CHAPTER 4: Wolf On Patrol

SELENE

I WOKE UP the next day then went on with my duties. Washing the dishes, scrubbing the floors, and dusting the windows.

But as I go through the day, I couldn’t help but thinking of that man on the call. Days passed by and I stayed indoors.

Anya was nowhere to be seen; some said several maids went with the pack’s soldiers to aid the wounded from the recent battle that occurred from the highland. Territorial disputes again that weren’t solved in proper discussions and only by shedding blood.

If I was invited to come, I would have agreed. Maybe then this man in my head would have a face and I can finally meet him in person.

But wait? How did I become this curious about a guy at all?

I remember Lukas, he had been courting me for years and I only have appreciation for him as a friend… but that guy on the telephone has an alluring voice that I couldn’t just shake off my system.

Days passed by and I was… silently hoping the telephone will ring again.

One Friday evening, it rang again, at 11 PM.

“Hello?” The guy muttered on the other.

“Hi,” I answered back, almost excited.

A pause.

“So, I heard… you are the new girl at the pack house.”

It wasn’t a question. Tired of house work and without anyone to talk to for days, I could help but confide with the guy

“Yup, you’re right. Where did you hear the information? From Anya? Did they arrive at the camp already?”

“Presumably, yes.”

My eyebrows shut up.

“You don’t know?”

The man got silent.

“Oh, I guess patrolling the land is already such a tedious task, you don’t need to distract yourself from what really matters—protecting our land.”

Again… silence.

“Um… can I ask you a question?” My voice lowered and softened.

His voice too, when he spoke. “What is it?”

“The battle between our pack and the Greyhound Pack of the West, hasn’t it ended yet?”

“Not anytime soon. It might actually had gotten out of hand.”

I inhaled a sharp breath as the image of my family living near the border of our pack land emerged inside my head.

“Please continue to protect out land…” I mumbled, heart breaking at the thought of things getting out of control and that image of the alpha of our enemy pack… it sent shivers through me.

I don’t remember how our conversation ended that night, but I knew I felt worried after hearing what he said.

The next night, the man was back.

“Did you have a good day?”

And the night after that.

“Stay out of trouble.”

It became our routine. My secret.

The voice never said much. The man was a creature of few words.

But I talked. God, did I talk.

Our conversation on the telephone became consistent especially when Beatrice left the house to order supplies for the mansion, food and clothing included.

“We’ve been talking for weeks but I still haven’t gotten your name,” I muttered, lips pursed into a small smile.

He would just let out a soft grumble.

“I already told you my name.”

            “Selene.” There was crisp and elegance in his voice when he mentioned my name.

I contained a surge of swirling feeling on my stomach.

A flicker of amusement would echo back. Not words. Just… a feeling.

“I think one of the guards, Kael, is going to ask me to the festival.”

Silence.

A heavy, disapproving kind of silence.

“What?” I asked. “You don’t like Kael?”

“Have you talked with him?”

“A few times, yes.”

“He is the pack’s omega.”

“And? I don’t mind.”

“You don’t even know him,” I huffed. “I mean—personally, do you?”

The only response was the feeling of a quiet smile.

He’s so weird. This wolf on a patrol.

But I started to look forward to it. It was the only time I felt like myself.

Tonight, the loneliness was heavier than usual. Things took a turn.

“I’d seen Kael holding hands with another maid. So much for the festival.” That was my opening line when the guy called again. Then I said nothing.

“You are quiet tonight, Selene.”

“Just tired,” I lied.

“Tell me.” Despite his commanding voice, it was gentle.

So I did. I told the man about Kael, about feeling stupid and hopeful.

The voice listened. The man didn't offer sympathy, just a solid, unwavering presence.

“It’s this place,” I said, my thoughts tumbling out. “It’s so empty. Especially the

Alpha’s wing.”

It has been empty for a long time.

“They say the Alpha just disappeared,” I continued, getting bolder.

“After his last battle. They say no one has seen him since.”

“Really? Rumors are dangerous things.

“Well, come to think of it. Are you one of the soldiers who accompanied him to battles?”

His familiar snicker went on again. I had to close my eyes as it caressed my ears.

“Is it a rumor?” I pressed. “You’re on patrol. You must hear things. Did you know the Alpha of the other land?”

The silence that followed was different. It was sharp. Cold.

“I knew him.”

“What was he like?”

Another long pause.

“He was… focused.”

“Focused? That’s it?” I laughed, a bitter sound. “They say he was wounded. Horribly.”

“He was.”

My mind flashed back to that night. To the river. To the stranger with the bleeding chest.

“I saw a man once,” I thought, the memory suddenly vivid. “At the river, on the boundary between our lands.”

The presence in my head went perfectly still.

“The night of my birthday,” I clarified.

“He was hurt. Really, really badly.”

“You saw a man?” His voice became tight, strained.

“Yes. He was covered in blood. Deep wounds on his chest, his arm…” I trailed off, the image of the stranger’s powerful, wounded body burning in my mind.

I felt a jolt from the man in my head. A shock of… something. I couldn’t place the emotion.

“I was scared,” I admitted. “I panicked. I shifted, and I ran.”

I waited for a response. For a simple good night or be safe.

But the silence stretched on, thick with a tension I could feel in my bones.

Then, finally, the voice returned.

The question the man asked made the air leave my lungs.

“That man… did he also see you?”

“I don’t know…” I lied.

“He sure did.”

Then the line got cut off.