Fated | The Heir of the She-Wolf

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

[Eleanor]

“I think you need to recap this for me, sister.”, Meredith said with her eyes wide.

It was two days since I had returned to the Tower and two full days where all I did was sleep and eat. I felt beyond exhausted and my whole body was still aching painfully but I woke up this morning determined to make better use of my time. I was excused from trainings for a full week until I recovered from the dark poisonous magic so I had decided to call up Meredith – my closest friend from my life before the Tower. 

“Please don’t make me repeat all of that again.”, I begged her while taking a sip of my cappuccino.

We were sitting in the park behind the Tower and enjoying the warm November day which surprisingly did not bring any cold winds. Around us humans were jogging or walking their dogs, nourishing the last bits of sunny weather before the winter kicked in. It felt like calm before the storm and I hoped with my whole heart I was just getting paranoid because everyone was acting so freaking strange.

“Okay let me do that for you and you will tell me if I got something wrong. Okay?”, Meredith said and adjusted herself on the bench while concentrating. “So, you really went ahead and tried to kill the King of Clans only to get caught and saved by him to find out he actually had nothing to do with your parents. Which by the way are alive and kicking and apparently evil because they attacked an innocent settlement and just left you alone in the middle of the night without a second thought. So far so good?”

I nodded and could not help but feel sadness. Everything so f****d up, even my she-wolf felt uneased.

“Then, you hooked up with your trainer only for him to break up with you because there’s something going on between you and the King although you hate him in your guts. Oh, and you are a Triad and there is a silver she-wolf listening to us right now. Hey wolf, nice to meet you!”, Meredith laughed and I could not help but smile.

“Sounds about right. Oh, and I also found s**t tons of things about Triads I didn’t know before – thanks Meredith!”, I chuckled and bumped her with my elbow.

“Well how could I have known you would need to know anything in such detail?”, she exclaimed and rolled her eyes. “I thought you were a Magus so what would you care about thirst and so on, all things specific to Triads and Feri? Hell, even I don’t know that much about them!”

Meredith was the one who told me about the existence of the other three clans – Feri, Lupi and Triads. I met her when I was seventeen after I ran from that horrible foster home the human agency had placed me in. Quickly Meredith became my closest person and helped me get on my feet by offering me to stay in her parents’ old condo by the ocean.

“So, is he good?”, Mer asked and looked at me intently with a playful smile.

“Who?”

“The King, Valerio. Is he a good kisser?”

I shut my lips close trying not to smile but the look in my eyes said it all and it didn’t help that Meredith knew me so well.

“Oh my god, so he is a good kisser! Oh my god!”, she laughed and slapped her hands on her thighs.

“Don’t get overexcited, it won’t happen again.”, I shushed her but she wouldn’t stop smiling.

“Why not? He is the King!”, she exclaimed and made roll my eyes.

“Exactly. And he is a d**k most of the time. Anyway, there was something else I wanted to ask you. Would you like to come for a visit at the Tower? I’m sure nobody would mind and everyone is welcome.”, I suggested because I was hoping I could spend some more time in her company and perhaps do a pajama party like we did back in the old days.

“Hm… Will I get to meet the King? Or the hot trainer?”, Meredith laughed and got up from the bench. I followed her and could not help but smile.

“Maybe… And Vanessa also. I think you’ll like her.”

….

“Wow, your hair is amazing!”, Meredith exclaimed in a typical Meredith way as she was extending her hand towards Vanessa. I had just introduced them and the three of us were heading towards the canteen to grab lunch.

“Haha, thank you! Although you can’t imagine the struggle to maintain it in a decent way.”, Vanessa smiled and brushed her fingers through her long curls.

We entered the canteen without bumping into Austin or Valerio (very much to Meredith’s disappointment) but as soon as we walked in we noticed the other three students occupying the center table and throwing weird looks at us.

“This place is huge! Even bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside!”, Meredith said while looking around. She, Vanessa and I ordered our food and sat in a corner table, away from the other three students. “What’s the deal with them? Why are they looking at us like that?”, Mer asked and tilted her head towards the three guys who were still observing us.

