The Last Pack

8. A FRIEND

When Iselda woke up to prepare for her night of seduction, she could make out the back of Fidella who was facing the wall, unlike usual when she would be waiting to tell her about the events of the day. Heavy intakes of breaths, that sounded shaky, alerted Iselda to the misery her cellmate was feeling.

“What’s wrong, Fidella? Are you hurt?” Iselda gently asked, sitting on the edge of her friend’s bed. Fidella faced her and she noticed a slight bruise on her cheek, but more shocking than that was how swollen her eyes were from the tears that were still falling.

“You’re going to spend the night with Conri,” Fidella stated to her friend.

“ OK and you’re sad about that? Do you like him?” Iselda asked, in a soft voice.

“Iselda, he is my mate!” Iselda gasped at the word, and hugged her friend closely and tightly. She gently rocked her as Fidella told her everything that had happened from the balcony to the bowls. Empathy ebbed out of her at the pain she could feel coming from Fidella. Usually, Iselda would use this time for the pleasure slave’s ritual, however by the end of the story she knew that such a task would be even more unnecessary than usual when she was gifted to Conri, and told Fidella as much.

“You and I are captured slaves, and we remember our packs and our sacred bonds, but Conri was born here, and nobody has ever told him about the way of the wolf. His reactions are a product of his own confusion rather than cruelty. I will try to help him with the questions he must have,” Iselda patted Fidella’s shoulder, offering comfort.

“You will share his bed and his body tonight, and I think my heart might break,” Fidella wailed.

“Sweet Fidella, Conri cannot refuse a gift from the Dominus. It would have resulted in a punishment for his insolence. I have been gifted to him before and Conri has never known me like that, or any pleasure slave he has been given,” Iselda explained.

“Why not?” Fidella asked, her tears still flowing, but her eyes steady.

“I cannot speak for Conri, but he knows how much I hate being a pleasure slave, he would never take advantage of a woman like that. He is a good person, he protects people as much as he can, in his own way,” Iselda looked up with tears in her own eyes.

“I’m sorry, you’ve been listening to me moan for all this time and I never realised you were miserable. I’ve been really insensitive, you always seemed so happy and cheerful,” Fidella was ashamed of herself.

“Your stories make me laugh, like a little escape before I have to begin my duties. I am unhappy every evening, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make my own reality in the day when I laugh and smile,” Placing a kiss on her friend’s forehead, she departed and made her way to Conri’s cell.

Opening the cell door, she met the angry Alpha, pacing his entire cell in three strides. He looked up slightly comically. She proceeded to sit on the edge of his bed, waiting for him to control his wolf and sit down. Finally, the silence was disturbed when he turned to her and whisper shouted,

“We are not sleeping together!”

“Thank the Goddess for that we never had before and it would be a shame to start now that you have found your mate,” Iselda laughed at his shocked face, and patted the bed next to her, encouraging him to sit down.

“We need to talk about Fidella,” With this one suggestion, Conri sat down eagerly.

“Is she ok? She was so upset at lunch time, she wouldn’t look at me, but was sure I could smell her tears. My chest has felt tight and heavy ever since then. Einar spent the entire afternoon shouting at me, calling me every name under the sun, and now he’s put a block up. I didn’t even know he could do that! I’ve not even spoken to her yet, but if you tell me she is unhappy, I will tear down every door and guard and obstacle in my way to get to her,” Conri’s rant came to a close and he was breathless as the words tumbled out of him. Smiling, Iselda patted his shoulder.

“She’s OK now we have spoken, she thought we would be together, that we wouldn’t have a choice. She feels the mate bond too, and when she sleeps she sighs your name,” Iselda broke down the barriers with her sledge hammer of secrets.

Conri grinned at this news, he was with her in her dreams, as she was in his. Although he delighted in this revelation, he knew he had to be with her in real life.

“Do you have any questions for me?” Iselda asked, trying to be mindful of her role in all of this.

“I know what a mate is now, I know that our souls are stitched together for eternity, but who put us together and why have I never heard of this before?”

“When I was little, my parents told me that the Goddess Selene found each wolf their mate for life. It was a gift she gave to her children to give them balance against the aggression we once felt. We are slaves, so some mates could be in other houses, some may have died instead of being captured. You are blessed, Conri, to be given a love so rare,” Iselda clarified.

“When the wild wolf came at me today, I heard her voice in my head. Did I imagine that?” Conri implored her for an answer.

“Fidella mind linked you. When a wolf sees you as part of their pack, you can talk to each other in your minds. I don’t know how, because I lost my pack as a young child, before I gained my wolf, but Fidella knows how. I’ll ask her to tell you and then you can get to know each other without needing me,” Iselda elucidated.

“Do you think my parents might have been mates?”

“I’m not sure, the only person who might know is the matriarch. She has been here the longest. We know that Ewan’s parents were mates. That’s why he is here, for his vengeance. I wouldn’t ask though, Conri, if anyone finds out about you two, they would split you up. Mated wolves are too strong to be kept,” Iselda cautioned.

Iselda peeled back the covers and lay down. There was no need to explain why. She couldn’t leave until the morning. Conri slid next to her, but maintained a respectful gap. The covers stretched across them both to create a concealment from the watchful eyes of the guards who would sometimes insist on watching the show.

“Tell her I think about her all the time, and that the days I don’t see her are my desolate days, but one glimpse of her brings me true joy for the first time in my life,” Conri promised.

Iselda nodded in response. She felt a little jealous that she had never felt a love like that, and it was unlikely she ever would. However, she thought being so near to adoration and not being able to touch, hold or even speak to your soul mate must be more painful than never having it at all.