The Bewitched Mate

Chapter 05

Chapter 05

Eliza’s POV:

Anna and I walked out of the hallway toward the stairs. I hadn’t noticed it before, but across the hall, there were only two doors. The first turned out to be the Alpha’s office. I read the name sign. At the end of the hall was a double door.

Jason opened the door. “Come in, let’s eat here. Some warriors are eating downstairs.” Inviting us in.

Anna and I walked toward Jason while he left the door open and walked back inside. Anna walked on, holding the door open for me and telling me to go in.

The moment the door closed behind me; I heard a growl. “I thought you were taking a bath? You still smell like that filthy rogue!”

I didn’t dare to look up; I stood stiffly in my place.

“Fantastic Brother! Look at her! With your big mouth. She is terrified!” Anna yelled at her brother.

“She doesn’t have to be afraid of anything here.” Waving his hand through space, “I’ll do everything I can to protect everyone who is in my territory and you, of all people, know this, Anna!” Jason yelled back.

“Yes, that’s right, I know that, but my best friend, despite everything, was assaulted today!”

The word assault took me back a few hours. The event replayed in my mind all over again. I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to get out of here, away from everything that made me relive those terrifying minutes over and over. The last thing I wanted was to cause an argument between Anna and her brother. They only had each other. Anna had told us so many times when we were in college.

“I-I-I’m sorry, I will leave!” I stuttered; it was all I could say. Without waiting for an answer or response, I left. Abruptly, I turned around and walked straight out the door. I started running toward the stairs. I needed to get out of here. Someone opened the front door just as I reached it, and I bumped into them. The tears rolling down my cheeks blurred my vision.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” I overheard the person I collided with calling after me.

Without looking up or around, I continued to run. I didn’t know where I was running, the pounding in my head intensifying with each passing minute. Until I couldn’t take it anymore and everything around me became quiet and dark.

I woke up the next morning. My whole body ached.

“Come, I’ve made some tea.” It was a voice I’d heard before. I lifted my head and saw Mrs. Torres was standing at the end of the path.

“Are you coming, or are you planning to stay here?” she asked me when I didn’t move.

Here? I thought to myself. A quick glance around revealed that I was lying in the cemetery. Quickly, I got up and followed Mrs. Torres, who was already at the beginning, by the gate.

Mrs. Torres was in her kitchen pouring tea.

“Sit down, make yourself at home.” She said with her back turned to me.

“I baked croissants this morning. Do you want some?”

“Mrs. Torres, you don’t have to do this.” the last thing I wanted was to be a burden to Anna’s grandmother.

“Nonsense, of course I have to. You are Mollie’s granddaughter. There’s no doubt in my mind that Mollie would have done the same if the situation were reversed. I want to show you something.”

I was unsure of what to say next. She was determined, and if I was being honest, I couldn’t remember the last time I had anything to eat. At that moment, my stomach answered for me by grunting. A satisfied grin came over Mrs. Torres’s face.

“I thought so, coming right up.” After a few seconds, she came over with a tray full.

“Eat. I’ll be right back,” she said as she turned and walked away again.

The delicious smell of the croissants reached my nose and I couldn’t contain myself any longer. Even before Mrs. Torres came back, I had finished the first croissant and some tea.

When Mrs. Torres came back into the room, she had what appeared to be a shoebox in her hands. She put it on the table next to the tray.

“I’ll make you some more tea, then we can look in that box together afterwards. Will you also eat that other croissant?”

I had finished the other one before Mrs. Torres came back. I took the tray back to the kitchen.

“Thank you, Mrs. Torres. They were delicious!”

“Thank you! Your grandma taught me the recipe once. Come, I want to show you some pictures.”

We walked back to the couch together. Mrs. Torres pulled the box towards her and opened the lid. It was filled with older photos. One by one, she took out pictures.

“This is your grandma,” she said as she handed the picture and pointed to grandma. The picture showed two couples. Both men had put their arms around their mates and looked at their beloved with a loving look. The women stood side by side and both had big smiles on their faces. The woman she pointed out looked a lot like my mother, so she had to be my grandmother.

“Then this is my grandpa,” I pointed to the man holding my grandma.

