Moon Bound - PART I & II - (Book 1 in the Original ROYAL HOWLERS Duology) ✔

T W E N T Y - S E V E N ~ Lucky Charms Marshmallows

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Octavia frowned at the knocking on the front door. She looked up, turning to stare over her shoulder until the knocking started up again. Pursing her mouth to the side, her hand placed down the small bowl of potatoes that she'd just cut up.

The knocking seemed a bit more persistent this time, which made Octavia quicken her steps. Once she opened the door, however, she was surprised to see who was there. 

"Giselle, dear..." 

Octavia quickly eyed the young she-wolf up and down before frowning, "What can I do for you?"

The way Giselle's hands were clasped tightly in front of her, twisting slightly, showed nervousness... perhaps discomfort. 

Octavia wondered if perhaps such discomfort came from the mother knowing what this young woman came to her son for. Her nose scrunched a little, remembering how inappropriate it was for Giselle Forstein to sneak into her home to sleep with her son before running back to that other young man, Jacob.

It was obvious that, as a mother, Octavia felt protective of her son. She didn't want him to be used as Giselle had done. Octavia knew that with a title as Sebastian's, many would play a two-faced part in his life. It would be difficult for him to know who was genuine and who was just using him for who he was. 

That's how Octavia felt now as Giselle stared back at her and the she-wolf swallowed hard, her bottom lip trembling slightly. Her green eyes teared up a bit and the mother lowered a brow at the she-wolf's odd behavior. 

"Are you alright?" the mother asked, suddenly seeing how Giselle looked to be on the verge of being distraught. 

Giselle swallowed again, looking down for a moment before raising a hand to swipe at her tears. She then looked up to smile weakly at the mother.

"Mrs. Balthasar..." Giselle's nose scrunched in her wince, raising her shoulders. Glancing up at the woman, she softly asked, "Is... Is Sebastian home?"

For two months now, whenever Giselle tried to find Sebastian around the community, he was nowhere to be found. She would look everywhere too. There wasn't a place that she didn't know where Sebastian would run off to be on his own. That was because he showed her all of his hidden places. He trusted her enough to do so. 

But then Giselle discovered---weeks ago in the middle of her search for Sebastian---as she was walking past Sebastian's mother being handed a basket of vegetables, that Sebastian had gone into the town. Giselle frowned as she acted as though she wasn't eavesdropping by hiding behind the wall near by. 

"And he's gone alone?" Mrs. Cavanaugh, one of the older community members, asked with worry. 

Octavia sighed, giving a small smile while shaking her head that Sebastian was actually accompanying his younger cousin, Micah, to the town. 

"While Micah studies in the town for school, my son watches over him. It was the only way to get Valor to agree to letting Micah back to the town in the first place. That was my nephew's condition--- that Sebastian was to accompany him." 

Giselle then frowned, now understanding why Sebastian was so difficult to find all these weeks. And every day she'd wander to the alpha's home in search of Micah; for if he was absent then Sebastian would be too. 

A few times, Abigail caught her. 

The first time she was leaning against the side of the house with her arms crossed, her brows raised as she watched Giselle being creepy. The younger she-wolf then leaned forward and cried, "Hey, Giselle!" which startled the older girl and made her cry out.