Chapter 43: Back to the Beginning

The smell hit Dolores first, curling her nose at the putrid stench that covered the small territory of the Grey Tail Pack. The village streets, which Dolores had walked so many times before, were flooded over, and Dolores boots sunk into the mud with every step she took. Dolores and her party remained silent, taking in their surroundings. The poverty that now overtook the Pack.

An elder female coughed, and the sound was the only form of greeting Dolores and her party received. The werewolves of the Grey Tail Pack said nothing as they made their way to the great hall of the Pack. Dolores surveyed the borders spotting Rogues just on the outskirts of the territory. She looked for the many sentries that guarded Pack but found none. The village and territory were unprotected, yet Dolores saw that the three grand buildings of the Pack were lit and surrounded by guards. Dolores's lip curled when she saw that beside the Great Hall, the other two buildings were the luxurious manors of the Alpha and Beta.

At the bottom of the Packs Great Hall, Dolores saw two guards stationed at the entrance. They snarled when they saw her and her mother, Diana, leaning to pick up a loose stone that had crumbled from the building. The guard tossed the stone back and forth in his hand, readying himself to throw the stone at Dolores and Diana like so many had before.

Dolores tilted her head in s daring fashion, and the second guard blanched, obviously remembering that she was the late King's daughter and her mother was a Royal consort. The second guard took the stone from the first, tossing the rock to the ground beside them. Both straightened before turning through the wide double doors of the Great Hall. Dolores took steadying breaths, planting her feet as she waited for the Grey Tail Pack's Alpha Jack Hilton.

An enormous stomach was the first thing Dolores saw when Alpha Jack Hilton stepped out of the Great Hall. His belly moved as he walked, and Dolores could see hair protruding from the openings of his small tight tunic. A thick feeling of disgust slithered down Dolores's spine when she remembered how he had looked at the young females of the Pack as if they were his toys to play with as he wished. He was swine in every sense of the word, from his looks to the forced relationships with females, regardless of his Luna.

"Ah! Welcome, Princess Dolores," Aloha Jack plastered on an amused expression, something his chubby face was not familiar with. "What brings you here, your highness."

Dolores arched an eyebrow. "Did you not receive orders from my brother Adam, the Alpha King?"

"Unfortunately, the route from the Capital to our isolated Pack is no longer as safe as it once was." Said a slithering voice behind Alpha Jack.

Dolores watched as a pencil of a male moved around Alpha Jack. Beta Miller. If the Grey Tail Pack Alpha was a disgusting pig, then their beta was a conniving serpent. The lanky male's thin black hair hung on either side of his face as he smiled at them. Dolores swallowed back her revulsion. If they didn't receive the order, the reason was sure to be because of Beta Miller.

"Well," Dolores cleared her throat, attempting to use her Royal voice. "My mother and I, along with our party, will be staying...permanently."

Alpha Jack and Beta Millers entertained expressions fell.

"What do you mean permanently?" Beta Miller hissed.

Dolores opened her mouth to answer when Alpha Jack growled and spit as he yelled: "Permanently! You two worthless things! You must have lost favor or offended our new Alpha King to be driven back!" His face turned a deep red as he continued to clamor, "If you can't bring any good to my Pack, then you are useless at all!"

Dolores remains emotionless as the swine Alpha yells at her. Looking at her mother beside her, Dolores sees the hurt shaping Diana's features, and she isn't the only one. Richard Stewart steps past Dolores, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"How dare you!" Richard roars, stunning the Grey Tail Packs Alpha and Beta. "You dare to humiliate a Princess and Lady of the Kreqin Kingdom?"

Beta Miller scans Richard's board body that hovers over himself and Alpha Jack noticing his signet ring, the symbol of his Beta poison in the Eclipse Pack. Dolores silently huffed a laugh, remembering that she didn't want to bring Richard, but she supposed now she was glad she did.

"My fellow Beta Richard." Beta Miller purrs, dipping his head in a sign of respect. "Forgive us. We have had much to drink tonight and have lost control over our tongues."

