I gulped as his eyes zoned in on mine with so much dominance that if I wasn't so shocked, I would have looked away. I felt around on the grass for an object just incase the wolf tried to attack me. I didn't find anything. My dagger was with me, between my thighs to be exact but it was complicated to reach for it with these clothes especially now that I was flat on my ass on the ground.
It came closer, looking down at me and I could only look up at it. This is the biggest fucking werewolf I've ever encountered in my life. Is this the normal size of wolves in this pack? Its fur was black but its eyes were gold and it stared down at me with an eerie superiority. I wanted to run away. I don't like fighting in wolf form. I really don't like fighting in wolf form. If it comes any closer then I'll use the last of my poison in my assassin's ring.
Suddenly, it moved away from me and I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding. I tried to stand up but the wolf turned to me again, so I sat back down with urgency. I didn't like the way the wet grass soaked into my clothes. I kept watching the wolf with alertness.
It hadn't attacked me yet.
The large black wolf went towards the pond. I pulled my knees up closer to my chest as I tried to wipe something off my hands. I didn't know if I should get up, shift or just sit there and stare. I decided to sit there. If it saw that I was harmless then it wouldn't hurt me or think that I was an intruder because it must have tried to mind link me and realised that it didn't work. The problem is that I can't attack this wolf because if I do then people might realise that I'm dangerous and not the harmless amnesiac I'm trying to portray.
The wolf turned back to face me. When it did, my eyes widened at what was in its mouth.
It placed my shawl in front of me, bending low and using its nose to push it closer to me.
Reluctantly, I reached for it.
"Thank you," I said, looking at the wolf. The shawl was wet from falling into the pond so I only held it in my hand. I didn't wear it. The wolf nodded and turned away. I decided it was time for me to stand up so, with strained effort, I did.
The wolf appeared before me again but this time, what it placed in front of me had my lips parting in surprise. It was the beautiful pink water lily that I was reaching for when I slipped, fell and had somewhat of a freak accident.
Before I had time to respond, the large black wolf again turned away but this time, it left, disappearing out of sight.
Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.
I squeezed the water out of my wet shawl and folded it before leaning forward to reach for the beautiful water lily. It was so gorgeous and a part of me wished that I had thanked the wolf but the other wondered why he gave me this. It probably saw me reaching for it, I thought.
I lifted the water lily up to my nose to smell it and the smell was fresh. I liked it. It was unlike anything I had ever smelt before and it made me want to keep sniffing it. The more I sniffed, the more I felt the need to sniff whilst the vibrant pink plant only peaked upwards.
"What are you doing?" I heard a voice from behind me and I turned suddenly, slightly startled. it was a girl whose bright hazel eyes was set ablaze with what I could only describe at anger as they zoned in on the water lily in my hand.
"I asked you what you think you are doing?" The girl repeated in a sharp tone that made me want to slap her. No one talks to me like that. Ever. Well except Mak but he was my boss so.
"Nothing," I replied, not knowing what else to say as I stared at the shorter girl whose hands on her hips made me feel confused if anything.
"Why do you have that in your hands?" She raised her voice at me, her large blue shirt swaying ever so slightly. I looked down at the water lily in my hands.
What's her problem? If she's not careful then I'll teach her a huge lesson.
"Why?" I shot back, trying the best I could to not raise my voice or roll my eyes. Guest, Raven. You are a guest. Ignore this short bitch.
She parted her lips to speak but before she could, she turned. When I looked behind her, Tinley was there and so was Indigo. Indigo's eyes widened a little when she found the lily in my hands too.
I don't understand. Did I do something wrong?
I could tell that the short girl and Tinley were speaking in their minds while Indigo alternated between looking at me and looking at the other two girls. I held on tighter to the water lily.
When Tinley came between the shorter girl and me, she placed her hands on the shoulders of the girl and the girl seemed to visibly calm down, even sighing but her lips were turned upwards when her gaze caught mine again. The urge to hit her only grew stronger. I had no choice but to restrain myself.
I thought people in this pack don't speak. That girl seemed pretty vocal and fluent just now!
Then, the girl and Indigo left. Before leaving, Indigo offered me a smile and a wave to which I smiled and waved back too. The short girl gave Indigo a sharp look and Indigo turned away.
"Where did you get that from?" Tinley asked me as she looked down at the water lily.
I pointed to the pond.
"This is my fault. I hope Fleur doesn't tell Enzo. Otherwise, I'll be dinner!" Tinley exclaimed, placing her face into her hands. Before I could even react, she took the water lily away from me and placed it back into the pond. I lifted my hands in the air to object.
"No one is allowed to touch this pond," Tinley stated as she picked up my lamp that was at the edge of the pond. "It's sacred,"
"Why?" I questioned, feeling angry that she took the water lily away from me. I closed my palms in annoyance, clenching them harshly.
