Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 216: The way of wolf folk

The pacing did not stop until a knock landed on the wood, soft but assertive.

Upon cracking the door open, Ada immediately pulled it before curtsying, "Master!" she squeaked.

Arabella copied her initial action but said nothing and instead gaped at the floor beneath her.

"Leave us," he ordered the maid. freewebnøvel_com

"How is he? Is he still demanding to see me?" the young woman asked as soon as Ada had shut the door behind herself after exiting the room.

"He is doing just fine and no, he won’t stop asking to see or speak with you," Silas advanced towards the table, straight to the already withering roses that lay in the vase.

Despite the million other questions swirling her mind, Arabella settled for the more pressing one, or so she believed.

"Why would he come here for me knowing full well what could happen and more importantly, why would he insist that I am his mother?" not once did she glance up from the marble tiles under her feet.

"He is a child. Children are often not the best at assessing the potential consequences of their actions," between his fingers, he fiddled with a few wilting petals.

Those words had done it, successfully made Arabella’s head snap up and eyes lock right on him.

"A child you were ready to kill," she practically hissed, the glare on her like no other ever meant for him.

But the vampire paid no mind to that and simply retorted in the driest of tones, "Yes," after a very short pause, he added, "He believes you are his mother because you were supposed to become it,"

The glower turned to a frown in an instant, "How?" her voice wavered.

"That is the way of wolf folk," Silas started, finally making eye contact, "At first, I wondered why Cynric would set you free without a fight, but your state on your first night back in the manor was reported to me,"

"My state?" her gemstones flickered away, and along with her furrowed eyebrows, they earned her a pensive outlook, "I remember being inconsolable,"

"Not at first, you weren’t,"

That short response left her even more stunned than she already was.

"At first, you were more than fine," he elaborated, "Calm as a pond until... You ingested my blood,"

"Was I poisoned or under a spell?"

"I suppose poisoned would be the right fit to describe it, yes," his attention then drifted towards the window ahead of them, "You were marked by the Alpha to become his mate, but it seems my blood foiled his plans,"

Arabella’s mind dragged her back through paths and alleys she never wanted to travel again, down the pit that was the cavern Cynric had kept her in during her stay in their den.

Both Cherreka and him had spoken of this marking practice, but nothing ever came of it.

"I was confused as to how that was possible since the doctors had examined your body and no bite marks were found, but then it has been brought to my attention that it wasn’t the bite of its own that sealed the deal but the substance injected in the body during the act," by then Silas had gripped the window sill with both hands.

"Sort of like a snake venom would spread through a bite," she half asked in a mutter.

"Not sort of, but exactly like that," he said before turning to face her, "I don’t wish to unearth unpleasant memories but, I’d like you to tell me exactly what happened when you were with the wolf folk,"

"Most of my time in their company was spent sitting and crying," she started shaking her head slowly "One of them used herbs to remedy my wounds... I was offered food that I did not eat and lastly... There was the cup of water that Alpha Cynric insisted I drink right before leaving the caverns,"

There was a bright spark that lit up in her widening eyes, earning her a not-so-subtle look of comprehension. A look she interrupted in order to ask a question of her own, "But if so, then why would he simply let me go instead of fighting you as it was planned? It doesn’t make any sense," she hung her head low again.

"It does when you take into consideration the kind of person Cynric is. I suppose he thought it’d been hilarious if you’d come back only to leave me... Us again, of your own volition,"

"That’s quite cruel but also, how?"

"Had the mark taken effect, you would have walked out of here on your own two feet and thrown yourself at him,"

As he spoke those words, his diamonds traveled down her body and then back up to her eyes again. An action that rushed the cadence of her already speeding heart, thus further deepening the shade of red consuming her cheeks.

"It must’ve been in the water," he caught her attention again, "Since he insisted that you drink it,"

Silence crept in until her voice shattered, "This still does not explain Remus’ behavior. Why would he believe I am his mother so fervently?" she muttered.

"As I said before, it is the way of wolf folk. He believes you are his mother because Cynric told him you were going to come back and become his mother,"

That answer had the merit of quelling one question but triggering a whole new wave of puzzles, "I am not so familiar with the way of the wolf folk, so I don’t understand why he’d believe it simply because his father told him so," she shook her head furiously.

Silas took a deep breath, then sighed, "There is a hierarchy that is very prevalent, almost sacred within wolf folk clans where the word of a parent is law and up until a certain age, young wolves are very attached to their parents. That explains why he listens to you and obeys you so easily. It’s because he is now convinced you are his mother,"

"In other words...," she trailed off.

"In other words, he truly believes he’s come to save you from me,"