Edith’s POV
I felt nervous when the pack house came into view. Talic was busy focusing on the road, and that made me feel even worse.
It had been a long time since I was in the midst of a group of werewolves. How would they welcome me? Would they fear me like my own coven did? After all, I dealt with black magic whenever I felt threatened or angered.
“There they are, they must have heard the car from afar or known we had crossed the border. Warriors now patrol the border since the Alpha isn’t well,” he said softly when a few men came out of the pack house and stood looking our way.
When he parked a few meters away from them, I took in a deep breath and released it while wondering if I should take on a child’s form.
Talic came out and quickly went around to open the door for me. When he extended his hand, I looked at it seriously.
“Come on,” he whispered as I frowned deeply.
I was regretting coming with him, now that his pack members were looking at me.
“Come on, Edith, I can’t wait to introduce you to them,” he said happily, as if he were a little child.
Seeing him smile like that and how eager he truly was made me move. I put my hand in his, then came out.
He quickly shut the door behind me with his free hand and walked with me to where the guys were standing.
“You sure took a long time,” a tall man with medium black hair and dark gray eyes spoke.
By the way he was reluctantly saying such words, I figured he was either his friend or a distant family sibling.
“I was only gone for two days, Las,” Talic answered and then looked at the other guy next to him. He was slightly taller than Las, and his build was close to Talic’s. He had short blonde hair and light brown eyes.
“Well, it’s good to have you back,” the guy said. His voice was a little husky.
“Thanks, Snow. I’m glad to be home,” Talic answered.
I found myself trying to smile when they curiously looked at me with the others. Snow raised a brow when he shifted his gaze to Talic.
I could clearly hear the silent “Who is she?” question.
“Well, everyone, meet Edith,” he introduced as I smiled wider, expecting him to complete his sentence by telling them how I was a witch.
“My beautiful mate,” he said as my smile faded.
“What?” Las exclaimed.
“You heard me, she’s my lovely mate,” he answered proudly.
“You fucking bastard, how lucky are you? You went in search of a witch, but you ended up finding your mate! Is that why you decided to come back without the witch? Did you want to protect your beautiful, fragile mate from the old hag that might hurt her?” Snow asked in a playfully mocking tone.
His words weren’t supposed to get to me, but they did. I really wanted to let them know who I was so I could see their pathetic expressions.
“It’s nice to meet you, warriors. I am Edith, the witch,” I said as they all looked at me in silence.
“What?” One of the guys who stood behind Snow asked.
“I said I’m the old hag who you thought he was protecting me from,” I answered as Snow and Las glared at Talic, who was laughing softly.
“Gosh, you should have seen the way you morons looked at her when she told you what she was,” he said between laughter, and that seemed to surprise everyone even more.
“What?” he asked when he noticed it too.
“It’s just that it’s been a long time since we have heard you laugh so freely, Talic. If it were Harvey, we wouldn’t have been this surprised,” Snow answered.
“Well, I feel rather happy to have my mate with me, despite the pack going through a sad time. But if I’m to be honest, I am also happy that you too talked freely to me without addressing my status,” he said, then moved his free hand in a gesture.
“Warriors, leave us,” he ordered.
They quickly nodded and left Las and Snow behind.
“Edith, this here is our Delta,” he pointed at Las.
“And the one next to him is our Gamma,” he said, pointing at Snow.
“Guys, this lovely lady next to me is…”
“An ancient witch,” Las said as I frowned.
Just because I had stayed for a few thousand years didn’t mean I was an ancient witch.
“Nice to meet you, Edith. I hope you aren’t offended by our playfulness; if you are, please pardon us,” Snow said as I smiled.
“Don’t even think of drawing her into a conversation. Keep in mind she is tired,” Talic said, then smiled at me.
“Talic the Alpha….,”
“Later, allow my mate to rest and eat something. The drive was very long and tiring,” he answered, cutting Snow short.
“Sorry, I didn’t think much. Please do rest, we will talk later,” Snow said in a respectful tone and then turned and walked back into the pack house with Las behind him.
“Weren’t you a little cold with him?” I asked in a low tone.
“Nope, if I am to choose between you resting or listening to things of the pack, I choose you,” he answered simply.
“What if it was very serious?” I asked.
“He would have mind-linked me once I had gotten out of the car,” he answered, then squeezed my hand lightly.
“Come on, I will show you to your room,” he said.
As we walked, I noticed a few things. First, the whispers from the she-wolves who were obviously curious to know why Talic was holding my hand. Secondly, the cold stares that some gave me, and lastly, the beautiful decor on the walls.
I had a funny painted image in my mind of how a pack house would look like, but now it turned out that my mind was quite undermining its beauty because not only was it a very big place, which was bigger than any mansion I had seen, but the walls, furniture, and decor I glanced at were pretty expensive and of high value.
“Please watch your steps, the stairs are a bit dangerous when you lose your balance,” he said in a soft, concerned tone.
“Okay,” I answered and then focused on the way.
When we began to walk into the corridor, his pace picked up as if he was rushing to do something. I struggled to follow him yet chose not to question him.
“Here we are,” he said when we reached the door that was at the far right end.
He opened it and walked in with me.
It was a beautiful bedroom which had very gorgeous furniture.
“The three top floors are owned by the Alpha, and soon it will be with his Luna. The two floors that we went past are where Las and Snow reside. You see, this pack house was originally supposed to be only for the Alpha. It was more of his house and where everyone would dine in. But since the Alpha hated that idea, he invited us and a few warriors to come and stay with him. Although we all have our very own houses, we agreed fearing to upset him, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t planning to move out. We were all going to do that once we found our mates,” he said simply.
“So a few warriors reside here?” I asked.
“Of course, but don’t worry. By tomorrow, everyone will know who you are and that is… my mate,”
“A witch,”
We said at the same time.
“My mate,” he repeated, then let go of my hand.
“Right,” I whispered.
“Go on, feel free to look around. My room is opposite yours, so don’t hesitate to come and see me if there is anything you want,” he said and then walked to the door and opened it with a loud sigh.
“Hey, I will come back after a few hours, so please get some rest,” he said and then walked out before I could respond and thank him. He was acting a little different from his usual self. Was he hiding something from me?