Victor swiped the bag from the table hurriedly, but she had already imagined what it could be. The taste of bile was strong. Crawling up her throat, she had to turn away in order to suppress it, willing herself to keep it down. "That sick b*stard masked the scent!" Victor yelled out angrily, fist hitting the counter. He turned to her after a breath, "Give me a minute, ok?" She nodded in response, watching as he pulled out his phone and entered his bedroom with a slam of the door. With a tissue, she slid the note over to avoid touching it, her other hand still over her nose and mouth. Though she knew nothing good would come of reading it, her brain had convinced her to do it despite that. The paper looked of high quality as she opened it and found it to be quite lengthy as well. My dearest Enora, my sincerest apologies for what happened. I would have written sooner, but that vile man who dared approach you had to be dealt with. May we never find ourselves in this situation again. T
Several days passed and Enora was both physically and mentally exhausted. Assimilating into this life was as strenuous as she had thought. Learning the rules, watching people come in injured at all hours of the day, and of her own foolishness, learning a lot about the gruesome history of the Lotus and Quercia. Star fishing onto the bed, she closed her eyes with a sigh, "I have to tell him, don't I?" The black wolf plush beside her seemed to give her a look of sympathy as she grabbed it, holding it above her. When Victor had given it to her after their date, she'd found it cute and funny, but after some thought, it was also eerie to have it look like him. She knew he meant well, but he clearly hadn't thought it through. Of course, she'd come to love it anyway. "I know he wants to make me feel better and he's probably used to showering girls with gifts, but I don't know. Is it wrong to feel overwhelmed by those too?" Having told Victor that she enjoyed the gifts to spare his feeling
Several eyes turned to Enora as the surrounding group got quieter. Wilson turned to usher them away, "If you're not involved, keep it moving guys! Come on!" "They must have not seen when you escorted her out days ago sir, but we didn't crack. Not even Rick," Mina finished, pulling out a tissue to wipe her nose. "I knew you wouldn't. Now take a breath, start from the beginning," Victor answered, patting her arm. "Yes, sorry. We patrolled her building and surrounding area from twelve to five pm as usual and waited for the next car to come around. Once they checked in, we made our way back here when they intercepted. They must have not been watching the building before we got there, otherwise they would have followed the two before us." "That makes sense, that area becomes more populated by noon. Make it easier for him to blend in," Gil added. "Three guys get ahold of us and start the fight. Rick and I weren't doing too badly because we managed to get one guy down, but then anoth
On their way back to the apartment, Victor had managed to ease her worry over what happened. The updates from Gil and Wilson were positive, and he assured her Mina and Rick wouldn't put blame on anyone; they weren't the type. And if that wasn't enough to convince her, he would go around asking people their honest opinions on her. She hit him again as they entered, "Stop! That would be beyond embarrassing!" "I'm joking, I'm joking. I have to get that frown off of your face somehow," Victor replied, lightly pinching the corner of her mouth with a grin. A chime on his phone interrupted his next words and hardened his expression. "I have to go take care of something, but what I was going to suggest, was that we get comfortable and stay in. I won't put this off anymore, I'm sure it's been bothering you." "Kind of. More confusing if anything, but thanks. I'll be here, so you hurry back," she answered with a smile. "You got it." There was an unusual quiet to the room when he left, and
AT THE CAFE The familiar aroma of coffee, sweets, and flowers created an instant dose of dopamine for Enora that morning as she sat in her favorite spot in the café. Having work to distract her from her messy behind-the-scenes life never failed to help her focus and solve problems. A current problem being the gnawing nagging in her gut that a dire event was on the horizon; excluding the war that Bianchi would set a day for any time now. Something was to happen that would put her in mortal danger, but she couldn't let Victor know this. He had insisted on dropping her off every morning to scope out the place even though it had been a safe haven thus far; she could only imagine how he would act with this new development. Besides, there was a chance the feeling would go away. "What are you thinking about?" Lilla asked, sliding into the seat across from her. "Nothing much, a lot on my mind. Things to do at home." "Yeah, I can't get anything done when I'm sick either. I'm glad you ac
The next morning, Enora was a bundle of nerves as she waited for Matteo at the café. It wasn't as though they had never hung out before, they had even traveled together. They were friends. So, why was she wondering if he still defined them that way? It could be because she felt guilty for not telling Victor, but it would have started an argument about why being out in the open was a bad idea–that it was too big a risk, and then there was his jealousy. He hadn't met Matteo–their schedules could never line up, so she was sure he would have an issue with him. "He's so ridiculous," she said with a chuckle. "Who's ridiculous?" Gil asked, leaning on the counter. "Hey, I didn't hear you come in. I was talking about Victor." "I'm pretty stealthy you know," he grinned. "And what did Victor do now?" "Nothing yet. I was thinking about why I didn't tell him I'll be out today. You'll be following us the whole time and I doubt we're going anywhere suspicious or abandoned." "Yeah, he does hi
