Chapter 40 Wandering girl

Chapter 40: Chapter 40 Wandering girl

Talia’s POV

A few days passed after the incident in our room.

Things slowly returned to normal, as Kaelen slept in the room more often now. He was there when I woke up in the mornings, with his blanket folded on the floor, and he was there when I went to bed at night.

We did not talk about what happened, or why he had suddenly started sleeping in the room again after avoiding me.

We just existed in the same space, pretending everything was fine.

This morning, I woke up to the sound of birds outside my window. The fire had died, and the room was cold. Kaelen was gone, and his blanket was folded on the floor in its usual spot.

I lay in bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling. Then I climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

I decided to take a bubble bath today, instead of a quick shower. The water was warm, and the bubbles smelled like lavender. So I stayed in the tub until my fingers turned white.

When I got out, I dried myself and dressed in jeans and a plain black top. I had never owned jeans before, but I did now because of Kaelen.

I looked at myself in the mirror, and tears filled my eyes, as I remembered all I had been through in Cresswood.

A knock on the door brought me back from my thoughts. I wiped my eyes and walked to the door.

A servant was standing there with my breakfast: pancakes, eggs, a glass of juice, and a small bowl of berries.

I ate slowly, savoring each bite. Then when I was done, I pushed the tray aside, stood up, and picked up the book I had borrowed from the library a few days ago from the bedside table. It was a story about a wolf who lost her pack and later found her way home.

I read for a while as the hours passed by, but my mind kept wandering, and I could not focus on the words.

So I set the book down and decided to go for a walk.

The pack house was quieter in the afternoons.

Most wolves were training or eating or attending to pack business. The hallways were empty, and my footsteps echoed on the stone floors.

I had been wandering for hours, moving from the garden, past the Omega buildings—which were also the servant quarters—and back to the pack house. But I could not sit still because my mind kept going back to the room, to the way Kaelen had looked at me, and the way his fingers had brushed my chin.

I shook my head and kept walking.

The hallways all looked the same after a while. With the same stone walls, iron torches, and wooden doors that all seemed to lead nowhere. I had walked this path so many times in the past few days, but I still did not know my way around.

Every corner looked familiar, but also strange. I would turn left expecting the garden, only to find another hallway. I would turn right expecting the training grounds, only to find a staircase leading down.

’I was lost. Not just in the pack house, but in my own life.’

’I did not know who I was supposed to be here. The girl from Cresswood? The Alpha’s mate? Or the Luna everyone expected to fail?’

I stopped walking and leaned against the wall because my chest was tight, and my eyes were burning with unshed tears.

I missed Piper. I missed her laugh and her hugs and the way she always knew what to say.

I hoped she was okay, and I hoped she was not crying.

I pushed off the wall and kept walking.

I went left, then right, then down a flight of stairs. I passed the library, the gathering hall, and I got to the door of the training grounds.

Then I heard voices, and I stopped.

The voices were coming from around the corner, so low and quiet, and definitely not meant to be overheard.

I recognized them immediately as Kaelen and Jax.

I knew I should have walked away. I should have turned around and gone back to my room, and I should not have been listening.

But my feet would not move.

I pressed myself against the wall and held my breath.

"Something is wrong with her," Kaelen said.

I froze.

"Wrong how?" Jax asked.

"Her scent. It does not match her face," Kaelen answered.

My heart stopped.

"What do you mean?" Jax said.

"I mean exactly what I said." Kaelen’s voice sounded low and cold. "Her scent is... different. It smells richer and stronger, like something is hiding beneath the surface."

Jax was quiet for a moment. "Maybe she is not what she seems."

"That is exactly what I am afraid of," Kaelen said.

I stood there, frozen, with my back against the cold stone wall.

My heart was pounding, my hands were shaking, and my throat had gone dry.

He knew. I had thought as much, that he had known for a while, because he had said it before, on the training grounds. ’Your scent does not match your face.’

But hearing him say it to Jax made it real.

He was suspicious. He was watching me, and he was waiting for me to make a mistake.