Adhira:

The rain died down leaving a fresh breeze and moist land. Xeno appeared to be a tall shifter with cropped-up hair and a sleek nose. He was quite handsome as was any other shifter. They were all unique, lithe, and strong.

He smiled, greeted me, and led me out of the house. Something that I strangely noticed is that every person here walked barefoot. My toes felt the damp, rich soil, and smiled slightly at the revivified winds sweeping my hair off my face. 

Xeno patiently waited for me as I followed him. Then, he began to converse as casually as if talking about the weather, "I really wonder what Invicta saw in you."

I shrugged, "There hasn't been a moment where I haven't asked myself that."

He chuckled affably, "Well, it could be because you're someone who managed to save large stretches of life. But, I still don't see what's really special about you. I've never seen anybody turn her attention like that. And our Invicta trying so hard to thoroughly mark her scent on you... strange even."

I looked at him perplexed, "Mark her scent? What do you mean?"

Xeno looked rather embarrassed, "We have sensitive hearing and I'm quite sure what she did with you was placing her scent strongly around you."

I wasn't impressed by the information, "Why would she do that?"

"To protect and mark her territory around you, of course! None of us are even allowed to touch you," he implied.

I frowned at his ridiculous words, "Of course, you're allowed to touch me!"

He uneasily shook his head, "No we're not."

"This is just stupid!" I exclaimed and attempted to touch his arm. 

He jumped like a frightened feline to escape my touch and yelled, "Do you want me to lose my head?!"

"Why would you lose your head?" I argued.

He stood several feet away from me, "I don't even want to try knowing! Even the Pride Queen isn't allowed to touch you. Not even a human like Nyra is allowed to taint your scent."

I felt incredibly confused, "I don't understand..."

Xeno looked at me with pity, "Yeah well, I'm sorry but none of us are allowed to touch you. Invicta's orders." 

I felt enraged, "You know this is silly, right? Surely the Pride Queen has more command than her."

He looked around as if making sure that nobody heard me and spoke slowly, "Adhira, nobody in this Pride or any other Pride or Pack, has the power to take on Invicta Nyx. She's being generous and calm with us only on her own accord. Not even the Pride Queen has to power to stand against her. Believe me, for generations, we didn't know if the Invicta had been a curse or a blessing. For us, Invicta Nyx is surely a blessing." 

I frowned at him as he let the truth sink in. She was not bound by any law whatsoever. I ran my hands through my hair and breathed out as I stressed over Xeno's explanation. 

I shook my head and I spoke to Xeno, "I don't think she's fond of me. Why would she go through such an effort?"

Xeno shrugged, "Yeah well... Invicta is territorial just like every other shifter. I don't know why she mated with you but I feel that whatever you did with her in your room just seemed like her marking her territory. I don't know how you'd work it out with her because I've never seen her show emotion. I really doubt if she's capable of love. Maybe Carlos might've seen her emotion but we've never seen it."

I felt more hopeless by his words, "But she spoke to me while we were in the act... Why would she talk to me like that?"

Xeno looked at me with sympathy, "I don't know but it could be her making it known to us that you indeed belonged to her. She may not give you what you expect from her. I'm sorry. You seem like a nice person."

I nodded as I blinked my eyes trying to cope with the disappointment of knowing how true Xeno's words were. 

Xeno looked at me sheepishly, "Look, I could be wrong."

"You're not wrong. I saw it too. I actually didn't expect anything from her in the first place," I admitted. Her behavior just seems off. She either doesn't know how to give affection or does not feel like giving me that. If she wanted me to just live my life the way I want to, she wouldn't construct bars around my freedom like this. I want to be able to hug people and make friends.

"What if I need a hug? Isn't anybody allowed to give me one?"

"No, they're not," Xeno answered.

I gave him a pitiful nod, "Thank you for telling me."

I wasn't fine and I just wanted to be left alone. My eyes were drooping and I wondered if I could go back to take a nap.

"I'm going to head back to the room," I told him and walked away without looking back.

I pulled back the comforter and slipped into the warmth. The rain had renewed again and I just wanted to sleep for a long time. My eyes shut close and I dozed off. 

.

I felt something prod my shoulder. I strained my eyes open to find Nyra poking me with a small branch. I just pulled my blankets closer, ready to go back to sleep. 

"Hey Adhira, wake up. You haven't eaten your lunch. Nyx will kill me!" She whispered urgently.

I just flipped to the other side and went back to sleep despite her annoying yammering around the lines like, "I'm dead. I'm dead for sure. Carlos!"

 "Leave her be. Maybe she needs the rest," someone said.

.

Fingers touched my cheek and I jolted awake. I breathed recognizing Nyx before me.

"You've been sleeping for a while," She mentioned.

I blinked several times to get the blurriness out of my eyes. It seemed dark around the room and my stomach growled. I sat up and held my head as the sleepiness dragged me down. I felt tired despite having slept for a long time. 

Nyx lifted me out of the bed and sat me down in a chair. I was trying not to fall asleep sitting as she left for a moment. I felt her wipe my face with what seemed like a warm, wet towel and dried my face. Feeling a little better, I opened my eyes to look at her.

