I was bored out of my mind in that room. It hadn't been ten minutes since she left, and I was already planning on leaving when the door slowly cracked open at the same time the person knocked.
"Hi. I come bearing food." I sat up at the same time the woman walked in, a covered plate in her hands and a big smile on her face. Her light brown wavy hair was pulled up into a ponytail, a few strands escaping from its hold, and her hazel eyes were soft. She wore minimal makeup, but it's not like she needed it; this woman was gorgeous, and she held herself up, like royalty.
She placed the tray right in the middle of the bed, and then silently grabbed the single chair in the room to plop herself right next to the bed. She stared at me with a small smile on her face as I stared back at her, before she stood up again, stretching her hand out. "I'm Delilah." I waited for her to continue, but when she didn't, I quickly shook her hand before it became too awkward.
"Eva."
"Oh I know. You don't need to introduce yourself to me, sweetie. You go ahead and eat before your food gets cold and I'll do all the talking."
I slowly picked up the glass of juice that sat on top of the tray and took sensitive sips as she spoke. When my throat begged for more, I started to take bigger gulps.
"Like I was saying, you don't need to introduce yourself, as my grandson already told me all about you." I raised an eyebrow, taking a gulp of water this time as I cleared my throat from the bite of food I had taken. "Xavier. He's my grandson."
Liquid spewed out of my mouth in fine mist as I coughed in surprise. She quickly stood up, patting my back until I could breathe properly again.
"Say what now?" I uttered breathlessly. She stared at me, making sure I was completely fine before she went back to her seat and nodded.
"I'm his grandmother."
"But... but... but you look so young. How can he be your grandchild?"
She laughed as she scratched the back of her neck. "That's a bit complicated to explain. I wouldn't be showing my face if I knew you wouldn't go out there and expose us."
"Umm... I'm a bit confused here. So how old are you if you don't mind me asking..." There was no way she was a grandmother. She didn't look a day over 25, so unless she adopted a person that was around her age as well, there was no way she was a grandmother.
She grinned again. "Would you believe me if I told you I turned sixty two years ago?" My jaw dropped again and she laughed. "I guess not. Hurry up and eat Eva so I can take you on a tour. I love meeting new people, especially at times like these. Alex doesn't want me to head out the palace doors anymore since I look too young to be the former queen. Oh, how I hate lying to the world, but they would bombard us with questions we cannot give the answers to if they still see us looking young."
"Fountain of youth?" I joked and she grinned.
"More like curse of youth." I stared at her wordlessly and she sighed. "Eat. Eat Eva."
I slowly began to stuff the rest of the pasta she brought, and watched as she roamed around the room comfortably, arranging stuff. Once in a while, she would write something down, look towards me, —which made me quickly look away,— and then went back to whatever she was doing. Once I couldn't eat anymore, she dropped the pen in her hand and bounced in spot.
"Great. Up to a tour now, or do you want to wait a few minutes for the food to settle?"
I licked my lips as I nodded. "Quinn told me I will be staying here. Why though? I mean, I'm honored, but I'm pretty sure you have other buildings in this property that I can stay in. I don't want to intrude." I asked as we slowly began to walk away from the room. I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings. Knowing me, I would probably end up in this wing multiple times before my mini vacation ended. I would have time to get to know it then.
"You're right, we do have other buildings in the property, but we would never place a guest there, all by themselves. That's just rude and lonely. We are family here, and family doesn't separate family."
We turned a corner, and then the foyer of the place appeared in front of us. I stared at everything in awe: the huge crystal chandelier that hung feet above us. I wasn't so tall, and I wasn't the shortest person ever, but even then, I would have to have at least eight of me to reach the roof. I felt like a midget in this place.
"Yeah, I sometimes find myself staring at this room in awe as well. Alex tore down the original grounds a few years back and built this place. He got mad that the humans were making fun of his normal living abode, so he and the pack built this one. That surely shut everyone up."
We stayed in the room for another few minutes and then moved on. While we walked, we ran into many people, all who greeted Delilah with a bow or with a hug. The name "Lila, Queen, Aunt, and mom" were the most common. My brain hurt with all of the names they were throwing at me, but she assured me she would remind me again later on.
"If you don't mind me asking, why are some of them calling you queen? I thought you said you were the formal queen." I was pretty sure she had said that earlier when we were still in the room.
She sighed deeply as she placed her hands behind her back and looked ahead. "Technically, I'm still the queen of the werewolf race." My heart thumped quickly, as my brain had completely forgotten I was in the werewolf kingdom. I felt so at ease, that I had erased all memory of me being surrounded by people that were not entirely humans. "But at the same time I'm not. My face isn't the queen for the rest of the human race. A good friend of mine is, as she looks the age for it."
"So... you're the queen... but out there, for everyone else, your friend is the queen?" I asked, still a bit confused.
"Yes," she chuckled. "She's my face, but I do everything else. When other rulers want to meet up with me, she steps in and does all the talking. She goes out and joins other rulers at conferences while I stay rooted to this spot." She pouted and rubbed her face. "Alex won't let me leave because of my looks. Since he can go wolf, he can leave and keep a watchful eye, but I can't."
"You're still human?" I would have thought that she would have somehow been turned to a supernatural. Sure, all the books talked about having a human as queen for the werewolf kingdom, but they didn't elaborate much after that.
"Yes, I'm still human. I won't ever age, so I'm stuck like this until who knows when."
"That must suck..." I whisper, but she heard me and I winced. "I mean, having to live forever, watching your loved ones die while you keep on breathing." I winced again at my words and stopped walking. "I'm so sorry. I'll just keep my mouth shut."
"It's ok, Eva. I've thought about that as well, but there's nothing I can do. The moon goddess chose us all for a reason, so she must know I will be able to handle my loved ones death when time comes. Life is but a cycle that we can not stop, even if there are breaks and bumps along the way." She sighed sadly, but gave me a tender smile as she opened a door. "But let's not dwell on that. Lets continue on with our tour before I hand you over to the next person."
"Who?"
"Why Xavier, of course." My jaw dropped, but I didn't ask questions. I let her continue to drag me round the place, getting me lost with all the rooms, ballrooms, dinning rooms, libraries, indoor gardens...
"I need a map if I'm going to be staying here," I joked as she closed the door to the theatre room.
She threw her head back and laughed, before she wrapped an arm around me and gave it a small squeeze. "It will be a pleasure having you here Eva. I will surely miss you once you leave."
My heart dropped and I quickly swallowed the knot that formed in my throat. My smile almost faltered, but I managed to keep it on as she hooked her elbow with mine and took me towards Xavier.
If only she knew....
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A filler chapter compared to what is coming next. If you are confused, remember to not hesitate to ask. I love answering questions and reading your comments.
I have a question for you all. As my readers, what is something y'all would like to read about? I have many story ideas in my "diary", but I have no idea which one to post next. I have witches, mermaids, wolves, romance, and some others I haven't yet placed a genre on lmao If y'all don't care, please still comment, so I know that you are interested in reading more of my stuff.
Anywhoooo, next chapter will be posted on Friday. Tuesday and Friday will be my regular posting days, so keep your notifications on! If I forget, spam me with messages! 😆 I'm Dory when it comes to updating.
Like Dory says, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming..." or in my case, "just keep voting, just keep reading..." 🤣
Muchos besos,
Gris ❤️