Inevitable Conclusions

Chapter-Seven

Chapter-Seven

“Oww-OH-Oh-OWW-That hurts, that hurts a lot-You are hurting me!” It doesn’t really hurt that much, but currently playing up her injuries and pain might mean Mrs. Reynolds might stop it with inspections and prodding and let her leave already.

Mrs. R must know that too because she doesn’t look impressed, she simply stretches out the bandage before cautiously wrapping it around her arm and shoulder.

Astrid had done a fine job of re-wrapping the wound on her shoulder the previous night itself, as soon as the Pedophile Pedro and his wife left the room, but the next morning she knew very well the stitches weren’t holding up, but she hadn’t had the time to stress about it with wanting to get her work done as soon as possible which was thankfully not babysitting duty for once, but by afternoon after a day of running around the Pack House, the wound was bleeding again. Mrs. Reynold had caught hold of her before Astrid could stich it up again. She had dragged Astrid along with all the angry mumblings of a grumpy old lady as she redid the thing herself with all the cautiously precise experience and interest someone could ever have in a claw mark. And currently the same process that Astrid usually completed in five minute was being stretched out for half an hour, half an hour of the time Astrid didn’t have to spare.

“Stop being a child, Astrid. I know it must have hurt even worse for all the previous time you did it like the house was on fire” and wow, look at that, Mrs. Reynolds had some sass on her even in her late years, “If you had done it right the first time around maybe it wouldn’t have torn off” Mrs. Reynolds murmurs under her breathe but doesn’t bother looking up at Astrid regardless of all that the lady had to say.

“It got torn off because there was an Alpha werewolf trying to eat me alive, or just eat me because I wouldn’t be alive for all of it, would I?” she feels the need to point out as the old lady finishes up.

“Oh, so you do remember that?- and yet not even a whole twenty four hours later you are running off again”

“What? No! I am just gonna- I am just gonna go hang out back at the camp, get some sleep” Astrid lies quickly, geez she had managed get past the detection of the countless werewolves in and out of the pack and now this old lady was gonna blow this for her.

“I can see your bag” the lady notes and Astrid is quick to shove the backpack she usually carries along with her into a corner. It’s not much just a spare shirt and a couple of knick knacks that could help her out if a werewolf did catch her scent or something, it’s a survival kit she supposes, one Mrs. Reynolds is clearly not meant to see.

“What bag?” she has a feeling Mrs. Reynolds doesn’t buy it, nevertheless the woman helps her put on her hoodie back through her knackered shoulder.

“Astrid, you think I don’t know that you’ve been sneaking out since we arrived at the Capitol City? Who do you think covers for you at the checkups and with Carl?-You are unbelievable child” the woman sounds tired and resigned for some reason, a few hours ago Astrid was pretty sure the lady didn’t even a give damn about her, so that’s a surprise.

“You knew and you didn’t tell anyone? Didn’t deport me back to the auction to get sold off?” she is actually surprised. It’s not that Mrs. Reynolds is a bad person, she is actually the very opposite of that, she is the right person, the person to do the right thing and by not reporting her endeavors she was technically risking the wrath of the werewolf masters upon all the slaves in the pack.

“Why would I do -? Never mind, for all the spying and sneaking you do, you are not very observant of the world around you, are you child? Listen, I know you have been through some pretty tough things, maybe worse than most people have it here- but you can’t keep going like this, I can’t keep covering for you- They will catch on one day and there won’t be much I could do then- Don’t roll your eyes at me young lady, you listen when I say you listen-The Alpha, She is a good Werewolf, a strong leader and as just as a werewolf can get. You’ll be alright under her, stay Astrid, stay and be safe child- You could have a family here if you would just try” it’s not like Mrs. Reynolds’s usual lectures, the tone of her voice is different as if she is pleading to her rather than her not so subtle warnings and rants.

It takes her a second but she realizes Mrs. Reynolds is worried about her, and well, she hadn’t had someone worried about her in a long while. It’s such a surprise that she finds herself leaning closer to the palm Mrs. Reynold has on her now bandaged shoulder.

“I am not the family kind of person Mrs. R” she says despite the fact she knew very well that family was the only reason she kept going to this day, but Mrs. Reynolds didn’t need to know that.

