**Chapter Four: Scars and Letters**
**Camillia**
The heavy silence in the room, combined with their puzzled expressions, filled me with discomfort. What was Talà thinking? Me, getting intimate with a man I had only met yesterday? No way! I pulled the covers off and swung my legs over the side of the bed. A sharp pain shot through my body as I tried to get up, causing me to fall back down.
"Can I go home now?" I asked, wincing as I held my back and looked directly at Mr. Graystone.
"You can barely stand up. How will you take care of yourself?" he replied, his cold tone only made me want to leave even more.
There's no way this jerk can be my mate, Talà must be mistaken, I thought.
"I'm not", she chimed in.
Tsk, I don't believe it.
"This is one of my personal doctors," Mr. Graystone said, gesturing toward the old woman. "She will be treating you while you stay in the manor"
"I'm fine, I don't need a doctor," I said, raising my hands. How could I let anyone see these unbearable scars on my body? It's bad enough that Sadie must have seen them, I thought, biting the side of my lip.
"Camillia" Talà whimpered.
Suddenly, Mr.Graystone snapped his fingers, catching my attention. He looked at Sadie, Tristan, and the doctor as they stood near the door. "Give us a moment," he said, sternly. Sadie and Tristan looked back with a worried expression as they left the room, the doctor following them.
As the door shut, he looked in my direction. I gripped the comforter, swallowed nervously. I backed up further to the headboard. The slow, deliberate steps he was taking towards the bed sent a chill down my spine.
"Mr.Graystone?"
"Samuel", he interrupted, raising his left hand, "You can call me Samuel," he said.
When he got closer to the foot of the bed, he leaned down, both hands on the covers. The scar over his left brow was more apparent as his hair was tied up. His teal eyes were locked on me, making my heart throb.
"Camillia Vaughan, 20 years old, recently moved to Gershon a week ago. Surprisingly, there's nothing else that comes up, almost as if your identity is fake," He said, his expression becoming serious. "If you want to remain in Gershon, I suggest you follow my orders. You'll be moving into the manor with Tristan and Sadie," he added with a slight grin.
My grip on the comforter tightened again, my anger boiling over.
"Camillia, don't be impulsive", Talà said softly, "Let's stay, we must regain our strength. Who knows when he will be coming after us again"
Tsk, fine, I mumbled.
"I'll stay, but no doctors", I said, hoping he would listen.
He raised his body, stepping back from the bed, "Get some rest", he said.
I watched as he walked to the door, without looking back as he left the room. His scent still remained, the sweet and savory smell made my body react, the heat rising to my cheeks as I held my face with both hands.
"So this is one of the effects of the mate bond that mother spoke of" I whispered.
The next moment, Sadie entered with a tray of food, and the smell of steak, potatoes, and steamed broccoli filled my nose.
"Pfft", she giggled, "Camillia, you're drooling," she said, as she approached the bed.
I wiped my mouth, as my stomach rumbled with hunger.
I looked at Sadie, studying her for a moment.
"Sadie, why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, curiously.
She smiled, "Honestly, I'm not sure, there is something about you that makes me want to protect you. I can't quite place it, but I wanted to be your friend the moment I saw you," she said, setting the tray on my lap. I bit a piece of my broccoli, "A friend", I mumbled under my breath. I've never had a friend before.
"Sadie", I said, "What happened yesterday?, The last thing I can remember is going to the bar with you and Tristan"
Her expression hardened as she looked mad, "We were drugged by that bastard, Tory, and a few of his friends. He always hated Tristan, maybe because our families are at odds right now," she replied, placing her right hand against her face. "But my memories are a bit hazy. I remember hearing voices then all of a sudden I heard loud screaming, something about a wolf?"
I gulped, coughed, almost choking off a piece of steak. "Talà, did we…shift? That can explain why my body feels like I got hit by a truck" I thought.
"Yes, but I'm not sure how, it's been years since we last shifted," Talà replied.
"Then those people, did we…kill them?" I asked, and my throat felt dry. Is that why I was covered in blood again and have no memory of what happened? Shit, do we need to leave the country? I thought.
"No! We must stay with our mate. We need to regain our strength" Talà insisted, her tone leaving no room for debate.
"Camillia?" Sadie called out, interrupting my internal turmoil with Talà.
I set the fork onto the plate, looking directly at her. "Sadie, were you the one who changed my clothing?"
She nodded.
"As a friend, please forget what you saw," I said.
