~Layla~
Nathaniel and i were getting ready for practice the next day. Our little tea date had lasted for an hour, with every other ten minutes being a stoic silence where we tried to see through each other. I hoped he failed as miserably as I did.
I just had to walk out of the house for today’s practice. He said we needed to be amidst the distractions and not away from them. The pups were running around screaming and playing; the adults were having coffee, walking around, and socializing.
“Are you ready?” Nathaniel spoke. I nodded my head and listened to Nathaniel’s instructions.
“Close your eyes and take a deep breath. In through your nose and out through your mouth slowly.” I did what he told me.
“Good, now I want you to tell me what you want for dinner,”
“I want par-“
“Shh, not out loud. Tell me in your mind, as though we’re having a quiet conversation, like when you’re talking to your wolf. Pretend that you’re telling me telepathically.”
I wanted to open my eyes and scoff at him, but I did that internally as well.
I started thinking about Parmesan chicken with buttered pasta. How on earth he would be able to hear this, I had no idea, but the image was clear in my mind, and I did pretend as though I was telling him. I figured I had nothing to lose by doing this, except feeling like a freak with everyone gawking at us.
The chicken was cooked to perfection, and the golden crisp of the surface glimmered against the white ceramic plate. Freshly grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the pasta and some basil for flavor and aesthetics. Justin taught me that. I was getting really hungry; my stomach was in uproar, and my mouth was salivating.
I wiped away the drool from the side of my mouth and swallowed the saliva. My stomach growled, and amidst the annoyance of my body’s reactions, I opened my eyes to see the gawking I had only earlier imagined.
“What is going on with her?”
“Why is she acting like a freak?”
“Maybe she’s not normal. What is Nate doing with her?”
“With her or to her?” Another said, and they all turned their heads and stared at her.
“She barely practiced at all when she first came, and now suddenly she’s standing in
the middle of town where everyone can see her.”
“Like I said, freak.” They whispered once more. The more I looked around, the more I saw different expressions based on the person I had my eyes on.
It was the younger ones, the ones my age, who were acting like catty bitches, but the older ones, the grown-ups, they were watching with contentment dragging over their faces, and their shoulders were relaxing. I think I even saw a hint of pride in their eyes.
Nathaniel packed up, and after I had broken eye contact with all of the pack members who had stopped to watch us, I turned to him in confusion and watched him throw his bag over his shoulder.
“This was it? We’ve been practicing for like ten minutes,” his arm rose, and he looked at the watch on his wrist.
“Thirty minutes actually. We’ll continue later. Go clean up and meet me for lunch in an hour.” Nathaniel was headed back to his house. The pups ran after him, and he laughed as they grabbed onto his legs and swung over his bag.
The parents laughed, the tweens swooned, and as soon as he was gone, they all smiled and carried on with their day.
This entire pack was giving me the chills by now.
“Nicely done.”
“Yeah, you did good,” they were commenting on my training with cheerful smiles and reached out their hands.
“Oh, uh, thanks.” They bowed their heads and gleamed before walking away.
Clara
’Aha, yeah, i saw it’
I’m freaking out. It feels like in those movies where they’re super nice right before they kill you and eat your intestines.
’What the hell kind of movies have you been watching?’
“Hey you,” it was one of the younger girls, she was my age with rat blonde hair tied in a braid.
“Hi.” I said without too much positivity. She was one of the rude ones that had been poking fun during my practice. They talked shit like that and then acted as though it was nothing. Maybe it was nothing to them, was badmouthing pack members that accepted here? Or was it just because it was me.
“Here,” she said and handed me a bouquet.
“What do you want me to do with these?” I asked, scrunching my face. She giggled and pressed her shoulder against her ear. Her cheeks grew tinted with a crimson coat, and her eyes fluttered.
“I thought you could give them to the King and tell him they’re from me.”
“Why don’t you give them to him yourself?” I asked and looked at the purple and pink of the petals. “Oh no, i couldn’t do that.” Her hands waved in front of her like she was trying to slap that idea away.
“Why not?” I giggled, finding this more amusing than I thought I would.
“The only girls who are ever in his house are the ones who live there to serve him. Ugh, can you imagine?”
she didn’t say it like I had hoped. It wasn’t ’ugh’ as in ’ew’; it was more ‘ugh’ with a hint of jealousy and wanting.
“Can you imagine being one of them?”
“Always there to please the King,” one of her friends said and bit down on her tongue as a low moan escaped her lips.
“The idea to live to serve him, I mean how lucky they are!”
“Wow,” I took a step back. They all jerked their heads around and watched me after hearing my comment.
“You actually want to live to serve a man?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Not just a man, the King.”
“It’s what every girl here wants, really.”
Another one said.
Her blonde hair fell over her shoulders and she looked dead serious.
“Right well, I have to get ready.” They all smiled and nodded their heads like a group of bobblehead dolls.
“Dont forget the flowers!” She said and clapped her hands.
“Sure,” I turned around slowly. I know it was just my mind playing tricks on me but it felt like if I turned to quickly someone would be jumping up behind me with a knife pressed against my spine.
I slammed the door shut and relaxed. A shiver went down from the top of my head down to my toes and my whole body shook out.
“Holly sweet mother of the moon goddess,” my head flew back against the wooden door and my feet were cemented to the floor.
Those girls honestly thought that it was a privilege and an honor to be one of Nathaniel’s server girls.
They were jealous of them. Based on how that one girl reacted when she let me into the house, how she explained what it was she did, she seemed undeniably proud herself.
It was icky somehow, the idea of somebody being born for the mere purpose of serving a King for the rest of their lives.
No matter what I thought about it, I was heading back into the devil’s den.
The doors opened up, and another girl let me in this time.
“Nice flowers,” she said and looked at the bouquet I held in my hands.
“They’re not from me,” I made sure to make that part clear. I didn’t need Nathaniel thinking I was bringing him flowers.
“They’re from another girl?”
“Yes, could you give them to Nathaniel?” I asked and handed her the bouquet.
She smirked and bowed her head as she accepted the flowers.
“Sure.” She gestured with her hand down the corridor, so I started walking. The sound of a twirling metal behind my back had me carefully turning my head. Only the top flowers could be seen while the rest were submerged in the trash bin.
The girl smiled and walked ahead, showing the way to her master. The flowers slowly sank, and my stomach sank with them.
