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9. I Know What You Did

Avery

“Well, I did tell you I would be draining every bit of your potential, or did you forget?” She said.

Hm, interesting. I lowered my sunglasses. The sunlight hit my face and nearly blinded me as I lay down on my lounge chair. One of my butlers offered me some freshly squeezed orange juice on a platter. I shook my head and motioned for him to step back.

“Does this mean that today is the day you suck me dry?”

“Don’t be bloody disgusting, Avery. I’ll block you right now.”

Ah right. I told myself I would stop being an asshole.

I sat up straight and gazed out at the overflowing pool in my backyard. The water flowed into another larger pool down below. My floral shirt was open, allowing the breeze to cool my abs.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. That was uncalled for and pretty crude. That’s my fault.”

She was silent for a while. I was prepared for her to go off on me so I didn’t expect what she said next.

“Okay,” she said.

My eyes widened. “‘Okay’? Does that mean you forgive me?”

“I didn’t say that. Besides, there’s something more important we need to discuss.”

I heard a car door slam shut and the sound of an engine starting up. Frowning, I wondered if it was her car or whether she was in someone else’s. Not that it mattered.

“I’ll take it. Did you want to ask me something?”

“More like tell you what I heard,” she replied.

“Oh? Don’t hold back. I want to hear everything.”

Bianca relayed to me how she came across some girls she used to know and the conversation they had without knowing she was there. I considered those words carefully. Why didn’t I see it before? It does make sense based on what I knew of the siblings.

“It does have some merit to it. Her brother, Mason, basically thinks that Conroy is trash. It might be jealousy, but yeah, whatever. Riley has a history of always standing by her brother and doing anything she can to make sure that her father and brother succeed. She’s basically their cheerleader or more like a little puppet. It’s hard to put it past her. She has some good graces, like when she started a charity for little wolf pups born in rogue packs, so I don’t think she would go after him and his family unless she was made to do so by her dad or Mason. Or maybe she was getting rid of evidence for them. Either way, it’s worth looking into.”

Bianca agreed. “That’s more thought as well. The biggest problem now is how I’m going to get close to her. But I’ll figure that out sooner or later. Thanks for the information. I’ll let you know if there is anything else that comes up.”

“It’s no problem at all, truly. Wait, before you go, I have an idea. Want to hear it?”


Riley

The area was flooded with guests from different packs. They all came to congratulate my brother for being approved to be the next Alpha of our pack. I couldn’t blame them. As his sister, I was very aware of how charismatic Mason could be at times. He had the kind of energy that compelled people to want to be close to him. Usually, that ended up with me being overlooked.

The strangest thing was, the ceremony hadn’t even started yet. Even alphas from out of town came to the venue early to mingle. They wore outfits that showed off their best features.

I watched everything happening down below at the gala hall from my place on my hotel room balcony. My bathroom robe was wrapped around my body while water dripped from my wet, raven hair. Deciding that I had seen enough, I left the balcony.

It wasn’t that I was unhappy for Mason. Regardless of how he could behave at times, he did work to be acknowledged by our father. Sometimes I wondered whether my hard work would never be acknowledged.

Knock, knock.

I quickly lifted my head. “Who would even come here at this time?” I asked myself. Father was with Mason, and my friends agreed to meet up at the ceremony, so they didn't know where my hotel room was. Also, room service came before I took a shower.

Sitting down won’t give me any answers. They knocked again.

I got up to approach the door. The first thing I did was sniff it. The scent was unfamiliar. Then I looked through the peephole.

Outside was a bellhop in staff uniform. There was nothing odd about it and there didn’t seem to be anyone else there. Not that I could tell, anyway.

I opened the door and the bellhop stood up straight with a smile on his face.

“Uh, hello Miss. Sorry to disturb you but someone left this letter for you at the front desk.”

He presented me with a white envelope that had a pink, floral design. I stared at it with disinterest.

“That’s not for me.” I glanced up. “Are you sure you’re at the right room?”

“Yes, Miss. For Miss Blake, room 804. That’s what it said on the back.”

He turned it over and there it was. My name is on the back, just like he said.

“Oh.” I blinked. “Ah, thanks.”

I held up the envelope and closed the door after he left. It felt light. There was no telling what was inside.

I plopped onto the couch and sunk into the cushion. The envelope remained sealed, so I reached for my keys on the table and used it to cut it open.

Instead of a letter, a single, folded card rests inside. I drew it out and parted it.

”I know what you did.” ~Charmed

For a moment, I swore my heart stopped beating. I read it twice over. Over a minute passed before I could register the words.

As comfortable as the couch was, it wasn’t enough to push aside the feeling of unease. Pushing myself off the couch, I inhaled, taking several deep breaths. Thankfully I became calm. It was time to look at this in a reasonable light.

This seemed like a threat of some sort, or a warning. Clearly, someone had it out for us. The number of enemies my father and brother had couldn’t be counted on one hand. The thing is, why did they send this to me? They even know what room I’m in.

I hoped that this was some kind of weird prank set up by my friends. Regardless, it’s best if I take precautions. I picked up the telephone and called the front desk.

“Charlotte Hotel, how can we be of assistance?”

“Hi, I’m the guest staying in room 804.” I stared down at the letter. Fueled by my imagination, ominous black smoke emitted from it. “I would like to be moved to another room.”

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