SWNOVELS Chapter 28
Chapter 28 -Dorothy-
I trudged out into the garden and took a look around for Geranium. I spotted him a little distance away, leaving on one of the pillars at the front. gate. He raised a hand to me in greeting and I sheepishly waved back before going on the hunt for this so-called garden path.
I had rounded the entire cottage twice and pondered the fact that the big, beefy security guard of this estate was named after a sweet-smelling little. flower and I still hadn't found the pathway.
I was contemplating just giving up and going back inside when the wind turned and I caught the sudden whiff of a strange scent. I whirled around to face Angie who had been following directly behind me. She stood uncomfortably close and her wide blue eyes were fixated on unblinking. Her stillness was disconcerting. I hadn't heard so much as a twig cr ack and yet she had to have been following me all along. "What the fu ck!"
My voice was a high-pitched mewling as I scrambled a few steps away from her.
Angie blinked a few times in quick succession like she was coming out of a trance. Most likely she had shifted to a predatorial mode as she followed behind me. She had been stalking me like prey.
I regarded her with caution, wishing that Ignatius hadn't left so qui He seemed to trust this long-limbed goddess more or less, but with t she had been looking at me, I had my reservations.
I had dealt with more than my fair share of beautiful heathens back my old pack, I had prepared myself for many more to come.
"Why are you back?" I asked her and attempted to quell the shaking in my knees. "Ignatius isn't going to like this."
Angie curled her lip and sighed like she was exasperated at conversing
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with a child. "I came to talk to you. Ignatius, it would seem, has lost his mind. He's thrown all reason and responsibility out the window, bringing you here." "What did I ever do to any of you?" I spat, my anger overtaking my
wariness. "Is it because I've been rejected? Who cares that my mate doesn't
want me.
"Your mate does want you," Angie said blankly.
I had been balling my fists and preparing for a brutal beatdown but her words halted me,
"What did you say? How would you even know that? Actually, on second thought, how does everyone know that Johan rejected me in the first place?"
Angie retained a stony silence, glaring at me. When she finally spoke, she chose her words carefully. "There are things that have been set in motion by your arrival here. Bad things. If you really loved Ignatius, you'd do what was best and go back to your own pack!"
I refused to back down. I had not gone through everything that I had only to be denied by yet another pack - another potential family before they even knew me.
I would make them love me..
I lifted my chin. "This is my pack now. I'm not leaving Ignatius's side. I'm going to be his Luna. And I will prove to all of the Bielke people that I am worthy of that title."
Angie looked like she wanted to cut me down right then and there but she restrained herself and allowed an unfriendly but polite mask to slip back. down over her flawless features.
"We'll have to see about that, won't we? Good luck, runt. I won't make this. easy for you."
She paused while slinking away. "If Ignatius had any loyalty to his people. he'd kick you to the curb in a heartbeat. He's with his father as we speak
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He still might.
With that, she melted into the forest at the edge of the garden. Both her scent and the sound of her steps disappeared like she was never there to begin with.
I was beginning to fear that Angie would make for a far more insidious foe than Mavis and her dogs had ever been. Her words, try as I might to dismiss them, ricocheted around my head long after she had left. Groaning in sheer frustration at the hostility of my new home, I kicked at the grass. I was about to get to work pounding my fists into an unsuspecting tree when I finally noticed the garden path Ignatius had spoken of. Carved onto a large stone embedded in the dirt was the symbol.
of a wolf.
After a few minutes of traipsing through the overgrown pathway and stumbling over more concealed slabs of stone along the way, I finally made it to the hot springs. My stormy mood which had soured. exponentially since Angie's first appearance was suddenly forgotten entirely.
The scene before me was so ethereally gorgeous I gasped out loud and dropped the towel I'd been twisting in my hands.
The hot springs were not just the mere holes of hot water in the dirt I had been imagining. They were dozens of jewel-encrusted rockpools clustered beneath a rushing waterfall that sent a steaming spray of mist over the small clearing.
