Found by the Lycan King by Natalie Winter
Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Zenovia

The pack members all eyed me warily as I stood frozen in my tracks. Elijah put his hand on my back and gently nudged me forward

“They are not going to bite you. Go ahead”

I gave him a nervous smile as he cleared his throat.

“She is Zenovia Archer, now a member of our pack. Please welcome her”

He said, and a tense silence followed suit. The pack members kept looking at each other and nobody said a word.

The feeling that this had been a bad idea kept intensifying, and I debated walking back out of the gate.

I hesitantly raised one of my hand and waved at them all. Still, there was no reaction

I looked worriedly at Elijah, who murmured.

"Oh, I should have told you this before. Callahan never took in a new member in the pack under any circumstances. That

was his rule.”

My eyes grew wide as saucers as I looked at him and said through gritted teeth.

“Then you should have told me that before bringing me here”

Elijah shrugged. “Well, I didn't think you would last even a day. He never took anyone, so I believed he would drive you off in hours the first day you were brought in”

I made a face. “Thanks for the motivation”

Elijah scratched the back of his head as I whispered, “Why does lie never take anybody in?"

But before Elijah could answer, an elderly woman stepped forward. She was wearing a pale grey dress and had wrinkles on

her face.

Her hair was tied behind in a messy bun and there were a few necklaces and bracelets upon her person.

The elderly woman stepped forward, a stick in her hand that she used to slowly walk forward. I gulped nervously as she kept coming closer.

I wanted to step back, but Elijah muttered low in his breath to keep still.

And I did that.

The woman came and stood directly in front of me while Elijah mumbled, “Hello Elder Lina, how are you doing today?”

However, Elder Lina did not say a word to him. She kept staring at me and then slowly began circling me while observing me from head to toe.

Once, she even poked at my legs, startling me, but I sensed the watchful gazes of all the pack members on me, so I kept quiet.

When she completed her slow circle around me, she came to stand in front of me again and titled her head.

“What is

your name?”

Elijah interrupted before I could open my mouth. “She is Zenovia-"

However, Elder Lina raised her hand and showed him her that hand to indicate him to shut up. He promptly did as she looked at me.

Her voice was sharp and clear for her age, though I was not entirely sure what age bracket would she fit in.

"H-Hello,

my name is Zenovia Archer, I answered and Elder Lina grunted.

"What pack did you belong to?”

“N-nightfall pack”

“Never heard of it before,” she mumbled, mostly to herself.

“It is one of the smaller packs down south.” I supplied, but she only grunted again in response. She then put her hand on my chin and moved my face to the left and then to the right, examining me...for what...I had no idea

My gaze flicked to the other pack members who were only standing and watching curiously, probably waiting for her judgement that I was not carrying some harmful and contagious disease that would make them all fall sick.

Elder Lina did some more poking, caught a strand of my hair in her hand and took a whiff followed by other bizarre things that I only kept watching in confusion before she finally took a step back from me.

Placing her stick on the ground, she looked at me and took a lengthy pause as I felt everybody wait for her verdict with a bated breath.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally spoke, “Welcome home”

Whatever she said next was drowned in a melee as everybody just ran towards me and began cheering and clapping loudly.

I was too confused by the sudden change of behavior and I looked at Elijah, who had been pushed back a little as everybody clamored around me.

He gave me a wistful smile, which I returned as everybody shook hands and introduced themselves to me, but I could not even remember the names of half of them.

Everything was happening too fast.

And then when their initial excitement subsided, the crowd thinned while my eyes fell on Elder Lina, who was still looking at me with curiosity.

She motioned for me to follow her and she began walking towards a huge structure that I assumed was the packhouse.

It was a big building made of wood and brick with several rooms that would probably serve as guest rooms, or maybe people lived there for all 1 knew.

She took the small flight of stairs up which I saw her struggle a little. I tried to offer her support, but she denied and kept using her stick to climb up and finally enter one of the many rooms.

Elijah was tailing behind and he too entered the empty room that only had a few chairs and some extra furniture.

Elder Lina sat on one of the chair and motioned for me to sit on one in front of her

I did as instructed while she looked at Elijah. “Are you going to babysit her when I am there already?”

Elijah tried to suppress a chuckle, and he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze as he walked out, closing the door.

That left me and Elder Lina in the room.

“So why did the Lycan king take you in?”

1 pushed back a lock of hair that was falling on my face and replied, “My pack they sold me to him.”

Elder Lina raised an eyebrow. “Is that the only reason?”

She asked sharply. I wanted to scream as if I know what goes on in his head but decided against it. “My...my family labeled me a traitor and told him I was the one who was supplying insider information to the rogues.”

"Were you?” She asked in that same sharp voice.

I shook my head. “I loved my family, especially my father. I would never even do such a thing”

She leaned forward and whispered, “Then do you hate Callahan for bringing you here? Away from your home?”

1 furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

“I hated him at first, but then I am not sure if there is enough hate for me to distribute between my family, my pack and leave something for him too.”

I fought back the emotions swirling up inside me at the mention of my family. Why was she questioning me so much and what was she trying to find out?

Elder Lina tilted her head and her gaze ran up from my feet to my face, studying me intently before she asked another question.

“Were you sent to him as a spy? Do you plan to hurt him? Or use him for your personal benefit?” Was I supposed to say I worshiped the ground he walked on? His pack members might be honor bound to say that, but I

wasn't.

But I feared if I said I had a peculiar thing for hirm that whenever I tried hating him with fervor somehow my body betrayed me, she would think of me as some wannabe girl who could not keep her hands to herself.

I debated my answer for a while and then muttered, “He rules all of us, but I don't think my family cared about me enough of trusted me to act as a spy for them. They have not contacted me ever since he brought me here.”

My voice cracked, and I hated myself for still getting emotional at the sting of betrayal. My father's face flash before me and my hands coiled into fists.

And then the sweet face of my mother as she kept looking at me with so much love, so much hope that my eyes nearly watered

I got up from the chair and turned away, not wanting her to see my tears and pain. If she did not trust me with my words, I certainly could not open up in front of her and give her more things to poke at.

“If you are done with your interrogation, I would very much like to leave,” I replied curtly, not bothering that I would draw the ire of the elder woman.

Without bothering to wait for her reply, I stomped towards the door, opened the door, and walked out of the room.

The sun had risen quite high in the sky and it was late afternoon by the time everybody left me on my own.

Elder Lina had interrogated me for a while but then somehow decided I was either stupid to bring harm to the pack or was not strong enough to harm others myself.

Either way, I was glad that she had stopped interrogating me. If she did not trust me, that was her problem. I had not forced. Callahan to bring me to his place. In fact, he was the one who was angry when I tried to run away.

Wiping the tears off my face, I began walking towards the gate, wanting to leave this place. Thankfully, everybody had left to do their respective works, so I was not hounded by the pack members on my way to the

gate.

But the moment I reached the gate, a familiar voice called out to me.

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