451 Wandering
The girls had been walking for a while, passing several closed stores and establishments in search of an open restaurant. At some point, their search started to feel futile, not to mention the dizzying corridors that seemed to weave together in an intricate maze.
“Do you think anyone runs the facilities on this floor? I thought it was only for the royals,” Bree asked her companions.
“I think the floor is simply being rented out by the Sirius pack. If it wasn’t for the Royal games, it would probably be free. I’m not sure what restaurant would be open in such conditions. It’s not like…” Honour stopped with her theory when a set of footsteps suddenly came from around the corner.
They had been walking the halls for a long time without a single sign of life and now they had found it. Madeline froze in fear wondering whether hiding from sight was a better option.
Honour felt like confrontation would be better but didn’t know what to do.
The girl strode forward with the confidence of a royal, her posture mirroring that of Lina Sirius… or at least, she tried before she got yanked back.
Madeline held onto the goddess’s wrist, “What do you think you’re doing?” the Seeker’s expressions were odd with her new disguised appearance.
‘I liked her normal face better.’
Used to her normally expressive face, the goddess could tell what Madeline’s normal face should have looked like. This mask and distracting red hair, albeit gorgeous, felt completely wrong.
.....
“I’m going to ask for directions,” Honour whispered back, rubbing her aching shoulder from the pain of the certain pull.
“You don’t know them and they probably don’t know you. What if we are intruders to them?”
Honour pinched the bridge of her nose. Why were they whispering when they were werewolves with a well-established pack link?
“No one can get to this floor without having permission from the king himself. There is no reason for anyone to doubt our credibility. Normally, Lina and Crysta are the obvious indicators that we are with the royals, but this place is different. Relax, Mady,” the goddess tried through the mind link.
“You taking this far too lightly, Honour. I admire your confidence, but that’s not…”
“Uh, hello… Are you three supposed to be on this floor?” a feminine voice interrupted their supposedly hushed discussion.
Bree was simply nodding her head in disappointment. “So this is how the two of you act when Lina is not around?” she noted.
“No, it’s not… This just isn’t like the Sirius pack. And for the record, it’s so many miles away,” Madeline argued, turning the panic her nerves gave her on the other girl.
“For someone that was already living so many miles away from home, you’re acting rather strange,” Bree replied.
“Come to think of it, she was like that when she had just arrived in Sirius, so I wouldn’t blame her,” Honour teased.
The three girls had nearly forgotten about the woman standing in front of them and missed the green glint in her eyes.
The woman crossed her arms over her chest and glared daggers at them, “Ahem, I know for a fact that I’m not invisible…” the woman paused, noticing the amber glow in the eyes of the three girls. They were all oddly calm around her and something about it ticked her off, “Three normal wolves talking to a delta without an ounce of respect. I have a mind to through you out of the Great Arena entirely.”
“See, Honour. I told you we would be in trouble if we weren’t moving with either Lina or Crysta,” Madeline exclaimed, covering her face.
“Hey, I think I’ve seen you somewhere,” a new male voice cut through the commotion.
Honour turned to face the person who had spoken. She would have recognised him immediately but something was completely wrong with his appearance. Instead of black hair, this man was blonde, “Jason?”
“Ah, yes, Honour. It’s you. Wow! So you came? I’m surprised,” the beta alpha exclaimed.
“I’m equally surprised. I thought the floor meant for the members of the Lycaon pack was above this one though,” the girl replied. Jason had not got that much time to interact with the odd werewolf and was surprised to find her easy to talk to.
“We were just taking a tour. The prince is taking his time to come here as well. We should be meeting with King Davin in a few moments,” the alpha responded.
While the two talked, Madeline noticed the delta that had stopped them and stepped back into the group of wolves they were walking with. Something about her seemed oddly familiar.
Madeline had seen her somewhere before. She was tall beautiful and well-built. She also carried herself much more confidently than normal deltas. And she’d felt this presence somewhere before.
It didn’t take much to realise that this was the same delta they’d met on their elevator ride to the 54th floor. This was Bella Thorn.
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“Oh, that makes sense. Wait, did you guys already make it here? Don’t you have to go through the Trials first?” Honour asked.
By this time, the tension between the two groups was starting to simmer down.
Madeline was mentally jubilating for having chosen to walk with Honour. She turned out to be all they needed to get past this group of strangers. Bree was shocked the girl wouldn’t flinch when facing one of the Lycaon pack’s beta alphas.
This man was large and intimidating. Although much of this intimidating presence was diminished by his nervous ticks and odd calmness around the young goddess, Madeline and Bree were impressed.
‘Wait, what did Honour just ask?’ the two silent girls hurriedly backed up.
Jason noticed their intrigue and smirked, along with the girl and other wolves that were walking along with him. This group suddenly took on a whole different vibe.
While different from the strangeness of running into each other, this felt like they were prey staring into the cold eyes of a predator.
“Oh, Cole is already done with the Trials. I actually accompanied him. Couldn’t have gone easier in my opinion. It was quite the breeze.”