The Wolf that Binds us

Nothing but a stray

CHAPTER 4

“Elara, what’s the scuffle about?”

Odessa asked limping towards her father’s study. The loud thump from Alpha Tharros’s body on the wall had already caused an unsettling in the atmosphere.

“Odessa, what are you doing here? You should be resting inside.”

“And you should be watching me. Well, that makes two of us.”

Elara carefully held Odessa as she attempted to lead her back to the room. Their movement was abruptly halted by the opening of the door of the study. Alpha Tharros stormed out with his hands adjusting the collar of his suit. On noticing weak Odessa, he slowed down and made to exchange pleasantries.

“Odessa, how are you? I heard what happened. I’m very sorry. Hope you are getting better.”

Tharros expressed himself with lustrous and liquid eyes. He could see how weak she appeared and wished the news of Zoe’s involvement in the scandal was false.

“I’m fine sir.”

Odessa waved off with her pale lips parting a smile.

“If you say so, then I will take your word for it and personally invite you to Lyra’s wedding party this weekend.”

Alpha Tharros let his hand search his pocket to search for the VIP invitation he saved for Ethan if things went well, which didn’t. He still wanted to keep trying, although his instincts plunged him in that Ethan would object and be true to his thoughts. Ethan stretched his hands and received the card from him before Odessa could reach for it.

“Thank you. Odessa needs to rest now!”

Ethan grinned in a voice that sounded almost like a firm order. Tharros smiled wryly as he walked out. Odessa and Elara stood with their faces in awe of what had just occurred.

“I thought I asked you to watch her, Elara?”

Ethan inquired, with his porcelain skin looking red with anger.

“I was the one who stepped out. It wasn’t Elara’s fault.”

“Now step back in.”

Ethan ordered. He prayed that Odessa didn’t overhear anything from their conversation.

“I will, but not without my invitation card.”

Odessa stubbornly expressed. For as long as she could remember, her father never had any grudge against her friendship with Luca until recently, when he started placing restrictions on their meetings.

“This? You are not going. Go upstairs now, Odessa!”

Ethan ordered, causing an uproar and change in Odessa’s mood even as she grumbled up the stairs. Elara stood aghast of Ethan’s absurd reaction.

“What is wrong with you, Ethan?”

Elara inquired with pleading eyes.

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

Ethan scoffed as he walked back into his study with his head buried deep in the clouds. Tharros had stirred the troubled waters in his mind no matter how he tried. He couldn’t un-hear them.

***

Odessa spent the night pacing from one end of her room to the other. She watched the food on the table grow cold. Her heart was too frail to search the internet. She wished she could see Whitney and pour out the barrels of her troubled mind. How much she longed for the presence of the one who set her insides on fire. It was almost appearing like a blurry future. She drew her reading chair to one of the windows of her room even as she was mesmerized by how Luca used to climb her window to come see her and watch the full moon together. She would cheer him on whenever he wanted to turn into his wolf form. He made it appear easy and planted a longing to feel different. Her mind flashed back to last summer when the academy was on holiday, and he would visit her every night. In the shadow of the dark they would tease themselves with no ulterior motives except because they were childhood friends and nothing gave them more joy than act awfully shameless around each other. First it was a weak thump, then it became a strong sensation. That night it was already past midnight and the full moon was up. Her disillusioned heart had made peace that Luca would be absent. He didn’t return her calls or respond to any of her text messages. She had retreated to her luxurious bed when the silent creak from the window woke her up.

“Hey, I thought you wouldn’t be able to make it?”

Odessa puffed as she moved towards him. He looked like a star that had lost his shine. He had been her friend since grade one and even with her eyes closed she could tell when he lacked his shine.

“Odessa, I can’t take it anymore!”

He expressed, retreating to her cozy rug. He loved it. He said it reminded him of his young days when he was still mastering his wolf form; when his father and trainers mounted restless training for him.

“Hey, what is it?”

Odessa sat by his side with her soft palms carefully placed on his.

