Chapter 15 - You never had a boyfriend?

EMMA

The chirps of sparrows and the feeling of being watched wake me up. I expect to be in the garden, but I’m not. The scent of magnolias on my pillow is starting to become familiar. I blink my eyes and try to focus on the white pillow beneath my head, but the bright light forces my eyes to close again. *How did I get back?*

“You’re finally awake, I thought you never would.”

I sit up and follow the familiar voice of Princess Morana. The princess is sitting in the corner of my room. One leg crossed over the other and not a hair out of place. I quickly grab the blanket to cover myself, but I notice that I’m still wearing the dress I was wearing yesterday. I try to rake my brain of the events of last night, but I come up empty. The last thing I remember is that black wolf bringing me to the garden.

The princess watches my every move with a scowl on her face. “Are you not going to explain yourself?” Her voice is sharp and commanding.

I blink my eyes at her, the last of my sleep disappearing. “What do you mean?” I look around the room and rub the sleep from my eyes. I’m confused. “Where’s Camilla?”

The princess scoffs and reaches up to adjust a lock of her red hair. “Fired of course, just like the tailor and the guards who were supposed to keep an eye on you.”

*Fired? For what? And what guards?* I feel bad for Camilla, even if I didn’t like her that much. “I didn’t know there were guards watching me.”

The corners of her lips tug down. “Obviously they weren’t, since you were able to run away again.”

“I- I didn’t run away, I got lost.” I look away from her burning stare. Maybe there was a little voice inside my head that wondered what if I would run away, but yesterday proved what would happen.

Princess Morana glares at me and the hard lines in her face seem unfitting. “Like you got lost in the forest? I was willing to forget about that mistake, but I don’t give second chances.” Her voice is cold and she gives me a pointed look. She knows everything that’s going on.

I blink my eyes. “I swear I wasn’t running away this time.”

The princess scrunches her nose. “Why should I believe you? Maybe we should end our deal since you're clearly not as invested as I thought you’d be.”

I perk up at her words. *Would the princess really let me go just like that?*

The princess straightens the one wrinkle in her suit. “You can go back to futilely protecting that little island of yours.”

My blood freezes and the floor crumbles away from me. I clutch the blanket in my hands. “You know?” I ask in barely a whisper.

“Of course I know.” The princess says with a flick of her hand.

They know about the island. They know everything. The island houses at least two hundred girls and women with blue eyes. Every single one is a target of the werewolves. If they reach the island, blood will shed. And not just from the girls. The lives of hundreds of people will be on the line if I break the deal with the princess. And their blood will be on my hands. And for what? Because I was too scared to stay and suffer?

“I’m staying.” My voice is weak, but loud enough for the princess to hear.

I can see the small tug of her lips. “Very good.”

“Where is my necklace?” I blurt out. My heart is pounding in my chest.

“Oh yes, that thing.” The princess pulls back and her eyes roam over my body and stop at my neck. “You’ll get it back after the ceremony when my brother has chosen you.”

“I don’t think he will,” I mutter.

The princess checks the time of her watch and the door of my bedroom is opened by two guards. “The healer is here, your highness."

“Good.” The princess drawls and gets out of my room, without another word to me. “Get another tailor to bring a wardrobe for the human, and a gown for tomorrow.” The princess barks at the guards.

“Of course, your highness.” One of the guards says.

The two guards leave and an older woman appears in the doorway. She has deep wrinkles in her skin and her hair is dark gray. Her eyes scan over me, but not with contempt for once. Her eyes are a combination of green and gray. “You must be Emma.” Her smile is kind, for so far I can tell.

“Yeah.” I croak out. I thought I escaped a visit to the doctor, but apparently, that only meant that the doctor would visit me.

“My name is Galena. I’m the palace healer. Can I come in?”

I interlace my hands together and awkwardly twist my fingers as I sit in the middle of the bed. “Sure.”

Galena closes the door behind her and I get up from the bed. “Do I need to undress or something?”

“There is no need, you can just sit,” Galena says and points back at the bed.

I take a seat back on the bed and Galena is slow to approach me. Like I’m a scared animal that can run at any moment.

“May I?” Galena asks as she hovers a hand over my stomach.

I move my hands away and nod. Galena carefully places her hand on my stomach and her eyes turn black. I gasp and I instinctively move away from her.

