When they finally found Della's new house, after driving past it several times, she was too tired to do much exploring. She was ready for a nap. She couldn't help but notice the beauty of her surroundings, as she grabbed a couple of bags and made her way towards her new home.
The house was set back from the road by a driveway lined with trees, and bordered by forest on all sides but one. That side overlooked the ocean and the beautiful beaches stretching for miles in every direction. From the place where the house sat nestled into the rolling hills, she could only imagine the panoramic views of sunsets, waves, or moonlight dancing across the water that she would see, the thought bringing joy to her heart.
The road to the estate was a side street off of another side street, and a large, well constructed fence surrounded the entire property, which she guessed was at least ten acres total. Not a whole lot of room for a werewolf to run, but she was sure many of the forests they had driven by on the way would be well worth the occasional trip. She supposed she could just let Mila run along the beach, as long as no one caught her, or saw her shift back in to a human. She might be able to get away with it. I will run that beach one day, Mila told her. Della smiled, imagining her fluffy white wolf prancing along in the sand. She could pretend to be someone's dog, maybe? Don't you dare, Mila warned her. Someone'sdogindeed.
The house was beautiful in its simplicity, and modest in size compared to others they had seen nearby. There were four large bedrooms, one of which had a sliding glass door leading to a patio with a hot tub, where one could sit in relative privacy and enjoy the ocean view. Della picked this room, even though it was not the largest. She knew she would spend a lot of time in that hot tub, or laying on the hammock and reading.
Every room had a large four poster bed, and a private bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and shower. There was a large kitchen with open space into a dining area and an area with soft beige couches and a large television. It was perfect.
"I officially love it," she told Cori, who was checking out the kitchen, making a list of things they would need.
"I officially agree," Cori replied, "but we are going to need food. Why don't you lie down for a nap? We will run to the store and get what we need, you look like you are about to fall asleep on your feet."
Della agreed, she was, in fact, very tired. She didn't even change her clothes, she just walked into her bedroom, pulled back the covers, kicked her shoes off, and crawled underneath them. The salty smell of the ocean on the breeze was the last thing she remembered before sleep took her in it's embrace.
She woke up to find the house dark, and quiet. How long had she been asleep? She didn't hear or smell anyone, were they still shopping? Fear gripped her heart, although there didn't seem to be any threat. Mila would have noticed anything or anyone nearby with bad intentions, she was certain of that. She was alone. So why was she so scared?
Something moved, she caught it on the edge of her peripheral vision. Outside the big window in the kitchen. She approached the window cautiously, her steps light and silent, her body tensed and ready to attack. She caught the motion again, there was something there! She reached the window's edge, gathering her courage to look outside when the door flew open behind her. She screamed, turning her body quickly and very nearly punching Cori in the face.
"What the hell?" Cori laughed, "what happened? Look at you, all crouching ninja by the window. Did you have a bad dream?" Della rolled her eyes. Seriously!Why was she jumping at shadows?
"No, I just woke up and it was so quiet, that kind of freaked me out the most, the quiet. I thought I saw something outside the window. It must have been you, coming up to the door." Della shivered. "I guess waking up all alone will take some getting used to." Wolves, as pack animals, did not care much for solitude. Privacy, yes. But waking up to an empty house? That was not something Della was used to, and she didn't think she would ever get used to it.
"Sorry, we ran in to some chatty people at the store, and they insisted we join them for a drink, since we were new to the area. We told them the story we talked about. Sherry is here to study at the Medical School, and I am her cousin, here to find inspiration for my art." Cori smiled. "They were all about that, there are apparently quite a few artists around here. You, of course, are my friend whose family sent her away because she got knocked up."
Della groaned, hating that part. "They probably all think I am some kind of a slut."
"Actually, they were not at all like that. They were angry that your parents would do that to you, and offered to help in any way they could. Humans seem to have a very different view about females than werewolves do." Cori looked thoughtful, adding "they were mad that the father wasn't stepping up to support you. I told them what we agreed on, sticking as close to the truth as possible without revealing too much."
"What did you tell them?" Della asked, curious. Surely they would judge her, she must have done something to get herself into trouble, right?
"I told them you got roofied, and didn't remember anything or know anything until you found out you were pregnant." Cori explained.
"What is roofied?" Della asked, feeling ignorant. Cori always knew about human stuff, she had always been fascinated by human culture.
"It's a pill a man puts in a woman's drink when she isn't looking. It's odorless and tasteless. It wipes out her memory and makes her unconscious for at least 6-8 hours. They call it the "date rape drug."
Della's eyes widened, as she realized that this sounded exactly like what had happened to her. Had she had a drink the night of the Alpha King's party, before the butler found her outside with a bump on her head? She was sure she would have, she always drank at those kinds of events.
She had racked her brain, and it always came back to that party, the only night she had any time she could not account for.
So, someone at the party had given her a drink that would erase her memory, raped her, and dumped her outside on the stairs to make it look like she had fallen. Probably had done something so she wouldn't feel the pain she should have felt the next day. Had she been sore? She hadn't paid attention, really, and her whole body had been sore.
Who would do such a thing? Why would they make such a drug? And how would a werewolf get his hands on it?
"Della?" Cori shook her arm. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I'm sure that brought up some bad feelings."
"It's okay, no, I'm glad you told me. It makes more sense now. That's what happened to me. Someone gave me this date rape drug, thinking I would just never know. And he almost got away with it." Della sighed, there had been so many guests that night, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Besides, she didn't want to know. She didn't want him to know. She was afraid it would put her pup in danger.
"Don't worry, Della, it will be okay," Cori said, hugging her. "Karma comes for everyone, some day."
Yes, Della thought. Her attacker would get his, someday. And she would get an adorable pup, one that he would never, ever know. The pup was a gift, and he was HERS.