Some pools were shallow and tiny and others were the size of small swimming pools. Steam rose from the crystal clear water and the air itself was moist and warm. Lush green foliage encapsulated the tranquil haven.
Upon closer inspection, someone had stacked massive seashells along the lining of some of the pools - Swirls and cornucopias, conches and sand. dollars, all lined neatly around the hot bodies of water. I approached the closest pool and turned slowly in a circle, scoping out the surrounding forest and sniffing for any unfamiliar scents. When I was sure I was alone, I peeled off my clothes and gingerly stepped into the pool.
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The water felt like bathwater, and pri ckles of warmth set off goosebumps up my legs as I lowered myself into the silky pool. I dipped my head underwater and shook my hair out while holding my breath. Red wispy locks floated around me as I kept my head under, stilling my mind.
I wondered how far the mind-link with Ignatius could reach. Holding my breath and emptying my head of all thoughts, I focussed on seeking out Ignatius, probing with my mind to detect his energy. Like wading through water, I gradually came to feel Ignatius. He was tense, angry, and... a little afraid?
I struggled to keep my mind clear, I didn't want to drop the link now that I'd managed it. I wondered if he could hear me.
"I found the hot springs," I whispered with my thoughts. "It's beautiful here."
Ignatius's voice, so clear in my mind he could have been right there next to me, responded, "I'm glad you like it" His light tone shifted as he continued, "I'm almost done here. I'll be back soon. Do you think you'll be okay until then?"
I blew bubbles out under the water, letting myself sink until my knees hit the sand below.
"I'll be fine."
And just like that, Ignatius pulled a curtain across his mind and I was unable to hear any more from him.
Only when my chest began to burn and my lungs were screaming f did I break the surface once again. Around me the forest was silent. the continuous gushing flow of the waterfall could be heard. I floate my back, allowing my muscles to relax one by one in the tepid water.
There were countless unanswered questions and even more concerns th I had to consider. But I allowed myself one small moment of self-indulgence as I floated there. I closed my eyes without intending to and before long I was drifting.
A small sound in the woods had me bolting upright, making a splash as I
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The water felt like bathwater, and pr ickles of warmth set off goosebumps. up my legs as I lowered myself into the silky pool. I dipped my head underwater and shook my hair out while holding my breath. Red wispy locks floated around me as I kept my head under, stilling my mind.
I wondered how far the mind-link with Ignatius could reach. Holding my breath and emptying my head of all thoughts, I focussed on seeking out Ignatius, probing with my mind to detect his energy. Like wading through water, I gradually came to feel Ignatius. He was tense, angry, and... a little afraid?
I struggled to keep my mind clear, I didn't want to drop the link now that I'd managed it. I wondered if he could hear me.
"I found the hot springs," I whispered with my thoughts. "It's beautiful. here."
Ignatius's voice, so clear in my mind he could have been right there next to me, responded, "I'm glad you like it." His light tone shifted as he continued, "I'm almost done here. I'll be back soon. Do you think you'll be okay until then?"
I blew bubbles out under the water, letting myself sink until my knees hit the sand below.
"I'll be fine."
And just like that, Ignatius pulled a curtain across his mind and I was unable to hear any more from him.
Only
Only when my chest began to burn and my lungs were screaming for air did I break the surface once again. Around me the forest wa the continuous gushing flow of the waterfall could be hear my back, allowing my muscles to relax one by one in the te
There were countless unanswered questions and even more ce I had to consider. But I allowed myself one small moment of sel indulgence as I floated there. I closed my eyes without intending t before long I was drifting.
A small sound in the woods had me bolting upright, making a splash as I
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did so that sent water cascading out of the pool in ripples. I wrapped my arms around myself under the water - suddenly freezing despite the hot steam coming off the pool.
I looked around me in all directions like a frightened rabbit. At the sound. of more shuffling, of sticks cracking and breaking underfoot, I squinted into the shadows of the forest. Something was moving out there something big.
