Arabella
"Okay, what?" Melanie said with an exuberant amount of what-the-hell as she swung open the front door.
Xander and I fumbled into the mansion-cabin with hands full of shopping bags. The weight wasn't as bad as those boys seemed to express, but I could definitely see me getting tired and annoyed with dragging these things around.
"It just happened, okay?" I responded with a sigh, watching as all the bags were gathered together and just now thinking about where I would put all of this. Not to mention how to transport it back to my room back at the castle.
That was, if I ever went back.
No, I'd definitely be going back home, no matter what. Xander would just have to arrange a transport of the entire closet itself.
"We went shopping!" Xander said excitedly, handing off the bags in his hand to Grace, who was always readily available. She rolled her eyes and stacked them up in her arms with ease. "Can you take these up to my room?"
"Sure, Alpha." Grace sighed as if she'd done this a million times before.
"Your room? My room." I corrected quickly.
"Na-ah-ah. You said you'd sleep in my room, 'for the sake of our packs'." Xander said slyly, shaking his finger in the air. My stomach dropped, and goosebumps threatened to give away my nervousness.
Oh goddess how did I forget such a traumatic decision?!
"Right," I said shakily, staring at the ground. Sleeping in the same room as he reminded me of a certain heat that was approaching in only two days.
I needed more time. Way more time.
Was there a pill I could take to stop it? A shot I could get at a pharmacy? Anything?! All I needed was something to screw up my body enough to trick it into postponing the heat. Maybe a traumatic experience to my body?
I'd have to research tonight.
"Do you have a library here?" I blurted, causing Xander to turn with a questioning gaze.
"Yeah, our librarian, Claudius, should be up there now- on the second floor. It's open to the public, so there might be others in there. "
Others? Like pack members who could possibly tell if I was a royal?
My face must've said it all, because Xander patted my shoulder reassuringly, saying, "Hey, they will probably think you dyed it since you smell like a normal rogue to me. "
"Excuse me?!" I squeaked, picking up the shoulder of my shirt and sniffing it. I smelt no change.
It's the mate bond, it's adapting us for one another. Duh. My wolf reminded me with a huff. If she were human, I bet she'd be flipping through a magazine and rolling her eyes at me.
"Don't worry about it, it's fine." Xander shrugged, nodding me along and pointing up the stairs. "Go up and turn at the corner. You'll know when you see it. I'll see you for dinner."
"You're leaving me?" I chocked on the air around me, nervous now that I'd knock into someone and not know what to do.
"You want me to stay?" Xander retorted with a smirk.
"Dear lord, can we get over this?" Melanie groaned, snapping her fingers in the air. The sound echoed around the room.
"If I could kick you out of my house I would." Xander sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and closing his eyes.
"But you can't because I'm your woman's wing woman. Get over that, too." She yapped back, sticking out her tongue and suctioning herself to my arm. "C'mon let's go read some books."
Xander looked peeved as his right eyebrow twitched, the moment was taken away from him by a feisty she-wolf. Nevertheless, he nodded, waved, and turned to walk down a hall. "I'll see you tonight for dinner. I'll be in my office if you need anything."
There was a heavy pang in my chest as I watched him turn and head in another direction. He didn't look back.
"Alright," I sighed, "let's go."
+
The wide expanse of books took me by surprise, as I had no idea this house could hold such a variety.
The library was simple and rustic, wooden planks lining the walls just like the rest of this cabin. As far as I could tell, it was only one story, but it was long and wide. My vision only allowed me to see four large and tall shelves, but I definitely knew it went way back after that.
There was a commotion in the room from a few kids who were beeping and bopping on the computers. Half of them shouted excitedly at the monitor, while the other half were either actually reading the books or making towers to stand on.
"Kids-! Keep your voices down! Get off of those books-and turn down the volume!" An old-man -sounding voice hushed to the group of young children who were running in and out of the aisles. We heard him before we saw him, but once he appeared, the voice completely matched my mental visual.
A perky old man's head popped out from behind a shelf. His round oculars were down on his nose, eyebrows raised and eyes squinting to see me.
"Claudius?"I said hesitantly, knowing if I screwed up the names this would turn indefinitely awkward.
