455: FOURTEEN YEARS OLD (6)

FOURTEEN YEARS OLD (6)

Hope began smelling herself, her hands, her sweatshirt, but she was not able to sense anything aside from her perfume.  1

"What smell?" Hoper frowned. "I don't smell anything." 

Lana turned on the engine and the car started to move toward their house while both of them chatted inside. 

"You will not be able to smell it, but I am different, remember?" Lana glanced at the sullen Hope. 

"Yeah, I know that you are different." Hope rolled her eyes dramatically and turned on the radio, but it couldn't catch any program. "Is it broken?"

She was trying to divert Lana's attention from asking her about her new friends and the 'shifter smell' on her, because as creepy as it sounded, sometimes, Hope wondered if Lana could actually tell when she was lying. 

"No. It is hard to get a signal around here." Lana mumbled as she threw another glance at Hope. 

In her previous school, of course there were a few shifters, but they were children in the pack, the only reason why they couldn't smell Hope was because the necklace that Kace gave to her when she was a baby, yet it had been destroyed by Gluttony, based on what Hope told them.

However, the scent that Lana smelled from Hope at this moment was of a rogue's. 

Did Hope come in contact with a rogue? Or one of her new friends was a rogue? She had to find out about this before Kace had a panic attack about the safety of his mate and quarreled with Serefina again. 

Despite everything on her mind, Lana didn't pursue the matter about the rogue's smell on Hope, but this would be her next task the moment she informed this to the witch. 

Lana and Serefina couldn't be said to be on good terms, actually both of them were in mutual need while with Kace, the Lycan seemed to have forgotten everything about the vow and had never mentioned it again.

"Lana…" Hope mumbled her name.

And Lana hummed in response. 

"Why are we not living in a pack?" Hope tried to sound like she didn't care. "You know, most of your kind lives in a pack."

But, without Hope knowing it, the question that she asked had concluded Lana's suspicion toward her that she had been talking with a rogue.

It was not usual for Hope to ask anything about werewolves' world.

"I had been in one before I met Serefina and Kace." Lana told Hope with her eyes still on the road before she turned her head and stared at her in surprise.

"What happened?" Now the sound of Hope's voice was no longer ignorant.

"My previous pack was attacked by vampires." Lana answered her truthfully. "I am the last survivor of that pack," then she added. "I guess…"

"Vampires?" Hope's eyes widened in disbelief. "It feels unreal to hear something like this…"

Lana glanced at her way. "You have seen me and Kace turn into our beasts and Serefina doing witchy things." She pointed out the facts. 

"No, I meant… I had never seen a vampire before." Hope elaborated. "It feels unreal because I had never seen them."

"Don't ever wish to see them. Our kind is not on good terms with them and since you carry around our scent, it will not end up good." Lana made Hope grimace with her bluntness. 

"Do vampires not walk in the daylight? Because of that, you are not allowing me to go out by myself after the sunset?" Something clicked in Hope's mind. 

"No. They can walk in the daylight." Lana drove to the garage. "And yes, they are one of the reasons why we don't allow you to go out alone, but Hope…" 

Lana turned off the engine of the car and turned her body to face her. Lana's expression prompted a furrow to appear between Hope's brows. She was very serious when she continued. 

"…the universe is so big, there are so many mysteries in it and vampires, shifters, devils were not the only predators out there. So, be careful who you hang out with."

Though it sounded like Lana was giving Hope an advice regarding her last action, but from the sound of it, there was an underlying meaning to it. 

"Okay." Hope tried to smile, but failed. 

Lana could hear how nervous Hope was feeling, but she didn't expose her and acted as if everything was fine, at least for now. 

==============   

Hope was eating alone because Serefina and Lana went out. Ever since she turned thirteen, there would be occasions when the two of them would leave her alone.

Because they thought Hope could handle herself now. 

It didn't mean she protested or something, but before they left, Serefina would send her a threat or two to make sure she wouldn't step out of the house, which Hope always obeyed until this time.

However, Hope didn't like it when she had to eat alone, it felt so lonely when all she could hear was the noise that she herself made.

"Don't space out while you are eating." 

Kace's sudden voice caused Hope to choke on her food and the lycan immediately gave a glass of water to her.

"Drink this." Kace felt panicked. He didn't know that Hope would be this surprised. 

The moment Kace massaged her neck and when their fingers touched each other's, Hope could feel the spark that Rossie had mentioned before.

But, for now she had to save her life first before she could wonder about that. Hope drank the water painfully until the clog in her throat disappeared. 

"Don't ever do that!" Hope snapped irritably at Kace. 

"Sorry, I didn't know that you would be surprised." Kace scratched his head, it was apparent there was a little bit stress by the accident before on his face. "Why are you alone here?" 

Kace couldn't smell Lana or Serefina's scent. 

"Both of them have something to do." Hope mumbled. 

"Ah, this witch!" Kace grumbled under his breath as he poured a glass of water for himself. 

"Hm, Kace…" Hope was hesitant whether she should ask him this or not.

"Hm?"

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