Chapter 77 New Lady

Chapter 77 New Lady
Callista.

I don’t know who this woman is. I’d never seen her before. Yet she watches me with the intensity of someone I should really watch my back with, because a woman who confidently wears a sword like that in this day and age? She definitely knows how to use that, and I do not want her to use it on me. And don’t get me wrong, her face is so impassive, not showing any emotion at all.

But I know she’s watching me with interest.

I don’t know what to focus on more, the sword or the hair, because both of them are equally fascinating. The hair is the exact shade of fire in the night. The sword looks lethal. Hell, I’d never seen anyone wear a sword period. Not in the 21st century.

I’m curious about her.

“Are you Callista Leander?” She asks me in a sonorous voice.

My guard rises up immediately. She knows me, or at least, knows about me, and I know nothing of her. That’s enough for me to be paranoid. I’m not exactly in my right mental state here, and that’s making me antsy dealing with people I know.

When it comes to people I don’t know, the paranoia gets bumped up by ten points.

“Who's asking?”

“My name is Valencia Everheart.” The woman introduces herself, with a slight but elegant bow of her head. “I’m from the Galdine pack.”

Galdine pack. I’ve heard of that pack before. One of Leighwen pack’s neighbors, they were a little eccentric, as rumors said.

That explains the sword then. Galdine Pack had an affinity towards melee weaponry.

What it did not explain is why Valencia had sought me out. I had no relation to her pack whatsoever. And people normally did not approach the stealer like she had done, all casually and with no condescension.

Maybe she did not know what I was.

“Well, nice to meet you. And to answer your question, yeah, I am Callista Leander.”

“So,” Her eyes scan my form from head to toe. “You’re the stealer?”

Rarely is that question followed by anything good. So, she does know what I am.

“Guilty as charged.” Once, I would’ve tried to deny the claim, but now I knew that it was pointless. My identity was permanent, and any issue that came with it I had to face.

“Then please accept my condolences for your sister.” Wait, what? I blink at her in surprise. “It is not easy to lose a family member.”

That is the last thing I expected anyone to say.

“Um, thanks, I guess. And yeah, it was hard.” Calling it ‘hard’ would be an understatement. More like disastrous.

Stranger than that is how this is the first time I’ve been treated like Ruelle’s family rather than Ruelle’s-stealer-sister-who-killed-her. It’s a refreshing change of pace. I wonder if she had heard the news of how Theon publicly humiliated me on the day of her funeral, calling me the killer of Ruelle.

“She was His Majesty’s mate, wasn’t she?” Valencia asks, her tone curious.

Man, I am so not in the right mind frame for this interrogation. How am I supposed to answer that? Tell her it’s false?

“Yes, she was.” I settle on that. Not even Theon believes I’m his mate. Why would she? It’s the easiest answer than making yet another person look at me like a liar.

“It’s a shame, then.” Valencia sits down on a bench near us, “Please, take a seat. I only wish to talk.”

“Sure, why not?” After a few beats, I give in.

The cool breeze ruffles the willows that surround the hospital compound, and we watch as the sun's rays start to mellow as the afternoon transforms into the evening. It’s pretty peaceful, especially after the storm that raged the other day.

Looking at my guest, I can’t help but notice how Valencia looks so out of place here, in this hospital compound surrounded by other sickly wolves and nurses, with her bright jacket and lethal-looking sword.

I’m so confused about this interaction. What did she want from me? So far, she’d been civil. Who really was she? Why was she here? All I knew was her name and her pack name.

“I see that you’re nearly bursting with questions,” Valencia observes with a hint of amusement curling her lips. Amusement is a good emotion, hell, any emotion is good as long as it isn’t contempt or disgust aimed at me.

“Well, it’s not every day that someone wearing a sword comes to visit me in the hospital.” I peer at the said sword, “Is that thing real?”

Her left brow raises, “Yes. It’s my weapon of choice. My father gifted it to me at my coming-of-age ceremony. It’s a tradition in the Galdine pack.”

Man, coming-of-age ceremonies are getting weirder by the day. But I bet no one can top a literal human sacrifice. Personally, I’d take sword-gifting over that any day.

“That’s nice,” I choose my words carefully. You do not want to say the wrong thing around someone who knows how to use a sword.

She cocks her head like a bird, her blue eyes assessing me. “Have you ever used a sword?”

“Who, me? No, no way,” I snort because the very thought is too bizarre. “My previous pack, Leighwen pack, wasn’t into weapons. Our Coming-of-age ceremonies had more dancing than swords of any sort.”

“That’s a pity, you've got a good form for a sword,” Her eyes stare at the distance. “I take it that you’re curious as to why I am here.”

“The thought did cross my mind a couple of times,” I mutter.

“I wanted to see you,” She meets my eyes, “The stealer sister of the mate of the Alpha King. Who’d killed her sister to be the Luna? Quite the overachiever, aren’t you? You’re practically a celebrity around these parts, although not of the right kind.”

I sat ramrod straight at that, trying not to panic. I’m famous now? As a killer? Goddess help me… “Oh?”

“Theon and I are childhood friends,” Valencia goes on, oblivious to my crisis. Or plain ignoring my crisis. “We’d known each other for the longest time. I even studied at the university here. But after I found out about my mate, we began to get distant. Theon became the King and Alpha of Rexellen pack, and I became the Gamma of my pack.”

Oh, they were friends. Somehow, it makes a lot of sense for Theon to be friends with someone like her. A warrior and a prince. It was basically a reverse fairytale.

“My mate died just around the time Theon found his mate.” Out of nowhere, she reveals.

Seriously, what is her angle with all of this? Is she here to avenge her former bestie’s fallen mate? Is that sword going to acquaint itself with my neck sometime today? Did Theon send her to finish the job the bears started? What even is happening?!

“Oh, Goddess, you poor thing.” I try to add as much sincerity and remorse as possible to those words. Better be on her good side. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

She nods, “Thank you.”

I look at her expectantly, waiting for her to throw another revelation at me.

“After I heard that Theon lost his mate as well, I wanted to come and meet him. I knew how hard it is, to lose someone that precious. I also want to see the famed murderer stealer.” Valencia glances at me, “I wanted to punish her for her crime.”