4. “You are not supposed to be in here.”

Ava’s POV

“Ava! are you okay?” Lyra asked as she put her hand on my forehead.

“You are breaking into a sweat” she added and I slowly sat up as I stared at her, Tina and Elina were still asleep in their beds.

“I’m fine” I managed to say as I wiped the sweat off my head with the back of my hand.

“Well, okay. I heard you mumbling, it sounded like you were having a bad dream” she said and my mind immediately went back to the sound I heard last night. Was it a dream? It didn’t feel like a dream though, I thought as I remembered the growling sound.

“Was it about your old pack?” Lyra asked, immediately dragging me out of my thoughts.

Right….the Moon Claw Clan……I didn’t really think about them anymore, they rejected me and tossed me aside so there’s no need dwelling on them for their acceptance.

“No, it wasn’t” I replied as I turned to look at her.

“Are you sure you are good?” She asked again concerned. 

“Did you hear it too?” I asked as I grabbed her by the arm and she gasped.

“Hear what? What are you talking about?” 

“The growl?”

“I didn’t” she paused for a second before adding “It was probably a bad dream just sleep it off, it’s almost dawn and we have a big day ahead of us today” she said back as she yawned slightly, I wanted to believe her, I really did. I gave her a small smile as I nodded and she smiled at me before going back to her bed.

I lay back down as I stared at the ceiling, I couldn’t go back to bed and the feeling that it wasn’t just a dream kept lingering in my mind…

I instinctively touched my tattoo as my fingers slowly caressed it, it felt normal like it never burnt. Did I hallucinate it? Who was that? Why did my tattoo hurt? And why now?

A bang on the door immediately pulled me out of my thoughts as I sat up on my bed. 

“Wake up!” Madam Rhea’s voice echoed through the walls making everyone jump.

Tina and Elina groaned as they tossed in their beds.

“Five more minutes” Tina murmured.

“Get up before Madam Rhea drags you out by herself” Lyra scolded as she stood up, she glanced at me with a small smile before turning back to Tina.

I rubbed my eyes gently as I climbed down the bed slowly.

“Who stepped on your tail this morning, geez” Tina groaned as she sat up.

“Are you okay Ava, you look like you haven’t slept a wink” Elina said and I shrugged.

“I had a bad dream” I said back as I looked at Lyra.

“Ok let’s go get ready before Madam Rhea comes back” Lyra said and we nodded.

*****

“The Alpha is away on business today, so everyone assigned to his quarters is dismissed until sunset,” Madam Rhea announced.

A wild grin immediately spread across Tina’s face.

“Now, the rest of you, here are your duties for the day.”

The servants quickly dispersed from the courtyard, hurrying off to complete their assigned tasks.

“Lyra, Tina, Elina… and Ava.”

The four of us stopped in our tracks. I watched the smile disappear from Tina’s face almost immediately.

“There will be a dinner meeting this evening between Alpha Alaric and Beta Kieran. The four of you will be serving tonight.” Madam Rhea said as she walked away.

As her figure disappeared into the halls, Tina immediately slumped to her knees.

“Serve dinner? Serve dinner?!” she cried.

Elina rolled her eyes.

“Stop overreacting.”

“Is it really that bad?” I asked, confused by their reactions.

Tina immediately sat up.

“Ava, do you know how many servants Madam Rhea has nearly skinned alive over one tiny mistake?”

“Will you stop scaring her?” Lyra cut in before Tina could continue, she turned to me as a small smile appeared on her face.

“Don’t listen to her, she’s exaggerating”

Elina nudged Tina with her foot.

“Get your ass up.”

Tina let out an exaggerated groan before climbing back to her feet.

“Fine… but if I trip over my own feet tonight, I’m blaming all of you.”

A small laugh escaped Elina.

“You’ll probably trip before we even get there.”

Tina gasped dramatically.“The disrespect!”

Even I couldn’t stop the small smile that found its way onto my face.

Lyra clapped her hands once.

“Enough. We have a long evening ahead of us. Let’s get some rest while we still can.”

We all nodded and headed back towards the servant quarters.

Serving the Alpha and the Beta….I’d be lying if I said the thought didn’t make me nervous. Especially when I still had unanswered questions for Beta Kieran… and after what happened between Alpha Alaric and me yesterday.

Tonight wasn’t going to be easy, I thought as a sigh escaped my lips.

****

As the hours passed, the sun began to set gradually and then it was time for the dinner preparation. Lyra, Elina, Tina and I all hurried to the dining hall as we assisted the kitchen staff in setting the table right. Medium white plates, cutleries  at each side of a plate, wine glasses and a soup bowl. The plating looked good and the tension in the air finally died down a bit.

I glanced over at Tina and a soft chuckle escaped my lips, she looked like she was about to pass out. 

“Ooh! I heard that” Elina chirped in as she locked eyes with me. “You just laughed” she added and I tried to straighten my face.

“Is Ava finally settling into the pack” Tina asked playfully as she nudged me and I nodded.

“Not so bad, huh?” Lyra asked and I gave her a small smile.

“Better than everyone looking down on you” I replied softly.

“Hey, we don’t care that you are wolf-less” Tina said as she threw a hand on my shoulder, “Heck, we are useless too, we have wolves but we are servants so we don’t use them”.

“Yh” Elina added “let’s all be useless together” she said and we broke out into a laugh.

Amidst the laughs I stared at the 3 girls, I had never really had friends before… is this what it feels like to be finally accepted?

“We will be fine as long as we have each other” Lyra said as she held my hand.

“Thank you, guys” I replied as a tear rolled down my cheeks.

“Aww don’t cry” Tina said softly and I chuckled.

“I need some fresh air” I said back as I walked out towards the back door, I wouldn’t trade these girls for anything in the world.

The evening breeze hit my skin as I stepped into the courtyard. Maybe Lyra was right, maybe the Blood-Fang tribe wasn’t as bad as everyone thought.

After wandering for a while, from the corner of my eye I spotted a door slightly opened at the end of hall. Red light seeping through the crack and for some reason I couldn’t help myself but get a clearer look. I walked towards the door as I constantly looked over my shoulders for anyone watching, but no one else was in sight. Taking a deep breath, I slowly pushed the door open as I stepped into the cold room.

The door of the room instantly closed behind me with a deafening sound, leaving me all alone with the dim red light. I looked around the room as I noticed different portraits hanging on the wall, there was one with the man I saw with Beta Kieran, who I’m assuming is Lord Lucian then there was Alpha Alaric’s own. His bright brown eyes staring back at me and the thought of how we met ran through my mind as a small blush appeared on my cheeks. A portrait of a blonde woman caught my attention, she had the same eyes as Alpha Alaric and Lord Lucian, she must be their mother I assumed. Then I saw it, the biggest portrait in the room.

Late Alpha Theron.

Growing up I had heard rumors about him, that he was worse than my father but I never really knew what he looked like. As I stared at the portrait I couldn’t help but realized he had a striking resemblance with Alpha Alaric just an older version. I couldn’t tell what it was but I felt something drawing me towards the painting and out of curiosity I touched it.

Then it happened again, the pain returned, worse than before. I screamed loudly as I moved back from the painting my back hitting against the wall as I slumped to my knees. I clutched my forearm tight as I tried to subdue the pain surging through it, I stared back at the portrait and it felt like it was staring back at me. Before I could make any sense of what was going on the door burst open and a tall male figure stood at the front of the door, I could barely see his face but his words got to me.

“You are not supposed to be in here” the figure said and I felt my blood run cold.