Chapter 21 - A rat problem
1797 Words
#musicvibe - Little girl gone, Chinchilla
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Valeria POV
I woke up to a kiss on my cheek.
Tyson.
“Hey beautiful.” He whispered. “I need to go and take care of some things. Would it be okay if you go explore a bit on your own at first. I’ll be with you as soon as I’m done.”
“Mhm.” I hummed and smiled up at him. “I get it. You haven’t been here for a while. You need to catch up.”
He pecked me on the lips and stood up.
“If you go down to the kitchen, I think Claire can get you some breakfast.” He smiled and I nodded.
I watched as he left the room and waved a quick ‘hello’ to Kayden who followed him out.
After getting out of bed and having a quick shower, I put on a pair of blue jeans, a light blue button-down shirt and black sneakers. I left my curls down and left the room.
I racked my brain trying to remember which way we came from last night, but soon I had gotten lost in the labyrinth of hallways and stairs.
Just as I contemplated finding a window, jumping out and flying back to the main entrance, a door opened behind me and Garrett walked out.
He froze as he saw me.
“Oh, hi Valeria.” He said. “What are you doing here?”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Honestly, I have no idea.” I replied. “I was on my way to the kitchen, but I got lost. How does anyone find their way around here at all? This place is a bloody labyrinth.”
Garrett chuckled.
“It’s okay.” He said. “It’s your first time here, you can’t find your way around just like that.”
“Do you mind showing me where the kitchen is?” I asked.
“Of course.” He replied and gestured for me to go back the way I came from.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as we walked down the hallway.
Garrett chuckled again.
“This is my wing.” He replied. “I live here.”
I blushed.
“Oh.” I said. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head.
“Don’t be.” He shrugged. “You couldn’t know that this is the Gamma wing.”
“That reminds me.” I said. “What does a Gamma do, really?”
Garrett glanced at me.
“The Gamma is the third in command and one of the closest advisors of the royal family.” Garrett explained. “In case of an attack, the Alpha, Tyson that is, coordinates the warriors and leads them in battle. The Luna…”
He pointed at me.
“Makes sure that all civilians are evacuated and get to safety. The Beta assists the Alpha so that someone always has his back in the field and the Gamma…”
“...does the same for the Luna.” I finished for him.
“Exactly.” Garrett smiled. “You’re catching on quickly.”
We walked down a flight of stairs.
"Although, I don’t know how much I can actually protect you in case of an attack.” He chuckled. “You can take care of yourself pretty well on your own.”
I shrugged.
“Sometimes the best protection isn’t the physical shield in front of you.” I said. “Sometimes the worst threats are inside of your head. “
Garrett glanced at me.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
I looked down.
“I don’t need you to protect me.” I said. “But I always appreciate a friend.”
Garrett grinned.
“A friend, I can be, Luna.” He said with a playful bow.
I rolled my eyes and heaved a sigh of relief when I smelled freshly baked bread.
I stopped in my tracks when I heard a loud voice coming from inside the kitchen.
Garrett stopped too and glanced at me.
“I’m worried for our king’s safety.” The voice said. “I saw them together last night. I smelled her, she’s a weak human.”
“You never know, Lizette.” I heard Claire’s voice chuckle. “She might surprise you.”
“I don’t think so.” Lizette snorted. “There is no way that human girl will ever be woman enough for him. The King needs a Luna who knows our customs. Someone who can please him in bed.”
I didn’t know why, but my blood boiled at what I heard.
“Someone like you?” I asked and stepped out into the kitchen.
Lizette’s eyes widened in surprise, while the rest of the kitchen turned silent.
“Do you think that you’d make a good Luna just because you have a wolf and I don’t?” I asked.
I instinctively went into killer-mode. My calm composure hid the storm inside, but it was clear to anyone watching that I was in a dangerous mood.
Except for Lizette, of course.
She chuckled and walked up to me, almost bumping into me.
