Carlos was present. Conversely, he would adhere to that standard; his gaze would remain fixed, even in the presence of a procession of naked women or she-wolves passing behind Stella. He was indifferent to that; his sole focus was on one individual, his Mate, Stella.
It must be pleasant to possess that. She exhaled softly as discomfort briefly affected her. She would remain unaware; the Mate Bond was solely a source of anguish for her. That profoundly devastated her and disassembled her emotionally. Condemned as she was. However, she would not deny her friend the opportunity to feel loved and valued, and Carlos would fulfil that role, providing her with everything she desired if Stella permitted him access.
Brianna recognised that she would likely lose Stella eventually; it was merely a matter of time, she presumed. She was uncertain about how to address that situation. Or even if she could find happiness in it. Disregarding her destination.
She was about to lose her sole genuine friend to a place that had inflicted upon her nothing but suffering and distress.
She idly contemplated whether she could secure a promise from Stella to refrain from disclosing any information about Logan. It would be challenging for her to accomplish. Particularly after her initiation into the Pack and subsequent transformation, she would truly comprehend the bond that wolves share with their progeny and Mates.
Brianna was resolute in not overturning her life; she had relinquished all that anguish and suffering, departing from pack life for a compelling reason. No individual or circumstance would compel her to return, merely to witness the happiness and affection of mated wolves. She refused to be subjected to the perpetual reminder of what she could never attain.
She unequivocally wished to avoid wolves, neither desiring nor requiring the encounter with another Mate who would fail to recognise her scent, thereby inflicting upon her the anguish and torment that she could not conceal from Logan; there was no possibility he would remain oblivious to her suffering, nor could he bear to witness her decline into illness once more. No, she was now human and would remain so.
They all consumed breakfast, and Stella contacted the realtor regarding her apartment, expressing concern about the expenses Brianna was incurring for this suite. Brianna was not concerned; it was merely money, of which she possessed an abundance, and Stella was aware of this fact as well. She did not indiscriminately spend the money; primarily, she purchased items for Logan or took him on vacations, while the remainder remained in the bank.
Brianna lacked material possessions during her upbringing in that Pack, with no one to provide her with new clothing, toys, or even a computer to assist with her academic endeavours as she matured. She had recently acquired the skill to utilise the pack-house laundry at night for her personal laundry, employing the lost and found bins and donated clothing racks to procure garments that suited her. She consumed three meals daily in the pack-house dining room, as all wolves were capable of doing; no one acknowledged her actions, nor did anyone observe her presence.
She utilised the pack-house library computers and their Wi-Fi to maintain her academic progress. She would trim her hair when it became too lengthy and bothersome, typically spending her days indoors at her parents’ house, primarily missing them. One day, she returned home from school to discover that it had been entirely cleared out and was completely vacant.
At that time, she was 11 years old and did not comprehend it at all. Uncertain of her living arrangements outside her family home, she resided in the pack-house basement, where she discovered some of her parents’ furniture, allowing her to maintain a sense of proximity to them. It was a location where the pack accumulated discarded items until the annual clean-out day, or when others visited to assess the items for potential acquisition.
She remained in the basement until she experienced the initial pang of betrayal and subsequently discovered the forsaken cabin while attempting to evade the anguish. The location was unremarkable, yet it was situated deep within the forest, far from anyone who might hear her cries of anguish and suffering.
That was her residence following her eighteenth birthday.
Having acclimated to solitude long before reaching 18, she found living alone in the woods pleasant when not engrossed in her work. No one disturbed her in that location; no one confronted her for not vacating the area. Consequently, she organised the space meticulously, installed curtains for seclusion, and successfully transported a mattress from the pack-house basement to the cabin for sleeping purposes.
It was uncomplicated and rudimentary, and if anyone were to enter, they would not perceive her presence. Over the years, she had observed unauthorised assaults from that cabin; none had sensed her presence as they stealthily approached, nor had any targeted her, similarly oblivious to her, just like the rest of this pack.
She had even been the one to report a rogue or several sneaking about the pack woods, had alerted the Pack Beta Luca, never the Alpha himself. She was unable to tolerate the man’s voice in her mind. Luca had consistently regarded her with seriousness, advising her to seek refuge and conceal herself if she was unable to reach the pack-house.
Given her gender and the fact that she was reporting rogues in a densely wooded area of the pack, she surmised that he was likely concerned for her safety, fearing that the rogues might discover her and pose a threat to her well-being. They were unable to possess what they could not perceive, and they never detected her presence, much like the pack did not. She harboured no fear of them; instead, she remained completely motionless and allowed them to proceed, and now she had become one of them.
