Restless

Audrey was not going to stop. She ran all the way up the stairs and only stopped when she reached the door of the library upstairs. The library was one of the many rooms in the pack house that gave a lucid view of the house below. She opened the door and went inside. It was calm and as serene as she always remembered it. As a child, she had ran into the library a few times to escape being scolded by her mother after she must have indulged in one mischievous activity or the other. The library brought her memories as she stepped into it, a sweet sense of nostalgia teased her. She looked around the shelves holding the antique books that had been passed down from one generation to the other, Passed from one ancestor to the other and eventually amassing to the number they were. She walked around, the smell of her mate whom she was aware was only downstairs was temporarily forgotten and in that instance, she wished she could just remain in the library, away from the arriving guests and the mate she was definitely going to meet. She could not escape having to meet and talk to her mate and she knew that but she was only going to stay away for as long as she could.

Audrey drifted to the Last shelf in the room, it was a big and hairy room that always had sunlight streaming into it. It had always been her getaway. She was either in the fields working away under the sun with the men or she was folded up into a ball in one corner of the room, with a book covering her face. Some of the books were myth and legends and folklores of her own pack that had been written by her ancestors and her desire to know about the pack and be well informed about different things always made her focus on the books. She picked one and examined it. It was still as old as she remembered it to be the first time she had read it. It had all the complete leafs and she was well aware of how much her father valued keeping a book intact, without a page missing.. she sighed. He had trusted her enough to let her stay in the library all day alone when she was only ten because she had proven trustworthy by never letting any book she handled lose a page and her father had absolutely loved that. She was then given permission to always go to the library until she was old enough to know the actual worth of the books. Her mother had often said that she had grown up too fast, doing things that her age mates could hardly do and wanting to try out things that she was considered too young to do. In all of those times, she had proven all those that doubted her wrong by always succeeding in her endeavors.

She had gotten to the point where she was supposed to be proud of herself but she felt she had hardly done Enough and she found herself constantly desiring to know more and become even more powerful. In all sincerity, Audrey would chose running the affairs of her her pack and seeing to the welfare of her pack members over meeting with a mate who was no doubt going to distract her from the things which she saw as more important.

She placed the book on the shelf again and sauntered to the window. The morning sun streamed into the room generously and she looked down and saw the men alight the entourage. They had come in a good number and she watched as they trooped down in their numbers, all tall and fierce looking men. The scent of her mate began to tease her nose again and she was once again distracted from watching the men. She turned around and walked away from the window. She was not going to leave the library which to her was the safest places to be a the moment. She hovered around the library until the knob of the door twisted and the door came open. She had not expected her mother to come and fetch her and she was surprised as she saw her mother walk in, her eyes searching. Audrey was standing by a shelf and she was aware that her mother had not seen her. She sighed loudly and walked out from behind the shelf.

"Mother, why are you here? You should be down welcoming the guests right?"

"And why are you not down there welcoming the guests too? Are you not supposed to be downstairs too?"

She asked as she advanced towards Audrey. Audrey sighed again.

"Mother, " she started to explain, " what I meant is, you could easily send a maid to come and fetch me. It is not nice  that you should be here while the guests are down there_" she said.. she knew she sounded ludicrous. Of course her mother was only up there because of her and she now seemed to be the one trying to talk sense into the other party.

" Have you asked yourself if I would be here in the first place if you were down there? Again, when did you start obeying the commands I send through the maids?"

Her mother asked." I had come up here on my own to fetch you_" she softened as she drifted even closer, her looks tender. She wore the tender look when she was concerned about Audrey's worries and wanted her to talk about with her.

"Dear. I know you had not just left because you wanted to. Something definitely made you run from there. Tell me dear, what is it that bothers you?" She asked. Her hand had moved to rest on Audrey's shoulder. She was looking into Audrey's eyes tenderly.

"Mother, it's nothing much. I was just, well, I was only nervous and i did not know how to act. I guess I will gain my composure and join you all soon_" she lied. She was not going to admit yet that she had sniffed her mate yet. There was more she wanted than meeting a mate. Her mother was still holding her gaze and she feared that she had detected her lies but she was relieved when her mother began to speak,

" You do not have to act in any extraordinary way. All you have to do is carry yourself with the poise that I have taught you to. You do not need to do anything else. Your brother has been a complete darling and you should be too. Now let us go down so you can see the men. They are in the hall now _"

She said. Her left hand touched Audrey's cheek. "You are so beautiful my dear and everyday, I am proud of you. With all your strong-will and fiery temper, I am still grateful that I have you," her voice was tender and her eyes had begun to mist up tender as she spoke. Audrey felt her own eyes begin to mist up too. She stood a bit taller than her mother but she stooped and hugged her warmly.. she felt her worries dissipate as she did. she rested her head a while on her mother's shoulder and expelled all the air she had been holding back in tension. She was relieved by the time she pulled back and straightened her dress. She smiled at her mother for the first time in a long while.

"Thank you so much, mother.. I feel better now." She said.

"That was why I came here dear. To see that you were doing beautifully well. Now let us go and see that the guest are well taken care of, shall we?" Lady Victoria asked. Her hands had dropped to hold Audrey's and they both left the room, holding each other's hand.

Audrey was suddenly restless again when she began to descend the stairs. Every step brought her closer to her mate.. she did not know the fellow yet, if she followed the scent, she was going to stand right with him soon but she was not ready to announce herself to everyone present without meaning to. She willed herself to pretend that she did not have the smell of her mate teasing her senses. It was beginning to piss her that her mate, whoever he was, was completely at ease and had probably figured her out but was still able to keep his calm while she was brimming hot inside. She was pissed at herself and she swore inwardly to act as composed as she could as she welcomed the men, smiled at them and took their noble compliments with the same carriage and ambience that her mother had spoken about. She soon stopped smelling the sweet and Intoxicating flavour of her mate anymore as she speaks with the men.