The scent stayed with me until we stepped into the kitchen side room, where it was quickly smothered by the scent of food. I couldn’t help my excitement as the girls bounced up to an older woman, who was in the process of portioning out meals.

“Natalie! Natalie! We bought a new servant!” Amelia enthused and I watched as the woman huffed, a wide grin on her face as she set down the pot and spoon in her hand. Her dark skin was wrinkled and worn with age, and her dress swayed around her plump frame as she turned. “Their name is Kira!”

“Some of the others were saying Virgil brought a new toy to the mansion,” she turned to look at me, and I squirmed under her intense gaze. She had long gray hair pulled back into a loose bun, and her light brown eyes seemed to scrutinize me from head to toe as she hummed. After a moment, she nodded, motioning for me to come closer. “Well, I don’t bite, come here.”

I slowly walked over to the plump woman, surprised when she gently took my hand, examining the marks on my fingers and my exposed arms. I couldn’t help but wish the girls had brought me a long-sleeved shirt to choose from, but Natalie soon released me, sucking on her teeth as she did so.

“Poor thing is starving! Next time bring them before the bath, they could have passed out in there!” She turned on the sisters with a stern tone, and I watched in surprise as they merely smiled in response. They weren’t… scared of her? “I better go see if the rest of the potatoes are ready, gotta make sure they get a healthy portion…”

I watched in awe as Natalie disappeared through another door, walking back into the enormous kitchen. As it swung closed, I could see other humans working inside, helping to cool and prepare the meals for everyone in the house.

“Natalie’s the best, she’ll make sure you never go hungry again!” Amelia giggled, and I turned my attention back to the girls as she leaned to see what was on the trays. Her eyes lit up with delight, clearly excited about the menu. “Master Viktor caught some duck for us!”

“What?” I looked to Alora for an explanation, who was swiftly hitting her sister’s hand for trying to sneak a piece of meat off one of the trays.

“Ow! Don’t hit me, Alora!”

“Better than what Natalie will do if she catches you trying to steal food again,” Alora shook her head and I frowned at the implications. Was Natalie as bad as my mother, simply feigning to care? “If you want more food, just say something this time.”

“Fiiiine!” Amelia pouted and I did my best to hide my worries as Alora finally turned to me.

“Master Viktor and the others are aware that we need food, so they often hunt in the woods to catch game for us,” Alora explained, and I watched as she pointed to another door opposite of the one we had walked in. “Out back is a vegetable and herb garden, where Natalie and the kitchen staff grow what they can. Thanks to the magic, we get more yield than we should up in the mountains.

“Whatever we can’t grow or catch, the head servants get sent into wolf lands for and occasionally, they’ll go all the way out to the human kingdom,” she finished, pulling her sister away as Natalie pushed her way back into the kitchen, carrying three trays filled with food. She carefully set them down on the counter, turning to face the three of us.

“Now, I won’t ask the new one until we know if they get to stay, but you two know the rules,” I watched as she pointed to a device on the wall, and I frowned as I saw it. It almost looked like an eye wash sink, but where the faucets should be were two needles connected to clear tubes. Amelia almost ran over to the device, rolling up her sleeves eagerly.

I couldn’t help my gasp as I watched her stab her wrist on the two needles, and I heard as the device activated. Her blood began to flow into the tubes and a counter appeared on the back plate. It counted from five to one, and then the device stopped, allowing Amelia to remove her arm. She carefully wiped away the extra blood and the device, wrapping the puncture wounds with gauze as she moved away from it. Alora shook her head as she approached it, turning to reprimand her sister.

“Amelia! You should have waited, you scared Kira,” Alora huffed, and I shook my head to clear away my surprise. Amelia actually looked sorry as she pulled her sleeve back down, refusing to look at me.

“Sorry.”

“It’s… okay, I’m, just a little surprised,” I admitted, turning as Natalie moved to stand beside me. She lifted her hand, as if to show me it was there before gently laying it on my shoulder, smiling at me kindly. I was unable to help the warmth that spread in my chest from her kind gesture. My own mother had never looked at me like that.

“It’s the least we can do for the Masters who provide for us here,” she explained, the device whirling to life again as Alora began to use it. “We only provide blood once a day before dinner, and I make sure no one tries to give more than they can.”

“They… don’t drink from you?” I asked quietly, looking up as Alora scoffed again, the machine powering down as she wrapped her own wrist.

“Unless it’s Virgil on one of his hunts or another ruffian trying to copy him, no. The other Masters respect us more than that,” Alora huffed again, and I looked at the device with awe. It seemed I had a lot to learn about these “vampires.” At least I could say, they seemed far better than my own family did. “Queen Iris respects our decision to stay here and would never take advantage of us. Even if we wanted to leave, we’re more than welcome to.”

“Although unless you manage to leave with the head servants, I wouldn’t advise it,” Natalie quickly interjected, interrupting whatever excited statement Amelia was about to make. The older woman was still smiling at me kindly, but I could hear the stern warning in her voice. “The journey back to human lands is a long one, and I doubt you want to get caught by more wolves.”

“No…” I agreed, looking to the floor as I considered her warning. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to learn more while I was here and have a better plan than just roaming around as a packless wolf. Making the journey to human lands sounded promising and I was pulled from my musings as Natalie released me. She turned to the three trays she had brought out, handing the stack to Alora.

“Now, take Kira to their room and let them eat and rest. I’m sure Master Viktor will want them tonight.” Natalie quickly shooed us out of the side room with a smile, and Amelia managed to sneak in a hug before we stepped back into the hall. The smell of the wolf was gone now, but I barely considered it as I walked behind Alora and Amelia toward my room.

The world was so much bigger and more complicated than I had ever thought it could be, but in a way, that was good. It meant I had more options than I realized, and I covered my face to hide my smile as we walked.