468- Confusion
POV Thalyndra Moonclaw:
"Yes, he takes his own scoldings alone; he doesn't involve anyone else, least of all me."
I shouldn't ask; it wasn't my concern and didn't relate to me. I didn't even care.
"And what about Anton's?" The words left my mouth before I could even think properly about what I was doing.
Damn it.
"Oh, I have no contact with them, and I don't know most of them."
I furrowed my brows in confusion.
"You don't know? But aren't they from Eldoria?"
The fact that it was in the plural, and not singular, didn't go unnoticed. My body burned with hatred; my urge was to go and claw that handsome face of his, which was absurd, since I didn't care.
Aurelka took a step forward, coming under the shade of the tree we were under. Faced with the subject, she seemed to temporarily give up on entering the lake.
"Anton doesn't get involved with anyone from the pack."
I shifted, restless.
"No? But why?" I inquired, trying to contain the imminent interest I was showing in the subject.
"He never wanted to, because he always said it would be a nuisance." She pointed in the direction where Myrion and Olivia had gone. "Look at Myrion with Olivia, Dakota, and who knows who else. Anton doesn't like that, having to answer to anyone." She snorted. "Dad had a mistress before he met my mother, and she was an insufferable she-dog who only caused trouble. Anton knows that story too, and that's why he chose to have peace. No lovers in the pack, no contact, and no need to give explanations."
"What happened to your father's mistress?" I asked, interested in the gossip.
She looked around before continuing:
"He killed her." She lowered her voice. "It's kind of a forbidden subject. I don't even know her name; no one who didn't know her does. He forbade anyone from repeating her name, from talking about her, because he wants her completely forgotten, as punishment for her actions."
"We only know this because one gossip or another mentioned it, but everyone is so afraid to touch the subject that we never found out what her name was," Lana added. "In the end, it's working. The next generation won't know about her, and she will finally be forgotten."
The woman must have done horrible things for Edric to take such an extreme measure. Anyway, as interesting as that seemed, I was genuinely curious about the other subject.
"So... Anton only gets involved with humans?" I coughed lightly, changing the subject.
Aurelka and Lana laughed, not letting my genuine interest in the subject go unnoticed.
"Maybe, when he goes to the city," Aurelka confirmed. "His lovers belong to the packs of my uncles, Viktor and Aldren. Anton meets them at the alliance party, which happens once a month." She rubbed her hand over her head. "Well... and in the city too, when he crosses paths with one of them." She raised an eyebrow. "At least, that's what I think, since once he came home wearing new clothes, different from the ones he'd left in when he went to the city."
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. My heart was racing and my breathing was ragged. Hearing about Anton and his lovers wasn't at the top of my favorite topics.
I don't care. I screamed mentally, trying to convince myself.
Aurelka looked at the lake.
"I'm going to take a bath now."
I nodded and looked across the bank, at the treetops on the other side, while mentally repeating that Anton wasn't relevant, least of all his love and sex life.
After a while, I came to the conclusion that I could repeat it over a thousand times, and none would be enough to convince me, not when I was so thoroughly persuaded of the opposite.
...
The moon shone high in the sky, silver light filtering through the treetops and between the branches. The dry leaves covering the ground trembled as the fresh breeze blew.
It was a beautiful night. Not warm enough to make the body sweat, nor cold enough to raise goosebumps on the skin. It was the perfect weather, pleasant for an evening stroll, and so I went out for a walk.
If connecting with nature was what I needed to better understand my instincts, then that was what I would do.
I didn't know if a walk through the forest would awaken my wolf's interest.
"There are animals, leaves, trees, and... sleeping birds," I commented, talking to myself.
I tried to take an interest in any of those things, but I couldn't.
I wanted to learn how to deal with my instincts, to control my wild nature—maybe then I could discover why the hell Anton was the object of my wolf's desire.
"There are plenty of others, some much better than him..." I commented, kicking a few leaves off the ground. "It's not just because he sort of saved us, and kidnapped us at the same time, that makes him better than anyone else," I continued talking as if she could answer.
If anyone saw me like that, they'd think I'd gone crazy and was talking to the ghosts of the forest.
It was foolish. I didn't know how to handle my creature, much less understand what her interest in Anton was.
"Maybe I can find answers in some book," I murmured, scratching my jaw.
"You won't find any answers in books," the male voice sounded to my left.
My heart raced. I spun around quickly, ready to attack. Anton emerged from the shadows of the trees, walking with delicate steps, making no sound as his bare feet crushed the dry branches.
The moonlight reflected off the messy strands of his brown hair. He wasn't wearing a shirt, the muscles of his defined chest tensing with his movements.
He looked like a mirage, so beautiful. Like an exciting, forbidden dream.
"And there aren't any others better than me either." He arched an eyebrow.
I clenched my teeth.
"Are you following me?" I snapped.
He stopped right in front of me and crossed his arms over his chest.