Chapter 6

By the time Vanessa returned home, it was lunch time. Her stomach growled, protesting at another cup of lavender tea, but she had very little money right now and no energy to re-stock her food supplies. Her wolf, especially, did not prefer that. Animal could go hunt for herself, but she worried about how the human carried herself. The worry was judicious. If wolves in human form lacked strength to shift into wolves, what good were they? Vanessa was young, had managed to keep the muscles she had built as a teenager chopping, crafting woods. Soon, they’ll deplete with lack of oxygen if she didn’t change what and how she ate.

Vanessa realized her wolf was in no mood to spar over their living conditions with her. Poor thing was as resigned as she was exhausted. She managed to enjoy the cup of tea before her phone rang, shrill in the quite house. She knew who it’d be.

“Hello Mum.”

“Hello, Ness. How are you baby?” She had missed her mother. Their relationship had been rocky before, when she had insisted she move out. Vanessa had needed her own space and freedom more than the average wolf. Wolves lived cozily even in large spaces. But it got on her nerves more than usual.

“I am fine Mumma. How are you and Paa doing?”

“Good. Good. You know, he is not here. He is attending a communion in Wyoming.” Her mother’s voice sounded lonely. 

“Is that why you’re calling? Because he is not there?”She should slow down. But the barb of hurt had made way past the skin now. And it stung like a chafed skin.

“That’s not…. I called because I wanted to talk to my daughter.” Her mother was being very reasonable at the moment. She better fain exercise the same caution, but in her gut, she knew the call was more than a check-up. They had raised an independent, strong daughter and lived to regret it.

“I heard about the club. I know what happened.” And there it was. The penny dropped. Sooner than usual, thought Nessa. Her mother hadn’t prodded and picked apart the pack gossip to figure out facts for herself instead of asking her daughter what had gone down.

Partly, she could take the blame for it. If her mother stepped up to hold the other half of responsibility.

“Someone pulled a prank on some esteemed delegate Mother. He fainted. His pulse did not even stop for a second. Though I’d very much like to know who bought the drug strong enough to make a large wolf faint.” The fat gut and slimey hair flashed clear as crystals. The way his weight tilted, how he woobled and fell face first made her giggle.

“This isn’t funny. Not at all. You were accused of it. Forgive me if I don’t find it funny.” She pictured a displeased frown marring her mother’s face. Not willing to spend precious few minutes arguing, she moved on.

“It is all sorted. I talked to…. the manager. It was a misunderstanding. Thats all. But I left the job to avoid any dubious affinity.” Her tone was hard and convincing pulling the strings of this conversation.

“So now you are only working at the registrar’s office is it?” her  mother concluded.

“Who told you  about the club incident anyway?” Vanessa sat up straight, her propped up foot dropping in the floorboard. The whole reason she was fired was to avoid the gossip about the cook-ups of stories like ‘assassination attempt’. She supposed there were things, more specifically wolves and their domestic need for gossip that even Mikhail Ryder couldn’t control.

"It doesn't matter Nessa, now I can tell them I've talked to you and set them straight." Ciana Flyyn was mentally ticking off what she'd say to the people who asked her. Being a rogue family was difficult without the imposition of Vanessa's adventure. She realized her daughter was to some degree helpless in this situation and felt guilty. If she had been home, doing what her dad asked her to do, she wouldn't have to face this either. 

"I am seriously asking you to not indulge in this. The pack forgets about such things, you know that. Tomorrow, some pup will cross the territory again, and that's what it will take to get their fickle minds off such rubbish. You know that." Vanessa didn't want this to happen. So much hung, precariously on a thin thread here. If Mikhail knew her mother had said something, it'd be equivalent to either confirming or denying, straight from the horse's mouth. She had never been a part of this pack, she felt no obligation to maintain faces. Nor did she expect anything from the lot. 

It hurt, all over again, to realize her mother only called when she felt Vanessa stirring up trouble. The past crawled, exposing the underbelly of tension between them. She knew her mother was going to hop onto it anyway.

"We could do without rumors Nessa." 

Her voice was soft, imploring. Vanessa huffed, loud and long. This was it. 

"Yes of course. Whatever you feel is right. For you and Paa. I am not the one living there. And I have to get up early tomorrow. I have somewhere to be. Good night." It was close to evening now, the sun descended from hills, light and little warmth trailing behind. But the wish for a good night meant period. She won't talk anymore. 

"Wait. Do you already have another job or is it?" Her mother's voice ended abruptly, the phone she cut so rudely cluttered on the small, circle dining table she had crafted herself. 

She only agreed because her mother and father both had to maintain appearances and live under the scrutiny, for they were rogues. And even though unaware of the reasons, she knew it had something to do with keeping her safe. The least she could do is, let them feel at home with or without fanning the latest talk. 

She shuddered to think how her pre-adolescent years made the ordeal more shameful. 

It was 7 in the evening, when she heard the doorbell ring. Her feet dragged behind her like a sack of potatoes.