Sexy For The Evening...

Anaya's POV

"Lisa, she meant the world to us. My sister. She loved the boys like they were her own, and she was more than a mother to them than I ever was."

"I didn't know this," I said.

"It took a while before we became a happy family again, or whatever this is. And um, that's that. Oh and Duke, he suffered this trauma the most. Duke and I aren't even as close as a mother and son are supposed to be. He pretends like he's alright but the trauma still haunts him, I know that."

A part of me felt bad now as I thought about this. But if she was telling me this to justify their cold behavior, then I would have to ignore her reasons. I lost both my parents and I never bullied or belittled anyone before. I was suffering too!

"I know they can be a lot, but they're just scared babies afraid of getting too attached so it doesn't all fall apart again. We would always tease her for styling her long dark hair tied high up in a ponytail instead of just letting it loose." She smiled to herself. A thought crossed my mind. I had seen a painting of a woman in Duke's art room, and it looked like he'd been heavily guarding the picture.

"Thank you for telling me this Lu--Freya." I showed my utmost sincerity with a charming smile. When she left, a thought formed in my head. Don't worry too much on things you cannot change...I let that still stick to my brain.

It seemed funny but I decided to text Ella. I waited outside for her to come around, and since I still wasn't sure if I could bring a friend over yet, I met with her outside there and collected the items I asked for earlier. Duke's jacket, then a smoking red dress I could wear, and some of her accessories and makeup. I tried on makeup myself and had learned through some videos online.

Freya had already asked if I would be able to make it to Beta Marcus party, and I told her yes. I would be attending. At least if I felt like a stranger at such a wealthy people party, I would have Ella around. Even though she would be glued to her mate all night, I would still enjoy the company.

I got to work. It was more fun when I wasn't rushing anything, because I took my time to take care of myself. From my bubble bath, to styling of my hair, and then the makeup. Evening was already approaching and I knew I had less than an hour left. But at this stage, I was nearly done with my makeup.

My eyes had been heavily defined with a smokey eyeshadow, then neatly trimmed brows and a decent amount of contouring. I spammed myself with compliments of how I had gotten so good with my makeup because the girl staring back at me in the mirror was a divine beauty. Finally, my lips was covered in a thin coat of nude lipstick that popped out my rosebud lips. I put on my dress, and damn did my boobs pop out in delight. They felt so free as my padded bra pushed them out that I smiled at how sexy I looked.

Hopefully, I had not overdressed. What if they chase me back saying I had done too much! "I'm such an idiot!" I didn't think through this. It was too late now to start cleaning the makeup and there was nothing I could do about the dress now! It was a long dinner gown with one hand and had a low cut in front so my cleavage could be visible. I put on my shoes, though they were slightly high, I was glad I balanced well on my feet. I was ready.

There was a knock on the door and it turned out to be Freya. "Wow. You look so great! You were right when you told me you could take care of yourself." Freya had been worried and wanted us to dress together so she could take care of me, but I was confident in myself.

"This is so brilliant. You're very good at this, Anaya." Her compliments didn't end there. "You know, to match this lovely outfit, I have a gift for you. I'll be right back." I waited for several minutes before she came back. "Here, it'll look so good on you."

She handed me a box which when I opened, contained a golden bright bracelet. Was this raw gold? How much must it have cost! "Wow, I don't think I can accept this."

"You don't like it? It was given to me by my mother. Even for a while, my sister has always wanted it. I figure I should give it out now, and you're the perfect person to own it!" She explained.

"Oh, thank you so much. I love it!" I took it from her and wore it around my wrist. "It fits perfectly."

"Now, come on. They're going to be waiting for us downstairs." She said. Before leaving, I hurried to grab Duke's jacket. I hadn't returned it to him since all these days since it had been with Ella.

Once down the stairs, I heard their voices.

"Okay, is she really coming with us? I thought mom said Anaya couldn't make it!" Darius said.

"At this rate, we should just lie down here and sleep since we'll never make it to the party in time." Duke remarked.

"You guys, just quiet down and let us--" Dean froze right on that spot, his small lips parting open from the shock of seeing me. The way he glared at me felt too dramatic, like they did in movies. Darius followed his gaze and his jaw dropped upon seeing me as well.

Now it was Duke's turn. I expected some kind of dramatic reaction as well from him, as my lips was already curled into a satisfying smile but instead, all I got was a short brief glance before he turned around again like I hadn't even existed! What the hell??

I frowned, walking towards them. "Wow, Anaya you look--" Dean couldn't complete his statement. Darius tried for words but it only ended up looking like he was brawling.

I ignored them and tapped Duke's shoulders to make him turn around. When he did, his lazy eyes scanned me up and down, devouring me at an instant. I tried to break that powerful gaze but my eyes became heavily fixed on his as well. I was supposed to be mad at these boys, yet, I was standing still like a statue in front of one of them, lustfully gazing at his lips, wondering what they would taste like...

Finally, I snapped out of that trance and cleared my throat. My cheeks burned slightly from embarrassment but it seemed I had overcome it. "Here, your jacket." I stretched forth my hand, returning his cloth to him.

He paused for a moment, it seemed like he was looking for the right word. "Keep it." Was all he uttered before walking away from me. That was it?? I felt a bit disappointed and it grew worse when Darius stormed off as well with Dean tailing behind. Was my effort wasted so fast already? It took me hours to prepare, and they would just ignore me like that?? I cleared my throat again, absentmindedly reaching out to fresh air once again to fill my lungs.

"Honey?" Freya's call brought me back to reality. "Let's go. Alpha Donald is waiting outside already."

It didn't take me long before I started to doubt whether going to that party was even worth it at all. This felt like a different kind of betrayal. What was the point of getting all dressed up then when they wouldn't even take their time to appreciate my efforts then! "Yes Freya," I said to her as we both stepped out.