Mrs. Torres smiled and nodded. “That’s right, and this is my husband and me. As I told you yesterday morning, my husband and I were good friends with your grandparents. They took this photo during the ceremony of Anna’s parents. Your mother had come back from college that day, just as you and Anna came a few days ago. Alpha Hector and Luna Nessa from The Full Moon Pack, along with their Beta Brad and Gamma Nathan, were here in honor of the occasion. That’s how your parents got to know each other.” She explained briefly.

She took some more pictures out of the box. “Here is your mother, pregnant with her first pup,” she said, showing a picture of my mother. In the photo I could see my mother, a nice round belly, but still the photo didn’t look as happy as you would expect.

“Then she was expecting Alex here. The warriors I met yesterday said they trained him when he and Alpha Jake were here,” I said as I continued to look at the picture. Why wasn’t there a picture of my parents together when she was pregnant with Alex?

“That’s right, I saw him, but I didn’t recognize him. When I think about it now, he looks a lot more like your father, where you look like your mother,” I nodded.

Alex was indeed my father’s spitting image, where I largely resembled my mother. We looked at photos together for hours. Mrs. Torres told me all about her and my grandmother. We laughed together, and I told her that besides her job as a Beta female, my mother also ran a bakery, where I often helped.

“Thank you, Mrs. Torres, for sharing these wonderful memories with me. It’s nice to know a little more about my grandparents. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” I gratefully replayed.

Just then, Jason came in through the back door near the kitchen. “Grandma, Eliza,” he nodded at our side. Jason’s eyes instantly turned black. “Grandma, I don’t understand how you can sit there with that smell around you.”

I widened my eyes. I still stunk? My eyes filled with tears. How did I ever get rid of this smell?

“Jason, Alpha or not, mind your language and don’t offend my guests!” Mrs. Torres got up and walked over to him with her index finger outstretched.

“You!” she said, pointing at him with her finger. “Take that sweater off,” as she gestured at his sweater.

Jason did as he was told and handed it to his grandmother. She walked over to me. “Here, try this,” she said, while offering Jason’s sweater.

Hesitantly, I took the sweater and put it on. Jason immediately calmed down and walked over to me.

“Eliza, I’m sorry, it’s nothing personal to you. The smell of rogues brings back awful memories. What happened yesterday should never have happened and I’m so sorry this happened to you!” He wiped the tears from my eyes with his thumb. His gesture was friendly and felt genuine.

“Come, I’ll take you home. Anna has already packed all your stuff.”

“Thank you.” Was all I could get out.

Jason got up and walked back to the back door. Mrs. Torres stood beside me with tears in her eyes and her arms wide. “Come,” and with those words, she closed me in her arms. She rubbed my back.

“It was nice getting to know you, Eliza. I haven’t enjoyed myself lately, as much as I did with you the past few hours. Take care of yourself and say hello to your mother for me.” She took a step back and grabbed her two hands, held my face, and kissed my forehead.

“Thank you for everything, Mrs. Torres. I, too, found it very nice and cozy.” I responded honestly. It had been really nice, as if I had really gotten to know my grandparents over the past few hours.

“Ow, pup, please call me Grannie or something. A grandpup of Mollie is a grandpup of mine,”

I nodded, walked to the door where Jason was waiting and before I walked out the door I turned to say, “Bye Nonna, see you later.” with those words I walked out the door.

Jason said goodbye to his grandmother and followed me. “Eliza, please hold on.” With a few big steps, he was next to me. While holding an envelope in his hands, “The doctor delivered your blood test results this morning. He had some difficulty examining the blood. All the cells had a glow over them and it was impossible to get through. He was eager to investigate further, but since you’re going back home today, I’ve asked him to forward it to Luna Nessa. She can forward the file to your own pack doctor.”

I frowned. “A glow?”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, it was almost like magic.”

It gave me a strange feeling. “And you’re sure it was my blood?” I asked, to be sure.

“Yeah, definitely,” Jason said assuredly.

“He doesn’t have to draw blood very often. This usually only happens on special occasions,” he continued, while he looked at me a little uncertainly.

“Eliza, I want to apologize again. I never intended to scare you!” his apology was soft, regretful but sincere.