"This is Alison Grey. She's Blake Grey's daughter," Henry introduced us. The man dropped his knife on the chopping board and he walked towards me with a grin.
He pulled me into a tight hug. He held onto me like a leech and I — for some reason — liked it. He was warm, welcoming. His hug comforted me, and I felt like I could tell him anything. When the man pulled away, I smiled at him and he returned the gesture.
"I'm Ezra Charles. It's such a pleasure to finally meet you," Ezra greeted me. I nodded and smiled at him some more as Henry cleared his throat to gain our attention.
"I'll leave you two here to settle in and get to know each other. Alison, I will be here to collect you for your start in the morning. Dress in something appropriate for running, because you'll be doing a lot of it," Henry told me. I smiled and nodded at him respectfully.
The Alpha nodded his goodbye to Ezra and I before slipping out the front door and disappearing. I felt his humming blood fade as he got further and further away.
"I'm making a roast. It's the best thing you'll ever put in your mouth, I promise," Ezra suddenly said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me across the room and pushed me down into a chair at the dining table.
Ezra quickly started to put down dishes of food, which made my mouth water and my belly rumble. My beast licked her lips hungrily as we eyed the roast beef that was set down in front of us.
We couldn't wait to eat.
We had ran a long way that day. It was nonstop, except for one stop where one wolf begged for a moment to take a drink from the steam we ran along. It took not even five minutes before we were off again.
"Princess, what do you like to drink? You're of age, yes?" Ezra called to me. I swivelled around in my seat to face him. He was standing by the refrigerator, tapping his finger against his chin quizzically.
The first thing I thought about was the nickname. Princess? Why princess? The next thing that crosses my mind was how thirsty I was. I really needed a drink.
"You have beer?" I asked him. His features lit up like a damn Christmas tree and he reached into the refrigerator and grabbed two beers for the both of us.
Ezra walked over to the table and sat back down. He sipped on his beer as he pushed mine towards me. I nodded at him and took it, sipping from it slowly.
"I'm twenty-four, by the way," I informed him, thinking he might have liked to know. He nodded at me, seeming amused and intrigued.
"Three hundred and twelve," Ezra nodded his head at me with a cheeky grin that made me gasp. Ezra was obviously a vampire, and vampires are immortal, but I had never met one that old before. The oldest I had met before him was only one hundred and sixty four years old.
"Eat up, princess. You need to fuel up for the big day tomorrow," Ezra told me, motioning towards all the food. I nodded at him and reached forwards. I began to scoop piles of food onto my plate, stacking up massively, which made Ezra laugh.
I started eating and then looked at Ezra who was slowly eating his food. He looked up from his plate and at me, catching me looking.
"Why 'princess'?" I asked him curiously. Ezra smiled and shrugged at me. He shoved a roasted potato into his mouth and chewed.
"Because you look like a princess, and your wolf radiates 'important'. Princesses are important," Ezra explained, and I couldn't help but smile at him. Right from the beginning, I knew I was going to like him.
After dinner, Ezra showed me around the cabin. It was nothing fancy, it was quite dull, actually. There was a living room with two couches and a television. There were two bedrooms, each quite boring and bland. But I didn't expect the bedrooms to be fancy. I figured I wouldn't be spending a lot of time in my bedroom.
Although, the bathroom must've been one of the biggest rooms in the house. There was a large two person sink, and a massive mirror that stretched out. There was an average white toilet, a large shower and even a deep bathtub. The floors were gleaming white tiles and the walls were all creamy.
It was obviously the most important room in the house and I loved it.
I took a hot shower, standing under the water, letting the water wash away all the sweat and dirt on my body. I washed my hair with the new rose scented shampoo that Ezra had in there and then I jumped out the shower and walked down the hallway and into my room.
As I thought about it, I realised that Ezra did in fact have a mark on his neck. He had a mate. That must be who the rose scented shampoo belonged to. Where was she?
My room wasn't small, but it wasn't big either. There was a window across from the door that was locked. The key sat on the window sill. There was a single sized bed pushed into the corner of the room, made neatly with purple bed covers. There was a tall chest of drawers in which Ezra had said all my clothes would be in.
I hadn't brought any clothes with me from Terialta. I wasn't told to. But I was assured that there would be a lot of clothes here for me to change into.
I slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a loose fitting shirt. I walked over to my new bed slowly and collapsed onto it. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.
