CHAPTER 20: 20

NYLAH

Sofia’s words resonated in my mind throughout that day and the next and I decided to follow her advice.

Not only because it was the only way to save my face but because I couldn’t bear being humiliated again.

My life was maybe not perfect, but I was in charge of my life a month ago, I went anywhere I wanted to, whenever I wanted to until I came across Alpha Xavier.

Until he saw me in the club and decided he wanted me to dance for him. Now, I was tied to him. I was tied down in a pack. I’d only heard its stories and wondered what kind of wolves lived there.

’I’ll be fine, you don’t need to worry about me, just take good care of yourself.’ I remembered telling Arianna these words the day I went to see her, but look, who was anything but fine?

Look who was helpless?

"Meet me at the garden by nine, don’t be late. Put on a scarf. It’s going to be hot." Sofia’s voice rang in my head, and I jumped from the bed. I was going to be late.

I had been indoors for three days since the incident at the bonfire night, and Sofia thought my new habit was becoming unhealthy. She’d tried talking me out of my room, but I never gave a positive response, so she sent me breakfast and left before I could even check the food.

When I opened the basket used to present the dishware bearing the food, I saw a note on the side of the basket.

I opened it and it read, "Meet me at the garden by nine, don’t be late. Put on a scarf. It’s going to be hot. Don’t even think of saying no, I made this breakfast myself."

"Well played, Sofia," I muttered and entered the bathroom to freshen up.

After a refreshing bath, I had my breakfast and scanned through my wardrobe for what to wear.

I settled for jeans and a merch top, I rolled a scarf over my head and secured it with a pin under my jaw.

As I walked out of my room, I wondered about how I was going to get to the garden. The only garden I knew and saw was the little ones in front of every building, but they weren’t large enough to be called a garden.

For a moment, I stopped thinking about how to get to Sofia. I didn’t want to speak to anyone in the pack considering my unpleasant experience, but I wasn’t left with many options.

As I turned to go back into my room, I figured I couldn’t bring myself to talk to any member of the pack, at least not yet. Not after how they saw me the last time, not with that image of me in their minds.

However, as I turned to go in, I regretted my actions immediately. Lily and her minions were coming out of the building, my reflex action would be to turn around at the sight of them and run for the hills until I lost them but instead, my feet were glued to the ground.

My eyes fixed on them, not saying a word or an attempt to move, I stood there, taking their figures in.

They weren’t up to the girls I danced with at the club. Only Lily had the build of one of the girls, but I knew that she might not be able to do much with it.

Their smiles faded when they saw me staring at them. They stopped, folded their hands on their chests, and closed the distance between us, but I still didn’t move. Instead, my gaze was pinned on the girl who poured alcohol on me that night.

Instead of the fear they expected me to feel, I felt anger coursing through me, I felt like pulling her by her hair and cleaning the ground with her body.

"Isn’t this chicken girl?" Lily snickered, and the others nodded, following suit. I maintained my gaze and my unfazed expression.

"What are you doing here, huh? Are you lost? Did your mom let you wander around by yourself?" Lily asked again, and I knew that she referred to Sofia as my mom.

"I think I can handle you all on my own." Was my curt reply, my unwavering gaze still pinned on my prey’s face, and by now, she’d noticed the deadly stare I shot her, and she began to feel uncomfortable

"Oohh, look who is now a grown woman overnight." Lily mocked, but just as she began to laugh, I walked to her, I made the intimidating steps she usually would make to scare me, and I stopped when our noses were almost touching each other.

"I’m not one you can easily intimidate Lily..." I started but was cut short by a hand that patted me gently on my back.

"It’s okay, Nylah. Lily’s not worth your time." Sofia’s voice calmed my mind and made me realize just how tense I was.

I felt relieved knowing she was there, and I wondered why.

"And for the record, her name is not chicken. It’s Nylah." Sofia locked hands with me and led the way.

"Why did you take so much time before coming?" I asked, a part of me offended by the fact that she heard everything but decided to step in when I’d almost gotten into a fight with them.

"Nothing," she shrugged

"I just wanted to see how you’ll answer them." Was her reply?

We were soon at the garden located behind the biggest building that she said was the meeting hall slash throne room.

It was a plush garden, all the beautiful plants looked so alive, and the bursts of different colours from different flowers calmed me in a way I didn’t think was possible.

I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes and letting myself lose the different scents from the flowers and fall in love with them.

"They’re so beautiful," I remarked when I opened my eyes, prompting a light chuckle from Sofia.

"I know, right? This was my mother’s garden. She loved plants. My ancestors had something to do with plants, but when she died, no one wanted to take over the place, and I decided to fill in the gap. If my parents’ legacy wasn’t going to be kept by the pack members, I’ll do something to remember them by." Sofia explained touching the flowers with tenderness in her eyes.

"This is a coneflower. It’s an ancient one. My ancestors used it to heal the then Luna that had respiratory issues, but nowadays, these plants aren’t regarded because of advanced medicine." I understood her well, but I felt bad that I didn’t know what to say to make her feel better.

We spent some time there, watering the plants, and I listened to old tales from Sofia about how drawn to plants werewolves used to be, and I began to wonder how old she was. I was tempted to ask her, but she said she knew all these because her mom told them to her as well.

It was soon evening, and Sofia left in a hurry, claiming that she had something overdue that needed to be tended to, so I had no choice but to walk back to my room.

As I strolled back, a familiar voice called from behind me.

"Nylah, isn’t it?" I turned to the source of the voice and was surprised to see Alpha Xavier’s intended mate standing behind me wearing a smile.