The Flame Trilogy (Books I, II & III)

1.08

The days pass by slowly. Dimitri is putting together all the small details of the trip as quickly as he can, but things still seem to be moving at a far slower pace than I would like. It just adds to my frustration that things are taking so long; we don't exactly have the luxury of time, I suspect that it won't be long before Shadow Fang comes after me.

I think the Alpha in question caught on to my agitation, and so he instructs me to pass the time by spending time with the other bitches in the Pack. Just by my luck, today is the weekly luncheon. With direction from their Alpha and much pressure from Angel, Irina and Viktorya, I reluctantly agree. I haven't got much of a choice in the matter.

The first thing that I do is speak with Irina, the conversation goes somewhere along the lines of: 'I wasn't attacking you, but your way of life is outdated and some people may not be as happy living the way that you are'.

All in all, Irina realises that is as close to an apology as she would get, considering I don't really know what an apology is. She takes it with good faith, though still not agreeing- not that it surprises me at all. Changing an entire system like how a pack works isn't like flipping a switch, so I understand her reluctance to change.

The luncheon begins when all the pack bitches arrive; all the tables in the tea shop are pushed together to create one huge table in the small space. There are a good number of bitches, somewhere between 20 and 30 of them. They all begin chattering gently with one another domestically, I overhear some exchanging recipes and talking about pups.

I would never admit it to anyone, but it is single-handedly the most awkward, and irritating experience of probably my entire life.

The pack bitches here are such a close knit community; they smile and laugh with each other but when it comes to me, they are very cautious. Though they try to hide it since I'm clearly in comfortable company with their higher-ranking bitches, as much as they try, I can easily see their weariness when it comes to me. (Not that I have any grievances about it, in fact it's somewhat amusing.)

I don't particularly care, nor am I surprised in the slightest. I haven't been introduced into the entire pack, so for all they know I could be their Alphas whore. (Although judging by the behaviour of one bitch in particular, and my memory of first arriving here, I assume the position is already taken.)

They are right to be careful, I could easily kill all of them without breaking a sweat...if I wanted to. I am above them in every way possible and they can all probably sense it.

Most of the bitches act fickle, gossiping about who's mate is better however I can tell they all have a much deeper bond. They seem to genuinely care about each other's emotional development and enjoy providing support for those with even the smallest of issues.

I sit at the corner of the table, taking in the well lit and decorated tea shop. Angel and Irina sit with me; Viktorya sits amongst the other bitches since she is only a Kappa. The two bitches with me never once leave me alone, and decide that they would 'teach' me how to use their strange eating utensils.

Irina tells me that they are called 'cutlery' and are used to eat without being too messy. My hands are clumsy and unaccustomed to the dainty pieces of metal; they often clatter out of my hands when I try to use them.

I hate feeling out of my element, but I'm more than determined- by force or by fire- that I will learn this one humane behaviour. Even if it doesn't embarrass me, I don't want to behave like an animal all the time; Shadow Fang took my humanity and I want to reclaim it however I can. Besides, maybe if I become more like him, Dimitri would be more willing to help.

It takes me a few tries, but I'm successfully able to manoeuvre the cutlery to eat. It's still slightly uncomfortable since this is the first time that I have ever used such devices, but I'm still proud of my accomplishment. Apparently, I'm not the only one as Angel claps, cheering at my success whilst Irina smiles in approval.