He was neither fat nor skinny, just that elderly spot in between. Behind those thick glasses, his thick white eyebrows raised in surprise. He trudged out from around the bookshelf, wearing a brown cardigan and a yellow button down. His jean pants sagged over his worn out brown loafers, making me nervous on his walking capabilities. His legs looked extremely bowed, a sign of trauma. Maybe he had been a warrior, or possibly a guardian. Either way, it didn't change the fact that he could possibly trip over his own pant legs and break his back. Werewolves were strong, but after a couple hundred years, our bones get brittle, too. "Yes, that is me, miss-?"
"-Arabella." I finished, trying to give my best formal smile and hoping he'd point us in the right direction and waste no time on questions.
"Ah, " He nodded, shuffling over and rubbing his dry hands together in front of him. "Yes, indeed you are."
I couldn't help but furrow my eyes as he didn't stop at the 5-foot mark as he approached me. As in, my bubble of personal space. For some reason, it was one of the only things I remembered in my royal etiquette classes. Maybe that was just a royal thing- or maybe this old librarian really didn't know who I was yet.
Still, it made me nervous, and my mouth began to move on its own to ease the tension. "Ah, and this is Melanie, my friend." I finished with an awkward gulp as I felt his rough hands encase mine. And without consent.
This was definitely violating at least fifteen codes in the royal handbook.
"Excuse me-" I stammered, trying to pull away from his grasp. Why wasn't Melanie doing or saying anything?!
Claudius simply held my one hand in both of his, using the top one to rub and pat it as if I was a troubled youth who had just returned home. His old head with spotted skin nodded in understanding, and those eyes which were magnified behind the glass closed. "Indeed, you are."
Hooookayyy...
I looked at Melanie for help. She was the obnoxious one, not me. I had a reputation to maintain, she didn't. She should be stepping up, open that rude mouth of hers!
I felt I made all my thoughts clear as I stared her down. Her dark blue eyes squinted at me, and those small rosy lips mouthed royal.
And it hit me. I mentally groaned and whined- why didn't I think? I was so used to royal treatment that I had forgotten this serious rule, and it was probably crystal clear by now that I wasn't accustomed to it.
Elders had a special place in the pack, and the only ones who were able to defy them would be the new head of the family or the leaders of the pack. If she said anything, it would expose me-us, our origins- to him and everyone in hearing radius. Which meant, if he didn't know already, Melanie couldn't say a word.
"Sir," I cleared my throat after what felt like an eternity, "could you direct us to a section on werewolf biology?"
Whether intentional or not, those last words came out slightly hushed. I was praying Claudius didn't notice or get suspicious about it. I mean, if someone I had never seen before in my pack came up to my library and requested information, I'd want to do a background check on them first.
But my hand remained in his own, so I couldn't move away to casual-it-out.
The librarian exhaled through his nose, a slight whistling noise following it. "Yes, I can. If you prefer to look it up on the computer, you may also do that. We have our own customized search engine that may be of better use."
My brain immediately flashed red lights and bloated sirens. Oh no. I was smarter than that. If I searched on that, he could see my history and possibly report back to Xander. And I'm sure my mate would be upset at me trying to mess with the natural order of our bond. My gaze shifted towards the kids, ages around 9-12, clicking around and burning through picture books. "Um, no that's fine."
"Oh!" I hadn't noticed the way Claudius followed my gaze, gasping at the sight of the kids. "Children! I told you to lower the volume and stop that ruckus!"
The kids' heads shot up to look at us. I think they were distracted by the librarian's tone because after once glance at him, they shot up and out of the room. Some put their books away, some didn't, but they all scrambled out with smiles on their faces as if it was tradition to be yelled at.
"Oh, no, I didn't mean to-" I started, feeling even more awkward at our solidarity in this large room.
"No, no. They were causing a fuss and I had been yelling at them for quite some time. A distraction, they were." Claudius huffed, finally letting go of my hand and pushing them down his front shirt pockets.
"Yeah, it is a lot quieter in here," Melanie added, I guess trying to make the situation light after that weird hand thing. Claudius himself was still a tad hit too close, backing off only about three feet from me after he had let go of my hand.
"Indeed. Now, Luna, we can discuss biology." The old librarian chuckled, turning on his heel -and walking much faster than he did earlier- down the long hall in between the bookshelves.
Luna.
My heart sank, my mouth dried, and worry flooded my thoughts. He knew who I was and I hadn't even said a word about it.
"Oh, goddess..." I sighed anxiously, looking from the side at Melanie. She had a worried expression on her face as her sweaty palm reached out and grabbed my wrist. It was an awkward motion, but comforting. I knew she was there and ready to jump into action. She'd support me in my search, and detect any bull-ish if need be.
