Fated | The Heir of the She-Wolf

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

|ELEANOR|

It had been three days since I started my trainings with Vanessa and it felt like I was getting nowhere despite my natural strength.

My mornings would start early, followed by a session of hard exercising and sparring until noon. Then, we would go have lunch and have another session in the evening. My body was hurting everywhere and all I could do after dinner was lie on the bed like a dead person and fall asleep instantly.

I was scared and still struggling to accept my new identity. Well, not new literally, as apparently I was born a Triad and I just didn’t know it, but new for me emotionally.

I could feel the thirst for blood lingering at the back of my mind ever since Valerio fed me five nights ago to counteract the Nerium Oleander poison which was going to kill me after the bottle broke under my sleeve and cut my wrists. The thirst was a new sensation, one I had never felt before… Or maybe I had, I was not sure of anything anymore. But now it was ten times stronger and all I knew now was there was a presence, a need for something more than food and I could not get rid of that tingling sensation at the back of my throat. I wanted blood, and I was disgusted by my new desires.

To make things worse, my wolf was nowhere to be found. Austin’s guess was she drifted away after the trauma of losing my parents. But she has to, she must come back if I wanted to make it past my twenty-third birthday. I could not get a grip around the idea that I was now so desperate to find something that I spent my whole life hating.

Austin had taught Vanessa something like a meditation technique before I joined them for trainings. I watched her try and try, and try again to reconnect with her wolf. I didn’t know why she was struggling so much, and I was not going to ask as I could feel the reason was deeply personal for her.

On the first day of October I woke up not only physically exhausted, but emotionally as well. Pebble was sleeping at the edge of my bed and was purring sweetly. I got out of under the covers and made my way to the small bathroom. I took a shower and without realizing, I did my make up with more precision than ever, hoping today was the day Valerio would come back from wherever he was.

……….

Stepping out and into the courtyard of the Tower, I inhaled the fresh autumn air and enjoyed the bright sun warming up my face. It was a beautiful day, and the first day without trainings as Austin informed us in the morning, after me and Vanessa waited patiently for him in the back of the garden.

I crossed the courtyard and opened the heavy metal door leading to the narrow human street behind the Tower. I was determined to spend a normal, human-like day outside, away from everything and everyone that reminded me of how much my life had f****d up over the past days.

I entered the same park I had used for my escape from Valerio. The autumn bazaar was still there and I could smell coffee, fresh fruit and croissants in the distance (damn, my senses have definitely improved!).

I walked to the first booth and got myself a cup of hot espresso. Even Triads needed their morning coffee, I chuckled to myself and sat on a secluded bench further away from the bazaar. Lighting a cigarette, I inhaled the delicious taste of tobacco which hit the back of my throat with pleasure.

Autumn was my favourite season. The golden, caramel and burgundy colours of the leaves fallen around me seemed so much brighter now. Was that what it was like to be part Ferus? I swirled deep in my thoughts while enjoying my first cigarette since that night on Valerio’s balcony.

An hour later, feeling hot with the sun high in the sky and warming my body under the black pullover I was wearing, I stood up and headed towards the bazaar booths. If there was something that could cheer up a girl in distress, that was shopping. I was not rich by any means, but I had some money in me and I was set on spending them all on clothes and shoes.

The crowd was growing as the afternoon sun had warmed up the air and the chilly wind was long forgotten, now only a memory of the distant early morning.  I sensed the presence of Triads around the park, but I did not care as I assumed they were just outside to enjoy the beautiful day. And maybe do some shopping, too…

I chuckled again and walked by the booths offering everything from hand-made candles and soap bars, to woollen cardigans and winter scarfs. I left the park with two shopping bags under my arms. I was not yet feeling satisfied, I wanted shoes, maybe a new dress and some new make-up. And if I could find a pet store to get a toy for Pebble, that would be amazing!

Entering a crowded downtown street, I smiled at the thought of all the gifts I could buy for my fluffy boy if only I could find the right place.

I walked and walked, going into one store and then another but not really finding what I was looking for. Although, I had to admit, I didn’t even know what I was looking for, but I would recognize it if I saw it!

I went into a large clothing store which looked promising from the outside, and my heart stopped. The most beautiful dress was looking at me from the mannequin in the far corner.

It was strapless and short, perhaps not even going down to the mid of my thighs, in a gorgeous dark red color. Dark red and black stones decorated the deep sweetheart neckline.

The top of the dress was skin tight and hugging down to the high waist from where it spread into a wide, puffy skirt. The skirt was made of two layers of fabric in the same dark red color as the top, the first a thick matted satin, and the second – a transparent tulle decorated with smaller black and red crystals.

I turned around to find a*****e assistant and asked her to bring me the dress to the fitting room. Turning around to see myself in the mirror, I was left breathless. This was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen on myself and for a second I questioned whether Valerio would love it but I ignored the though as fast it came.

Leaving the store with the dress, two skin tight blouses in black and caramel, three more dresses, a pair of jeans and two pairs of shoes, I felt happy and fulfilled. And broke. Definitely broke.

Checking my card balance on the ATM across the store, I realized I had just enough for a quick Sephora visit, to buy Pebble a gift and to treat myself to a nice dinner.

….

Shortly after ten in the evening I was making my way back through the park to the Tower with a dozen shopping backs under my arms. I was walking under the yellow light of the lamps brightening the long pathway when I heard noises around me. I could not see anything or anyone so I kept walking.

Reaching for the metal door and stepping into the Tower’s courtyard, I was shocked to see Valerio, pacing like a maniac while talking on his phone. The moment I opened the door, his head turned towards me. In the split of a second, he was in front of me, shutting the door behind my back with such force I could feel the air swooshing and vibrating around me.

He put his hand on my throat and pushed me to the fence, his eyes dark with fury.

“Where the f**k have you been?”