A new day arrived and yet I was still lost in the previous afternoon.

After having heard so many people make fun of the lack of my wolf, their words no longer kept me up at night. I thought I was becoming immune to their disdain until Almec mentioned it.

Why did I care so much about what he thought of me? His approval was more important to me than I wanted to accept, and his comment about my wolf made me feel that for him, as well as for others, I was not worthy of being considered an equal.

The night passed and I was not able to fall asleep, every time I closed my eyes I was haunted by Almec's gaze and his sharp words. By the time Faustina woke up I gave up, with a little luck I could convince her to take a nap later in the afternoon.

"Valeeeeeeeen." Faustina snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Don't ignore me."

"Sorry, I was thinking about something else. What were you saying?"

Faustina put another portion of pancakes in her mouth before speaking. "How far does the property go? Is the river the limit or does the alpha also own the forest?"

"I don't know, we can ask Demian or Khalia later."

My sister insisted on knowing every detail of the mansion, she didn't stop asking questions, and went into every nook and cranny that was allowed to her. As part of her exploration, she asked me to have breakfast in the garden despite the strong wind that was blowing that morning.

"Wouldn't it be nice if they put more flowers? I like the ones they have but I don't think they are enough, there have to be so many that it forms like a labyrinth, and so there can be a fountain in the middle. Birds like fountains. "

"Maybe the alpha doesn't like flowers very much or he doesn't have anyone to help him take care of them," I commented, leaning my back against the metal chair.

"I can help him take care of them. Sometimes I get bored because I have nothing to do."

"We were here for two days, you'll find something to entertain yourself very soon."

Faustina stopped eating and laid her head on the small round table. "I want to paint, I haven't drawn or painted in a long time. Can't we buy some art supplies?"

I caressed her hair. "You're going to have to wait a little longer until I receive my salary, now we don't have money to buy anything."

"But the alpha has a lot of money, he can lend me some. I'm going to ask him."

"He is already letting us live in his house, we cannot demand too much from him, it would be ungrateful of us. Wait a little longer, I promise you that it will be the first thing we buy."

"We always have to wait a little longer. I'm tired of waiting."

"Princesa—"

"I will ask him anyway," she insisted. "Maybe he's nicer than you."

"That's not a nice thing to say to your sister," someone behind me said.

I turned around to see the newcomer, I was surprised that I did not hear her steps on the wooden platform. She was good at sneaking around, a great skill for the beta of the pack.

Geldra winked at me and approached Faustina.

"Sorry, but I'm really bored and I miss painting." She gave the most tender look of hers to the black-haired woman.

"You'll paint again very soon, after I have the money," I told her. "I'm not saying no, in the meantime we can find something else to do."

"Have you found the pool yet?" Geldra asked her. "You can swim a little if you like."

"There is a swimming pool?" Faustina jumped out of her seat excitedly, but suddenly her smile disappeared and she sat back down. "But it's cold now."

"That's the good thing about the mansion pool." Geldra smiled at her. "It is heated and indoors, it can be used at any time of the year."

"Can we go swimming, Valen?"

"In the afternoon, now you have just eaten." I rested my chin in my hand and looked at Geldra. "What brings you here? Pack business or a visit to your mate?"

"Pack business. I can't have a quiet morning without Almec calling me." Geldra scratched her scar. "One of these days they're going to have to lock me up in a psychiatric hospital."

"I think Khalia will bother Almec until he gives you a vacation before that happens," I told her.

"Or maybe you can help me convince him to take care of the tasks himself, he has already left the mansion more since you came to the pack than he did all year."

A laugh escaped me at her suggestion. There was no way I had the ability to convince Almec. On the contrary, he was the one who ended up convincing me, and I looked ridiculous every time we crossed paths.

"I don't have that kind of convincing power."

"We'll never know unless you try," Geldra said.

And I didn't want to try, much less after the alpha's words hurt me so much. I didn't want to owe him any other favors or seem weak.

The lack of my wolf did not make me inferior to them and I was willing to prove it.

"I want to go to the bathroom." Faustina got up from her seat. "I'll be right back."

"Are you sure you can go alone without getting lost?" I asked.

"Yeah!" my sister shouted as she ran towards the mansion.

"So, may I know what kind of business you brought here today?" I asked Geldra.

"I don't have many details, Almec said something about reinforcing training in case we had to fight the hunters. I don't know what's going on with him, it seems he suddenly wants to start a war or something."

"Maybe he wants to be cautious, you never know when the hunters are going to attack."

