THE GARDEN

Anna walked for what seemed like hours but she knew it was only a few minutes that passed by.

While trying to figure out the way back to her room or at least the front door, she passed by a pot of people. Unlike the recent days when the halls were empty and the castle almost looked like it was haunted even with its beauty, this time, some faces she recognized from the table strolled the hallways.

Of course the second they all spotted her, whatever chatter they had died down and they gave her weird looks and stares, and some of the people she passed by just straight up avoided her like she was a fucking plague.

Anna had contemplated asking for directions from at least one of the people she came across but quickly decided against it when she noticed their attitudes towards her. She wasn’t ready to be beaten down by anyone’s words again.

She kept walking while what she experienced in the shrine weighed in her mind.

Who was that young woman that spoke to her?

How was it possible that she’d shifted but yet at the same time didn’t.

Anna thought about that feeling of freedom she felt, what she would give to experience it again.

Her gaze drifted to the glowing bangle on her wrist, it’s origin and purpose unknown, all she could tell was that it had some sort of power and couldn’t be taken off at will. Had th? warlocks somehow found a way to bind her to GreyThorn? Did they see that she intended to escape in one of their visions?

She had all these questions but no one to answer them.

Anna breathed out a sigh of relief when she finally found a staircase.

She went down, nothing looked familiar but she knew that it would at least lead somewhere, maybe her assigned room or a place where she could sit and think properly.

As expected, what awaited her at the end of the stairs wasn’t the familiar entrance to the kitchen and large living room, instead, she was faced with a glass door, and behind it was a garden. The largest she’d ever set eyes on.

The greens stretched for miles and miles, she couldn’t see the end of it. The entire hallway was made up of glass, no rooms or anything else on that particular ground floor, just a glass door and glass walls.

Anna made her way to the door, it had a dark golden knob that looked like it was made in the years of the early werewolves. There was a carving of a wolf and right next to it, its human form on the knob. The artistry was amazing, Anna somehow wished that she was in this place under different circumstances. That way she could enjoy the beauty of the magnificent pack house.

She touched the knob, it was cold to the touch. She twisted, and she could see the locks pull away from the glass and into the knob.

Then the door opened.

The scent of fresh flowers hit Anna’s nostrils. She inhaled deeply, the calming sensation it created almost brought tears to her eyes. There were flowers, trees, and plants of different colors, ones that she didn’t even think could grow in this part of the world.

From roses to lilies, to tulips that made Anna wonder if these flowers could actually grow in the same environments.

So many different plants that she couldn’t identify, but her eyes took in the beauty and a warmth spread through out her chest. The heaviness that May’s words had brought on slowly dissipated.

“Anna?”

A familiar voice but yet somehow she knew it was also someone she was and should continue to be wary of.

“Done with the warlocks already?” Anna turned around to look at Tony, Kane’s beta.

He had on a laid back expression, his hands in his pants and a faint smile on his lips.

“I honestly thought it would take an entire day,” he said.

“Hi Tony,” Anna replied, her voice rather raspy. Was it because of the tears she held in?

Or was it because she was still recovering from the shock and confusion of what she had seen back at the shrine.

“I just thought I would come out for some fresh air,” She lied, she didn’t want him to know she was lost but she felt relief knowing that he would be able to take her back to her room at least.

“Yeah, this is definitely the best place in the entire house for that, how did you find it though?” He cocked up a brow.

“Well,” Anna chuckled awkwardly and scratched her chin, “I just took random turns until I found the stairs,” Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment as she admitted.

Tony chuckled and nodded knowingly.

“What about May? She left you alone to explore the pack house all by yourself?”

“I…no, she didn’t. I left her,” Anna said, “She was being a bit...”

“Mayish?”

Anna let out a small laugh and nodded, “Yes, Mayish.”

There was a bench right next to the door, Anna sat down with a heavy sigh and closed her eyes, trying to just feel the beauty instead of seeing it. She heard Tony’s footsteps as he walked to the seat as well and took up the space next to her.

“How are you holding up?”

“Holding...Up?” Anna opened her eyes so she could loom at the man. Understanding blue eyes met hers, he looked like he understood her conflicted emotions.

Anna didn’t fall for it.

“Yes, I know all of this must be so hard for you. It must be like leaving one terrible prison to another...I know how hard that can be,”

He cared?

Or was he just asking to make sure the product was in perfect mental shape?

Anna bit her lip and stayed quiet while mulling if she should be honest to the man she didn’t know or just stay quiet for the entirety of the conversation.

“I don’t want you to see GreyThorn as another prison, you’re totally free to do whatever it is you want here...You are now a part of us?”

“Then can I leave?”

Tony’s eyes closed and he looked away like the question caused him pain.

“I wish I could give you the answer you want to hear, but until Kane is able to get what he wants from the Wolf Spirit, GreyThorn is going to be your home.”

Anna lets out and exasperated breath and let out a bitter laugh.

“How is that different from the prison I was taken from? Just like that place, I am just waiting to die—”

“ Kane has promised to find a way to keep you alive even after everything has been done,”

Anna shook her head and stood up, “You and I both know that’s impossible...I might look like a meek child but I am not one, I know the realities of life...The realities of my life,” Anna said.

She ran her fingers through her hair and down her face.

“I know I am going to die by your Alpha’s hands,”

But I won’t just sit back and wait for it to happen!