Chapter 33

Daphne

It has been one week since Calle marked me. I looked at it in the mirror, and I couldn't help but smile. The incision on my neck had completely healed, leaving a lovely mark. It was cobalt blue in a hue that stood out against my pale skin. Every mated wolf bore a distinct mark, as did this one.

I tilted my head and placed my hand on the scar on my neck, sensing it with my fingers. Instead of being flat, the hue seemed to shine and intensify like the dark skies on that night when we made love out in the wild.

I was undeniably proud of my mark. But unfortunately, I needed to cover it with a lot of concealers. Calle didn’t want the idea, but like what we had agreed upon, I still had to prove that I was worthy of the title of his Luna—that was my choice.

And it started with performing community service.

After I took a bath and dried up, I threw on a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans. To protect myself from the extreme cold of the winter season, I wrapped a scarf around my neck and covered my head with a soft bonnet. After slipping into a pair of boots that reached up to my knees, I was ready to go.

The scouts in the pack accompanied me to my assigned site, the front of the university. I gulped upon noticing how messy the ground was. Snow and leaves were competing for survival, and here I was wiping them away.

"If you need anything, just mind-link us," one lanky scout said. "Alternatively, you can approach us in person at the headquarters. It's a few blocks from here," he added, pointing his finger to a two-story building about a hundred meters from our position.

‘Well, I prefer going back to the packhouse. Seems like it’s closer than that headquarters,’ Reina muttered.

I had the same thought as Reina, but I just kept my comment to myself. Instead, I nodded at the scout. "Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind."

He nodded too and walked off with his group.

Time was running so fast that when I took a glance at my wristwatch, I realized that one hour had already slipped by.

I took a tight grasp on the rake and looked at the huge tree. No matter how often I swept along the road in front of the university’s gate, the leaves kept falling as if they were snow. Regardless, I didn’t have a choice but to clear the lane so the dried leaves wouldn’t get in the way of the main entrance of the campus.

‘We should at least get paid for this kind of work, you know,’ Reina complained. ‘If I knew that this was Luna's responsibility, I'd ask the moon goddess to make me an omega in my next life.’

"As if you’re the one getting tired, Reina. You are not even stretching your legs, so what are you whining about? Besides, we’re not going to be compensated since this is volunteer work. Besides, we’re lucky that our punishment is community service instead of imprisonment in the pack’s dungeon, " I muttered, shoving the leaves into the big plastic sack. It was full, so I tied it up and pulled it toward the tree. The official sweepers were the ones to collect them at night.

‘Fine!’ Reina sighed heavily. ‘But you know what, we don’t need to put so much effort into this clean-up drive. Why not use your powers so—’

"That's not going to happen, Reina," I said, my jaw clenching. "The last time I used my powers, someone was rushed to the clinic. And aren’t you forgetting that instead of attending a class and accomplishing an exam, I am here, cleaning off this freaking tree’s mess? I took a glimpse at the red oak tree and smiled broadly. "I didn’t mean what I said. You are pretty and adorable."

Reina murmured in annoyance, but I ignored her and just continued with my work. After all, this was a free workout in this cold season since I couldn’t regularly spend time in Calle’s bed to heat me and—

‘Now what are you thinking!’ Reina blurted out. ‘You’re in the middle of work, yet your mind won’t leave Calle’s bed.’

I could feel that my face was burning in shame. It's a good thing we were alone. I didn’t know what my face looked like as I imagined myself making love with Calle in the middle of the day.

"We're no longer alone..."

I looked over my shoulder to see what Reina was talking about. My shoulder sagged and I sighed in dismay when the form of an approaching girl became familiar.

"Kyla," I muttered.

She narrowed her eyes, scanning me from head to toe. She was tapping the point of her rake when she said, "Are you intending to slow down your pace so that when my shift arrives, there will be more work left for me?"

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I chuckled, a frown forming on my forehead. "And why would I do that?"

She raised a brow before spinning to her heels and beginning to work on the mass of leaves.

‘Still bitchy,’ Reina sighed, ‘You have to remind her that we are all here because of her fault.’

‘I know,’ I said to Reina. ‘And I know that she’s aware of that.’

‘Why did you say so?’ Reina asked, confused.

"Just looked at her. Even though she displays a cold demeanor, she’s unlike before," I said, preparing for another sack. I opened it wide and put it on the ground. "She can confront me if she likes to since no one is around. But look at her, she just does her work without bothering me at all."

"Yeah, I guess you’re right. Better off ignoring each other while you do community service. After all, Calle only requires both of you to complete the twenty-four hours of work," Finally, Reina agreed. But I heard her gasp when I began walking toward Kyla. "Okay, now what are you doing?"

"Relax," I said to Reina. And then I paused when I was a meter away from Kyla. To catch her attention, I faked a cough. "Um, Kyla, can I have a little of your time?"

She halted and slowly turned around to shoot me a puzzled look. "What do you want from me? Bang me against the tree because I ‘bullied’ you?" I could hear the sarcasm in her tone. Regardless, I didn’t feel irritated by her harsh attitude.

"I just want to tell you that... I’m sorry."

Her expressions softened, but her posture still stiffened and her guards remained up. "What are you sorry for? Aren’t I the one who caused trouble?"

I shook my head. "But you were hurt. I admit I got mad when you took advantage of me being a newbie on campus. But still, violence is not a good response." I stared at my snow-covered boots. "I am sorry. And I’m glad the accident didn’t bring you serious harm."

For some reason, my chest felt lighter after I apologized to Kyla. The truth is, I got worried that time when she was rushed to the pack’s doctor. If she wouldn’t accept my apology, then at least, I had been true to myself.

To my surprise, Kyla patted my shoulder. When I looked at her, she was smiling sadly. "I’m sorry too. And thank you for making me realize that making fun of others is wrong. But believe it or not, I like to be friends with you."

