Wolf Sprite
TWENTY-FIVE. The Observatory

POV - Elijah

“King Dorian has asked for a meeting with Lillia,” Alpha Brent tells me the next day. I nod. King Dorian left the dining hall angry yesterday after Lillia mentioned having a twin. I know he wants details, as does Brent. I want to know why Lillia, a wolf of alpha blood, is so submissive. I would have been an omega of my pack, being second born, but by how Lillia acts, it’s as if she’s had her spirit crushed. I’d like to know why as well.

I make my way to the Alpha’s office the next day to start work. The meeting is at ten, giving me time to turn on the computer and continue my paperwork. I’m slowly taking over the pack’s business, getting to know the workings of the pack and the responsibilities of an Alpha. It occurs to me, however, that Lillia’s mother should be the next Alpha, not me. If Lillia is my mate, I’ll possibly take over anyway, but I guess I’m just holding on to the role until Aviary gets better.

Beta Liam and Beta Danni arrive as I work. They’re a little younger than my parents but treat me respectfully despite our age differences. Lillia would be Alpha, with their son, Preston, becoming her Beta, I guess.

“I brought you a coffee and a doughnut,” Danni smiles, putting both on my table.

“Thank you, I skipped breakfast,” I admit. Danni smiles, pleased with herself, and Liam looks at her adoringly. That’s what I want when I replace my mate. A partner who looks after others and not just herself, someone I can love for doing this.

- Lillia is – Blaze begins to chastise me.

- Yeah yeah. We’ll see – I reply, cutting him off.

I save my work on the computer and put it to sleep before replaceing a spot on the couch with Beta Liam and Danni.

Alpha Brent walks in with Lillia, and they sit on the armchairs opposite each other. Lillia is nervous, shuffling in her seat, making Brent chuckle. Brent attempts to introduce Lillia to Danni and Liam, and I’m not surprised when Danni tells him they’ve met. Danni has taken on the role of Luna regarding pack members, ensuring everything is okay and checking in on them.

“Oh, and she’s filled you in on the… history… of the pack….” Alpha Brent stutters. I know this is a complex subject for Brent. It’s not widely known outside of the pack why Aviary disappeared. I didn’t replace out until he and the Beta’s sat with me a week after I arrived. The pack doesn’t talk about it, as it’s a story of shame on their part for not intervening. I believe that if King Dorian had not had close ties with Alpha Brent, he would have lost his alphaship because of it.

“She told me some things about Mum, Luna Hailey and my dad,” Lillia says.

“She needed to know, Brent,” Danni states. Brent begins to apologise to Lillia when King Dorian walks in.

“I’m sorry I’m late; what did I miss?” He asks as he walks in, grabbing a seat to sit on.

“Celsitinem Tuam,” we all say, standing up and giving King Dorian a bow. When he arrived, Alpha Brent and the Beta’s informed me who Dorian was and how to behave around him. I learned that the pack knew of Dorian as a Major of the Elite Fairy Guard and that it was not widely known that he was actually the Fairy King.

“Danni filled Lillia in on when Aviary went missing,” I tell him. Dorian turns and looks at Lillia.

“Oh… good,” he says, sounding hesitant, the news she knows obviously still hard for him to contend with.

Brent begins the conversation by asking Lillia about the pack she came from, Urban Wolves. I haven’t heard of the pack, but then, I’m more familiar with packs from my own state. Urban Wolves is a very small pack, from what Lillia was saying. They are kept afloat financially by the shops and buildings they own.

I link Brent and tell him we’ll have to investigate Urban Wolves and their Alpha some more, and he agrees.

King Dorian asks about Aviary, and I feel the fury coming from Brent and him when she explains Aviary’s role in the pack. The fact that Aviary was made to do two jobs and that Lillia had to work to supplement their income upsets me. I’m already thinking ahead about reporting them about omega abuse. Pack members should not have to work two jobs to support themselves. A pack is a family, a group of people living and working together toward a common goal- living.

I also want to replace out how much Aviary owes Urban Wolves and make a mental note to investigate that too.

Lillia makes a face when King Dorian asks her about her childhood. I eagerly await her reaction as a memory sweeps over her face.

“No. I can’t remember my childhood,” Lillia states. But I can tell there’s more to it. There’s some hidden trauma that she doesn’t want to share.

“I think that will be enough for today,” Brent smiles at Lillia. You can see her physically relax at that statement.

“Thank you, Lillia. We need to talk

for a bit, but I’ll meet you later in the dining hall unless you’re going to see your mum?” King Dorian asks.

“Thanks,” Lillia smiles. She stands, and we all say goodbye, watching as she leaves the office.

“She lied,” King Dorian states, his face dropping the mask as soon as Lillia walks out of the office. I nod in agreement.

“I’ll have Liam investigate the pack,” Brent says, looking at Liam, who nods.

“We’ll need to report them to the council. I think there’s a huge abuse of power there,” I add.

“Yes, I agree, Elijah. Dorian, how is Aviary?” Brent then asks.

“I’m just going to check on something….” I begin, excusing myself and walking out of the office. I follow the fresh scent of flowers, which I also need to identify because, man, I could smell that every day.

I see Lillia ahead, walking with her head down. I quicken my pace.

“Lillia!” I call out, making her stop. I smile at that.

- She listened to us! She likes us! – Blaze cries happily. I shut him up, pushing him back into my mind.

“Hey,” I say, taking her chin and making her look into my eyes.

