Sorry for taking so long to update! I'm on vacation right now and I will try to update again while I'm here, but I can't make any promises :( Let me know what you guys think!
I can't believe I was actually going back after two years. I had a mix of emotions playing within me as I imagined what it would be like to go back to the life that was taken away from me. I was extremely nervous and anxious; I hated not knowing what type of situation I was walking into.
I liked my life now. Denis, Lev, Arthur, and Tamara were like my family. They had so many reasons to judge me, to be afraid of me, but they weren't and they didn't. It was a bit difficult in the beginning but they whole-heartedly accepted me.
My relationship with them was a lot different from the one I had with Lissa and Dimitri. With the latter, I was open and wild. I made rash decisions and made sure to enjoy every aspect of my life.
After being taken away from court two years ago, I had changed. Before, it would take an army for me to shut up. Now, I could go hours, if not days without talking if I didn't need to. I smiled and laughed just so the others wouldn't get worried about me, because I knew they did.
There were times where I would disconnect myself from conversation without even realizing it or would find myself sitting alone and wallowing in my own despair and self-pity. I would see them giving me sidelong, worried glances. I would've fallen into a downward spiral or depression if it weren't for these four.
That didn't mean I didn't miss my old friends or my old life. If I thought about it hard enough, I could reduce myself to tears in seconds.
Granted my last few days at court weren't the best. Dimitri had refused to see me and admitted he no longer loved me. Lissa had ignored me for Dimitri. And my relationship with Adrian had been on the rocks, because he realized Dimitri would always be number one in my heart.
I still missed them so much. I missed my old life so much.
I know I had a chance to go back after I turned. But looking at them, and looking at Dimitri would've been too hard especially so soon after everything that happened.
Plus, I had just turned and had no control over my new abilities. I didn't know what I had become and needed to get away from people that I cared about in fear of hurting them.
But the biggest reason I didn't go back to court was, because I knew they thought I was dead. In the beginning of my capture, I was able to keep up with the bond. I knew they tried their best to find me and for that, I would love them forever. But when I was bit, I felt the bond break. They believed I was dead and I wasn't going to be the cause of their grief any longer.
That's how I ended up in Russia. Ever since going there to find Dimitri, I felt a connection to the place.
It took me a few months to get my new powers under control. I thought after leaving the area that I was turned, that it would mean that I would no longer have the pack that I met once I was turned. I was wrong. Any place I went, the wolves would follow. I had no idea there were so many wolves in the world. I would find myself surrounded by wolves everywhere I went.
I also learned how to control how and when I turned. The first two full moons I went through in Russia were painful and scary. My bones broke to accommodate the body of a wolf and I had to hide myself deep in the woods so my screams of pain wouldn't alert any human close by. Now, I am able to control when I turn. I've also gotten used to the pain. I actually look forward to it now. I have dealt with so much emotional pain in my life, that the physical pain feels freeing. I can almost understand why Lissa would cut herself to take away the mental pressure she felt due to spirit darkness.
My biggest concern when I turned was the fear of blood lust. I didn't know if wolves were the same as strigoi and I was scared that I wouldn't be able to control myself around blood.
Fortunately, I had no such cravings. In my wolf form, I enjoyed my share of deer and other woodland creatures.
But I had no qualms against ripping off a strigoi's head with my bare teeth.
After getting my wolf in control, I realized I didn't want to leave Russia. So I decided to look for the others. It wasn't hard. I knew from my own time with them that Novosibirsk was their hunting ground. Before joining their group, I told them about my new wolf form.
They were hesitant and wary, but after learning about what had transpired that caused me to become a werewolf, they eventually accepted me. Not to mention, with my new abilities, we were strigoi killing machines.
We also never planned on leaving Russia. By some miracle, I was able to find a bakery owned by the cutest old, Russian couple I had ever met. And they sold the tastiest chocolate glazed donuts I had ever had in my 20 years on this earth.
Their granddaughter was one of the girls that were taken. Their grief-stricken face was enough for all of us to decide to follow the strigoi all the way to Michigan to rescue the girls. We were actually surprised when we got there to see how many girls were taken. And it was upsetting to know that it occurred right under our noses.
I was pulled out of my thoughts from Tamara asking me a question.
"Huh, sorry what did you say?" I asked, turning around to look at her. We had decided to stop in Connecticut to come up with a plan of how we were going to handle the situation at hand.
We were currently in a hotel room, lounging around.
"I asked how long you think we're going to be at the court for?" She asked. I knew she wanted to know so she could let her boss know when she would be back.
I looked at the paper Denis and I had taken from the warehouse. I read it again.
Czechoslovakia has joined the movement. They will be joining Russia and Bulgaria in two weeks. There, we will attack the Royal court and kill the Queen.
-X
Leave it to strigoi to be ominous and creepy even in a letter. I honestly didn't know what to take from the letter. I had no clue how many strigoi there were going to be. All I knew was that the letter was postmarked four days ago and we were running out of time.
More and more strigoi were starting to work together and I had a feeling this attack would be the biggest one we would ever see.
I looked at Tamara apologetically. "I honestly can't be sure. There is still over a week left to meet the deadline they've given in the letter, but who knows when they actually show up."
"Okay, for now, I'll let my boss know that I'll be back in two weeks." She said, picking up her phone and walking out of the room, presumably to call her boss.
I sighed and looked at the boys, silently willing them to help me with the dilemma we've landed ourselves into.
Denis looked amused at my expression. "Rose, stop stressing, it will be fine." Out of the four, Denis and I were the closest. All we had to do was share a look. He just had a way of knowing what to say to me the right time.
I sighed out loud again. "What am I supposed to say to them when they ask where I've been or why I never came back after everything?" I asked.
"How about the truth." Lev said from the bed he was half asleep on. The time difference was taking a toll on us hard, which was another reason we had decided to stop at a hotel and rest.
Thinking about the truth, let alone talking about it was going to hurt. No one knew the full extent of what happened, not even Denis.
If there was anyone who deserved the full truth of what happened, it was Dimitri. The pain I went through was connected to him. When I told the group what had transpired with me and how I became a wolf, there were some parts I left out. I always told myself that the first person to hear that part of the story would be Dimitri and if he didn't, then that secret would die with me.
"Yeah, you're right." I said quietly.
"мой маленький волк" Denis said softly. My little wolf. That, along with 'boss' were the nicknames he often used for me. Once, Arthur had called me 'Roza' and I freaked out and started crying, and the group understood never to call me that again. That named was reserved solely for the Belicovs.
I looked up at Denis and met his kind eyes. "You're not going in there alone. We'll all be there for you. If you feel overwhelmed or attacked, then we will leave." He looked me straight in the eyes, to show just how much he meant his words. I looked at Arthur and Lev, who both looked at me the same way Denis was. I felt myself smiling at them.
"I don't deserve you guys." I said, softly.
"You're right, but you're stuck with us so tough shit." Lev said, lightening the mood.
"So I'm thinking we rest up and head over there tomorrow. The sooner we get there, the sooner we get to go home."
Tamara had just come back into the room. The group nodded in my direction.
"As soon as we get there, we get to business. I'll request a meeting with the head guardian, Hans Croft. Hopefully we'll be getting there with plenty of time for them to call in extra reinforcements."
"Sounds good to us," Tamara said.
We spent the rest of the night eating, joking around, and resting.
Tomorrow, I would go back to the life that was brutally taken away from me.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
Little did I know, the people at court were thinking the same while waiting for my arrival.