He stepped down from his chair and took the three steps down from the platform but still as he stood away from me he looked big, huge even.
His arms were like tree trunks and his chest was broad and his shirt clung to his chest.
As he lifted his arms and stretched them over his head his shirt rode up and I saw the deep knitted v that disappeared down his jeans.
”Careful where your eyes wander,” I hastily looked up and met his gaze. I still didn’t know his name and for some reason it felt anticlimactic to ask him. My nerves were jumbling together and my tongue was twisting in my mouth.
Even Clara was backing away and lowering her head in a submissive stance.
”Let me show you something.” He walked over to the massive oak, half-moon shaped, table that stood against the wall. It looked old but nicely preserved just like everything else here.
”Place your hand on the surface.” I looked at him and then cast a quick glance back at Justin who was harder to read now than before but I saw that slight twitch in his eyes. The man reached down and softly grabbed my hand, guiding it to the table. As soon as the tips of my fingers touched the table my head flew back and I was gone.
The marron red of the tapestry melted into the dark walls and the wood that was being hammered against the pillars. I turned and saw a man with a bushy long beard standing over a tree that had just been taken down. He started sawing into the thick trunk and wiping the sweat off his forehead as he went along.
One by one he took pieces of wood and placed them neatly where he would later put them up. Noticing where I was a shock filled me fast. This was the house that I was standing in, the house of the leader. It was the table that was leaning against the wall and the maroon colored tapestry was the same that hung there til this day but the house wasn’t finished yet, not even barely.
He came over so close that I thought he had seen me but he just walked past me and looked down at something. I turned and saw his tortured gaze as he dragged his fingers over the surface of the sharp wood of the table. Two others came walking in carrying more wood tucked between rope.
”Where do you want this?” The man tiredly rose his arm and pointed to the pile by what would come to be the left wall in the big hall.
”Drop it over there for now,” he said with a grunt and the guys did as he told. A woman came in not long after and smiled timidly as she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked at the table.
”The starting point of an entire history,”
”Let’s just hope this all survives long enough to be considered history,” the man said and turned his head to look at her.
”It will, we will. What you’ve done here, you found a sanctuary for everyone. You are going to be the one that keeps us safe and that makes sure that no other pup ever has to live out the horror that those before us had to endure. It will all come together, you’ll se,” he smiled and leaned his head back as he placed her locks behind her ear.
”You have such faith in me, my love,” she cupped his cheeks and smiled widely, reveling her pearly white teeth.
”Always,”
I came to and my head was flung forward and I felt a hand on the low of my back steading me as I fell back a step.
Turning my head I immediately looked at Justin and saw him walking back into position. The man beside me, the leader, still had his hand on my back and I stepped aside creating some space between us.
”You saw him?” He asked and furrowed his brows.
”I did,”
”Then you’ve seen how this all started. All of this, the ground you stand on, the houses you see, the people living in peace and prosperity, it all stared with him.” The information had trouble landing in my head, it was a lot to take in. I could see that the men in my memory meant a lot to this guy standing in front of me but I did want to know more about the history.
”Are you related to him?” I asked and saw him lifting himself up proudly.
”I am. It is his bloodline that has ruled and driven this pack for centuries.”
”So you’re the Alpha?” He licked his lips and smiled.
”No, I’m the king. We have a different hierarchy here. There isn’t a second and third in command, there is you and then there is me. That is all. I am the ruler of this pack and everyone else is on the exact same level.” I rose a brow and tilted my head.
”Meaning they’re beneath you?”
”Aren’t they always? Wether it’s an Alpha or a king, aren’t the people always under him? It is my job to protect and serve, how could I do that if my people were standing in front of me? At least here we don’t have others thinking that they are above anyone else. Everyone is treated equally.”
The door opened up once more and two ladies walked in dressed in the linnen fabric with silver trays in their hands. They placed the trays down and I saw the tea kettle and cups along with candies that were placed out.
”Does that apply to them as well?” I asked when the servants walked away. He chuckled and walked over to the table.
”Let me ask you, Layla, did you not have chefs in your pack? Or cleaners?”
”We do,”
”It’s the same thing. Them being my servants doesn’t alter their position in the pack. They are neither beneath or above anyone else here. It is their job to fulfill my needs and the needs of this house and they do so with much appreciation.”
”Why?”
”Because where my bloodline was meant to rule, theirs was meant to service the ruler.”
