned to place the coffee pot back on it's heater before glancing back at him over her shoulder. "The chase is the funniest part." Her eyes flashed with amusement, it was rare she got such interesting customers.

Kai laughed at her, "I'm not looking to be chased and I'm to tired to play games. So either your offering something or your not." He took a sip of his coffee watching her to see how she will answer.

Kashi looked off, seriously considering the proposal before looking back to him with a solemn expression. "I'm afraid I can't. I'm the only one able to work until this evening." She placed a hand on her hip "That's why I like the chase," she laughed, "because it gives me time to find someone to cover my shift." She moved close to the bar, her waist flush against the wood and she leaned over it towards him "But, if you want you can give me your name and I'll make sure to make time for you the next time you come through."

Kai didn’t say anything to her right away. Instead he reached over and picked his jacket up from the seat next to him then stood from the stool and dug his wallet out of his back pocket. Fishing out a few bills he placed them on the counter paying for the meal and replaced the simple black wallet back into his jeans. “That’s a nice offer but I won’t be back after I leave.” He finished his coffee then set the cup down, “now where did you send my baggage?”

The girl sighed heavily through her pouting lips "Whaaat" She was definitely disappointed but any slacking off at work would easily get her in trouble. Something she wouldn't want to risk. She fished the spare room key from her pocket and slid it towards him on the counter. "Room five." She said cheerfully and she began to bus the table.

Juejen hadn't spent long in the room at all. Almost as soon as she was alone she had slipped off into the bathroom. The water had been left running hopefully to mask the sound of her absence and she had carefully slipped out of the window.

As soon as her feet touched the ground she had taken off in a sprint. People were beginning to come out of their homes, and while the hood of her jacket was up, her slender frame and the distinct elven fashion would easily give her away to a well trained eye.

Kai grabbed the key off the surface and turned to head towards his room without even a glance back at the girl. He found the stairs that lead up to the few rooms the inn had to offer and climbed the steps then walked down the narrow hall until he came upon the fifth door. The sound of water running hit his sensitive ears as soon as he hand climbed the stairs and it irritated him that the girl was getting so comfortable. Didn't the elf realize this wasn't a pleasure cruise.

Slipping the small copper colored key into the lock he turned it then opened the door and examined the room. It was small and simply decorated as most inn's were with a few candles on a nightstand to light the room when it got dark. The back of his neck was sore, as it usually was when he was tired and he rubbed at it as he walked over to the bed tossing his black jacket onto the dull colored comforter.

A soft breeze blew across him and he felt his hair tickle against his cheek. It was cool and he closed his eyes enjoying the smell of fresh air. His simple joy was short lived as his wolf growled within and his eyes snapped up to the open window. Crossing the room in two steps he jerked the bathroom door open and almost roared out in anger at seeing it empty. “Little bitch!” He growled at the running bath and slammed his fist into the door before turning back to the room. He was out the door in a flash not even bothering to shut it behind him as he pounded down the stair and shoved past a man and ran out the front door. He would ring her scrawny little neck when he got his hands on her. This was his punishment for being a little slack on the girl. His chest rumbled as he caught her scent in the air and headed after the elf in a dead run. She would not get far.

Juejen realized foolish her idea had been when she finally registered the sound of heavy soled boots pounding the ground behind her. She was hoping to at least be out of the town by the time he had figured her missing. It would be easier to hide in the dense foliage of the trees than to be the only figure running through a populated town. Her trembling hands fished the small dagger from her breast pocket and her fingers gripped around the small hilt. Her knuckles burning white from the pressure of her grip.

She took a sharp turn and took to running behind the alley ways and through the backyards of the homes. She had a fleeting thought, maybe she could tire him out. He had been running all night and she had just started. This simple idea gave her a small bit of hope and her speed increased.

Kai could hear her running footsteps as the sound stood out from the slow moving people in the streets. Added with the thick smell of her sent and his faster pace he was on her in moments, spotting her blue hair as he turned a corner. A pain was beginning to burn in his side and down his legs from the excess use of his legs but he bit it back and endured his numbing pace. "Fuck! Stop running or I'll kill you!" He yelled between his ragged breaths, hoping the girls would be smart enough to stop this ridiculous and hopeless chase and save him from running anymore.

Suddenly a new pain shot through him but this time across his chest almost causing him to trip up and fall to the ground. He grabbed the front of his shirt on his upper chest and winced but still did not stop. His wolf was growing restless with his quickened heartbeat and weakened body if this kept up he ran the risk of loosing control.

The girl was only a few arm lengths away and he stretched his hand out and closed the distance getting a handful of the material on her back and throwing them both forward to the ground. She hit the ground first and he landed heavily on top of her. His breaths came out hard as he moved to quickly startle her, ignoring the pain in his knees that had hit the ground and absorbed the part of his fall that the girls body hadn't. With a fierce growl he grabbed a handful of her hair and held her head down as well as pushed painfully between her shoulders where his fists were still clenched in her coat. "Do you really think you have a fucking chance of getting away from me you wench?" His voice was loud with his anger of having not been back in the room resting at this time.

