Scarred

Chapter 4

I see Bernie has already started sweeping the floor, there's a large hallway, when you walk in the front door, you see the staircase, it's twice as wide as any I have seen, at the top, the banister carries on to the left and right making a sort of balcony on the landing. All the rest of the walls are panelled with a bright brown wood, the floors are wooden, the room is kind of square shaped with a corridor running right and left, and a door on the left, the study door. Was the mysterious Alex in there now? Whoa wait mysterious? What is going on in my head, he is there for the scarrings, he does not try to help me, he may even cause the scarring to carry on longer than the alpha would have. No, no more time spent on that. I'm here to mop.

I pick up the mop that Bernie left in the top left corner for me. I dip the mop into the water and then I start moving it across the floor, I remember my mother used to enjoy mopping, she would sing while she mopped, and when she thought no one was watching she would dance around the room with the mop. I remember how beautiful she looked when she was dancing. She would stop dancing once she heard me or dad, but she would still be smiling. That is one of my favourite memories of my mother. Maybe that is why I chose to be a maid. I can cook, I could have been great in a kitchen. But I am a maid and I love to mop.

We make a pretty good team, me and Bernie she had finished sweeping and I wasn't far behind her being finished with the mopping.

"That's a fine job Lucy, and you didn't even trip over the mop, 10 out of 10" I laughed, Bernie seemed to have the power to make me laugh even though I was so used to not even smiling. I finish the mopping

"where should I put the used water?" Some people are weird about pouring down the sink even if you wash the sink after. Don't they know that the food you wash off plates is dirtier than diluted mop water?

"Ah, I'll do it child, there is a container we pour it into in the garden, it is reused on the flowers" that makes sense, there is a huge garden here, it would need all the water it could get, I did the same with my herbs.

"I should be able to find the container, I used to play in these gardens when I was younger, it must be near the glasshouse, where the fresh cuttings are right?" I liked to watch alpha Aine tend to the cuttings like they were her own pups. No one has seen her in two years. I liked the alphas mate, she was perfect for him. Where he was stern and strict, she was caring and nurturing as a team they were the perfect leaders.

"Let's gets these floors dried child and then you can get some fresh air in the garden and I will empty the bucket ok? You deserve a break, and I know you enjoy the gardens, I saw you this morning, stopping to smell the flowers."

Ouch, caught dilly dallying by the boss on my first day. I said nothing, I tried to hide my smile. I don't know what I found funny, the fact that this woman didn't miss a beat or that I said my first day, like I'd ever have another one here. We picked up the drying rags for the floor and got to work, where I started mopping was already dry so we wouldn't be drying for too long.

Today has been a strange day, one of the strangest I've ever had. And I had only been here a few hours. On one hand today has been scary and nerve wrecking, not knowing why am I here, twice, my weird feeling in that study, in Alex's study and my reaction to Alex for that matter. My wolf is jumpy today. But today has also been great, I have laughed and smiled and had fun, I have had good memories in my head today instead of being haunted by my past. I would have to find a discreet way to thank Bernie. She has given me something more than just social interactions today, she gave me friendship, and no matter how temporary that is, I am so grateful for it. We both finish drying the floor at the same time, and I get up and open the front door, and hold it open for Bernie while she carries the bucket of water.

"Are you sure I can't empty the water for you?" She smiles at me

"go and enjoy your break, I will take a slow walk and I'll meet you back here in ten minutes."

I bow to her and make my way to my favourite spot in this garden.

It's much bigger than I remember, and it's in full bloom. I love this tree, it is the most beautiful tree I have ever seen. It is, of course a cherry blossom, also known as a Sakura tree. It has the most beautiful pink flowers they are almost white, they are so simple and sweet, I was lucky to see it now, they don't stay in bloom for very long, some of the petals had started to fall already, they made the grass look like a pink carpet, I didn't even care that I was in the alpha's garden, all I cared about was this tree, I found it when I was playing with Sakura here, it was so breath taking, even at that age. We were playing hide and seek, and I just stood under this tree and looked up, she ran right up to me and tackled me to the ground. Once she had finished gloating for finding me so fast she saw what I saw. "It is called a cherry blossom tree, I was named after it." I looked at her confused, "but your name is Sakura, not cherry" she opened her mouth in mock surprise "duh, I know that Lucy, it is from Japan. The Japanese for cherry blossom is Sakura" oh, "that makes sense Kura, your wolf is as breath taking as this tree"

I only had a few minutes and I was going to enjoy it. I took of my shoes and walked through the petals. It was cold out but I didn't care. I love how the grass feels in-between my toes, even my wolf wants to roll around in these petals. Before I know what I am doing I start to twirl around and around, staring up at the beautiful petals above me, they are falling as I spin. It looks so beautiful. I get so dizzy, I fall to the ground laughing, but my laughing soon turns into sobbing. I miss her so much, my tears are hot against my face. I get up and wipe the tears away, now is not the time, and although this was our place, it is not ours anymore. I put on my shoes and make my way back to the house. When I am about halfway from the house I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and I stop dead in my tracks. My wolf has taken over my eyes, she is scanning the area, she doesn't see anything, I take a step forward and quickly look back, and see what I think is the end of a tail. A black tail. This isn't good. Do I run or do I stay and see what happens. My wolf makes the decision for me, she is not going to run from a wolf who will not show himself. I turn around to face where I last saw him, I was half expecting him to be gone, the other half was expecting him to be standing there ready to attack me. What I was not expecting however was to see a black wolf, lying down with its head resting on his legs. I had been so ready for a confrontation, I don't know what to do, so I stare at the black wolf, I take a step towards him, he doesn't move, I take another step, still no movement "Alex?" He looks up at me and howls, emm what, wolves only howl when they are in pain or when they are warning the pack of an attack, I'm no threat so he must be injured? "Are you injured?" He stops howling and looks up at me, I'm about to take another step towards him when I hear my name, it's Bernie. "I'll go tell Bernie you are injured and need help, stay here." Phew I wasn't sure how to get out of that situation, I run towards the house. My wolf was ready to fight him one minute, the next she needed to know he was ok. "He is not good" I say to my wolf. All of a sudden it's like she remembers, and she wants to go back and fight him off. There must be something in the water up here in the alpha's house. Odd things are happening all around me.

"Bernie, I think something is wrong with Alex, did you hear him howl? I asked him if he was injured but he would not answer me, should we send someone to help him?" I'm trying not to jump to conclusions about Alex, all I know so far is that he is present at the scarring, which is a bad thing he hired me specifically today even though he could be punished if he is found out. That's an Odd thing. Bernie seems to trust him, which is a good thing. So for now the good and bad cancel themselves out, so I'm left with odd. Right. Well odd is better than bad. So maybe that's why my wolf is confused about her feelings. She wants to figure this all out as much as me. We have had so many puzzles in two days. It's too much to begin to think about.

"I have just spoken to him through the pack link, he said he is not injured. But he has told me to make sure you are ok, he said he thought he heard crying. Are you ok Lucy?"