Arianna's Tale: The Beginning (23 page)

“Hi,” I finally squeaked out and Alex
chuckled beside me. “Um… do physiques transfer into wolf form?
Like… you’re so muscular, does that transfer?” I wondered aloud and
watched Malcolm’s black eyes dart to Alex who barely nodded his
head before Malcolm stepped into a side room and pushed the door
almost all the way closed. Only a moment later, a large light brown
muzzle wedged between the doorframe and door and pushed the door
open to allow out a humongous wolf, bigger than either Jack or
Rayne had been.

“As you can see, it’s not exactly
transferred,” Alex commented as wolf-Malcolm sat obediently in
front of me for me to inspect, “He’s not excessively muscular, but
he is larger than most of us.”

“I… I see that…” I stammered, staring into
the large black eyes that looked back at me, “Thank you, Malcolm.”
He barely nodded that huge head before traipsing, rather lightly
for his size, back to the room and pushing the door closed.

“You have no attraction to Malcolm,” Alex
stated with certainty, but my eyes darted back to him in shock,
“Malcolm is the first to have very little attraction to you. He
says you remind him of his little sister. Which I can understand
with your coloring….”

“He’s kind of… intimidating…” I whispered,
not wanting to offend Malcolm even though I knew he could hear, “At
a glance, I mean… he seemed nice enough.”

“Malcolm is very kind to those he cares
about, and very dangerous to those he doesn’t,” Alex surmised with
a smirk, “You’re free to explore the house today, Arianna. Just
know that the second floor is almost entirely bedrooms, and don’t
try to force your way through locked doors. Oh, and Trina is going
to be home sometime today.”

I nodded just as Malcolm re-emerged from the
little room and smiled over at me, waving before he headed back
into the living room.

“I would never want to be on his bad side…”
I murmured and Alex laughed while he got up and put his empty plate
in the sink and walked away.

I was in mild shock at the fact that I
really was going to be left alone for the most part that day. I
finished my breakfast in peaceful silence and followed Alex’s lead
by setting my dishes in the sink. I considered which parts of the
house I had seen and started wandering around.

I was literally discovering parts of the
house for hours it was so huge! Bigger than it really looked on the
outside, but nothing was really out of the ordinary until I found a
short hallway, the kind that looks like it should have a door at
the end of it, but instead, at the end of it was a giant
grandfather clock. I kept getting closer to it as I was inspecting
the gorgeously beautiful face which was some dark stone with
sparkling stars of… diamond…? I realized it with a gasp, I was
directly in front of the clock then and my hand started reaching
for the strange wood.

Without any warning, Farren was suddenly
behind me. His left hand pulled mine around my waist while his
right hand ran up my right arm, clasping my hand in his and pulling
it back to his lips.

“Come away from here, Arianna,” he beckoned
in a whisper across my ear, but I couldn’t even breathe, much less
move with how aware I was of him pressed to my back and still
feeling where his lips had touched my hand. “Anna,” he reiterated
and as he stepped back down the short hallway, he gently pulled me
with him. When he was only touching my arms, I was able to breathe
again, but he didn’t let go of my right hand, he actually slid his
left hand down to hold it.

“Why…?” I whispered as he chuckled and
pulled me down the hall.

“Lunch is ready. I offered to let you know,”
he answered, “But Trina just got here… Alex sent Tobias after us
and so if you would…” he trailed off and waved his arm for me to
pass him, keeping hold of my hand as we walked through the
hallways, running into Tobias only a short time later. It took him
less than a split second to spot that Farren was holding my hand.
When my eyes first landed on him, he was staring at our joined
hands, but his confused gaze finally shifted up to my eyes.

“What was taking you guys so long? All the
good food is going to get eaten,” he whined and I laughed which
only made his eyes scrunch further.

“There’s plenty of food and it’s all good
food,” Farren commented beside me as we kept walking and Tobias
fell into step on my other side, “Why you, Tobes?”

Tobias chuckled and I realized the silver
was around his pupils when he said, “He almost sent Jack but was
afraid he wouldn’t make it back either. Trina’s really excited
about meeting Anna… says she rushed back to meet her.”

