Chapter 21.
Chapter21
Ziana’s POV
As soon as I walk through the door I turn right. Kal is hot on my heels.
“Is everything okay?” He asks, concern lacing his voice.
“Everything is fine. I’m just tired of talking.” I say and he nods.
“So.. she didn’t let you leave early?” He asks and I raise one eyebrow towards him.
“What do you think?” I ask and he huffs
“I think you just left.” He says and I nod. We walk in silence, my thoughts running all over in my head. I just need a minute to not think, to help people that I have hurt.
“Let me do the initial talking.” Kai says as we approach a large building. It’s 3 stories with cream colored siding and dark blue shutters. There are flowers surrounding the front and on the side I can see a playground surrounded by a large fence. The orphanage is behind the market, but opens up into a nicer housing area.
My attention turns to the door when Kai knocks on it. After a few moments it swings open to reveal a woman around my age. She has strawberry blonde hair, green eyes and a kind face.
“Gamma?!” She says in surprise the bows her head.
“Marissa! I hope you are doing well today. I was giving our new Luna a tour and she wanted to come and see the orphanage. Would you mind if we came in?” Kai says politely. Her green eyes meet mine, and they widen
in surprise.
“L. Luna?” She asks and I smile. Hopefully it looks genuine and not like I’m cringing in disgust.
“Ziana. You can call me Ziana.” I say, stretching my hand out for a hand shake. The movement pulls her out
of her stunned state and she shake my hand.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Marissa, the head of the orphanage.” She says and I nod politely.
“It’s lovely to meet you Marissa. Would you mind if we came in? I would love to meet the children.” I say and she nods, hesitantly.
“Y. Yes. Of course.” She says and turns around, letting us enter the home.
Walking in the foyer, I look around.
“To our left is the crafts room.” She says, guiding us to the room. We walked into the spacious room. There is
an archway connecting that we make our way to. She opens the doors and reveals a game room.
“This is our game room. There are board games, card games, tabletop games, there is also two small TV’s for video games.” She says, pointing throughout the room. Next we turn right, leading to the main hallway, to the left is the kitchen, going straight is the dinning room. We walk into the dining room to reveal that it is the
same size as the craft and gameroom. The table can sit at least 25 people.
“This is the dining room.” She says walking through and hooking right to bring us back to the foyer.
“How many children are here?” I ask and a mixture of sadness and love enter her eyes.
“19.” She pauses. “After the attack 11 years ago this orphanage was built. Since we had more children, we
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needed a bigger building. I took over two years ago after I graduated. I do have 2 pups here as well. She explains, making me feel the guilt. I did that. I put these kids here, and took their parents away. She then points to the stairs.
“Upstairs are all of the rooms. If we go down the hallway, to the right are two bathrooms and the door for
downstairs.
“Downstairs is where all the kids are currently. It is the classroom for homework and tutoring.” She explains and I nod. “The homework hour is almost up, if you would like I can introduce you to them. They would love to meet you and to have a reason to end the study hour early.” She says, ending with a chuckle.
“I would love to meet them. Thank you.” I say genuinely. We make our way down the hall and she opens the door. We walk down the stairs and I am surprised to only hear a few voices. When we reach the bottom of the stairs it opens into a large classroom looking area. There are desks and tables, chalkboards and computers. There are also cubbies with bookbags, and whatever else the kids want to put in there. All the kids look up and eye us curiously. I take in their ages, ranging from ages 5 to 17. Three quarters of them seem to be older
than 10.
“Everyone, this is Luna Ziana. Please stand up one by one and introduce yourselves. Say your name, age, and your favorite activity.” Marissa says. The younger kids jump excitedly and some of the older kids roll their
eyes.
One by one they all stand up and introduce themselves. There are 6 children who are 10 and under, 5 who are under 15 and the rest are 15 through 17.
“It is very nice to meet you all. You can call me Ziana. I am 19, and I like to bake.” I include myself in their introductions and some of them smile.
“Alright everyone. It’s free time. Luna Ziana and Gamma Kai will be here for a little bit. Feel free to include her on your fun.” She says clapping. All the smaller kids just begin rushing to put their homework and supplies away. The older kids take their time. The kids run past me and head upstairs.
“Luna. Do you wanna play princess and knights with us?” A little girl asks, while tugging on my hand to get my attention. I recognize her as Chelsea, the 6 year old who likes playing outside.
“Sure! But you will have to explain how to play to me.” I say and her face lights up and she begins tugging me towards the stairs.
I play outside with the children for a few hours. We played princess and knights, tag, hide and seek. Kai ended up throwing a football with some of the older kids. Currently, I am helping Marissa in placing the dinner table for the kids. They are all getting cleaned up.
“Are you staying for dinner, Luna?” Marissa asks and I cringe at the name.
“Please call me Ziana.” I say and she shakes her head.
“I cannot. I am an example for the children. Calling you by your first name is too formal. Alpha isn’t a far f informalities.” Marissa explains and I scrunch my brows in confusion.
“Informal? What about personable, or relatable?” I ask and her eyes become wary.
“Respectful?” She asks and I sigh.
“Fine. Is this something that I can expect from the whole pack?” I ask and she nods apologetically.
Chapter21
“Yes.” She affirms and i grumble and she chuckles,
“Ziana. We need to head back.” Kai says, entering the dining room with a pot of green beans.
“I would like to stay for dinner. Marissa was kind enough to extend an invite” I say and Kai cringes, then brings a hand up to scratch the back of his neck.
“Well. Uh. We can’t today. Maybe next time?” He asks and I narrow my eyes at him. “Alpha needs us back as soon as possible.” He explains and I roll my eyes,
“Of course he does.” I grumble and turn towards Marissa.
“Thank you for the invite, Marissa, I will take a raincheck. I’ll say my goodbyes to the children then head out” I say and turn to make my way upstairs.
“We don’t have time for goodbyes. We need to leave now.” Kai says, making his way towards me. I huff in exasperation.
“Marissa, please give the children my apologies.” I say, turning back towards her and she nods empathetically.
“Of course, Luna. Have a good night.” She says and Kai grabs my shoulder and transports me to the foyer of the packhouse. As soon as we appear, I pull from his grasp.
“What the hell?” I hissed. He only looks slightly dejected.
“Your mother is here.” He says. I feel the blood drain from my face. Sh*t.
“You would have known that if you didn’t turn off the mindlink.” Killian’s deep, rugged voice says from behind me. I turn and glare at him.
To be quite honest, I forgot that we had a mindlink since they marked me. I don’t have one with the pack yet, because I haven’t been formally transferred. I am kind of in limbo. Since they marked me, I am not a part of the royal pack, either.
Zane walks down the stairs eyeing me warily.
“She is waiting in Kill’s office.” He says. I turn toward the stairs and begin to make my way up. Better to get this over with as soon as possible. Killian and Zane follow closely behind me. Once we reach the door, I turn around.
“You two may want to stay here.” I say and they eye me, crossing their arms over their chest.
“We’re coming with you.” Killian says, in a nonnegotiable voice.
“Your funeral.” I say and shrug, turning towards the door and walking in.
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