Fortune

Chapter - 8

                              Disha

Everyone becomes silent for a while until Roshini whispers to Nina " Ask him, what does he know about us like what did council told him."
Before Nina could speak, Edward answered as he heard the question. "The council inform me that sun-shiner wolves are back from extinction and one of them probably is my mate. To be honest, I thought it was a joke because the sun-shiner was declared extinct after the war. Then they told me how you girls became wolves and that infuriated me since no werewolf is allowed to hurt humans. Afterwards, they told that you girls provided information about predicting future attacks on a pack. This helped the council to capture a bunch of rogues who worked for a high ranked criminal that is responsible for she-wolf trafficking that has been running for years and we never were able to find a clue. Since no one was alive to provide one, because the packmates are killed before the kidnapping of she-wolves. Then we finally found out the leader's name who was also responsible for your kidnapped and torture."
"What's the name of the asshole?" Asha asks in anger.
" Sebastian" Edward replied.
Basically, the stalker is a hight ranked criminal who conducted a trafficking business of she-wolves and planned us to be eaten for his sick group of people. Instead of being scared, I am feeling rage that can destroy anyone but I have my target. I will hunt this Sebastian and his people punish them for their crimes. Then only my rage of revenge will calm.
" Disha, are you okay?" Yasmin asks while placing her hand on my shoulder which brings me back to the present.
" Yea, why what happened you guys look concerned," I said but there is also scared which I did not find appropriate to say.
" We can feel the rage from your aura. That scared the girls' wolves away." Edward acknowledged the difference in others' expressions. This resulted in me giving a curious expression to him and looking from the rearview mirror, he took a deep breath.
" Disha, you are the oldest of them. And since you six are the only sun-shinner wolves existing, this makes you be WolfQueen. Already, you have a wolf who had been Queen in her previous lives unlike the others thus making you more powerful and your aura is dominating than others. You will understand this better when you will learn from the council. "
" Instead of resolving my doubt and question, it is increasing a lot," Nina exclaimed. Speaking the same feeling I have right now.
How could I be powerful since I am foolish to follow others' opinions rather than my own, my previous toxic relationship is a huge example.
"What made you this angry? Disha" Haniya ask while turning over to face me better.
"I want revenge on Sebastian and punish him for his crimes," I spoke in full determination. Surprising everyone in the car and Haniya said "damn " followed by Yasmin " Are you, Disha Singh, right?"
Which I gave both of my sisters pissed off faces to shut them up. And it was expected from them since I am most forgiving, tries to avoid troubles.
But I am deeply in trauma from what Sebastian did and ever since I am having nightmares from my worst memories. Especially, he is the reason for this fire inside of me burning with rage and it will only go away from burning him into ashes.
" Disha, you are doing it again," Asha spoke interrupting my thoughts.
" Sorry," I apologise as there was nothing else to say.
" No need to apologise, Disha. Newly sifted werewolves have difficulties controlling their aura but you will learn. " Edward said.
" So, is there any other question to say? " Edward continue, changing the tense atmosphere in the car caused by me.
" Edward, according to my prediction I got to know you are more than a century old, is it true? If so then are we going to have a longer life than humans?" Nina inquired.
" Both of them are yes. Werewolves age slower than humans do, especially the high ranked wolves." Edward reply.
" So how old are you then? " Haniya ask in an astonishing tone when she realises Edward is more than a century old.
" 198 years old, sweetheart" Edward replies in a matter of fact tone while gazing towards Haniya waiting for her reaction. Haniya's reaction matches with our ones as all of our eyes widen with this information.
" You were born in 1824? " Nina screamed and continue "No doubt you are controlling. No offence" Which made Edward chuckle as if Nina spoke a joke rather than insulting him.
" Well, Nina you should meet my father and older brothers who are way more controlling and dominating than I am," Edward says back to Nina.
" Yasmin, if I am not wrong, even you can predict the future right? " Edward said in a curious tone.
" Yea but mine are from the dreams I have. " Yasmin responded.
" So what was your recent prediction then, was it relating to me because you are giving a knowing expression towards me that's driving my wolf crazy," Edward spoke in an authoritative tone making Yasmin intimated and no choice to answer his question.
" I saw you getting raped by a girl," Yasmin replies instantly which cause Haniya to turn red with rage.
" YOU SAW WHAT? " Haniya screamed but her voice was animalistic. Along with giving an aura of fury to annihilate whatever she sees.
Edward rapidly holds her hand and spoke in a conforming tone.
" Sweetheart, look at me okay. Keep your eyes on my face and listen I am yours and yours only. That girl is already punished for her action and will never bother us again, my love." This helped to calm Haniya down.
" How was I able to detain Haniya's aura and what it wanted to do." I thought myself.
"As Edward said, you are the Queen of sun-shinner wolves this gives to powers that no other wolves can possess," Halona answers my question.
" Halona, I don't know what to say. A lot of happening and the questions are endless, how will I ever have my old life back? I want a simple life where I just started to focus on my business and trying improve my life for the better." I share my feeling that I was bottling up since I found out I am a werewolf.