I didn’t know how to answer her as I had never spoken to them myself. All I knew was that they were in training like me and Vanessa but had another tutor whose name was Anna.

“They are looking at me.”, Vanessa broke the silence and I looked at her. “Because I am Valerio’s sister and all that.”, she added and even though I knew there was one more reason for their stares – the fact that she had lost her wolf, I didn’t say it out loud.

“Wait, what?! Eleanor, you didn’t mention that!”, Meredith turned to me with a betrayed look in her eyes.

“Yeah. But it is no big deal, you can ask Eleanor.”, Vanessa smiled and started eating.

“But the two of you are so different…”, Meredith started saying without touching her food yet, too curious to know more gossip. “How can you two be related?”

I wanted to bump her in the ribs with my elbow. While I rolled my eyes, I noticed Vanessa did not twitch at all – apparently she was used to the subject.

“Because I’m black and he is white? Yeah, I get that a lot. We share the same father but have different mothers. And my mother was black.”, Vanessa explained. “Only Valerio’s mother is still alive but she is away so it is safe to say it is just the two of us.”

“How did your mom and dad die?”, Meredith asked completely oblivious to the fact the topic is deeply personal. But that was her, she had no connection between her brain and her mouth sometimes.

“Our dad died in a fight so Valerio took his place as King. And my mother killed herself when I was a child.”

“Oh…”, Meredith finally realized just how insensitive her questions were, given she had just met Vanessa. “I’m sorry. I tend to speak before I think…”

“It’s okay. I appreciate the directness and honestly, I am growing tired of everyone avoiding the subject just because they are afraid I’ll burst in tears or something.”

At that moment, the students sitting on the other table all got up. Confused as to why, I turned around and saw Valerio walk in. What the hell was he doing in the cafeteria?

He walked up to us and pulled another chair, sitting between me and Vanessa. Meredith could not help but gawk at him with her mouth open.

“I heard we have guests in the Tower.”, he said with a silky voice but I could feel the intimidation behind his tone. It was the first time I see him after I slapped him and I could not help but feel on edge.

“H-hi. I’m Meredith, Eleanor’s friend. I hope I am not imposing.”, Meredith said with shaking voice. It was her first time meeting Valerio, her King, in person.

“Oh, not at all. In fact, you can stay as much as you want to. I am sure Eleanor would appreciate the opportunity to catch up with an old friend.”, Valerio responded and smiled. “In fact, can I speak with you for a moment, Eleanor? In private?”

My eyes were locked with his and I could feel my stomach tightening. The memory of him kissing me flushed my mind and mixed with the annoyance I was feeling towards him, making me question if the tickling sensation was butterflies or anger.

“Sure.”, I replied coldly and raised from the chair to follow him out of the cafeteria.

Valerio stopped in the lobby and looked around. Several guards were present, including Lorenzo, who stared at both of us and gave a slight nod to Valerio. Was something happening… again?! I could not handle any more bad news or action, I just couldn’t!

“My suite.”, Valerio ordered and turned around to face me. Before I knew it, he lifted me off the ground and started sprinting in unimaginable speed towards the twentieth floor. Once we reached the top of the Tower a few seconds later, he put me back on the ground but sadly my body did not take the whole journey well and my legs crushed beneath me causing me to drop on the floor.

“You are weak again.”, Valerio stated, grabbed me by my arm and pulled me up. He half carried me through the hallway and his office before he opened the hidden door leading to his suite. “Sit. You will pass out if you stay up a second longer.”, he ordered me and I rolled my eyes annoyed that he treated me like a baby.

“I’m fine. I am just exhausted after everything that happened.”, I hissed at him. “All I need is some rest.”

“All you need is to feed.”, he said. “I need you to perform a spell and you need to be strong for it.”

I glared at him and shook my head.

“There is no way in hell that I would feed off you again.”, I snapped at him and it was his turn to roll his eyes.

“I thought you would say that. This is why you and I are going on a little field trip.”