Under The Crescent Veil

14. Silly

The next morning Nyx entered a busy and lively kitchen. She didn't realize that her in-laws were staying for the night and that she yet again had to make sure to hold back in her remarks and rude behavior. All in the hopes for some good intel. Yesterday she got barely any, especially after choosing not to write about the children, the only possible weaknesses so far of this family.

By many of them, she was greeted with a 'good morning' or 'morning' which she reciprocated with something similar. Silently and out of the way, she filled a plate with the foods that were displayed on the kitchen island in a buffet style and joined the others in the dining room. Her breakfast contained once again out of fruit, and yogurt, and the new addition that made way in her mornings were eggs. Fresh eggs were totally different from the egg powder she had gotten at the headquarters.

The fresh food was the only and biggest positive consequence of her arrival in this pack, which she still needed to learn its name of. It was high on her list to get for her notebook.

At the dinner table everyone was present the moment she joined them as well. Nora, Andrew, and Constance were conversing about the pregnancy. Nyx could hear Constance asking her daughter how it went so far and if the morning sickness was bothering her.

Then you had the men hurdled together in a corner. Silas, Rowan, and Clyde talked in hush sounds. It was hard to make out what they were saying, much to Nyx' frustration. She wanted to know because surely it must have been related to the war. The only one who she could hear the best was her mate. "This morning... message... pups... other packs."

It was nothing Nyx could go on and she wasn't given the chance to as Marlene tried to make small talk with her, sitting straight across from her at the table.

"So, Nyx, do you have any siblings?"

"No," She told her curtly.

"Oh, how come?"

Nyx looked at her bored, not believing what she was hearing but at the same time she didn't want to entertain her. "Don't know."

"You never asked?"

Nyx sighed. "I didn't get the chance to." Irritation started to rise.

"You never asked for a sibling?"

"Not that I can remember," Nyx gritted out.

"I remembered that I asked for a younger sibling so many times. I am the youngest, you see, in my family," Marlene rambled out of nerves, but still trying to connect with her sister-in-law, "I wanted to boss someone around too as my siblings did with me. My parents never gave me an answer, but my mom wasn't pregnant after me again, so in the end I got my answer after all. Anyway, how are your parents doing? Do they miss you-"

"Are you serious right now?!" Nyx slammed her hands on the table and stood up. "Are you messing with me?" Clyde stood up as well and walked up to his mate, standing protectively next to her.

"I-I don't know what you are talking a-about," Marlene stammered. Her fear for the human girl close to the surface again.

Before Nyx could say something Nora spoke up. "Marlene, Nyx's parents died at the beginning of the war... by the hands of werewolves." Nora felt it was necessary to add the last part, hoping her new sister-in-law would get some sympathy from Marlene and Clyde.

"Oh, I-I am sorry, Nyx. I didn't know."

Nyx wanted to sneer at her, but when she saw Lena's frightened face she backed down. "It's fine," She mumbled and sat down on her chair, finishing her breakfast, not wanting to waste any fresh food. It took a couple of minutes before everybody was back in their seats, calmly talking to one another again.

Nyx tried once again listening in on the three men with not much success. She, therefore, distracted herself by looking out of the big windows, giving her the view over the backyard. It mostly contained a bright green, grassy field with a terrace where you could lounge on a late summer afternoon.

Nyx had to give it to the werewolves, they knew about aesthetics and how to make one feel at ease in its own home and garden. The city where the headquarters of the region was placed, mostly contained of concrete blocks of buildings with either had a housing or business purpose. Some of them belonged to the HPS, as they tried to keep an overview to keep the safety at its best. Everywhere you walked either military men or women were seen marching on the pavements. Propaganda posters where plastered on every building and it was strictly forbidden to remove them or to block it with other posters.

The 'real' United States of America, as many humans put it, was dull and grey in comparison to the 'fake' United States (the part the werewolves had taken). Most cities had to deal with poverty as all the governments money was spend on the war.

As Nyx tried to take more in of her view she was snapped out of it when Nora spoke up, getting attention from everyone. "Silas?"

The Alpha looked up. "Yes?"

"Andrew and I were wondering if it was alright with you if we could stay here during my pregnancy. You see with everything going on now in the war we thought it was safest to-"

"Of course, family is always welcome here. My home is your home now."

"Thank you, Silly."

The Alpha groaned and everybody laughed, except for Nyx, not knowing what was going on. "Please, you promised me, not to use that name anymore."

"But it's so much fun!" Nora laughed.

Silas shook his head. "And you even said it in front of Nyx, now before you know it, she is in on it too," He groaned again.

"In on what?" Nyx asked with much curiosity.

"Oh, this is a funny story, Nyx," Nora started. "You see, Silas had these weird and obscure obsessions ever since he was a child. It started with dinosaurs, then wasps, then nature went out of the window and he became obsessed with all kinds of paper, ink, and pens and pencils. And now it's food and cooking. Mom always called it his 'silly hobbies'."

"Oh, yes, I remember," Constance chimed in on the story.

"And that stuck within the family and since then he is known as Silas 'Silly' Cliffstone," Everybody laughed again, even Clyde.

Silas tried to change the topic by mentioning Nora and Andrew's move. "Let me know when you want to fully move in and if you need anything just let me know I will prepare it for you."

Nora smiled and stood up, giving her brother a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, again."

It was an odd scene to witness for Nyx. The family dynamics seemed quite healthy to one another, as long as she was not interfering it seemed. Again she questioned how her own family would be if her parents never died that unfortunate day. A sadness washed over her together with a certain longing. A longing for her parents but mostly her memories of them. She always had a hard time dealing with that from the day they were gone. Not being able to remember them made it almost seem as if they never existed in the first place. Their faces were blurry, her former house was just a collections of colors, and memorable events were merely muffled sounds.

When breakfast came to an end, the front door was suddenly burst open by a man. He shouted in the house, looking for the Alpha. "Alpha Silas?! Alpha Silas?!" Then the unknown man ran into the dining room as Silas stood up from his chair.

"I am sorry to interrupt you, Alpha. But I got some unsettling news this morning that we have to discuss," He said out of breath, sweat dripped down his forehead, and in his hand he held a couple of papers, crushed by his grip.

"Let's go to my office."