#4 Moonlight on the Water

Navy

I woke up alone in the packhouse apartment after my first night sleeping on land. I rolled over in bed and peeked at the window. The sky was orange and purple as the sun was slowly rising. I crawled out of bed and walked into the bathroom.

Staring at the shower and the tub, I was trying to decide how I was going to accomplish a wash. In the ocean, we had handmade soaps we used to clean ourselves in the underwater waterfalls. I decided that a bath was my best option. Sure, I could have secured my legs in a waterproof bubble, preventing my tail from forming, but where’s the fun in that?

I started the water and began to rummage through the bathroom closest for supplies. I had to admit, Julia and Natasha did a great job at stocking the room. They had a variety of soaps and shampoos for me to choose from. I selected a vanilla smelling shampoo and conditioner, and a body wash that smells like berries. I slipped into the tub and watched as my tail quickly filled it, sloshy soapy water all over the place.

I ducked my head under the facuet to wash my hair and scrubbed my body and scales clean with the sponge. After twenty minutes of soaking, I reached down and pulled the drain plug. Once all the water had drained from the tub, I pulled myself over the edge and hit the bath mat with a thud.

I grabbed a towel and began to dry my tail. I was also able to warm up my tail internally to speed up the process. Once my legs returned, I stood and finished drying off the rest of my body and my hair.

I went to the closest to inspect my options. I chose a pair of jean shorts and a white, knitted crop top. Back in the bathroom, I took care of my teeth and hair. I braided my hair down my back and made a mental note to ask one of the girls what all the gadgets in the bathroom were for.

I walked out of the bedroom and checked the clock on the microwave. It said 6:30. In the ocean we didn’t really have a sense of time. We were awake when the sunlight penetrated the water and we slept when it was gone. I wasn’t sure if I was up at a reasonable hour or not. I decided to venture out of my room.

The hallway was quiet. I had no idea if Knox was awake or not and I was too afraid to knock on his door. Instead, I pushed the elevator button with a picture of a downward pointing arrow. I silently rode the elevator to the ground floor. I was beginning to think that I was either way early or way late because the entire floor was silent, most of the lights were switched off.

I found my way to the kitchen and finally saw people.

“Oh…hello.” A man in a funny looking white hat and shirt greeted me. I was afraid that I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be,

“Hi, I’m sorry, am I allowed to be here? I’m Navy, a….guest of Knox.” I remembered that Knox hadn’t told his pack about me yet and decided to respect his wishes. The man’s eyes widened. I guessed being a guest of the Alpha was enough to earn me some respect, regardless of who I was.

“Oh, of course, Miss. A guest of the Alpha can surely go wherever she’d like. Can we help you with something? I’m the chief, Romino.” The man removed his tall hat and greeted me with a bow of his head. He had thick, dark black hair and olive colored skin. His voice sounded strange.

“I’m sorry, I’m not from here. Am I awake too early?” I asked, trying not to sound like an alien.

“Nothing wrong with being an early riser, Miss. But I will say that most of the packhouse doesn’t wake up until after 7 for breakfast.” Romino explained.

“Are you making breakfast?” I asked, sniffing the air.

“Yes, Miss. can I prepare anything for you?”

“Could I maybe watch you? I don’t know how to cook.” I asked sheepishly. Romino seemed surprised by my request but smiled genuinely,

“I’d be happy to have you observe, Miss.”

“Please, you can just call me Navy.” I said, sitting down at one of the tall stools. Romino nodded and went back to his cooking.

He spoke aloud as he cooked, explaining what he and the rest of his staff were doing. He kindly answered all of my questions and seemed enthusiastic about teaching me. After about thirty minutes of watching, he asked if I wanted to help make something called a pancake. I eagerly agreed.

“Now when you crack an egg you have to be careful not to get any of the shells in there. Good, just like that!” Romino praised me as I cracked two eggs into a clear dish and dumped it into a larger bowl. He showed me how to measure out the flour, olive oil, and milk, also. He handed me something called a whisk and showed me how to mix up the ingredients.

“Navy, are you in here?” A familiar voice called through the kitchen.

