Fated | The Heir of the She-Wolf

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

|ELEANOR|

I woke up with the worst headache I had ever had. My eyes were still closed and it took me a great deal of strength to open them. I could hear the ocean waves in the distance and Pebble’s purring right next to my ear.

“Pebble? Am I alive or is this heaven?”, I whispered, my voice dry and cranky.

“You are awake, miss, good. Mister Aberra has instructed me to bring you to the tower first thing.”, I heard a voice say. I instantly straightened up but my head got dizzy. Taking a breath, I shut my eyes and waited a few moments for the feeling to go away. Once the darkness behind my eyes stopped swirling, I opened my eyes. A Triad guard was sitting on my dinner table and looking at me.

“You can take miss Pebble, if you wish.”

“It’s a mister. He is a boy.”, I replied angrily.

“Fine. Mister Pebble. I will give you fifteen minutes to wash and dress up, and will be waiting for you in front of the condo. Please mind if you try to escape, I will be forced to use brute force and restrain you. You better come willingly.”

The guard finished talking and was waiting for a response but all I could do was stare at him without even blinking. What the f**k happened, Eleanor?!

“Good. I assume we have an agreement.” With these words, the guard got up and opened the door of my condo, leaving me alone with Pebble who was staring at him angrily. I could see his tall silhouette from the small window above the sink. Still drowsy, I got up and opened the door.

“I have a condition.”, I said to the guard whose back was turned on me. “I need thirty minutes, not fifteen. I need a coffee to stay alive. Do you want one?”

“Thank you, miss. I already had one.”, the guard said with a hint of smile in his voice, as if he was mocking me. There went my plan to put a drop of Nerium oleander poison in his cup.

Closing the door again, I turned around. I had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I couldn’t sorcerer my way out of this, I could feel every drain of magic was gone from my body as the stress from yesterday had taken its toll on me. I followed my own advice and quickly brewed a cup of coffee. Taking a sip, the knot in my stomach not only didn’t disappear but got even more painful. I pulled my sleeve up to take a look at my wound.

My arm was bandaged. Removing the dressing, I could see the shallow cuts of the glass although I could swear they were way deeper yesterday. Two piercing dots on my wrist were bright red but apart from that, the wounds were almost healed up.

I lit a cigarette and opened the small window to let the smoke out. Standing up with a cigarette in one hand and my coffee cup in another, I couldn’t help but stare blankly in one spot and wonder how was I still alive, and how long more would I be alive?

The Nerium oleander poison must have most definitely penetrated my skin when the bottle broke. It was enough to kill an army in less than three hours, and there was no known antidote. I should have been dead. I remember feeling dead. How am I here now?

Pebble purred and circled around my legs. “You know I’m not going anywhere without you, my little Pebble.”, I petted him and murmured softly. His small black and white furry body was warm and soft under my hand, and I could not even for a second imagine what I would do without him and his company.

After taking a hot shower, I dressed in jeans and a v-neck white t shirt. I didn’t know if I had to pack anything, but I was assuming I was likely to be a prisoner. Regardless, I put two more pairs of clothes in my small suitcase, my shampoo and other bath accessories, my toothbrush and a tiny bag of makeup. It never hurt to look good, even if rotting in a jail cell, I chuckled to myself. Truth was, I just trying to calm my mind and imagine I was going on a trip instead of to my death.

But why would they allow me to take Pebble with me? That was still a mystery to me.

Stepping out my condo, the Triad guard turned to me. I was holding Pebble in one arm, and my bag in another.

“I have to inspect your bag, miss.”, the guard said and took my bag. After thoroughly looking at the contents, he smiled at me and gestured for the parking lot tucked next to the small factory.

The ocean waves were even rougher than they were yesterday, and I questioned when would I see the vast emptiness and smell this air again. The Tower was far away into the city, I didn’t know how long it took me to reach home yesterday, I assumed a lot but I could not remember much.

With Pebble taking curious looks around, I got in the car and sat in the back. Releasing the fluff who immediately started roaming around the car and hissing, I noticed the guard was taking cautious looks at my cat.

