Lucy’s POV
A few days went by relatively quickly, and things slowly returned to a semblance of normalcy, although we still had questions related to who the real mastermind behind Daven’s death was. I didn’t get any more letters, and when I realised that the triplets had found the ones I had been sent before, I didn’t know how to feel about it.
On the other hand, something was brewing between the four of us, and it was getting more and more dangerous each day. The only way I could keep myself free from its effects was by avoiding the three of them. If I saw them while walking through a hallway, I would slide into a hidden corridor out of sight, and whenever any of them came to look for me, I asked Tessa ro tell them that I wasn’t home. It was an approach that might have seemed cowardly to some, but I couldn’t afford to allow myself to get swayed by some . . . strange mate bond that I didn’t fully understand. Also, if I had to be honest with myself, it would have been very wrong to even be involved with not one, but three of them. I saw the way they all looked at me-they was no way they didn’t agree with the option of having to ‘share’ me or something like that.
But I couldn’t hide forever.
One evening, I stepped out to get some fresh air right after Tessa had gone to sleep. The only person I had confided in about my situation was Rosa, and she had told me about one case that wasn’t really spoken about within the pack-people that had possessed more than one mate at once. She didn’t explain how she got her hands on such news, but I suspected that it had to do with one certain man she had formed a companionship with. She never spoke about him directly, and I could understand why-the last time she had told me about someone she liked, things had gone to the depths of hell. I had to wait for her to admit what was going on when she was ready, and until then, I would simply keep pretending that I wasn’t aware of it. I just hoped that he was a responsible and good person.
These people in question lived in the pack, but preferred to keep to themselves, so other pack members had taken the hint and mostly left them alone. I hoped that I wouldn’t have been the one to pull them out of their self-induced solitude.
They lived slightly on the outer border of the pack territory, facing the villa defiantly. Slipping outside wasn’t a problem, but walking outdoors at night when most people had retired for the day was usually a strange sight to behold. Hopefully people would just mind their business.
The air outside was slightly chilly, so I was glad to have worn a thick layer of clothes to protect myself.
I reached their quaint little home with little issue, and knocked on their front door. A response didn’t come immediately, so I had to knock again.
Finally, someone answered. “I’m coming!’
I stopped knocking and waited. Soft footsteps approached the door, and it eventually opened. A slender woman with white streaks in her hair and a slightly muscular figure stood between the door, looking at me with mild surprise on her face.
“Oh, this face is new. Do I know you?” she asked gently. “I feel like I do but right now I would rather be sleeping so I’m trying to conserve my brain energy,” she said quickly, like an excited child on sugar.
“Yes, I’m, I’m looking for Mrs. Olga Veraga?” I looked down at the paper Rosa had given me and back to the woman. From the name, I had assumed that she was going to be a woman with a very thick waistline and a love for cooking pies. “I was told to come here because I have some questions.”
“Isn’t it a little too late for that?” she asked rather genuinely. “It’s close to bedtime and my husband is waiting for me,” she lowered her voice and smirked, “if you know what I mean.”
I did, but I wished I didn’t. “I’m so sorry ma’am, it’ll only take a few minutes. I just have a really urgent problem and I was told that you’re the only one who can help me.”
She looked at me for one long moment. Finally, she sighed. “Okay, you can come in, but you have only 15 minutes, okay?”
I nodded. “Thank you very much. 15 minutes is plenty.” I slipped into the house once she opened the door wider for me to enter.
The inside of their home was even better looking than outside, and it wasn’t due to them having expensive furniture or unique pieces, but the way everything has been arranged. Her home was spotless, like it had been meticulously put together with the most careful hands in the entire universe. Colours matched, and every piece that existed in the space looked like it belonged in whatever spot they occupied.
“You have a beautiful home,” I couldn’t help but tell her, standing by the door in mild awe.
“Thank you,” she replied warmly. “Have a seat,” she pointed to a soft couch in the living room and briefly stepped into what appeared to be the kitchen. “Do you like tea?” she called out, a little muffled by the interrupting sounds of metal clinking against glass.
“I’m fine, thank you,” I replied, still looking around the living room. There was a shelf to the right that was flowing with so many books that I could almost smell them. I caught glimpses of a few authors whose books I’d read and really enjoyed.
She returned shortly after, holding a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. “Well, even if you don’t like tea, there has to be something else you like,” she said before placing the plate and the milk on a stool and bringing it close to my feet.
“You didn’t have to . . .” I started to say, feeling a little strange at her kindness. In fact, she had been very open to my visitation, which was the opposite of what I had been told by Rosa. While I doubted that Rosa would have fed me wrong information on purpose, I understood how easy it was for people to get misunderstood simply because of what had been said about them.
I picked up a cookie and put it in my mouth, enjoying the burst of chocolate and cream flavours. “It’s delicious, thank you.”
She lowered herself into a seat opposite me. As I got a closer look at her, I realised that although she was likely decades older than I was, she possessed a youthfulness that age couldn’t dampen. Her cheeks had dimples when she smiled, and her eyes were bright with happiness.
“So, Lucy, why have you come to see an old Gamma like me?”
I froze. “How do you know my name?”
She chuckled. “Of course I know who you are. Everyone in this pack does, even though many pretend like they don’t. It would have been bad manners if I didn’t know who the Luna of this pack is.”
I took a sip of the warm milk. A wave of delicious heat went down my throat and into my belly. “I don’t consider myself a Luna.”
“You were the wife of the late Alpha, were you not? That makes you a Luna from what I know.”
“But just like you said, most people like to pretend I’m not. So I’m not . . . Luna.”
“Then who are you?” she asked, looking at me intently. “And what questions are troubling you?”
“I am . . . a slave. Forced out of my own home by the late Alpha. My family is all gone.” I took a deep breath, trying hard to contain the torrent of emotions that had started to wash through me. “As if my life couldn’t get any worse, on my 21st birthday, I found out that I have three mates.”