You are late

I kept sitting in the room wondering about what had happened. 

Alpha Orion talked to me. 

But why? Did he notice my absence?

The thought brought a small smile to my lips. Was there finally some hope? 

The dinner was sent to the room by Alpha Orion. I finished everything without thinking about anything else for the first time in days. 

The dinner had everything, it was organized unlike the plate Bernadette had prepared for me earlier. 

I started chewing the brownie slowly, my thoughts wandered around the place I went to earlier. There was something about the place which I could not explain, there was a unique feeling. I felt drawn to that forest...and the girl. 

Flora.

Who was she?

I never got the chance to ask her anything else, what was she doing there all by herself? She was not scared of being there alone. 

Wolves were known to live in the lap of nature but the forest was not for everyone. 

I drank some water and inhaled a deep breath. 

A knock on the door startled me, I glanced at the large clock......9 pm.

Clearing my throat, I went ahead to greet the visitor. 

"Where were you?" Bernadette threw the words in my direction as she invited herself inside the room.

I did not answer.

She turned around with her hands folded in front of her chest. She was staring at me with a stern look, the look which reminded me she was the beta....not any normal wolf. I kept trying not to look away even though I wanted to run away from her gaze. Her aura was strong...almost too strong.

She was already tall and I felt like a kid who got caught doing something wrong in front of her. 

She finally sighed, "What were you thinking?"

I did not answer.

"We all were so worried about you. If you wanted to go somewhere you could have told me. Orion almost went crazy when he got the news about you."

The last part caught my attention. 

"He was?"

Bernadette scrunched her brows in confusion, "Ruhee, he is your soulmate, Of course, he was worried about you. I came here to check up on you and you were not here. He made everyone search all the corners of the entire pack for you. People did not know who they were looking for."

The words felt foreign. Why was he worried? He did not talk to me before this day. Why was he suddenly behaving as though my disappearance affected him in any way?

I wanted to ask the question but I decided to stay silent. 

"Where did you go?" she asked again.

I bit my tongue not knowing if I should tell her about the forest. 

"I was just wandering outside, I needed some fresh air."

There was a brief pause before a small smile appeared on Bernadette's face. I knew the look very well, those eyes were filled with sympathy. "I am sorry you have to stay inside all the time but it is just for a while once everything becomes sorted you'll be free to go anywhere you want."

Sorted?

"You mean I can not leave this place?"

She pressed her lips together keeping the same sympathetic look in her eyes. 

"Whenever you want to go anywhere just tell me, I will join you and you will not be bored." 

I could not leave this mansion without a babysitter, because I was not strong enough to defend myself. I was not good enough....why was I in his mansion?

"How about this, I will show you the pack whenever you want?" 

I lifted the corners of my lips, "Thank you."

I knew what Bernadette was trying to do. She was sugarcoating Alpha Orion's words like a good beta. I knew what was the meaning behind these words....I was not allowed to step outside. Eleanor was not allowed to go anywhere alone because she was a human. But these people did not know the truth about me and yet they were sure I could not defend myself. 

Alpha Orion did not want me to be seen by anyone. He did not want to answer the unwanted questions. 

"Do not get any wrong ideas in your head," Bernadette started, "things are rocky right now but soon Orion will make everything right just have some patience. He does care about you even though it is hard for you to believe right now."

I gave her a slight nod with a small smile. 

"Good night, Ruhee."

"Good night, Bernadette," I replied in a small voice as she left the room.

Was she right?

.

.

.

The constant train of thoughts kept running inside my head. I kept staring at the large clock, the hands were moving but the time was still the same. 

I could not get the place out of my head, no matter how much I tried. 

After trying to call Eleanor four times, I gave up and sat on the bed silently. The loud silence was killing me, it was becoming unbearable with every passing minute. 

The ticking sound of the clock was not helping at all. 

I could not sit there any longer. 

I opened the bedroom door and kept walking. I was about to take a step outside the mansion but paused. 

What was I doing?

What if I got caught?

I licked my lips and ran my eyes to scan the area. No one was around.

I already met Bernadette and knew she would not return for another three hours. 

Inhaling a deep breath, I took a step outside carefully. 

To my surprise, no one was outside to stop me. 

I continued walking, this time I did not have to create crosses or any other marks on the soil. My feet seemed to remember the path very well. Before I knew it the same sound of waterfall fell into my ears bringing a wide smile to my face.

I was finally there, away from everyone, away from my thoughts. 

But I was wrong. 

"You are late."