As I made my way out of the castle grounds, I debated on letting out my wolf and decided against it last minute. Lena had a pearly white fur that was unmistakable even in darkness and the least we wanted to do was attract undue attention to ourselves, especially with people out to see me dead.
Although it didn't sit right with my wolf, who I imagined was already wagging her tail in excitement to finally be let out, we agreed on going incognito into the darkness of the night.
I knew where I was going even if I had a blindfold on. I ran through the woods with my black scarf wrapped tightly around my head, muslimah style. I knew every twist and turn by heart, every pothole and tree stump in the way were as the back of my palm, so I ran blindly and did not stop until I got to the clearing where, unsurprisingly, I found him there in his wolf form.
I could see the murderous glint in his eyes as he prowled and growled in the darkness.
"It's me, Loki. It's just me." I raised my hands up as I slowly talked to him, but his growl only became more dangerous. "I came because I wanted to offer my condolences, Lo. I mean no harm."
His wolf was beginning to whine when he abruptly turned back. I immediately turned my back to shield myself from seeing him in all of his naked glory. The tiny crescent of the new moon peeked out of a cloud and shone directly into the clearing. I could hear shuffling from behind me, but I didn't dare turn.
"Take your condolences to where it's needed, ma'am. I'm afraid a 'mere driver's son' is not worthy of such kindness." I whirled around to see he was still very shirtless and whirled right back;
"Loki, you know I don't think of you as just the son if one of the helps–"
"Bullshit. I call bullshit on this act of yours because I know the only reason you're here is because you seek comfort. I hate to break it to you, supreme Luna, that I am not obligated to offer comfort for your losses. Go ahead to your mate and seek that comfort from him!" With that, Loki turned back into the majestic grey hound that was his wolf and raced out of the clearing. Leaving me all alone.
All over again.
I slowly walked back to the castle in dejection. I couldn't blame him for reacting the way he had and I wasn't expecting him to welcome me back in open arms, especially after what I did to him, but I hoped he would, at least, lend me his listening ears. I wanted to apologise for hurting him, offer him comfort for his loss; his father, afterall was the driver of the vehicle my family was in, he'd lost his only surviving family too.
I was hoping we could connect over our losses and bury the hatchet, but alas…
They can't all be winners. Give it time, Erica. Time is capable of healing even the deepest of wounds.
I nodded appreciatively at the comfort my wolf offered and patted my own shoulder. As I drew nearer to the castle and spotted the familiar Maybach in the driveway and a male figure leaning on it with his back to me, my heart began to pound erratically in my chest.
I almost halted in my steps, but adrenaline kept me going; I put one foot in front of the other till I came face to face with the man who had single handedly ruined my life and caused me to die in my past life;
Ronald.
And in his embrace was his accomplice, lover and my cousin;
catherine.
I didn't know I'd frozen to a spot, until they both scrambled into uprightness and Ronald came over to touch me. I flinched out of his hold.
"Heeey, Baby!" His rich timbre that'd once made me blush now made my skin crawl. I forced myself to give a nod in acknowledgment of his salutation and plastered on a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"Are you okay?" He moved closer to me as his expression was tainted with concern. It took every bit of restraint I had in me to not back away from him, turn around and bolt out of the place. His words from our final encounter played in my head as his hands went around me in an embrace;
'How naive can you really be to think that there was once a time I gave a fuck about you…?'
'...do you know how much my skin crawled under your touch…?'
'...you thought all my words and acts of support, encouragement and love were genuine…?'
'How clueless can one be? Really. You were really just a means to an end, how can you still not see that…?'
"Can you please let go of me?" My voice came out in a strangled choke; thick with emotion, but unable to get the message accross, because his hold on me only tightened as he cooed vain words of assurance.
'He was never yours to begin with, couz, he'd always been mine'.
"Get your bloody hands off of me!" This time, my voice was so ferociously cold that Ronald's hands were off my skin even before I was done talking. I was panting like a bull that'd encountered a red flag and my wolf was struggling to take over for me.
"Erica, that's no way to treat your mate," Ronald said in a voice that sounded like it came from a distance.
Then I remembered.
I was his mate, legitimately, officially. While my family was being assassinated, I was busy completing the mating bond with this bastard and now I was bound to him. Hostility would birth nothing but abuse, emotionally or physically. I had to look for a way to sever our mating bond and the way I was currently behaving would not make sure of it. I needed to snap out of whatever rage I was in and focus on the game at hand;
The game of charades.