It's raining.

I watch the heavy drops of rainfall on the ground, forming sleet and making the ground more slippery. It's cold, colder than yesterday may be due to this rain.

Soft murmurs pull my attention from the window and toward the living room. Turning to look at the source of the voice, I see Sierra carrying baby Selene who's wrapped up in a thick wool sweater. I can't see the baby's body as she's completely drowning in the warm clothes.

"Here, wear this," Sierra offers me a sweater, similar to that of Selene's. I politely take it from her and murmur a soft thank you. Wearing the wool sweater, I run my fingers over the soft material; feeling warm from the inside.

It's the warmth that only family can bring.

"Sierra, may I ask you something?" I ask her softly, not wanting to disturb her as she's busy playing with her daughter. Sierra jerks her head up at me, frowning a bit and then whispers, "Nikita, you don't have to ask me anything. Just say it."

"I want to meet this girl named Mila," I whisper, breathing in a lungful of air for added courage.

Sierra pushes Selene in her baby chair and then gets up to walk toward me. "What happened, Nikita? You never asked to meet any of the packmates before."

"Mila was in the dungeon so I want to meet her," I whisper, telling Sierra only the partial truth and perhaps she realizes that my motive is slightly different from what I am saying yet she doesn't comment.

She purses her lips a bit and then her eyes get that hazy look, telling me that she's mentally communicating with her mate or maybe someone else with whom she has a blood bond.

A few minutes pass by and I am still waiting for Sierra to reply when Fenris walks inside the house. He immediately walks over toward the couch where Sierra had put Selene in her baby chair.

He picks her up in his arms and then walks over to me where I am standing near the window. "Are you sure you want to meet Mila?" he asks while rocking his daughter in his arms.

I nod at his question, not really getting why they do not want me to meet Mila. Or maybe they are not used to me asking to meet anyone. I have been cooped inside this house for more than a month now. And that time has been an experience.

I have learnt a lot of new things, which include developing my skills with the help of my brother and learning about the werewolf history from Sierra. She also introduced me to a lot of modern appliances, teaching me how to use them; either to beautify yourself or your home.

"Fine then. Come on, I will drop you on my way to the school," he says and I smile at him softly.

"Thank you."

"Sierra, don't keep her there. What if she slipped from the chair?" whispers Fenris while handing their daughter over to Sierra. Sierra rolls her eyes while pulling the baby in her arms and then walks away however, I do get a hint of slight hurt from her as I watch her retreating figure.

Maybe Fenris does too because I hear him sigh beside me. Not wanting to interfere in between the couple's private matter, I mutely follow Fenris out of his house and then towards the school premises.

There are a lot of people on the way, some of whom smile at me as well before bowing to greet Fenris. They address him as the King or Alpha. Fenris talks to each and every one of them, asking them about their health or any problem that they might be facing.

It's enlightening to watch how Fenris turns from a family man into a King in just a blink of the eye. And suddenly I feel proud to be the sister of such a talented man.

If mama and papa would have been here today; they would have felt immense pride to watch their son take over our family's legacy.

And now it's time for me to find out what my legacy is.

I know that I do not fit here. This is not my home.

I am a witch and these people are werewolves. I am a psychic being whereas these people rely on their physical strength. I feel like an outsider here, even if I am Fenris's family.

Though some of these people treat me with the respect of Fenris's long lost sister, I do feel their hesitation to trust me. They do not trust my witch nature and they are slightly scared because some of the warriors watched me burn Xanthos alive and relish his death.

Does that make me a bad person?

I do not know but I do intend to find out and for that, I need to start interacting with people. I have learnt to speak and now I have to take the effort to speak with people around me except for my family and Dominic.

Dominic!

The thought of that vampire makes my emotions go haywire. It's anger, friendship and something else blooming inside me at the thought of what he did yesterday. He almost kissed me and he said that I could share anything with him.

But whom will he share about his past and problems? And, I do know by now that Dominic has kept a huge well of secrets hidden from me and maybe perhaps from Fenris as well. I am curious to know about him just how he is curious to ask me what happened to me in the dungeon.

Initially, I had thought that Dominic can be a good friend to me but now I have realized that Dominic has something else in his mind. Especially after the way he tried to kiss me.

"Are you alright, Nikita?"

Fenris's sudden question startles me and I immediately push out all of my emotions to the deepest part of my mind and shut it with a heavy door. Fenris pauses to look at me for a second, looking confused. He probably sensed my emotions.

