Sunlight coming in through the window woke Enora, her eyes squinted and fought to open against its harshness. Turning away from it instead, she jumped from fright at the sight of a woman staring at her from across the room. "Ah, Miss, you're awake. Good morning," she greeted. "Um, hello. Where am I?" Enora asked politely, though she had a feeling that she already knew the answer. "At Quercia headquarters of course. The Boss is delighted to have you here as his guest." "I'm sure that psycho is beyond delighted," she said under her breath. "I'm sorry, what was that?" the woman asked. "I said, I'm happy to be here. So, what am I to do now?" "We shall prepare a bath for you and show you the clothes the Boss has chosen for you, so that you may join him for breakfast. Wait here for a minute." Hm, clothes? Looking down at herself, she found ripped and dirty clothing; it looked like she'd been trying to escape them for days, as opposed to twenty minutes. Oh. "Sure." The woman stepped
AT QUERCIA HEADQUARTERS The lengthy walk to the dining room was nerve-wracking; she was not ready nor willing to face Alessandro again. Another woman had joined Enora in the room when she'd exited the bathroom in one of the outfits that had been provided. It wasn't bad per say, but it was less modest than she was used to. They'd told her she looked great however, and announced breakfast was ready. Guards were outside of her room, unsurprisingly, and at every doorway of the apartment it seemed. As if she were stupid enough to attempt an escape. This place was completely unfamiliar to her, and it was the enemy base; even if she managed to reach the rest of the building, where would she hide? "You may have a seat here, Mr. Bianchi shall be in shortly," woman A said, breaking her out of her thoughts. Both women had refused to give her their names, explaining it was not in Bianchi's orders and they weren't important enough to be addressed that way. So, woman A and woman B would have to
Once she'd eaten her fill, she was unsure of how to get anyone's attention. It felt gross to ring the bell to summon people, so she went to the living room door instead, startled when the two women magically appeared in her path. "Miss, have you finished?" woman B asked. "Yes, thank you. Would you both mind if I explored the apartment? A–Alessandro said it was alright with him," she said, hating that she had to speak his name. "You do not need to ask us, you may simply command us to do what you would like," woman A added. "Oh, um. I can't actually. That also makes me uncomfortable. I'd prefer we be friendly," Enora answered sheepishly. The two looked from one another to Enora with questionable expressions. Has no one ever been nice to them? Or had she said something wrong? "Whatever you say Miss. Would you like to see the kitchen?" "Maybe later, I don't want to be in the way as the staff goes back and forth." "Ok, follow us then and we'll start with the living room. As you can
There were clothes on the bed when Enora returned to the bedroom; from pajamas to bathing suits, to underwear and dresses, and a shiver ran down her spine at the thought of what Alessandro might be thinking about. "I have another request to ask of you ladies," she began, pretending to enjoy the variety of clothing by holding them up against herself. "Yes, Miss?" they replied in unison. "If you could just wait outside while I rest, that would be great. I was startled before when I woke, and you were standing there. I scare easily, sorry." "Oh! I apologize, I was told to watch and wait, so I suppose I took it quite literally," woman A said, hanging her head in embarrassment. "No, no. Don't be. I probably would have done the same," Enora chuckled. "Thank you. You're too kind Miss. We will be right outside. You need only knock, and we or the guards will open the door." "We can put those away for you first," woman B offered, gesturing to the clothes. "Don't worry yourselves, I've g
ONE HOUR AGO Victor's phone buzzed in his pocket, knowing it was Enora before he checked at the screen. As soon as they were within a few minutes of the Quercia base, he'd absorbed her fear to a maximum level. She'd been ok for the majority of the day, so this could only mean true peril was looming over her. Her text informed him that she was inside Bianchi's apartment, about to have dinner with him and she would try to stall for as long as possible. The suspicious feeling was shared between them as he tossed the phone into the bushes and went to get into position with the others. "You two stay alive. I won't forgive you if you dare die on me," Wilson said, hitting Victor and Gil on the back. Gil laughed, "You're the human here. We should be saying that to you." "Ha! You think these untrained losers have anything on me? I'll take them all out in no time." "We'll see about that. You'll still be fighting by the time Gil, Enora, and I come out," Victor said with a smirk. "Ah, fin
Enora panted as she crouched down once more. Pressing her back against the wall, she followed it around to the side where a car on the street would serve as cover. Her legs hurt and her hands shook uncontrollably as she texted Gil and Wilson her whereabouts. "Please one of you pick up. Or please find Victor, please," she whispered to herself. Thankfully during her escape, she hadn't encountered anyone else, and the exit had led her through an alleyway and onto the main streets. Several sirens played on the soundtrack for the night; after the gunshots had finally ceased and the sounds of struggles had subsided. Closing her eyes, she tuned to the background noise, hoping to hear something or someone familiar. Her mind wouldn't stop flashing possible scenarios where Victor didn't walk out of that building and back into her arms, and that scared her. Curling into herself, she rocked back and forth, working to breathe through the severe agony, fury, and sorrow she and Victor were cycl
Enora had just finished her eye makeup, about to move on to her hair, when the phone rang. The familiar tune of her best friend's favorite song filled the room as she hurried to pick up. "Hey girlie!" Nadine's cheerful voice chirped, followed by her smiling face on the screen. "Nades, hi. What's up?" "Oh nothing, just got home from work, but I needed to check in on you so I could approve your outfit for tonight! So, let's see it!" Enora laughed as she returned to the bathroom and placed the phone on the sink. After taking a step back, she gave a slow twirl to show off the outfit. "Ok, so what's the verdict, your honor?" "Hmm. The verdict is... guilty of looking amazing! As well as being too much for a certain boyfriend to handle. I know exactly where this is going to lead tonight." Enora's ears prickled and began to pink. She picked up the curling iron she had plugged in a few minutes ago, and grabbed a section of her hair. "You always have to make it pervy, don't you?" "I'm
It was a few minutes before the paralysis of Enora's mind and body had lifted. Enough of her senses had returned to realize she was with a stranger, which rightfully prompted kicking and screaming. "Let go! Put me down!" she yelled, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. The stranger didn't spare her a glance, only tightened his hold. It was only when she managed to dig a concealed knife out of her purse and attempted to swing, that he addressed her. "Hey! I'm helping you escape! Put that away!" "Helping? I don't even know you!" "Victor told me to get you back to your apartment no matter what. I'll explain once there." He responded quickly; voice full of authority. At the mention of Victor's name, her words faltered. The last she saw before they were no longer within sight, were both wolves leaping towards one another with claws raised. "What's your name? How do I really know you're a friend of Victor's?" she asked quietly. "I'm Gil. Gil Contreras. I'm the beta of the pack and