Morena
The car ride was calm so far. I sat in a corner by a window with Rena curled up next to me with her head against my shoulders. Leander and Asher sat opposed to us, neither of them talking.
“Why did everyone ask you to behave?” Asher was the first one to break the impending silence.
“Because she never does. She always gets herself into trouble. Don’t bother forcing rules on her. She never listens.” Rena answered lifting her head from my shoulder.
“Rena!” I gave her an incredulous look, nudging her side.
“Looks like you got an interesting one, brother.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Leander is a perfectionist. He is all about rules.” He turned towards my mate. “This between you two will be the highlight of my life for a while.”
“Well, don’t get your hopes up. It seems to that I got the runt of the litter. He barely speaks, man.”
Asher burst out laughing till his eyes got teary and Leander turned his icy glare towards me. I decided I had enough banter so I turned back my gaze toward the window. My pack was near the city so the only sight of the wild we had was the small forest we lived in. everything around us was city and roads. The scenery was changing from that. It was all tall trees rising out of the ground to kiss the sky now. I could see a few animals cross by every now and then. An earth smell was seeping through the window. And the sound of wind rustling through leaves slowly lulled me to sleep.
***************
I woke up to Rena softly shaking me. “We are here, Morena. Wake up.” I stirred awake with a yawn then followed my sister out of the car. I felt the presence of a lot of strangers almost instantly. It would take a while to get used to this.
We stood in front of the pack house. Well, it was more like a mansion. Nothing to compare to my old pack house. A large grassy lawn, high ceilings painted in crystal white, a double doors entryway. It looked like it housed more than thousand people at the least. How large was this pack anyway?
“Will I share a room with Morena? “Rena’s soft whisper cut me out of my daze. She was addressing Asher. I noticed she never looked towards Leander. She probably found him scary.
“No, you will not be sharing a room with her. Morena will be staying in Leander’s room. You will be getting your own room. And you will get to decorate it as you wish to.” Asher was definitely trying to sugarcoat the matter for Rena. he seemed to notice how nervous and out of place she was. I felt bad for her. She never slept away from me. We had always shared a bed. I was too protective to even allow her to go to sleep overs and now she had to stay in a room all by herself while I slept next to the big bulky bad wolf.
“How far is my room from hers?”
“Only a few doors away. They are in the same corridor. Mine is right next to yours so you can knock at my door if you ever need anything.”
That seemed to calm her down. I was thankful that Asher managed to do it. I had no idea what to say to her. I was barely keeping my own composure.
“you ladies seem tired. Why don’t I show you to your rooms so you can catch some sleep? You can settle in tomorrow after breakfast.”
He glanced towards my mate, who gave him a curt nod and turned around and headed in without sparing us a glance.
We followed Asher in as he took a flight of stairs after the other until we were at the last floor of the mansion.
“This floor is fully reserved for the alpha’s family so get comfortable. Only a selected group of maids gets to come up here. This is your room, Rena.” he said as he stood in front of the first door down the hallway. “Mine is this one.” He added while pointing to the door right across from hers. “Morena, yours is the last one down the hall. I am not allowed into the lion’s den so you are free to venture in on your own.”
Great! I made sure Rena was in a room with a closed door before I went towards my own, or shall I say my mate’s.
His room was simple. He clearly is a minimalist. A king-sized bed with simple white sheets and exactly two large pillows. I need to ask for more. I usually sleep hugging one and I have a feeling I won’t be cuddling my mate as a replacement. The room had a vanity and a beige, seemingly comfy couch and that’s it. It had no decorations, no pictures, nothing personal whatsoever. There was also a balcony with a small table and two chairs. There was a walk-in closet but it was full of Leander’s clothes. There isn’t even an empty drawer for me to use as my own.
The bathroom is where I’ll spend most of my days though. The sink, bath and shower were matching black marble. These huge mirrors were all over the room, a shelving unit with rolled-up silky white towels, a fancy bathrobe hanging from a door hook. I don’t think my thrift shop red and black polka dot bathrobe would really fit in here. It smelled of aftershave, of him.
The weight of today’s happening was starting to exhaust me, so I decided to take a quick shower and go to bed. I will deal with everything tomorrow. I borrowed boxers and a shirt that reached to my knees from Leander’s closet. My suitcase was not taken up here yet and I let sleep take over me as I wrapped myself in the silky covers.