Desires of the Moon

4. Reunited

They had walked for ten minutes already, and yet they were still in the house. Well, “house” didn’t cut it. This is a freaking palace! If she once had believed that the main house of the Bloodwood Pack had been big, then she was surely thinking otherwise now. 

She had been surprised to find that it was daytime since the room had been so dark. Patrick had been texting ever since they had left the room. Occasionally he looked at her and gave a short smile, but then he looked at his phone again. They had passed a lot of different places. A grand kitchen and some smaller kitchens, several living rooms, a library, and a room that looked like a massive ballroom. They had gotten to the ground floor now, and Lena saw a huge entrance. By the entrance was a stand with a young woman. They have a freaking receptionist? What the hell is this place? Patrick approached the woman, took off his sunglasses and smiled at her. 

    “Hey doll, here’s the key for guest room 4.”

The girl smiled and took the key. She was around her early twenties, Lena guessed, had blonde hair, and she smelled like perfume. She was pretty, but she wore a lot of make-up which Lena found a little off-putting. Not that she wanted to judge her, but all the bitches at Bloodwood had an abusive relationship with make-up, so she just assumed she was that type.  

    “Thanks Pat. And you must be our mystery guest. Hi, I’m Sophie, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Tell me, ‘cause these culprits won't spill a thing; Who are you, mystery guest?”

She smiled and winked. She actually seemed quite sweet, even if she did seem like a ditzy gossip girl too. Lena looked at Patrick for help, but he just raised his eyebrows and waited for Lena to answer.

    “I’m... a… political refugee you might say, who... is gratefully given asylum… for now at least. Oh and my name is Lena. Uhm, and nice to meet you too Sophie.” 

Lena smiled at Sophie. Sophie leaned back in her chair and squinted her eyes.

    “Alright, alright Lena, keep your mysteries. However, if you do need something, you know, tips, tricks or a chat, then do come find me, okay?” 

Sophie winked again and smiled even more. Patrick lightly tapped the counter. 

    “Thanks doll, see you later.”

He made a kissy noise and moved towards the door. Lena nodded and followed Patrick. They went outside and once again Lena was amazed by its grandeur. The landscape was amazing. The garden, or park more likely, looked both wild and tamed at the same time. Maroon Manor was placed upon the top of a hill and the vast nature stretched to both sides, but at the bottom of the hill you could see the lake; Lake Maroon. 

    “This looks like a freakin’ fairy tale.” Lena blurted before she could think. Patrick laughed. 

    “Yeah well, you’ll get used to it. Plus, I used to work in the garden when I was still a boy and that was a bloody nightmare for sure. This way.”

They turned left and went in the direction of a smaller house, although it was at least five times the size of Lena’s house at Bloodwood. She walked over to the entrance when Patrick stopped her. 

    “Yeah we’re not going that way, we’re gonna go around. The boss is not fond of random people going through his office.”

His office?! Lena looked at the house and was flabbergasted; this was an office? It looked like it could fit several families, and not small families like her family, no big families. 

They walked around the house and got to the other side. A Forest appeared on the other side of the house. She looked at the house and saw a conservatory connected to it. Of course he has a conservatory for his office. Such a necessity… Patrick walked up some stairs and they entered the conservatory. There, sitting on a bench, were her brothers. 

    “Lena!”

Cody jumped up from the bench and ran to her. Lucas, noticing her a second afterwards got up as well and approached her. 

    “Cody! Lucas! Thank Moon Goddess you’re here. I’ve been so worried!”

Lucas looked at her almost as if he was angry. 

    “You’ve been worried? It’s been three days since we ran away from Bloodwood and we haven’t heard a thing! And it’s not like these people are particularly forthcoming…”

    “Hey!” Said a woman sitting at the bench Lucas and Cody sat on. 

The woman got up and walked towards them.

    “I have continually given you information whenever I visited her to check her wounds. So I don’t appreciate that attitude, mister.”

Lucas frowned and looked at the woman.

    “Yeah thanks, hearing ‘she is still sleeping’ was very soothing…”

The woman kept looking at him with a strict expression. Lucas softened a bit. 

    “Sorry, Julia, I know you tried to help us in any way you were allowed.”

Lena looked confused at her brothers. 

    “Wait, what? Have I really slept for three days?”

Cody and Lucas both nodded. How the hell have I slept for three days? As if she had read her mind, Julia spoke to her. 

    “We had to give you a lot of morphine. Your body was almost at the brink of giving up. One of your arms was dislocated and torn to shreds, and half of your body was a bloody mess from having been sliding on the ground. That topped with the fact you had been running for so long meant that your body was about to give up. And yet you refused to relax in your feverish state, so the healing process was stretched out. We basically had to drug you before you rested enough to heal.”

Lena was more confused than ever. Had it really been that bad? She looked at Julia. She was tall, lean and muscular. Her hair was honey colored and her eyes small, dark and glowing. Her skin was really tan and freckled all over her body, it looked like she spent all hours outside in the sun. Julia, noticing Lena looking at her, smiled a great smile. She had a smile that truly touched your heart. 

    “Anyway, you’re much better now, and that’s the important part. I think we have some time before the others get here, so why don’t we do a check up to make the time pass?” 

She smiled again and guided Lena towards the bench. First she looked at her face, then her torso and lastly she looked at her left shoulder and arm. She pressed a bit and asked if it hurt until she got to the hand. Then she looked at her hand. 

    “That’s really a beautiful ring you got there. Who was it from? 

Lena looked at her left ring finger. f**k. She considered lying, but she already knew that Julia knew most of it and decided to tell the truth. A moonstone ring was not an average ring, and it could only mean one thing. 

    “It’s… It was given by the Alpha of the Bloodwood Pack. Before, you know, we ran away.”

Julia looked at her for a bit. She then turned towards Patrick and they exchanged a look. Lena had totally forgotten Patrick was there. Patrick looked at his phone and stepped outside. Julia focused on Lena once more. 

    “You… How old are you honey?”

    “Nineteen.”

Julia nodded slowly, not breaking their eye contact. 

    “You don’t find that to be quite early to get a chosen mate? I mean, you’re still really young. Why commit to a sacred moon promise at such a young age?”

Lena frowned a bit. Who the hell was she to judge her? What the hell did she know about her life? Wait, what does she know? 

    “How do you know he was a chosen mate? For all you know, he could just as well have been a fated mate.”

Julia smiled slightly. 

    “Well… firstly, you don’t have to make a moon promise when it’s a fated mate. And you know…”

Julia smiled and tilted her head a bit. She knows. She knows about the black wolf, Lena thought, but she still pressed on.

    “Look, I know that I have truly weakened my position by admitting to being engaged to an Alpha, whom the Lake Maroon Pack consider their enemy, but I’m not here for me, okay? My brothers are in immense danger, and in the end they are my most important family. So I broke an unbreakable promise to get them to safety. Trust me, going here was not my first choice, it was my only choice!”

Julia considered Lena gently before giving her a sad, yet warm, smile. 

    “I get that. However, I’m not the one you have to convince honey.” 

Suddenly the door that led to the house opened, and a bunch of people stepped into the conservatory. She felt her entire body tightening as she caught a whiff of something that was entirely foreign and yet so familiar. Then he stepped in.