3. Genevieve

Back at White Forest I want to groan at the sight of the huge grey castle with its flags fluttering under a dusky sky. /Nikolai might be here soon so cheer the hell up/ Priya quickly snapped back at me. 

I followed Freya through a huge square courtyard, into a vaulted hall of tapestries, armour and paintings. I had been a guest at their ball when they were killed. 

I don’t have a room here. Do I head towards the room Nikolai dragged me into four nights ago? I was that blinded with lust that it could have been anyone’s room. Confusion overwhelms me, all I can think is that I don’t fit in here.

“Father!” Freya cried. Alexander Romanov, still looking like a man in his prime at forty-eight was heading down a grand stone staircase. 

/If he is back, Nikolai might be!/ Priya cried excitedly, sensing the air for our mate's presence.

“Genevieve, we have moved your possessions into a royal suite with Nikolai. The staff at the Shadowlands packhouse were kind enough to pack your clothes.”

His deep voice is so booming, deep, and powerful I nearly take a step back. Brown eyes, almost black, are burning at me, yet it should be his son's face I stare at. “Here,” he gestured, pointing up the stairs where I followed one step behind him as he silently walked me through my new life.

Huge, grey stone walls and corridors flanked the red-carpet walkways. Fire torches, candles and chandeliers were all ready to be illuminated once night fell. Cragstone, my packhouse, had been wooden, basic, and homely. This castle felt cold, and harsh.

/Please be there, please be there/ Priya chanted but I already knew the answer. The door swung open, and I saw a fabulous bedroom, sitting room and bathroom. Everything is richly decorated with royal blue linens, mahogany furniture, and gold ornaments.

But no mate. 

Just the slightest hint of spice suggesting he was briefly here. Like chasing the edge of a shadow.

“Nikolai, where is he-”

Alpha Alexander cleared this throat awkwardly. “He had to take care of some business. He will be back soon. Is this room acceptable?”

“Oh, of course, it’s very generous of you,” aware of the disappointment in my voice.

“Excellent, excuse me Genevieve….and I am deeply sorry for your loss,” he added as an afterthought. I slumped onto a navy-blue sofa and hugged a cushion to my chest. 

Today was about having to say goodbye to my parents. I sniff and wipe away a brimming tear. Living in this grim, grey castle that looks like it’s populated by a million ghosts is going to be a different challenge.

I miss Shadowlands so much. Alphas live quite separately from the population here in White Forest. Like their full moon ball, it’s a prestigious event for highly ranked individuals.

In the Shadowlands Pack entire villages get together, often touring to another town for the night to perform a dance under the moonlight. 

Freya came to find me, sitting on another blue sofa as I told her all about the traditions and rituals. “It sounds so…rustic. Imagine if you had been mated to a normal person!”

I scoffed at her idea, “my best friends are all normal, as you call it. Would it have been a bad thing? To have someone not pack royalty be your mate?”

She rolled her eyes, “I’m saying, Nikolai will understand you better than anyone. If you’d been mated to the local baker or something, there’s a gap. You wouldn’t think the same. You can’t truly be equal because of the differences.”

“I don’t think I can agree with you Freya, seeing as right now, a mate who was a working man would at least be present in this room!” I couldn’t help my anger getting the better of me. “It’s not like Nikolai and I are equal now is it? I don’t even have a clue where he is!” 

“Phillipe is here, there, and everywhere. The sooner you get used to not having them around all the time the better,” Freya replied lightly, playing with the gold tassels of the cushion. Her huge brown curls dominated her petite face. Her eyes were a fiery brown paired with pouty pink lips.

My green eyes and long blonde hair felt washed out in comparison.

“It’s just not what I thought the mate-bond was,” I muttered, trying to change the subject. “My parents spent every minute together.”

“So do mine. I guess it’s just how our men are. I’m not saying you don’t miss them,” she added tenderly, “especially newly mated and going through your grief, he really should be here. I don’t think well of him at all right now. Phillipe said the same.”

Wonderful, they’re one of those couples that have one mind. 

Finally getting rid of her I shut the heavy double doors to the suite and crawl into bed. God I miss home. I want Franz and Zeke to tease me with impersonations and stupid puns. I want to watch Matilda hide in a tree just to jump out and scare her younger sisters. 

I’d even hang out with Beta Kharkov as he demolishes every pie in sight. I’m stuck here, in this miserable old castle with my only company being a girl gullible enough to think her absent mate is perfect.

/He probably is. You’re just lashing out and being a bit of a bitch/ Priya scolded, her voice flat and level. /Our mate is perfect too in his own way./

My mate is pointless, I snap back. My heart and wolf have been stolen by a thief in the night. A thief with a dangerous past that he hasn’t bothered to inform me about.

The competing thoughts and memories keep me awake. Every footstep creaking down the hall in this cavernous suite makes me anxious. Imagining Nikolai has returned, full of apologies, warm embraces and hungry kisses. 

Except I hear crying. After a few minutes it is more like wailing.

Desperately sad wailing that echoes around the walls. A woman, tortured with misery. I step out into the hallway wearing a flimsy, long white cotton nightgown only to hear a door shutting, the sound muffled away to sobs.

“Hello? Who’s there?” I call, getting only silence in reply. “Hello?!”