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Welcome
I had half expected to find some kind of invitation under my door, or tucked into my breakfast tray when I awoke the next morning, but found nothing of the sort. It was a foolish thought, his duties as alpha don't cease to be just because I'm beginning to like him.
But I couldn't help but feel that something should be different today. I had kissed him– multiple times, at that. Was that not exactly what he had been trying so hard to gain over these past months, my acceptance? Only the increased need to be around him, courtesy of the mate bond, served as proof that it had happened at all, and that it wasn't some kind of stress-induced hallucination. Unforgiving, indeed.
Oh, well. I had places to be as well.
Ash was awake when I entered the infirmary. Never had I been happier to see those grey eyes in my life, all other problems gone from my life for the time being.
Ash was alive, and breathing– and recovering, however slow-going that may be for our kind. I blinked back the tears that had begun to well up.
I rushed to his side where he was propped up on pillows, looking rather uncomfortale. I couldn't keep myself from throwing my arms around him in relief. "I was so worried about you."
He winced, and I immediately retracted my arms, "Sorry."
Ash gave me a small, pained smile, but I couldn't tell if it was from his wounds, or from the words he spoke next, "You didn't tell me you were claimed by the alpha."
I looked down guiltily, "Would it have changed anything?"
"Yes."
I looked back into his eyes, so similar to my own, "There was nothing you could have done to change the situation, regardless of who it was."
He attempted a shrug, but hissed in pain instead. "Maybe not," his voice had taken on a strange tone.
It was silent in the room for a moment, save for the mechanical whirring of the machines beside us. I waited patiently, knowing he would speak what was on his mind when he was ready, and not a second sooner. Pressing him had caused the majority of our disagreements growing up.
After many, long minutes, my patience was rewarded. "What were you thinking, Rose?"
My spine stiffened in indignation. "I was thinking," I stressed, "that your life was on the line."
"You nearly got yourself killed."
I huffed a laugh, "I could say the same to you."
"Well, it's not like I did it on purpose," he insisted, " unlike you."
My smile fell. "Ash, what happened?" I couldn't keep the question from slipping from my lips. "That shifter, he–"
A frown creased his forehead as he interrupted me, "Shifter?"
I shrugged, looking down at the infirmary bed he was propped up on. "Um, yeah," I twisted the fabric of my dress between my fingers awkwardly, "that's what they call themselves, I guess."
He shot me a strange look, but I found myself unable to meet his gaze remembering the way Lily had regarded me the day before. "He stopped by my room this morning," he told me quietly.
I didn't have to ask who the 'he' was. Gianluca. My blush was almost automatic at the mention of him and the memories of his lips against mine. "He– he did?"
He only nodded.
The sudden intensity in Ash's gaze, had me wondering if he was testing me in some way. "What for?"
"He said he wanted to see how I was doing," Ash's gaze didn't soften, "and to tell me that should I need anything at all during my stay, I need only ask."
My heart warmed at the gesture, but I fought to keep the emotion from my face. He must have read it in my eyes, because his frown deepened despite my efforts. "Do you actually trust him, Rose?"
I crossed my arms over my chest, to shield myself from the judgement I could feel coming. "He saved your life, Ash," I reasoned, "both of our lives."
He looked away, mulling over my words, before turning back to me, "So you really do, then?"
"I've been here for months, if he was going to hurt me, he would have done it by now, not dress me up like a princess."
He eyed my dress as he replied, "And what of the rest of the humans who suffer under his rule? The ones kept as pets in Cazzico?"
The words felt like a blow, but for some reason I tried to defend Gianluca anyway, like the traitor I was. "He destroyed the whipping post in our town. He said that the beatings without trial would no longer be tolerated."
He gave me a disbelieving look, but he didn't argue, so I took it as a sign to continue, "When I first got here, we made a deal. If I stay here with him for one year and give this life a chance, then he will allow me to choose to go home if I wish at the end of the year. He hasn't given me any reason not to trust his word yet, despite who and what he is. He has been nothing but kind to me. So," I rambled on, "I've been using this time to try to learn as much as I can about as much as I can. But, I don't think I'm the only one who is going to come out of this changed at the end of the year. I really think I'm getting through to him. I think I can make a difference, for everyone. I just need to give him a chance." And pray the mate bond doesn't consume me in the mean time.
Ash blew out a long breath as he processed my ramblings. I half expected more arguing. Instead he asked, "He really destroyed the whipping post?"
I barked a short laugh in relief. "Yes," I grinned at the memory, "he ripped it right out of the ground in front of the crowd. It was in splinters when we left."
He smiled. "I wish I had gotten to see that."
Just like that, the uncomfortable tension in the room dissipated.
I stayed with Ash the entire morning and well into the afternoon, reminiscing on old times and catching up after months apart. A heavy sigh slipped from my lips as I looked at the clock, "I have to go, and you should rest up before dinner."
He rolled his eyes, "Yes, mom."
I stuck out my tongue at him in a way I was sure would finally earn me a smack from Signora Flori's wooden rod if she had seen it, and hurried from the room.
Gianluca had arranged for my family to be brought to the castle while Ash recovers– it was something that he had explained to me the night before when we had finally stopped kissing and sobered enough to talk a little about what had happened. But if I didn't hurry, I would be late to meet them at the entrance and they would be stuck alone in the big castle. Or worse, stuck alone with unkind shifters. I shuddered at the thought.
Luckily, my worry was all for nothing.
They were late.
I was just beginning to nod off, having hardly slept the night before and somehow finding the stone steps I was sitting on remarkably comfortable, when I finally heard the sound of an approaching transport on the cobbled drive.
I shot to my feet, stifling an exhausted yawn behind a hand. My nerves were going haywire, remembering how unpleasant my last encounters with my mother and siblings had been, but when the door opened, they rushed to wrap me in an embrace. Relief replaced my anxiety, and I eagerly returned the embrace.
When they pulled away, I watched Lily take in the castle behind me with wide, awestruck eyes as I had done myself that very first time I had laid eyes on it before the ball. I gestured lamely, "Welcome to the alpha's castle."
Of the four, Daisy seemed to recover from her amazement first, pointing a tiny finger at the giant wooden doors, seemingly unbothered by the hulking shifters standing guard on either side of them. "Can we go inside now?"
I smiled, reaching out to grab her hand in my own, "Of course, right this way, your highness."
She giggled, but I didn't miss the apprehensive looks the rest of my family bore as I led them up the stone steps and into the place that had been my temporary home for the past several months.
As they passed through the door, I turned to catch a glimpse of their initial reactions to the inside of the castle, but found my mother and Lily staring pale-faced at the top of the stairs.
I followed their gaze, and my nerves began anew as my gaze landed on a very surprised looking Evelina.