For The Love of A Wolf

Lynette’s POV~

Approaching the castle…feels surreal. It’s funny.. because picturing it in my head, I thought it would look like that Cinderella house in the movie. With spires and towers..all sparkly in the sunlight. Yeah.. no. It is huge… just kind of a rectangular looking building made of stone..

I look over at Liam “I am sooo sliding down the bannisters! Do you think there’s a dungeon? Oh! I hope there’s dungeons! How freaking cool would we be!” And Liam laughs “ Yeah… I don’t care about dungeons.. I’m going to find me some bon-bons! Then.. after I get fed some of those.. I will race you down the bannister!”

I hear Blaze say to Damien “Do you have any idea what the fuck they’re talking about!?” And Damien laughs.. “Their brains seem to relate.. I don’t even question it anymore..at the risk of my own sanity” and they both laugh. Rude!

Alpha Paul stopped us before we walked in. “Lynette, you and Damien will have to begin , as you plan to continue. If you expect to be taken seriously, you will need a firm hand. I know you are both strong willed, determined young people. You don’t tolerate bullies… and don’t let anyone run over you. The Goddess has chosen you… and you are strong! Stronger than you know. Know that we are all very proud!” And I threw myself into his arms… not even sure why.. it just felt like such a dad thing for him to say, and that’s a foreign feeling to me!

Damien took my hand, reaching for the castle door.. we found it locked. Locked. In a hidden kingdom.. of maybe 200 people. The door is locked! So we knocked! And waited. Nothing… we knocked again. And waited. Again, nothing. Damien looked at Liam… raising his eyebrow in question.. and Liam asks “We done knocking then?” And, at Damien’s nod, they backed up about 30 feet… Blaze took my hand and pulled me off to the side…I asked what was happening and Blaze said “Damien is out of patience “ and just as the words left his mouth, the doors flew inward. They broke the doors! They literally broke the doors! And I busted out laughing! “Well, fuck! When the King wants in… he’s coming in!”

We’re met in the foyer by around thirty people.. all running in from different rooms. Some loud mouth on the stairs asked “Who the fuck are you?” I deliberately ignored him.. asking the surrounding people “ Who is the head caretaker… head housekeeper?… who the fuck is in charge here?” And, again, the thug on the stairs opens his stupid mouth “Bitch, I said WHO the fuck are you! You come into my home.. breaking my doors and act like you matter? I am in charge!” And I grinned! “Oh good! I expect the doors repaired within the hour. We are famished.. and lunch should have been being prepared already! So get to that! Open this place up! I want it scrubbed, dusted, cleaned and aired out by nightfall. Throw the bed out of the King’s chambers.. all linens changed and cleaned! Get to it! This place reeks of old sex and shame.. and it’s disgusting!” He went to leap at me from the step he was on and Damien grabbed him, slamming him to the floor. He growled “I will remove your hand if you ever reach for My Queen again!” And everyone gasped.

Damien then snarled “Everyone who is considered household staff.. line up! I have half a mind to get rid of the lot of you. The rest of you.. get the fuck out of the castle.. slink off to your darkened hovel and plot the overthrow of the crown… plan the assassination of the new monarchy.. whatever you slimy, nefarious type do.. but You Will Leave The Fucking Castle Now!”

Liam starts laughing… “Holy Fuck! That was awesome! Come on, Blaze! Let’s find the dungeons… I think we’re going to need them soon!” And we all laughed. I looked over the ten people who stayed behind. “ I am the last remaining heir to the throne. My grandfather was Adolpho Baronski. Unfortunately, we have gotten off to a bad start. I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.. but you will have to earn my trust, if you continue to work here! Where is the rest of the staff?” A timid voice from the back says “In the dungeons” and I groan “You have got to be shitting me! Damien, my love… will you kindly remove your boot from LoudMouth’s neck and drag him with us? We have found his new accommodations.” I looked at timid voice and said “Take me to the dungeons!”

This place may not look like Cinderella’s castle… but it’s way cooler! After several twists and turns, we are descending into a dank, damp area that smells like mold and filth. My mom whispers “These people are going to need healing. This place screams infectious disease!” I nod… knowing I am going to be changing this… even prisoners deserve a little humanity.. until they don’t!

Halfway down the first corridor, we came upon six cells.. with about twenty people locked inside, in total. Thin, filthy.. wearing rags. Some with varying degrees of injury in different stages of healing. I spoke “I am your queen… and this.. is your King! We want you to go directly to your old chambers and bathe. My mother and I will come see you in one hour to heal your bodies. Until then, rest while food is arranged to be brought to your rooms. Tomorrow, we will begin meetings to chronicle your experience, so that I may punish those responsible!”

Liam comes running back and says “We found three more cells with only women… and they are not in good shape. Blaze is arranging to have them brought upstairs now.” Damien lifted LoudMouth up by his throat and snarled “I am going to take great pleasure in making an example of you!”

Already an eventful morning, finally getting the poor prisoners sorted… I am standing here in the kitchens… appalled at the conditions. Cursing the fact I couldn’t be one of those television witches! No appliances? Wiggle my nose, and voila’, new stove! Nope. This has to be done the old fashioned way! Paul is on the phone.. cell,, because.. no such thing as any modern amenities here yet! Lydia has called the pack and they are loading trucks and sending as many things as she could think of. The castle is smelling better… much of the dust is cleared and the walls and floors have been scrubbed. The drapes have been taken down and beaten free of cobwebs and dirt. This is crazy! But no more than I expected. Nearly 200 years of literally, living in the dark. My mother and I at least, could use our magic to arrange running water and electricity.. of a sort. That will all be rectified, in the days to come.

We have four days to the full moon. Paul doesn’t believe it is in our best interests to postpone until the next full moon…and our pack ladies said they can get it put together in time. Damien came in, with the boys.. all looking as tired as I feel.. but he smiled. Pulling me into his arms he nuzzled my neck, whispering “My Queen, we have rounded up another ten thugs and locked them up. We will need to interrogate them to figure out their story! It could be they were just bored.. not really bad to the core. But I’m not willing to let them walk around causing any more problems.” Nodding.. I agree. But damn! Grown ass problems! Whoever thought it was cool to be an adult was dumb

Liam comes skidding to a halt in front of us.. “I found a secret passageway! How fucking cool is that!? Like.. what if it leads to Narnia? Or..or Hogwarts… Well, maybe not Hogwarts… that place is scary as fuck! But someplace cool! Want to explore it with me? We could bring bread and leave a trail of crumbs so we don’t get lost!” I shook my head “Or we could get eaten by an evil witch in a gingerbread cottage! Either way.. not fun! But, not today. We have too much left to do, even now, before we are able to sleep. No exploring, yet! What were you doing, anyway? How did you just ‘discover’ a secret passageway?” He shrugs mumbling “I may.. or may not… have been looking for one. And I don’t want to adult any more today. Adulting isn’t fun! And we only have four days before adulting is all we do!” Damien and I both crack up! Damien says “It sounds like you are a little tired and hungry! Maybe go check the kitchen and see how close we are to eating!” And he takes off.. content with a menial task to do.