" Only the time can answer that," Halona says and just vanish, what?.
" We are here" Edward announced.
All of us got out of the car and a valet took the car to park. Edward guide us through the route leading to the rooftop of the building, the view is remarkable as the view of the city is shown. Edward heads toward a table where three people are seated and looked at us when we approach them.
" These are my cousin Charle, Charlotte and Elizabeth. This is my mate Haniya and her sisters Disha and Yasmin. Asha and Nina are cousins and Roshini is a friend. " Edward introduced us, Charlotte and Elizabeth are identical twins, the only difference between them is their eye colour. Elizabeth has blue as an ocean and Charlotte has black eyes. The three of them have similar facial features concluding me to think they are siblings.
Charlotte quickly hugs Haniya and said, " I thought it was a joke when Edward told me he found his mate. I can't believe he is the first one to find amongst us. It's going to be fun with you around."
" Congratulations man, you already marked her. I didn't expect it to be quick." Charle spoke to Edward while patting his shoulder. He has no idea, how quickly Edward jumped on my sister and bite her as she was some meat.
What the hell is wrong with me, I thought to be less Judgemental toward him.
"Leopard doesn't change its spot." Halona tease me for being over judgemental which I ignore.
" Well, you guys have fun. Haniya and I will go to our table." Edward spoke and puts his hand on Haniya's waist, taking her away from us. Haniya is definitely in shock at the quick move Edward did otherwise she won't go without a fight.
" Looks like the love birds need privacy." Charle cracks a joke to divert our attention from Haniya.
All of us sat down, Yasmin is sitting between Nina and Roshini. I took the corner seat next to Elizabeth while Asha sat in the head place.
" So were you girls always been in America?" Charles inquiry.
" We came to America for a girl's trip for a month but now we have no idea how long we will be saying." Roshini answer.
" I guess it may take years since you have to train, learn how the werewolf community works." Elizabeth gives her view on the subject.
" That's may not be possible. We can't stay for years, we have our business in India. Isn't there an Indian council?" I was drained to even think to stay more than a year. Saying our business was an excuse, the real reason is our family. They are not that open-minded and have become more protective since Nina's incident.
" Yes, there is an Indian Council but it doesn't have werewolves pack much since its majority is the serpent den or Kitsunes," Charlotte spoke.
Well, that makes sense as Indian mythology explains the existence of the serpent. They are a strong, handsome species that can assume either wholly human or wholly serpentine form and are potentially dangerous. And they live in an underground kingdom called Naga-Loka, or Patala-Loka, which is filled with resplendent palaces, beautifully ornamented with precious gems. Also, not forget the movies and series inspired by them, thinking about it Ekta Kapoor help me to understand the serpent-shifter better than my school did.
"Do serpents associated with humans? As I learn they prefer to live separately away from humans" I asked.
" That's true, serpent doesn't associate with humans unless there is a reason it's something about their history, you will learn later," Charle replied.
"So, what do you guys do? " Roshini asked making a normal conversation like humans do.
" Charlotte and I are doing our degree and Charle work for the council like Edward," Elizabeth replies.
" Which degree? " Yasmin asked.
" I am doing child psychology and Charlotte is doing finance," Elizabeth responded.
" Charle what do you for council?" Nina asked.
" Council is like a government which supervise supernatural activities and I am royalty, my rank is higher than them. I supervise council actions towards packs who are responsible for illegal or wrongdoings." Charle explains his work in a slow, calm matter making it easy for us to understand.
" When will the waiter come with the menu, I am starving," Asha scowled.
" Tonight, you ladies will have my restaurant specialises meals. It will take five more minutes, to be served," Charles explained.
" What are those then?" Asha said in interest.
" Risotto, our restaurant makes Traditional risotto which is made with the Italian short-grained Arborio rice, which has a higher starch content than other kinds of rice, giving it a toothsome, creamy texture when cooked. That creamy starchiness is a must when it comes to our mushroom risotto.
Then we have Grilled Prosciutto di Parma and Tomato Sandwich. And I promise this simple mix of flavours will have you hooked. This is the most delicious sandwich on the face of the earth, presently," Charles said in an enthusiastic tone, looks like Asha found one of the foodies to talk with tonight.
And they started to discuss Italian cuisine, along with the traditional method and the modern method of cooking them. Normally, I could have engaged in the conversation but I don't feel the same as before so I turn my attention towards others.
Charlotte and Nina are having a conversation about finance. Elizabeth, Yasmin and Roshini are talking about child behaviour as Yasmin is planning to teach less-privileged children with the help of an NGO and Roshini is sharing her thoughts and opinions on Child labour while Elizabeth is telling the impact on a child that goes through such a situation.
I am suddenly feeling lonely.
" You are not alone, I am with you for the rest of your life, " Halona said happily.
" Thanks for not leaving me alone. For the past few months, I am feeling incomplete like I am missing a piece of my body or soul as if I can tell," I laugh at the end of my failed joke.
" You are feeling this because you haven't met your mate. They will fulfil the missing part and make feel safe, happy as no one else will," Halona said.
