EvaWhen Marcia knocked on my door to ask for permission to bring all of the clothes in, I was speechless at the countless bags that were packed into the room. “Right here, this closet will do,” she told the uniformed man who was carrying about ten bags in each hand. She directed them while I stared stupidly, wondering if I’d perhaps missed the fact that Alpha Cyrus was out of his mind. All these clothes were unnecessary and were a waste, unless he intended to give them to someone else after I left. If that was the case, then we’d have no problems. Otherwise, I would keep my word. I didn’t plan on taking anything he gifted me back to the Convent. I had no need for ‘normal clothes’ there. I had my dresses, veils, and scarves, and that was enough. Once the delivery men left the room, she said to me, “Alpha Cyrus wants you to accompany him to dinner tonight.”I bit my lip. He didn’t intend on wasting any time. I thought I would have until tomorrow to wrap my head around all of this.
Eva We sat beside each other in the car, and I was reminded of the first time I was inside one with him. Goddess, I felt so miserable that day. Being taken away from my home after the chapel burned was not a memory I’d forget anytime soon. I didn’t look at him. Even so, I could easily tell whenever he looked at me, and how long his gaze lingered. I was glad that my dress was so modest, mostly because I was comfortable in it. I knew he wouldn’t be looking at…certain parts of my body. I was convinced that it would make me feel worse. He could stare at my face without the veil—that, I could take—but he couldn’t stare at my body. We left the house behind, and were driving through a lone road. The forest surrounded the area around us entirely, and I couldn’t see anything apart from trees, which made me wonder where we were going. I figured that his pack couldn’t be the few people who lived in the house; there had to be more people. Was that where we were going now? “You don’t have t
EvaNeide plus another woman brought over the food that Cyrus had ordered. It felt strange calling him by his first name in my mind, but I reminded myself that this was yet another stupid thing I had to comply with in order to be freed, and anyway, why did I have to call him Alpha all the time? Perhaps it was better this way. I’d feel more his equal, or at least like he wasn’t better than me. Cyrus looked over at me as they put the food on the table between us. I had to fight the urge to shake my head at the unnecessary quantity of it. There was no way that we’d both be able to finish the food, which meant what, that it would all go to waste?Although I was never hungry before in my life, I certainly didn’t have a variety of food for me to choose from. We were thankful for what we had, though, and would definitely be grateful if we had what he has so effortlessly. Yet he let it all go to waste. “Is something on this table not pleasing you?” he asked, sitting back. “You’re staring
CyrusI looked around for Eva but couldn’t find her anywhere. It was only then that panic seized me. I should have never taken my eyes off her. I assumed she would have followed me but it seemed I’d overestimated my ability to make her do as I said. I never thought she would have disappeared. I wasn’t even sure if she left through the front door. I went there, and found the two security guards standing there, still granting people admission into the club. A few people greeted me as I walked past them, but I ignored them all. I wasn’t up to playing the polite Alpha today. “The woman I was with,” I said to them as soon as I was close enough, “did you see if she went outside?”“No, Alpha,” they replied. “We didn’t see anyone leave yet.”I turned back around, feeling like a fool for having to look for her. This shouldn’t be happening; she was supposed to be right behind me. With that came this feeling of despair mixed with rage. Neide was standing close to the bar, tablet in hand, an
EvaThe cloudiness in my head cleared when I opened my eyes, but I had a terrible headache that wouldn’t subside no matter how I positioned my head. Trying to sit up made it worse. I was in a confined space, and it took me a few seconds to realize that I was in the backseat of a car. I groaned before turning on my side, which was a mistake because a man was seated in the driver’s seat, and he immediately turned his head to look at me. In the dark, I couldn’t quite see his face. “Easy,” he said when I’d shifted to get away from him. I tried to open one of the doors of the car, but it was locked. “You’re not going to be able to escape. Just stay calm.”“What do you want from me?” I couldn’t help but ask. I was trying to recall how I’d gotten to this point, but my head hurt too much, even to do something as simple as thinking. He started the car and then drove off. I tried screaming for help but it felt like something in my brain would explode. Like a vein would pop or something. H
Cyrus My despair to find her was palpable, and I was starting to infect everyone around me with my awful mood. The thought that something terrible happened to her drove me to the brink of madness. And now that I was starting to contemplate that perhaps those rogues had something to do with this, and I regretted not having crossed the border and ending them once and for all. It had been hours since she went missing. Hours. I followed her scent to a certain point before it disappeared into thin air. There were tire marks on the ground, so I assumed that she was put into a vehicle and whoever took her drove off. They could be anywhere by now. I contacted the Alphas around us immediately. I would need their help to find her, and I was pleasantly surprised by how efficient they all were. I kept imagining the things I would do when I got my hands on the bastards who took her. I had murder on my mind, and nothing could calm me down. The thought of her being hurt drove me insane. I knew
Eva I didn't know if I should cry or scream or rage or do everything all at once. I realized now that I should have asked the priestesses more questions about what they were saying to me. I didn't understand it; I was so shocked at the moment that it didn't occur to me to ask concrete questions and demand better answers. Everything they mentioned, they did vaguely. I didn't even ask them more about my mother and the letter she left behind along with me. What was written on it exactly?I didn't even have time to think when the door behind me opened. I looked over my shoulder and saw Cyrus. He didn't look as I expected him to—angry at my outburst, or at least demanding answers. He looked hesitant, and wary, and it upset me because why was he putting up such an act? He wasn't like this. "Would you be kind enough to tell me where the hell you've been?" he asked. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. So have a lot of people!”I knew I couldn’t talk about the priestesses sending some
Cyrus All the priestesses were dead. Nobody made it out alive, according to my Gammas. Since the fire occurred in my territory, I was the one leading the investigations. Although technically the priestesses didn’t belong to any pack, I was still their governing Alpha. I didn’t know what to make of this accident. What could have happened? I felt it was too much of a coincidence. To make matters worse, Eva was practically nonverbal. She refused to speak with anyone, and I suspected that something must have happened between her and the priestesses last night because of everything she said about not being accepted there. The problem was that I was finding it hard to connect the dots. As I stared at the burning ruin, I folded my arms and asked Cameron, “What do you make of this? Could it have been an accident?”“Most likely,” he answered. “Who would burn a Convent down? What for?”“I don’t know,” I replied truthfully. If this wasn’t an accident, then there was a lot more at stake. I