The Phantom Wolf

Chapter 49 (An Orphan)

*3rd Person POV*

Bree went silent, unsure of how to respond. Esme realises that she may have touched on a sensitive topic and quickly backtracks.

"You don't have to talk about it dear." Esme says, causing Pearl to nod in agreement.

"It's okay. I just... I suppose there's not much to tell." Bree answers quietly.

Pearl raises an eyebrow and asks, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well... I'm an orphan." Bree admits quietly, almost like she was embarrassed or ashamed by the fact.

Pearl and Esme are quite surprised by Bree's admission. Not having any idea that that was the case. Esme places her hand on Bree's shoulder.

Bree smiles slightly at the two, and says, "My parents died in a car crash when I was a toddler. Apparently I was in a booster seat in the car when it happened. My parents suffered fatal injuries, but miraculously, I came out of it unharmed."

"I'm sorry you went through that. It must have been tough growing up without parents." Esme says in a gentle tone, offering her condolences.

Pearl frowns and thinks, 'She could have died. I never would have gotten the chance to meet her... My life, would have been meaningless.' Pearl resolved herself. 'Nothing is going to put her in danger like that again. Not while I'm here.'

"I've come to terms with it." Said Bree, smiling lightly, in hopes of reassuring them.

"Were you placed with any other family?" Esme asks. Hope evident in her voice.

Bree shook her head. "No biological family ever came forward, so I was placed into the system. I ended up moving around a lot, so... I could never really make any real friends. And I never got adopted either... I ended up being alone a lot of the time." Bree sighed sadly.

"Tsk" Pearl got up from her seat, abandoning her plate and went to Bree's side. The hybrid pulled Bree into a side hug, offering the unhappy vampire some much needed comfort.

Bree gladly accepted, and rested her head on Pearl's shoulder. Esme stepped back to give the two some space.

Bree continued speaking while in Pearl's embrace. "I was eventually moved into an orphanage located in Seattle. The last foster family I had, got bored of me. So I was shipped off there. I ended up living in the orphanage for around 5 months. It was going relatively well, all things considered. I knew that I wasn't gonna get adopted, I mean, I was a teenager now. Teenagers rarely ever get adopted, so I resigned myself to being alone. I put all of my time and energy into school, instead of hoping and dreaming for a family. I was walking home late one night, and I got attacked by something. Turned out to be a vampire, who I later learned, was called Riley. He bit me and took me to a warehouse where I screamed in pain for days." Bree revealed, before she could continue she got cut off.

As Pearl let out a fiercely protective growl, making her chest rumble against the young vampire. Pearl pulled Bree closer, holding her tightly against her own body.

Bree made no move to get out of the embrace. In fact, she was actually enjoying the tight hug. She had figured out long ago, that Pearl wasn't especially affectionate, and not to big on hugs as a whole. Since she usually had to be the one to initiate a hug with the hybrid, Pearl openly showing her affection for the vampire was a lovely experience.

'She's so warm.' Bree thought. 'It's like I'm wearing a protective blanket.' Being so close to Pearl, made Bree feel extremely calm and relaxed.

Esme could see the affect Pearl's embrace was having on the young vampire. And she couldn't help but smile at the two.

After a while, Bree quietly added on to her previous topic of conversation. "When the pain finally stopped, I felt different. Riley took me, and placed me with a lot of other people... all of them were new born vampires. It was always so chaotic there. We never had a moment of peace. People were constantly fighting... tearing each other apart..." she said sadly, then muttered quietly in a broken voice. "It was horrible..."

Pearl interjected and spoke in a firm yet comforting voice, "You don't have to talk about that time Bree. No one expects you to."

"That's right dear." Esme agreed softly.

"Thanks" Bree quietly thanked them, smiling weakly.

"You'll never have to think about that time again if you don't want to. And if anyone brings it up without your permission, I will gladly beat them up for you, to teach them a lesson." Pearl declared seriously.

Bree laughs at the declaration in order to hide her flustered state. Thankfully, she can't blush, so she didn't need to worry about hiding her face.

Pearl didn't notice the difference, but Esme did. Internally smirking to herself, Esme thought, 'It's starting. I'll definitely be the one to win this bet.'