506- Breakfast and Bite Marks
POV Thalyndra Moonclaw:
"Why? Are you interested in some other male in the pack and that's why you don't want to walk around with Anton's dominance mark?"
I let out an angry cackle.
"I'm not interested in anyone, it's just... how can I show up like this in front of your parents? Doesn't it seem strange to you?"
Aurelka shook her head and held the edges of the cup, warming her hands.
"Everyone knows, if that's what worries you, especially my parents."
I ran a hand over my chest, feeling my heart, checking if I wasn't having a heart attack.
"And no one thought to tell me anything?"
"We're giving you two space. It's none of our business anyway. You're adults and capable; you can handle this on your own."
"Heavens, is it possible to die of embarrassment?" I asked, eyes wide.
They laughed.
"We're wolves, Thalyndra. It's impossible to hide things with our sense of smell," Lana said. "When I lost my virginity, my mothers smelled it the next day, even though he hadn't marked me like Anton did with you. I showered several times, stayed hours soaking in the tub with soap trying to mask it. But nothing worked. We're used to it and we know how to handle it too; now you just need to get used to it."
I rubbed my temples and closed my eyes.
"It's still strange, even so."
"It might be, but it's natural for us," Lana replied.
I picked up my cup from the table and took a sip of coffee, trying to calm my nerves with the hot drink.
I never wanted to have another conversation like that with anyone, least of all Anton's family, even if they knew everything.
I cleared my throat.
"Has Edric still not found out anything about the wolves that disappeared?" I asked, changing the subject.
Aurelka placed a hand on the table and clicked her nails against the surface.
"He knows the truth."
I stared wide-eyed, in shock.
"He knows? And how did he react?"
She laughed.
"Not the way you're thinking," she added, leaving me confused. "Let's just say the alpha knows his pups very well. The parents are looking for their children, but we know they will never find them." She sighed. "Anyway, my father didn't ask anything more about it, because he knows he'll be bothered by it; deep down, he knows the truth."
"And the parents will stop looking for them?"
"Probably not, but they'll have to get used to the absence. What they're saying is that they went to the city and haven't been seen since. There are two possibilities: they might have been killed there, so we'll never know who killed them nor find the bodies; or they might have simply abandoned the pack, which makes things even worse."
"No one who was at the party will tell the truth?"
She laughed and Lana joined in.
"They could, but they're terrified of what Myrion and Anton could do to them."
That raised a question for me.
"The girls Myrion sleeps with, they don't go to the parties?"
She denied it with a shake of her head.
"Why?"
"I think they know they might find something they won't like at all," she confessed. "At least, most of them don't attend, not these regular ones. The others, who know very well what my brother is like and don't care, are frequent presences."
I crumbled the slice of bread on my plate and put a small piece in my mouth.
"So that's it; the subject about the wolves' disappearance is over?" I inquired.
"Basically," Lana confirmed.
"And about yesterday, have you heard anything?"
They denied it with a nod.
"I only know that Myrion set the hotel on fire, even with our father's explicit orders not to." She raised a finger. "But... it seems Anton eased his situation because he found out the hotel belonged to the Merchants."
I smiled, remembering the conversation we had about it the day before, about how they protected each other above all and everything.
"Yes, it did," I affirmed.
"He also said there were many bodies left behind, so the fire was the best option to get rid of everything," she added. "And only because of that, Myrion got off scot-free from our father's wrath."
I put another piece of bread in my mouth before speaking:
"What would Edric do to Myrion? I mean, he doesn't seem like an easy person to control."
Lana made a sound of disdain in her throat.
"And he isn't," Aurelka assured. "He would be in an eternal punishment, where he would be forbidden from going to the city for a few months. Would he follow this rule? No! But... just the fact of being punished already means something."
I leaned back in my chair, straightening my posture.
It must be difficult to have so many different children. They didn't need to respect or follow their father's orders; they were already adults and surpassed him in strength and skill. Still, they seemed to respect Edric and Lunara above all, even if Myrion ignored his orders most of the time. He didn't follow the punishment, but at least he had the decency to pretend he was.
"No one can stop Myrion," Lana commented. "When he decides to do something, nothing and no one can stop him."
I hadn't seen him since the previous night, when he walked away with the excuse that he needed to go to the bathroom. I was worried about him, but Anton was too calm for someone who had a missing brother.
We took a few hours of walking through the forest to reach Eldoria. As tiring as it was, it was very good to help me clear my head. We heard the sounds of sirens and tires skidding on cement, but we didn't go back to see if it was just the authorities or if more Merchants were there too.
"Good morning, beautiful females." Myrion's voice sounded behind me.
I let out a sigh of relief, not realizing how tense I had been from not seeing him anymore.
Aurelka smiled.
"If you're here, it's because Daddy thought better of ending your race after what you did last night."
He approached the table, entering my field of vision. He placed his hands on the chair at the end and leaned over, cracking his neck from side to side, stretching, like someone who had just woken up. His hair was wet and he looked... well, with no visible injuries.
"For the first time in my life, our father congratulated me for an act of vandalism," he murmured, compressing his lips.
Aurelka narrowed her eyes, turning them into small slits, without taking them off her brother.
"He didn't say that..." she refuted.