Black Blood

To my surprise, the Alfa stands up from the bench, his eyes still fixed on me.

‘Welcome Maria.’ I am sure that the astonishment can be read on my face. He knows, he must know. The man is lying to himself or to those around him.

There is something I have noticed since we left. The younger generation does not seem to recognise my face, the older generation does. I don’t know whether this is to my advantage or to my disadvantage. Time will tell.

‘Did you have a pleasant journey?’ Luna asks with a smile. When I look closely at the woman, I see a woman with authority. She radiates power and might. Not in the way my father did, but in a way that immediately commands respect.

‘It had its bumps, but so does every journey,’ Novak replies with a friendly smile. Luna nods with a satisfied expression on her face.

‘Maria, where are you originally from?’ the Alpha asks with interest. I try to make myself look as nonchalant as possible. My hands are folded in front of my stomach and a smile graces my lips.

‘Originally from Livas but I’ve been travelling around since I was thirteen,’ I lie effortlessly. Although the man nods and doesn’t ask any further, I see doubt in his gaze.

‘Beautiful city that is,’ the Alpha smiles kindly. I nod in agreement and look at Novak, hoping he will change the subject. Fortunately, he seems to pick up on the signal.

‘So tonight is your inauguration Asa?’, Novak asks the black haired boy.

‘Right, like you had your visit planned,’ Asa laughs. The current Luna also gets up from the sofa.

‘Do you have any other clothes with you?’ Both her words and her posture are stately. Her blonde hair hangs down her shoulders and her blue eyes tell me that she won’t let anything small upset her.

‘Not for the occasion,’ Novak replies in a more formal tone than he spoke to Asa. The woman nods her head slowly.

‘Alexander will you order Flora to prepare clothes for our guests?’ Alexander, or Alex. I am surprised at the tone of the Luna. The tone is neat, articulate and static. She asks nicely, but you can hear the undertone of a command. I begin to wonder who is really in charge here, the Luna or the Alpha.

‘Yes Luna,’ Alex replies to the command.

‘Zora will take you to a room. You will be tired from your long journey.’ A young lady of a slightly younger age than me gets up from an adjacent chair.

‘If you would follow me,’ the young lady says in a polite tone. I make a small bow to the Alpha and Luna before I, together with Novak, start to follow Zora. Her long blonde hair hangs down over her shoulders, she is wearing a neat blue dress and flat shoes.

We are guided through the corridors of the large building. I stare at the wooden panelling, the decorations in the wood and the paintings hanging here and there on the wall. We go up a flight of stairs, through another corridor and finally arrive at a door. On the door is a sign that says “Guesthouse 133”. With a slight creaking of the wood, it opens until a beautiful room emerges.

‘This is your room for the nights you wish to stay.’ My eyes go over the spacious bedroom. The floor, like everything here, is made of wood. The curtains and sheets are blue, the bed black and here and there are paintings of the forest. This room is exactly what I had in mind when I heard we were going to spend the night in a werewolf pack. It’s neat yet cosy, static yet casual.

‘Thank you Zora,’ I say to the lady politely. I look at the lady and see that she is not focused on me at all. I follow her eyes and see that they are fixed on Novak, who has been standing behind me the whole time. Novak has an uncomfortable look on his face and is trying to keep his eyes on the room.

‘Thanks, Zora,’ Novak says slowly. The lady smiles and nods her head.

‘Flora will bring you the clothes in a moment,’ she says before turning and leaving the room. I look at Novak, confused. What kind of situation was that? His blue eyes are in an uncomfortable expression and he hasn’t moved since Zora left.

‘Do you know her?’ I ask Novak in a bit of surprise. His eyes seem to break free from his stare and he looks at me sighing.

‘No,’ is his answer. His choice of words shows that he doesn’t want to talk about it. He waves the subject away and walks to the bed. As I watch Novak walk to the bed, it occurs to me that we share a room. Even though we’ve spent the last few nights together in a small tent, there’s still an awkwardness about it. I trust Novak to a certain point now but that doesn’t mean I like the idea of changing clothes with him.

Novak himself seems to have no reaction to it as he lies down on the bed without saying a word. As soon as I walk in Novak’s direction, I notice something about him I hadn’t seen before. He has become whiter, his cheeks have sunken more and his eyes seem darker than before. I had noticed the other day that he had less to say and seemed a bit absent-minded. I hope that Novak has not caught an illness during our trip, both for myself and for him.

I walk closer to the bed and sit on the foot of it. Novak has closed his eyes, is lying on the bed with all his clothes, except his shoes, and has folded his arms behind his head.

‘Are you alright?’ I ask softly. I’ve loosened up on asking questions these last few days, but Christiaan’s words will always haunt me in some way. Women don’t ask, they listen. Novak slowly opens his eyes and looks at me, already lying down.

‘Yes, why?’ he asks nonchalantly.

‘You look a bit pale, you are absent-minded and you seem tired,’ is my honest answer. Novak sighs in an irritated tone, something that makes me wonder if I’m doing something wrong.

‘I’m just not having my day,’ he replies and closes his eyes again. Something inside me tells me he’s lying to me and if there’s anything I’m starting to dislike, it’s people lying to me. His nonchalant attitude doesn’t help the situation either, it irritates me.

‘Is it because of Zora?’ The words leave my mouth before I know it. Novak’s eyes light up and he pushes himself to sit up.

‘Jesus Celeste, stop asking stupid questions.’ He raises his voice and his muscles tighten as he almost spits out the words at me. I automatically flinch from the loud tone and hostile attitude. I should have kept my mouth shut, exactly what Christiaan always told me.

‘S-sorry,’ comes out more haphazardly than I’d like. I am still leaning back to increase the distance between me and Novak. Novak’s eyes are angry for a few seconds until they seem to soften. His muscles seem to relax and his posture becomes less angry. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

‘No I have to say sorry, I shouldn’t have shouted at you. It’s just...’. Exactly at that moment a knock on the door sounds.