“Never look down at anyone; remember you are the granddaughter of an Alpha,” I tell her. I see her eyes begin to water, and it takes all of me to hold back and not pull her into a hug. I want to comfort her, protect her.

“There’s more to the story you’re not telling us, right?” I ask. She doesn’t say anything, a lone tear giving her truth away. I grab her and pull her towards me, wrapping my arms around her chest.

“I will always be here for you. You can always talk to me if you need to, Lillia. Trust me,” I tell her. She sniffles in my arms before reciprocating, her arms folding around my back.

“Thank you,” she stutters. We stand there, holding each other, getting curious looks from pack members walking past.

“Come,” I say to her. As much as I want to stay with her, her relaxed in my arms, I want to show her my special place.

I step backwards and take her wrist, pulling her along before letting go and repositioning my hand in hers. I lead her through the pack house building toward the third building, where the training rooms are. There is one room I want to take her to, one of my favourite places in the whole complex.

I lead her down hallways and across skyways to the training building. We walk upstairs and through secured doors with the words ‘Out of Bounds’ or ‘Secured Location’ written on them. I often look over my shoulder to check on Lillia, and note her taking everything in as we walk, questions wanting to burst from her lips. Finally, we get to a door with a sign that reads ‘Observatory’. Lillia has asked where we’re going, and when she reads the sign on the door, she raises her eyebrows.

“What’s an observatory?” Lillia asks.

“You really don’t know?” I ask. She shakes her head. I grin.

The door opens to another hallway which leads to black metal steps curving upwards to another level. Photos of the universe, stars, planets, constellations and maps are on each hallway wall. All are framed with heavy dark wood against the contrasting cream walls.

“Wow,” Lillia gasps as she follows me up the steps. The steps lead up to a split-level floor of a large circular room. There are two narrow floor-to-ceiling windows covered in heavy brown velvet curtains, and along the walls are floor-to-ceiling shelves of books. Around the room are floor pouffes and tripod leather camp stools for sitting, but the main attraction is the telescope sitting in the middle of the room. The telescope is a high-tech Celestron Nexstar linked to the computer on the desk against the wall. Its lens is pointed at the metal roof above our heads.

I walk over to a panel on the wall and press the top button. Slowly the roof comes to life, the tin panels shifting into each other until there is nothing above us but the sky.

“Oh my goddess, this is amazing,” Lillia grins.

“I know, right?” I smile. I grab her hand again and lead her over to a place where the floor is bare. Letting go of her hand, I sit on the floor, laying myself down to look up at the sky. I listen as Lillia joins me, smiling as she’s chosen to lie down next to me.

“Sometimes I like to come here on clear days and just look at the sky and think,” I tell her.

“At night or during the day?” Lillia asks.

“Both. It’s prettier at night, you can see some stars, but it’s colder,” I admit.

“I’d love to sleep here overnight, under the stars,” Lillia admits.

“We could do that. We can do that outside, too. We’ll go camping and sleep under the stars,” I say.

“Hmmm,” Lillia replies. I turn and look at her profile. She’s smiling as her long dark eyelashes flutter on her cheeks.

“You’re…” I begin to say but stop. Fuck. I was going to tell her that she was beautiful.

“You’re what?” she asks, turning and looking at me. Her honey-coloured eyes have gold flecks in them.

“You’ve got an eyelash,” I lie, taking my finger and wiping an invisible eyelash from her cheek.

“Oh, thanks,” she smiles. Yeah. I could get used to this.

Embarrassed, I turn back to the sky. No matter what Blaze says, she’s not my mate yet. But I do replace myself pulling towards her…

- That’s because…-

- Shut up – I chastise my wolf.

“Hey, check this out,” I say, jumping to my feet and walking to the telescope.

“What do you call this thing again?” Lillia asks.

“What? A telescope?” I ask, going over to the computer and switching that on.

“Yeah, that was the word I was looking for,” Lillia states, looking at the control panel on the telescope.

“You can use that or the computer to look at the sky,” I explain.

“Okay. Cool. How did you learn all about this?” she asks.

“I was an astrology nerd,” I admit. I watch for her reaction, but she only smiles slightly.

I turn back to the computer and click on some boxes of entered coordinates. The telescope moves in the direction I’ve inputted, and you can hear the lens move as it adjusts itself.

Walking over to the telescope, I peer through the eyepiece. Yup, just what I want to see. I take a step back.

“Take a look through here,” I instruct Lillia. She takes my place and squints through the eyepiece.

“See that yellow dot?” I ask.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Saturn,” I say proudly.

“Wow. But doesn’t it have rings?”

“You need a more powerful telescope to see that,” I smile. Saturn looks like a yellow dot from this telescope, but it’s visible nonetheless.

“That’s amazing,” Lillia says, taking a step backwards, smiling.

“I know, cool, huh?” I ask. She nods.

“Is there a bathroom here?” she then asks.

“Yup, down the hall,” I tell her. Lillia thanks me and skips down the stairs. While I wait for her return, I go over to the bookshelf and pull out an astronomy booklet to look at, fingering through the pages of constellation maps.

“Uh. I’m hungry. Are you able to take me to the dining hall?” Lillia nervously asks. I look up from my book and see her standing at the top of the stairs, looking at me.

“Sure. Can you help shut down the computer?”

Lillia nods, and while she does that, I press the button to close the roof. I follow Lillia down the steps, imagining myself pushing her against the wall and kissing her.

~

Edited with Grammarly