“Yes.” She said. “I think that I’d be better than a lowly human that doesn’t even know what a mate bond is. How will you lead when anyone here could snap your neck without even trying.”
Before Lizette could say anything more, I tapped into my powers and slung her across the kitchen, pinning her against the wall on the other side.
The rest of the kitchen staff gasped and moved away from her.
“Since you are just hanging there, I hope you don’t mind if I give you a little bit of advice.” I said coldly and walked slowly through the kitchen, dragging my fingers along the countertops.
Lizette whimpered helplessly and stared at me in shock and fear.
“One.” I said and held up a finger.
“Do not question the decisions of your Alpha.” I said. “He always has reasons for everything.”
I raised another finger.
“Two. Don’t think for a second that a smell could ever tell you everything about a person.” I continued. “Because you just made a grave mistake taking me for a human. I am not human. I haven’t been human in a long time.”
I stopped in front of her.
“And three.”
I raised another finger and poked them in her chest.
“The only one here that isn’t woman enough for Tyson is you, dear.” I chirped. “If you were, Tyson would have made you Luna a long time ago. Now, you are just a w***e he threw out of his bedroom last night because you aren’t good enough for him anymore.”
I knew that I didn’t have to be so harsh on her, but she really pushed all my buttons.
The most puzzling thing was:
I had no idea why I was so hurt by her words.
Lizette blushed and glared at me.
“I won’t tolerate you talking badly about your Alpha like that.” I said. “Or I’ll throw you against something a lot pointier than a wall next time. Have I made myself clear?”
Lizette nodded and gulped.
“HAVE I MADE MYSELF CLEAR?” I said louder, sounding like my superior officers in the military operations I went on occasionally.
“Yes Luna.” Lizette gasped.
I dropped the hold I had on Lizette and she tumbled to the ground.
She scrambled to her feet and ran out of the room.
I turned to Claire, who smirked at me.
“Tyson said something about breakfast.” I said sweetly with a smile on my face.
Still smirking, Claire made me a sandwich and gave me a bottle of orange juice.
“I would suggest going to the garden.” She said and smiled warmly at me. “It’s a beautiful day.”
I nodded and thanked her before walking up to Garrett who was standing in the doorway with his arms across his chest.
When I reached him, he started clapping.
“You will make a great Luna.” He chuckled. “You really put her in her place.”
I took a sip of the orange juice while Garrett picked up some food as well.
“I have no idea why I got so mad.” I admitted as we walked out of the kitchen.
“It’s the mate bond, Valeria.” Garret replied. “It makes you want to keep other interested parties away from your mate.”
“Oh.” I said. “That makes sense.”
Garrett led me to a glass door and opened it.
My eyes lit up when I came outside in the fresh summer air.
The garden was surrounded by castle walls on three sides, the fourth side opening up to a large field with a forest in the back of the view.
The garden itself was lush and filled with flowers in various colors. Small cobblestone paths led from different directions to a large circle in the middle.
A bench was placed at the edge of the circle and I sat down there with Garrett.
“I love this.” I said after a while. “You don’t really see that many gardens like this one in London.”
“Well, should you choose to stay, you can come here wherever you’d like.” Garrett replied and took a bite of his own sandwich.
I felt my skin tingle in a weird way and looked up.
Tyson was heading for us, and I smiled immediately.
“Hi!” I said. “Did you have breakfast?”
Tyson nodded.
“I did.” He smirked. “I also heard about some commotion in the kitchen earlier. You don’t happen to know what that was about?”
I blushed and shrugged.
“I just helped them take care of a rat problem.”
Garrett spat out his orange juice and bent over from laughter.
Tyson chuckled.
"Sure you did." He mumbled, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“If you are finished, I would like to show you something.” He said.
I nodded and left my dishes with Garrett, who left us to drop it off in the kitchen.
Tyson took my hand and we started walking out of the garden to the field outside the castle.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
Tyson stopped and took both my hands in his.
“Please don’t freak out.” He said.
“I wanted to show you my wolf.”
- Writer