The older lady sighs, then takes the palm away from her body, she is not surprised by the fact she misses the touch and almost leans after it, she doesn’t recall the last time someone touched her which wasn’t forced, to cause pain or because they wanted something from her, or wanted to do something to her.

“You are a good kid, Astrid- and Life is hard, but if you let that change you, if you let that harm that goodness that I know is inside you, that’s where you actually lose, against them- against yourself, against everyone- And someone life you shouldn’t give up so easy” she warns and somehow it echoes somewhere. “Be Careful Okay, that Alpha from yesterday, It might have caught your scent, that wolf could be dangerous” she adds as she takes a step back, seemingly giving her the permission and space to run off again.

“They are all dangerous, Mrs. R” Astrid notes just as she picks up her bag with her good hand, this time pointedly not wincing when her shoulder aches at the movement as she didn’t want the old lady stressing further. It is nice to have people worry about you, but to the people doing the worrying that’s a whole another story.

Mrs. Reynolds gives her a soft smile at her words, she thinks it’s the first time she is seeing that particular look on the lady’s face aimed at her, and it’s so genuine, so heartfelt as if the lady only sees that goodness she presumes Astrid to have, that is a pretty novel concept too once she thinks about it.

“Maybe, but I don’t think you believe that, cause if you did you would not be doing half the things you do” and that’s the subtle warning insult that she knows all too well, proving that the poor lady in fact did not lose her mind for the previous few minutes.

Astrid notes the words with a quick salute and a happy smile.

“Don’t apply weight on that shoulder” Mrs. Reynolds warns just as Astrid runs off toward the back gate, the evening wind in her hair and the last few rays of the sun lighting her way out of the pack compound and towards her destination.

Her destination for time being is the Royal Grounds and all the hundred or so buildings and castles within the compound, and considering the hell that it takes to get in there with an added clawed open shoulder, she is willing to settle for at least the surroundings of the vast compound where she hopes at least some of the slaves would be allowed to venture down and intermix with the other humans.

As soon as she is past the pack house it’s very obvious that the Mating Festivals are about to wind down, the streets are loud and crowded, with both humans and wolves running all around that it’s almost like there is no partition between the two species for that brief moment when both are in the same desperate rush to get somewhere, but then all she has to do is think of the potential reasons they might be rushing around, one is for the necessity to feed their children, not to get killed and keep themselves alive and well, and the other’s aim is probably to get laid, and when you understand that, then the separation is right there wide and clear.

This particular Festival is said to be a big deal, the biggest in a while considering just how long this shindig had lasted as opposed to the usual week at a secluded area. She hasn’t been to a lot of Mating Festivals, she has been trying to for years but it was this year she managed to be with the right pack at the right time and hence was trying so hard not to get kicked off too soon.

The crowd is something Astrid was actually hoping for, for the first part it meant that there was lesser chance of someone realizing she wasn’t meant to be there, and the second it meant more slaves, more humans from more packs, more people to ask around for the same name. She presumes the apparently unmated future kings probably had something to do with the excess pomp and splendor, she’s never really seen or cared much about the monarch or the politics behind the whole thing, but she assumes the concept of multiple rich and powerful dudes might be a big deal to the power hungry werewolves. Not that she is complaining, because the lack of those assholes romantic life was what enabled this congregation and the biggest opportunity Astrid might ever get to finding at least something about Bella.

She pulls up her hoodie and makes sure her hands are fully covered by the sleeves in order to hide the trackers, fortunately the clothing was big enough, something she got from an older larger slave a couple of packs ago that it was large enough to keep most of her shape hidden and bland enough that she fit right in with the rest of the slaves.

Two hours later she has managed to cover one of the markets where the humans are sent to pick up the groceries, two cocktail parties involving various numbers of packs including parts of the Royal one, and a dangerous entry into a pack house, all yielding the same result, either people shouting at her to get going, refusing to talk to a strange slave and the most heartbreaking of all the ‘I don’t knows’ which keeps on driving more and more in to her core.

