At his words, for the first time, Jade was tongue-tied. She blinked twice consecutively and looked down at her food, completely ignoring him.
Once she finished eating, Malfrid offered for them to go on a walk, just around the pack territory, and to mingle with the pack members. Though Jade hardly believed him when he said they would be mingling. There was no way he would let her do that so soon. Wolves were possessive, especially the alphas, making it impossible for him to let her talk to other people or men.
She caught sight of the house where Malfrid’s mother had taken her to change. With her eyes trained on it, she spoke, “Is that your house?”
Malfrid looked to where she was pointing at before nodding. “Yes, that is the Alpha’s house. It is the house where I and you will be residing until I retire from the position of the alpha.”
She nodded, appearing to be slightly confused as she asked, “I thought that wolves stayed together in a big house?”
“Ah, yes, the pack house,” he nodded, “Yes, they live in a pack house. However, when the young find their mates, they shift to find their own space. My beta wolf and I have rooms there. Would you like to live there instead?”
Emitting a gasp, she looked away bashfully, appearing to be shy at what he said. She heard his chuckle and she knew that the werewolf was fooled once again.
Jade cleared her throat very lightly before continuing the conversation, "Where is the pack house?"
"You see that building?" He stopped and pointed to the house behind her which stood tall and proud as people came out of it. "That is the packhouse. The elderly live there along with a couple of unmated young adults who wish to live away from their parents. It also houses orphans."
She nodded as she stared at the packhouse. This was the main residence where many people called home. It would be difficult to find the relic if it was located anywhere near it.
They walked a little further to where lanes of houses made of wood started to appear. This was where the mated couples lived. The wooden cabins had one or even two to three story houses, which gave her an idea of how large the family was.
"These houses are made by the men that find their mates. They built it along with their family members as a gift to his female. Everything you will find in there would be constructed solely by the man," he informed her and that was the information that shocked her.
She was not aware of such a tradition.
"I don't understand," she looked at the houses. "Building houses takes a long time. So how does a wolf build a house when he just found his female?"
Malfrid smiled at her. "Male wolves start by the age of fifteen to build the house for their mate. It takes around the time of three to four years depending how many family members he has to help. Sometimes people often volunteer. And by the time he reaches the age of eighteen and about where he finds his female, the house is ready."
"Did you build up a house for your mate?" she asked hesitantly, peeking at him before turning to look ahead.
"I did," he said so quietly that if she did not have shifter ears she would not have picked it up. Jade looked at him as he continued, "I made it years back. I was done by the time I had six months left to turn eighteen."
"How long has it been?"
Malfrid smiled and she could see the pain behind it. "Ten years, my mate. It has been more than ten years."
The feeling of sympathy erupted in her chest but her master's face flashed in her mind, making her close her eyes and bury the feelings in her heart.
‘Compassion was a weakness,’ that was what he always said.
Glancing at him once more Jade knew that Malfrid was vulnerable at the moment and he assumed the same for her. She decided to take a gamble.
"I have heard about a relic… Something that has been passed down for generations in your family. I have never had anything that I could believe to be true. Could you tell me more about it?"
From the corner of her eye, she saw Malfrid stiffen.
She had begun to pry in too soon, she realised. However, the words were already spoken.
Malfrid opened his mouth before closing it again. He opened his mouth to talk again, "The relic, yes, has been passed down my family through generations. It is a very powerful weapon and, by powerful, I mean it can take out masses of people at once."
"Oh." Even though the master had told everyone to be careful while procuring the relic, he had never told them what it could do. By the information, she guessed it could take out wolf packs in a go.
"Yes." He looked at her and held out his hand. "Come, she shall take you somewhere."
"Where?" she asked before placing her hand in his.
Malfrid did not answer her and increased his pace in walking. So, she kept an eye out for where they were going.
They passed the packhouse and another building before reaching a building containing three floors. It was heavily guarded, judging by the different scents she was sniffing. Not only that but they were people standing guard outside the building.
"What is this?" Jade asked slightly cautiously, stepping towards him, appearing to be alarmed with the daunting men standing with knives in their waistbands.
"I want to show you something." He glanced back at her. "I think you very much deserve knowing this."
He flashed a quick smile before they were on our way inside the building. She understood what it was right after.
Malfrid was taking her into the building where the relic was.
Every floor, as she noticed when they started to climb up the stairs, had a minimum of five guards each. She could trace the outline of weaponry on them. They carried knives.
On reaching the second floor, he took her into the hallway. They crossed three guards before Malfrid stopped in front of a room that had a huge dog in front of it.
She narrowed her eyes at the dog that surprisingly did the same to her. Jade did notice that the dog was surprisingly huge. It was not the size of any wolf and neither was it the size of a dog.
‘What was what?’ she wondered.
Malfrid chuckled. "Come here," he said, pulling her close.
He entangled her fingers in his while keeping their palms open he extended it into the direction of the dog.
The dog raised its head and sniffed the fingers twice. She watched as its nose twitched. It was memorizing the smell. Malfrid was having him memorize her smell and associate it with his.
“There you go,” Malfrid cooed gently as the dog licked her palm that was facing him, “He knows you are family now.” Malfrid smiled at her and she glanced at him.
That was when she noticed how close they stood to each other. It was too close. His eyes flickered to her lips and he leaned a lip making her do the same.
“Woof!”
She jumped and pulled away just as Malfrid did.
‘Lord have mercy,’ she thought. What was she about to do? What if someone working for the master was here and saw her?
“Come,” Malfrid directed as he moved past the dog, scratching it a little behind the ear, and opened the door.
In her excitement, Jade almost took a huge step forward to reach for the relic before she remembered who was standing by her side. She composed herself and slowed down to walk with grace.
Malfrid stepped aside and her eyes found the relic. A grin made its way onto her face surreptitiously.
Finally.