His smug expression irritated Marisol, but her wolf seemed to share no such sentiment, captivated by his presence, yearning to be closer. Marisol hated that she was warring with herself over the soulless creature who was sprawled leisurely on the throne that he owned with just his aura. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him for so much as a second.
Her body, mind, and every part of her she could offer yearned pathetically for him, and Marisol finds it a struggle to uphold her own weight. Clearing her throat, Marisol tries to regain a sense of control, remembering her mission. "Who are you?" she asks, her voice surprisingly firm.
Cedric chuckled at that, a haughty undertone to his response. "Don't you know that much?"
Ignoring his cryptic answer, Marisol presses on, "What happened here?" she inquires "What happened to you? Caleb said.... that you've been in wolf form for months."
Cedric huffs at that "Caleb? Not Alpha, hm? You're not a pack member, yet you disrespect another Alpha." he notes, casually dodging the question again, and Marisol feels her brows twitch.
"Can you answer my questions?" she grits out, but he only shrugs, that indifferent air still around him as he scratches at his beard, looking displeased at the volume he finds.
"Get me a mirror and a razor, maybe I'll consider answering then," he says, throwing in a self-assured grin for good measure.
Marisol grows more frustrated with every passing second in his presence, "Do you know what you did the last time we met?"
Cedric stretches his muscles before answering, testing out the flexibility of his own limbs, unaware of Marisol's small gasp as he says "I've done many things, firecracker."
Marisol couldn't comprehend his cocky demeanor or the fact that he was acting like he hadn't posed a major threat to her life just a few nights ago.
"You owe me an apology," she asserts, giving herself a pat on the back for not stomping her feet like a petulant child.
In response, Cedric pushes himself off the throne and walks, slowly and purposefully toward her, leaving Marisol frozen in wait, anticipating his next move until he brushes past her with a grumble of "You're useless." Breezing past her ear, leaving Marisol seething with a mixture of anger and confusion.
Marisol couldn't believe what had just happened, highly infuriated and angered by his attitude. She decided there and then that she did not care. She was completely done. There was no use in anything, and this was all her fault for focusing on anything other than escaping this asylum.
With Cedric out of sight, seemingly having disappeared into thin air, Marisol threads deeper into the castle to find the so-called tunnels. However, it looked like this was another dirty Redwood trick.
She searched and searched for what ended up being the whole day in the tunnels and ended up with nothing. Every single trail led to a dead end. By the end of the day, she was seething with frustration as every attempt at finding an escape route failed. The route to the tunnels she sought was mysteriously blocked.
Desperation leads her to try digging around the force field that confines her within the castle, but her efforts are in vain. The invisible barrier stood resolute, thwarting any attempts to break free. The invisible walls around Redwood were impenetrable.
In the following days, Marisol's sense of dejection only deepens, the confusion surrounding Cedric's behavior only adding to it. His nonchalant attitude, coupled with the memory of the menacing wolf from their first encounter, only works to fuel her hatred. She couldn't fathom how he could act all high and mighty, regarding her with no respect or human courtesy whatsoever.
That little interaction bounces around in her head, leaving her with a deep-seated hatred for him despite hardly knowing him. The idea that the moon goddess had designated such a savage as her mate felt like a cruel twist of fate.
During this time, she made sure to avoid everyone; Sophia, Caleb, and his mate. Her desire to return home resumes burning more fiercely than ever. She yearned to be back with her family, away from the chaotic mysteries of Redwood. But as days passed and her attempts to escape remained fruitless, she was reminded of the aftermath of all her previous thwarted efforts, the depression and hopelessness that followed after. She felt trapped, both physically and emotionally, unable to find a way out of the perplexing enigma that was the Redwood Pack.
Marisol's emotions were in disarray, torn between anger, fear, and a longing for freedom. She spent her days in a constant state of restlessness, haunted by the idea of being stuck forever in a place where she felt so utterly lost.
Despite her resolve to escape and her anger towards Cedric, she couldn't shake off the lingering sense of curiosity about him and the secrets buried within Redwood. A part of her was compelled to unravel the mysteries, to understand why this place was enveloped in such ambiguity, and why she, in particular, was entangled in its web.
Yet, as each day passes with no progress whatsoever, Marisol's hope begins to wane.
In this isolated, confusing bubble that was Redwood, Marisol's feelings were a jumble of resentment and yearning, yet, there were the only things that were hers, the unanswered questions and the seemingly insurmountable obstacles making her ache for her home even more intensely, craving the familiarity.