The sun’s gone down and the night is in full swing by the time Astrid pauses to take a breath, she takes off her backpack and shoves it to the floor before she takes a seat on the cold gravel herself, her shoulder was aching and had just proceeded to get worse with the added pressure of the bag strap kept on it for so long, the pain was getting a little numbing, traveling to her fingers by this point. Astrid was hurt and a little light headed, she was also hungry as she had completely skipped lunch in order to get her work done faster, but beyond everything else she was tired, mentally she was starting to get tired and the despair and disappointment was starting to get through the walls she build and that is something she could not handle right now.

There was a big party in one of the Royal mansions, a pretty important one from what she heard the some of the slaves say. It was exclusive, most likely for the high end elite packs, not like the one she has been to with the Vikrams or the one she snuck in to a few weeks ago, it also probably has slaves from packs she hadn’t met yet, but on the other side the security was going to be tight, most likely ready to weed of unwanted werewolves that she didn’t have high hopes about getting in as a human.

She is not naïve enough to believe that Bella was brought by one of the elitist packs, those werewolves were picky, their slaves trained to be perfect and obey with no second chances or mistakes, and with the kind of background like Astrid’s and Bella’s they didn’t hold much of a chance, but Astrid was naïve enough to hope that Bella was there because she sure as hell deserved to be somewhere where she wouldn’t be treated as s**t, Astrid was naïve and desperate enough to want to try, and she was tired enough that she knew she couldn’t handle regretting this moment for the rest of her life.

She feels a shadow move just as she gets back to her feet, she hears it more than she sees it and in seconds her hands are inside the over used backpack, grabbing at the lone knife she has managed to keep hidden for so long. She looks over the place once again, yet not daring to actually walk across, she sighs out loud as she lets go of the grip on the knife and zip up the rucksack. She didn’t have time to be paranoid; she had a heavily guarded party to sneak in to.

Even as she climbs past the large walls separating the Royal grounds she can’t help but pray that she don’t get killed, at least not until she got to at least glimpse at Bella.

Mrs. Reynolds words about Family echoes in her head all the while…

************

Let it never be said King Edward Alasdair never passed down any of his peculiar traits to his sons, because if there is one thing that is in common with the King and the youngest of his boys, it was the fact both were great company.

Unlike his brother, Prince Augustus didn’t inspire instant fear and the sudden urge to flee when in a room, the prince was charismatic, always seen with easy smirks and happy laughter, usually surrounded by a bunch of gorgeous woman and in some cases even men, a constant stream of drinks in his hand that no one dared to halt, Prince Augustus enjoyed life and all that it had to offer him, and to the people around him there was no greater honor than to be in his presence.

Today was sadly one of the days his peers didn’t quite get the honor to their utmost disappointed. The Prince was distracted; the drinks didn’t quite flow so freely or quickly anymore, instead of the gorgeous wolves it was a constant stream of guards and other Royal employs working under him that came and went, whispering and reporting to the Prince in constant intervals that the Prince barely spared any of the honored guests a glance.

It was a sight that brought great pain to many within the walls of the Royal ballroom, both the princes chose to stay away from the media attention as it was; Prince Eddrian was rumored to be a lost cause who tortured and buried the carcass of every lover he ever took, it was just Prince Augustus that was left now, and every second of his was vastly precious and now wasted away in conversations with his guards and browsing through the device in his hands. When the Alpha Prince eventually left the ballroom, barely after a few minutes of being there in the first place, a few too many hearts were already broken just like the silent dreams of being one of the Queens, well the mostly sane non-tortured ones as Prince Eddrian was still rumored to be free.

As the ballroom of potential mates and aspirant queens thought about the risk of suffering through Prince Eddrian in order to attain the title, Prince Augustus’s head was far away amidst an unanswered scent and cold soft touches from calloused fingertips. The ineptitude of his guards didn’t help him much either. He couldn’t understand why it was so hard to find one tiny human; they had systems and documentations after all. Provided Prince Augustus didn’t have much information to give, but he expected results, which is something he wasn’t obtaining regardless of his efforts.

The Prince sighs, unable to contain the sudden urge to run and paw at something that’s simply not there. He is surely not going back to the party, he was dissatisfied, and he felt like he had been dissatisfied for too long now. His skin felt unfamiliar to him now, grating all across his nerves in a way no drug or drink could sate whatever it is he was craving. It’s not that he didn’t know what he hearkened after, but it didn’t make much of a sense, at least not in his human body.