"I suggest you find them quickly and give Princess Dolores and Lady Diana the respect they rightfully deserve," Richard demands, straightening in front of them.

"Of course." Alpha jack grounds out.

"And a suitable place for them to stay," Richard adds, and Alpha Jack's face goes pale. Dolores assumed that the last thing he wanted to do was share his own luxurious manor with a once Omega and Rogue.

"Ah, yes, of course." Alpha Jack stuttered. "You may have the manor on the west side of my territory."

Richard, Dolores, and their party looked to their left and spotted the dark and isolated manor. Dolores caught the fury in Richard's eyes but quickly grabbed his forearm. He looked at her, and Dolores softly shook her head. They had many wolves, and the large manor was big enough to house them all, regardless of the filth. Dolores and her mother had lived in worse conditions with this Pack, and the most this manor needed was a good cleaning, something they knew all too well how to do.

Dolores turned, pulled Richard behind her, and made her way to the manor outside the village grounds without another word. When they walked into the dark, cold building, Dolores slowly turned in a circle.

"Well, this is actually kind of nice." She said to the group, a smirk playing on her lips.

Ellie and her mother laughed, and the males stood stunned at the crazed females.

"First thing we need is a fire." Ellie, with a giggle, wiped her eyes that had watered from laughter.

Ellie sent two Silent Maw Pack survivors out for firewood while Dolores and the rest of the party got to work cleaning the manor. Two days passed since they first arrived in the Grey Tail village, and they had scrubbed, dusted, and washed the entire mansion until the house resembled a warm and welcoming home.

Dolores had noticed Richard's surprised expression more than once as both her and Ellie and her mother Diana had no trouble scrubbing the tiled floors with nothing more than an old rag and their own strength. She even caught him watching Diana as she cooked and sewed new clothes for the survivors, washing and patching their old ones. He made sure to be close by so he could offer her help, his eyes a dreamy haze as he looked at her.

"Ah, this place is beautiful!" Ellie exclaimed as she flopped onto the loveseat in the seating room that surrounded a large fireplace in the center of the room. "I wish I could stay here forever."

"Yes, it's hard to believe what this place looked like before our hard work." Richard agreed, standing behind Diana where she sat sewing a new article of clothing. "I too wish I could stay here, but I must return to my Pack. My Alpha is expecting my return within a fortnight."

Dolores nods, catching her mother's fallen face. She hadn't realized how attached her mother had grown to Richard. The realization worries her, as Dolores doesn't know if Richard can be fully trusted yet. Turning her gaze to the window towards the Wulf Mountains, she wonders if Rose and Thomas arrived safely home, if the Silver Heart Pack did something, or plans to attack the Wizard Society.

A sharp pain pierces her heart, and Jasper's images fill her mind's eyes. Less than a week apart, Dolores feels like she is about to break apart if she doesn't see him soon. There is so much to tell him, to ask him. Rose had told her before she left for Wulf Mountain not to worry about Jasper, that he could fix these minor matters between the Silver Heart Pack. Dolores prayed to the goddess that Rose was right.

Dolores forced a yawn as she stood from the chair beside her mother. "I think I will call it a night. Beta Richard, when do you leave?"

Startled, Richard straightened. "Ah, tonight...now."

Dolores nodded once more and waited as Richard gathered his small belongings and headed to the door. Dolores and her mother watched as he shifted into his wolf and ran into the dark woods. Neither mother nor daughter said a word as Dolores closed the door, and Diana silently retreated into her own chambers.

Dolores gave her vibrant younger sister a wave before climbing the stairs to her own rooms at the top of the mansion. Locking the heavy thick wooden door, she tore off her dirty clothes and climbed into her wide bed, feeling the warm, smooth sheets wrap around her naked body. Closing her eyes, she imagined Jasper's warm, strong arms in place of her heavy blankets and drifted into a soundless sleep only to wake to hot breath evenly blowing onto the back of her neck.