CHAPTER THREE

King seems to notice the change in my mood as he leads me towards the dining table, sits me down, and places the plate of steaming hot and no doubt delicious lasagna before me and then he tops it up with a glass of milk. My stomach screams at me as I take my time to take the food in, and then I dig in, and boy is it delicious. I’m quite certain I’m having a foodgasm right now because I sure do moan at the blissful taste. When I’m done scarfing down at least half of the plate, I finally raise my head to look around only to stop at the sight of King sitting across with more amusement on his face than I’d like.

“What are you still doing here?” I ask around the food in my mouth, quickly chewing and swallowing so I don’t further humiliate myself.

“Oh nothing, I’m just here in case you manage to choke on your food or swallow your spoon together with the lasagna at the rate you’re going.” My face immediately heats up.

“I would never...I would never do that!” I exclaim embarrassed and defensive and he laughs then, but it’s not mocking, neither is it insulting. It’s just good-natured and friendly, and I find myself smiling at him and soon he is returning it with a smile of his own. A smile that slowly melts away and gives room to a serious albeit kind expression.

“Tell me, Mars, what was that sullen expression about earlier?”

“Earlier? It’s not there anymore?” That brought the smile back onto his face.

“Nope, it’s not there anymore. Earlier you looked like a kicked puppy whose life is about to end, but now you look like a puppy whose been fucked into a mind-shattering orgasm.” The retort died in my throat as I scrunched my nose at him, making him laugh again.

“That was crude, King.”

“You’re a wolf, get used to it.” I shuddered at that, really not interested in joining the big boys now. “Okay, now tell me.” I opened my mouth to talk, only to shut it again and eye him suspiciously, when he noticed it, he huffed at me. “What now?”

“Why should I tell you anything, why should I trust you? Hell, why are we even sitting here together like old friends or something, King? Because I know that you don’t like me, and I know you couldn’t care about me even if you tried, so what is this?” He looked deep in thought, maybe even a little disturbed.

“I... I don’t know, I just felt, my wolf feels comfortable around you, I don’t know, I just...Fuck, you’re right. I’m sorry.” He moves to get up as he stumbles over his pain-laced words. I don’t know why that bothers me that he feels hurt, because I know it never bothered him when people hurt me, when I got hurt by the people around him and around me, anyone at all for that matter, but it does bother me. So much that I tell him.

“I’m worried, that I won’t make it through the shifting. I know it is painful and has its complications, I know it’s difficult for even the strongest of wolves, so I’m worried, or maybe a little scared. I don’t want to die.” He stops from where he’s gotten near the door at the sound of my quiet voice. Then he exhales and moves closer to me.

“You don’t have to carry the burden alone, Mars. You will have the whole pack behind you, supporting you. A shift isn’t an individual thing, everyone will be supporting and helping you through your shift.” I scoff at his words, who exactly does he think he is talking to?

“Tell that to Penelope, she is your mate and everyone loves her. The whole pack will be there for her, but this is me we’re talking about, the outcast, the reject, the girl who was named River so that she knows she doesn’t belong so that she knows she was taken out of a river. No one is going to be there for me, it’s just me and it’s always going to be me!” He starts to speak but is cut off abruptly by his girlfriend at the door.

“I’m glad you know all that and there’s no mistaking your place in this pack. You don’t belong here, never have, and never will. No one wants you here, and my family is just extremely unlucky to have to create a space for you in our home even after you killed your previous family, you pathetic devious wretch! Next time you decide to play the whore with my boyfriend and future mate, you do well to remember that you are nothing and no one here. Know your place!” Then she fixates her glare on a wide-eyed King and lashes out at him next. “Her?! Of all the people you could go and cry to, you chose her?! The lowlife?! I honestly can’t believe you right now, King! Or is she your girlfriend now, your mate?!” She snaps at him

“At this point, I wish she was. Anyone but you, until you fix that rotten attitude and acidic tongue.” Then he turns to me and in a gentler tone says. “I hope you have a good night, Mars. I think you’ll be fine, and even if no one will be there, I will.” Then with that, he pushes past an angry Penelope and storms out.

“You’d better stay away from my boyfriend, or I’ll hurt you badly, you filthy whore!” Her last words to me before she ran out of the kitchen, probably going after her boyfriend, I couldn't care less at this point because I’ve heard it all before, well all except the stealing boyfriend’s bit, but everything else, including my killing my previous family that I don’t even remember, I’ve heard it all. And they used to hurt initially, badly, they used to wound me, scar me, all that, but...I guess I built a really strong armour against their hurtful words, and it’s still standing even now, so I just shrug and dig into my lasagna to finish it, and then I wash it down with the milk, wash the dishes and go upstairs to try to get some rest. And boy do I sleep, you won’t even believe I’d already slept for hours before.

I sleep so soundly and for so long that when I open my eyes again, the sun is up and high in the sky, and my bedside alarm tells me it’s past noon. And still, I feel tired, like my bones are made of marshmallows and I can barely lift my hand. I feel hungry, really hungry, but I’m still tired, so so tired...