Tinley sighed. "It was Enzo's mother's favourite place in the world. When Enzo's parents got married, Enzo's father loved Enzo's mother so much that he gifted her this pond and placed the most beautiful and rarest water lilies in it because Enzo's mother's name was Lily. He made this place in her honour and she spent every twilight here watching the sunset over the pond. After her death, Enzo was so devastated that he forbade anyone from touching this pond or the lilies in it because the lilies were rare and people used to steal them,"
She comes closer to me and then takes my hands in hers.
"You're new here so I understand but there are a lot of people who would do anything to get their hands on these rare lilies so Enzo is extremely strict about it. No one comes near this pond except him. If anyone sees you with one of these water lilies in your hands then they could accuse you of stealing and I don't know how Enzo would respond to that but I do know that my cousin would be very angry at me because I brought you here without realising,"
Her eyes look desperate and I squeezed her hands in mine.
"I know Fleur will tell him. She's desperate to get into his good books," Tinley said with sadness in her voice.
"Then let's tell him before she does, Tinley. It was a mistake. I didn't know. I'm sure he'll understand,"
She nods her head and hands my lamp over to me. I take it and we both walk back to the mansion.
Why is everything forbidden in this pack? It's a fucking flower gosh. One of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen but still a fucking flower. How could the fact that I had it in my hands be such a big deal that Tinley is all riled up and upset because she thinks Enzo would be upset at her? Well, maybe he will be but still why so much fuss over a flower? A flower?
Well, Enzo must have really loved his mom in that case then if he's keeping this pond isolated from everyone out of respect for her memory.
Mental note: Enzo is a family man.
Okay, I guess I have to bring out my fake compassionate side to tickle his heartstrings. That shouldn't be so hard or at least I hope that it won't be.
Tinley is quiet throughout our walk back to my room. It's all that black wolf's fault. I hope that that stupid black wolf didn't just succeed in destroying this useful companionship I'm trying to build with Tinley. She's the most useful one here so I can't lose her at all costs. She's my key to understanding the inner-workings of this pack and if possible, Enzo. That wolf knew that taking that flower was forbidden yet it still gave me. Now, Tinley is upset and I just want to find that wolf in human form and wring its neck.
When we reach my door, I open it to go in and Tinley stands at the door, worry still etched in her brow as she holds onto pieces of her long black hair.
"Tinley, it will be fine. If you want then I can talk to Enzo for you. I'll explain everything to him. If he's who you have told me about then I am sure that he'll understand," I take her hand in mine and smile at her to reassure her. She shakes her head.
"No, it's fine," she takes her hand back. "Also, before I forget, Enzo asked me to invite you to join us for breakfast tomorrow morning. It's at 8 am. I'll send Indigo to bring you down if you want to join us,"
I nod in agreement while holding back an irritated scowl. 8 am? Why the hell are they having breakfast so early? Are they school children?
"Goodnight," Tinley says and I also say "goodnight" then close the door.
***
It was like I couldn't feel my feet as I ran. Breakfast was supposed to be at 8. I didn't realise that when Tinley said that she would send Indigo up at 8, she meant to bring me down instead of to wake me. When Indigo came to bring me down, I was sound asleep like a baby having the most peaceful sleep in the world.
I jumped out of bed ready to go down with Indigo but then Indigo reluctantly informed me that as usual, this pack had yet another outrageous rule! Apparently, in this pack, no one is allowed to sit down in the midst of others to have the first meal of the day without a bath. I wanted to scream my lungs out when I heard this.
If you did have breakfast before bathing then you had to have it alone. What kind of rule is this when you place breakfast time at 8 am?
So after Indigo informed me, I rushed to take a bath. It was so quick that I was sure that I still had residues of soap left on my skin but I needed to make it for breakfast because Enzo invited me and I didn't think that he would appreciate me not attending especially considering that I was supposed to be showing him how thoughtful I was. By the time I was done bathing and getting dressed, it was 8:20 am.
I sprinted down the stairs and ran through the front room, almost unable to stop myself when I made it to the dining table. It's inevitable when I knock into a glass vase containing freshly picked irises. The vase crashing to the floor announced my arrival.
All eyes turned towards me instantly. It was a dining hall filled with at least forty people. The dining table was so long that it stretched from one end of the room to the other but even the hall was large. That's why when the vase crashed to the floor, it made one of the largest bangs I had ever heard. It was a bang that echoed loudly through the hall.
You're great, Raven. First of all, you're a late dripping mess and secondly, you just made a grand entrance. How amazing! Classic Raven style, I guess. I guess no one can ever say that I'm conventional, that's for sure.
I resisted the urge to facepalm as every set of eyes in this room zoned in on me. At the centre of it all, was Enzo, who sat at the head of the table with attentive black eyes. His gaze on me was heavier than all other forty people combined. I could only imagine what everyone was saying about me in their heads. My eyes found Tinley who was seated next to Indigo. Her eyes were wide and lips pinched together. She stood up.
I knelt to the floor in an attempt to clean up the mess I had just made, not knowing what else to do because as expected, there was a long, drawn-out silence.