To say she was shocked would be an understatement; this was beyond comprehension. Alarms were going wild inside of her while her emotions went all topsy-turvy. "I know you felt a connection with me before, which paves the way for a chance at a future. Things are looking positive." "Wait, wait, wait," she interrupted, gently pushing him away to gain breathing room. "Number one, I'm with someone and I've never mentioned being unhappy with him." "You didn't have to. I've seen a change in you lately, and his lack of acknowledgment in our conversations, points to the obvious," he replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "No because number two, we agreed long ago that friendship was all we had, so for you to swoop in because there are bumps in the road is a d*ck move. And I don't see you in that way. You know this." He chuckled, "Then I'll be an *sshole, makes no difference to me because I already know we're going to be together. Let's continue on our stroll," He roughly linked her arm with hi
An invisible force compressed her chest, shortening her breath and closing in. The lines of his face morphed, distorting into sharp angles and wider shapes–into a monster. Shutting her eyes, she turned away again and willed the sight to vanish. "It made me stronger–different in a way I would've never deemed possible. And if it enhances a normal shifter, then think how enhancing a rogue's blood could have more benefits. We could eradicate the fear of rogues and even their existence! Do you understand how amazing this could be?" he explained, bringing his hands up to cup her face. She could feel her body crumbling within itself as she shook her head in disbelief; he was deranged. She had to get out of here before he made any rash decisions. "I do understand, but this is... it's too much," she began, forcing herself to tear up. "Oh, shh..." he soothed, rubbing the back of her neck. "I knew this was a lot to handle. We'll have more time to talk about this over dinner." A spike in her
Enora panted as she crouched down once more. Pressing her back against the wall, she followed it around to the side where a car on the street would serve as cover. Her legs hurt and her hands shook uncontrollably as she texted Gil and Wilson her whereabouts. "Please one of you pick up. Or please find Victor, please," she whispered to herself. Thankfully during her escape, she hadn't encountered anyone else, and the exit had led her through an alleyway and onto the main streets. Several sirens played on the soundtrack for the night; after the gunshots had finally ceased and the sounds of struggles had subsided. Closing her eyes, she tuned to the background noise, hoping to hear something or someone familiar. Her mind wouldn't stop flashing possible scenarios where Victor didn't walk out of that building and back into her arms, and that scared her. Curling into herself, she rocked back and forth, working to breathe through the severe agony, fury, and sorrow she and Victor were cycl
ONE HOUR AGO Victor's phone buzzed in his pocket, knowing it was Enora before he checked at the screen. As soon as they were within a few minutes of the Quercia base, he'd absorbed her fear to a maximum level. She'd been ok for the majority of the day, so this could only mean true peril was looming over her. Her text informed him that she was inside Bianchi's apartment, about to have dinner with him and she would try to stall for as long as possible. The suspicious feeling was shared between them as he tossed the phone into the bushes and went to get into position with the others. "You two stay alive. I won't forgive you if you dare die on me," Wilson said, hitting Victor and Gil on the back. Gil laughed, "You're the human here. We should be saying that to you." "Ha! You think these untrained losers have anything on me? I'll take them all out in no time." "We'll see about that. You'll still be fighting by the time Gil, Enora, and I come out," Victor said with a smirk. "Ah, fin
There were clothes on the bed when Enora returned to the bedroom; from pajamas to bathing suits, to underwear and dresses, and a shiver ran down her spine at the thought of what Alessandro might be thinking about. "I have another request to ask of you ladies," she began, pretending to enjoy the variety of clothing by holding them up against herself. "Yes, Miss?" they replied in unison. "If you could just wait outside while I rest, that would be great. I was startled before when I woke, and you were standing there. I scare easily, sorry." "Oh! I apologize, I was told to watch and wait, so I suppose I took it quite literally," woman A said, hanging her head in embarrassment. "No, no. Don't be. I probably would have done the same," Enora chuckled. "Thank you. You're too kind Miss. We will be right outside. You need only knock, and we or the guards will open the door." "We can put those away for you first," woman B offered, gesturing to the clothes. "Don't worry yourselves, I've g
