“Waste parts?” William asked looking across the table at her.
Keva nodded, “Yeah, the parts of the animals that we don’t cook and can’t eat. You know, the bones, intestines, things like that.”
Around a mouthful of food William asked, “Where does all that waste go?”
Keva turned her head slightly, lifting her head and stretching her neck. It was so subtle that William may have imagined it. She looked directly at him with an intensity that the answer didn’t warrant. “Most of it gets buried in the forest, fertilizing the soil. What isn’t buried is stored until it’s removed from the city.”
Katherine glanced at William out of the corner of her eye, and asked Keva “So I assume you weren’t part of the disposal team that went out today?”
Keva looked a little hurt and her back straightened noticeably. She held Katherine’s eyes and said in a suddenly very cold and formal voice, “No, I was not part of the team that left the city. I haven’t left the city since I got here six months ago.” William saw anger in the woman’s green eyes.
Katherine held the other woman’s gaze but said softly and empathetically, “I’m sorry to hear that. Why haven’t you been able to leave the city?”
Keva shrugged her shoulders and answered the question while looking at William. “I don’t know. My teacher, Helios, told me that no pup is allowed outside the city unless they are part of a pack.” She looked at William, “If it wasn’t for your little stunt with Aceso, Setford, I would be part of this pack and you’d be the one doing extra kitchen duty.” She didn’t say it with any anger but she wasn’t smiling either.
William looked at her. When he had sworn fealty to Aceso it must have upset a lot of things in the city. Keva must have been bumped to the end of the line as far as pack formation goes. “Keva, I had no idea.”
She waved him away with her fork in the air, “Hey, don’t sweat it. I mean there’s never any guarantee about who gets put in a pack anyway.” She placed a fork full of potatoes in her mouth and chewed silently looking up at the ceiling. Swallowing, she continued, “Who knows, you and I could have been in the same pack. Wouldn’t that have been interesting?” She tapped her chin for a moment, “I wonder which one of us would have been Alpha then.”
William suddenly felt very uncomfortable about everything, and the one thing he wanted, more than anything, was to get as far away from this table, and the woman who was intently looking at him, as he possible could.
Dinner passed quietly enough after that. There was a little bit of table talk between the four of them but nothing more than a few sentences. The three of them were just tired and Keva didn’t seem to have much to say either, of which he was eternally grateful.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
After dinner the three pack mates met outside of the cafeteria said good night to each other. William turned around to see Keva standing there waiting for him. “Keva, I have an early morning tomorrow. I’ll talk to you later?” He desperately hoped she would get the hint.
“I know.” She said glancing down the street before arching her back and looking up at him again, “I wanted to walk you back to your place.”
That was getting a little too close for comfort. “Not tonight. I’m exhausted and I just want to go to bed.”
Keva nodded. He wasn’t quite sure she understood exactly what he was saying. “Oh ok, I guess… I’ll see you around then.” She lifted her hand in farewell and turned her back on him.
William was left standing alone next to the cafeteria and suddenly he felt like a huge asshole. He turned up the street to go back home. What was he doing wrong? He walked slowly trying to figure out at exactly what point he had lost control of the situation. Katherine and Charles both disagreed with how he was handling this situation. He had told Keva ‘no’ to walking him home and now she was mad at him. The truth was he hadn’t known, that if it wasn’t for him, Keva would be in this pack now, whether or not he would have been or if Achelois still would have been was debatable. He had screwed her and he hadn’t even known it.
Also, there was the fact that Keva was a very good looking girl in her own right. Why she had picked him to dote upon, was something he couldn’t even fathom. He wasn’t the biggest guy here and he wasn’t the most attractive either. Hell, Nicolas was bigger and if he wasn’t such a douche tard he might even say that Nicolas was more attractive than he was. Ok, that would be a lie; he knew he was better looking than Nicolas, but still. Keva was a nice girl but he was going to have to drop the ‘anvil of rejection’ on her head, the sooner he got this thing taken care of the better. He made his way home, stripped himself bare and crashed on top of his bed, instantly falling asleep.
His eyes opened suddenly as something grabbed at his leg. He twisted his head around as he jerked his leg free to see what it was that grabbed him. Aceso was standing over him with a bemused look on her face. “What is it?” William asked still bleary eyed and confused from sleep.
Aceso leaned forward slightly. The desired effect was attained as William jerked his head back from her. She looked into his tired eyes, “Time to wake up, Will.”
What? No, that wasn’t possible he had just gone to sleep. He shook his head trying to clear it. But he rolled over anyway and his heavy eye lids closed on their own. William felt a harsh pressure on his leg. The next instant he was flying backward through the air. He clutched at his furs but they did little to slow his speed. He crashed down on his hard stone floor.
He rolled over, dragging a thick fur blanket on top of himself as he glared up at Aceso. “What did you do that for?”
Aceso crossed her arms over the white patch on her chest; as more light invaded the darkness of William’s room. “I only ask once. My enforcer gets no special treatment.” She turned around and stalked toward the open doorway. She stopped. Still facing towards the city she said, “You will get up and get to the cafeteria for your morning duties and you will do it now.” Without looking back, she transformed into her natural wolf form and gracefully bolted from his room.