"Don't do that!" I heard Enzo's voice from across the hall. When I turned, Tinley was next to me. "Come, have breakfast. Someone else will clean it up,"
Tinley pulled on my hand to stand up and I did, moving away from the mess which I had just created. Everyone's eyes never left me but I didn't care although their gaze was so eerily reminiscent of my mother's reproachful ones. The mere thought didn't sit right with me.
"I'm sorry," I apologised aloud but of course, no one responded.
Tinley led me to the table where everyone was seated. All seats were taken except for two; the one Tinley sat on previously and one in between a girl who was feeding her wailing toddler and another girl with long blonde hair. I sat next to the girl with the toddler. Everyone's eyes watched me as I sat. I wanted to gouge their eyes out, unable to understand what was so entertaining about me. Accidents happen, gosh! All of them had stopped eating when I crashed in, literally but when I looked around, everyone was almost done with breakfast. After a bit of time, they started to eat again.
Water from my wet hair dripped onto my clothes. I didn't have time to dry it because I was in a hurry and now I'm regretting it. I looked around, the only sound I could hear was the clanging of utensils as well as wailing kids who were having breakfast too. The toddler next to me kicked me. I was doubly irritated. Kids, ugh.
"Sorry," his mother said as she pulled her screaming child away from me and further into herself. In general, children were a lot of work but I have to say that this child looks like a complete nightmare.
Tinley seated herself between Indigo and an older lady. The older lady stared me down shamelessly with squinted eyes and an irritated curl to her upper lip. I stared at Indigo who sat directly opposite me. Fleur was next to her and she scowled at me. Everyone ate. I bit back my urges to throw dirty looks.
"Have some breakfast please," Enzo offered me and I turned to him for the first time since I sat down. "Don't be shy,"
I nodded. There was a man seated next to Enzo on his left side, the side that I was seated on. Then the lady with the toddler and finally, me. On the opposite side, the older lady was on Enzo's right, then Tinley, Indigo and Fleur. It went on like this till the end of the table which I only glanced at a few times because everyone was still looking at me as if they were all accessing me and I didn't want them to notice my interest. I resisted the urge to stare all of them down. I needed to keep up this innocent persona and unfortunately, innocent girls are like Indigo over here - shy and soft-spoken.
I wanted to sigh. Pretending is a lot of work sometimes especially when you are somewhat sleep deprived from waking up at 8 am!
Indigo stood up to pour oatmeal into my plate and I reached for the bread. I thanked her with my eyes and she smiled back.
Today, I wore the polka dot dress and it felt like it was eating me up. But everyone here was dressed in usual pack fashion so I didn't feel that out of place. Except, I felt out of place about one thing - my hair. Everyone in this pack had really long hair. Not as long as mine used to get and definitely not as thick but looking at all the girls now, no girl has hair that was shorter than half the length of their back. I pushed my short hair back realising that I missed my long locks which could have easily given any of these girls a run for their money. Anyway, it will grow back soon. It always does.
I ate my food. It was good, very creamy. I was used to salads for breakfast but since coming to this pack, they seemed to favour oatmeal, bread and omelettes for breakfast. It was all so good except, I feared that it would make me fat. Can you imagine a fat Raven? No? Good, because I definitely can't either.
Soon, most people finished eating and got up to leave. Before leaving, they all bowed their heads to Enzo and Enzo nodded in return. The man seated next to Enzo shook Enzo's hand before leaving and soon enough almost everyone was gone except for Tinley, the older lady, the girl with the toddler who had managed to quiet down and a few other members that I didn't know. Everyone left was still eating their breakfast except Enzo. He was done but he didn't leave. Maybe it's an Alpha thing to leave the table last after a meal or something.
I ate slowly. I could tell that Tinley wanted to tell me something by her eyes but I had no clue what it could be.
"You don't like the food?" Enzo asked and I shook my head.
"It's good," I replied, putting another spoon into my mouth. "I'm just full,"
"Are you sure? because if you don't like the food here then you could always request something that you would like to eat. We'd be happy to meet your needs as best as we can or at least try to,"
"No, it's fine," I responded in a low tone and a small smile, trying to act shy. I pushed the food away. He looked at the plate and then me. "I'm just full, nothing more,"
"Okay then. Since you are done then, now I can finally say that I was waiting for you to finish eating because I want to speak to you about something."
~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~🖤~
Uhhhh whatcha think Enzo wants to speak about?
This is the longest chapter so far. It was 3299 words. I hope you enjoyed it. What do you think so far?
Also, due to the fact that university is getting busier for me, i decided to fix two update days a week - Tuesday and Friday. If I'm feeling generous or happy then maybe I could throw in Sunday's on occasion.
But officially, it's Tuesday and Friday!
So how was the chapter? Whatcha think of the wolf? the water lily? Fleur? Indigo? Tinley? The rules? Breakfast? The pack members? Etc! Would love to read your thoughts!
Thank you for reading! Please Vote. Comment. Share. Follow!
~Эмма💞✌🏻