" How do you know I haven't met my mate yet, what if I already did and ignored him," I question her in return I felt her blow me off in annoyance. Looks like she didn't like the thought of ignoring the mate.
Soulmates exist then the story of Adam and Eve is true? where Eve was created by Adam's rib making them be 'The one' for each other. Then is it true that I am fated to be with my soulmate for seven lives, no matter what happens he and I will still together facing all the trouble with our love and support?
" I love that thinking of yours. Living with a mate will change our life for the better, this will fulfil our purpose," Halona spokes.
" Wait, fulfil our purpose by saying a WolfQueen. Damn girl, you are a narrow-minded wolf, this is the 21st century we can have other purposes than being with our mate." I said in a teasing tone. But Halona took it seriously and roared at me then left me all alone again.
'No matter what I will be left alone,
no matter what people say I will be left alone.
I came alone,
I continue to be alone,
I will die alone.'
I suddenly feel the poem Nina recited when she was going through a tough time. During that time, I felt bad for her and tried to conform to her no matter what family stuck forever but now I feel every single word. Right now, I am in an amazing restaurant surrounded by people I am close with but I feel out of place. This feeling is turning me into my old self, for whom I am running away.
" Please, don't think such negative thoughts," Halona plead.
" Disha, tell me something about your bakery," Charles interrupt my negative thoughts.
" Well, I sell western sweets like cakes, pastries, cookies and other baked items as I was always been fond of baking since I was a child," I answered him.
"I will like to try them." He said, I gave a polite smile and responded " Sure".
Then our meals arrive, smelling divine oh god I can't wait to eat it up. Waiters serve Asha, me, Charles, Roshini, Yasmin, Nina, Elizabeth and Charlotte. I took a bite of risotto and it was wonderful as it had the perfect balance of creamy texture and taste of mushroom. I ravished it within minutes like a starving beast then I move into my Grilled Prosciutto di Parma and Tomato Sandwich and like Charles promised it had hooked me up, it was flavorful, saucy and I can't find more words to describe the flavour.
"The meals are amazing Charles, thank you for this. It's huge stress relief for me," Asha exclaimed.
" I am glad you like it. It's one of the secret recipes that I learned during my visit to Italy that was the colonial period.
My eyes widen when he mentioned that, I get it werewolves age slowly and live a longer life but their appearance keeps on deceiving me.
When all of us finish our meals, the waiter arrives with dessert, my stress relief.
"This is classic tiramisu, that's lemon and yoghurt semifreddo, last but not least my favourite zeppole." Charles names the desserts when the waiter serves them to us.
These were as amazing as our meal. I guess these are made from the traditional method or ancient recipe. Instead of ravishing, I enjoyed every single bite. With each bite, the negativity inside me vanish away as if it had never been there. Thus, making me happy, free, peaceful for the first time in months.
" I just got mindlink from Edward, I have to drop you, ladies, at the apartment as he and Haniya are busy right now," Charles said with a charming smile.
" Mindlink?" Roshini said in curious.
" Mindlink is when you can talk through your mind, only with your packmates. Since we all are royalty then we can mindlink anyone regardless of their packs", Elizabeth explained answering my unspoke question since the morning.
" So that's what you call it. We kinda did it unintendedly and were shocked as hell." Nina said loudly, clearly high on sugar from desserts.
" Well, that's a start," Charlotte said while giggling. Her giggles are enticing making all of us laugh with her.
Later, we said goodbye to Elizabeth and Charlotte who went by their sports car.
Then the valet brought Charles's car, Nina sat in the passager seat while the rest of us seated back.
" Charles, can you tell me more about the ranking system in werewolves," Nina inquiry.
" Okay, let me explain about the ranking in a pack. Alphas are the leaders and their mates are called Luna, together they control the pack. Then comes second in command which means Beta and their mates are called Beta females, followed by Gamma and Delta. Gamma is the protector of the pack, you can say they are guards with the highest order and lead the battle with the order of alpha. And Delta is third in command and supervise Epsilon. Who are guardians of the pack and what makes them guardians is because they are previously ranked werewolves. Then we have Zeta a war general in the pack, they work mostly with Epsilon and Gamma. Later, we have Iota who are medics and there is Kappa, hunters who hunt for the pack and oversee their healthy diet. Lastly, we have omega the lowest rank and they are responsible for chores because they are weak but at times alpha rank newly wolf omega if they have doubt or need time to see which rank they can be promoted to. Not everyone in the pack is ranked, there are no ranked ones who live their lives. There is a werewolf who doesn't prefer to stay in the pack are called Sigma, they are equal to Alpha as they are independent, self-sufficient and confident. Royal werewolves and descendants of Lunar Wolf are the highest ranks of all. There are Rogues, who don't belong in a pack but live in wild, most of them are evil intended. I hope I perfectly summarised the hierarchy of werewolves to you ladies." Charles explained, there are many ranks therefore I felt a rocket going over my head.
" Hopefully, you may properly understand when council teaches you," Charles proceeded.
Hopefully, they show a diagram illustrating the ranking that will improve my understanding.