Once she'd eaten her fill, she was unsure of how to get anyone's attention. It felt gross to ring the bell to summon people, so she went to the living room door instead, startled when the two women magically appeared in her path. "Miss, have you finished?" woman B asked. "Yes, thank you. Would you both mind if I explored the apartment? A–Alessandro said it was alright with him," she said, hating that she had to speak his name. "You do not need to ask us, you may simply command us to do what you would like," woman A added. "Oh, um. I can't actually. That also makes me uncomfortable. I'd prefer we be friendly," Enora answered sheepishly. The two looked from one another to Enora with questionable expressions. Has no one ever been nice to them? Or had she said something wrong? "Whatever you say Miss. Would you like to see the kitchen?" "Maybe later, I don't want to be in the way as the staff goes back and forth." "Ok, follow us then and we'll start with the living room. As you can
AT QUERCIA HEADQUARTERS The lengthy walk to the dining room was nerve-wracking; she was not ready nor willing to face Alessandro again. Another woman had joined Enora in the room when she'd exited the bathroom in one of the outfits that had been provided. It wasn't bad per say, but it was less modest than she was used to. They'd told her she looked great however, and announced breakfast was ready. Guards were outside of her room, unsurprisingly, and at every doorway of the apartment it seemed. As if she were stupid enough to attempt an escape. This place was completely unfamiliar to her, and it was the enemy base; even if she managed to reach the rest of the building, where would she hide? "You may have a seat here, Mr. Bianchi shall be in shortly," woman A said, breaking her out of her thoughts. Both women had refused to give her their names, explaining it was not in Bianchi's orders and they weren't important enough to be addressed that way. So, woman A and woman B would have to
Sunlight coming in through the window woke Enora, her eyes squinted and fought to open against its harshness. Turning away from it instead, she jumped from fright at the sight of a woman staring at her from across the room. "Ah, Miss, you're awake. Good morning," she greeted. "Um, hello. Where am I?" Enora asked politely, though she had a feeling that she already knew the answer. "At Quercia headquarters of course. The Boss is delighted to have you here as his guest." "I'm sure that psycho is beyond delighted," she said under her breath. "I'm sorry, what was that?" the woman asked. "I said, I'm happy to be here. So, what am I to do now?" "We shall prepare a bath for you and show you the clothes the Boss has chosen for you, so that you may join him for breakfast. Wait here for a minute." Hm, clothes? Looking down at herself, she found ripped and dirty clothing; it looked like she'd been trying to escape them for days, as opposed to twenty minutes. Oh. "Sure." The woman stepped
A struggle could be heard after a second shot went off, and Enora's sleeve was pulled on from behind. "Miss, we have to go. Come on!" They ran towards the end of the street where she said another SUV would pull up at any moment. From the side, a man jumped out at them, grabbing onto Enora while she struggled against him, and the guard stepped in with a right hook to his jaw. "The car is there, run!" The car came to a screeching halt and two out of the four people ran towards her, only to be cut off by more of Bianchi's men. "Oh, come on! How many of these clowns are there?!" she yelled out, looking around for some sort of weapon. A broken umbrella stuck out of one the dumpsters she passed, and she figured it would have to suffice. Swinging it around wildly, she managed to get one on the side of the head and hit his eye. With a scream, he stumbled and gave an opening for a Lotus to get him to the ground and knock him unconscious. They helped her get to the car while dodging swin
Davide slouched against the elevator wall, blowing the bangs out of his eyes and hanging his head. He could admit that Alessandro had been acting a bit out of sorts, and he was quick to shut down others' questions, but this was different. Who would've thought the day would come when he would question his Alpha's sanity? By an odd coincidence, the men he was on his way to retrieve for testing, were waiting when he stepped off the elevator. "Anderson, Marino, and Rojas, perfect, you're up for a promotion in rank. Need you to run the trials first, let's go." "Sure, we can do that, but we were wondering if we could have a word with you first," Rojas said. Davide sighed, "As long as we walk and talk, fine. What's this about?" "The boss," Anderson replied. "We haven't seen him in days, which is odd." "And this isn't the first time either. Too many of us have noticed something is going on and it isn't good," Marino continued. "What are you trying to say here? Questioning our leader?
SUNDAY EVENING, LOTUS HEADQUARTERS Several wolves circled the alpha in the center of the arena, mapping out their steps and timing their attacks. As others lay on the sidelines in exhaustion, Victor moved about in anticipation of attacks with infinite energy; vigor running high. Signaling for three to come forward, he dodged the first with a sidestep, the next with a bob and weave that left her neck open, and the third with a jump forward. Getting around them, he nipped them each in vital take down points, which tapped them out and sent them to do ten laps around the field. "I continue to reiterate the importance of speed. Your power matters once you know your opponent will and can be taken down," Victor stated to the group. Another three charged at him and he waited until the last moment to drop and roll beneath, tripping the second who remained on the ground, open to a bite at the base of their throat. From behind the other two, Victor jumped onto one's back to smash them into t