Chapter 49 The Boot At Door.
Chapter 49
Tracy's POV
The journey from Stormfang pack to Crimson pack stretched out long and dusty before me. Twelve hours. Twelve long hours of watching trees and rocks pass by my window.
But I didn't mind. Not really.
The visit was wonderful. Amazing, even. Seeing Rosa's face again after months apart, it was like drinking cold water after walking through a desert.
We had to be separated. That was the hard part. But it was necessary. Like cutting off a finger to save the hand. We needed this separation to reach our goals.
And Alpha Jax? He treated me like a real queen mother. Gifts piled into my luggage until the bags groaned under the weight. Heavy. Big. Full of expensive things that showed respect.
Rosa begged me to stay longer. Her eyes went wide and sad, like a child watching her mother leave. But I had to say no. I promised her I would visit more often, and visit longer next time.
But that was a lie.
Alpha Vexhood's orders were clear: stay away. Keep your distance. The gods were angry, and when gods got angry, they struck everything nearby. Better to be far away when lightning falls.
I knew it was hard on Rosa. My poor daughter left there to face the anger of the gods alone. But it needed to be done. No delays. No second thoughts.
The palace servants carried my heavy bags to the van. Their muscles strained as they lifted and loaded. One. Two. Three bags. Four. Five.
Then I climbed in and started the engine.
Crimson pack was my home now. It had been for months. Alpha Vexhood was smart, he saw this coming before we even started our plan. He knew the gods would strike the Stormfang pack hard. He knew everyone and everything there would suffer.
And he was right.
No rain had fallen in Stormfang since Mila died. Not one drop. The moon refused to show its face in the sky. The water turned bad, tasted like metal and dirt. Diseases spread like wildfire through dry grass. Sickness everywhere. Death everywhere.
But here in Crimson pack? Different story. The rain fell when it should. The moon shone bright and full. Water ran clean and cold from the wells. People smiled. Children played.
This place felt like home. Real home. Stormfang was just a wasteland now, marked by the gods for destruction.
The sun was setting when I finally arrived. Orange and red painted the sky like spilled paint.
All the maids Alpha Vexhood had employed were all on part-time routine. They returned here early and went home when the sun was about to set.
I parked the van and sighed. My body ached. My bones felt old.
I grabbed the not so heavy bag with very essential items. The ones I could carry myself. The heavy ones could wait until tomorrow when the maids came back.
Usually, as queen mother of Stormfang pack, at least three maids would travel with me. But not this time. Alpha Vexhood's orders were strict: only a few wolves in the council of elders should know about this house. No one else. Keep it secret. Keep it safe.
Only Alpha Vexhood knew where I lived.
I dragged the small bags from the van, one in each hand. My feet shuffled across the ground, tired and slow. Up the terrace. Up the steps. To the front door.
I stopped on the doormat. My feet felt glued there, stuck.
I set one bag down on my right side. My hand reached into my pocket and pulled out the key. Cold metal. Heavy.
I pushed the key into the keyhole. I turned it. Click.
The door creaked open.
A breeze hit my face. Fresh. Cool. Strange.
I frowned. The windows should be closed. The maids always closed them before leaving.
Then I looked down.
My stomach dropped.
Footwear. Shoes. But not mine.
White medical boots. Reinforced at the heels. The kind healers wore. The kind built for walking hospital rounds and running to emergencies.
My heart started beating faster. Harder. Like a drum in my chest.
I knew these boots. Only one person wore boots like these.
Mila.
She said they made her feel free. Made her body move easily. She had many pairs in her bedroom, different colors, different styles. But this pair? This was her favorite. She wore them everywhere. To work. To the market. Even just walking around the house sometimes.
She really fell in love with them to the point that she hardly left them behind.
My hand trembled like a leaf troubled by torrential rainfall. The door hinges made some funny sound. I managed to drag the bag inside.
With a heavy thud, the door shut behind me.
Then a breeze bigger than the first one hit my chest, so intense that it almost swept me off my foot.
The door frames rattled. The pictures with nails which glued themselves to the walls, crashed. Glasses shattered.
The calendar on the wall too where not left behind, they fluttered like the bird trying to escape.
The curtains at the window, which I spotted and was sure were closed, suddenly separated. Like they were pulled apart by invisible hands of the gods.
The little saliva in my throat went dry immediately like I was cruising through the desert.
"Hello?" I called out. My voice came out small. Weak. Nothing like a queen mother should sound.
I swallowed hard and tried again.
"I…Is there anyone home?"
Silence.
Just the wind howling
through the house. Just the curtains snapping. Just my heart pounding.
And those white medical boots sitting outside.