I cowered into a crevice in the pool, praying to both the moon god and every other deity I had ever conjured up as a child, to please let it pass by without seeing me. I waited there, with my nose barely peeking out of the water, for what felt like forever.
I thought maybe the creature had gone. Nothing could be heard but the shush...shush... of the waterfall and the slow drip of water falling rhythmically. After a little more waiting, I realized that it was not the dripping of water that I was hearing It was the slow and steady ticking of a clock.
Just then I felt something hot and sticky drip onto my head, it ran down my face and turned the water around me red. I looked up just in time to see the creature standing above me, bloodied jaws open wide enough to swallow me whole.
With a jolt I opened my eyes, thrashing in the water as I awoke from an accidental slumber.
Water poured into my nose and burned my sinuses as I fought a monster that wasn't there. After I finally surfaced and coughed up water from my lungs, I looked around me again. There was nothing out there, I was al
I forced myself to calm down, huffing deep breaths and grounding mys in reality. I hurried out of the pool and wrapped the discarded towel around me, securing it in place under my arm and gathering up the rest of my clothes.
I tried my best to keep up a natural pace as I headed back for the cottage,
but my fear got the better of me my night terrors leaking into my waking
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without tripping on hidden shrubs and stones.
I would have to tell Ignatius about the dreams. I didn't know what to make of them but I also knew I could no longer face them alone.
-Angie-
I was more than a little confused to see the runt thrashing around in the hot springs like she was being attacked, I thought maybe she might be drowning - It would sure as hell make my job easier if she did. e was
I had bid farewell to Ignatius only a week before when he told me he headed to Khall territory to see an old friend. Little did I know he would be bringing home an unwanted guest.
I couldn't understand what he saw in that minuscule slip of a girl. She was pretty enough sure but she was about as intimidating as a daisy and not to mention the product of a rejected mate.
I had thought little of the stigma around rejected shifters before Ignatius had showed up with his new toy.
But seeing Dorothy in person I couldn't help but feel like there was something inherently wrong with her. Surely, certain people were rejected. for a reason. What could possibly cause a soulmate to break that sacred bond and choose another?
While it's pretty uncommon for shifters to never feel the mating call at all, it can happen. Most people tend to find their mates within their own pack - it would seem soulmates stay close together, even after death.
But sometimes one's true mate could be miles away. Sometimes they could already be dead.
I was pretty sure that that was the case for me. I had felt the call once, after my own eighteenth birthday. But it wasn't very strong, and, by the next. day, those feelings of longing had disappeared entirely.
I wasn't too bothered by this. After all, I had greater matters to concern myself with than that of finding myself a lover. I had made it that far without one after all. With that being said though, there had always been
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that n ig gling thought that one day Ignatius would be an option.
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I had forced myself to banish this idea from my head. My friend had been grieving after the loss of his own mate. He had needed a friend, not a replacement partner.
I thought I had reserved myself to the understanding that we were loyal friends and that was all we would ever be. But upon hearing of Dorothy, and how quickly he had fallen for her, a seed of jealousy sprouted in my chest.
And try as I might, I was unable to contain it. By the time Ignatius arrived back home, it had bloomed inside of me, taking root and spreading like a disease.
I didn't want to fight Ignatius, I didn't even want to be as crude and antagonizing as I had been when I approached him on his own property. But this new love he had found felt like a betrayal.
Aside from my own feelings towards the unbelievably odd union between the two, Dorothy's presence with the Bielke people - my people - posed a greater threat than neither she nor Ignatius understood.
I had respect for Elliot as the leader of our pack - much less respect for him as a father - but when he had called upon me that morning to tell me of the news I had no choice but to take his side in the matter. Dorothy's previous mate had gone rogue, maddened by his own rejection. of his mate as well as losing his partner, and even killed his own father.
