The Wrath Of The Shadow Wolf novel Chapter 2

“And dad” Riona called.

“What is it dear?” Wright asked.-

“I know I am not hallucinating dad, but I heard some growls earlier today. I don’t know what time, but it was still very dark and it was almost as if the maker was inside of this house. I was wondering if you heard it too” Riona said.

“I don’t think that is correct Rio. You know you have been down lately and moreover, where could such have come from? There are no bushes around us” Wright replied.

“Never mind dad, I will join you shortly,” Riona said.

“And I will be expecting you downstairs Rio” he responded.

“And I would be there in a jiffy,” she said.

CHAPTER 3

It is the burial ceremony of Evolette, and the graveyard was filled with friends and loved ones who had come from far and near to pay their last respect for Evolette and also show their support to the bereaved family.

With the countenance of everyone present, it was so obvious that they would miss Evolette so much as she had been a dear friend to them during her lifetime.

Riona watched absentmindedly as the priest prayed over the remains of her late mum, Evolette. All through the duration of the whole event, she was lost and was absent-minded on all the happenings around her. The death of her mum had hit her so badly and it had turned her into a shadow of her formal self.

Riona had not known when the priest was done with the intercession and even when he had said ‘We pray oh Lord’, she was still aware.

It was when everyone present had chorused ‘Amen’ that her mind was drawn back to them.

Haven been absent-minded all through the final rites, and brought her back to the present by the sound of amen from the crowd; she focused her gaze at the coffin in front of the priest.

Riona wondered how such a little piece of wood would be able to hold her mum captive for a very long time. She reminisced on how she would be able to go on all alone without her own mother to lead, guide, and love her, and within her, she cursed the coffin and death. Of course her dad, Wright is great; there was no denying that fact. But there was Maeve, clung all over him like she has been waiting for this very moment her whole life.

Thinking of her dad, she turned in his direction. She saw him in grief, and she could see Maeve all glued to him, pretending to console him.

The sight of Maeve beside Wright disgusted Riona. And no matter what happens, she will never trust Maeve’s sudden friendliness and sympathy over the death of her mum. To her, Maeve should be the enemy.

Riona cannot remember where Maeve emanated from and how or why she all of a sudden decided to become a part of their lives.

Even in her grief, Riona was able to access Maeve for the untempt time. To her, there was no doubt that Maeve was beautiful and she also appears to be lovely. But then, her beauty was nothing to Riona who believes that Maeve's beauty goes to no issue when compared to her mum, Evolette. As for being nice, Riona overlooked that fact as she believes that she was only acting that role in order to gain her and her father’s trust. An agenda that Riona has already vowed to make impossible.

She cannot fathom ever seeing Maeve around her family. She only sprung out after the demise of her mother, Evolette and Riona had never hesitated to show Maeve that even though her presence brought her father some consolation, she will never be accepted as part of them no matter how hard she tries.

It is not as if Riona had never known Maeve before now, on the contrary, she had known Maeve ever since she was little. But then, she was never this close to her family and Riona had never seen her close to her dad before now. So what changed after the death of her mum? This is a mystery that Riona is bent on unraveling.

“Hey Riona, I am so sorry that you have to go through this,” a voice said beside Riona.

Riona turned to see that Riley was standing next to her. Seeing Riley by her side, Riona can’t tell if she was just coming to stand beside her or if she has been there the whole time. However, Riona was not in any mood to accommodate Riley at this moment and was ready to outrightly discharge her if she persisted.

She takes a look at Riley, and she noticed that her eyes were red. Riona concluded that that might be as a result of crying on this occasion but nevertheless, the realization did not bring any relief to Riona, but only further disgusted her.

Why the hell was she crying? Riona thought. Was she the one that had lost her mum? Riona does not seem to understand the excess show of care and concern on the part of Riley. She could only conclude that she was just like her mum, a person that Riona has already termed as an opportunist.

She could see her aunt Kyra standing beside her husband, Phillip with his right hand on her shoulders. Kyra and Philip had flown in from Regina this morning for the burial.

Kyra wore a dark shade on her black gown and even in her grief, she still looked pretty. She has not been able to bring herself to alter many words ever since her elder sister, Evolette passed on.

She saw Maeve’s family members, the Johnsons. She was able to recognize them as she had attended two or more parties at Riley’s place as a little girl. The ones that her dad had made her go as he claims it would make her appreciate everyone even those beneath her class. Her mum was not in full support of her attending those parties but she never tried to stop her against her dad’s wish.

As a little child, Riona had this fear for the Johnsons. This fear has been built up from how she has always felt whenever she attended Riley’s parties at their house. She wondered why there should have such a large expanse of land at the outskirts of town all to themselves and how much care they had put in to ward off intruders when they should have just sold a good part of it to better their lot.

Riona knew that the Johnsons were not anywhere close to her family in terms of wealth and yet her dad does not have such a large expanse of property. Because of this, Riona suspects that the Johnsons must be hiding something in most of their rooms as they were just numerous for her to count and there were not in use.

One very singular occasion had almost confirmed Riona’s fear and when she had gone home to narrate her experience to her mum, her mum had used that opportunity to stop her from attending any more occasions at the Johnsons.

On that day, in disregard to Mr. Johnson’s instructions, Riona had wandered to the back of the house and for a moment she could swear that she had seen about three huge wolves right in the middle of the big field. What further alarmed Riona was the fact that she could swear that she had heard one of the wolves speak and they had all run off as soon as they had noticed her presence.

She had been so scared to speak and in her frightened state, she had not known when Maeve had come to the back door. It was when she heard Maeve call out her name that she fainted.

Upon being revived, she had narrated what she had witnessed to Maeve and her mum, Mrs. Johnson but they instantly brushed it aside as a hallucination on her part.

She has gone home to narrate the event to her parents but her dad had scolded her for disobeying Mr. Johnson’s order and her mum had restricted her from ever attending any event at the Johnsons.

Riona does not know why, but after some years, she noticed that Maeve stopped inviting her to any of their occasions after her encounter at the back of their house so she took the task of knowing what lies beyond the estate of the Johnsons. Her search only revealed that the Johnsons reside at the borders of the city and her search did not reveal the possibility of having a wolf within the parameters of their property.

Since then, Riley has remained just a classmate, and even though both girls are not the best of friends, they have always found a way to get along as classmates simpliciter.