“The food is great! Thank you so much for your hospitality. I don't know how I would have survived without you.” I was truly thankful for everything he had done for me so far.
“It's my pleasure. I really hope you like your stay here,” he said.
“So, Florence told me this pack is the strongest. Tell me more about your pack. I would love to know more if you don't .” My curiosity was getting the best of me and a part of me hoped that he wouldn't mind.
“We are the strongest pack in the USA, but definitely not the whole world,” he started and I straightened my back, ready to learn more about everything. “But being the strongest doesn't mean you don't have rivals.”
“So you've got rivals?” If he was strong, then this was expected.
“Indeed, but the strongest one is called Crimson Pack. Ten years ago, there was a war between us and luckily, we won, which meant that we got to control the lands of Juliet Rose, but like any war, each of us experienced loss in it.” The spark in his eyes faded for a moment, but he forced himself to recover.
“What's Juliet Rose?” I asked. Talking with him made me forget that I once wanted to sleep.
“A kind of flower that gives werewolves more strength.” I loved how he answered all my questions without showing any sign of annoyance. “Excuse me for my questions, but I'm just trying to make sense of everything.” I blushed, looking down.
“You don't need to apologize,” he assured me. “What else do you want to ask about?”
“Who… who did you lose at the war?” Right after the question rolled out of my mouth, I realized how stupid it was of me to ask that. “I'm sorry! You don't need to answer this.”
“It’s okay. I lost my mum. She was the Luna of the Pack. I then lost my dad four years later. I was forced to become an Alpha at eighteen,” he revealed some parts of his history. My heart ached for him. He went through a lot at a young age.
“I'm sorry that you had to go through all of this,” I murmured.
“It's okay.” A sad smile graced his lips. It wasn't okay. It wasn't okay at all, but he was probably used to acting all strong and powerful that he forgot it was okay to be vulnerable.
“Have you ever wanted to take revenge?”
“I have always wished for that, but I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because of the Supreme Council. Once the war ended, we had to sign a truce and it stipulated that no member of any pack shall harm any member from the other one. We even had to exchange members to ensure safety,” he explained everything to me. I thought he had finished talking, but he continued, “I think that was the thing that slowly killed my father throughout the years. He loved my mother too much. They were mates. He couldn't avenge her. Maybe guilt killed him.”
I was about to say something, but a cheerful voice interrupted me. “You're finally back! I missed you!” A gorgeous girl appeared out of nowhere. Her hair was as black as Xander’s and her skin was slightly tanned.“That's her? Hi, I'm Rowena! Xander’s sister.” She grinned and bent down, surprising me with a hug.
“I'm Priya.” The name sounded foreign on my lips, but I was certain I was going to get used to it. I didn't know any other name to reject this one.
“I don't really need to introduce her to you. She's doing a good job.” He chuckled. “Rowena, go easy on her. She's hurt,” he told her.
“Sorry!” She quickly pulled away. “I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just excited to meet you.”
“You didn't hurt me. It's okay,” I assured her. I couldn't help but smile widely at her. She radiated joy.
“Are you done eating? If you'd like, I can show you to your room, and maybe we can chat and get to know each other,” she suggested. Even though I was enjoying my time with Xander, I really wanted to get to know Rowena.
“Is that okay with you?” I looked at Xander. I didn't want to wander around the place without his consent. After all, this was his house and I was nothing but a stranger.
“Not at all! Feel free to do whatever you want here,” he told me. “Rowena, don't exhaust her. She has just gotten out of the hospital and she has a big gash on her side,” he instructed his sister.
“Noted!” She grinned. She helped me to stand up and we both walked away from the dining room. I had a feeling that Rowena and I were going to be good friends. I needed somebody like her at the time being to mentally heal from what I had been through and her cheerfulness was definitely going to have a positive effect on me.