She carried me down saying that I needed to eat some food for dinner. She carried me into an already full dining hall. At the head of the table sat a dark-skinned woman with her long hair drawn into elegant braids intertwined with gold ornaments. I stared at her for a whole second before realizing that she was the Pride queen. She sure was gorgeous. 

Nyx sat down on a chair and placed me on her lap. Everybody looked at the empty chair beside us. I felt uneasy as I figured that the chair was placed specifically for me and yet Nyx silently insisted that I sat on her lap. The other chairs were spaced away from us at a distance which made me wonder if what they felt for Nyx was respect or fear. 

There was a big steak placed in the middle of the table and the meat was divided among everybody. Nyx just moved her filled plate aside and had someone bring in a separate plate for me. Something that looked like pasta was placed before me. 

Nyx spoke to me, "Do you want some deer?"

"That's deer?" I asked her.

She nodded at me. My eyebrows crinkled and I shook my head. 

The pride queen spoke up, "How about we give our new human some wine."

"She won't be taking any," Nyx spoke up as I frowned. I really wanted some.

The Queen just looked at me as she clearly recognized that I wanted some. She smiled gently and said, "How about we bring in some fresh juice for her? What would your preference be, Adhira?"

I blushed at the elegantly generous woman, "Anything would do."

Nyx didn't look very impressed at my reaction. She gripped my waist firmly and gave me a look of warning. It wiped the smile from my face and I looked down at the glass of juice placed before me.

They all toasted in my name and I felt warm on the inside. But I could hardly smile because Nyx was painfully gripping my waist. I felt scared of her behavior and pried at her fingers subtly. She immediately let go. 

I quickly downed my food and she carried me back upstairs even before anybody could finish their food. She threw me gently on the bed and glared. 

I looked at her with wide eyes, "What's wrong?"

"Did you like the Queen, Adhira?"

She looked aggravated and I shook my head slowly not knowing how to respond to her.

"You seemed to like her a bit too much," she said in a dangerously soft voice.

My voice shook in anxiety, "I don't."

She gripped my jaw and I felt ready to cry because she was capable of hurting me. My last wound is yet to heal.

"I'm sorry. Please don't hurt me," the despaired words left my mouth.

She quickly let go of my face and stepped back as if she were slapped across her face. She swiped her hands across her face as if my words stressed her, "I wasn't going to hurt you. You know I would never hurt you. Why would you think that?"

"The last time I... I'm sorry for talking about your parents like that," I felt tears well in my eyes.

I fidgeted with the fabric of my shorts in nervousness. "She just seemed nice, okay? I don't like her like that," I spoke feeling rather upset. Tears fell and I wiped them off quickly. 

Nyx got onto the bed and hovered over me, "Why are you crying?"

She lifted my face as if to take a good look at me, "Tell me why you're crying."

"Why isn't anybody allowed to touch me?" I asked her as my voice felt heavy with grief.

"It is to keep you safe," she told me gently.

"But I am safe. Why would you save me only to keep me in this cage of a life?" I questioned her.

She sighed, "Adhira, I'm away for almost ten hours every day for a meeting in a different pack. It's different if I'm around to watch you."

"I am not a child!" I yelled at her and yanked my face out of her grip. "Nyx, don't you trust your Pride? I'd tell you if anybody behaved wrongly.  Everybody's been nothing but nice to me. They wouldn't talk to me because they're scared... of you!" Nyx just calmly listened to me as I explained my point. 

"I don't know how it is for your kind but I've lost everything that I've ever known and to deprive me of touching people around me... It's putting me through more pain. Touch is a way that humans communicate and we bond through touch. You're just trying to put me in an invisible cage," I told her. "I'm not in love with you, Nyx. I was forced into this." I could hear the defeat in my voice as I finished.

"I knew that you didn't like me. It's rather obvious," She admitted. "Give me a little time, will you? Let me finish up with these meetings and then I'll think about this. It'll only be a couple of days," she told me and leaned in to kiss me on my lips. My breath hitched at her gesture. 

But I frowned and mentioned, "I know that you aren't fond of me either. I still wonder why you bound your fate with mine."

Her forehead crinkled, "Whoever put that in your head, Adhira?"

My lips turned down feeling sad about this whole ordeal. She didn't have to deal with my emotions or tantrums, "No one did. I just want to go to sleep."

She lifted my face as if to reveal every emotion that passes my features, "You just dozed the entire day. Are you humans supposed to sleep that long?"

"Not really. I guess I'm just tired," I replied feeling emotionally drained. I was still feeling the heartbreak from the people I lost and the littlest things have been putting me through more pain.

She stepped back, pulled open a cupboard, and brought out a small blanket, "We're taking a walk. Wrap this around yourself. You might get cold."

I frowned, "I don't want to."

She sighed, "Adhira, don't make me carry you out."

I slowly stood up and secured the blanket around me. I eyed her and asked, "Aren't you tired? You've been away the entire day."

She approached me and lifted me into her arms anyway. She didn't reply to my question but I guessed that shifters hardly get tired. She walked me out of the room and down the staircase. I felt rather embarrassed as she took me through a bustling dinner hall and out through a door leading outside.

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