Meeting Weirdos (1)

Talia's POV

I stand swiftly as the footsteps are approaching, the sound louder now as if the person is coming closer. I glance around and find a stray log, big and thick enough to break someone's head in case they're enemies. I don't recollect speaking to anyone except Alpha Axton, his guards, driver and some of his maids. Maybe it's one of them though.

I'm tempted to let my guard down, but I brace again, holding the log with my two hands on high alert in case it's not any of them.

"Aaarrrrr!!!" We both are screaming, I close my eyes, lifting the log so high that it falls back behind me due to its heaviness. I open my eyes slowly to meet the gaze of a pretty lady; she should be in her mid-twenties like me. Her cute eyes widen in fear and her trembling hand is holding a beautiful flower.

"Hi..." I greet awkwardly, dusting them my hands on my trousers and stretching my hand to shake her, but she looks at me awkwardly before silently going to sit on the log I was sitting on earlier before her footsteps interrupted me. I follow suit, sitting beside her. Looks like she wants to be a friend. That won't be bad anyway, I need Selena's replacement.

"You don't talk?" I ask after some minutes of sitting together and not saying anything to each other.

"I do, but on rare occasions and not with everyone." She replies smiling at me as she admires the flower in her hand.

"Your mind is troubled." She suddenly says, making me flinch. How does she know about this? "Take this flower. It will comfort you." She says handing me the flower she's been cuddling since she came.

"Thanks," I say, not bothering to ask how she knows I'm troubled. I'm not ready to tell her anything about me, so there's no point pressing further. I sniff the flower, and to my surprise, I feel relaxed, and some memories of my former Pack's humiliation begin to fade.

"It's working!" I exclaim and she smiles, giving me a knowing look.

"I know it will. By the way, I'm Luna." She extends her hands for a proper introduction.

"Call me Talia," I respond.

"The flowers and plants here are all welcoming you, and they promise to stand by you all through your stay here. They just want you to get rid of all the past humiliations you have experienced, so you can enjoy your stay here better.".

I freeze at her words. What is she talking about? Flowers? "Plants?" I question, gazing suspiciously into her eyes. Luna doesn't seem normal to me.

"Yes Talia, I can hear the plants when they speak and animals too."

"Oh wow! That's a great talent you've got."

"Thanks, I'm glad you are not judging me, Talia; some people here think it's absurd ."

"I've been judged enough to know how that hurts babe. Is it ok to call you babe? Because I'm already regarding you as my friend."

"You can call me anything you like Talia. People here call me Luna the Whisperer but I will prefer Babe more because it comes naturally and makes me feel normal."

"Of course you're normal. Come here babe," I say, pulling her into a deep hug.

I barely have time to enjoy the warmth of Luna's hug when a clanging noise interrupts, startling us both. Luna winces, muttering something.

"Jasper's contraptions... always ruining the peace," she grumbles, pulling away from my hug.

"Jasper?" I ask, raising a brow.

"You'll see," she sighs, already moving toward the source of the noise.

Curious, I follow her, weaving through the trees until we come upon a guy crouched over a weird-looking device. He's got wild brown hair sticking out in all directions and grease smudges on his face, focusing on the weird-looking device adjusting some tiny gears.

"Jasper!" Luna calls out, making him jump.

In that instant, the device in his hands sputters, whirs, and then! A puff of bright purple smoke bursts out, covering me from head to toe.

I freeze. Luna covers her mouth, trying not to laugh. Jasper blinks at me, then at his invention, then back at me.

"Oops," he mutters.

"Oops?" I repeat, coughing as the strange smoke tickles my throat. "Did you just what the hell is this?"

"Uh... It was supposed to create a protective mist barrier," he explains sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, um, I guess I miscalculated the containment ratio."

I glare at him. "In normal words, please."

"It wasn't supposed to explode in your face," he says quickly, grabbing a cloth from his pocket and shoving it at me.

I snatch it, wiping at my arms, but the purple residue sticks. "You better have a way to get this off."

"I do! I think," Jasper says, rummaging through his bag. "Just give me a second!"

Luna chuckles. "Welcome to Jasper's world," she says, shaking her head.

I sigh, looking at the frantic werewolf in front of me. My first instinct is to be annoyed, but his panicked face is kind of... funny. I glance at Luna, who's watching me with an amused glint in her eyes.

Before Jasper can find whatever miracle solution he thinks will fix my purple-stained skin, heavy footsteps thud toward us. The footsteps don't sound friendly. It sounds like a soldier going to war.

Luna stiffens and Jasper freezes. I glance between them. "Now what?"

A huge woman stomps into view; she looks sharp enough to cut steel. She gazed at Jasper first, shaking her head in disapproval. She presses her lips into a thin line as if she's saying 'I'm not in the mood for this nonsense'.

"Jasper," she growls, with a commanding voice. "What the hell are you blowing up now?"

Jasper holds up his hands. "It wasn't an explosion! More of a... test run?"

Greta crosses her arms. "And yet, somehow, you managed to turn the new girl into a damn blueberry."

I blink. "Excuse me?"

She shifts her glare to me, scanning me from head to toe, not in a friendly way. Her eyes on my body, my messy clothes, and probably the way my stomach isn't as flat as the other she-wolves around here.

Great. Another person judging me.

I swallow hard and quickly step back, suddenly wanting out of this situation. But the universe has other plans. My foot catches on something, I think a loose cobblestone because why wouldn't the ground betray me at a time like this?

I stumble and before I can hit the dirt, strong hands grip my arm and yank me up.

I gasped, thinking it was Luna, but it was Greta rather. I blink up at her in shock.

She huffs and lets go like touching me pained her. "Watch where you're going," she mutters.

She adjusts her stance, shifting closer to me like she's preparing to catch me again just in case I trip a second time.

I don't know why, but that movement is so quick and almost unnoticeable, but it sticks to my brain.

Greta glares at Jasper one last time before stomping away.

"Okay. That went... better than expected?" Jasper exhales.

"She didn't kill you, so yes. Better than expected." Luna chuckles.

I stared after Greta, rubbing my arm where she grabbed me.

Maybe she wasn't as cold as she wanted people to believe.

Maybe this place isn't going to be as bad as I thought.