Nia’s companions returned an hour later. There was a middle aged man called Mason, and two younger men who seemed to be in their twenties. One was a witch who had allegedly cast an invisibility spell over their homestead so no one could find them. As I ate some of the meat they had brought and roasted, I listened to their conversation.
“If this is she then we are going to get some good money from Blackmoon,” the witch said.
“Why?” Mason asked him.
“She’s the one I told you about, the one who wouldn’t get sold back. Apparently the alpha of blackmoon asked to buy her back from Vincent Frey but he refused to sell her back because she was taking such good care of his daughters.”
What? Had alpha Ridian really tried to buy me back?
Nia glanced at me. “So she is quite the special one then. It seems we have struck gold. Can you send a message to your witch to make a negotiation?”
The boy nodded. “Kaden lives in Ashland pack which is next to Blackmoon. I will draft a message and send him.”
“We can only take her if we are sure to get something good. I know that Frey would be willing to give us a lot, only that I can trust him. Let’s try that Ridian guy first.”
“Come here, baby.” Mason said, pulling Nia close. “Soon, we shall be living in luxury, sleeping in warm beds and eating good food. I’m so fed up of living out here.”
“Me too,” Nia said. “Thanks to you, we are on our way to a better life. Nick, get on it quickly. We need the message to reach as soon as possible so we know what next. If Blackmoon no longer wants her, we can make a deal with somebody else.”
Hearing that Ridian wanted to buy me back filled me with joy? Had he regretted his actions? Did he finally want me for a mate?
It didn’t matter if he wanted me or not. I liked Blackmoon pack and I wanted to live there. If his heart had softened towards me, maybe I would be able to convince him to buy my brothers from Oakwood pack.
They planned to start the move at nightfall. We were supposed to stop somewhere towards dawn, spend the day resting before making the final journey.
Eventually, evening came and we made the journey. I felt bad that I was moving further away from my siblings but there was nothing I could do. I had to go to the place that seemed safest for me at the time.
We could have been faster traveling in werewolf form but I was unable to turn due to having been on herbs that stopped turning for so long. I itched to be in my primal form but I was unfortunate as a slave. Besides, even Nick the witch couldn’t turn so we all travelled in human form.
We met a group of men led by Jardon but thankfully our witch cast an invisibility spell that helped us avoid them. It was clear they were searching for me. I realized that finding the rogues may have been a blessing in disguise. There was a very little chance that I’d have survived if I had been on my own. Hell, I didn’t even know where Oakwood was.
It was towards dawn when we made it to Blackmoon pack. As the pack house came into view, I started to feel calm and okay. The sense of familiarity lessened my anxiety, although I was worried about what was going to happen.
One of the guards looked familiar. He smiled when he saw me. “We have been expecting you,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said.
He turned to my travelling companions, or rather my captors. “We didn’t know you were this many but please come in.”
We entered through the gate. We were ushered into the building near the gate. It felt so good to be indoors again after very many hours out in the cold. We all huddled near the fireplace in the living room, trying to catch some warmth.
The day soon became warmer and brighter. The birds were chirping in the trees and we could voices of people outside. I went to the window, pulled the curtains aside and looked outside. The slave men and women were going off for work. The seamstresses shone in the pink uniform and their cheery voices filled the air. I stood far enough from the window that no one saw me through the tinted glass. Only I could see them clearly.
I felt a presence beside me and turned. Nick was standing there, looking outside. He seemed to be enjoying the view.
“They’re beautiful,” he commented. “Now I get why you wanted to return here. They do treat slaves quite well, it seems.”
I managed a small smile. “Yeah, this place is good. It feels like home to me now.”
“Do you miss your original pack?”
I shook my head. “Not really. All I miss from those days is being around my family but my parents are dead, and my siblings are in Oakwood. There’s nothing left for me where I came from.”
“Do you think you will ever go back there?”
I shook my head. “No, not really. Maybe I got powerful enough to defeat alpha Aragon, I would go and take my revenge. Since that will never happen, I’ll just keep partying that one day I’ll get the twins back.”
“Your siblings are twins?”
“Yeah.”
“It must have been hard for you, taking care of those horrible Frey twins. I’m sure they reminded you of your siblings all the time.”
“They did, and it’s one of the reasons I got away. I had to leave because that was killing me. And I wanted to go and rescue them.”
“From Oakwood?”
“Yeah.”
“It would never happen. Oakwood is something else, worse than Frey’s pack.”
“Nia told me.”
“You’d probably be dead by now.”
“How am I supposed to feel knowing that my siblings are in such a pack?”
“I’m sorry, that’s really unfortunate. I hope they’re okay.”
The smell of eggs and bacon reached my nostrils and I thought of Cara Girad, my friend. I had missed her so much and couldn’t wait to reunite.
For the first time in hours, I smiled genuinely.