And Then She Was Gone

The Mess Hall

About three hours had passed as Geoffrey, Elizabeth and Jacob all shared the table and she read through numerous children's books filled with elaborate drawings and fun cheeky wording. At first she found it a little insulting, but Geoffrey and his gentle ways had made her actually begin to enjoy their pleasant conversations and his quiet musings. There were fun stories about brave Alphas and Betas saving the day, romantic stories about mates finding each other and instantly falling in love and living happily ever after, and then informative stories about a werewolves puberty when they would look towards their first shift.

Geoffrey was ultimately correct in choosing this way to open up the new world to her, allowing her to stop and ask questions and giving her funny stories of real lives past of previous great lycans. She had relaxed quite considerably and even managed to wear a smile, while conversing with the two men in the room who treated her so gently and with sympathy in knowing her circumstances. Them being so understanding and sympathetic, that at the first rumble of her stomach they decided to break for lunch so she could get up and stretch her legs and finally eat for the first time of the day.

Geoffrey stayed behind as he would have his lunch brought to him and eat in peace and quiet for the time, something which old men seemed to be fond of he said. Joseph escorted her first to a bathroom which contained many stalls, locking the door behind him once he was sure the room was clear, and waited for her to finish her business before leading her down to the mess hall where they both could grab some food.

"Miss. Elizabeth." he whispered as they walked in close proximity to one another as he lead her out of the west wing and up another grand staircase onto the second floor. "I want you to stay close to me. No one here will hurt you, but there are only a few of us who know who you are and we don't want to cause any unnecessary problems."

"That mate thing?" she whispered back almost casually, having grown more comfortable in having spent more time with Joseph and trusting him.

"Exactly." he said with a nod as he pushed through two large doors, and they entered a room filled with mostly men dressed very similar to what Alex or Uncle Dominick would wear, the colors different with the cargo pants being a deep green and the shirts a light tan brown.

Some were rough housing around tables, some were standing in line to obtain a meal, and others were littered in small clusters engaged in casual small talk. There was an occasional female here or there spread out amongst them, some in casual clothes, but most of them being dressed in business attire setting the two sexes in two different worlds.

Elizabeth and Joseph took their place at the end of the line which seemed to move very quickly, large amounts of food being piled onto each plate with hungry eyes watching in fervent anticipation. They were engaged in small talk about Joseph actually owning the first book she read, after having purchased it for his son when he began to toddle and climb everything in sight when they were interrupted by a raucous voice from behind.

"Joe! Who's the pretty lady?" a large burly man said slapping a hand on Joseph's shoulder with excited brown eyes below short brown hair in a crew cut. "Helena is going to be pissed."

"Helena will be fine, and this female is no one you should be concerned about." Joseph quipped back intensely.

"Oh, what's the matter man? You already got your mate! No need to be so protective." he laughed as they all shuffled forward in line, Elizabeth slowly moving in front of Joseph, no longer to his side and keeping a close position.

"Are we going to have a problem Matt?" Joseph turned around, and faced him no jest in his tone whatsoever, making the large man look taken aback.