“Why would she be excited to meet
me
?” I wondered and they both laughed that time, “What?”

“Um…” Farren hesitated, looking over at
Tobias who laughed and shook his head, “So… the pack as a whole
kind of thinks you’re going to like Aeril… and Trina is his cousin…
but they’re more like brother and sister….”

“She’s been aware of us ragging on Aeril, so
she wants to meet you,” Tobias explained and my eyes darted to the
floor, “If she likes you enough, she’ll try to talk him into coming
back sooner, and unlike us giving him a hard time, he’ll actually
listen to her.”

“And if she doesn’t like me…?” I whispered
and they laughed in unison again, but softer.

“That’s just not possible, Anna,” Farren
remarked, lightly squeezing my hand before his warm touch
completely disappeared and I realized we were entering the living
room from a completely different way than I had earlier left
it.

“This house is like a maze…” I muttered
beneath my breath, starting towards the kitchen, but this girl came
bursting through the swinging door and ran over to hug me, making
me go absolutely still.

“Trina!” Tobias blurted in total shock,
snapping me back to reality as I lightly hugged her back.

“Thatta girl,” she laughed, stepping back
from me to look at me, “And shut up, Tobias. I know all about her
from you guys, and if she’s going to be part of the family, she’ll
have to get used to hugs.”

I found a smile tugging at my lips as I
looked at her. She was, surprisingly, a little shorter than me, but
really petite and cute in a way that didn’t fit her bold words. She
had sparkly bright blue eyes and dark red hair that was nearly to
her chin in the front and spiked in the back with chunks of golden
blonde in it. I found myself hoping she was younger, because she
seemed like such a perfect match to Jason, and then I froze again,
the smile fading from my face.
You absolutely, positively,
do
not
want to get Jason involved in this
mess.

“So, I’m Trina,” she started up again and I
couldn’t help but smile, “And I told Aeril to come home earlier.”
My gray eyes widened in shock and she laughed.

“I haven’t even said anything yet,” I
murmured and she shot me a bright grin.

“Didn’t have to,” she stated with certainty,
“Anyway! Let’s eat!”

“I… I don’t… understand…” I stammered, but
she reached over and grabbed my wrist and pulled me out onto the
back porch to another grilled feast.

“Aeril says he’ll be home tonight…?” Alex
commented curiously, my eyes darting to him as my heart skipped in
my chest.

“Yep,” Trina chimed happily, still tugging
on my arm, “I told him to try to make it before sunset….”

My heart skipped again; Rayne was going to
be let out of confinement at sunset. I felt all of their eyes on me
for a moment, but ignored them. I collected my bit of food and
followed Trina to a table since she was obviously determined to
stay stuck to my side.

After lunch, I was left to wander around
again. It was obvious Trina didn’t want to leave me, but I saw the
look Alex shot her and she reluctantly did. But I walked over to
Alex before he could disappear again.

“Is there a basement? I feel like there’s a
basement, but I couldn’t find an entrance to it…” I questioned and
his eyes swirled with silver before he sighed.

“As of right now, I can’t allow you access
to anywhere else in the house. You’ve seen pretty much everything
inside. There’s a fence that runs the edge of the property, but
it’s a large property… if you want to explore outside,” he answered
evasively, “If you happen to get lost, or something… just call one
of us… you don’t have to be very loud.”

“Alex,” I called as he started off and he
paused again, “Is there some reason… you’re leaving me by myself
today…?”

“If you want someone around… call him, or
her… but I don’t want you thinking you’re on lockdown
twenty-four-seven just because you know our secret…” he paused,
crossing to stand in front of me as his hand slid lightly across my
cheek, “As my elite pack continues to return, it will be harder to
keep them away… And you have some of your own decisions to make…
things to think about… we’re here, though, should you need us.”

