SOPHIA
I was seated outside on a bench, gazing at the dark sky that was absent of stars due to the heavy rainfall from earlier. I had a shawl wrapped around my shoulders to prevent myself from the cold air as i rocked myself back and forth, lost in the pool of my own deep thoughts.
The old lady had introduced me to her granddaughter Katherine earlier on and we had also had our dinner. I had helped to clear out the dishes and while they both discussed further about me from the confinement of their bedroom, i decided to seek comfort in my own company outside. I wasn't bothered that they were talking about me. My problems in life were far more superior than anything they could say about me.
The door pushed open and Katherine walks out with two cups of brewing hot tea.
"Here." She handed one over to me and i took it gratefully. She rounded the corner to the empty space on the bench next to me and lowered herself on it.
"Thank you." I muttered but she only nods her head before proceeding to take a sip from her own cup. I blew on mine a bit and took a sip as well. It was different from what i was used to but still good regardless. For a moment there, none of us said a word to the other. We just sat back to enjoy the silence of the night.
"My grandmother told me about what you did for her and how you saved her life." She started, breaking the silence. "Thank you. I will definitely pay you back for your kindness." She added.
"You're welcome." I said to her before taking another sip of my hot tea. "And this tea is so amazing. I've never tasted anything like this before." And i meant literally.
A smile crossed her features. "They're made from Camellia leaves. My grandmother handpicks them herself and makes them into tea bags. She sells them at the market. It's one of the best tea in the village. Even the royal family takes them."
"Your grandmother told me that you work there." I said trying to make small conversations. Maybe it might help to understand these people better and how i ended up here. It worked because she relaxed visibly.
"Everyone works for the royal family." She said with a soft chuckle as if I was supposed to know that. I don't know anything about the royal family or how this timeline works. I was stuck in it and if I had to survive until I find a way out of it then learning about them would be my best bet.
"Oh I'm sorry." Katherine's hands flew to cover up her mouth almost immediately. "Grandmother had told me that you don't remember anything about how you got here. I must've been insensitive with my words."
"It's okay." I said to her casually. "That's why i have you now. At least you can teach me and tell me about everything that i don't know. How does everything work over here? What's a pack and a mate? What does it mean?"
I had heard Liam and his brothers say that to me countless times at the cabin and i had been clueless as to what it meant so it wouldn't be bad to start learning about them now.
"Okay so this community is our pack. We're all under the royal family. Different community and Kingdoms have theirs as well." She explained while i listened with rapt attention. I mean i have a degree in medical sciences so how hard can it be to memorize this?
"We're the Blue Crescent Pack and we're ruled by the Alpha king and His Luna Queens."
"And um...are you all wolves?" I proceeded to ask. "I saw your grandma in her form as a wolf earlier. Does everyone here have that?"
"That's our animal form that protects us." She eyed me skeptically. "You really don't know about this stuff do you? Haven't you shifted before?"
I shook my head. "No i haven't."
I contemplated on telling her about how i had ended up here but i am scared that she wouldn't understand so there's no point in doing that. I have to keep a low profile until I get a grasp of things at least.
"Ohhh." She cooed startling me. "You must be a late bloomer then. Don't worry about it. Not everyone has a wolf. Sometimes it comes and sometimes it doesn't." She informed me and i sighed deeply. At least now i don't have to worry about hiding myself or being killed for not being a member of the pack.
"So the Alpha king is married to three women and they each have a son for him." She goes on to tell me about the three notorious princes and how hot they were. She was basically fawning over them.
I wasn't really interested in knowing anything about them even though they sounded a lot more like those guys that had locked me up in a cabin. No, that's not possible. I'm just overthinking things.
I brushed the thought away immediately. I shouldn't think of them. Not after everything they had done to hurt me. If they were at least kind enough to let me find my way back into that water, i would've at least figured out how to get back to my own world but no, they were so obsessed with having me for themselves to care about my problems.
"It's really going to be a power struggle to see who would be chosen to ascend the throne after the alpha king seeing as they were both born in the same year." Katherine spoke further.
"It's always chaos in the palace and to top it off, their mothers are always on each other's throats." She breathed out deeply. "We're always caught in the middle of every argument. We get lashed on at all times. Like why can't two people just forfeit the throne for one person? It's that simple."
I only smiled at her outburst. She sounded like a chatterbox and she reminds me a lot of my colleague, Amelia back at the hospital. She could go on for hours.
"Hopefully, if one of them gets mated and married to a woman then he might have a higher chance of ascending the throne after his father but the question is who?"
"What does that mean? Mate?" I asked.
"That's how we choose our partners. It has been like that for centuries." She educated me. "The moon goddess made it that way as a gift to find our fated partners and be with them for eternity."
"And how would you know if you've found your mate or partner?"
She scooted closer. "According to Grandmother, you'll feel a tug in your chest and a knot in your stomach when you cast your eyes on them for the very first time. You will feel a pull in womanhood and it'll be almost impossible to stay away from that person. It's like a bond that is shared between two people. Everything about you would want that person deeply. It's like taking opium till you get drunk."
Dear lord! I gasped, followed by a deep swallow of my saliva. That's exactly how i had felt earlier today when i saw those men and when they had carried me to that cabin. I felt like i wanted them to have sex with me right then and there. I tried to stop myself from feeling that way but I couldn't. Does it mean that they felt it too? Was that why they kept on insisting i belonged to them? Fuck!
"Are you okay, Sophia?"
"This pull, i mean this bond...how do you stop it if you wanted to?" I asked facing her. "It can be stopped right?"
"Yes. You'll simply reject the person if you don't want them." She stated firmly. "You call their names in front of them and outrightly tell them that you are severing all bonds with them. Whether they want it to happen or not, it'll be severed right there on the spot."
Good! At least there's a way to get out of this mess. There's no way I'm never going to accept a bond of fate from those three men ever in my life. Hopefully, i don't even run into them and hopefully, they don't even look for me. I'm far away from them and that's all that matters now.
"Well, i can't wait to find my fated mate one day." She confessed dreamily. "I know that he's out there somewhere waiting for me and one day, we're going to run into each other and live happily together."
"Is it possible to be mated to more than one person?" I asked and she was appalled.
"It is possible but quite unlikely." She answered. "Why do you ask though? Were you mated to anyone recently?"
I laughed to hide my nervousness and play it cool so that she doesn't suspect a thing. "Me? Mated to anyone? That's crazy. I don't even think that I'm ready for any of that. I just wanted to know. Besides, who would want to get mated to an ugly lady like me?"
She looked at me, closely.
"What's wrong?" I am forced to ask.
"What gave you the idea that you are ugly? Have you seen yourself in a mirror Sophia? You are very beautiful. Probably one of the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
"Don't patronize me Katherine and yes i have seen myself in the mirror. I'm nothing close to that word you just said." Beautiful? She was probably crazy. I have never been known for my looks so why would anyone think that i am beautiful? Even Jason couldn't look at me and had gone ahead to choose my best friend over me because i wasn't good enough for him.
Katherine walked into the house and came out later with a shredded piece of mirror. "Here, why don't you see for yourself?" She urged me.
I took the mirror from her hands and stared at my reflection while she held up the light for me. True to her words, i realized that my face had changed completely, like I had been transformed. All the freckles were gone, including my glasses. I can't see properly without my glasses and I didn't even realize that I wasn't wearing one anymore.
My dark eyes were now a remarkable shade of cobalt blue and my lips were plump and full. My face looked the same but refined and different. How is this even possible? What sorcery is this? None of this even makes any sense. For goodness sake, where am i and what has happened to me?