“Good morning, Alpha.” The entire kitchen staff spoke in unison, stopping what they were doing to bow at the Alpha. Knox grinned widely when he saw me and waved his hand at the staff, dismissing them.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, walking up to me.

“I’m sorry, I was just learning how to cook.” I shrugged, afraid that I had upset him.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, baby. I told you, this is your home now, too.” Knox said.

“Miss. Navy is a very quick learner.” Romino smiled at me.

“Of course she is.” Knox chuckled,

“And an early bird, apparently.”

“I’m not a bird?” I looked at him, confused. Knox shook his head at me,

“I mean that you like to wake up early.”

“Oh, I didn’t know I liked getting up early.” I shrugged.

“That’s alright, it’s not a bad thing.” Knox assured me,

“Are you having fun?”

“Yes! I think I like cooking.” I grinned happily.

“It’s no trouble having her here, Alpha.” Romino said.

“I guess I’ll leave you two to it then.” Knox laughed, exiting the kitchen.

I helped Romino make scrambled eggs, omelets, waffles, more pancakes, and diced up potatoes. I also helped a nice lady by the name of Betty make freshly squeezed orange juice and apple juice. I had no idea you could make so many different types of juices from fruit. Some of the other staff members diced up more fruit and arranged it in the colors of the rainbow on a large tray.

“Thanks for letting me help, Romino.” I said when he told me it was time to start serving the food.

“Of course, dear, please feel free to come down anytime.” He kissed both my cheeks and I blushed. He said that’s just how people greet each other where he’s from, which is apparently a country named Italy.

Knox came to get me from the kitchen then and escorted me to the dining hall. The hall had one large, rectangular shaped table in the middle of the room with several smaller, square tables scattered around it. Knox pulled out the chair next to the head of the table for me to sit, then he took the head chair.

I recognized Beta Clay and his mate, Julia, and Gamma Dover and his mate, Natasha sitting at the same end as us. Every other face belonged to a stranger.

“Navy, these are my sisters Jenna and Meredith. That’s Jenna’s mate, Mason and Meredith’s boyfriend, Harvord.” Knox introduced some of the other faces sitting around us. Jenna and Meredith had the same green eyes as Knox and the same dark hair, but they lacked his dimples and crooked smile.

“It’s nice to meet you.” I smiled at them politely. They smiled back and shared glances with each other and their mates. I wasn’t sure what secret conversation I was missing, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want to know anyway.

“Do you have any siblings, Navy?” Jenna asked me. I nodded, sitting down my glass of orange juice to answer her question,

“I have two older brothers and a younger sister.”

“A younger sister? What is she, twelve?” Meredith snorted. I looked at her curiously, thinking that I was missing the punch line of some joke,

“No, she’s 16.” I replied. Knox was glaring at his youngest sister,

“Knock it off, Meredith.” He growled.

“Ignore her.” Jenna said in my direction,

“Knox says that you’re a princess?” She added with a questioning tone.

“I am. My eldest brother, Hudson, will become the king soon.” I explained.

“How interesting.” She curled her lips in an expression I couldn’t place.

“It must’ve been amazing growing up as a princess.” Julia said with a glazed over look in her eyes. I just shrugged,

“I suspect that it’s not so different from being the daughter of an Alpha.”

“You mean you don’t get to wear a crown or fancy dresses?” Julia asked, looking disappointed.

“I do have a crown, but uhm I have a tail most of the time so….” I replied. Knox snorted on the water he was drinking as the rest of the table burst into laughter. I looked around, feeling embarrassed, until I realized that their laughter was directed towards Julia,

“Oh, yeah, I guess that makes sense.” She rolled her eyes at the table, jabbing her elbow into her mate who was also laughing.

Breakfast was served then. The kitchen staff carried large silver trays filled with the food we had prepared. They placed several dishes down all along the table. Knox prepared a plate for me and the room fell silent as everyone ate.

Breakfast was over as quickly as it was served. Apparently werewolves really know how to eat. Knox helped me from my chair as the staff cleared the table. I watched as one of the ladies from the kitchen, Mandy, picked up a tray with the remnants of fruit on it. A girl with curly brown hair shoved her chair backwards just as Mandy was moving the tray over her head. The burnette knocked into Mandy and the fruit went flying.