Published on April 1st, 2021 Sara
Everything about this mansion was elegant. The stairs were white and the handrails were made of transparent glass. I placed one hand on the rails while Rowena held my other one. Just like her brother, she was really helpful. I had to repay them one day for their kindness. “You're the younger sibling, right?” I asked her once we reached the top of the stairs. “ I am. I'm twenty. Xander is twenty-four,” she replied as the two of us made a right turn. She was only ten years old when she lost her mother and fourteen when she lost her father. She was too young to go through that. I silently wondered if I was the same. Had I also lost my family like them? Did I have any siblings? Was there anybody out there looking for me or was I nothing that nobody bothered to search for me? “What about you?” she asked. “I wish I could answer,” I mumbled. “Why can't you? This is my room, by the way.” She pointed to one of the doors. “And this is your
“Did you find out who she is?” Jorah, my Beta, asked me. Ever since Priya was brought to my house three days ago in the middle of the night, he had been asking me about her. He did not like outsiders and to him, she was dangerous. “We don’t know who she is. She is definitely a werewolf, but she hasn’t matured yet. She most probably is seventeen. Apparently, she suffers from a complete memory loss, so she doesn’t even remember her name,” I filled him in. I was taken by complete surprise when the patrol brought her to my place. She was covered in her own blood, her clothes were barely covering her body, she was freezing and completely unconscious. Her state had me baffled. If her injury was minor, I would have taken her to Jorah. He had knowledge regarding stitching and cleaning wounds, but the amount of blood she shed on my sweatshirt when I took her from the patrol to my car was enough to make me take her straight to the clinic. “And you actually believe she’
“Promise me that you won't fear me.” His request had me startled. Why would I fear him? He had been kind and sweet to me. What would make him scary? “I promise,” I said as the strong wind brushed my hair, causing me to shiver a little. Maybe I should have brought a jacket with me, but the excitement I felt when he told me he would show me his wolf form made me forget everything. “ Wait for me here,” he told me, and I nodded, smiling a little at him. Cautiously, I sat down on one of the chairs in the backyard. The vast pool in front of me made me wonder if I knew how to swim or not. The water was intriguing that I almost approached it, but I was scared. I didn't want to fall. Not knowing anything about myself was frightening. “It's going to be colder in the forest.” Xander's voice pulled me away from my thoughts, making me look at him. He was holding a huge hoodie for me. My heart warmed at the gesture. “Thank you.” I slowly got up and took the
I pulled the pillow close to me as I kept my eye closed. I could feel the sunlight hitting my face, but I didn’t want to wake up. The soft mattress beneath me made getting up an impossible task. Did I need to get up? Memories of last night played in the back of my mind and the corners of my mouth turned up a little when I recalled how Xander looked as a wolf. A realisation came to me that I didn’t get back to my room and that was enough to force me to open my eyes. Everything seemed familiar. This was the room Xander gave me yesterday. How did I get here though? Had I fallen asleep against him last night while we were in the forest? The mere thought caused heat to rush to my cheeks. I had a light grey duvet over my body; it was so smooth that I didn’t want to push it away. I looked down at my clothes and I found myself in the same outfit I had on last night. I even still had the sweater on. Carefully, I pushed myself up and got out of my luxurious bed. I needed to sh
Almost twenty days had passed since we found out that Priya was allergic to milk. After that incident, I left the pack for three days to finish off some business. When I came back, I was hoping that she would have remembered anything, but that did not happen. Her allergy was the only thing we were able to find out about her. She couldn't remember anything and as the days passed, I could tell that this was taking a toll on her, frustrating her. At first, she was taking the matter lightly, doing her best to get accustomed, but for the past few days, it was obvious that things had been different. She politely refused to spend time with Rowena and she stayed in her room most of the time. I suggested taking her to the forest for a walk, knowing that her wound was in a better state, but she said no. I kept thinking that maybe she was scared of seeing me in my wolf form again, but the look she had in her eyes the night I took her there told me that she wasn’t scared at all.
“Where are the logs I will be moving today?” For the past three days, I had been moving logs and organizing them under the small wooden awning attached to the cabin in the training camp. “We’re going to make your job a bit harder today,” Xander informed me, and a shiver ran down my spine. What did he plan to do? When Xander told me I had to either work or leave, fear controlled every cell in my body. I was even scared of asking any question because I had a feeling that if I annoyed him too much, he was going to kick me out. The first time I came to the camp to work, I was frantic and it took every ounce in my body to prevent myself from crying. When he was cleaning my wound, I was on the edge, because I felt that the safety he provided me with was being stripped away from me and I wanted it so badly. I had to hold onto it tightly. I felt pathetic for crying in front of him, but I couldn't prevent myself from crying. I wasn't do
Another day at training. I didn't mind though. I liked the idea of strengthening my body. I didn't like being weak. I wanted to be able to do things on my own and defend myself. Xander didn't let me train yesterday, telling me to take the day off after my breakdown during our run. Compared to what I had witnessed around the camp, Xander was so easy on me. He probably realised I would break if he treated me in the same way. Two days ago, I remembered bits and pieces of the attack and I couldn't remember anything else. The whole experience was terrifying, but I was glad for Xander’s presence. At first, I thought he would push me to work harder, so I would get over whatever memory that made me panic and heave. He proved me wrong. Xander was so gentle with me. He held me tightly and protectively, protecting me from my mind, which was my number one enemy at that moment. I was safe in his arms even though there was a war going on inside of me. His soothing words calmed my
Do you think it's okay to go out?” I wondered, glancing at Rowena. We were watching TV since we had nothing to do. Xander was out with Jorah who still seemed to be wary of me. I still didn't understand what I did wrong to make him think of me as nothing but a suspicious being, yet I was determined to fix the image he had about me. Ever since what Sorrel told me on my first day, she hadn't tried to talk to me, which was extremely odd. She just threw one warning and walked away. Did she hear me ask Xander about her? Did that make me unworthy of her trust in her eyes? Was I even supposed to trust her? I had been here for a month and I hadn't seen anything bad from neither Rowena nor Xander. The day he threatened to kick me out, I thought that was going to be the end of my safety, but I realised later what he meant by doing that. I was never going to get better while sulking inside my room. He challenged me, allowed me to get the anger I had inside of me and made me dire