The grass was had grown unnaturally long concealing everything within a mile radius. Because of this particular reason, every step l took resulted in weeds wrapping themselves around my ankles, making the journey to the shelter a hassle.
"I am going to put you on my back. I don't want you to cause a scene and attract a lot of attention to us" Antonio warned before wrapping his arms around my legs while crouching down and twisting my body so l could lay on his back
"Why would l cause a scene. I have kissed way too many pebbles for one night" l said while adjusting myself on his back
"That's not the response l was expecting" he said causing me to raise an eyebrow at his statement
"And what is that suppose to me? You know what, don't tell me. Don't ruin a peaceful evening"
"Do you honestly have to make it seem like everything that comes out of my mouth is bad, l am a good person" he defended
"Because good people treat those they feel are inferior to them like garbage. You my friend have a very twisted definition of what it means to be a good person"
"How long do l have to apologise for that. I made a mistake" he said rolling his eyes while wiping the residue sweat off his forehead
"You are only sorry because l turned out to be your mate and you need me to stay alive. You don't just apologise and expect everyone to put their pain behind them. Show us that you are really sorry. And people will forgive you when they are ready to. " l said trying to get it through to him that forgiveness is a process and people forgive according to their own timetable
This shut him up. The rest of the journey was quite as everyone was lost in their thoughts.
"Here we are" the witch said a while later standing in front of a rundown abandoned looking hut
"And where is here?" Antonio questioned setting me down
"Shelter l promised, shelter l am delivering" she said as she made her way in the house. It looked as though it would fall apart from the smallest of movements
"What are you standing around for, come in" she said gesturing for us to follow her
"Shouldn't we have guards stationed outside to guard the place" Antonio asked
"Like anyone would suspect that there are people inside" she said with an eyeroll making it seem like Antonio is the most stupid person on the planet
"She does have a point" his Gamma said
"shut up" he said before storming into the house
When we all stepped inside we were amazed. Gone was the rundown house and in it's place a a fairly modern looking house. When one thinks of a coven or a witch's house you imagine spell books scattered around, different concoctions brewing in huge black pots, eyeballs and other body parts on display and most of all a cat. But none of that was onsite.
The house looked like a standard family home with photographs scattered on the walls. Nothing any of us expected
"why are you standing around, take a seat" she gestured to the 'L' shaped white couch sitting proudly in front of the fire place
"how?" one of the guards asked
"how did the house transform or how do l have a family?" she asked him
"Both" came his reply
"You don't honestly believe that l would live in something that rundown do you?" she asked
"you are a witch. the idea wouldn't be surprising" the Gamma spoke
"I will pretend that l didn't just hear that. We have important business to discuss." she said getting up and motioning for us to do the same.
"Your Alpha and l are going to have a chat. You five stay and make dinner. We will be back shortly" she said. I stood frozen on the spot not knowing what to do
"Are you coming?" she asked seeing that l had made no move to follow her yet
I followed the two while the rest started making dinner probably asking themselves same question as l was 'why was l needed'. We arrived at her workspace and l felt at ease, the familiarity of the room wiping away all the anxiety l felt
"Have a seat" she said as she put on her reading glassed and opening a random book that had a billion notes scrawled on them
"why am l needed for this. I am just his cleaner" l said to the women
" l know that you two are mates and it is important that you hear what l have to say" she said before settling on a page, looking right into my eyes, she said the words l had dreaded hearing for a long time
"The ancient red wolf will come from your pack"
"There is no such thing as the ancient red wolf. That is just a bedtime story parents tell naughty children to scare them" he said shaking his head in disbelief
"The legend is real and unfolding before our eyes and we need to be ready or else our kind will be wiped away, seizing to exist" she said in a grave voice but Antonio wasn't willing to believe a word of what she was saying
"How do you explain what happened tonight?" she asked him
"what happened tonight" l asked, hating that l was left in the dark
"we'll talk about it later. Attica, let's go" he says standing up and making his way back to the kitchen
"Attica could you stay behind, l would like to have a word with you" she asked , at this Antonio raised his eyebrows silently questioning why she would want to speak to me. They had a heated staring contest until finally Antonio left us but not before warning to kill her should anything happen to me
"It's been a while since l saw you around these parts. How have you been your majesty?" she says before bowing her head as a sign of respect and submission