Doris followed Enzo back to camp and tried not to seem obvious she was looking around for William. The villagers glanced at her curiously as she passed but said nothing. She was quite positive most of them still didn't like her and were only tolerating her presence. Not that she blamed them, she supposed. It wasn't easy to allow outsiders in especially when you were taught not to trust them your entire life.
It was clear the villagers felt uneasy whenever one of the royal party was near-especially William himself. They looked to Enzo for guidance and his ease calmed their fears just enough but it still lingered on the surface of every expression they made.
"Would you like to join me for dinner?" Enzo asked, snapping Doris out of her racing thoughts.
"Oh," Doris trailed her eyes across the barely familiar faces and still couldn't find the one that had those deadly blue eyes. "I shouldn't."
"Why shouldn't you?" Enzo asked as they stopped in front of her cabin. His brows were raised in an almost humorous expression as he looked her over. "Afraid the prince will think we're getting married?"
Doris blushed and turned her face away. "That's absurd. I shouldn't because I should be trying to figure out my wolf. She's quite difficult to understand right now."
"Well, more the reason you should dine with me. I can give you some advice that your prince might have been neglectful to share." Enzo clasped his hands behind his back and flashed a grin at her. Doris sighed. She knew she shouldn't accept, if William saw her alone with him he would think the worst. But-figuring out her wolf was much more important than whatever he thought of her. Which, at the moment, wasn't much.
"Alright. When?"
"I'll send someone to get you." Enzo said and turned away. Doris watched as he left, offering smiles to those that passed him. She'd never met someone who was so loved and feared at the same time. For his villagers, she assumed he was more loved than feared by the way they looked at him with such adoration.
Inside her cabin, Doris locked the door and flung herself on her bed to bury her face deep in her pillow. Flashes of William entered her mind, she tried to force them out and think of something-anything else.
Her lips tingled as if she could still feel the brief touch he pressed upon her. What did he expect from her? His rough hands turned a bit soft as he turned her face to his to kiss her and then spit her out. She would never forget the look on his face when he realized how rotten she truly was. How much he didn't want her.
Doris turned and stared up at the ceiling. Her fingers lightly trailed along her lips and could swear he lingered there long after he was gone. His disgust for her set him in a new light that she didn't dare try to touch-nor did she want to.
Her shame and sorrows were long pushed down by the time the sun had gone down and a knock came at her door. Doris opened it to see one of the villagers, he gave her a forced smile before he turned and left towards Enzo's cabin without a single word. Doris hurried through the snow after him.
The bite of cold air was something she knew she would never get used to. Already she could feel her teeth start to chatter in her mouth hard enough to leave her aching. The man opened the door for her and left without an announcement to Enzo-or anyone for that matter.
Doris followed the sound of laughter down the hall and around the corner to the large dining room area. It wasn't anywhere near the size of the palace ones, but it was the largest one she had seen in the north at least. Doris slowed her steps when she saw the back of William's head speaking with Enzo. He stiffened and turned as if he sensed she was behind him. She looked away before their eyes could lock.
"Doris! You made it." Enzo stood and gestured to one of the empty chairs. Patrick and Elena were also in attendance but all she could feel was the heat of William's stare burn right through her. Doris hesitated before she took the seat closest to the door and furthest from William.
"Glad you could join us," Enzo gestured for a plate to be placed in front of her. It was immediately piled high with meats and sides that grew taller than she could ever eat. She dared a glance at William, but he wasn't looking at her anymore. He was staring down his half empty glass of wine like he wished it was filled to the brim.
"Now, I thought to myself that you could use advice from more than one of us. I hope you don't mind I invited others." Enzo raised his glass to her and Doris licked her dry lips.
"No, of course not." She said quietly.
"My wolf has always been stubborn." Elena said suddenly. She looked radiant in a low-cut silver dress that made Doris cold just thinking about wearing it. "She will think she is the one in control even now and I've been changing since I was young. Not much can be done about that, but they learn as we do."
"That's because she thinks too much like you." Enzo leaned back in hair chair. "Elena is one of the most stubborn women you'll ever meet. Our wolves reflect ourselves in a way."
"She knows that." William said over his glass. "Try giving her advice that isn't useless."
Enzo laughed and smacked his hand against the table hard enough to rattle the glasses. "He's right, Elena. Tell her how you controlled it. The prince has more important things to do rather than listen to this overdone story."
Elena gave a long, nasty look to William before she looked at Doris with a lighter smile. "I would recommend going out there completely alone and talking with her without an audience. She will feel less like she needs to put on a show for power over you and more likely to listen to you. It took me quite a few tries out in the woods. It's hard to remember that they have their own feelings and needs and will get mad if we don't listen to them just as we do when they don't listen to us."
Doris's eyes couldn't help but flicker to William again. He was all her wolf could talk about-or at least his wolf was. She didn't want to give in to her wolf's needs when she only wanted her mate and wanted Doris to bow down to his needs. Especially when the man that she claimed was her mate hated her guts and grew sick just by their kiss. "What if I don't listen to what she wants?"
"You have to find a compromise. I recommend taking a full day to try and figure her out otherwise she will never want to listen if you don't get along with her. It won't happen over night, but it will help more than you think. Give it a shot."
Doris nodded and picked at her food. It was delicious and the meat melted in her mouth in the best way possible-but her stomach turned on her. She was starving before she stepped through the door, but now that William was here she could only think about the way he spit at her feet after he kissed her.
"I know she doesn't like being told what to do, she refuses to come to me when I call her and she only shifts when she wants. I was caught out in the snow storm and she wouldn't even change to save me."
"It will be like that for a while. She's trying to show you she's the dominate one inside you so you will answer to her. They don't care what they have to do to show their control, even if it kills them." Enzo said, William shifted in his seat.
"Mine tried to control me for years when I was younger. It made me do horrible things it wanted just so I could get it to change until I realized it wasn't right. We are the ones that control our wolves." Patrick took a long drink and cleared his throat. "She will learn, don't fall for anything she tells you."
Doris felt as if it was the same advice over and over, but none of it helped her understand what to do. Argue with her wolf until it agreed to change? Threaten her wolf or try to show dominance she didn't have? They all stared at her as if they expected her to understand them. She didn't understand anything, they'd all been wolves for so long they didn't know what it was like to know nothing about it.
Doris took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she spoke. "Okay. I think I got it."