4

I clenched my eyes shut, waiting for my cheek to be struck by the palm of her hand but it never came.

After a while, I opened my eyes only to  find Alex standing in-between us, his hand holding the woman wrist mid strike, an annoyed look on his face as he glared coldly at her.

My heart couldn’t help but swelled up on seeing Alex standing up for me but my relief was caught short  seeing the murderous gaze in the woman's grey colored eyes as she glared at me as though I was nothing before her.

"What is this I hear Alexander? That you've declared a common slave as your mate?" She said with a sneer, and I felt my chest tighten a fraction.

"And the first thing you try to do is hit her?" Alex asked, irritation etched in his voice.

The woman I have now recognized to be his chosen Lizzy took a step back, her gaze falling in total disbelief.

"Oh? Was I supposed to bow down to her?. Oh come on Alex. This lowly slave here can't possibly be your mate. I mean, just look at her”

I was forced to glanced back at myself in shame. Truly, I was nothing in comparison to the beauty standing before me. Lizzy was flawless. Dressed in an off shoulder black blouse and tight pant with her hair drape neatly in a bun and sitting pretty on her head.

No man would pick someone like me over her but it’s crazy that Alpha Alex seem to be having a different thought. 

"She is my mate now and not a lowly servant as you so put it and I'd very much appreciate it if you see her as your soon to be Luna because... " 

"_Wait! Are you replacing me with this…thing?” lizzy had interrupted him mid sentence, “I mean, are you're aware that my Luna ceremony is in three days? and you're already replacing me with as lowly as her?" 

"Elizabeth!" Alex growled with his Alpha tone, the air turned suffocating as he glared at her with a hardened expression, his hands balled into fist by his side.

“I will not have you disrespect my mate in such a manner" 

I felt my heart skip another beat, warm sensation spreading over my cheek just listening to Alex refer to me as his mate. Truly, he was serious when he had called me mate earlier. 

"What about me huh?" Lizzy suddenly looked pitiful as she said those words, her eyes suddenly glistening with unshed tears.

"I thought we have walked passed this stage already. You promised me that we will be together. You chose me to be yours forever, Don't you love me anymore?." 

Alex just stared at her like she was a stranger he was just seeing her for the first time.

"You are my best friend, Lizzy and that’s not going to change." 

She suddenly reached out and wrapped her arm around him, closing the little distance between them. 

"We are more than best friends, Alex, we are meant to be together forever." 

"That's what I thought," Alex suddenly said before untangling himself from her embrace and  backed away, leaving Lizzy arms to slump back by her sides. 

"But I'm sorry... I have a mate now, and the only thing I can say is I hope you find yours too. Someone who would love you the way you want and deserve because that person isn’t me." 

"No." She suddenly screamed like a hysterical woman. "It is only you I love Alex and will forever love and no one else” she took hold of his hand and quickly interlocked it with hers, “please Alex, let's be together like we promised."

A flicker of hope flash through her eyes as Alex simply stared down at their joined hands.

“Alex please, don’t let her come between us”

"Lizzy, leave." He ordered, his voice cold and distance as he untangled himself from her.

Another minute passed and nothing happened as they just stood there, glaring into each other's eyes before the enraged woman stalked out of the room in tears.

There was silence as Alex turned to me with a sympathetic look in his eyes. 

"I'm sorry about Lizzy, She... " 

“_It's okay... I know how she feels" I said with a small smile.

Even though Alex and I are mates, I still couldn't blame Lizzy for wanting him for herself. She looked like she really loved him and was willing to have a future with him, but I just came from no where and spoil her plans. 

"I pray she doesn’t hate me more than she already do." 

Alex shook his head as he settled down beside me once more, "Lizzy is a nice person. Though she's heart broken at the turn of event, I know she will come around when she is calm”

I tried to see the optimistic side of his sentence, but the dark angry gaze of my father, reminding me I wasn’t there to be loved but on a mission, causing my smile to fall a bit. 

"Are you hungry?" He asked, and i was sure he knew what my answer would be because he seemed to be communicating with some maids, using the mind-link, to prepare dinner for me before I even said yes.

When he was done, he stroked my chin again and I trembled with something unfamiliar yet pleasurable especially when his thumb ran across the skin on my cheek affectionately.

"I'll get you a change of clothes after you eat and shower okay? And then you can rest"

“okay” I answered with a nod.

**

I was wry of how the servant gave me strange looks when they brought in array of mouth watering dishes into the room some minutes later.

Thankfully, Alex was  still in the room watching, so they dared not stare for long before they scurry away and out the door.

"Are you going to eat or should I feed you?" He asked when i just kept staring at the food instead of eating.

Slowly i reached for the fork and stabbed down a steak before pushing it into my mouth. I chewed on it and closed my eyes as i relished the taste of good food for the first time in so many years. 

I can’t even remember the last time i had something this good to eat. My father had literally turned me to a maid and made me eat the same ratio as a typical Omega without care or a bit of remorse.

I still wondered if my father and I are truly related, but it says it all in the documents. He was my father and aside that, i have my father's undeniable features that were impossible to deny the man.

Alex wanted to head Into the shower and leave me to eat, but he noticed I had stopped eating at this point, my thought completely lost. 

Sighing, he climbed into the bed and noticed how I immediately tensed up when our body made contact.

"Shhhhh, it’s okay. I'm not going to hurt you." He heartily chuckled as he cautiously took the fork from my hand with a smirk. "You could have just asked me to feed you. You're still hurting from your back, aren't you?" 

"Just a bit." It was a white lie, because i don't intend to make him question me some more, like the death weight in my chest.

I wanted to tell Alex about my life back home but wonder if i could trust him not to see me as an enemy. Maybe if i stayed a week here, i'd grow enough to know more about him and how he ran his pack and see if I can trust him.

I also thought about asking him about the red gem of vitality, but I knew I’d be pushing my damn luck too far. He already looked like he trusted me and all I could do was to be patient at least.

"How's the food?" His voice snapped me back to reality and i shyly accepted another spoon of food before swallowing it appreciatively. 

"It's delicious... " i said and lowered my head when i noticed he was staring intently at my face.

A part of me wondered why he didn't recognize me as Alpha Dalton daughter of  blue moon pack. But a greater part knew that most people didn't even know Alpha Dalton had a daughter because of the way he treated me.  

I was practically a slave in my own father’s pack all these years to be noticed.

I noticed how Alex kept staring at my face the entire time as I sat there eating.  Sometimes his gaze would move to my hair before lingering on my lips some more.

I wish I could hear his thought and know exactly what he thinks of me. Does he like me? Or…

"What about your parents? Which pack are you from?"