When his eyes stayed red for a minute too long, Prince Augustus finally sighs out and closes his eyes to control his fluttering nerves. The prospect of shifting into his wolf seemed pleasing at the moment, he felt the need to run, to keep his eyes red, he wasn’t necessarily looking for a fight but he was frustrated enough that he wouldn’t feel very guilty about ripping his teeth into something and tasting blood, not human blood though, because once again that seemed different all of a sudden.

But yet it wouldn’t do much to sate him currently either, he had tried, he had shifted and ran for miles in search of the scent in his nose, a scent that reminded him of human blood, electric hands and cold freezing skin, the scent that infiltrated his nerves to the very end to the point of his utmost frustration and yet one the prince simply could not track despite all his tries and all his superior senses as an Alpha werewolf in his prime.

He was well aware that it wasn’t his fault entirely, human biology is different and he didn’t know much about it either, so far having no need to ever actually look twice at a human to worry about tracking their scents, but as far as he knew they didn’t have set scent to call their own like the wolves did, they didn’t have bonds marking them to a pack. They absorbed most of their surrounding and lost it all within time. As an Alpha, Augustus could maybe recognize it again if he ever caught the same scent, but yet he couldn’t track it, not until it came calling for him, rendering him depended on chance and fate, on a mistaken movement and place, it was the greatest insult Prince Augustus had received in a long while.

Augustus groans when the same scent infiltrates his nostrils again, his eyes flashing red unconsciously as he closes his eyes and tries to savor the memory, until there is a loud audible thud in his surrounding, briefly interrupting his daze. The trail still remains when he opens his eyes. The Prince realizes it’s not a flash of memory again because the scent gets closer before it fades, taunting at him that his claws spring out almost unconsciously. He hears more footsteps, multiple ones echoing one another, a flash of grey clothing contrasting the ruffle of the royal red through his Alpha red eyes and suddenly it’s all right there.

The Prince half shifts as he runs towards his destination, his wolf guiding him easily.

He notices the royal guards first, they had stilled after sensing his presence and the silent command of his Alpha red eyes. Augusts has no need to speak, he simply flashes the glow of his now burning red eyes and they are quick to step back and expose their neck in submission.

“Apologies, Your Grace” They quickly lower the weapons in their hands “There was an unauthorized entry-It’s probably just another overeager wolf trying to get within the Royal grounds-” one of guards starts with an explanation, but Augustus doesn’t need their instruction or explanations, the scent calls to him, it’s his trail to follow and his wolf has never been so excited to give chase to something.

The betas retreat quickly enough once they note the red of his eyes aren’t fading off, his anger at the prospect of somebody chasing the trail that was his was enough incentive for the wolves to catch the fact the prince wasn’t looking for their defenses or help.

Augustus had finally caught the scent that had been leaving scars in his mind since the first time he saw her, his heart was raging and blood singing in need, in hurry but Augustus knew very well that he wasn’t losing it today. He closes eyes for a second as he tries to tame his raising heart, when they open again his eyes aren’t red anymore and he doesn’t feel as though he is seconds away from shifting.

He follows the scent beyond the gates she no doubt jumped- most likely the origin of the loud thud he had heard- to the unfinished construction site of his father’s fourth spa, left ‘unfinished’ mostly due to the desperate interventions of the ministers against the king’s abundant and pompous interests. The place was vacuous and large, littered with metal and gravel with grass already growing along the edges from how long it’s been left ignored. The large walls and metal rods must have given her a place to hide because Augustus notes that she had stopped running at last. Which is good, if she had ran off into one of the still raging parties all around the royal grounds, it would have been harder to track her scent within a crowd, not implying that Augustus wouldn’t follow it regardless, the chase was good, but his heart yearned for more.

Maybe it’s because he is finally focused on a scent he had been chasing for days, maybe because of his nerves crawling all across his skin in desperation, maybe because of his own wolf self that simply wants and wants and wants to see beyond just the scent and the fleeting memories, but yet in that daze where his destination is set and mind adrift, He doesn’t notice the silent shadow that passes past him.

A shadow, that reflected his own precisely…