Unknown Wolf

The Wolf Again

After finishing breakfast, the brother duo and I went down to meet Rose for my lessons. It was so awkward to have them following me around and hovering. As someone who spent years alone and learning to love my own solitude, it was going to take a lot to get used to having not only one but two constant shadows following my every move. They made me feel on edge, which aggravated me to no end, but there would be no shaking them thanks to my father. I also didn't want to seem like a self entitled brat by being a jerk to them, though that seemed like the natural next move to get someone to take a hike.

I came into the room to find Isabelle was absent. Her desk even seemed to have been removed. I slowly took a seat while it seemed Rose was finishing up some paperwork she was filling out. Wesley and Jordan stood at either side of the closed door, looking like good little statues. I couldn't even have peace from them during my lessons. I knew if I didn't get ahold of this mentally, it was going to drive me nuts. I needed to figure out how to tune their presence out in my mind.

Rose put down her pen and looked across the room at me, waiting attentively. She pushed her chair back and stood. Walking over towards a corkboard that had been brought into the front of the room.

"I thought it best that for awhile at least that Isabelle had her own separate studies. That way, you and I can concentrate on what your father finds is important for you to focus on, and she can concentrate on the studies important for her education." She put her hand on the corkboard and flipped it to the other side after her small announcement about Isabelle.

Allowing me to take in her presentation she had laid out on the board. It was covered with pictures and notes, but one picture immediately caught my attention. I stared at it in disbelief. Rose saw my reaction and was confused for a moment. I got up from my desk and walked over to the board in a trance. When I got right up to it, I snapped off a single picture and stared down at it in my hand with my other hand over my mouth.

Rose came over to my shoulder to look at it with me. The picture was of the wolf from my dream. There, he stood dark grey with the half black face staring back at me with those hateful orange eyes. My stomach turned, and I felt sick.

"That is King Blackwood's wolf form. Are you alright, Lucy?" Rose asked, concerned and very confused by my reaction.

I felt pale with this knowledge washing over me. Suddenly, the wind picked up outside. Rose had opened the window behind her desk to enjoy the beautiful day, and a gust came in blowing the papers everywhere. Then it slammed shut, and I about jumped out of my skin dropping the picture. Rose still confused, put her hands on my shoulders.

"It's alright. Are you okay?" She said softly.

"I'm alright... I'm okay..." I shuddered, "I just need some coffee, I think."

Wesley appeared behind me and guided me to my seat as Rose picked up the picture from the floor. I know I must have been ghost white. I stared at my hands, and they were shaking. I don't know how Jordan had done it that fast, but he appeared with a hot mug of coffee. He placed it in my cold hands, staring at me with concern written all over his face. For the first time today, I was thankful the two of them were there.

I sat there lightly, sipping the coffee and letting the steam warm my face. It was the middle of summer. I shouldn't be cold. My aunt pinned the picture back to the board where I had removed it. I couldn't let that monster control me like that from a picture. I placed the mug down on the desk and placed my fist on my forehead, looking forward at Rose, feeling myself return.

"Aunt Rose," She turned to me in question, "What happened to my mother? What really happened?"

She looked at me and then took a long breath, slowly walking back across to her desk to sit down.

"When you were little, there was a surprise attack on Greystone. Your father left to fight with the guard and fend them off, but he didn't realize there were two attacks happening at once. He thought that your mother could safety get you back inside the manor while he battled them at the perimeter -"

"But when she headed for the manor, there was more attacking at the front." I cut her off remembering. "We ran towards the woods, but she was spotted. She hid me, and he came..."

My aunt stared at me in disbelief. "Who came Lucy?"

"That wolf..." was all I could manage to get out, and an involuntarily shudder went through me remembering those orange eyes.

"You were the only witness of your mother's attack, Lucy, but you were so young and terrified. You didn't utter a single word for over a year afterward. Your father found her first, and then they found you in a bush safe, but curled up in a ball. You remember your mother being ill because she was. Her injuries were horrific, and some kind of weapon was used that was laced with wolfsbane. Between her injuries and the poison, she eventually passed away." My aunt finished. She wiped a tear from her cheek, "You're telling me her attacker was King Blackwood himself?"

I closed my eyes, cupping the hot coffee mug, and took another sip. I saw those haunting orange eyes as they came closer to the bush I was in. He had almost made it, but a loud, heartbreaking howl broke loose in the woods, and he ran. He ran like the coward he was when my father broke through the trees to find my mother laying there half dead. My blood boiled as my fear turned to hatred inside. I felt my eyes glow, and then the next thing I knew, the mug broke in my hands shattering.

"God, Lucy!" Rose screamed.

I looked down to see my hands were bleeding. Coffee and glass were everywhere. Jordan wrapped my hands in a handkerchief, and then I felt myself being lifted up. I looked to see Wesley carrying me, and then my eyes rolled to the back of my head.

*********

I awoke with a start in my bed. My father sat next to me, a solemn look upon his face as he stared down at me. He gently brushed a lock of hair from my face and kissed my forehead. I looked up at him, and tears rolled down my cheeks, remembering what had happened.

"I'm sorry for causing such a fuss. I should have better control over my emotions."

He looked down at me, and it seemed as though his heart clenched at my words. He wiped the tears from my cheeks and shook his head.

"Lucilla," he said gently, "You don't always have to be so strong. You had an episode because of the knowledge you received about the most traumatic event in your life. There is nothing to be sorry for."

"I broke the cup. I don't know why I broke the cup..." I glanced down at my hands. They had been cleaned and bandaged. I pulled the wrapping away only to be shocked that they had healed. My father just smiled.

"Your wolf broke the cup with her anger. Rose and the guards said your eyes glowed before it happened. That's probably why you were confused." he explained, "You're coming closer to your birthday, and she is getting stronger. You have to learn how to control her, but that will come later."

He sat there and just stared at me for a while deep in his thoughts before continuing, "So it was Roland in the forest that day? Your mother was too weak to name her attacker, and you were too frightened to talk about it. You pulled into yourself for a long time afterward. I wasn't sure you'd ever be back to yourself, and when you did start talking again, I was afraid anything wolf related might cause you to close up again."

"That's why you left me in the dark about everything, and why I'm just learning about all this now?" I said, sitting up in the bed. I was still in my clothes from earlier. The coffee had stained them, but I didn't care.

I focused on him, and suddenly, everything my father had done over the years made sense. He had only wanted to protect his fragile little girl, the only person he cared about left in the world. He did it the best way he knew how. It may not have been perfect, but he did what he thought was right. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hug. He froze for a minute. This was probably the first hug he had had in years taking him by surprise, but then he wrapped his strong arms around me, pulling me in tight.

"I love you, Daddy."

I felt tears from his face, "I love you too, princess."