When he doesn't ask me anything else, I sigh in relief and continue following him to one of the dormitories.

Wouldn't it be difficult to explain an empath about my unruly emotions!

"Mila is in the third room from here," Fenris informs me and then motions for me to go ahead.

Without asking him to accompany me, I start making my way to Mila's room. This is my own journey and it's time that I let Fenris live his life instead of playing the role of my guardian.

Knocking on the door once, I wait patiently for the person to open the door not really knowing what to expect. Looking around in the corridor, I find that I am the only person standing here. Fenris has left, perhaps knowing that I will be safe here.

I take my time to memorise this corridor, in case I feel like meeting Mila again in the future. There are stone walls with tiny and ethnic designs. Farther down the corridor walls, I also see the picture of a wolf engraved in the wall. It's really beautiful to see and to imagine that someone has the skill to engrave such images into the wall. It's an art!

The sound of rustling is heard, making me shift my gaze back on the door which opens to reveal a very thin girl on the other side of the threshold. The girl looks very frail, pale too. She has a thin face with light brown eyes and thick lashes surrounding her eyes. They give her an exotic look.

Her lips are pale and a little dry. She has a small yet sharp nose and high cheekbones which are very prominent at this moment due to lack of mass on her cheeks. She has neat brows and very thick hair. Her hair is flowing down her back and till her waist.

She's wearing modern clothes, a shirt and pants. No, they are short pants. What are they called?

Realising that I have been staring at her for a long time now, I introduce myself.

"I am Nikita, Fenris's sister," I whisper, not really understanding how to introduce myself. Should I tell her that I was in the dungeon as well, that I have spent my entire life in captivity, like her?

However, I am not given a chance to reply as the girl in front of me, smiles and then bows her head, as if greeting a royal. That's how people greeted Fenris.

"Princess Nikita. It's a pleasure to meet you. I... I... please come in. My room is a bit small. I apologise for that," she whispers while moving aside to let me walk inside her home.

I had expected a different kind of welcome from her. Perhaps a little suspicion for my visit but this behaviour of hers has completely floored me.

I am surprised to see her room. It's big and quite empty with just furniture around. She picks up the things that have been lying on the sofa. She quickly moves away, her scarf and socks from the chair nearby and in minutes, her living room looks neat and clean.

"Please sit. What will you have? I am sorry, I have only coffee, here. We can go to the cafeteria..."

"Please sit here, Mila," I whisper, stopping her mid-rant, and then smile slightly as she takes in a deep breath. She composes herself a bit and then sits in the chair in front of me.

"I am sorry, Princess. I never expected you to visit me," she whispers and then her fingers start fidgeting, twining together and then twisting.

"Please do not call me Princess. Call me Nikita," I whisper, hoping to put her at ease. It's the first time I am meeting a person who's feeling frazzled to meet me. I am usually the one who's uncomfortable while meeting new people.

It's refreshing to watch someone be nervous because they are meeting me.

Smiling at the girl in front of me, I watch as she smiles at me in return and nods at me. "Nikita, it's a pleasure to meet you," she whispers while looking down at her lap.

I tune myself to her emotions and find a well of secrets. She's excited, nervous, scared and feeling a bit precious as well. I do not understand the last emotion, though. Why is feeling precious? Because I visited her?

"I came to know about you from Fenris," I whisper and she nods at my sentence as if understanding my direction of thoughts.

"King Fenris has been very kind to me and my sister. He has saved us from the rogues' clutches and I will be forever indebted to him and his mate," she whispers while reliving her time in the dungeon. Her hurt and pain are so clear in her voice that a gasp of shock escapes from my throat.

"Rogues. You were born in captivity, am I right?" I ask, knowing only this much about her.

"Yes," she whispers but then doesn't say anything further. I sense that she's reluctant to tell me more. She knows what happened to her and she's not traumatized anymore but it's because she's kept it hidden in her mind.

Just like how I have done.

"Nikita, I want to know what happened to you in the dungeon."

Dominic's frightening words echo in my mind. He knows that keeping my trauma hidden from the world is not helping me. Yes, I am happy now but there's this place in my mind which is dark because of those haunted memories.

"You are not comfortable sharing it with anyone?" I ask, knowing well that she remembers everything that happened with her but I want to hear it from her. I want her to know that she is not alone in this place.