He was keeping his word. Some of the tension that occupied my mind relaxed when I heard Geldra. I even considered finding Almec to thank him until I remembered that I was also keeping my end of the deal. He wasn't doing it out of the goodness of his heart, we had an agreement and he was receiving something in return for his actions.

"Whatever his reason is, I'll find out at the meeting," Geldra said. "I'm leaving before I'm late."

"Good luck," I replied.

"Thanks, I'll need it to survive."

Under the warm sun, I continued enjoying my breakfast. Little moments like that might not seem important to many people, but after having spent so much time escaping from the hunters, it was a luxury to me. Part of me feared that I would get used to the comforts and have to leave them behind once again.

I finished breakfast, got up from the chair, and stretched my arms. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Faustina's plate that still had food on it. It had been several minutes since she went to the bathroom. Had she gotten lost along the way?

After clearing the table and taking the cutlery to the kitchen, I began my search. Beyond my concerns, I was sure that Faustina's sense of direction was decent, so I first checked the area near the bathroom. She wasn't there. My search extended to the rest of the mansion. I went through the game room, the pool, the living room, our bedrooms, and even empty rooms, even so, I didn't find her anywhere.

There were no more places to look. Actually, there was an area left unchecked but it was forbidden for us.

"Por favor que no esté ahí," I whispered before running in the direction of the left wing.

The dark hallway stood in front of me, the lack of sunlight and the dim light coming from the lamps making it difficult to make out what was inside.

I looked in all directions to check that no one was nearby and entered the hallway. My legs shook as I moved forward.

"Wow, the painting is so big." Faustina's voice traveled between the walls.

Forgetting my cautious attitude I ran towards her.

My sister was at the end of the hallway in front of a painting of a family that took up the entire wall.

"What are you doing?" My whisper resembled a scream.

Faustina turned around and smiled at me. "Valen, you're here too. Did you see how big it is?"

"I don't care about the painting, we can't be here, this area is forbidden." I grabbed her hand to drag her outside.

"I already told you that I'm bored. I was walking through the mansion and this place seemed fun, it's different from the rest."

"Almec is going to be angry if he finds out we were here. Why can't you follow this one rule?"

"Almec shouldn't make dumb rules." She shrugged her shoulders.

"He has a right to privacy," I said and started walking out of the forbidden area. "Let's go before he sees us. If you keep behaving like this I don't know if I'm going to buy your paintings."

"You're super mean," Faustina shouted, freeing herself from my grip. Then she ran out of the hallway.

Taking care of Faustina could be complicated at times like that, I didn't like having to say no and much less having to punish her, but I couldn't allow her to always do what she wanted either.

"She seemed quite angry."

A shiver ran through my body when I heard Almec's voice behind me. I gulped and took a deep breath before turning towards him.

"I'm sorry. Faustina wanted to get to know the mansion better, she is very curious but I swear she has no bad intentions. I don't think she realized she was breaking the rules. She didn't do much, she just looked at the pictures on the walls and didn't go too far."

The words came tumbling out of my mouth. Once I started making excuses I couldn't stop, maybe if I said more I could convince him faster of my sister's innocence.

"You don't need to lie, I saw everything." Almec crossed his arms.

Great. He already knew that I lied to him once again. I tried to keep my expression serious and looked him in the eyes.

"Then you saw that she didn't do anything," I continued defending Faustina.

"I'm going to let it pass for today because she's just a kid, but you better make sure it doesn't happen again. It's dangerous for her, if you care about her safety then you're going to keep her away from this area."

"It won't happen again."

Almec nodded and then lowered his gaze to the ground. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday about your wolf. It was out of line."

"It was," I said. "But I accept your apology and I think it's obvious that I don't want to hear it again."

"Of course."

The discomfort could be felt in the air. We said nothing more, allowing the distance between us to grow. After accusing each other and having to face our guilt, there was not much left to say.

"If everything is settled then I'm leaving," I told him.

"Yeah, I have other things to do too."

I began to walk away while my heart was beating at its maximum. I had saved myself once again, it was best to leave quickly before Almec changed his mind.

"What did you mean when you talked about the paintings?" He interrupted my escape.

"Faustina likes to draw and paint, she wants me to buy her the necessary supplies and I promised her that I will buy them for her once I have some money," I responded without turning around.

I continued on my way, I was about to leave the hallway when Almec spoke again.

"My mother also liked to paint."

I stopped my movements for a second. It was the first time he had mentioned his mother of his own volition and the sweet tone of his voice took me by surprise.

"I bet she must have been really good at that," I commented and resumed my walk.