“Alpha Tharros wants me to be…”

“You mean your dad!”

Odessa interrupted.

“Odessa you don’t know him. He is not that sweet uncle that you meet whenever you come to the house. He relates like a monarch would relate with his subjects.”

Luca cried. The pressures of being the heir of the Tharros dynasty were weighing on him; robbing him of any extracurricular activities. His father forced him to council meetings, imposed laws on him to be perfect in all respects.

“He is still your father.”

Odessa reiterated.

“You won’t understand. Every family is not like yours, mine is a raging tornado. Lyra refused to be married to commander Nath’s son and I have to face the consequences.”

“I like Lyra, she is your father’s greatest roadblock.”

“I like her too, but you are missing the point, since she insists on getting married to her heart throb, I have to be paired to Vynessa and not just that, I have to go to Havenstead to enact my father’s authority over the provinces with my wife.”

Luca whined. The last thing he wanted was the kind of power that his father wielded. The type that he had to exercise authority by being extremely diplomatic at the expense of what he really wanted.

“But if you ask me, I don’t see anything wrong with going to Havenstead. I heard it’s peaceful there.”

“And what about the getting married part?”

Odessa’s heart dropped at the realization of Luca’s marriage to Vynessa, not because she had any claim to him but something inside of her felt broken.

“Vynessa is the most priced jewel at the academy, hence I’m sure you would be lucky to have her.”

“What are you talking about? That’s not how it works in my world. In my world you only have one mate. You could have other omegas on the side but only one mate.”

Luca reiterated with wet eyes.

“Why are you emphasizing the mate part?”

Odessa wryly laughed. She was feeling the burn and clog in her throat from anger, tears and a broken heart, but she had no claim.

“Because I have seen Vynessa and nothing has ever sparked like the way they say it in the chronicles or even the way Lyra told me.”

“But she is very beautiful.”

Odessa emphasized.

“I know, but I still don’t feel it.”

Luca expressed it with a weak smile. Odessa heaved a sigh of relief, excited that he refuted that part. She watched him laugh about how his father missed two deer targets during their hunt in the forest. He was home with her. She loved how he settled with the moon and slowly let out his wolf around her. She reached to touch his bare body when he changed back, mainly because she loved his metamorphosis from fur to smooth silk skin. Her touch massaged his ego for a bit even as he let her continue. Her heart raced faster with every touch she made and Luca felt his whole body burning with a strange passion; his heart raced against himself and his defenses weakened. He wondered what she was doing to him, but he didn’t dare stop her, he loved it. Her hands scavenged his chest and body lit with vain desires. It was the first time she was this close to him. They breathed the air and for a second they both couldn’t tell if it was because the Alpha’s heir was emotionally hurt or because he just turned back from his wolf form or plainly because he had dreamed of having her in his arms over and over; to caress her rosy skin and hold her slender arms in his, to motion towards her stringed heavy waist and breathe the same air as her. Their lips motioned towards each other and in the rhythm of their bodies; they found expression on each other’s lips. The loud c***k from the almond tree opposite Odessa’s room brought their lustful dance to an abrupt end. Their lips quickly parted, but their eyes stayed glued to each other, mainly because no one dared look away. It would usher in the grave consequences of their sinful pleasure. Luca peered deep into her eyes as if letting her know how much he longed for it and so did Odessa. They had crossed the defining line. Never could they return on the road to harmless friendship, what remained was the bleak reality of their fate. Almost simultaneously, they both consented to avoid reality for that moment, and stopping time to glory in their vain lust. She loved him.

***

“I need to see Odessa!”

Luca pleaded as he held on to the gate of the Atlas manor. Xandros caught him before he could climb up to her room.

“She doesn’t want to see you, get out!”

Xandros ordered as he signaled the guards to take him away from the premises.

“Xandros, what’s the noise about?”

Odessa inquired from her room window.

“Nothing, Odessa. It’s just a stray dog causing havoc.”

He lied.