Renaissance

Episode 20

*CECELIA’S POW*

I woke up to a strong smell, which was kind of familiar. It smelled much like Autry. Alerting me with some unknown sensation. That’s how Nero smells… Bendis sang happily in my head. So that’s how we distinguish packs… Very much so, yes. She affirmed.

I tried to pick myself up but realized that Autry’s head was resting on top of mine. So I tried to keep myself still. So I slept all the way to Nero. I felt bad for Kenneth, since he was driving us all night. It was just starting to get bright out so I guessed it was almost 6 am…

I looked at the front seat, though to see it was Damon now driving the sedan. I was surprised to see that the two were not talking, only to realize they must be mind-linking each other. I was very disappointed that I couldn’t be included into their conversations, without risking waking up Autry.

I looked out the front window of the car, although it had very little sight. It sure was green around! It looked like a hobbit village. The sparsely visible houses had nice and wide gardens. Most of them were made of wood and stones to which a part of the garden spread in mold and algae form… The road itself was well established, and the air we were getting from the open windows of the sedan was so fresh, I could feel it energize me. Nature was loud, and it felt so peaceful! As our car advanced into the depths of the territory, I would see the houses getting more frequent and the magnificence of the buildings going up each minute, although they were still pretty much covered with algae and mold on the outside… Well groomed gardens with corps and trees, some with beautiful flowers in every color it was a sight to see! I felt the heaviness of Autry’s head leaving the top of mine.

“Cece, time to wake up, we are almost there.” he called out to me. Was he also awake this whole time?

“Good morning, dear.” I said, looking up at him. “I have been awake for a while now,” I said.

“Good morning, Cece. Welcome to Nero!” he said. I could hear the pride in his voice, his smile was as relaxed as it could be… I looked to my left, as the car advanced towards two magnificent gates, which looked like an entrance to an old palace. The stone walls surrounding the area were huge. As we advanced before the gate, it opened, letting us in. And inside was an incredibly beautiful and huge garden. I can smell the jasmines and honeysuckles, the road inside was twisty… From behind all the trees, I saw what I would name a castle…

“Wow! Autry what is that?” I whispered, causing the boys to chuckle.

“That’s home, dear.” he said nonchalantly, lightly squeezing my shoulder.

“Wow!”

The building was apparently very, very old. It was made of marbles and stones. The building had a rectangular shape, with four cylindrical towers, located two on each side of the entrance gates, and in between there seemed to be at least 6 windows for welcoming the sunlight. From the outside, the building looked like it had at least seven stories. The building seemed to have a combination of French-Gothic and Renaissance styles. It looked out of this world!

Damon pulled over and stopped the engine, as Autry hustled to go open the door for me. I slowly slipped out of the car. Autry took my hand, as we started climbing up the glorious stairs to the entrance door of the magnificent building. And up the stairs, a few people were standing. As we neared them, my nerves started to go crazy.

“Alpha,” Autry bowed. I also bowed to the elder man as I’ve been taught by Ken, whose facial features looked so much like my Autry. “Luna,” he bowed again to the beautiful lady, and I followed his example. “Let me introduce you, my mate, Cecelia Alcmene of Maya Pack. Cecelia…” he turned to me “These are my parents, and the Alpha and Luna of Nero Pack, Gerald and Demeter Garrett.” I bowed to them respectfully.

“Nice to meet you Alpha Gerald, Luna Demeter. It is an honor to finally meet you!” they both smiled to me contently,

“Nice to meet you, Cecelia.” the Alpha said “It is very nice to meet you as well.” he said with a curt bow of his head.

“Oh, welcome to Nero, my dear!” Luna sang. Her voice was beautiful, and actually welcoming.

“I am grateful for your acceptance of my visit this time.” I said with a smile.

“Come in, come in…” Luna said, gesturing for us to follow her inside. We followed after. Autry took my hand and, having me on his right side, he guided me through some hallways which felt like a labyrinth, to a huge, ballroom-like place where there were dozens of dining tables… It looked very much like a hotel’s breakfast hall. The place was extravagant with all the decorations and fancy silverware and china that were sparkling on the tables which were prepared with sparkly white tablecloths!

“Sit, kids.” said the Alpha. He looked serious as hell. And as if on queue, all except for myself and Autry followed his words as if it were law. I looked at Autry, wondering if I had done something wrong. He smiled at me sweetly while holding a chair for me to sit on. That was the most assurance I was getting for now. After all of us were seated, “Hello again, kids, you must be hungry. But before breakfast, I wish to introduce the members of our family,” Gerald Garrett said. “You’ve already met us, so this gentleman is” he gestured to the all-brown-haired huge person who was almost the same age as Gerald. “is Mr Desmond Logan, my Beta and his beautiful wife Lilly. And,” they greeted me with their heads, then the Alpha gestured to the other side of the Luna ``he is my Beta, Vulcan McCoy.” the elderly man gave me a curt nod. Then a yawning young lady came in, dragging a little boy. The Alpha sighed with discontent, “and this rude little teenager is Irene Garrett and this is Lanthe Garrett, our daughter and youngest boy.” he said. When the teenager looked at me, I could see her face change. Girl was adorable but had an attitude for sure. And the little one as well. He freed his hand from his sister and started running towards me. He had the most adorable face, which kind of reminded me of his younger brother. Of course, a little ashamed, I let him give me a hug.