“I- I’m sorry.” I stutter out. My hands are shaking as a forgotten memory resurfaces or maybe it’s just something I haven’t allowed myself to think about.

“Y-your eyes,” I say as I force the memory of my mother back to the depths of my mind.

“It’s alright dear, I should have probably explained a little first,” Galena says with a sympathetic smile. “Our eyes turn black when we communicate with our wolf.”

My mind is slowly catching up with the words and it takes me a while to process. “Is that always the case, for you… werewolves?”

Galena chuckles. “Yes, we all do that. In my case, I communicate with her when I’m reading or healing someone too.”

“Healing?”

“I have healing abilities. Sometimes the moon goddess blesses a wolf with special abilities.”

*Moon goddess, healing abilities.*

“Right.” I start to think there are a few screws loose with this woman, but then again. Maybe I’m just starting to lose my mind.

“Will it hurt?” I shiver as I remember the pain of that night long ago.

“No dear, this will be painless.”

I take a deep breath and nod for her to continue. I close my eyes as I still expect it to hurt. It’s probably just painless for them. They probably love the feeling of being burned alive.

“How old are you, dear?” Her voice hovers around me.

“Twenty-one,” I say through gritted teeth, still waiting for the pain.

Galena hums. “You never had a boyfriend?”

“What?” I choke out and my eyes fly open.

Galena has her hand on my stomach and her brows are furrowed in concentration. She removes her hand and her eyes turn back to normal.

“How’d you know? Could you read that?” I shriek as I look down to my stomach and my cheeks burn hot.

Galena blinks at my outburst. “No dear, I can’t. I just noticed you never had any sexual interaction before.”

The hot burn from my cheeks has now spread to the rest of my body. I’m pretty positive that even my ankles are flushed. What do I say to that? *Yes I would have liked to have a normal life, where the only thing I had to worry about was if a boy liked me or not. Where I could have had time for a boyfriend and fall in love. But no, my life has not been like that.*

“Not that there's anything wrong with that dear. It’s just highly unusual for our kind.” She says with a comforting pat on my knee.

I narrow my eyes at her. “I’m not like your kind.”

She gives me a pitiful look like she feels sorry for me that I’m not. And I'm starting to doubt if I actually like the doctor.

“You’re right, that was inconsiderate of me.”

“Why is that so unusual for your kind?” I ask. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have some crazy rituals where they offer a girl's virginity to their precious Moon Goddess or something.

“Our kind tends to be very driven by instinct as we are ruled by the moon goddess.”

I want to roll my eyes at her explanation as it reminds me of my brother's constant bragging about his intuition. “So, the moon goddess tells you when to sleep with someone?” I try to speak without sarcasm in my voice.

Galena keeps a kind smile on her face. “Not exactly, but yes the moon has a very distinct effect on our desire to procreate. It can overpower almost anything or anyone. Almost all pups are conceived during a full moon.”

*“Right.* Pups, full moon, got it.” I say, definitely failing to stay serious.

Galena gives me a concerned look. Worry is evident in her eyes. “I feel like I have to warn you, I’m not sure if anyone else would.”

“Warn me about what?”

“I just fear that your bodies are not compatible together, since you're not of our kind”

I blink my eyes and blood flushes to my cheeks. “I see.”

*Translation: You're too weak to handle the big bad wolf.*

Like I didn’t already know that. Any person with eyes could have told me that, it’s pretty obvious that we don’t match.

“Do you mind if I continue?”

I shake my head and I feel her hand on me again, but this time over my hands and moving up. Her touch is soothing and it invites me to close my eyes. Her fingers lightly massage over my arms, elbows, and shoulders. Her fingers trail over the skin of my neck and hover over my head. She hums deeply and presses her fingers a little harder on my head. *“Strange.”*

I open my eyes and am surprised to see Galena so close in front of me. She places a hand on my chest and one on my forehead and closes her eyes. Her wrinkles deepen as she furrows in concentration. I wait for something to happen, but nothing does. When she said it was painless, I didn’t expect her to actually tell the truth.

“Uhm, what is?”

Galena opens her eyes and I watch the black be replaced by gray and green. “I cannot read you.”

“Uhm, didn’t you do so earlier?”

“That was just your body, but we’re all made of deeper layers, like the mind and soul. But I can’t read yours.” Her stare is intense as her eyes pierce down on mine like she is searching for something. “Like something is blocking me.”