"No, I am just nervous. I am still getting used to freedom. I seldom go out of this room, fearing that I will be captured again but then Queen Sierra comes in a while to meet me. She's very busy, I have seen. Always trying to bond with one of the females and then spending time in the school library with those antic books."

She doesn't mention Cayden's visits. 

I hear the reverence in her voice when she speaks of Sierra. Perhaps Sierra is the one who has brought her out of her trauma as she did with me. Perhaps Sierra has the gift of bonding with traumatized people. Or maybe she's just a lot more compassionate about people around her.

She's a good Queen. A Queen, suitable for a King like Fenris.

"Why don't you go out?" I ask her but she shakes her head. I get that she's uncomfortable talking anymore. And I am uncomfortable to see her like this. To see a person who's so similar to me. She's exactly like me, traumatised and fighting hard to overcome that fear of being captured again.

Yet, her tormentor is dead. But mine isn't.

I must eviscerate Wulfric's existence and make sure that he doesn't hurt me again or any of these fragile yet strong-hearted women around me.

Taking a deep breath, I smile at Mila when she looks at me and smiles nervously. We both want to say so many things but then we don't really know how to speak or what to speak or where to begin.

Sighing at my thoughts and jumbled emotions, I wave at the quilt that sits on the couch beside me. It's draped over the arm of the couch looking quite warm and comfortable.

"Oh, that's a gift from Christine, Beta Cayden's mother," she whispers with reverence in her voice when she utters her mate's mother's name. But when she says Beta Cayden, a hint of excitement slithers through her words.

She's really attracted towards Cayden but the way she says Beta Cayden, I can sense that there is a huge distance between them. They might be mates but they nowhere are close enough to bond like mates.

Only because I knew from Sierra about her being Cayden's mate; I could connect the dots because Mila nowhere acknowledges this fact yet.

She is not sure if Cayden really is her mate because she doesn't feel that she's worth it. She's unsure of herself.

Just like me. Even I feel that my mate doesn't exist.

Shaking my head, a bit, I push away that thought. It's not the time to discuss about mates here. Especially not my non-existent one.

"It's a beautiful quilt," I whisper waving at the quilt and watching as Mila nods her head, feeling quite precious to receive such a thoughtful gift from the Beta's mother.

"Yes, it is. She has been a great healer to me and my sister. Her daughter Catrina is also a very strong healer," she whispers and I catch on to that sentence.

She knows Catrina!

"Catrina is getting married in the next week," I whisper hoping to begin a meaningful conversation. Being so new to the world of communication has me grasping onto anything and everything to make sure that I am not boring the person in front of me.

"Oh, that's great. Alpha Lupe loves Catrina dearly. He even agreed to adopt a baby because his mate wanted to," she whispers and I sense her excitement at the news.

So, she believes in love, envies Catrina a bit for finding her mate and being cherished by him.

All the while she speaks, my mind is busy grasping onto her rapidly changing emotions.

"Wow. So, you are invited to the wedding?" I whisper but then realize that she didn't know about it a few minutes ago.

"Oh, no. It might be just a family function," she whispers and now I sense her hurt.

She's perhaps thinking that Cayden didn't invite her.

Did I do something wrong?

Wanting to make amends and specifically wanting to wipe that hurt that she's feeling, I whisper, "well, I came to invite you."

"What?" she whispers the question as if not sure at all. She even looks at me sceptically and I really feel embarrassed at this failed attempt of mine to bond with a person who's not my immediate family.

Luckily, I am saved from answering her question when there's a knock at the door. I sigh in relief and then spread out my mind to get a hint of who's at the door.

Realizing that it's Cayden, my heart starts drumming in my chest. Oh my god, I hope that Mila doesn't tell Cayden that I invited her to his sister's wedding without really knowing anything about their relationship.

I am a failure at relationships.

Mila opens the door and then hesitates a little before opening the door wide enough to let him inside. The moment Cayden realizes that there's someone inside the house with Mila, he pushes Mila behind him and I notice the way Mila shivers at Cayden's touch.

She quickly composes herself and then wraps her arms around herself but that millisecond of nerves and excitement is not missed. Neither by me nor by her mate.

Cayden relaxes when he sees me but then frowns at my presence here.

"Hey, Nikita. All good?" he asks while walking in as if it's his own home. I frown at his way of walking and purse my lips when he sits in the armchair as if he's the man of the house.

It's my gut telling me that Cayden has a lot to work on, considering his attitude towards his mate.

Mila walks in behind Cayden and then looks at both of us rather nervously. She's confused about my visit now, especially considering Cayden's surprise visit.