My eyes open sometime later and my nose picks up the delicious smell of food, but my eyes are drifting close once again and ignoring the food when something tugs on my foot roughly, it is so unexpected that my eyes fly open and I jump up and yelp, fatigue forgotten as I frantically search the room for any creepy crawlies or something else. When I’m done stripping the room bare with my eyes and finding nothing, I focus on the food on my bed. A bowl of vegetable cream soup with bread...in short, I’m in heaven.

I forget everything else and dig in until the bowl is empty, the bread is long gone, and I’m satisfied and can barely move, then I get up out of bed and head towards the

ensuite so I can relieve my bladder, freshen up, and feel more human, and then I’ll take the dishes downstairs, maybe thank the...the...who even brought the food to my room?

I stop at the entrance of the ensuite and turn to look at the dishes carefully, they are white like many of the countless dishes we have in the kitchen, but these have black rims so that if the plates are packed one on top of the other, you’d think the dishes are black through and through. We don’t have those here, I’m certain of that. Nevertheless, I’ll go down to the kitchen just to ascertain it when I’m done freshening up.

Turns out my freshening up took at least an hour, but at least I feel brand new when I step out of the ensuite, ready to get out and stretch my legs starting from the kitchen only to stop at the sight of the dishes gone, and in their place, my drawing pad, my pencils and colours, two bottles of water, a big bag of chips, and two fizzy drinks.

I think I’m frozen as I stand there and just stare at the things on my bed. Looks like someone wants to make sure that whatever leg stretching I have in mind, I’ll be doing it indoors and in my room. Whoever did this knows exactly what they’re doing, they know exactly how to keep me indoors. There’s nothing I love more than drawing, and I especially love drawing trees. I don’t know why I love it so much, but I do, for as long as I remember, I’ve loved drawing trees, so much that it’s quite therapeutic at this point, sometimes I just draw trees so I can get through a tough day, or just my normal day. Anyway, I look around the room to see if anything else has been tampered with in any way, but everything remains just as I left it. I go to the closet to get something to wear, something comfortable that also screams ‘Coerced to stay indoors today’. I settle on shorts, a tank top, wool socks and a hoodie...don’t know if they accomplish the ‘coerced to stay indoors today’ part of the deal, but they are comfortable, so I’m good.

I’m in bed and completely immersed in drawing and perfecting a willow tree beside a lake. I’ve been at it for hours and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon, not until it’s perfect and can go to an art gallery. The snacks are gone together with the time, and my mind is fully trained on the tree.

“This one’s prettier than the last one.” I jump a mile high into the air with a yelp.

“Aria, what the hell!” she only bursts out laughing at my expense as I try to calm my nerves down. When did she even get here?

“I’ve told you not to sneak up on me. When did you even get here?” she lays back on my bed and answers.

“Not so long ago, but also long enough for it to be concerning that you didn’t notice I was here.” I shrug, it’s not my fault that I’m concentrating, it is however her fault that she sneaked up on me, and I tell her that. She just waves me off. “How are you though, and are you excited for tomorrow, or what?” she ends with a squeal, I just roll my eyes at her excitement, of course she is excited.

“Perfectly fine and what’s happening tomorrow?” she sits up right with an exaggerated gasp.

“you’re joking, right?!”

“What is there to joke about? I’m staying in bed cus I feel sick, and that’s all there is to it, or what were you expecting?” her wide-eyed face almost has me cracking and laughing.

“You...you’re serious.”

“No, I’m joking. Calm down before you have a heart attack and small town nobody, Mars, gets blamed...and all for a joke” I end up laughing and I expect her to join in or make some comment about it, but she’s silent and I lift my head to check if she’s still there and she is, but with a sad expression on her face, not the laughter I was expecting.

“Aria, what’s wrong?”

“You are far from a small town nobody, Mars. I know what these people have told you and how they’ve made you feel, but trust me, you’re beyond that...way beyond that. Tomorrow may not go how you expect it to, but believe me when I tell you that it will work out, it all will...and I’m sorry for how things will turn out, but there’s no way around it, and I’m really sorry.”

“Aria...”

“No, just know that I love you, Mars. A lot, and I’m so proud of the woman you are now and the woman you’ll be when the time comes. And your mom, she’ll be so proud too.” Jer voice cracks, but that’s not what has me sitting upright with a wildly beating heart.

“My mom? You know her, you know my family? Tell me about them Aria, please...I’ll...”

“I know every wolf shifter that was, is and will be. But I’m not going to tell you, Mars, not now. At the right time, you’ll know everything and understand everything.” I know not to question Aria about certain things, but at this point, I don’t care, I just want to know.

“Aria please, I want to know. Please, I’ll do anything you want, just...” She disappears, just like that and I just sit there and stare into space with a heavy heart, a heavy heart that seems to be breaking too.

When there’s a knock on the door sometime later, I don’t even bother responding or opening up. I just curl up on my bed and soon fall asleep.