FULL NOVELXO Chapter CHAPTER 30
“Stop! She means no harm.” I heard Adela say as she walked in front of me and I suddenly remembered her.
The other wolves stared at her now, surprised. We had all been so focused on the battle we were about to be engaged in that none of us had noticed her presence.
Inside my head, Rieka had awoken and was excited to actually be in a real fight with someone of her kind and not just one, not two but seven! I knew she was on edge and at any minute now she would have forced herself to take control.
She growled in frustration when Adela spoke up, the excitement she brought fading away as she got disappointed.
The other wolves stared at me cautiously not moving an inch. My scent of cinnamon and earth as less threatening as it sounds, seems to mean danger to them. They weren’t even sure if they should listen to their leader or not and I watched them through my own blood-red lens observing their every move with my heightened senses.
Honestly, I didn’t want to fight either, because something tells me that with one shed of blood on this forest ground, Rieka would take over and the moment she takes over, this forest would become another winter hollows. The only reason why I was excited and felt insulted by their growls was because of this stupid predatory instinct and it is all Rieka’s fault.
“Shift back all of you. I am not in the mood for this.” Adela said sternly in a way that commands respect and it surprised me.
I stared at her as she walked to the fire and sat beside it. Her face was hardened and void of emotion. The wolves jogged to the back of the trees to shift back to their human form, they were dressed up when they finally returned to sit with her by the fire, bowing their head a little to acknowledge her presence not minding the look on her face.
The look on her face didn’t change either and I realized, this was the face of the leader they knew. She must be sterner than I thought, maybe she had been trying to appear nice to make me comfortable because she didn’t look anything nice right now, her face seem as if she hadn’t smiled in a thousand years.
I wonder if the smile she had been giving me on our journey here were her first. Maybe I was too harsh?
I relaxed my offensive stance as the adrenaline slowly left my veins, my fangs and claws retracting as I stared at them not making a move to walk into their circle.
“Selene. Give her some of your clothes.” Adela said again her face still void of expression, and her voice leaving no room for argument.
I looked at the girl who was now on her feet, she had the same stature as me but was muscular, her hair was blond with dark roots showing she wasn’t really a blondie, and her skin darkly toned.
She walked to a duffle bag sitting at the foot of a tree and pulled out a pair of clothes, then walked cautiously to me to hand it over. I collected them without a word and went to the back of another large tree to put it on.
It was a pair of leggings and an oversized T-shirt. I quickly began to unzip the leather jacket when I heard them,
“mistress is that.....?” I heard an unfamiliar male voice whisper.
“She can hear you, you know?” Adela said interrupting him, then I heard the ruffle of leaves, “what’s for dinner, I’m getting hungry.” she said again casually.
“We would go hunt for some animals.” I heard another unfamiliar person say before the sound of footsteps walking away, crack of bones, then thumping of paws that want further away.
I quickly pulled the white shirt over my neck, ignoring the peaking of my nipples below the shirt as I walked back to the gathering. The black legging I put on while listening to the little gossip about me was a little faded but it fitted me perfectly.
I walked barefooted back to the gathering, the leather jacket in hand. Adela was lying on the bare ground her hands behind her head and her eyes closed, the only other person who was still seated and didn’t go hunting with the rest was a large man, with bronze-toned skin. His hair was cut very low leaving just a few sparse hairs on his scalp. He regarded me silently as I went to stand not far from the fire.
I stopped a few feet in front of the fire and stared at him taking in his facial features, his face was all muscles as I was sure was every inch of his body, there was a scar on his jaw that seem to be the only flaw on his ruggedly handsome face. He most certainly was a charmer among the girls.
His eyes were cold and I knew he saw me as a threat to his pack and mistress, so I stood my ground staring back at him. I wasn’t going to force myself into their gathering if they didn’t want me. I had tried doing that before, and look how it turned out.
“Why are you standing there? Seat down by the fire. It would get cold soon, put on the jacket.” Adela said and I looked at her for a moment, her face was still expressionless but I could feel the softness of her voice.
