The sky was dull, and a heavy summer rain was due. It was to be expected after the torrid heat that had been lingering for several days, making the air unbreathable. Hope could hardly wait for the rain, to feel the raindrops flowing on her body, just as she felt tears streaming within her.
She had overcome her pride, and self-imposed barriers, subdued her hubris and harshness. For what? To not deserve even a word and to see only his back moving away. Yes, she was wrong when she left. Hope knew that but how she could prove she was remorseful? She had tried to help him all these months, to make up for the pain she had caused him, and yet everything had been in vain.
Hope scratched the bark of the tree with her fingernails until it bled. Her fingertips were living flesh, and some of her nails had snapped. She wanted to feel that pain, to distract her from the much more intense agony she felt inside.
When the heavy summer rain came, she relaxed. The woman stood motionless as the water fell on her as if she was under a waterfall. She imagined how the rain washed away all the suffering, all the memories, all the pain, all the things that went wrong in her life.
Maybe it was all her fault, and if she had been different, things would have been better for everyone. Yet how could she be any other than she was? She didn't know how to be different. It was her very nature.
The tears flowed again and merged with the raindrops.
Hope fell to her knees in the end, not knowing if she would ever have the strength to rise from the abyss in which she was falling. She screamed to mourn her pain, and from the edge of the thicket, a pack of wolves wailed with her in unison. They felt the sadness and howled a song of sorrow to show they understood her. Their souls were bleeding as one.
Hope was again hopeless, drowning in a sea of grief and loneliness. She understood she wasn't alone at the moment when the alpha male of the wolf's pack came and laid his head into her lap. He whimpered like a small pup, looking into her eyes with sadness and devotion. They understood her, but unfortunately, that wasn't solving anything.
Seeing that wasn't working, the alpha male sat up and grabbed her hand as if he was about to bite her. But instead, he just gave her a little nudge to make her follow him. Hope went after the pack when she realized she won't be left alone anytime soon.
After a few minutes, she understood they were leading her steps back to the castle. Why? Nobody was waiting for her there. Rather than returning home, the woman felt it would be best to stay in the forest with the animals, as she had originally intended. Hope didn't even know why she had returned. But the wolves did not allow her to pass. Having been entangled in the pack, there was only one way for her to escape: back to the castle.
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Wolves mate for life, and for some reason, they were seeing Drake as her pair. She didn't know how to explain to them, that wasn't true, he didn't want her. But their eyes were vehement.
Of course, she could order them to let her pass, but Hope still didn't enjoy doing such things. The woman sighed and headed for the castle. She was wet and needed a hot bath anyway.
-----
Ayala worried about seeing Hope all soaked up with a scary grimace on her face. Her eyes were swollen and a bit red, like she had been crying for a while. The maid decided she will ask tomorrow what happened.
The bathtub was in Hope's room, hidden behind a matte textile curtain. Ayala filled it with boiling water and then softened it with some colder water until it reached the perfect temperature. The maid approached the woman to help her remove her wet clothes, but a crisp voice stopped her. "I can do it alone, thank you! Please leave me alone. "
Ayala reluctantly left, going to do the rest of her chores. Hope went into the hot water and closed her eyes, trying to relax. To make herself feel better, she listed all of Drake's flaws in her mind. He was cold, dangerous, sometimes inhuman, stubborn, very complicated, much too kept to himself. But he was interesting, attractive, and the flaws she had just reviewed made him even more alluring.
'Hope, what are you doing? He is an insensitive douchebag who treats you like a rag in his possession and with which he can do anything he wants. He treats you worse than a maid. Did you forget how he turned his back on you when you put your heart in his hand? It was as if he had broken it on purpose!'
Hope was already nervous now, and if she had him in front of her, she would surely have killed him or at least tried to. When she was a step away from screaming her frustration and anger, the door parted and Ayala's whispered voice was heard. "Lady Hope, Lord Drake invites you to the living room for dinner."
"Tell that jerk that he can take his invitation and shove it in his ass!" Hope yelled, infuriated, throwing the towel towards the door.
-----
It wasn't until he got home that Drake realized that maybe Hope wasn't playing and was telling the truth. However, the forest was not the ideal place to open one's soul.
Drake was pleased with how he had arranged the living room, the same room where they had played that childish game and drank until morning. The man felt that place held an important moment for the connection between the two of them. He wanted this to be the place where their relationship would flourish. Drake didn't want to have that discussion in the woods. He wanted to give her everything.
The fire burned again in the hearth as last time, and the bear's fur was in place, bringing back fond memories. He had filled the entire room with rose petals and placed two trays of food by the fire, without plates. He wanted to let her be herself, and if she preferred to eat straight from the tray, then so would he.
The glasses of wine and a bottle identical to the ones they had enjoyed back then rested on a low table, next to an enormous bouquet of red roses in which he had slipped a note with a poem he had written for her. Everything was perfect!
He smiled and felt like a child awaiting his reward for behaving. When Drake heard the door opening, his heart fluttered and his grin widened. He turned to the door with a gigantic smile, only to turn into a grimace of astonishment and then into a frown full of hatred and contempt. "Wrenn…"