When Kjartan joined us, he stood beside me with a slight spread of his legs and crossed his arms over his chest. He unhurriedly began to look everyone over from head to toe.
- Why don't you tell us everything from the beginning. And I mean EVERYTHING. - Adrian started and looked at me meaningfully. My hour had just come. Before I could speak, my brother took over.
- I'll start. The day of my twenty-first birthday was supposed to be the day our parents wanted to announce who would take over the reigns after them, a successor was to be chosen. Unfortunately, we were attacked. They slaughtered the whole pack, except for our family of five. They hung us from the beams under the ceiling and meticulously dropped our blood. They threw Rosa into a cage like a wild animal and kept her without food or water. I am not sure why. I don't even know how many days passed, because every now and then I lost consciousness, but one morning there was a commotion and it turned out that she had escaped. No one knew how she managed to do it. The tracks were fresh, so they set off in pursuit, but they didn't find her. She was already out of our territory, and they didn't want to be noticed. We were stuck like that and systematically, in series, they drained us of blood. When we had a break to regain strength, they drew blood from our parents. When they were exhausted, they drew blood from us. And so on and on. After some time, they moved us to another hiding place somewhere in the middle of the forest. Since then we were separated. Maybe we would have found a way to escape, but by some miracle they invented silver and surrounded us with it, so there was not even a shadow of a chance for freedom, and the separation made things even more difficult. Then another new place and every now and then they moved us like that. Therefore, a few days ago, when I heard a larger group of people, I knew what to expect. Then all of a sudden a mass of unknown werewolves rushed in and dragged us out of there. I saw Espen and wanted to approach him, but when I met his raging gaze, I knew what had happened. I had tried a million times to bring him back, but it didn't work, so he ended up here behind bars. And that's where my story ends. I have no idea what year it is or where we are, could someone please enlighten me? - They all looked at him like he was from Mars. I understand him. These events began a long time ago, and the world has changed.
- What do you mean you don't know what year it is? It's two thousand and twenty-two. How old are you now then? - Em said. Well, here comes the hard part. The boy looked at me like I was out of this world.
- How many...? How many?! - he whispered, and then he screamed. I had to block my ear, because the power of his lungs is incredible and those words were sent directly to my eardrums, which almost started to bleed from that.
- A few more questions. Do you know if your parents are still alive? Who is Rosa? And asking the same thing as my granddaughter, how old are you exactly? Forgive me for asking such things, but the whole world was sure that the werewolf royal family no longer existed. And here you two suddenly appear, you and your brother. - The boy laughed in disbelief, but began to speak:
- I'm not sure if they're all right. Like I said, they separated us. Rosa is my younger sister... - I anxiously wriggled in place. He saw my demeanor and the blank faces of the audience, then spread his hands in impotence. - Really? Again? - I nodded, and he sighed and shut up for good. Apparently it was my turn to confess. First, I will explain the question of age. We are old. Antediluvian, even. Every werewolf in the royal family stops aging at a certain age. I was twenty when I stopped. Kjartan was twenty-one. I'm not sure how it was with Espen. Our parents, on the other hand, stopped somewhere around thirty, so they looked more like our older siblings than the people who made us.
- Rosa Rike. Twenty years old. In the flesh. - I introduced myself and began to see in their eyes an understanding of the whole situation. - Kjartan Rike, age twenty-one. The one in the hospital is Espen Rike my twin brother...
- Wait, wait, twin? - I nodded in confirmation. - But... That... In that case, what year were you born?
- Kjartan in eight hundred and seventeen, and us in eight hundred and twenty-two. - ...that knocked everyone's socks off except Daniel's. He's a similar age, so... He suddenly burst out laughing. The rest of them looked at him like he'd just dropped out of space.
- Excuse me, but... Adrian do you know that your mate is an old granny, or rather I could say a mummy? - He was clutching his stomach now. The others also had smiles on their faces after hearing his banter.
- I don't think I have to remind you of YOUR age. I can confidently call you a fossil. - The smile froze on his lips.
- Well, if you're pulling out the heavy artillery and the rest of the dirt, be my guest. Halfdan the Black. Born in eight hundred and twenty. I held a profession like hers, but that's probably on the agenda in a moment. - He bowed theatrically, folding himself in half. Apart from a few stifled curses, the room was quiet.
- Ekhm... - I grunted to get their attention. - Coming to the story from my perspective. They caught me and didn't draw blood from me because they wanted to use me as... for breeding, to put it simply. After I escaped, I ran into Daniel, who helped me. Then I ended up in Mongolia, where I received specialized training and acquired this. - I lifted my shirt up, exposing my belly. Everyone was shocked to see so many scars and stared at them, captivated. - A year after running away, I found myself in the area''s only and largest "clan". Years later once again...
- What kind of clan was it? - Adrian asked. I hadn't told him that last time, when he first saw the scars on my body. Now that I'd talked about everything from the beginning, I figured I'd tell the truth to start with a clean slate. Besides, Daniel had just now admitted that he did what I did. After saying the next words, the blood drained from their faces.
- Paid assassins. After several centuries of such work, I met Daniel again. He was doing the same thing I was, so we found a common language. From then on we stuck together until seventy years ago there was a little incident that got us lost and we found each other recently when he moved here and came to school. And that would be it. Do you have any more questions about me? - The last question sounded harsh, but I'd had enough of talking about my miserable fate and despicable life story that I couldn't change anyway. I didn't hear from anyone, so I went outside through the glass door in the living room. I walked through the forest and inhaled its distinctive smell. At one point I sat down under a tree and began to stare off into the distance. Another time I ran away when everything became too much. I'm sick of running away and I care about them, but... They'll always take you in. No matter who you are. They're our pack. They have to. My wolf side spoke up. Yep... I wish it was that simple. I saw the look in their eyes when I said what I'd been doing for most of my life. It definitely wasn't a look like "Even if you turn into a piglet, we'll still welcome you with a smile on our face without any prejudice or questions". It was more like: "How much of a threat is she to us and the pack?". I knew it as a fact that if they did not get to know me better and for longer I would not be able to eradicate the distrust lurking inside each of them. They had known Daniel for years. They had known me for a little over a month. So do I have enough courage to come back there? I'm not sure about the answer to that question. I closed my eyes to relax and stop thinking too much about every little thing.

**********

I felt something warm around my body. I wanted to move, but I heard a soothing voice right next to my ear:
- It's just me... Keep sleeping. - I drifted off again, this time in Adrian's arms, which provided me with comfort and a sense of security like nothing else.