Chapter 574
I sat down opposite Otto as he seemingly translated pages of the book.
While he translated to another book.
The translated version was handed to me to read and began deciphering.
From the books I had gotten in Xaden’s astronomy room, I had grown to calculate the stars and moon.
It had come as a natural gift the exact same way learning how to read and write had come quickly.
I felt my necklace burn again and I twisted in discomfort.
I was tempted to simply take it off but Princess Auburn had offered to help me.
I didn’t really buy her doing it for me out of the goodness of her heart.
I didn’t trust her and something within me screamed to stay away from her.
But then again I thought of the fact that she has said Queen Rose would be in trouble.
What reason would she have lying to me?
I turned to look back up at Otto.
Or should I ask him?
“Otto I wanted to-
I shut up instantly.
He looked at me irritated and obviously annoyed for being distracted.
I mumbled a sorry and he went back to translating.
He was so gruff and grumpy.
I stopped asking because I remembered Hildegard had told me he disliked members of the royal family.
Asking him would be further testing him past his boundaries and I was already on thin ice with him.
I watched him as he worked aggressively on the translation.
Despite being unclean and grumpy, I had to admit that he was very good looking.
His muscles were prominent over his body that showed he had been in combat at one point of his life.
Where was his family?
Why was he here?
And if he hated the royal family why was he still living here.
“Why do you hate the royal family?” I asked without thinking.
He glared at me and I considered apologizing again but decided against it.
I looked at him, my eyes with question as I obviously waited for him to reply.
“Did you come here to interrogate me or you came here to find your family?” He asked rudely.
I gave him a smile refusing to be intimidated.
“I want to find my family but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some small talk.” I said as I played with the quill.
He ignored me and I started to nudge him with the tip of the quill.
“Go on. Tell me.” I said refusing to give up.
He rose up his head with a heavy groan and I thought he was going to send me out of the room.
But instead he gave in a very heavy sigh.
“I don’t hate the royal family.” He said exasperated. “We just have differences.”
“Oh.” I said still not understanding what he was saying.
“Can we drop it now?” He asked me.
I gave him a smile. “No.”
He rolled his eyes and gave in a heavy sigh.
He tossed the quill and groaned. “I had some differences with some members of the royal family and it well affected me and it’s just been strained. Only Rose had my back.”
“Rose?” I said surprised that he wasn’t calling the Queen by her title.
“Yes, Rose, we grew up together. Along with Hildegard but I was younger than she was.” He said.
I stared at him to look properly.
If he said he was younger than her and yet grew up with her then that meant he was in his late thirties or early forties.
I wondered if this differences that he had had also affected his wolf.
As if reading my mind, he said. “Yes it’s the reason why I’m mad.”
My face went red with embarrassment.
“I didn’t say any-
“But Hildegard told you I know.” He grumbled. “Everyone says it here. Run away from the Rabid wolf who lost his mind.”
I swallowed.
He pointed at the book. “That’s what this does to you. You eventually lose your mind trying to make sense of it. That’s why believers are few now. They just vanish from the face of the earth.”
I felt a cold chill run down my spine.
“You’re lucky that you’re an unshifted.” He said to me with what I thought was a very small smile.
I had never seen him smile since I had first met him.
In face I had never known that he would even be capable of smiling.
But it was already gone in the instant that it had arrived.
His face went back to being solemn and then he said. “Unshifted wolves never have to face such problems. You would never have to run mad researching on astronomy.”
And then it came like a flash of lighting to my head.
“You told me you had researched on unshifted wolves.” I jumped up. “When I came in yesterday you told me you had researched on wolves.”
“Yes?” He asked uninterested as he went back to translating.
“I was born unshifted. I never shifted and I’ve never met anyone else like me. Neither have I found anyone who has researched on my kind.” I said.
He looked at me and then he frowned.
“I thought you had red hair?” He asked lost.
I laughed uneasily again. “Yes I did. I got tired of people asking me if I was a member of the royal family.”
I touched my black curls as I was now very insecure.
“I’ve never met an unshifted with red hair.” He remarked. “Being an unshifted from my study doesn’t really have much ties to the physical attributes of a person.”
I was now completely lost.
“What?” I asked.
He got up from his seat and walked up to one of his bookshelves.
He pulled out a book and returned to our table.
“From what I learned about us wolves, ideally when we are born we are born as pups.” He explained as he set down ten book.
He opened it and dust engulfed us.
I coughed aggressively while Otto went through the book completely immune to it.
He went through the page and then came to an abrupt halt.
I looked down at the page he was pointed at and a drawn picture of a wolf and a human stood side by side.
“After birth as a wolf we revert to humans and remain that way for a very long time. There are some toddler wolves that still can shift from time to time but usually in adolescence it stops.”
I nodded in agreement.
“Until they turn eighteen for their first shift. By then their wolves are fully mature.” He explained. “Most wolves think that being a wolf simply means the shift. Turning from human to a wolf. But it’s more than that. We become one with our wolf. The wolf is like an inner voice that speaks to us. Our soul. Without the soul of your wolf you can never be a wolf.”
Then he flipped the page and displayed a picture of a regular nude human.
“But for unshifted wolves they are never born as pups. They are born humans.” He said. “They remain that way. And when that happens, there is no going back. Even when they turned eighteen they can’t shift. Do you know why?”
I chewed on my bottom lip in anxiety.
I suspected that if I gave a wrong answer, Otto would finally have a reason to kick me out.
I thought really hard and said. “Because there is no shared soul.”
“EXACTLY!” He pointed out. “Unshifted wolves have only one soul. There is supposed to be two. Not more not less.”
I was now beginning to understand my kind.
“Why don’t people know much about species like me?” I asked.
“Because people are selfish and only care about status and ranks.” He stated. “I’ve always been fascinated with unshifted wolves. They don’t have to answer the call of the Alpha. They are on their own. That extra voice in our heads? They never have to experience it. In a way it’s a blessing and a curse.”
For the first time I was viewing my self as an unshifted wolf in a very different light.
Perhaps it wasn’t so bad to not have to answer the call of an Alpha.
“And that’s where you fall in.” He pointed at me. “Unshifted wolves are only affected on the inside and not on the outside. That’s what I’ve learned in my extensive research.”
“Did you see others like me?” I said. “I’ve never met.”
He nodded. “Yes, there is a very secluded community. They don’t Call it packs. Just communities. Society abandoned them so they decided to live together.”
I began to be excited at the thought of meeting others like me.
“And that brings me back to my question Jasmine. As an unshifted wolf.” He began looking hard at me. “It should not affect your physical appearance. Only your soul. So now tell me, why is your hair red?”