Once Upon a Wolf

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

"They were freaking lying," I mumbled under my breath as I stared at the bear head mounted on the wall above the fireplace. "There are bears here." I shook my head, annoyed. I mean, where else did they get the grizzly adornment?

For the rest of the morning, I was at Alice's side. Brett showed her the main rooms of the lodge. And of course, I tagged along too, learning more about the house, to his impatience. The bottom floor held a conference room with a long mahogany table, a small office, a sizeable library, and an enormous kitchen with two gas stoves and a catering oven. By the large steel sink stood the waitress girl named Pippa washing the dishes with another elderly lady kneading dough on a wooden island table. Pippa's upset face when she noticed us walk in didn't escape me. Upstairs hosted all the bedrooms and two guest bathrooms. Brett didn't guide us to the top floor. All the main members of his family were up there, and he didn't want to show me.

But what caught my attention was a door down an abandoned passage near the library. Brett failed or ignore to inform us as we walked past earlier.

However, curious me, wanted to know.

"Hey, Brett." I called and stopped as we strode past the dark passage for the second time. "What's down there? Behind that door." I pointed to the heavy oak.

Alice backed up and peeked over my shoulder down the narrow passage. Brett stopped and turned to me, inhaling deep and blinked hard once, looking at me with a suppressed scowl. "It's none of your business." He blatantly said, and I blinked.

Alice held her hands on her hips and tilted her head at Brett. "Hey! That's rude," she said sternly. "You're giving us a tour of your house, Brett! What's wrong with Zoey asking that question?" I stood behind her with my arms folded, glaring at Brett with my chin tilted up, pleased that Alice stuck up for me.

Brett rolled his eyes and scoffed. "It's just the basement. No one goes down there," he grumbled.

"See, was that so hard?" Alice shook her head and smirked cheekily at Brett.

I narrowed my eyes at the door that looked heavily secured. It had three heavy bolts that could lock it shut, as if they wanted to protect something inside. Strange, I thought. If no one went in there, why were the bolts unlocked?

I shook the prying thought out of my head and carried on.

Later, Alice asked me to join her and Brett, touring the grounds next, and I agreed. I mean, what else was I to do? Determined to gate crash Brett's parade with my best friend.

The early afternoon sun was warm against my cheeks as we stepped out of the lodge. The spacious deck outside furnished a large gas grill and led down to an enormous open ground. Alice and Brett strolled ahead, accompanied by the twin brothers at their side. I followed behind, not keen that Zack and Mike will join us. But I guess it was better than trailing behind the couple on my own. The cocky twins wrestled with each other. Zack held Mike in a light-hearted headlock as they walked. Alice nestled her hands around Brett's upper muscled arm, and I studied his home grounds, inspecting the surroundings.

The air was fresh with the scent of the forest that enclosed the place with rugged terrain that looked more and more like a compound. These grounds were secluded and in a remote location, come to think of it. Where the hell exactly were we? I couldn't give anyone directions to this place. No address or nothing. I squirmed inside, making me feel a little restless at the fact.

Five normal cabins lined the left and another enormous house settled to the right of the lodge. They even had a medical office. People roamed about. Men, women, and a few children. Was this Brett's family village or something? I frowned, watching Alice oblivious to the peculiar family camp going on here. I'm started to think it was a good idea that Alice brought me along. She was so loved up in her love bubble that she might not notice the red flags. I was an objective opinion and so far, as I scanned the grounds, small alarms rang in my head already and it was only day one.