Read with BonusRead with Bonus

Part A: Chapter 4

My heart was racing as we pulled up into the huge compound and I felt Aidan’s hand hold mine tighter, a comforting yet gentle touch.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave your side.” He gave me a half smile which did the opposite of what it was intended to.

I was still nervous and asked myself why I had agreed to come back with him. Sure, I had been alone and didn’t really know much about my so-called world, but this was all too much. I didn’t think I was going to make it a week without having everyone here hate me.

The man who had been driving us got out and opened the door for Aidan but he paid him no mind as he helped me out of the car. I looked around at my new surroundings and I knew I didn’t and would never fit in. The place looked surreal, from the huge mansion standing in front of me to the expensive looking cars parked around the compound. Swallowing, I turned my attention to Aidan who didn’t look as impressed or nervous as I was. He didn’t say anything as he led us to the mansion whose doors opened and a long line of servants stood to greet us, or more like greet Aidan and forget I was there.

“Welcome home Alpha,” a woman adorned in a black and white attire whose auburn hair stepped forward as the rest bowed their heads. “Your father would like to have a word with you once you are all freshened up.”

Aidan waved her off, “Esther, take her to my quarters and ensure she is well taken care of,” he said and there were whispers which died down as soon as he looked in their direction. “Ensure you do your best or being fired will be the last of your worries.” And then he was off, leaving me alone with a lot of strangers.

“Come, come, there is no time to waste,” Esther said as she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me, with two other girls dressed in black and white dresses with black headbands.

Esther dragged me outside, past the driveway and the garden all the way to a modern looking building and then stopped in front of it. She rummaged around her jacket before she pulled out a huge set of keys and then unlocked the building. “Come, come,” she ushered me in and quickly closed the door behind her. She didn’t waste any time as she started ordering the two girls around, barking order after order and then she finally turned to me. “The Alpha’s quarters are strictly off limits to anyone but since he insisted I bring you here, then you must be of importance.” She looked at me head to toe and wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I wonder what he sees in you.”

I was stunned as I watched the lady in front of me say all that. Though now that I looked at her closer, she didn’t seem that much older than Aidan or any of the people I had seen. Instead of saying anything, I kept my mouth shut, waiting for her to bark out instructions for me to follow.

“The bathroom is in the Alpha’s private chambers,” she was still eyeing me suspiciously, “you may take a shower while we prepare you some decent clothing and something to eat.”

“Where is that?”

She rolled her eyes before sighing, “turn left then straight ahead, you will find his bedroom,” she finally replied. “Be quick, we have important things to do that don’t include tending to another one of Aidan’s strays.”

Ouch, that hurt.

I nodded before I quickly rushed away from her and looked for Aidan’s bedroom. When I found it, I braced myself for what I was going to find as the door slowly opened and then closed behind me.

The walls were covered in black wallpaper and everything was black, from the bed sheets to the stuck carpet. My hands ran over everything, allowing myself to feel Aidan’s presence from all his things and smell and my wolf whined, wanting to come out and play. I walked over to the first door I was in and opened it but then stopped when I was met with expensive looking clothes carefully folded. The room was larger than my previous bedroom. I smiled at the irony of them all being black with no other colour showing its presence.

Shaking my head, I closed the door and opened the other door which thankfully was the bathing. I stripped out of my clothes and stood under the shower-head, turning the water on to warm and letting it flow over my skin. My head was spinning with thoughts about the future that I wasn’t so sure had any space for me.

A loud knocking on the bathroom door snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned off the water to listen.

“I thought I told you to make it quick.” Of course it was Esther.

I wrapped a towel around myself and opened the door to a fuming Esther who had one hand on her waist glaring daggers at me. “Pathetic strays, always making my life harder than it needs to be every damn time.”

“Your new clothes are on the bed, get dressed immediately and I’ll have someone try and work on that thing you call hair and touch up your face so you don’t disgrace any of us.”

Esther left the room after that and an overwhelming feeling of self-pity washed over me. I knew I wasn’t the prettiest out there and I knew my hair always needed more work and everyone else but I didn’t think I was that ugly as to be able to disgrace Aidan and his family like that.

Was I really that pathetic? Did Aidan take pity on me because I was just that pathetic?

I moved mindlessly, putting on the clothes that Esther had left on the bed and didn’t say anything when she came back with one of the girls to work on my hair and makeup. I just sat there feeling like a shell as she did what Esther told her to do. My body and mind were numb and I didn’t feel anything even when Esther told me to look at myself in the mirror. She sounded less disgusted but I still couldn’t see myself, only the broken girl who had woken up with no memories of her past life and whose life was now thrown into the world of the rich, elaborate and beautiful.

“Mr. Carmichael Senior would like to meet you before lunch,” Esther said after the girl who had done my makeup left. “Be on your best behaviour and don’t do anything that will make Aidan look bad in front of his father.

She scoffed when I said nothing in response. “Follow me.”

I followed Esther back to the main house where she led me through countless doors until finally we were standing in front of a huge golden double door that looked just as extravagant as everything in the place. Esther turned to me and narrowed her eyes. “Listen and listen carefully, your future and so is mine are on the line so be careful what you say to Mr. Carmichael because he is not as forgiving as the Alpha and can see to it that your entire existence is wiped clean,” her voice sounded panicked and her eyes kept looking behind us. “Aidan, I mean the Alpha won’t be there with you and so do your best to make Mr. Carmichael like you enough to let you stay alive long enough for us to know what and who you are.”

My heart started racing at the mention that Aidan wasn’t going to be there with me when I met his father. “W-where is he?”

“He’s with the pack elders discussing important matters concerning the pack’s safety,” Esther leaned in to whisper before she pulled back. “Now go, no one keeps Mr. Gerald waiting, except his son.” She shoved me through the door and I watched as they closed, engulfing me in darkness.

“You must be Aidan’s newest pet,” came a gravely and cold voice from behind me.

Slowly, I spun around, feeling my palms get sweaty and my heart in my throat as light flooded through the room and my eyes landed on an older man looking with jet black hair like Carter’s but with the same green eyes as Aidan’s. He looked handsome in his black suit, much like Aidan and I could see the resemblance even from afar.

“What brings the little pet into our pack?”

“I’m Jemila.”

He moved so fast that was suddenly in front of me, holding me by the neck, fangs bared. “The next words from you will determine whether you live to see the next second.”

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter