11

I stared at Brandon, overwhelmed. My gaze darted to Tyler, who didn't quite know what to do himself.

Tyler probably plucked up courage and tried again.

"Bet..." was immediately interrupted by a growl. But this time Tyler didn't let that sit on him and returned the growl. You could almost get the feeling that they were about to go for each other's

throats Finally something to end this nonsense", Bea mumbled in my ear.

Still growling, Tyler turned to her: "She would if she could!"

Brandon suddenly stopped growling.

"How can she not?" Confused, the two looked at me and then back at Tyler.

"Lily was attacked by a werewolf as a child. Her vocal cords were severely affected. Since then she hasn't been able to speak." Horrified, the two older ones took a step back from us. "

We didn't know anything about that. Something like that should have been reported to the alpha by your parents Message that you've found your mate, would-be Alpha!" After a few seconds, the Beta managed to say, "We should have known that beforehand!"

Tyler looked a little amused and gave me a knowing grin. For both of us I guess it was pretty obvious who hadn't told me about my problem, since she had only railed against me loudly enough.

Bea and Brandon seemed to have recovered. Brandon started talking again: "Okay, then I'll inform the Alpha about this new fact and Bea will show you your accommodation in the guest house. You'll have some time to arrive there and someone will pick you up for dinner later." The beta turned away and walked in the direction the other werewolves had gone earlier. But he stopped again and turned to us: "I can actually assume that's clear, but we don't like it when strangers sneak across our territory alone and that's punished accordingly." He turned around again and continued on his way.

Bea just grinned after her mate and rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's how he is. A beta as he lives and breathes. But finally let's go. In case you haven't eaten anything today, you'll also find a little something here."

So we made our way to our place to stay. After five minutes we reached this one too.

In front of us was a small one-story building. The facade consisted largely of dark gray rocks. You could also see from the outside that a relatively large amount of wood had been processed. Colorful blooming flowers were placed in wooden boxes on the window sills. There were some trees and bushes around the house. It seemed somehow unrealistic to me, more like something out of a fairy tale than a real place. It was also in complete contrast to any building I had ever seen. It wasn't a ostentatious structure like Tyler's parents' mansion, nor a block of concrete like humans used to have.

Without me noticing, Bea was gone.

"Come on, let's go in. I think you could do with something to eat." Tyler took my hand and led me to the cottage. What surprised me a little was that the door isn't locked and Tyler wasn't surprised either. It was him, after all in his parents' pack he always made sure to lock himself.

"Oh, don't look like that. It's totally normal for werewolves not to lock doors in their territory."

Now the only question I had was why he locked me in all the time?

This time, too, Tyler seemed to be able to assess my facial expressions surprisingly well. Sometimes it almost seemed as if he could read my mind.

"You're wondering why I locked you in then?" I nodded. "

Well, for one, you're human, and from experience we werewolves learned pretty quickly that you tend to run away without seeming to think twice about it. For Others you know by now that some werewolves don't really speak well to humans. But probably the biggest aspect of the matter isn't you or your humanity, it's me."

I looked at him with curiosity. He couldn't mention something like that and then say nothing more about it.

But he still owed me this answer. Instead, he continued into the building, pulling me by one hand behind him. I also took the opportunity to look around.

The impression of a rather dark dwelling created by the dark gray stone from the outside had the completely opposite effect from the inside. The walls were white, light wood was used and the light was so skilfully installed that there seemed to be almost no dark spot in the house.

"Come have a little something," Tyler said to me and handed me an apple. I stared at the apple in my hand undecidedly. Actually, I would have much rather gotten some answers than an apple.

"Oh little one, what is it? You stand there as ordered and uncollected." I could tell Tyler was trying to talk his way out of his earlier insinuation. But he couldn't just let something that seemed to concern me fall under the table. It certainly saw

something stubbornly, but I crossed my arms. I looked at him demandingly.

"Lily, come on. Eat something now." I eyed the apple that was still in my hand. My gaze went back to Tyler. I raised my eyebrows at my crossed arms. I wanted to make it absolutely clear to him that I wouldn't do anything without him accommodating.

"Lily, please...", I almost felt sorry for him, but I stuck to my decision. If something affected me, I wanted to know and in my opinion I had a right to know it. "Lily,

me ....", Tyler faltered and overcame the few steps that lay between us. The look in his eyes begged me to drop the subject. But before I actually gave up, I guess Tyler decided he should give up.

"Okay," he said to me.

"I think it's best if we sit across, you eat something and I'll try to explain my problem to you, deal?" I nodded and followed Tyler to two chairs.

We sat down across from each other. Tyler's eyes darted around the room uneasily. To prove my goodwill, I bit the apple. I didn't really taste it though, I was just way too distracted in my head by Tyler's upcoming explanation. His attention shifted to me, he smiled slightly when he saw me eating the apple as requested.

"Then I guess I'll have to keep my end of the bargain, too." He must have still been uncomfortable telling me this, and if he hadn't been sitting a long way from me, I probably would have reached out for his hand.

"You probably wouldn't even consider it a bad thing, which is bothering me so much." he said in a surprisingly calm voice: "It all has to do with who I am and who my parents are. I'm the son of an alpha and a Luna, just as my father was such. Also, we are each our parents' firstborn child. That justifies my father's claim to be an alpha, as is mine. I am destined by birth to be my mate after me, so you, have found a pack to claim." I listened quietly to his words, not moving an inch so as not to distract him. I eagerly awaited the course of this one-sided conversation.