I woke early the next morning. I got up quickly, much too excited to start my first day of training in Takiani. I changed into a pair of black workout tights that I found and then a navy blue tank top. I managed to find a pair of sneakers and I slipped them on also. They fit just perfectly, somehow.When I waltzed out to the kitchen, Ezra was already awake. The smell of freshly made coffee wafted through my nose and I bit back a moan and my wolf brightened up at the smell of caffeine."Morning, princess. Did you sleep well?" Ezra asked me as I leant against the counter. I stared at him carefully for a moment, wondering if I had kicked and cried during the night.The nightmares started after the incident, and they came every night. Sometimes they were really bad, other times, they were fine. I hadn't woken during the night so I assumed they mustn't have been that bad this time.Which was a relief."I guess so. It feels strange to not be home in my own bed," I told Ezra. He smiled and n
When we came back to the pack, there were people buzzing all around the area. Most people were in their skin, but there was some wolves sparring with each other in their fur. It was fascinating to see how this pack worked in comparison to mine.Henry shifted back into his skin and I avoided my eyes from his naked body as he reached into the trunk of a tree and pulled out clothes. He pulled on a pair of shorts and then tossed clothes to the two males and handed me a shirt. I took it and rushed behind a bush to shift back and pull on the shirt.I wasn't comfortable with anyone seeing me naked. I knew that most wolves didn't even care, but I did. I cared too much.I slipped the oversized shirt over my head and then came out the bushes. I walked hesitantly over to where Henry was now standing with a group of other wolves. I noticed that Kade was walking away to the sparring rings.Alfie approached me as Henry was rushed away. I assumed that he had Alpha business to attend to. I wasn't bot
Ezra sat me down at the dining table. I lifted my shirt up just enough so that he could see my wounds. He chuckled a little and shook his head."Alfie told me you did well today," Ezra told me as he opened the box of first aid. I nodded at him and yawned. I was exhausted and I needed food. The first day of training was hard, but I knew it was going to get harder. I had to toughen up."He made me spar with Kade. He was a good fighter. He bested me," I sighed as I felt a cotton pad touch my wounds. Ezra cleaned away the blood that was still sleeping from the gashes."Kade is the son of the Master of Arms. He has to be a good fighter," Ezra laughed at me. I smiled and rolled my eyes, sipping on my beer. Ezra continued to pat at the blood with the cotton pad, shifting around the first aid box."Don't worry about it, princess. Alfie told me that you had a lot of work to be done. These next four weeks are going to be absolute hell for you," Ezra laughed at me. I smiled but I nodded knowingl
"Morning, princess," Ezra greeted as I walked into the kitchen. I looked up at him and smiled as I yawned. I took his coffee mug from his hands and quickly sipped from the warm liquid. I handed his mug to him and pulled my hair behind my ears."Morning," I mumbled.My body was still sore from the day before. The gashes hadn't completely healed yet but they were fading quickly. I was happy that they were healing so fast."You going for a run this morning?" Ezra asked me, sipping on his coffee. I nodded at him and stretched. My back cracked and I smiled.Ezra didn't asked about what happened the night before and I was glad. I didn't need him trying to pry his way into my personal life. I wasn't ready to share that part of myself with anyone. I didn't think I ever would be.When the knock on the door came, I bounded towards it. I called goodbye to Ezra. I heard his light chuckles as I reached the door and pulled it open. I expected to see Kade and Alfie.Instead, I saw Lila and Brayleigh
Ezra stared at me as I sat with my head in my hands at the dinner table. He sipped slowly on his coffee and didn't take his eyes off of me.My mind whirled with so many different thoughts. Memories of my mother flashed through my mind like a slideshow. I felt the pain of losing her all over again.It'd been almost ten years, and I still wasn't over it. I couldn't help but miss her. I couldn't help but be bitter about her death. Alfie was right. It shouldn't have happened. But it did.My mind switched to my beast. She whined sadly in the back of my mind. She paced back and forward, her head down and her whines low and painful to listen to. She was upset. So damn upset.She knew what Alfie said was true. She knew it and so did I.Our fire was gone.Every wolf had a fire. Whether it was hot or not was the important part. I knew what Alfie meant when he spoke about my father.When anyone walked into a room with my father in it, they knew who was in control. Whenever I was in a room with h
The rest of the week I trained hard. I ran every day, either with Ezra, Alfie or Lila and Brayleigh. Each day, they pushed me harder and harder. I remember the morning after my run with Ezra that I collapsed to the ground. I had run with Alfie that morning. It was just him and I.Alfie was ruthless. He made us take a new track, one that extended all the way around Takiani. He told me it was the trail that the tracker wolves run, as it went along the borders of the pack. It was a long run, the longest one I'd ever been on.But I loved it.Alfie pushed me and pushed me. He wouldn't let me slow down and only let me get faster and faster. He raced me, purposely getting me angry to try and bring out my beast's fire. He said it worked, but he said it didn't work enough.After the run, I had to sit down. I was panting hard, my heart was beating so fast that I felt it in my throat. My arms and legs were tingling with energy.I felt different. I felt great. Something I hadn't felt in a while.
When I got back from my run, I felt better. I had run until my legs gave out, and then I hauled myself to the river and slid into the water. I washed away the sweat and blood and then found some clothes stashed away in a hollow tree. I slipped on the clothes and walked back to my cabin.Upon entering my cabin, I smelt the wolves that were sitting inside. As I pushed the door open, I already knew who I was.I walked into the dining room where everyone was sitting at the table. Lila got up the moment she saw me and rushed over to me. She embraced me in a tight hug and rubbed my cheek with hers.I calmed my beast only a little. But it was enough to keep me relaxed.Brayleigh and Kade sat next to each other at the table. Kade had his arm around her shoulders and had her close to him. I looked at them longingly before tearing my eyes away.I met eyes with Alfie and smiled weakly at him. Then I did the same with Ezra.They were all sat, drinking wine and beer with a large box of biscuits in
I woke up early the next morning. My sleep hadn't been peaceful, as the nightmares had come in the night. They shocked me awake and kept me up for most of the night. But I knew that nightmares weren't an excuse to not train the next morning.I dressed in tight leggings and a tank top. I didn't intend on shifting into my fur on the run. I still had healing wounds from the day before and I didn't want to risk hurting them more whilst I ran. I decided I would wait until I sparred later on."Morning, Ali. You still coming on the run this morning?" Lila greeted me. I smiled warmly as I slipped on my sneakers and tied the laces."Hey. I'm running but I won't shift. Still have some injuries that I don't want to make bleed," I told her. I heard her wolf yip in approval in my mind and I stood up. I made my way out my room and into the kitchen where Ezra was standing.He shot me a sincere look that made me feel better. I liked that he cared for me. I hadn't known him long but we already had a c