I only nodded and he smiled softly before
finally slipping off into the house. After a deep breath, I started
off towards the left, away from the iron gate and hopefully towards
whatever fence line Alex had mentioned. The first thing I really
noticed as I wound through the shrubbery was how strangely silent
it was. With all the plants and everything, I would’ve expected at
least bugs, if not actual wildlife, but it was so quiet I didn’t
even hear cars passing on the street.

I paused and turned back towards the house,
curious then as I quietly called, “Farren.”

He was in front of me only a second later, a
wondering look on his face, the silver quickly sliding back into
his eyes. “Everything okay? I know you’re not lost already,” he
commented with a grin.

“About earlier…” I started, but his eyes
widened with mild panic.

“It’s really quiet out here, huh?” he
queried.

“Eerily so… why is that?” I responded,
completely aware of his behavior and following his strange
lead.

“Magic,” he chuckled faintly, “There are no
barriers to deflect sound out here like there are in the house.
There’s some privacy inside… but out here, anyone can hear the
tiniest whisper from the complete other side of the property. Comes
in handy a lot when we’re on outside guard duty.”

I barely nodded my head to show him I
understood that he was pretty much saying to ask later.

“Will you keep me company?” I requested and
he smiled and nodded, falling into step beside me.

It was a huge yard with a pond and shrubbery
maze and even a tree house, amongst other things. Farren had stayed
with me the whole time, laughing at my exclamations, especially
about the maze because I got lost in its 6-foot high walls and he
had to lead me out the other side.

“This yard is too big!” I proclaimed as we
wound through the forest area hours later, heading back in the
general direction of the house.

“You never even reached the back fence,”
Farren chuckled, walking backwards, despite the underbrush and the
trees and keeping his eyes on me, “You’re tired, Anna… I’ll carry
you.” My already flushed face turned darker and I kept my attention
on the ground to avoid tripping.

“I’ll be fine,” I muttered, running into him
a moment later because he’d stopped. He knelt down in front of me
and looked back over his shoulder.

“Hop on. I won’t do the whole princess carry
thing,” he lightly remarked and my face headed into darker red
territory as I gave in and climbed onto his back while he stood up
again, his arms hooked up under my knees. “God you’re light!”

“Shut up…” I grumbled in embarrassment,
resting my head against the back of his shoulder, “You’re tall.” He
laughed and it vibrated through me as I almost jumped down, but
this was so much easier.

“I bet you haven’t seen the game room yet,
have you?” he asked and I shook my head, “I wouldn’t have thought
so since it’s on the second floor; about the only non-bedroom room
on the second floor.”

“Alex had told me they were mostly bedrooms,
and I didn’t want to bother anyone,” I reasoned, blinking in shock
when we were suddenly out of the forest. “How…? How did you get out
of there so fast without my noticing?”

“Would you like to see the game room?” he
evaded and I sighed, watching bits of his fiery red hair floating
up away from his ponytail.

“I would like to stop by my room first, then
the game room,” I answered and he nodded. That time I gasped when
the shadow of the house came into view and he ducked through the
door, kneeling down in front of the door to my room.

“I’ll be around,” he dismissed with a grin
as I smiled back at him and laughed.

“Thanks,” I commented while slipping into my
room.

A quick shower and change of clothes later,
when I went to pull my door open, he was suddenly there. I heard
the air settling and knew he’d done that werewolf quick travel
thing, but looking at him, you’d never know he had.

“Feel better now?” he remarked with that coy
smile as I nodded and followed his head jerk further down the
hallway, towards the balcony at the end. Just before we reached it,
he opened the door on the right.

It looked like the room had been recently
vacated since there were drinks and snacks still lingering about on
tables. Chairs and sofas were scattered about with a small snack
bar over in one corner. There was a pool table, foosball table, air
hockey table, television with loads of video games surrounding it,
dartboard, and a table in front of a bookshelf stacked high with
board games.

“The game room,” he announced, pointing
towards two doors on the wall near the snack bar that I’d
completely missed, “The game room’s bathrooms. You wanted to ask me
something earlier today, and I couldn’t answer… now I can.”

“I have another question now,” I commented,
distractedly racking the balls on the pool table, “If you’re tuning
them out all of the time, can you hear them?”