I glanced at the man one more time before seating down, stubbornly refusing to put on the jacket.
With his cold eyes still on me, the man finally spoke. “So you’re the Austan wolf who took over Winter Hollows?”
I recognized his voice, it was the voice of the one Adela said was her assistant. Her Beta.
A proud smile played on my lips but I concealed it. I hadn’t killed anyone or overthrown any pack to take over the forest, the forest was practically empty when I got there but these people regarded me as an achiever. It made me happy.
“You mean they regard me, as an achiever.” I heard Rieka say in my head and rolled my eyes.
“I am.” I said calmly, my voice must have been too smooth because he frowned, and looked at me from head to toe, if that was even possible seeing I was seated cross-legged by the fire, then he turned to Adela who was lying down.
“She’s just a child.” He said and I frowned at his choice of words.
“But a very strong one.” Adela said before I could argue. She sat up and looked the man straight in the eye, he avoided her gaze and glanced at me again.
“She’s even survived the Paralysis venom.” Adela said again and the man’s eyes widened in surprise while I frowned.
I didn’t expect her to use that little piece of information I had given to her just before we got here to her advantage or was it to my advantage?
“How?” the man’s deep hoarse voice asked.
“I can’t tell you that.” I said not bothering to add any form of intimidation to my voice even though I felt Rieka urging me to. Adela smiled a little at my stubbornness while the man kept on regarding me.
“You should see what she did to winter hollows, it is a site to see. I fear the forest would never get over it.” Adela said proudly earning herself an appreciative smirk from Rieka, but I sighed and let my gaze fall on the forest floor.
She was right, the mess we made there, was a sight to see but I hope the forest heals. I really hope it does.
“The name is Ramon.” the man said again getting my attention as I stared at him.
Does this mean he accepts me? I asked myself.
“We Dark knights show respect and obey our leaders. I don’t care what you have going on,” he said as he gestured at my red eyes, “but the moment you disobey or cause harm to any of your colleagues, you are out. Do I make myself clear?!” his voice thundered.
“Ha! Did that bastard just give us an order?” Rieka said angrily, the tick for a fight entering her skin. I sighed silently as I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task being a member of this pack. My wolf has had a taste of being boss, she wasn’t going to bow to authority easily.
“Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?” he asked again through grit teeth and my eyes reddened a growl escaping me before I could even control it.
Ramon’s dark eyes changed as fast to a light yellow hue as he growled and I knew he was ready to beat me into obedience to prove his superiority. I glanced at Adela and saw that the amusing smile that I hated was back on her face.
Anger pulsed and my eyes reddened. “Don’t raise your voice at me, wolf.” I heard Rieka say with disdain through my mouth.
It was the first time she showed herself without pushing me back almost as if we were agreeing on this one thing, the refusal to be looked down upon.
But that wasn’t all I noticed. I noticed the look of shock on Ramon’s face and then how fast his eyes returned to their original hue. He gave Adela a questioning look and she shrugged. Seeing he was no longer ready for a fight I calmed down too.
“Is it just me or are these wolves scared of a fight?” Rieka said mockingly
“Maybe they’re scared of your bloodiness.” I fired back as I looked from Ramon to Adela. They were unusually quiet giving each other occasional glances.
They were obviously mind-linking and they were talking about me, I knew it because Ramon’s eyes drifted to me once in a while.
“I won’t be bloody I promise, just let me break one or two bones.” Rieka pleaded and I snorted
“Is there a way we can listen to what they are talking about?” I asked her as I stared at the two people that seem engrossed in the silence.
“No there isn’t, but you can just ask them.” Rieka said and I frowned.
What was wrong with her? She was acting weird, she’s just so full of herself. I thought as I blocked the link and stared at the two silent leaders of the black knight pack for a while. Just as I was about to speak up and follow Rieka’s absurd idea, I heard the footsteps of the others. Then noticed Ramon sigh as he glanced at me and then looked away at the returning members.
The discussion was over.