Page 13 of Wolf's Redemption

He rounded his eyes and almost gave me another of his pitying looks but stopped himself.

"I understand. I've heard of few cases like yours," he said optimistically. "Some take longer but manage to communicate with their wolf, or some just never do but develop other abilities, don't feel less than others. You have a courage that many shifters don't have."

His words were like a warm blanket in the middle of winter. They tucked me in and touched my soul.

"Thank you, no one has ever said anything like that to me before. I've always been made to feel that..."

"You're not worth it," he completed my sentence. "I could tell by the way your sister talks to you. You don't deserve that kind of treatment. After all, you are the Alpha's daughter. You have the same rights as her. Never forget that."

After he finished checking my face, he brought his face close to mine to look straight into my eyes as if searching for an answer.

"I will always be grateful for what you did today," I said.

He didn't look away, just nodded. My body shuddered, and a strange sensation began to run down my back, one akin to an electric charge dispersing through every cell in my body. Something I had never felt before.

"We should go. It's been too long," Eric said, looking away from me. "Where is that office?"

I heard his question, but I was lost in limbo. His gaze had left me in a state of inertia where I could only think of one possible answer to this feeling.

"Hey! Are you okay? Was the blow too hard?" he asked.

I shook my head so that I could concentrate on the situation.

"Yeah, right. To the office," I said. "Follow me."

I walked down the stairs with Eric behind me, and it felt a little strange because even though we didn't say anything, I could feel the pressure of his gaze on me, and when I turned around, he looked away quickly.

"Gimme five minutes," I said, stopping us in front of my room. "I can't come to the office looking like a complete nut."

He nodded and leaned back against the wall.

"Don't be too long, ok?"

"Ok!"

I walked into my little room and ran straight to the bathroom. I turned on the faucet, filled my hands with water, and splashed my face. The water was ice cold and helped me come back to my senses. I looked in the mirror and didn't recognize myself. The strangest thing was that there was nothing different about me, apart from a few small scratches on my face and unkempt hair.

I decided not to make a big deal of it and hurried to change my clothes.

I'll give them back to him later I thought, throwing Eric’s coat and shirt on my disorganized bed, knowing it might be an excuse to see him again.

I opened my closet and didn't have much to choose from, so I grabbed a pair of blue jeans, a white blouse, and some comfortable sneakers, got dressed, and as I did so, I looked around and considered Eric's words.

Why do I live this way if I am the Alpha's daughter? Why is my closet almost empty? And why should I settle for the maid's room when the hotel has better rooms?Those and other questions were going through my mind as I looked around the corners of my small white, simply furnished room with only a small bed, a nightstand, and an old wooden closet.

"I'm ready." I stepped out of the room, and Eric scanned me with his eyes.

"You look...different," he said after thinking his words over.

"It's time," I said. "You just play along, okay?"

He nodded and followed my lead.

The office setting was exquisite to look at, and it was a true work of art. It was mahogany and had a carving of a gray wolf riding atop a hill and below it the silhouettes of his pack. Before I even touched the door, it opened.

"We've been expecting you," my father said, sitting back in his chair.

Lissandra, my father's Luna, waited for us to enter and closed the door behind us. As soon as she saw me, I felt the weight of her gaze on me.