Rejected His Miracle Luna (Dorothy and Ignatius)

Chapter 29 -Dorothy-

It was a good few hours before Ignatius came back. I busied myself getting dressed and dedicating more than a few minutes to brushing the string of unruly knots from my hair. After I was sure I had removed every tousled clump. I found myself with nothing better to do than start unpacking.

I had no idea where my things were supposed to go so I began by hauling all the boxes and bags up the winding staircase over multiple trips. By the time I had managed to drag everything upstairs I was a sweaty, grumbling mess all avail

I pulled my clothes from the suitcase and started hanging things up and packing them away into drawers next to Ignatius's own things.

For someone living in such a lavish house, he didn't have a lot of personal belongings. I found a few piles of plain shirts and two crips suits hanging. in the closet.

Aside from that, there wasn't much in terms of clothing. Ignatius had a large stack of books collecting dust next to the massive four-poster bed and other than that the room was essentially bare.

I went on the hunt around the large cottage in search of a bookshelf to house my own books and was pleasantly surprised to find a sunny little study in the furthest corners of the house.

I contemplated moving my art supplies in there but hesitated when I noticed the little handwritten notes taped to the wall above the de couldn't decipher exactly what they said but it didn't look like Ig handwriting. I assumed it must be Claire's and exited the study q making sure not to disturb anything as I left.

I was afraid to unpack anything else. Despite Ignatius's warmth, this p didn't feel like home just yet. On top of that, considering the hostile. reception I had experienced upon my arrival, I didn't feel welcomed here yet either.

I drifted around the cottage aimlessly, noting large landscape paintings on

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the walls and the luxuriously thick carpets. A knock on the door had met racing to the entrance and I swung it open, expecting to see Ignatius.

My face fell immediately when I instead came face to face with a woman not much taller than I was. Although she didn't look older than late- forties, her hair was a long streaming waterfall of grey and silver. Her face bore hints of age in the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. But her eyes themselves were alert and strangely birdlike in their dark. attentiveness.

The woman smiled at me and extended a wizened hand. "Hi there. You must be Dorothy?"

Hesitantly I reached out to shake her hand and m entally prepped myself for more discrimination.

"Yeah. If you don't mind me asking, who are you?" I was hesitant to move away from the entrance to let her in. "Ignatius isn't here right now. But he'll be back soon," I added. The woman's eyes studied my face intently like she was mapping my features and confining them to memory. "I'm Rita, I'm the caretaker of this house when Ignatius is away." She reached out like she wanted to touch my face but paused when I winced away from her, her eyes full of a kind of remorse. "You look just like her," she said quietly. "Just like who?"

I was wary of this stranger without Ignatius around. I wondered how ofte he got callers at his front door like this

The woman, Rita, blinked and turned her eyes away like she'd forgotten herself for a moment.

"Nevermind that. May I come in? I've seen Angela on the property and I suspect she was up to no good."

"What? Oh, Angie."

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I didn't want to let her in until I knew I could trust her, but I didn't want to be rude either. She was, after all, a part of my new pack, and I was trying to make a good impression. "Yeah, sure. Come in."

I stepped aside so she could pass me and took a look around the front. garden before closing the door. Rita made for the plush couches beyond. the staircase and I followed her, lowering myself into one of the comfy chairs while she perched on the other.

"I saw Angela slinking around the garden near the hot springs a few minutes ago," Rita stated, still gazing at me like I was something from a dream. "I think it would be wise to tell Ignatius. I'm not sure what she's planning but seeing as she doesn't like you very much it can't be good."

I dropped my head into my hands, exasperated. "I don't think anyb*dy here likes me very much. Except maybe Geranium but all he does is wave at me from a distance. What kind of name is Geranium anyway?"

"Let's focus on the topic at hand before we discuss the irony in naming Wes after little pink flowers." Rita's voice was kind but there was a stern

strain in her tone when she spoke. "Were you down at the hot springs.

earlier?"

I sighed. "Maybe Geranium just has a really sweet personality."

"Yes, I was at the hot springs," I continued when Rita pursed her lips. together. "What would Angie be doing there?"

She thought it over for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure. She's a natural when it comes to tracking so I doubt you would have even noticed her

presence.

I leaned back in the chair and probed my surroundings me ntally until I felt Ignatius. The curtain over his mind was still drawn but I tugged at it. forcing him to hear me.

"Ignatius."

Nothing.

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Chapter 29

I pushed with a little more force. I felt guilty interrupting whatever it was that he was up to but I didn't know what else to do,

"Ignatius!"

After a few moments of silence.

"Dorothy? What's the matter? Are you alright?"

I winced at the urgency in his voice. I felt guilty for scaring him. "I'm fine. Sorry. It's just that, someone named Rita is here? She said she saw Angie. near the hot springs. I also ran into her in the gardens earlier."

