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I nodded. “They were to stay away from me. Not the other way around. I am here by my own choice. I just need a word with one of them.”
I couldn’t hear much from inside the older house, but there were voices. I needed to find just one of them to know where I was from. Just one.
“Luna, I really don’t think it’s safe.”
I nodded towards the house. “They’re all loyal to Black Creek, are they not?”
The two exchanged a look.
“Okay, I know there have been some rotten apples, but what can happen to me with families around?”
They weren’t budging.
“Don’t you dare tell the alpha you’re going against my wishes. I just want a quick chat with them.”
One guy stepped aside while the other stepped forward.
“Fine, but one of us goes with.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. But don’t you tell anyone why I am here. This is my business.”
The one heading inside grunted. “But—”
“No buts. This is my business and no one else’s. Do not tell me that I can’t do what I want.”
More looks were exchanged and finally I was able to pass. It wasn’t that I thought they would hide this from their alpha, but he was with the council, and I was relatively certain that he wasn’t to be disturbed except for an emergency. Which, maybe me being rebellious could be an emergency in his eyes.
The door creaked as I walked in and stopped in the smaller entry than the main house.
“Hello?”
All the voices stopped and a slightly older member of the pack came around the corner.
“Luna?”
I gave a slow nod as she nodded. I looked at her and then around the corner. There was no laughter of children. No booming sounds of conversation like Black Creek.
“How are you?” I asked. What was I trying to do here? This pack had stolen me away from my life. No. I’d been sold. I still just needed to know. I needed to know how to leave my past behind.
“We are well. Thank you for asking. What can we do for you?”
The older woman appeared to be looking behind me. I turned to see the guard and no one else.
“I’m alone.”
She forced a smile, and then I caught a smell in the air. It wasn’t unpleasant and reminded me of scents from the kitchen in the pack house in Cripple Creek.
“Is that Ms. April’s stew?”
My stomach rumbled in response, as if it could remember that we could go days with little to nothing. I’d rarely been taken care of, but when she made stew, there was always a bowl left for each of the three of us in the basement. Everything around here was triggering, but the stew? It was my one happy memory.
“Yes, if you come this way, you may have some.”
It was a short walk, and I understood why this was kept more for guests than anything. It had the feel of a pack house and yet barely housed this small group. The wood floors were worn and creaked with every step. The walls had turned more yellow than white, but it was clean and dry. The memories these walls must have seen.
As we crossed into the kitchen, the only woman I ever saw beyond the alpha and his daughter stood there. She smiled at me.
“Well, you certainly have traded up, haven’t you?”
