章 14: Towards Destiny

Dietrich knocks on Emilia's door and waits for an answer. After thirty minutes of silence, he decides to open the door and check on her. There lie Emilia completely passed out and vulnerable. He shakes his head and smiles mischievously as he tip toes in her direction.

Just as he is about to rip the blankets off of her, Emilia springs up and kicks him into the wall. Dietrich takes a moment before realization hits him. She was pretending to sleep and waited for him to approach. "Smart girl." He laughs to himself.

Emilia chuckles victoriously, "you said to always be prepared and yet you were the one caught off guard." Dietrich growls playfully as he stands up. "Yeah yeah, you win this time. Now come on, it's time to get up and head out to our next destination." He says. He looks up and sees that Emilia was way ahead of him, fully dressed for another long day of travel.

"I see… alright then let's grab some breakfast and go." He says with a voice sounding almost disappointed by Emilia's eagerness to leave. Emilia tilts her head and pokes his cheek. "If you don't stop frowning then I might have to beat you up again." She says jokingly. Dietrich gives a small laugh and leads the way down to the dining room again. A comfortable silence falling between them.

They quickly eat their breakfast and get themselves packed into the car. Emilia pauses for a moment. "We aren't going to shift and run this time?" She asks curiously. "Given that you attract bears, I figured it's probably best to stick to traveling via cars. Don't worry though, we will make frequent stops for you to stretch your legs and get training in." He explains. She nods her in understanding and gets into the vehicle.

It only takes about twenty minutes of irritating silence before Emilia can't stand it any more. "Alright, what's your favorite color? Full name? Where are your parents? How many lovers have you had? How old are you anyways? What's your last name? Why is your wolf the same color as mine? Is it a royal thing? Why do you have so many cars? Are you rich simply because you're royal?" She goes on and on with whatever pops into her head. Dietrich guffaws at his mate's childish behavior.

"First off, that was a lot to ask in a single breath. Maybe we've found your secret battle weapon. You can kill your enemies by talking their ears off." He teases, resulting in a scowl from Emilia. "Fine. My favorite color is black, kind of like your hair. My full name is Dietrich Aristotle Valenciaga. Not sure why my parents decided to give me such a complicated name but hey, it is what it is. My parents live in a larger mansion on the outskirts of town, they moved after I came of age to take over royal duties. I've never had a lover in my entire life. I chose to wait for my mate." He pauses for a moment to give her time to process his current answers.

"Okay, continue." She says enthusiastically. Dietrich laughs, "I'm twenty-four, actually that night we met was my birthday. I was originally planning to return home to celebrate but I got informed of your existence and had to investigate. I already told you my last name. Not all royals have black wolves, the black wolf is the sign of a true warrior. Supposedly once every four generations a royal will be born with a black wolf, those royals are destined for great things. I have a lot of cars because I have many members in my pack and need to be prepared for a day where I may have to evacuate all of them. I'm not necessarily rich. At least not compared to your parents. And it's not just because I'm a royal. I have a job too. Most wolves have jobs after reaching the age of sixteen. You were a special exception since the Snows were trying to keep you hidden from the world." He explains.

Emilia thinks for a second before asking, "well can I get a job now that I'm not being hidden from anyone? Or is the fact that I'm a royal who was kidnapped at birth going to affect and restrict my freedom here too? I understand that the Roses will probably want to shelter me now, especially after believing that I had possibly died years ago. But, does that mean I also won't be able to live as a normal wolf?" Dietrich scrunches up his nose and sighs. "Royals aren't normal wolves in the first place. I'm not sure whether or not the Roses will keep you from getting a job but I do know that no royal, including myself, is treated or seen as a normal wolf. We're called royals for a reason."

"Well, tell me what I can expect when I return to them at least." Emilia demands. "You won't be able to trust anyone, not even your own family. In the world of the royal wolves, everyone is an enemy. You'll face many assassination attempts and trials to see if you're fit to be considered a potential heir to the throne. You have two older brothers and an older sister. I've never met your brothers but I have heard that they're very troublesome. As for your sister… well she's something else." He says while turning his head away. Emilia gets a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

On the one hand, Emilia was very excited to hear she finally had a sister. On the other hand though… What could Dietrich's odd reaction possibly mean? Was her sister a bad person? Was she difficult? Did she have some kind of inappropriate relationship with Diet? But that wouldn't make sense, Diet said he's never had a lover. So what did it mean? She wanted so badly to ask him about it but they reached their first rest stop so the time to ask had passed.

Dietrich and Emilia exit the car and stretch for a bit. "Shift." Was Dietrich's sole command. He had used his alpha tone, just to test out its effects on her. Emilia laughs loudly. "Pfft! Try that again buddy. Don't think I heard you clearly enough." She laughs out. Dietrich's cheeks grow pink from embarrassment. He falls silent and shifts. Emilia doesn't seem to notice though as she wipes the tears of amusement from her eyes.

Dietrich uses her lack of awareness to tackle her onto the ground. His large wolf gives Emilia a smug grin but it fades quickly when she shifts and slips out of his grip. The two wolves circle each other, looking for a weakness or opening from the other. The female wolf spots what she is looking for as she launches herself forward and feints left. She uses his confusion to snap at his right flank and then jumps out of reach. He winces but doesn't let it slow him down as he bites her tail and throws her into a nearby tree.

She growls with frustration and then gets a strange sparkle in her eye as she turns away from Dietrich and takes off into the woods. He gives chase, unsure what his mate is planning to do. She winds around the trees, using them as coverage. Dietrich skids to a halt, realizing that she vanished. He whisks his head around, searching for her in every direction. He walked forward cautiously but it was no use. Emilia had completely tricked him as she jumped down onto his back and pinned him to the ground.

He looks at her and licks her cheek, throwing her off guard and using the momentum to escape her grasp. Dietrich shifts back and laughs at Emilia's stunned face. "Shift back, it's time to get back on the road." He says as he begins walking away. Emilia does as instructed and jumps onto his back. "I did good though, right? I mean you weren't expecting that at all, were you?" She asks excitedly.

Dietrich catches her easily and lifts an eyebrow at her sudden familiarity toward him. "Yes, you did good, completely caught me off guard. But that kind of technique won't always work. For starters, you should be more mindful of your energy use. You use too much energy on the distraction and end up falling short on strength for the actual attack. Now tell me, why are you on my back?" He asks. Emilia shrugs, "I'm simply saving my energy for the attack as you just said Diet." He laughs in amazement at her smart aleck response.

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