Verum

three.

three

evelyn 

Malia left me alone in the room that had been deemed as mine. It was absolutely massive, but I could imagine these people didn't know what small living was like. In all honesty, I would have preferred something smaller, more cozy and home-like. But I was grateful for the bed and connected bathroom, let alone the shelter that they had offered me. Considering the circumstances of how I arrived here, I suppose I was lucky to still have working lungs and a beating heart.

I was laying on my bed with my feet thrown up on the wall behind it, thinking as I looked up at my feet. A royal man was courting me. Not just any King, the one that was supposed to kill me last night. Yet for whatever reason, he didn't. He saved me but also thought I might be fit to be courted? What a strange twenty four hours.

His courting me explained why he sniffed my rear as a wolf, but only somewhat. We might be able to shift into wolves, but we weren't that animalistic. Yet something about that action made me feel like he wasn't like the rest of us.

Malia came in hours later with a snack and drinks for us. I was quickly learning to enjoy her company. I enjoyed her honesty and the fact that she could be nice at the same time. "Malia, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Is the King different? I mean, in terms of him and his wolf?" I quizzed.

She got a surprised look on her face, completely taken aback by what I asked. But it was a look that told me the answer to that. "What brought this up?"

"Last night, he did something weird."

"Which was...?"

I shook my head, taking a bite of a cracker and cheese slice. "I don't feel comfortable talking about it. Just something that was more animal than man."

She got a familiar, far away look in her eye and I realized she was speaking through the pack link to someone.

My eyes widened and I hopped to my feet in fear. "No! Don't tell him," I gushed. "He is going to be mad at me. Please, don't say anything, Ma."

She was quiet for almost half a minute but then came back to the present with a frown. "His Highness would like to see you in his office."

I wagged my head hurriedly. "No way. I can't."

Malia sighed, shaking her head. "It's nothing to be scared of, honey. He is only going to make sure you keep quiet."

As if that was supposed to soothe me. If anything, that made me more nervous. "I need to use the restroom. So I don't wet myself when I see him," I told her.

Ma laughed lightly, shaking her head at me. "Fair enough. Don't be too long, he is expecting us."

Once alone in the bathroom, I really felt the panic set in. How the heck was I going to run from this? I was two floors up, but maybe it wasn't too high...