I guess she kinda was my wing-woman.
The soft tapping of loafers on wood echoed to my ears, and the old librarian revealed himself once more from behind the shelves. Only this time, he held a five book stack of fat reads.
"Let me help you with that!" I said on impulse, excited yet nervous to jump into this awkward study. I wanted to see the titles just in case had to reject the books for show, but really I needed to go back and retrieve them.
"Oh, no, Luna! If I couldn't handle carrying this, I wouldn't be a librarian worth his salt." The old man said with a playful wink, waddling over to a nearby desk.
Melanie and I shared a glance at one another but followed him. We had no choice- he had the books.
"I have read every book that has rested on these shelves and I must say...I know these particular ones by heart. Would you like to know why Luna?" The man said casually, although I felt a jolt of worry.
"Kids coming in for biology class?" I guessed, trying to hold my voice steady.
"A good guess," He laughed as his old hands laid out the books. One by one, my heart quickened and eyes widened. "I can tell when people want to be left to their own search, or what their true need is when they ask a question. It comes with the job and all my experience."
"Shit." Melanie gasped, moving in front of me and grabbing the book that said Werewolf Medicine. She cursed again, letting the bound pages drop on the desk as she picked up a much larger book titled, Laws of Mating and the Reproductive Process. Claudius cleared his throat, turning to me with a gentle smile. The wrinkles on his face made him seem so naive and innocent, but now I knew he was much... much smarter than he appeared.
"Luna, I understand your predicament. I ask that you trust me, as I practically raised Xander to be the man he is today." The librarian spoke, reaching into his pocket and digging around. I watched him warily, wondering if I should pounce. I mean, he could be calling backup- or worse, Xander.
"The Full Moon and its Affects?" Melanie chocked next to me as she read of labels. My eyes darted from her to Claudius, afraid and on edge.
Finally, the old man began to slowly pull out his hand from his pocket. A quick popping sound made me flinch, but I felt silly immediately after. The librarian had slipped off the top of a chapstick tube and was carefully applying it to his old lips. "- Which is why I'm not going to tell him."
I quickly let out a relieved sigh and straightened myself out before realizing his words and feeling suspicious all over again. "Wait, you're not?"
"Of course not," Claudius smirked, slipping his lipstick back into his pockets and wiggling his eyebrows at me. "I raised him, after all. He'd explode."
"Okay, hold on," Melanie interrupted, slamming a book onto the table and folding her arms defensively. "What do you want out of this? A scratch our back and we'll scratch yours? A dirty secret- blackmail?"
Anxiety was creeping back in- as if it ever left. It seemed everywhere we went, a mess followed.
"I want nothing but for you to trust me, and in return for you to gain mine. This is what you ultimately want, is it not?" Claudius smiled, unphased by Melanie's stance. He got me, and he knew he got me. I needed to familiarize myself with this pack so that they didn't want to kill me, and the librarian who everyone knew was probably a good place to start.
"Why are you doing this?" I said slowly, motioning for Melanie to back off with the bitchy-ness.
"The mate bond isn't something that magically fixes everything. I know this, unfortunately." The old man frowned, looking to the ground as if disappearing to his own world. He left for only a split second before shaking his head and looking back up at me. "Xander doesn't understand this. He has always been very animalistic, even before discovering his wolf. I can tell that his wolf is taking steps to slow down that process. Even so, Alpha wouldn't understand your hesitancy. I also believe that he'd find your persistence in wanting more time a bit offensive."
"And do you find it offensive?" I replied quickly, keeping eye contact with him and not backing down.
"No," Claudius' eyes went into slits as he smiled. He pulled the chair from under the desk out, motioning for me to take it. "I find it logical and refreshing."
+
Yes. I know. I suck.
I've been gone a while... had to write another 8 page paper to my boyfriend and let's just say I'm taking some time to figure out how to love myself and feel secure in my own skin. Meanwhile, he caters to my every need Bc fuck him and I deserve it. (lmao update:we broke up #swag)
Plus... I'm the manager at my work and 3 people quit... 5 people work there and it's hell to cover for them. I'm constantlllyyyy working and get home way to tired to write.
Thank you for sticking with me everyone who has gotten here!! The song above is the song that has kept me going. I have tomorrow off so I'll hopefully be energized enough to write another part!!
Love you all- you're all beautiful and don't let anyone tell you differently!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I heccin drew that pic up there.