Juejen fell to the ground with a strangled cry, the weight of the man on her back and the force of hitting the ground knocked all the wind from her lungs. It was almost impossible to regain her breath now as she lay there on the floor writhing in pain. Her vision was dotted with stars and she did her best to blink them away. She needed to find her knife. She wasn't going to give up so easily.

She peered up through the fogginess of her vision and her eyes finally zoned in on the knife. It had clattered to the ground along with her and now lay only a few inches from her reach. Ignoring the seering pain in her back she dug her hand into the ground, her nails digging into the rich soil as she tried to crawl closer towards her weapon.

Kai removed his hand from the silvery blue hair and sat up putting his weight fully on the small body under him. He had to shift up a little as he dug into the pockets of his jeans, looking for something he could bind the girl’s arms with. Coming up with nothing he cursed himself for not grabbing his jacket which he kept several things that would help for these moments. “Stay still.” He demanded then looked around him at the narrow alley they were in. Nothing.

Juejen sneered, she absolutely loathed this man. Did he really expect her to be still after she had just attempted to run away. 'Idiot' she thought and she extended her arm her fingertips finally brushed the handle of the blade. She grasped it firmly in her hand, she wouldn't drop it this time. She wiped the knife behind her blindly, the sharp metal slicing deep into his thigh. If she could weasel her way away from him now, he definitely wouldn't be able to chase her this time.

Kai’s hand came down in an instant after the knife bit into his leg and crushed her hand against her back in a painful lock. He kept adding pressure to the small wrist until the girl’s fingers loosened and the knife fell out of them. “Why are you making this harder on yourself?” He growled into her ear having bent down to pin her like a wolf that had just captured its prey, holding the helpless animal in its jaws until the fight had worn out of it. The beast inside him thrummed with anger demanding to be unleashed so it could rip apart whoever had dared to draw its blood and he had to press the girls arm tighter just to hear her cry in pain so he could give the beast a little satisfaction. Enough so Kai could keep the animal chained within him.

Kai stood ignoring the pain in his already tired leg and dragged the girl up with him. No one had stumbled upon them yet in the alley and he wanted to get back to the hotel before anyone did. Causing a ruckus in the small town would take time to deal with and he was already stretching it. Tossing the girl over his shoulder he bent and picked the knife up from the ground and slid it into his belt. If the elf tried to escape again before he got some sleep he was going to slit her throat with her own weapon.

The man had paid no attention to the wound Juejen had inflicted, it seemed she had severely underestimated who she was dealing with. Her eyes clenched shut and she did her best to bite her tongue, this man must be some kind of sadist and she was determined not to give him any satisfaction for causing her pain. Until her wrist twisted until it felt like the bones were about to crumble within his grasp and she finally cried out.

"Just let me go" She sobbed when she had once again found herself draped across his shoulders. She had nothing to use against him now. She was exhausted from the day's events and she weakly clawed at his back. Her nails too short to do anything but redden the skin. "Fucker!" She spat, "Asshole, Shit head!"

Kai ignored the girl as he left the alley and headed back to the inn. They were close to the end of town now and it would a good walk back to the inn. On the way there he could feel the material of is jegs begin to stick to his injured leg wet with his blood as each step tightened his leg muscle and caused more to gush from the wood and seep into the denim. The cut must have been deeper than he had thought but he didn't want to waste the time to stop and examine here. He would check it once they got back to the room and chained the girl up then he could clean the wound.

He hadn't brought any extra clothes with him not wanting to carry the extra baggage on a short trip but now he regreted it. Walking around in blood stained jeans would only cause himself trouble. There would be plenty of people that took his injury as a weakness and thought it would be the perect opertunity to rob him or kill him. They would be wrong of course, Kai would easily be able to take down any human, injury or not, but they wouldn't know and he would once against have to waste time on useless things.

Arriving back to the hotel he did his best to avoid anyone in the bar area and climbed the stairs. The door was unlocked and he walked in throwing the girl roughly onto the bed then sat to check the damage. The blood was still wet around the wound so he slipped out of his jeans and tossed them to the ground. If it was a normal human who the elf had sliced they would have had to get stiches but with a nights rest Kai would be fine. He turned icy eyes on the elf as he stood to go clean the wound in the bathroom, "Don't move or I will break your legs this time." He grabbed a towel from a stack that was set on the dresser and went into the bathroom, drenching the towel under the now cold water that was still running.

Juejen sat up flush against the headboard and stared at the man with an unwavering glare. "Go die." She sneered and she watched him through her tousled hair as he stripped out of his pants. Had he no modesty? Even her idiot brother managed to dress in a different room. She scoffed at his actions and jerked her head away to swat her messy hair away from her eyes.

She waited a moment before turning back to him. Making sure he had disappeared into the bathroom before she quietly crawled to the edge of the bed to carefully pick up his blood stained pants. She crumpled them up into a tight ball and tossed the ruined fabric out the still open window.