“Jesus, it’s a freaking cat, not a bomb. Chill.”, I said in a frustrated voice. The Triad did not respond and started the vehicle.

During the whole ride my stomach was clinching in pain. Arriving at the Tower, three more Triads were waiting at the main entrance. It was on the other side of the building, not where the courtyard was. I could hear cheers and sports shouts from the distance. Bitches, playing stupid games while acting superior to everyone who couldn’t wolf out or puked at the sight of blood.

I entered the Tower with Pebble in my arms, surrounded by the guards. I followed the one walking in front of me towards the elevator. Going in, I could feel the dizziness sweeping up again and filling me all the way from my stomach to my throat.

I was afraid of heights. I could not stand heights. I would rather live in a basement than higher than the third floor of a building. Although I never lived in a normal building ever since I was a teenager, all I knew was my tiny illegal condo hidden behind a factory by the ocean.

Going twenty floors up, we finally reached and the elevator doors opened wide. My legs were shaking, both with the panic caused by my phobia and the fear of what would happen next.

Would I die today? Who would take care of Pebble? Who would honor my parents?

I exited the elevator but the guards stopped at their feet.

“Please continue down the hallway and enter the door. It is only one, so you cannot miss it.”, the Triad who took me from my home said.

Nervous, I turned around and started walking. If today was the day to die, I would not be scared, I would be proud and I would be ready. Death was for the weak and I was not weak.

|VALERIO|

I heard the door handle creak and looked up. She walked in, holding Pebble in her arms. I remembered the cat’s name from yesterday. Actually, how could I forget it, it was all she was begging for while dying.

“Sit.”, I ordered. She looked at me with nothing in her eyes. Not hatred, not fear, nothing. An absolute blank slate, more beautiful than any other woman I had encountered. Taking slow, steady steps, she came to my desk and sat.

“Why did you attempt to murder me yesterday?”, I asked her directly.

“I prefer to leave my reasons to myself, but I wouldn’t mind giving it another shot. You up for it, Valerio?”, she responded with a sarcastic note in her voice. Playful one, I was impressed.

“As you wish. You are not the first and you will not be the last to try an attempt on my life. What are you?”

I was referring to her clan. In our world, four clans existed – Magus, Lupus, Ferox and Triads. Magi were able to bend the natural elements in their favor and create and perform strong spells, Lupi were what humans liked to call werewolves, Feri got their powers from consuming blood, and Triads were all three in one body. We never spoke of the fifth kind, Malus, as they were extinct.

“I’m a Magus.”

“No, you’re not.”, I responded. “As I guess you already found out, Nerium oleander does not have an effect on me.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. I chuckled and continued. “The poison entered your blood stream yesterday but I sucked most of it out. To counteract the rest which had already entered too deep into your system, I gave you my blood. I assume the thirst was not strongly expressed with you growing up. But seeing how you are alive and kicking after having my blood, I’d say you are a Triad.”

“That is impossible!”, she exclaimed and her cat jumped off her lap, hissing at me. “I’m a Magus, I always have been!”

“I had a guess you didn’t know your true belonging. Otherwise, you wouldn’t try to murder me.”

She stayed silent and I realized I hadn’t asked her name yet.

“What’s your name?”

“I won’t say. If you are going to execute me, you can do it without knowing who I am.”, she gritted through her teeth. I stood up and walked around the desk, reaching her.

“Stand up.”, I ordered, but she didn’t move. “I said, stand up.”, I repeated myself, and she pushed the chair behind her. For someone who was one head shorter than me, she surely had an attitude.

I leaned in and placed my hand behind her back, going downwards.

“Get your hands off me.”, she said in a demanding voice.

I did not oblige and my hand trailed down her waist. Looking at her eyes, I curved my lips in a smile and took her phone from her back pocket.

“Give it back, you son of a b***h!”, she screamed at me, but I shushed her to sit back down and unlocked it.

“Welcome to the Tower, Eleanor.”, I said upon finding text messages to her. “Your stay here will be long.”