Page 27 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
AUDREY
Once I’d finished breakfast, Bishop led me back to the grand staircase and out the front doors into a wide, open courtyard. An intricate bricked driveway — that may not have been an actual driveway in this world since I had no idea if they had cars here — led from the gate at the far end to the main steps of the house. It curled around a fountain with two enormous wolves on either side of a woman pouring water from a large urn and was edged with well-maintained gardens. Beyond stood the tall stone wall I’d seen yesterday and the stone buildings clustered together.
“This is the alpha’s residence,” Bishop said, turning and gesturing to the castle.
I turned with him, taking in the impressive structure with its grand front entrance and two distinct wings. Somewhere behind the large building was the kitchen’s back door, the herb garden, private grove, and Whil’s cottage. And looming above it all, stood a snow-topped mountain range as impressive as the mountains in Oregon.
Then Bishop led me beyond the wall protecting the alpha’s residence into Old Town which was a collection of old stone buildings crowded close together creating a warren of alleys and nooks and small hidden gardens clustered within another stone wall that was thicker and higher than the wall around the alpha’s residence.
It would have been gloomy and claustrophobic if it wasn’t for the myriad flower boxes on window ledges and balconies blooming with a cacophony of colors.
Beyond Old Town lay New Town and as we walked down the main street leading away from Old Town’s gate it was like traveling forward through time. The farther we walked, the wider the road grew and the newer the buildings looked. The side streets also grew wider, more like the streets I was used to, and while stone was still the predominant construction material, the blocks grew smaller and more precise in size like bricks. The brickwork also grew more fanciful with decorative ornamentations and there was more variety in the architectural styles.
There were more people in the newer part of town going about their business like it was a normal town, and if I didn’t pay too much attention to the fact that there weren’t any cars but hand-drawn carts and bicycles instead, I could pretend I was in any town in my realm. They had indoor plumbing and lights that seemed to work like in my realm, but with the town on the edge of the mountain with various slopes and stairs and winding paths, motorized vehicles weren’t practical so the fact that I didn’t see any cars didn’t mean there weren’t any in this realm.
Just like Nova and Velora, many of the women on the street wore the same backless dress I did and some of the men wore wraps like Deacon, suggesting that whatever their job was, they shifted frequently. But there were also people, both men and women, wearing clothes like Cyrus and Bishop did: pants and loose shirt which was a good sign that I’d be able to find something that covered more of me.
We wandered down to a large market on the edge of town, which I could hear from a few blocks away before we’d even rounded the corner of what looked to be a low, long warehouse. The market was filled with people talking and laughing and shopping. They were predominantly wolf shifters but there were humans and other shifters — who I could tell were shifters from their essence but not what kind — along with a few people with lizard-like features with human-like essences.
The space was packed with permanent and temporary stalls, tents, and horse-drawn carts, creating maze-like pathways almost as narrow as the “streets” in Old Town, and my nose was assaulted by a dizzying array of scents from various foods and wood smoke to people and animals.
“You’re lucky you showed up in the summer,” Bishop said. “The market isn’t nearly as fun in the winter.”
“This is incredible.” I stopped at a permanent vendor’s stall. It was a good-sized shed with a garage-style door that was opened all the way, revealing bins and shelves packed with books.
“A woman after my own heart,” Bishop said, flashing me another one of those smiles that made my pulse skip. “Do you like to read?”
“A little.” I hadn’t had a lot of time to read. Merrick and Sterling had kept me busy cooking and cleaning for them, and I hadn’t had a lot of money, since my cooking and cleaning were considered payment for living with them and my father had died with very little money and no property.
I ran my fingers over the spines in the closest bin but was unable to read any of the titles. “But it doesn’t look like I’m going to be reading anything here,” I added.
“I could borrow some primers from the school and teach you,” he offered.
“That’s still going to take a while, and I’m pretty sure you have better things to do with your time.” Of course, if this realm was going to be my new home — and given that Cyrus hadn’t initially believed I was from a different realm, indicating it didn’t look good that Whil would be able to open a portal and send me home — I was going to need to learn things and being literate could help me find a job in this pack that didn’t involve housecleaning. Except?—
“If the books aren’t in English, how are you speaking English?” I asked. There hadn’t even been a moment with Cyrus where he spoke a different language then realized I didn’t understand and switched.
“We’re not,” Bishop replied. “Well, you probably are. I asked Whil about that yesterday since you seemed to understand us right away.”
“Let me guess. It has something to do with magic,” I replied.
“Pretty much,” Bishop said. “According to Whil all portals to our realm, permanent and temporary ones like the one you came through, have a sort of communication magic on them that enspells whoever passes through so they understand the language of whatever realm they’re entering. But it’s only for speech, which is why you can’t read anything.”
“Well, that’s convenient.” I picked up a colorful child’s picture book and admired the art but still couldn’t guess what was written beside the pictures.
“Your realm, along with a few others, and our realm used to be closely connected. The greater beings in our realm used to be worshiped as gods in the other realms.”
“Used to be?” I put the picture book back and searched for a book for even younger children, one that might be like the reading primer Bishop had mentioned just to see if I could figure anything out.
“They might still be,” he said. “But they haven’t left our realm in a thousand years. A sleeping curse infected all of them, and the leaders of the other realms sealed off all the portals afraid that the curse would travel and infect the other realms.”
“But if the portals were sealed, how did I get here?” I put the book back and looked at Bishop. “And if this realm has a sleeping curse on it, why is everyone still awake?”
“We’re not entirely sure how you got here, although Whil has a theory,” Bishop replied as we wandered away from the book vendor and headed to the next vendor over, a large red tent with a swirling gold pattern on it. “And only the greater beings were affected by the curse. But the leaders in the other realms didn’t know that at the time and now Whil has no way of telling them that it’s safe to reopen the portals.”
“So Whil has been unable to return to Faerie for a thousand years?” And given that I hadn’t seen any other fae it was probably a good guess that there weren’t other fae here, or fae she was close to.
Was she homesick? Would I become homesick even though I had no one to return to?
I didn’t think so. Sure, I’d miss Mila, but she had a mate and was happy, and being here was a lot better than being there.
I drew in a deep breath, savoring all the competing scents. I still wasn’t certain about Bishop and Cyrus, and I certainly wasn’t certain about my unwanted mate, but I still felt freer than I ever had before.
With a skip in my step, I hurried to the red tent and reached to pull back the flap.
“Ah, Audrey,” Bishop said, “You might want?—"
I stepped through the flap and froze. It was filled with lingerie of all shapes and sizes and colors in silky fabrics and see-through fabric and?—
Desire surged through me, making the young woman minding the tent sniff and give me a knowing smile.
“Not this one,” I said, turning and trying to push Bishop back before he could enter, my face on fire.
“You sure?” he said, his eyes bright with mischief. “Every woman needs a few nice things to make her feel sexy.”
“Feeling sexy isn’t my problem.” Or at least, feeling like I needed sex wasn’t. “Besides, what would I do with them? I’m trying to get rid of a mate, not win one,” I whispered, praying I was only loud enough for Bishop to hear.
“But not forever,” he whispered back.