"Are you sure?" I frowned. "Even though I have no wolf?"

She shrugged it off. "Well, the truth is... I don’t have a wolf either—me, my brother, and my aunt. We’re not wolf shifters."

"Really?" My mouth parted in surprise. "Then what are you?"

"Witches. But don't worry, we're the white ones. I’m not going to cast a curse on you because we don’t do that. We cleanse a cursed person."

"Wow…" I couldn’t help but be amazed by what I discovered about Kyla. My gut was right. She wasn’t a bad girl... just a little bit naughty.

Just then, someone walked toward us. He looked like a boy-next-door cutie in his coat and hoodie.

"It’s nice to see the both of you getting along with each other now."

"Kurt?" I said, greeting him with a small smile. "What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in the class."

He shrugged his shoulders and picked another rake out of the wooden box the scout had prepared. "I’m not going to leave my sister and my friend to work on their own."

"Sister?" I raised my brows and turned to Kyla when I made sense of his statement. "Oh, so you mean you two are siblings?"

Why the heck didn’t I figure it out from the start? When the accident happened, Kurt was the one who attended to Kyla.

"Fraternal twins, actually," Kyla explained as she stood by his side. She looked up at him and nudged him with her elbows. "Hey, I know why you’re here. You want to get near Daphne. You don’t want to help me."

He shot her a warning stare. "I said, I’m here to help."

"Yeah. You’re here to help your crush!" Kyla said. She stuck out her tongue before running from Kurt.

I, on the other hand, blushed. Kurt was too handsome to have a crush on me.

‘And Alpha Calle is too hot to resist,’ Reina intervened. ‘Don’t even think about entertaining Kurt.’

‘Of course. Why would I do that when I already have a mate?’ I told Reina. ‘Noticing someone’s appearance doesn’t mean I already want to marry him!’

Reina didn’t respond, which made me want to strangle her.

***

It seemed like community service wasn’t boring and embarrassing at all. The truth is that I felt more valuable than before. It was a pleasant feeling when you do good deeds with no return, and at the same time, contribute to the whole pack. Moreover, I was happy because I made new friends because of this activity. Kyla and I might have started rough, but like she had said when we first met, we were going to be good friends.

After we finished the clean drive, we were assigned to the cafeteria, assisting the staff at the food counter. Kurt once joked that the three of us could look for work in the city as restaurant crews because we already got our training here.

After all the students left the cafeteria to attend their classes, the three of us took our seats at one of the empty tables. The good thing about being assigned to the cafeteria was that the food was free. So Kurt and Kyla took the chance to order their favorite foods, which were pasta and pizza, along with brownies and chocolate smoothies. unlike me, who just chose to eat a sandwich and a bottle of water.

"Seriously, Daphne ?" Kyla’s eyes widened upon seeing what was on my tray. "You seem not hungry after working all day? Haven’t you got tired?"

I chuckled. "That’s the point. I can’t eat properly when I’m tired."

I was about to open my sandwich when Kurt took a slice of his brownies on a fork and placed it in front of my face. "Why don’t you try this one? Don’t you know that dark chocolate has been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of clotting, and increase blood circulation to the heart? So, they lower the risks of stroke, coronary heart disease, and death from heart disease. Not to mention, they make us feel good and can give us that feeling of happiness and satisfaction."

I blinked. For a moment, I didn’t know what to say, so I just leaned forward and took a small slice of brownie. The taste was undeniably good, but I got conscious as Kurt kept on gazing at me. He was even sensitive enough to know that I already swallowed the brownies. Because just before I thanked him, he placed the glass of smoothie in my hands. The cold glass had already refreshed me.

"Now try this smoothie," he offered, a wide smile curving across his face.

For a moment, I was hesitating to take a sip. Kyla had noticed my doubt, so she said, "Don’t worry, Daphne. There’s no potion in there. We may be witches, but we don’t make someone love us back using a simple beverage." She winked at Kurt, who was again shooting daggers at his sister.

"We have a lot of things to talk about later," Kurt told her.

"I’m just helping you win your crush. You need to thank me, dear brother!" Kyla chuckled, shrugging it off as she sipped her strawberry smoothie. "After all, Daphne has no mate yet…" She looked in my direction. "Right, Daphne?"

The frosty-cold smoothie should have relaxed me. But I found myself burning with tension as she asked me about my mate.

‘What are you supposed to say?’ Reina whispered in a high-pitched voice. ‘Deny Alpha Calle in front of the witches? You think you can lie to them?’

‘Instead of pressuring me, why don’t you just help me in this situation, Reina?’ I mentally shrieked at her.

‘The only way out is to disappear in front of them,’ Reina said.

Great. My wolf is very useful right now.

I looked back at Kyla and Kurt who seemed confused. "I, um…"

"Kyla, Kurt, Daphne!"

I almost jumped in my seat when that deep and authoritative voice echoed in my head. Kyla and Kurt must have heard about the mind link because they immediately stood up.

"Y-yes, Alpha Calle."

"Return to your homes now and take some rest. Your task is done."

Kyla nodded. Her expression turned serious as she moved away from the table. But she gave me a small smile when she turned around.

"See you in class tomorrow, Daphne," Kurt said as he patted my shoulder and followed his sister.

Only a few seconds later did I decide to move... and breathe. Why did I feel bad about Calle’s tone? Was he mad at me?

"Remain in your seat, sweetheart."

Before I knew it, Calle was sitting across from me. His jaw was clenched as if he wanted to eat me alive right there.

"What’s the matter?" I asked, my brows furrowed. "I did my work. Why do you look angry?"

He leaned forward, and I gasped when he whispered in my ear. "You are supposed to be working, not flirting with some random guy!"