The Khall, upon discovering that it was Ignatius who had claimed Dorothy and taken her away, blamed the Bielke for conspiring against them and attempting to take them down from the inside. Furthermore, a few Khall girls had come forward saying that Ignatius had threatened them when they tried to plead for him to leave Dorothy alone.
That last bit of intel I was inclined to take with a grain of salt, considering Ignatius would only resort to threats when absolutely necessary. Then again, after the stunt he pulled, I wondered if I truly knew Ignatius at all.
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As much as I didn't want to admit it, it was clear that he did truly care for this redheaded girl, no matter how far-fetched the concept seemed.
Why else would he have thrown the entire peace treaty between their packs into jeopardy by taking her from them? By taking her from her true mate his own former best friend.
It didn't make any sense to me.
I was shaken from my musings when Dorothy stopped her thrashing and climbed out of the hot springs. I shifted my positioning behind a thick cluster of foliage and swallowed a sigh.
Unfortunately, the runt didn't drown. No matter though, I had my own plans for getting rid of the problem at hand. I pulled out my phone, making sure it was set to silent, and snapped picture after picture of the slim, pale figure as she reached for her towel.
Dorothy was convinced she would make a good first impression on our people. I was determined to foil those plans.
I doubted she would be able to speak to anyone, let alone show her face in public when her n*ked b*dy and laughably small rack – was passed from one young shifter to the next throughout the pack. She would be unable to gain the respect she wanted, and Ignatius would have no choice but to deny association with her. It was a childish plan, yes - and fueled by my own jealousy and resentment - but it would be an effective one nonetheless.
I stared at Dorothy for a moment longer as she scanned the area. I kne she wouldn't detect me. Of all the shifters of our clan, I had always be the best at tracking at hiding, at concealing my presence entirely. Her face relaxed slightly when she concluded that she was alone and I watched as she quickly headed back through the overgrown pathway to the cottage.
I waited for a few minutes, listening to her shuffling footsteps fading into obscurity, before heading back myself. I made sure to mask my scent again, rubbing Physalis leaves all over my b*dy.
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Every Bielke soldier was required to carry them for tracking and spying purposes. Once covered in the thin film given off by the leaves, a shifter's scent would be masked entirely, and no trace of them would be found. afterward no matter how strong your nose was.
It was how we managed to keep track of the neighboring packs so effectively. None of them were aware of our spies invading their lands every so often. It was better that way, we would always be one step ahead of our enemics.
I glided back
up i
pathway, stewing in my own tumultuous thoughts. Only when I had made it back to the garden and began slinking my way around the house to leave, did I pick up on an odd scent. Turning sharply to look behind me I scanned the forest. Nothing.
It was not often that I felt like prey myself. Although the scent had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, and not a sound could be heard. other than the occasional chirping of birds, I couldn't shake the
feeling of
eyes on me.
I was distracted from my growing alarm by a new scent.
"Angela." I whirled around to face the woman who stood before me in the garden. "What are you doing here?"
I exhaled loudly and calmed my sudden nerves at the sight of Rita. "Your sp ooked me."
Rita raised a dark eyebrow and eyed me suspiciously. "You're not one to be easily sp ooked. Why are you skulking around the property while Master Armoundt is out?"
S hit. Rita was the caretaker of the cottage when Ignatius was away. While she was mostly passive and pleasant, she was also too sharply aware of liars. than I was comfortable with.
I shrugged. "Just making sure everything's safe for the new Luna. Who knows who might want to get to her, you know?"
Rita narrowed her eyes at me but said nothing more. She turned and strode back towards the cottage and I hurriedly slipped down to the front
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gate, hightailing it out of there in a hurry.
Ignatius might be angry at me for what I was about to do of course he would be, this was the apparent new love of his life after all. But surely he would thank me later for helping him avoid such an obvious
miss-step?
I told myself that this was for the good of the pack. Sending Dorothy back to them would not fix everything - Johan would still be on the loose after all, but surely it would help. It had to.
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