Little Dahlia

Ch. 12 - The Castle

She rubs her eyes, confused. Looking out the window, she realizes that they're in the middle of a forest on an oddly single lane paved road. She looks over at Harley, who had stolen his hand back a few minutes ago. She stretches out a bit with a slight yawn.

"Where are we?" she asks.

"We're almost to the castle," he informs her.

He's dumbstruck as to how one woman could be so adorable. Her messy brunette hair falls right into place once she sits up. The white sweater suits her and her innocence perfectly, and he finds it's size--with one shoulder exposed--to make her look even cuter. He could drown in her big blue eyes. He wants to caress her soft, tanned skin so badly, but he's scared that she'll break at the slightest touch of his large, rough fingers.

She realizes that she no longer has his hand and shrinks a bit. He probably got tired of her touch. Even though she wants to hold his hand again, she doesn't want to risk him getting upset with her. The truth was that she was accidentally bending his arm into an odd angle and it fell asleep. He would've kept it cradled in her grasp if not for that.

Rayna looks into the backseat of the truck and sees her backpack. She reaches around the seat and grabs it, turning it to be able to unzip the pocket with her phone inside. She sits back down and turns it on. Of course, there are messages from Naomi.

Naomi
Hey girl. What's going on in that truck??
Rainy?
Rayna
Oh well. I'm makin a pit stop

Rayna
Sorry. I was sleeping

After replying, she puts the phone back in her backpack. Harley glanced at her, becoming nervous as they near the castle.

Looking forward again, Rayna is left in awe as the large Royal Castle comes into view.

It can get up to ten stories in some places, but the most part of it is only four. It's made of brick and stone and wood, painted a cute pastel yellow in most places. There's a large fountain outside the front, which Harley parks his truck around. There's a small river to the right, following a ditch not far from some benches. The main doors had multiple stairs and huge columns surrounding it. There were hedges a few yards away from the windows, whatever on the other side unable to be seen.

"Whoa . . ." Rayna whispers. "It's beautiful."

"Built in the late 1800's. The bases for the Royal Werewolves would change quite often before here, as the species hadn't yet found their footing. When my father became King, he had it largely renovated. My mother chose the yellow," Harley explains, just as if he was a tour guide. With his entire life revolving around this castle, he decided he might as well learn as much as he could about it. He's always had a good memory and is therefore a history geek.

Rayna nods.

"I'm gonna get lost in this place," she mumbles.

"You'll figure it out," Harley assures her, turning the truck off and unbuckling his seat belt. He opens his door and steps out, making Rayna do the same. She looks around, only to find that they're the only ones there.

"Wh- Where's Naomi?" she asks, walking around the car to where Harley was grabbing her stuff.

"With my beta. They took a rest stop and'll be here in a few minutes. I'm gonna show you around, okay?"

He hands her her backpack while he carries her suitcase. She nods and slides it over her shoulders.

"Well, this is the front lawn," Harley says, holding his hands out and spinning to show. "That little road leads to the garage, which is where we could start?"