Chapter 288

288 Busted

Lina’s boredom increased exponentially the more school went on. After getting acquainted with the new girl, she was only trying her best to stay attentive to the teacher.

However, her mind wouldn’t stop wandering to the different things she wanted to do once school was over. Her wolf didn’t help her this time either. She was equally excited to take part in these post-school activities.

‘Wolves are more intuitive than their human counterparts,’ was what the girl could think of when she felt the wolf get a little more excited than she was. ‘But that only means neither of us is focusing today,’ she almost cried out loud. The teachers’ words seemed to come from someone in another room... completely muffled...

‘Blah blah blah...’ they’d go. One after the other.

That was until one of them happened to mention the most feared topic in school, “Your finals are coming up next week. Use the weekend to prepare for them.

As I said yesterday, the timetable has been pinned to all the noticeboards and for those of you that prefer the use of technology, check your emails.”

Everything concerning extra-curricular or the werewolf empire was wiped from the girl’s mind the moment she heard the news about their exams. ‘This world hates me...’

.........

Madeline, after a lot of discussion with Honour’s mother, gave in to be taken to the mall to procure new clothes.

.....

The woman put no limit to what she could buy, but as someone who was raised in a family that wasn’t blessed with so much, the girl was inclined to get clothes she was sure were within an average werewolf’s price range.

“You said you would tell me how our families are related,” the question that had been lingering on her mind finally surfaced.

“Oh yeah, I said that, didn’t I? Well, for one, I know your family bears the power of the Seeker. Your mother, unfortunately, didn’t have that gift. She said the power would skip a generation and only appear in the females of your family,” the woman started.

“You seem to know a lot about me. It’s unsettling,” the girl’s painfully honest voice from within the changing room.

“You misunderstand, Maddy,” the woman replied, “We merely agreed that it was best if our parents stayed apart, but in truth, the two of us would have met a long time ago.”

“Why did you choose to keep the families apart?” It was like every question brought even more questions.

“I’m pretty sure you know how risky it is for someone to know that you are the Seeker, don’t you?” the woman replied.

“Yeah, I know that. We also have the power to find the Origin and it would be bad for us to find such a thing,” the girl replied nervously.

“Exactly. Our family has something we keep secret as well. We don’t have odd eye colours, so we don’t really have to do much to keep ourselves hidden. No one would be able to know who we were unless something triggered the one we protect.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Madeline asked, still milling over her newfound nickname.

“Well...” she lingered for a moment, “I mean Honour. She’s special and the reason the two families were separated,” the woman replied, “I have questions, Mady. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through to get here and I thank the moon goddess that it was my daughter and Lina that found you.

Fate could not have been any kinder to you. I will wait for you to get comfortable before telling us what you have been through.

How to say this... We are related through our ancestors. Somewhere along the way, the families were separated and for some reason, an ability manifested in yours. It’s probably because of the divine energy that’s unique to our bloodline.

Eventually, I met your mother. The two of us didn’t know much at the time, but we bonded so quickly that it was too much of a coincidence. One day, I went to visit her in the Golden Moon pack and that’s when your grandmother revealed everything about our past.”

The girl remained quiet in the changing room for a longer interval that worried the woman, “Maddy!”

“Fate hasn’t been kind to us,” the girl quietly replied before stepping out of the changing room to reveal her new outfit. The woman clapped her hands enthusiastically at the transformation she was witnessing. Her smile proved contagious enough to wipe the worried expression off the girl’s face.

“We are definitely buying that one,” the woman said to her, adding it to the growing pile she’d already gathered.

“Don’t you think they are too many?” Madeline asked, frowning at the pile of clothes.

“Not in the slightest. Besides, the bill is not on me this time, so don’t worry,” the woman said proudly, bashing the guilt that tried to claw its way into her conscience. “Would you like something to eat? All this shopping has me tired.”

The question was met with a stomach growl from the girl, “I would normally be really embarrassed by that, but I’m too hungry to care.”

“Perfect, let’s just pay for this and head over to the restaurant across the street. The place is amazing.”

Madeline followed the woman and watched her retrieve a blue credit card from her purse to pay for their clothes. On the card were the names Lina Sirius. ‘Royals can be filthy rich,’ she stared slack-jawed. They’d spent so much on a random stranger already.

