Mari’s POV
On the drive back, I flip through one of the paperbacks I just got from the bookstore.
“There’s a lot of sex,” I comment as I peruse the pages.
Hanna chuckles. “I can’t believe you have never read one of those. In high school, at least.”
“I wasn’t your normal high school student,” I confess, bittersweet memories flooding my mind. “Between all the days I was missing from class and my poor grades, I barely graduated. I was never much of a bookworm.”
I spent more time during my teenage years trying to keep a roof above mine and my mother’s heads than I did studying.
When my mother showed up and took me from my Dad’s house, I was relieved. At first. My stepmother didn’t like me at all, and she had made my life a living hell. So when Mum showed up and took me with her, I thought it was the beginning of a better life.
A few months later we got kicked out of the house she was renting. By the time we got kicked out of the third house and sleeping hungry became more frequent, I began missing my father’s house. My stepmother liked giving me endless chores and hitting me, but at least she gave me enough to eat and I never slept in the cold.
I was thirteen when I started working to ensure we didn’t get evicted again or sleep hungry. By the time I was seventeen, I was bringing in as much money as my mother was. Then she began the beatings, claiming she was getting rid of the ‘demons’ I had inherited from my father.
By then, it had registered that whatever had happened to her and my sister before she came back for me had messed her up.
One day, I woke up to find myself tied to the bed. She was pacing around it, chanting some weird incantations and sprinkling me with water.
I screamed at her to let me go, and she promised she would if I agreed to be her ‘good Mari.’
So I acted docile and said that yes, I would, and she let me go.
When I left that evening to go to work, I didn’t plan on ever going back.
But after a week went by, I felt guilty for abandoning her. So I went back looking for her, but she had already moved. I’ve never seen her since then.
I clear my throat, bringing myself back to the present. I try not to think of the past, not to think about where she could be, what she is doing.
“Is there any truth in these, anyway?” I ask Hanna as we get closer to the mansion.
She nods. “Depends. But you’ll find out more accurate information if you read facts about wolves. Especially about their social lives. Alphas, omegas, the stratification and all that blah. That could be useful to you, you know. Because you’re going to be a queen and all.”
“Queen?”
She glances at me for a few seconds before focusing back on the road. “Don’t tell me nobody has told you about that.”
I shake my head slowly.
“So, you know that Stefan is our Alpha, right? That means he’s the leader of our pack. Our pack is known as Crescent River. As his mate, you’ll be our Luna. Like our female Alpha. Are you with me?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Now, besides being Alpha of our pack, Stefan has also conquered other packs. That means while those packs may have their own Alphas, he has control and authority over them. Like an Alpha of Alphas.”
“Oh.”
“Soon, the conquered Alphas are going to pledge allegiance to him as their Werewolf King.”
“That sounds major,” I mutter in awe.
“It is. Every last southern pack will be under his control. We haven’t had a werewolf king in these parts for ages.” She makes a turn from the main road into the one leading to the mansion. The mansion is in a forested area, far from other residences. “Therefore, as his mate, you’ll be the werewolf Queen.”
And here I was, thinking my life couldn’t throw any more surprises in my face.
“But I don’t even know how to shift.”
“It’ll happen, no worries. It’s different for everyone. Some shift soon after the change, for others, it’s a bit delayed. It all depends on when the new wolf DNA in your body overpowers your human side. For the first few times, you won’t be able to control it. But you’ll learn.”
“Is it painful?”
“The first few times, yes. Once your body gets used to it, it’s nothing more than slight discomfort.”
“Can I shift at any time?”
“Yes, as long as your animal instincts take over.”
“Animal instincts?”
She nods. “You’re part beast now, you know. If you’re in danger or something, your animal instincts will take over. That’s why it’s important to learn control. You cannot just let your animal side appear anywhere, especially not around humans. But when you’re on our lands, you’re free to shift and roam.”
“So the thing about shifting during the full moon is not true?”
“There’s a little truth in it. Once a month, during the full moon, your wolf DNA will overpower your human side. The urge to shift will be too strong to fight. Unless you’re medicated. So, yeah, during full moons, you’ll find that a lot of werewolves will gather in the jungle. It’s like a cycle of some kind.”
The car slows down as we get to the gate. A guard opens it and Hanna drives through. When we get to the mansion, we alight with the shopping bags and head into the house.
“If you have any questions about all this craziness, you can ask me,” she tells me as we walk up the stairs to my room.
“Okay, thanks,” I tell her.
“I’ll leave you now,” she tells me after helping me get the shopping bags into my room.
“Thanks for everything,” I tell her.
“It’s my pleasure,” she tells me. “Don’t forget you are my queen. I and every werewolf in this pack are at your service.”
I don’t even know how to respond to that.
She must have noticed my hesitance because she winks and says, “You’ll get used to it.”
Yeah, I don’t know about that.