The Beta and His Runaway Werefox / ✔️

“Stop watching her eat.”

Bella stopped mid-bite of her pancakes. Her eyes tossed between Harvey, Byron, and Jesse while the girls just laughed. Though she was thankful that Byron had said something, eating while being watched felt uncomfortable.

“I am just making sure she eats.” Harvey defended himself with a glare at Byron. “Is that really so bad!?”

Sherry rolled her eyes. “Aunty Xenia did this to Uncle Vincent when they first met. Maybe it is a family tradition?”

Harvey sighed, placing his coffee cup down as she noticed the dark liquid swishing around inside the cup. She had never felt so out of place, everything was new to her, and for once in her life, she got to sleep in a bed with a pillow. In fact, there were four pillows, and they all smelt like Harvey.

She also got to use a toilet for the first time and spent an hour pushing the button to watch the water go down the hole. She had never felt so fascinated up until Harvey knocked on her door and told her that he had made pancakes. If she had known that he would watch her discover this delicious meal, then she would have stayed in the bathroom and kept flushing the toilet.

“What about the time when Uncle Vincent made Aunty Xenia eat?”

Grace rolled her eyes with a scoff. “You guys are talking like you were born then.”

Bella did notice that both Grace and Jesse looked much older than the rest, but she did not want to question it out loud. Their random stories about Harvey’s parents were enough, and she quite enjoyed them.

She kept her head down, the smallest bites being taken as she tried to figure out what was used. In her home, she would find wild plants and collect herbs to create soups. Sometimes she was lucky and found vegetables, but mostly, she would go to abandoned rivers to hunt fish or find rabbit holes and wait out for rabbits.

Her food was soon finished while everyone talked to each other. Even Harvey was distracted as she slowly stood and snuck out of the room. She did not want to disturb their conversation as she stood on her own and debated where to go. Bella considered going back to her home to see if her dad had been there, but she knew in her gut that he had not.

She then considered turning back, but she did not feel comfortable with so many people around her. She felt safe with Harvey, but when everyone else was around, she felt like an outsider looking in. She felt like she did when she would listen to them talk outside of her home while they waited for her to come out, a burden.

Her father had made it clear what being a burden was like. He would state it to her as a child while she complained that she was hungry or tired, but she would have never thought that she would feel like this around people that have stated many times that they want to get to know her.

The biggest problem was the fact that she still does not know herself.

Opening the door that led out of the Packhouse, she decided to find the children. Her walk yesterday from the hospital to the Packhouse gave her a clear idea of where she was going as she felt a weird sort of peace when she watched them play.

Her feet glided along the rocky paths as she noticed everyone was wearing some form of footwear. Her father wore shoes but told her that it was a waste of time for her to have any. Thinking back now, she wished that he had changed his mind. Bella loved the idea of shoes and keeping her feet protected from rocks and twigs.

Her eyes caught sight of the wolf pups as she fastened her pace and decided to sit down under a tree to watch them. The soft grass swayed against her legs from the gentle breeze that was blowing by. She felt peace amongst the calm while she observed the pups. It was as if they were not playing at all as she observed them, their movements seeming to be in sync before she realised that they mimicked the adults.

Not too far away, there were adults, humans, wolves, and fox’s all fighting together in harmony. Bella knew what they were doing, her father had taught her the art of fighting just in case a werewolf tried to kill her, but she was not aware of how skilled and precise they were in their own training.

“Would you like for me to teach you how to fight?”

Bella jumped, her head spinning around to find a worried-looking Harvey standing behind her before she shook her head. “No, my papa has already taught me what I need to know.”

Harvey frowned a little, sitting down next to her without looking away from her face. “You know how to fight?”

“Just a little.” She shrugged sheepishly with the fiddle of her fingers and the bite of her lip. “Only enough to run away from... from a wolf.”

He did not respond at first. His brown eyes were glued to her own grey ones while she smiled a little from one of the puppies falling over and landing on his face. “I am sorry for taking you away from your home and then making you feel uncomfortable.” He finally spoke, her head turning to look at him again in surprise. “I cannot comprehend what it is like to be pulled into a world that is unknown, but I want to try.”

She felt her heart drop from his words, her mouth slightly open as she quickly shook her head. “No! I like it here.” She admitted with a toothy grin. “I just feel weird around so many people. My tummy hurts, and my chest feels tight, and I want to run away when there are so many people around me.”

Harvey’s face changed from a worried and stressed look into a relieved and grinning one. “Bella, you have what is called Social Anxiety. It is normal, especially for someone who has never been around people before.”

“But how do I fix it?”

Harvey thought for a minute before he held his hands up so that his palms were facing her. “Try hitting my palms.” At first, she stared at his giant hands, moving her body a little so that she was directly in front of him before she raised her fists and hit one of his palms. “You cannot fix anxiety; it is something that will always be with you, but there are ways to conquer it. Taking your mind off it by doing this is one of them. Mental distraction goes a long way.”

She kept hitting his palms, enjoying the fact that he allowed her to hit as hard or as soft as she wanted. “What if this does not work?”

He smiled, his eyes sparkling under the sun. “Then we find new ways.”