Viola’s frown deepened at the unfamiliar sight of the beautiful young woman standing at the door, looking at her with a faint smile.
For a mont, Viola was stunned by her beauty. Plump lips and high cheekbones. She was tall and elegantly beautiful in a dark pink dress that reached below her knees and high heels, her hair a smooth mixture of silver and blonde, let down over her shoulders.
Though she wasn’t flashing her status through her dress, Viola knew money when she saw it, and this person was clearly not an oga but so important shewolf.
Viola’s body imdiately stiffened when the woman closed the door behind her. She didn’t like people coming to see her; any important person usually had only one thought in mind: to cause her more pain, beat her, or humiliate her, even when she hadn’t done anything wrong to them.
Panic began to rise in her chest, but as if sensing her unease, the young woman smiled and asked, "Where are my manners? I should have knocked. Since I’m here... may I co in, Miss Viola?"
How did she know her na? Viola wondered. And why did she think she needed to ask for permission to co in, when it wasn’t even her own place? Yet, sohow, the question made Viola feel a small sense of importance. For so long, she had been neglected, never allowed to speak to anyone of note or control even the simplest thing, like granting soone permission to enter.
She nodded slowly. "You... may."
The young woman’s gray eyes suddenly brightened, and she stepped further into the room. Her eyes taking her in. The way she looked at her made Viola self-conscious, wishing she could vanish from here.
Her bruises and disheveled appearance filled her with sha. Unable to voice her discomfort at having people stare at her, Viola returned her hand to peeling the skin around her nails, but when no loose skin remained, her fingers began to tremble on her lap.
Please. Go away...
She thought as she warily watched the she-wolf approach, but when she reached the couch beside her and Viola ntally braced herself for a beating, the she-wolf’s eyes fell on Viola’s bleeding cuticles.
Instead of recoiling in disgust, as Viola expected, as many had done when she was a Hollow, the beautiful woman gasped, then sat beside her and pulled out a handkerchief, reaching for her hand.
Years of reflex from past beatings caused Viola to shrink back instinctively.
"Oh, sorry. I’m Zoe, by the way. I would have said it’s nice eting you in person, but... I hate what I’m seeing. Really, did they do this to you in your pack?" Zoe asked.
Viola stared at her without a word, not understanding why this she-wolf was apologizing, who she was, or why she was here at all. Had they t before? Did Zoe know her sohow? She searched her mory, but she had never heard of anyone nad Zoe...
"I... I am Viola," she said awkwardly, her voice uncertain. She wasn’t used to being spoken to as if she were a person, rather than sothing ant to be stepped on and beaten.
"I know you, well, I believe you don’t rember . I once followed you on WolfTalk, and though you never replied to my comnts or private ssages, I was your top fan. I liked watching you do all those stunts in your school! I was so excited to et you when Matt told you were here, but... I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting..." Zoe trailed off, not wanting to offend Viola but unable to look past how different she was now.
She looked nothing like the confident, smart princess of Moonwillow she had once admired online. Though Viola had never replied to any of her comnts or acknowledged her ssages, Zoe had taken it as aning the girl was too busy, and with so many followers, she couldn’t have had the ti to respond.
Viola flushed with embarrassnt and sha. She had ignored many people during her ti as Evan’s girlfriend. Anyone who didn’t fit into the circle she deed worthy had been blocked or ignored. To think that one of those people was now looking at her with gentle, concerned eyes made her want to sink into the floor from the deep sense of sha.
Viola ducked her head and muttered, "How may I be of help to you, Miss Zoe?"
Zoe’s face broke into a smile. "I’m here to take you to your new place," she declared.
In truth, it wasn’t her job to co, but she had volunteered anyway because she wanted to et the woman who had called the Alpha a judgental bastard. Matt had told her about it and Zoe had found it amusing. She would have given anything to witness it in person.
"You’re taking away from here?" Viola asked, hiding the panic rising inside her. A new place? Had the Alpha finally decided to put her sowhere appropriate for a wolfless? No... she didn’t want to go back there. She liked it here, where she had water and a bed, but did she really have a choice?
"Yes. You’ve stayed here long enough. Can you walk, or do you need to carry you?" Zoe asked, standing up and rolling up the sleeves of her dress, which made Viola’s eyes widen as she looked at the slender woman before her. Was she joking? Why would an important person want to touch soone like her? She thought, but it didn’t seem like a joke at all, so Viola quickly shook her head.
"I have my crutches. I can walk." She rose from the couch, and Zoe stepped back to give her room.
"Is there anything you need to pack? I can help you pack it," Zoe asked, glancing around the room.
Viola almost let out a bitter laugh. She had no possessions, not even a single change of clothes, and she let Zoe know with a short, quiet shake of her head.
Walking carefully toward the door, she paused, eyes turning on the room. After four years of living in dirt and neglect, this had been her first decent room, her first bed, her first running water. Her throat burned as she feared being sent back to a life where she was nothing, a nobody, swallowed by the dirt she had fought so hard to escape.
Should she have just gone to Arica when he offered? she wondered, glancing one last ti at the bed, the window view, and thinking about the three daily als with running water she had never failed to savor every second of.
Viola left the room dejectedly, and Zoe closed the door behind them, chatting warmly and telling her about things Viola couldn’t focus on, because she was too fearful of where she would end up next, and also unaccustod to the kind of genuine kindness this Miss Zoe was giving her, with no reason at all to do so. People were never kind to her without reasons...
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