Ignatius's voice was cutting, insidious. "Did she hurt you? I swear to g od if she-"

"I'm fine," I cut him off. "Rita just said I should let you know. She thinks. she's up to something.

Ignatius fell silent for a while and I waited impatiently. Rita was staring at me again and I avoided eye contact with her.

After waiting for a little longer I thought maybe I'd lost the connection. when suddenly Ignatius's voice boomed in my head and I twitched in my

seat,

"I'll kill her! She's dead. She's fucking dead."

Small trickles of dread pri cked at my spine when I asked him, "Why? What did she do?"

Ignatius was still raging, his anger per vading all of my cells even wit distance between us. "At the hot springs. Everyone will have seen it now. This is low even for her."

I still wasn't sure what he was talking about but I was beginning to sus I excused myself from Rita for a moment and headed to Ignatius's lapte that he'd left open in the kitchen when we had arrived earlier that day.

I typed in the password he had disclosed to me while we were on the road and opened up all of his socials. There, plastered across all of them, was

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Photos of a n*ked me from earlier at the hot springs. The caption under the pictures read; "Your new Luna."

I felt sick to my stomach.

"Oh," I said bitterly to Ignatius. "I see it. You think she sent these to everyone?"

"It doesn't matter," Ignatius hissed. "She's going to pay."

I looked up at the ceiling and blinked, banishing tears that were threatening to make an appearance. "Ignatius, what are they all going to think of me now?"

"It doesn't matter," he repeated, his voice softening when he felt my anguish. "It doesn't matter what they think. I love you okay? It's going to be alright."

I couldn't hold them back any longer and a few tears trickled down my cheeks. "Come home now," I pleaded with him. "We can handle Angie later. Just come home."

I hated myself for sounding so pitiful, for being so weak. But I wanted his arms around me, I needed reassurance that at least one person was happy to have me around. Ignatius hesitated, torn between his anger at Angie and his dedication to

me.

"Okay," he said eventually. "I'll be back as soon as possible."

I rubbed at my reddened eyes before making my way back to Rita who was still poised on the couch like a bird about to fly away.

"Well, I know what she did now," I said dismally and plopped myself down. on the sofa. "Everyone does."

Rita frowned, "You have to be strong to be one of them, Dorothy."

I peaked out at her from under my arm.

Rita continued, her sharp eyes boring into mine. "The Bielke people are a

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rough bunch, they don't accept weakness. You can't be weak if you are to gain their loyalty."

I sat upright, irritated. "I'm not weak!" I didn't mean to yell at her but my nerves were worn down. "I've taken nothing but insults from everyone since I got here. I didn't live through everything that I have to be called

weak."

Rita stayed calm and gave me a small, sad smile. "I don't doubt you've been through a lot. More than you can probably even remember. All I'm saying is that you need to prove to them that you're worthy of being their Luna, even if that means grinding some of them under your heal. In a pack like this, they'd respect you more for it."

I frowned at her words but she continued anyway, "I'm not saying ceaseless violence and brute force is the way to go, Dorothy. I'm saying if you are pushed, push back harder. That is how you survive here." I wasn't sure I agreed with her but she did make a kind of sick sense. In order to become a part of the Bielke people, I would have to learn to understand them first. I would have to fight like they did. I looked at Rita with new eyes then. "Are you sure you're just a caretaker?" I

asked.

Rita chuckled and stood up to leave. She placed a hand on my shoulder as she passed me. "You're a strong one, Dorothy. You've got a lot of untapped. potential in you, and more power than you could ever imagine. Don't let them break you."

I followed her to the door, her words still spinning around my head as I tried to make sense of them.

When we got to the entrance, Rita stopped and turned to face me. "I have something for you," she said quietly and drew something small and elongated, wrapped in material from inside the bag on her shoulder.

She handed it to me and continued speaking while I slowly unwrapped it. "You can't yet shift into your wolf form, I presume? Keep this with you. until then, and possibly even afterward."

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My eyes widened in wonder as I removed the final layer of cloth to reveal a small, potent-looking blade. The handle was twisted and carved with intricate detailing. The blade itself curved into a sharp point like the stinger of a wasp.

I stared at the small craft in my hands and Rita laughed at my bewilderment. "It's a faerie blade. Made of Iron, not silver so don't go jabbing any shifters with it - it won't do you much good then. But it's said to be lucky, and it will protect you from other insideous threats."

I was stunned, my heart twisting painfully at the small act of kindness. I looked up to thank Rita but the old woman was already at the bottom of the steps and walking away. She raised a hand in farewell without turning around and nodded to Geranium who tipped his cap to her as she left.

The sun was going down over the hills. It turned the sky purple in the fading twilight. I looked down again at the dainty blade in my palm and stepped back inside.