3: Unexpected News

Listen to Paradise - Coldplay

The tavern was booming with middle-aged and old folks. Gambling and arm-wrestling, getting drunk from an ale, or telling mythical tales.

And the music was pleasant to the ears.

Mournful strings from the cello accompanied by a non-stop beat of the drum and blowing of duduk and large horns.

Women had their skirts held up as they did foot tap dance with men who wore high-edge boots solely for such entertainment.

Cheers rose in the atmosphere when someone jumped on top of a table, shifted into his wolf, raised his fours, and released a loud howl.

Ophelia walked around in a brown hooded cloak that hid her long, curly red hair as she refilled the customers' cups with ale.

"Over here, woman. Cup's empty and my belly's protruding, but I'm not done drinking." Someone called the attention of Ophelia and as she whirled around to attend to the man, she felt a rough snack on her butt.

Her mouth parted in shock because she wasn't expecting that. This place was known to consist of perverted men with stale teeth who had little or no importance to their lives. If they weren'tdrinking their sorrows away, they were hitting on women.

Ophelia turned around to give the man a stern warning, but someone was already squeezing his hand.

"You should know better than messing with Maria, she's the most reserved of all waitresses in here." It was her boss's son, Arthur. Although he was drunk, he was still so powerful. Used the might of his wolf to restrain the old man from breaking free from his grip.

"My apologies," the round chubby man gritted out in pain and Arthur released his hand, just to cock his fist back and punch him in the face.

"I would've asked you to stop, but he deserved it." Ophelia cast Arthur a small smile and then left to go refill her jug with more ale. And Arthur followed suit.

Arthur was a few years younger than she was but had a great attraction for her. He got smitten on the first day she showed at his dad's tavern and requested to be hired as a worker.

To him, something was fishy about the woman in a black hooded cloak. She had fake brows, fake moles literally on every part of her face and big dark patches on her cheeks to make her seem less attractive. But Arthur knew the disguise couldn't hide the fact that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen on the Eastern border. He knew she was trying to not buy attention and was possibly hiding from someone, or people rather. She told him her name was Maria and he thought of it as a lie, but he still gave her the job.

She was calm, collected, and poised. Drew heated attention even though she deliberately mellowed her attractiveness. Clad in different shades of cloaked hoodie at all times. And she worked for his father for over a year.

Arthur flicked his straightened sand-blonde, long hair over his face and then obstructed the way when Ophelia made her way out from the kitchen.

"What would it take you to marry me?" They said a man was full of facts when he gets drunk, no doubt Arthur just let out those words from the innermost depths of his heart. He was crazy over her. Didn't mind she was living a lie.

"You do know I am a few years ahead of you." Ophelia still had a straight facial expression on. If she was shocked by his request, she didn't show it.

"I don't care, dammit." He covered her small hand with his sweaty hand. "Father said I'm old enough to father a child. Did you see how I beat up Mask-face in the fighting arena? Both my wolf and I are capable of protecting you. Plus I've got a half-full bag of pounds. So tell me, what more will it take to have you as my wife?"

Ophelia wanted this young lad to kill the feelings he had for her. It'd be cruel to settle down with him and ruin his life with her bad luck and barrenness. Surely there were fresh beauties he could end up with, not a sterile, ill-stinking luck woman. So she hardened her heart, prepared for the awful statement she wanted to let out.

She pulled his hand away from hers and then sniffed at him, "Arthur Ravenscourt, perhaps if you bathed more often, I might have put your offer into consideration," then she left the boy who had his mouth gaped in horror at her statement.

"Wait, I don't smell that bad." He sniffed on his underarms then wrinkled his nose in absolute disgust, "Maria, wait!"

Ophelia excused herself to step outside so she could take a grasp of fresh air.

It had been a year since she was deemed a rogue by Cestus, Finlay's half-brother. After Finlay's headless body was buried and the funeral rites were performed, Cestus was crowned Alpha over the Crimson Paw pack, by the council of elders.

Cestus Dupree set Ophelia on exile after calling her a stroke of bad luck to the pack, and a barren witch who couldn't produce any offspring for his late brother. He decided she was no use to the pack anymore and paid deaf ears to the pleas of her family members who implored for her sake. She was kicked out of the castle. And everything, including her most prized possessions, were taken away from her.

Her father tried to marry her off to someone for the second time, someone from a neighboring pack, so she shifted into her wolf and ran far away as she could. Omega O'Cleirigh wasn't remorseful over the fact that his eldest, widowed daughter was still mourning her late husband. He wanted to marry her to a seventy-eight-year-old Elder who was still alive with the support from his wolf.

On reaching Petersburg, the border between East and West, Ophelia disguised herself because she didn't want to draw attention. People might figure she was the banished Luna of the Crimson Paw pack.

Finlay wasn't a good man, but he was her husband who died a horrible, gruesome death. And she mourned him in another land.

She waited for the tears to come, but they never did. And she began to wonder if she truly was a witch. Because during the first year of her marriage with Finlay, her twenty-year-old, naive self had wept bitterly when Finlay brought in his mistress.

Not even a single tear dripped down her cheek when she took a look at the headless body of Finlay when it was brought to the castle. But there was a giant hole continually boring into her chest. His body was blackened with smoke and it seemed like he was set ablaze after his head was chopped off. If it weren't for the clothes, she wouldn't have believed it was her husband.

Ophelia heaved deeply and then rubbed on the side of her arm when a wave of wind gushed through her.

Her stay in Petersburg was a year old, but it still felt like yesterday when Finlay Dupree was lowered six feet down and covered with mud.

She was certain sunflowers had grown around his headstone by now.

She could feel her lips giving into a sad smile as she stared into the darkness, wondering if the moon goddess would ever make her know happiness.

Ophelia was in shock when she returned to the tavern even through its backdoor. Flabbergasted by the sight of the familiar face of Hamilton, the youngest butler who served at the Castle.

His head was swiftly turning in different directions and angles as if he was in search of someone.

She needed no one to tell her he'd recognize her despite her disguise, so she was trying to hide but she saw a somewhat sober-looking Arthur heading in her direction. She hurriedly grabbed a broom at her side.

"My apologies for the disruption everyone, I am looking for Luna Ophelia." Hamilton audibly made this inquiry as he placed his hand on his chest.

The music and dancing immediately went to a full stop. And they all looked at him in confusion.

"Former Luna over the Crimson Paw pack?" It was Arthur who asked this and Ophelia closed her eyes in dismay. But on the contrary his attention was pulled away from her.

"Yes, news reached my hearing that she works here." Hamilton supplied with a puff of breath.

How did he know? Ophelia pondered as she swept a side of the floor that didn't need cleaning.

"You must be mistaking, young lad. There's no such person here." This from Finn Ravenscourt, the owner of the tavern.

"I can swear on my balls, my lord. She's here. Has worked for you over a year without your knowledge because she's under a disguise." The boy sounded so convincing that it stirred up murmuring from everyone. They stared around and at themselves in puzzlement.

Ophelia bit down on her lip to the extent she sustained a bruise. Because she'd get caught any moment from now.

Why is Hamilton here? Did Cestus give him an order to execute her? So many disturbing thoughts were slamming through her mind.

"My Luna, I know you can hear me." Hamilton made sure his voice was raised in an octave as he looked in the direction of the woman wearing a brown hooded cloak. "I was given an order to come fetch you. My Luna, your husband isn't dead. Alpha Finlay is alive."

These words were enough to put Ophelia's world on a stop.