I’m not without enemies of my own, and I won’t put that on her.
I walk closely to Ivy as we head into the main airport with our bags and head out the front to the car that is taking us to the mansion. It’s only a few moments before we’re pulling in and getting out of the car again and heading inside.
My mother designed the entire mansion herself, so it’s quite similar in colourings to our family castle back home. Whites, golds and black. Marble flooring and expensive art and decor scattered throughout. Each of the residential wings are themed by colour, all dark colours that are a contrast to the white in the main areas. I know that most of us for the retreat are split into groups staying in each of the residential areas. There’s only about 30 of us that decided to attend this year. Some I know from my own pack, but most I’m not 100% familiar with.
Mine and Ivy’s group are staying in the Crimson Wing, which is all burgundy and red colour themed, which becomes obviously apparent once we walk into the main area of the wing. All dark wood, black walls with wine-coloured accents, couches and an all-black kitchen including a black granite counter-top.
As Ivy and I walk in, I notice 6 other wolves sitting around the main living area, mingling, and chatting until eyes are laid on me and it goes quiet. I get bows and nods of acknowledgement and respect from every wolf in the room, and I return to gestures as I set mine and Ivy’s bags down near one of the couches.
A male wolf approaches me and extends his hand out. “Alpha King, my name is Mark, I’m from the Twilight Moon pack. Just wanted to say thank you for holding the retreat this year. I’m sure I can speak for everyone that we’re all excited to be here.”
I nod and shake his hand. “I’m glad to hear that. This should be a good couple weeks of fun for everyone.” Ivy sits on one of the couches as we all introduce ourselves and after a while of mingling and conversations, Sara, one of the she-wolves brings over a small bowl and a pad of paper and a pen.
“So, are we all up for making these next two weeks interesting?” She asks and there’s some murmuring and excited whispers as she goes on. “I’ve noticed that there’s an equal amount of male and females here in our wing. So, I suggest females put their names in the bowl and males pick a name, and that’s who we bunk with for the entirety of the retreat.”
I glance around the room, and I see Ivy stiffen in response.
Don’t worry my little songbird.
Sara proceeds to write her name on a piece of paper, folds it up and places it in the bowl. It goes around to every female and lastly, it’s given to Ivy. She accepts the pad of paper gracefully and write her name down quickly, then places the paper in the bowl along with the other names.
“Alpha King, would you like to do the honours first?” Sara asks and I nod.
“Sure.”
I walk over to Sara and the bowl in her hands. She shakes it slightly, mixing up the names. I can smell Ivy’s scent on her paper, so I reach in and grab it, holding it tightly. The rest of the males grab their names, Mark being the last.
“Okay, let’s see who got who!” Sara exclaims and I open my paper first and of course I see Ivy’s name written neatly on the paper and I smile and look at her, turning the paper over.
“I got Ivy.” She looks at me with her eyes wide but then smiles at me, a warm feeling washing over me at the sight of her smile.
“Do you accept?” I ask and she nods. “I accept.”
Ivy’s POV
I walk into the bedroom that Nate and I are staying in and drop my bags on the far side of the room, near the curtain-covered window. They land with a soft thump, and I turn around and take the room in.
It’s a simple design, with cream-coloured carpets, deep wine painted walls with a matching large bed in the center. The sun is shining through the sheer curtains, illuminating the entire room. On the far side near the door is the entrance to the separate bathroom, and beside that is a sliding door closet, which is where Nate is standing currently with the door open. I watch as he grabs some hangers from the closet and sets them on the bed, then lifts his suitcase onto the bed, it fluctuating with the change in weight.
He looks at me then, smiling. “Is there anything you need to hang up?”
I think to myself as to what’s in my suitcase and I nod. Turning around, I grab my suitcase off the floor, and place it on the other side of the bed and open it. I pull out my dresses and sweaters, laying them out, before grabbing the rest of my clothes and walking around to the small drawers in the lower section of the closet and placing them inside. It’s only a few minutes before Nate and I are both completely unpacked, our now empty suitcases sitting near the window.
I sit on the bed, my mind wandering as I’ve never had this much freedom before. It’s an eerie feeling; me being away from Red Moon and Cole for so long without having to deal with repercussions.
Well, not yet anyways.
“What are you thinking about?” Nate asks, bringing me out of my little trance and I shrug, not really wanting to bring up that I was thinking about back home. “It’s nothing, honestly.” I reply moving closer to the window looking out at the view lavish greenery, sandy paths, bright sunshine, and clear blue skies.
I feel Nate’s presence behind me before he snakes his arms around my waist, turning me back around to face him. I avert my eyes, avoiding his gaze but he grasps my chin lightly and I end up looking up at him. I feel the blush coming to my cheeks in embarrassment of our closeness, but the moment stays silent. He doesn’t question, doesn’t push for an answer. We just stand there in comfortable silence, the muffled chirping of birds and our slight breaths the only audible sounds.
Suddenly, a crash comes from one of the other rooms and Nate and I look at each other before walking over to our door and opening it. Clearly, all the others heard it too, as I see Mark and Sara peek out from their room as well, but then I see them laugh and then close their door and it doesn’t dawn on me until I hear it.
The muffled moaning sounds coming from the furthest room. I look to Nate, and he chuckles, and I swear my face goes the shade of tomato as he closes the door. I lean back against it, chucking to myself.
“They wasted no time.” I say and Nate laughs. “Yeah, it’s a common occurrence with the mating ball retreats. People got steam to let off.”
“That’s more than steam to let off.” I retort and we both chuckle again.
“You’re not wrong.” Nate says as he pulls out some files from his briefcase he brought and sits on the bed.
“Pack work?” I question and he nods slightly. “Just contracts and things I have to go over for when we get back in a couple weeks, nothing major.”
“Do you mind if I read while you do that? I’m feeling like I want to just relax for the first night here, I’m sure there’s other plans arranged for all the couples who came.”
Nate raises his gaze to look at me. “You don’t have to ask permission, but sure. And yes, there’s some activities planned out, but they’re not mandatory to attend.”
“Okay sounds good to me.” I reply as I walk over to my suitcase and brag my book from one of the zippered pockets and go and sit on the bed beside Nate, opening the book to my marked place and start to read. I get a couple chapters in before I realize that we would be sleeping in the same bed this entire time and I feel nerves creeping up as my mind tries to process, the thoughts overtaking me.
I get up and go into the bathroom, closing the door and heading over to the sink. I turn the tap on and splash cold water on my face to try and shock myself into understanding, but it does little to calm my nerves.
God I’m so tired of being this nervous, unsure person. If Seles saw me now, she’d be ashamed.
I exhale loudly and square my shoulders, looking at myself in the mirror.
I can still be that warrior. I can still be that strong woman I used to be. I just have to find her again.
I exit the bathroom to find Nate in the exact same spot, his eyes scanning over papers in his hands, his facial expressions changing with whatever he’s reading. I keep watching as he crosses things out and makes little notes on the pages.
“I admire your seriousness when it comes to your duties.” I say and he raises his head to look at me and smiles. “Thank you for saying that, Ivy. That’s really kind of you. Not many people understand just how serious my position is.”
“They assume it’s all parties and doing whatever you want.”
“Part of it yes. They also think that I can make anything happen that I want, and that isn’t the case either. I mean I have some influence but it’s not like I can just walk around doing whatever I want when I want. I am held responsible for my actions, contrary to other’s beliefs.”