"It's my wolf, she's upset about something. She just keeps mumbling about the pack--how you need to follow us back." Belina's eyes darted to Andromeda.
"That may not be a good idea. You know they think I killed the Beta Female," the taller yawned, leaning back onto a tree, crossing her arms as she did so.
"I guarantee your safety is of no concern. Our Luna is sure to listen to your explanation, and as the Alpha-to-be's mate, I can personally assure it as well."
She shrugged, recognizing no other reason to object. "Fine, I'll go. But if I am attacked, I will have no hesitations."
Belina grinned, "I'll lead the way."
The woman nodded, and the girl spoke again. "Do you have any questions before we arrive?"
"Nothing I can think of, really."
"Oh, well," a beat a silence passed between them,"I have some questions for you, if you wouldn't mind," Belina fidgeted slightly.
"Shoot."
"Why do you live out here? How do you, a human, know about us?"
She smiled at the memory the questions undeniably brought, "The answer to both is fate and the forest."
She entered the forest for the first time. Her eyes were still wide and as innocent as they ever would be, looking around and taking in the unfamiliar excitement from the unknown.
An animal stood before her, cautious gaze assessing every bit of the young creature. The majestic doe's gaze didn't falter, even as a wolf lunged at her from the brush, and the small girl watched as life was robbed from the being.
He dug into his prize until he decided he was full, shifting back into a human form.
Their eyes met, and he turned to chase her as she fled back into the nearby town, werewolf stopping just before the forest's edge.
The area between Belina's eyebrows contracted, but she didn't ask anything else of the matter.
"What's your name?" Belina asked, changing the subject to one she hoped would give her an actual answer.
"The Human in the Woods, The Minnesotan she-devil, I go by many names. My real one, though, is Andromeda. Andromeda Pyxis."
"Quite Astral," Belina glanced at her, earning a nod from Andromeda.
"I suppose," she said and paused for a moment before speaking again, "I do have one question, actually. Why were you out here? No-Man's land isn't exactly a suitable place for a pack wolf."
"I know, I just got carried away on my run. It was Raza, actually; my wolf. She was in control."
Andromeda nodded once curtly at the explanation after the lightness of Belina's eyes told her she was truthful.
They, by then, had reached the Blue Lake pack. As soon as she crossed the border, wolves surrounded the pair, showing off their pointed teeth.
"Back off! I'm taking her to the Alpha," Belina growled and the pack wolves complied, hesitantly backing away.
They made their ascent of eight floors in an elevator and through a hallway to a mahogany door, with gold letters spelling out 'Alpha'.
Belina tapped on the door a few times before a deep voice rang out.
"Come in," it said.
She swung the heavy door inwards.
The man, presumably the Alpha, as he was sitting at a desk with a nameplate that matched the door was seated at a large polished desk with gold-plated corners.
Papers, a laptop, a few pens, and a lamp were half-neatly strewn over the desk. Glancing around the room, she noticed the black curtains across the huge window that blocked out most of the natural light.
There were a few doors other than the one Belina and Andromeda entered from, and some elegant oil paintings of Alphas of the past.
The brown-haired man hadn't looked up from his computer where he was clacking at the keys with unnecessary vigor.
"Alpha, I brought a visitor. This is Andromeda, 'the Human in the Woods'. She told me about my mother."
He looked up and glared.
"She did what?" he growled.
"She told me what actually happened to my mother," An unexpected fire filled her eyes, "Why would you lie? To your own pack?"
Her soft feminine voice was a major contrast to his dominant and deep one. Belina's eyes seemed to hold a fire within them, depicting maturity well beyond her age.
"I did not lie," he stated, closing his eyes so they couldn't be read, "the human did. She is the true evil here, Belina."
"I think you are seriously misinformed, oh-so-mighty Alpha."
Andromeda didn't even think it a bad idea to aggravate a powerful and influential supernatural creature; or, if she did, she didn't think twice about it.
His body contorted in all directions, and his skin was stretched into odd lumps as he sprouted fur, landing on the ground on all fours. A wolf.
The Alpha wolf was large, but his wolf was nothing compared to the now extinct Alpha Narus, who had been killed by none other than Andromeda.
Belina gasped, assuming Andromeda was about to be ripped to shreds.
The wolf growled, baring its teeth at the young female. She mockingly returned his rude gesture. From the corner of her eye, she could see Belina's eyes glaze over, and she visibly relaxed. She had mind-liked someone, Andromeda knew, but who it was was a mystery.
