2. Worse Nightmare

Elysia’s POV:

“You’re too slow Elysia, if I come back here and you’re still on that vegetable we’re going to have a problem.” I heard Tanya’s voice from behind me and I forced my hands to go faster, ignoring the blister that was starting to form from holding on to the knife for so long.

Tanya knew I didn’t do very well in the kitchen, I got hurt easily and the aromas always choked me, but she always insisted on assigning me to the kitchen. I blinked rapidly to ease the burning in my eyes but it only seemed to worsen it and salty tears rolled down my cheeks making the mess on my face even worse. I dabbed at the sweat that was forming on my forehead before continuing to work on the vegetables in front of me.

“Can you try to not drown the vegetables in front of you? Why is there so much liquid coming out of you? You’re just dicing some carrots!” Caren, one of the other girls said as she passed by me but I ignored her and only continued to focus on my work.

Thankfully the next time Tanya came back to the kitchen I was done with the vegetables and breakfast was done soon after.

“Hey Elysia, I’m going for a swim with some of the other girls. Do you want to come along?” Lucy asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere in front of me as I made my way to the room.

“I’m not exactly in the mood to swim. I think I’m just going to rest in the room till I'm needed in the kitchen again.” I said politely. I wasn’t in the mood to be around other people at the moment. I just wanted to be on my own.

“You’re coming with me. You just want to be miserable by yourself all day and I’m not going to let you.” Lucy said, pulling me gently out of the house while ignoring my weak protests.

“How does it feel to be United with your wolf Elysia? Can you hear her already? Do you feel like a different person?” Jorja, one of the girls asked as we made our way to the lake and the attention of the whole group turned towards me, making silently pray that the ground opened up and swallowed me whole.

“Not really. I haven’t connected with my wolf and it d-doesn’t really feel a-any different. There’s just the feeling of another presence at the back of my mind. That's all.” I answered truthfully, hoping that it would satisfy the girls and take the attention off me.

But it didn’t.

The girls asked question after question and I cursed myself for not fighting Lucy harder and staying back. Thankfully after answering some more questions, the attention did move from me to another girl in the group who had recently come of age too, and eventually, it moved on to some gossip as was expected from the girls.

“I heard the Alpha King is visiting our pack soon though. I’m not sure how true it is or how soon he would be here but it is pretty exciting. It’s been a while anything fun happened in this pack so I’m looking forward to his arrival.” Jorja said and my heart stuttered to a stop.

He was coming back here.

The man who had ruined my life.

Before his visit five years before, I had the perfect life or as perfect as could be. I was the center of my parent's world and I had everything a girl could ever wish for, but he had taken them brutally from me, and to date, no one had ever cared how that had affected me and now he was coming back?

All the noise around me seized to exist and it felt like all the air in my lungs was suddenly sucked out. The name "Alpha King" echoed in my mind, sending a shiver down my spine. He was coming back here? Why? The last time he had been here, he had left a trail of destruction in his path and I had lost my parents. Why was he coming back here? Our pack was one of the smallest ones in existence and Jorja was right, nothing exciting ever happened here for the most part.

We arrived at the lake and the other girls began swimming and talking, laughing loudly. I settled in a corner while trying to control my breathing and prevent a panic attack.

I didn’t realize that I had stayed in the same position for hours until I heard Lucy calling out for me. The sun was starting to set and most of the girls had begun heading back home.

“Are you okay? You sat in the corner throughout and didn’t say a word to anyone else.” She asked as we made our way back to Tanya’s home. I gave a small nod but didn’t say anything else.

The truth was, I couldn't shake off the clouds of fear that loomed over me ever since I found out about his imminent return and there was no one that I could express my fear to.

Dinner was a blur and so was my nightly routine. It felt like I was going through the motions, but my mind was elsewhere, consumed by an impending sense of dread. As I settled into the thin bed for the night, I said a silent prayer to the Goddess, I really hoped that it was only a rumor but if he really was visiting the pack then I hoped that we never crossed paths during his stay.

I had just begun falling asleep when I heard the familiar footsteps of Tanya down the hallway. I knew she was coming to put out the lights and scold the rest of the girls still trying to get through their night routine and so I only pulled the sheets higher up my frame and shut my eyes. The moment the door was pushed open, the silence that bathed the room immediately was almost comical. I heard Tanya walk into the room and go through the rows of beds, as she did every night.

She stopped when she got to my bed though and although my eyes were shut tight I could still feel her burning stare on my frame and it caused my heart to pound faster within it’s cage.

“Elysia, stand up and come with me.” She instructed and I felt my heart stutter to a stop.