CHAPTER 6 - Dinner

Theodore lay on his bed. He still couldn’t wrap his head around what had transpired between him and Ingrid earlier. Although he was a werewolf, his wolf had never once spoken to him, just growls, feelings, and instincts; now it was left for him to figure out what his wolf’s actions meant.

A knock disrupted his thought process,

“Come in.”

Luke stepped in, “Young master.” His face was expressionless, head slightly bowed, “Your father seeks the presence of the whole family in an early dinner.”

“Tell him I’ll pass, I’m not hungry.”

“He suspected you would decline, and as a last resort, he said to tell you that it was important,” Luke said, “’ An introductory early dinner’ he calls it, young master.”

“Introductory?” Theodore asked, looking at Luke for the first time since Luke entered the room. “Who’s our guest?”

“I am not permitted to say, young master.”

Theodore sighed, “Fine then,” he said, “I will be right down in a minute.”

Luke bowed and left.

Aurora was led to the dining room, where she met Brynn, seated with glasses on, elbows on the table, and fingers interlocked, staring at the variety of food that was laid on the table. Looking like he was silently studying the food.

‘That must be the Master of the house, ninety out of a hundred, it’s always the man with glasses.’ She thought to herself.

“Greetings, Master.” Aurora bowed her head. “I hope that your day has been blissful.”

“Greetings, child,” Brynn said, dropping both hands and sitting upright. “My day’s been good. Please do make yourself comfortable.”

Aurora looked at the other end of the table and saw Bianca, the lady of the house, “Greetings to you too, Madam.” She smiled.

“Greetings to you, too,” Bianca replied, not sparing Aurora a glance, but rather, she looked at her husband, who didn’t seem to care. She was against introducing Aurora to the family; in her defense, Aurora was not worthy of dining with them as a family.

Her expression was stiff; anyone could tell that she disapproved of the dinner.

Aurora sat down. “I must apologize for keeping you all waiting.” She said.

“It’s fine, not that you are late anyway,” Brynn said, “the young master is yet to join us.”

Theodore smelled a human as he approached the dining room. From the angle he was coming in from, he couldn’t see her face as she had her back towards him. He walked over to the other side of the table, and only then did he see Aurora’s face.

“I heard of an introduction.” He sat down. “I wasn’t expecting to see this.”

‘This?’ Aurora thought to herself, ‘calm down now, Aurora, your mother warned you.’

“Greetings, young master.” Aurora bowed her head, giving out a fake smile.

“Now that we are complete,” Brynn said, removing his glasses, “let’s eat.”

The servants who stood nearby started to unveil the food on the table and started to dish out the food.

“You can tell them your preference, child,” Brynn said.

“Thank you, master,” Aurora said, remembering her mother’s words and not meeting anyone’s eyes.

“Everyone,” Brynn spoke out, “Meet Aurora, Moira’s child.” He started to cut into the steak on his plate, maintaining an expressionless face.

“So she’s that child…” Theodore said, staring dead at Aurora.

“Keep it together, Theo.” Brynn cut Theodore off, “Your emotions, too.” He warned.

Theodore, who was already having a bad day, angrily took his cutlery and started to eat.

‘That child? Who does he think he is? And what does he mean by that child?’ Aurora thought to herself.

“That’s my son, Theodore,” Brynn said, “And that’s my wife, Bianca.” He didn’t even look away from the plate as he ate.

The air in the room was still; no one even coughed. It was suffocating to Aurora; she wasn’t used to this kind of environment, and God forbid she ever got used to it.

“Thank you very much for allowing me to join in this lovely family time,” Aurora said.

“You wish we actually allowed you,” Theodore mouthed out.

“What were you doing in my room?” He asked, “Trying to steal something?” he looked at her as he put the piece of meat in his mouth with a fork.

Aurora looked at him in anger and quickly looked back down, remembering her mother’s words.

“I’m sorry for invading your private space,” She said, “I was carried away by the lovely interior of the mansion, and awestruck by the elegance in every corner, that I didn’t know how I found myself in your room. I deeply apologize.”

“Carried away? What a joke,” Theodore said, “Can’t even look at my face when speaking, pathetic.”

Aurora clenched her fists under the table. That was it, she wasn’t going to just sit here and be insulted by this uncultured man; she tried to hold herself, but Theodore kept asking for it, now he was going to get it.

“Young master,” She looked him in the eye, “The place I come from isn’t this glamorous, neither am I from a wealthy home, but I believe that, be it a commoner or royalty, we all were taught something very crucial to our existence, and that is manners.”

Brynn’s hands stopped moving. Theodore and Bianca looked at Aurora, but she didn’t notice and kept on going.

“Your parents definitely tried their very best in nurturing you, which makes me wonder, who have you been talking to?” She said, “Whoever it is, isn’t doing a good job of keeping your parents’ teaching. This apple has fallen far from the tree.”

Aurora didn’t blink one bit; she had had enough of Theodore, and she didn’t regret a single word.

Theodore was shocked, and the servants present were all shocked. Bianca looked at Aurora and right back at Brynn, who was still not moving.

There was silence.

Suddenly, a loud burst of laughter was heard, something that hadn’t happened in years.

Brynn was laughing very hard. He dropped his cutlery and pinched his nose, laughing.

Bianca was surprised at this sudden action from her husband; never in a hundred years would she have expected a reaction like that from Brynn.

“Someone insults our son, and you are just going to laugh about it?” Bianca asked, her tone calm, keeping her outburst in check.

“What would you have me do?” Brynn asked, looking at Bianca, his laugh fading. “Seems like your son has finally met his match.”

“I warned him to keep his emotions in check, didn’t I?” Brynn added, “This apple better start coming close to the tree.” He laughed and put another piece of meat in his mouth.