I need to kill him, Andromeda thought, gritting her teeth.
No, I won't kill him, at least not yet.
She wanted to, and very much so. But her hesitance was caused by Belina. She had not wanted to kill a man before her innocent eyes.
Staying low to the ground, he lunged at her, jaw wide and ready to clasp his sharp, pointed canines into her paper-colored skin. She was unwilling to be without her throat, so she moved out of the way at the last moment, not leaving him enough time to react.
The wolf sailed across the room, unable to stop, crashing into the solid surface that was a wall. A few portraits fell, and one she recognized momentarily caught her eye, but she turned her attention back to Alpha Bernard.
Andromeda was just itching to pull an enchanted blade from her boot, but she was immediately interrupted by a tall woman entering the room.
She had dark brown hair, hazel eyes that sparkled, and was dressed in a red sundress. He must have sensed her immediately and rushed to protect her, but she just thwapped him on the snout.
"James! Stop tormenting this poor girl, what is wrong with you?" the Luna asked, exasperated. Her mate whimpered before shifting back into his human form.
"Elane, she's the—" he tried to speak, but the brown-haired and hazel eyed woman interrupted him.
"I know who she is, and I don't care! You are attacking a young girl unprovoked and that's that. Get dressed and we will speak of this later," she said, and he walked out of the room. "I'm sorry, sweethearts, what happened?" She looked at the two of them sympathetically.
Belina walked over and stood beside Andromeda. "I really don't know, I just introduced Andromeda to him, and he flipped," she said.
"Andromeda," She grumbled then raised her voice to a normal tone, "Andromeda Pyxis?" She nodded, and Elane glanced towards her.
"How did you--"
"It doesn't matter, my dear," she dismissed, "Belina, I'll take care of this. Can you prepare a room for her, the eighth floor?" the Luna asked more than ordered.
Belina paused for a second before smiling lightly at Andromeda and exiting the room. "I apologize for my husband, he doesn't like," she paused, "humans very much. He thinks you're a threat." in her eyes was an unreadable emotion, but Andromeda nodded curtly. I am a threat, she thought smugly.
"It's fine, Alphas generally dislike me," she shrugged with a slight laugh.
"I don't care what he may think. Would you like a tour of the pack house?" Elane asked and smiled brightly.
Andromeda agreed and the two exited the office.
The pack house was massive.
The eight levels were arranged roughly by rank, the higher the rank, the higher the floor and higher quality of the room.
After they had traveled and toured all of the important rooms, they went back up the elevator to the floor where the Alpha's office was. They moved down the hallway in the opposite direction, and she showed Andromeda to a smaller mahogany door.
"This would be your room," she unlocked the door and showed the guest inside.
Andromeda looked around, dumbfounded.
I knew the wolf-humans lived in luxury, but this?
There were a few large windows along one wall, and a sliding glass door exiting to a balcony over the training field. They were all concealed by some light golden curtains.The walls were light ivory, and the high ceiling held a small, crystal chandelier. In the center of the room sat an extremely large bed. It was covered in gold-stitched sheets and pillows, and draped along the foot was a fuzzy blanket the same color silver as two of the pillows.
She looked to Elane and thank her, as she was not expecting a luxurious room such as this one.
Luna Elane smiled, "It is no problem. You are my guest, after all. If you wouldn't mind, I would like for you to dine with us for supper."
Andromeda nodded to her and she continued, "Perfect! I will send someone up to get you and guide you there. There's a change of clothes in the closet if you would like."
Before she could thank her again, she exited and shut the door behind her, leaving Andromeda to herself.
She got in the large shower and washed her hair. She let it air dry and wrapped herself in a white towel. The warmth from the steamy air was suddenly robbed from her, much to her discomfort, as she walked into the main room.
As she entered the walk-in closet, she was met with rows upon rows of nice clothing. She was impressed, but still picked out a simple outfit, hiding three knives in her boots, two in her bra, and a pistol in one of her cargo pants' pockets, just in case.
Her long black hair was still damp, so once she was dressed, she returned to the bathroom to blow-dry it.
Much to her surprise, as she looked into the mirror, she looked like a grown woman. The last she had seen of herself was before she left the forest, still innocent-eyed and curious. She recalled the horrors she had faced, legs growing weak.
She collapsed, catching herself with her hands on the counter, cold golden eyes staring blindly downwards. Her hair fell in a dark curtain around her head.