They waited for the clothes to get packed before taking the clothes out. Madeline was grateful for having followed the woman on this trip when they got to the restaurant. The scents of food made the girl crave it more. “The weather finally got better,” the girl observed.

“Yes, it stopped raining yesterday, but you spent most of the day sleeping,” the woman replied, “What would you like to order?”

The girl lifted the laminated menu in front of her and started scanning through the different items on the menu. Most of what she saw was familiar to her and in the end, she went with what her nose told her and asked her to pick.

The scents coming from the restaurant kitchen were not doing her any justice. Honour’s mother hit a bell at their table when Madeline confirmed she had made a choice and a beautiful blonde waitress was at their table in no time.

The woman directed the waitress on what they wanted and the blonde dutifully noted down their orders on a pad. Madeline thought the waitress lingered too long staring at her before leaving their table.

“While we wait, would you mind telling me what you’ve been up to? Well, before whatever it was that brought you here?” the woman asked her.

Madeline managed to skip past the blur of terrifying events that hung in her head and looked back to times that were much happier, “Well, before all this, I was actually working hard to be able to run my own restaurant one day.”

“Wow, looks like I brought you to the right place. Am I to assume you know everything on the menu then?” the woman asked her.

“Yes, I do know everything on this,” she chuckled, “Although half of them are considered rare delicacies back in the Golden Moon pack. It’s not so easy to transport some of the ingredients. It was hard for me to even learn how to prepare some of those dishes because of it.”

“Wow, okay... Now I know I won’t be making dinner by my lonesome today,” Honour’s mother smirked.

“Wait, what... That wasn’t... Oh, the cat’s already out of the bag,” the girl groaned, letting her head fall to the table.

“Hey, if it’s that much of a bother, I could let you skip today. After all, you’ve only just started to know the city. There is so much you haven’t seen yet. It would be a shame to have the day ruined by a promise to cook...” the woman’s voice seized abruptly catching the girl’s attention.

Honour’s mother had her eyes pinned to something behind her. Looking about, so did everyone else in the restaurant. The mood in the restaurant had completely changed. Tension was in the air and no one was saying a word. The sound of screeching tyres filled the air, notifying Madeline of what they were all looking at.

Madeline turned behind her and saw men getting out of a black SUV and heading off to the same boutique they’d just bought clothes from. The werewolves from the car each had green eyes and reeked of strength and power of seasoned warriors, “Of course, the girl didn’t say anything about this. Just how many secrets do those girls think they can keep?”

“Huh, what are you talking...?” this time, Madeline went silent, taking notice of the last person to exit the vehicle from the passenger seat.

He was more relaxed than the other men and didn’t seem to be in a hurry to go into the boutique. His eyes scanned the area surrounding him, moving from person to person, building to building, stall to stall, establishment to establishment. He was scanning for anything out of the ordinary.

Madeline’s heartbeat went into overdrive as the man’s gaze came closer to hers. She’d seen him somewhere... In fact, she’d come in this direction in search of the same face.

The only person she’d known outside their pack to be able to help them, Drake Sirius, the royal that had paid them a visit not so long before everything had fallen to pieces. In the deep silence that felt like it could be sliced through by a knife, their eyes locked if only for a second. Madeline was sure her heart skipped a beat. Drake wasn’t this serious the last time they’d met. His presence was much warmer.

The prince continued surveying the faces before his eyes darted back to Madeline. Scrunching his eyebrows, he rubbed his temples as if hoping he wasn’t seeing things, but alas, the girl didn’t vanish or change face when he looked at her again.

He wasn’t seeing things, seated right before him was the granddaughter of the Seeker. The sudden flash of grey in her amber eyes confirmed his suspicions, “You look like you’ve seen him before... Oh, he’s coming this way and he also looks like he’s seen you before,” Honour’s mother rambled, but the stunned girl couldn’t find it within her to break her gaze with the alpha.

'

Judging from her reaction to the royal, the woman made her own conclusions. Adding that to the credit card she’d just used in the cloth shop, she was now quite sure of what the royal had come to investigate.

‘Well, this is just swell!’ she cursed, putting on a bright smile to greet the son of the king that ruled them all on this side of the globe.

“Madeline, was it?” Distracted by his words, Mady’s mind spiralled for a moment.

“Y-yeah, that’s me...”