After cleaning the blood from his leg he left the bathroom and grabbed a fresh towel to keep over his leg to clean up the blood that still seeped slowly from the clean cut. He surveyed the room when he entered noticing the girl still on the bed then dropping to see that his jeans were no longer where he had tossed them. His brow twitched with amusement at the childish action and he decided to overlook it and walk over to where his jacket was still tossed on the bed. He would have to buy new jeans anyways.

Picking the leather jacket up he searched the pockets and pulled out a thick line of rope then checked the room for the best place to tie the elf. The dresser was useless as it had no place for his to tie the rope, the small table could be easily lifted even by the girl if he tied it to the leg. And the chairs weren't even an option. The only place that would be to heavy to lift and easy to tie a sold knot of rope to was the iron bars at the top of the bed. While he dislike the thought of sleeping with the girl so close he would make sure to keep anything sharp far from her reach.

Walking up to her he unraveled the loop of rope slowly so she could see his intent. He would have ordered her to stand but he doubted she would cooperate so easily. He had decided to just do it the hard way with this troublesome elf. So reaching for her he jerked her forward and pressed her face into the mattress so her back was stretched before him. Securing her hands behind her was easily with the strength difference between them and Kai had he wrists tied within moments. He drug her to the to if the bed by the back of her shirt collar, throwing her a little roughly against the headboard in the process his payment for being such a headache, then tied the other end of the rope to the iron bar. Flopping to the other side of the bed he place the rag on his leg then leaned back to close his eyes enjoying the soft wind that still flowed from the open window.

Juejen's eyes widened with each step the man took closer to the bed, until he got to the foot of it did she finally clench them shut tightly. "P-pervert!" She gasped. Her eyes remained shut until she felt the bed sag with the weight of another person and she finally dared to peek.

She stared at him for a long moment before turning away and trying to find a comfortable position to lay with the way her wrists were currently bound. Finally she let out a harsh sigh and with much wiggling, turning and fidgeting she finally managed to pull her hands in front of her. With a satisfied smile she finally settled back into a comfortable position and closed her eyes for sleep.

Kai woke up a few hours later to a tickling feeling across his face. His eyes shot open and his vision was blocked by a layer of blue hair which he grumpily brushed away before sitting up and rubbing away the lingering feeling on his face with his hand. He glanced at the elf who was still sound asleep and sprawled so comfortably on the bed that he could hardly tell she was still tied with the rope. With a sigh he stood and looked around for his jeans, they might be stained but he would have to wear them down so he could buy another pair. Kai stared at the empty floor, at the spot he was sure he had tossed his jeans then groaned when he remembered the elf had tossed them, or hid them.

He didn’t feel like waking the girl, even if it was to punish her because then he would have to watch her and he wasn’t in the mood. Instead he went to the table and grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist and boxers figuring it would have to do till he got to a shop. Grabbing his jacket he dug his wallet out of the pocket then opened the door and quietly shut it behind him. The elf wouldn’t be going anywhere, he had tied the not securely so he decided to leave her in the room. Hand on the towel around his waist he made his way down stairs, giving anyone who stared at him a dangerous glare that sent them fretting off.

He walked up to the bar where the girl he had been talking to early in the day was still there and caught her attention, “Where is the tailor?” He asked with indifference to his pant less situation.

Daphne, the girl who served him earlier that morning perked up at seeing him. A smile curled on her lips as she took in the full sight of him in that towel. "Well well," she chuckled "I thought you said she wasn't your girlfriend" She teased lightly and she set down the glass she was in the middle of drying. "The tailor is just across the street." She pointed in the direction where he needed to go but gently bit her lip before adding "But you don't really want to deprive us of such a good view, do you?"

She picked the glass back up and hung it back up on the rack before flashing him another coy smile before realizing she had a message for him "Oh!" She exclaimed "I have a message for you. My manager wanted to speak to you."

Kai sent her and amused glance but didn’t bother to correct her by telling her once again that the elf was not his girlfriend. He also didn’t feel like explaining that she was wrong with her assumption on why he was in a towel, the idea of standing here explaining seemed pointless. His brow perked at her last statement, why would the manager of the hotel need to talk to him? “I’ll be back after I get some pants, then he can come speak to me.” He turned and left the inn, avoiding the few people that had come in for a bite and a few drinks.

Once he had bought a new pair of jeans, having no choice but to pay the outrages amount the tailor demanded, he tossed his towel over his shoulder and headed back to the inn.

Choosing a table off to the corner he order some food and sake then asked for some food that he could bring up to his room for his companion once he was done there. He didn’t want to send the food up with one of the waitresses, they might get the grand idea to untie her and he was becoming annoying at having to hunt her down. Once he was done here and the girl fed they would be leaving this town. Normally one would not travel at night by choice but Kai preferred it, he would be able to spot anyone before they would be able to spot him and if any elves came to search for the girl they would not be looking at night.