16- Forbidden Conversations
POV Lunara Grimwald:
I wouldn’t tell her how my clothes had ended up being shredded in the middle of the woods while I was being fucked and marked by a male I didn’t even know.
My God, it got worse every time I stopped to think about it.
She pressed her lips together, as if pitying me.
"I’ll get you new clothes," she said, turning toward the neatly made bed. "And you don’t need to worry about organizing the room. I’m here for that."
I nodded in agreement, but I wouldn’t stop making my own bed. I didn’t feel comfortable enough to act as if I belonged in that house, as if everything was familiar to me—because it wasn’t.
I left the room in hurried steps, descending the stairs two at a time. I heard Edric’s and Lyris’s voices as I approached the lower floor.
I felt warmth in my chest, a strange recognition I couldn’t identify. Edric stopped speaking and tilted his head toward me, as if detecting my presence.
Lyris raised her face and gave me a sincere smile.
"Good morning, Lunara. How are you feeling?"
They were sitting at the long dining table. Edric occupied the same spot I had yesterday, while Lyris was seated to his right.
I looked at the abundance of food spread across the flat wooden surface, and my stomach growled loudly, leaving me even more embarrassed than I already was.
It had been a very, very long time since I’d had so many options to choose from for breakfast. Because of our wild nature, meat was our favorite food, but Elowen and I couldn’t always manage to eat something derived from it. Not since we had become fugitives.
"Come, sit here and eat," she said, pointing to the chair in front of her, to Edric’s left.
I didn’t want to sit near him, but I was starving. And I needed to eat and stay strong if I wanted to have any chance of succeeding in my escape.
As soon as I sat at the table, Edric stood up, barely casting a glance in my direction. He tossed the cloth napkin onto the plate smeared with bread crumbs and turned to his friend.
"I have some things to take care of." He cleared his throat. "Take care of this problem for me." He pointed his chin toward me, without even bothering to look.
I clenched my jaw so tightly my teeth hurt. Lyris pressed her lips together in discontent but sighed, nodding silently.
I took a deep breath, focusing on the smell of freshly brewed coffee, trying to ignore the scent of fresh pine and damp earth that stirred… strange things in my stomach.
I hated Edric with all my strength. On my list of hated people, he ranked just below Alessio.
He left the house, slamming the front door hard. I didn’t flinch, not even move, keeping my head high and my nose in the air.
As soon as he left, I felt something like… emptiness. I ignored it, convincing myself it was the rut or the mating bond acting on its own.
I would never again submit to anyone. Never again would I blindly trust someone.
Lyris pulled a cup and poured coffee, sliding it toward me before filling the empty plate in front of me. She put a bit of everything: bread, cheese, bacon, and sweet cake.
"I know you’re hungry," she whispered with a smile. "Heat is a bitch. We don’t know if we want to fuck or eat."
I choked on a laugh and brought a piece of bread to my lips, suppressing a sigh of satisfaction.
"Are you an omega?" I asked, trying to eat decently and failing miserably. I was so hungry I swallowed the food whole.
She watched me, paying close attention.
"Just like you," she agreed, sipping a gulp of coffee. I frowned.
"And your girlfriend?"
It was strictly forbidden, in my former pack, for people of the same sex and/or gender to be together, because they couldn’t procreate. Even though I thought it was absurd, I couldn’t say anything. I was expressly forbidden to go against the alpha’s opinion.
"She’s a beta."
"And how does that work?" I asked, curious. She shrugged.
"Well… it’s easy. Since she’s a beta, she doesn’t go into heat and doesn’t get pregnant. Since I block my rut, I have no interest in procreating either."
I let out a sigh as the soft, sweet cake slid down my throat.
"Does she live here too?"
"She’s the one responsible for teaching the pups."
My eyes widened.
"There’s a school here?"
She blinked, a little confused.
"Yes… in your old pack there wasn’t?"
I shook my head.
"No, there wasn’t. I, like all the other pups in the pack, studied at home. Not even if I begged would my father let me study elsewhere. He didn’t trust me, nor the males who might come near me. And since he didn’t want problems with Kellan regarding my virginity and dignity to become his son’s wife, he kept me locked inside the house. That way, he avoided conflicts and always kept the peace."
"There are other packs here that work the same way too."
That sparked my curiosity. Elowen and I had traveled to Romania for the information we obtained about the heat herb, but we ended up not discovering anything. That’s why I was so surprised to find out that there wasn’t just one pack in the region, but several others.
"How many packs are there in the region?"
"Five." I gasped, shocked. Faced with my surprise, she continued: "Were there fewer than that in your old region?"
She made it sound like a casual question, but I could sense the interest in her tone. I was a stranger in their territory, mated to the alpha and… a burden they would have to carry.
I liked Lyris—she had been charismatic with me from the moment I arrived—but… I didn’t trust her. I didn’t trust any of them.
"Only two," I answered truthfully, without going deeper into the subject.
If they knew who I was, they would know about Alessio. And if Edric decided to hand me back to him?