“Watch what you’re doing, servant!” The burnette shrieked at Mandy, dramatically shaking out her hands like she was a mess. None of the fruit had even touched her.

“I’m so sorry.” Mandy was apologizing quickly as she dropped to the floor and started cleaning up the fruit. The burnette kicked the silver tray towards her, just barley missing Mandy’s face,

“Do better at your job or I’ll have you removed!” The burnette yelled. I looked sideways at Knox who didn’t seem to notice the interaction, he was engaged in conversation with Clay and Dover. I broke away from the group and hurried to Mandy’s side.

“It was just an accident.” I said to the burnette, hovering protectively above Mandy.

“Excuse me?” She snapped.

“I saw what happened. Mandy was reaching for the tray before you stood up, you should have seen her.” I said.

“Are you blaming me? This wrench is nothing, she needs to watch out for me!” The burnette placed her hands firmly on her boney hips.

“She’s a person, she’s hardly nothing.” I countered, keeping my voice calm.

“And who exactly are you, you little bitch? What makes you think you can speak to me like this?” The burnette was jabbing her manicured finger in my face.

“It’s alright, Miss., really.” Mandy was trembling on the floor.

“No, it’s not. Mandy, stand up.” Mandy obeyed and stood next to me.

“Do you plan on cleaning this up?” The burnette pointed towards the fruit mess.

“Do you plan on learning some manners?” I asked. Well that really set off the burnette. She grabbed a hold of my wrist and I was pretty sure she was going to slap me, had it not been for the large body that intervened.

Knox stepped in between me and the burnette, removing her hand from my arm and gently pushing me behind him.

“What is going on here?” He roared.

“Alpha.” The burnette crossed her arms over her chest with a smug expression on her face.

“What are you doing, Lolly?” Knox addressed the burnette.

“She is interfering with the discipline of the staff by a ranked member. She needs to learn who she is speaking to.” The girl, Lolly, glared at me.

“First off, Lolly, you have no right to speak disrespectfully to a staff member or discipline them. That job is left to the Alpha and Luna. Secondly, I suggest you watch your tone when you address Miss. Navy, she’s is my guest.” Knox’s voice was stern and cold. Lolly looked shell shocked.

“Your guest?” She stared at me, openmouthed.

“Are you okay?” Knox looked at Mandy, ignoring Lolly’s outburst.

“Her name is Mandy.” I said to Knox who looked at me and nodded.

“Mandy?” He asked again.

“I’m fine, Alpha, thank you. I’ll just go get something to clean this up.” She mumbled.

“Actually, Mandy, why don’t you just bring something out for Lolly to use to clean this up.”

“Y…yes, Alpha.” Mandy scurried off, looking confused.

“You want me to clean this?” Lolly hiccuped.

“You want to disrespect my staff, you can do their job and see how difficult it is.” Knox responded,

“And if I ever see you being rude to a staff member or Navy, again, you will be stripped of your rank and given a position below Mandy. Am I clear?” Knox snapped.

“Yes, Alpha.” Lolly mumbled, looking down. Knox grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the dining hall.

“Did I make a scene?” I asked, feeling guilty.

“No, not at all. Lolly never should have spoken to Mandy that way. You did a good thing standing up for her.” Knox smiled at me, his dimples popping out on his cheeks.

“I’m afraid part of this is my fault.” He sighed as we walked through the packhouse and towards the sunroom.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’m the one who didn’t announce you as my mate. If I would have, Lolly never would have spoken to you like that.” He said.

“And you’re okay with that?” I asked as we arrived in the sunroom.

“What?” Knox looked down at me, confused.

“It shouldn’t matter who I am, Knox, no one should be spoken to like that.” I said. Knox searched my face for a moment before his lips turned up into a slow smile,

“You are absolutely right, my little mate.” He took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Sit with me?” He asked, motioning towards the small sofa. I nodded and allowed him to pull me down. We were sitting so close I was practically on his lap.

“Why didn’t you wake me this morning?” He asked, putting his arm around me.

“I didn’t want to bother you.” I shrugged.

“Navy, you’re never a bother. I always want to see you.” I looked down at our entwined hands and blushed.