Chapter Four

Ianthe 

My body is stiff and sore. I'm not used to going outside my house apart from thirty minutes a day to have Natalia run aroud a little bit. Now I've been on a plane and I was terrified, tense the whole flight. Wolves are not supposed to fly, I don't know how my brother was so comfortable for the whole journey. 

They're sending me away. I killed our parents and now I'm paying the price. My fate has been decided by my brother and I have no say whatsoever. I have never had a say in my own life. I'm supposed to hide away so that nobody can see me, but they know I'm out there somewhere. If I wasn't, they wouldn't have had tales to tell. Where there is smoke, there is a fire and vice versa. 

"I'm scared." 

I only realize that I have said the words out loud when my brother looks briefly at me before he concentrates on the road again. 

"Don't be." He says soothingly. "I will be back to get you before you know it." 

Three months. 

Three months until I turn eighteen and hopefully find my mate. I've been hidden away for all this time, the only contact with others was my immediate family members, and Marisa hates me. She's always hated me. Said I took up too much of our parents' time, that I think I'm special but I'm nothing but a low-life rot, sucking the life out of everyone around me. 

I did not choose to be born who I am. Fate decided that I was to be a freak of nature. My parents fought hard and valiantly to keep me alive until I found a mate, ultimately paying with their own lives. I wasn't even allowed to say goodbye to them properly. 

Sebastian still has some grace for me, if it was up to Marisa, I would've been out on my ass a long time ago. 

"Why do I have to leave?" I look out the window at the beautiful scenery outside. It's so different from where we come from, it's warm and lovely, but I'm so used to my coat being a cloak to hide beneath that I don't dare take it off. 

"This pack is fierce and stronger than ours, they don't get messed with." There's a hint of awe in Sebastian's voice. "If you're going to be safe, it's here, and the alpha owes me." 

I do trust Sebastian. He's always been kind to me, a good big brother, and he stepped up to the plate in my father's untimely death. He doesn't have to do this, but I believe he wants the best for me like our parents did. 

It truly is beautiful outside, everything lush and green and I wish I could shed my clothes and let Natalia enjoy the fresh air and the dense greenery. She's been extremely quiet today, usually, she does most of the talking between us, demanding me to break the chains we have been held in for so long. 

We enter a gorgeous town with people milling about, laughing on sidewalks, we pass a park where children play happily. It seems rather safe here, it feels familiar somehow, and I've never been outside my state. A sense of comfort envelopes me that I have never felt before, not even in my mother's arms. 

Nobody can see me from the outside, the windows are tinted black of the car Sebastian hired at the airport, so I take in everything and everyone around me with quiet delight. I want to roll down the window and inhale the happiness in the air. 

"We're here." Sebastian says and I turn towards him. "Please wait in the car, let me talk to him first." 

I nod and do exactly like I'm told, like I've done my entire life. 

Stay out of sight, Ianthe, don't let anyone know you're alive. It's been easy actually, I have no scent to anyone not related to me. The building my brother entered is not the usual skyscrapers from where we come from. I know it's a business building, Ottaviano Inc is sprawled on the top of the large brick building. It's only about six stories high, but it doesn't make it any less imposing. The building is beautiful in itself, it has a rustic class to it. 

We're probably in the business district right now. People are milling around wearing suits and high heels. My hands are itching to work too, I've been gifted with mathematical skills and no way to make use of it. 

I was busy convincing my father to let me attend an online university, but he declined, saying it would draw too much attention to me. Maybe if I met my mate, I could discuss it with him. It's so frustrating having to wait until I'm mated to have some sense of freedom. 

And also I'm going to be tied to someone when I've not even had a chance to enjoy my life on my own. No friends, no parties, no school. I will just trade one prison for another. 

I envy the people walking outside without a care in the world. There are two girls roughly my age sitting at a coffee shop on the other side of the street, laughing at something on one of the girls' phones. That is what I want, at least one friend who will tell me funny stories or someone I could exchange notes with about cute boys. I used to badger Marisa for stories about school, but she would always slam the door in my face. 

The word 'freak' still reverberates through me to this day. After a while, I just gave up talking to her altogether. I thought maybe when she found her mate and when she herself had a pup, our relationship would change, but I was grasping at straws. I have to accept the fact that Marisa and I will never be close like other sisters. 

Sebastian returns and we go inside the building, the hood covering my face. I can feel the burning stares on me and my cheeks flame. I have never been around so many people before. My brother steers me firmly into the elevator and presses the button to the ninth floor. I misjudged that one, luckily nobody is going up so we're by ourselves. 

"Just listen to the Alpha's orders and you'll be fine."Sebastian tells me before we reach our destination. 

I've always followed orders, I don't see the reason for him to remind me. We get off the elevator and I quickly look around my surroundings, the place is decorated in creams and beiges with the walls exposed brick. It feels warm and inviting. 

A smartly dressed woman is standing next to a closed door, her demeanor coming across as nervous. I quickly drop my head again so she can't see my face. Sebastian knocks and goes inside, but I just stand there awkwardly, my heart beating frantically in my chest. 

Natalia is standing upright now in all her glory, still quiet as a mouse, her eyes unblinking. A buzz starts in my head, drowning all other sounds away. Sebastian tries to mindlink me, but my mind shuts him off and my feet move on their own, entering a room. 

For a split second, my heart stops beating and I look up, my hood falling from my head. And life as I've known it, will never be the same again.