Unexpectedly, she grabbed my hand, "Sorry, but I can't do that" she said. Sadie stood up, grabbing the half-empty plate, "Get some sleep, we have one more day until the semester starts at the university. Take this time to recover your health"
My eyes followed her as she left the room. I pulled the covers over me, curled up in a ball. The tears began to run down my cheeks.
*****
SAMUEL
I lounged on the sofa in my study, staring at the many envelopes that sat on the table. Some opened, some still sealed. There were over 20 of them that we brought back from the temple. Some were in the handwriting of my grandfather, the other handwriting was unfamiliar to me.
"Do you think we should have Grandmother look at them? Maybe she would know" Tristan suggested, as he sat across from me, unsealing an envelope.
I nodded.
"I'll bring them to the flower shop tomorrow, and have her look at them"
As I was picking up an envelope, the door opened. Cassid, followed by Sadie, walked into the room. Cassid had two medium-sized suitcases with him, one that was black, the other pink. It's been over two hours since I sent Cassid to that woman's apartment to gather her belongings.
"Patriarch, this is all that was in the apartment," Cassid said.
"Open them" I ordered.
"Wait, brother, why are you trying to go through her things? Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" Tristan said, rising up from the sofa.
"We don't know anything about her; she could be a spy for one of the other families," I said.
Even if she's strange I shouldn't trust anything about her just yet, I thought. I should keep the fact about her turning into a wolf between Cassid, Logan, and me. I'll wait before revealing it to Tristan and Sadie. The less someone knows, the less likely the elders are to intervene.
Tristan sat down, folding his arms with a disapproving look. Not that I cared about his silent tantrum.
"Cassid, open them"
When he opened the suitcases, only a few pairs of clothes fell out of the black one. The pink was stuffed with a red flowered blanket neatly folded.
"This blanket was spread out on the floor, I believe it's what she was sleeping on," Cassid said.
I felt a dull ache around my heart, as I touched my chest. What is going on with me? Ever since I've met this woman, my body reacts on its own.
"Maybe she ran away," Tristan suddenly said, breaking my train of thought.
That would explain why nothing comes up no matter how much Logan searches for her background, but what could she be running away from, I thought.
I waved my right hand, "Cassid, you can close them, bring it to her guestroom"
After Cassid left the study, I continued unsealing the envelope I had sat down before. "The elders of the five families have broken the treaty. Oh great spirit, please forgive my family for what they have done" the letter read.
"A treaty?" I muttered, "What treaty?" I stood up, holding the letter as I headed towards the door. "Logan, get the car!" I ordered.
"Wait brother, where are you going?" Tristan shouted, as I walked past, ignoring him.
I rushed out of the manor. There was still too much I wasn't aware of; my grandfather passed away before he could tell me everything.
I got into the car as Logan held the door open. "Take me to the village. I can't wait for tomorrow; I need to see my grandmother now."
***
**TRISTAN**
When Samuel stormed out of his study, my irritation faded. His overbearing nature can be quite annoying at times. I sighed, hoping he would be gone for a while so that I could sneak out of the manor.
"What are you thinking about?" Sadie asked, resting her head on my left shoulder.
I leaned my head against hers and exhaled. "I want to go back to our apartment, but knowing my brother, we'll probably be stuck here in the manor for a while."
"Yeah, who knew those idiots would drug us?" Sadie scoffed.
"How's Camillia doing?" I asked.
When I saw her covered in blood, I feared the worst had happened. Sadie and I blamed ourselves for bringing her to the bar, knowing that we had many enemies.
"She's resting. I'm certain she'll be fine," Sadie said. "But what were you and Sam reading?"
I looked down at the table, picked up one of the letters I had been reading, and said, "I was going to show Samuel, but he left in a hurry." I handed the folded piece of paper to Sadie.
She took it, opened it, and began to read aloud, "Mariam." Sadie looked at me, confused. "It's a name, but what does it mean?"
Before I could answer, Cassid burst into the study, looking frantic. I stood up, noticing the anger on his face.
"There's been an accident. The Patriarch is missing!" he shouted.
Without hesitation, I followed Cassid out of the study, leaving Sadie behind. As we hurried out of the manor, something caught our attention. There, standing in the distance, was Camillia, facing the nearby forest. I heard a loud growl and the sound of bones cracking.
"What the hell?" I exclaimed as she suddenly transformed into a large white wolf right before my eyes. Before I could process what I was witnessing, she took off running toward the forest.
"Was that Camillia?" I heard Sadie's voice behind me. I turned to see her standing in the doorway, her hands covering her mouth in shock.
"Camillia... Camillia's a wolf?"