"All good, cousin. What brings you here?" I ask purposely, more for Mila's benefit than mine.

As long as he isn't hurting her, I don't really care about his untimely visits here. He should visit more often. Perhaps that will make Mila more used to her mate's presence. They both suit each other even if Mila looks very young compared to Cayden's battle faced eyes and body language.

"Umm. I came to invite Mila to Cat's wedding," he whispers and then looks at Mila as if nervous about her answer.

Well, I never have been happier about my failure before. Sighing in relief, I smile at Cayden and he looks shocked to see me smiling. Maybe I don't smile that often. Perhaps I should.

"Oh, I already invited Mila. She was just going to answer me when you knocked," I say, rather enthusiastically and watch as Cayden's shocked gaze moves from me to Mila and then back at me.

"You know each other?" he asks while raising his brows.

That's the typical look of the males in my family, I guess because it works on Mila. The girl starts sputtering a reply just like Sierra answers immediately, to Fenris's look of raised brows.

Sighing at the smitten mates of my brothers, I wipe a hand over my forehead and chuckle at Mila's stuttering and then at Cayden's statement.

"I won't bite, malyshka," he whispers and I watch the immediate calming effect that it has on Mila. She blushes a bit and then takes a deep breath.

"Princes-"

"Nikita," I correct her and she smiles at me which makes Cayden's alert expression soften.

"Yes, Nikita came to visit me and she invited me to Miss Catrina's wedding," she says, her words formal while addressing Catrina and I think if she was taught to address all new people formally.

Maybe she was conditioned that way. The same way how I was conditioned to speak only when spoken to.

"Oh, that's great. So, what's your answer? I hope you respect my cousin's invitation," whispers Cayden and I immediately narrows my eyes at him.

He's purposely using those words to make sure Mila doesn't refuse. Manipulating men!

"Umm, I mean. I am not family," she says but then is cut off by Cayden's growl. There's goes the overprotective male.

"You are my family, my mate; that makes you my twin sister's family as well. Now tell me your decision. Will you agree to be my date at my sister's wedding or not?" he asks, shocking me at the complete transformation in his personality.

What happened to the easy-going, banter-loving Cayden?

"Cayden!" I call him but his attention is focused on Mila who's equally focused on Cayden.

"Fine, I will attend your sister's wedding." She stomps her foot rather childishly. Well, I forgot she's just a teenager unlike this grown man here who just growled because his mate was uncomfortable.

Who's the real immature person?

"Good," he says and it's my turn to stomp my foot. "Yes, I mean, that's good. I will inform Dominic," he corrects his statement smiling at me a bit sheepishly.

The moment he speaks of Dominic, I realize that I was never invited by anyone. 

Fenris hasn't yet informed me about Catrina's wedding. The only reason I know is because of Dominic. Because Dominic informed me and even he felt guilty when he realized that I wasn't informed about it before. And no one told me. Not even Christine. Neither did Cayden and he came to invite his mate.

Does this mean that I wasn't invited?  Am I not considered family?

"Nikita?" 

My name being called pulls me out of my thoughts and I focus on Mila who looks like she's waiting for me to reply. 

"Yes? I am sorry. I should leave, now," I whisper and get up, making Cayden get up too. 

"Is everything alright?" he asks with concern shining in his eyes. 

"Yes, yes," I whisper and then turn to look at Mila. "It was very nice to meet you. Would you mind being my friend?" I ask her bluntly, not caring about what Cayden feels. 

I am suddenly not sure what my family feels about me. 

Mila's face shows her shock and then a bit of hesitation. 

"That's okay. Will meet you later, Cayden," I whisper and walk out of the room, not wanting to teleport in front of Mila. I do not wish to scare anyone more than I already did with my untimely and unwanted friendly visit. 

Once I am out of the room, I sense movement from the inside of the room and know that Cayden will walk out to do damage control but I am tired of people walking on eggshells around me. 

That's when I decide to use my skills and teleport. However, I do not go to Fenris's house, no I land right in front of the school, where there is a group of people at a distance from me. 

They are looking at me and one of them bows her head at me. Just when I am about to walk away, she calls my name, surprising me. 

Do I wait or should I leave?

~~~~

So how was the chapter??? 

Finally, Nikita meets someone out of her regular circle. How did it go?

Nikita is a bit impulsive, isn't she?

Let me know your views in the comment section and do not forget t vote.

Thank you for reading!