“Hello, miss! Welcome to our home! You are so beautiful!” little Lanthe said.

“Hello, Lanthe! I am so glad to meet you. My name is Cecelia. And you are adorable.” I said with a sincere smile. I heard Luna clear her throat.

“Lanthe, your manners!” she said curtly. “You will make Cecelia uncomfortable! Sit with your sister, please.” she turned to me “Sorry about that, he is still young and very spoiled!” she said apologetically.

“Oh, please do not worry. All the younger kids at the orphanage would try to get attention from me. The teachers would often ask me to help them in exchange for some pocket money.” I smiled. But the table fell silent. I looked sideways at Autry, as if to ask what was happening.

“Yes, I might have not mentioned anything to anyone…” he said, scratching his head. “I thought you’d like to tell them together.” he added. Well, that was true. And he didn’t even get in contact with his family that often.

“What are you two talking about?” Luna asked, clearly confused.

“Well mom, the thing is…” Autry started, trying to explain, but I cut him short.

“I was raised in an orphanage and my pack doesn’t recognize my existence.” I explained shortly. “That’s why Autry thought I was human when we met and tried to reject me.” Everyone’s eyes popped out with shock. I heard some deep growl escape from between the clenched teeth of the Luna.

“Mom, it’s not like that!” Autry tried to explain, only to be cut off by his mother.

“How dare you!” she hissed. “Oh, even though I knew this bit of information… I am still very VERY mad at you, Autry Garrett! Do you understand?! Just because she forgave you doesn’t mean I should!” then she turned to me, “honey, I am so sorry!” she said. Honest sparkles were all over her face.

“Autry, do you mind explaining to me what is going on?” the Alpha asked. So he did.

***

*AUTRY’S POV*

“So, to sum up, while away you found your mate the day you walked into the city, you told her, although she was human, about werewolves, and then you tried to unsuccessfully reject her. You let her go to Goddess knows where and disappear for four whole months.”

“Actually, I passed out the night she left, you see, it was her 19th birthday… So apparently she turned up that night and the pain caused me to pass out. AND those were the most miserable times of my life. I tried to search for her in any way that I could in vain!” he added.

“Yes, Godric was being wise and trying to teach you a lesson, by not letting you know that she had a wolf.” his mother said, matter of factly, raising her eyebrows.

“Mom!” I said, with grief and regret. I couldn’t believe how she was so willing to torture me about this. “Anyhow, then while in class, I felt like I was tasting something very foul. And it really stirred my insides.” Godric growled in my head, although it had been quite some time since the incident, he still remembered the foul taste and the madness that came out of fear after. “I had no idea what it was, so I ran up to my dorm, only to have an internal fight with Godric, who only then revealed to me that Cecelia had a wolf and must be in danger.” I said. I was still angry with Godric. “I tasted the blood of five different rogues from her and it really scared me.” to this revelation, everyone dropped their jaws to the table! I wasn’t surprised by

this reaction. It was more than extraordinary even for werewolves to be able to fight five rogues with no training whatsoever. “I was acting like a madman, trying to find her with the help of Godric, I succeeded in tracking her down to a place, first I thought she was being captive, caught trespassing.” I sighed, everyone was still looking at me bewildered. “So I introduced myself and entered the domain. I claimed Cecelia, took her and left. We worked things out and here we are.” I said, purposefully skipping the details of our experience at Maya. It was Cecelia’s decision to make if she wanted to reveal her family-drama to my guys.

“So, what about the rogues?” Irene asked. My mom gave her her ‘wtf’ look. “What, I am curious. Who saved you? Was it wolves from that other pack?” she asked, shrugging her shoulders.

“No, actually, my wolf Bendis and I fought them, well” Cecelia said, rubbing her neck uncomfortably, “actually we didn’t mean to fight them but they attacked us first and they were many…” she was still explaining herself so adorably. I really want to carry her to my room and f**k her brains out right now!

“You don’t expect me to believe you fought five rogues and left the battlefield unwounded, right?” being the teenager she was, this kind of bitchy act was kind of foreseeable.

“Cut it, Irene,” I said, curtly. “she doesn’t even know what that means, so she has no reason to lie.” I said “Also, I tasted them, remember? Why would any wolf go picking rogues all of a sudden?” I asked. Her eyes filled with realization. My father wasn’t reacting yet and this was making me very uncomfortable.

Finally he took a deep breath. “Tell me more about that pack. Was she captured?” he asked. I looked at Cecelia, she seemed very uncomfortable.

“I think it would be better if Cecelia told you about that, when she feels comfortable about it, father.” I said, respectfully but with no hesitation, “it is not my decision to tell that part of the story.” I added. He looked at me with questioning eyes, but only nodded. Then my mom clapped her hands about twice.

“Enough chatter! Let’s show them to their rooms, so that they can rest!”