10. Attraction

Omg! He's so handsome! A tiny voice whispers in my mind the moment Beta's door opens and a man comes out from it.

"Hi… can I help you?" He asks, smiling down at me but I don't reply. Instead, I'm wondering to myself… Who is he to Beta?

I'd never seen him before in my two years of working as a maid at the pack house. His smile and the way the flecks of brown and gold in his gray eyes twinkle cheerfully fascinate me so much that I couldn't stop myself from staring

He arches a brow then in amusement and I feel my face heat up in embarrassment when I realize I've just been staring, I haven't responded to his question.

Damn, Ash! Get a grip! I snapped inwardly at myself, wishing I could dig into the ground and bury my head inside.

It's natural for shifters my age to have needs and urges for the opposite sex but not me. I have never been attracted to anyone from the opposite sex or the same sex for that matter. I don't know why I've never looked at anyone in that manner. This is the first time my interest has ever peaked toward a man and I wonder if it's because I just got my wolf.

I clear my throat. "Uhmm... Hi, I'm sorry for... I mean, I'm here to get the laundry." I stutter in embarrassment. No one has ever left me short of words and I wish right there that my eyes will find somewhere else to fixate on than his face.

"You're here for the laundry?..." He repeats my statement with surprise.

"My mom said the maid might come around. Do you work here? Are you by any chance the maid?" He enquired with a slight frown on his face.

"Well, isn't it obvious enough?" I snappishly reply to him while indicating the vacuum cleaner and laundry basket I have beside me.

Easy, Ash. You don't have to bite his head off for asking a question. I cautioned myself

I've been a maid for two years and I've sort of developed a thick skin to shifters calling me all sorts of degrading names. But the thought of this guy that I hardly know seeing me as a maid and addressing me as such embarrasses and rubs me up the wrong way. I didn't use to give a damn about what shifters think or say about me before so why does what he thinks of me matter now?

"Oh!... I just... I mean I wasn't trying to…" He stops talking and a faint blush appears on his cheeks then. For a moment he closes his eyes. When he opens them, he says…

"Uhmm, would you like to come in though while I inform her you're here?..." From the look on his face, I can tell he's embarrassed and surprised to hear I'm a maid.

I'm also surprised to get the first invitation ever to enter Beta's apartment from him

"No, no, no!... I will just wait out here, thanks." I politely decline.

I refused his invitation because I have never before been invited in by any member of his family that I know. Not the Beta. Not Mrs. Beta that usually comes to the door whenever I come for the laundry and certainly not a girl about my age that I nicknamed miss snotty nose because of how she always looked

down her nose at me

"If you insist then. Please wait a moment, I'll be right back." He says with a smile before retreating into the room and pulling the door shut being him

What's taking so long!? I thought impatiently after minutes had gone by. I wish I had the luxury of waiting around but I don't. I still have to clean nine apartments before starting on their laundry. I'm about to knock on the door again when it finally opens.

I smile back at him and collect the plastic bag he's carrying. I rummage inside the large pocket on my apron till I find a tag that has Beta already printed on it. I attach the tag to the laundry bag before dropping it in the big basket.

"Bye..." I say softly when I'm done without looking at his face this time, pushing the laundry basket and vacuum cleaner towards the opposite side.

"Hey, do you need any help with that? It looks heavy." His voice stops me in my tracks and my heart misses a beat.

"Huh?..." I say unbelievably as I turn back to him. Did he just offer to help me?

"Your cart looks heavy. Do you need help with it?" He asks again and my eyes widen some more. I wasn't hearing things. He indeed offered to help. The first time that someone apart from Martha will offer to help me with something

"No, I don't! Don't worry about it. It just looks heavy but It's not. Thank you though." I reply with a half smile.

What is the matter with you, Ash? Are you crazy!? The first man that ever spoke to you politely in this pack and you're turning him down!? I thought to myself.

I can tell he didn't look convinced when I said my cart wasn't heavy.

"It's just a basket. An almost empty basket and it's on wheels so I can easily be able to move it around, see..." I say and demonstrate to him how easy it is to move the basket by pushing it to the front and back.

"Thank you for offering to help though. Bye," I bid him the second time and continued on my way.

Although his offer looked innocent and he didn't look like he had ulterior motives towards me, experience had taught me that good-looking guys don't talk to and offer to help Omegas like me. Especially not in this pack.

"Hey... I didn't quite catch your name?" He calls after me again and I turn to look back to him.

"Yeah... You didn't quite catch it because I didn't quite throw it!" I reply and he burst out in laughter that causes his eyes to twinkle some more.

"You're funny, you know that right?" He says and walks the few steps that separate us to where I'm standing. Stretching out his hand to me for a shake.

"I'm Ethan, the Beta's son."

I look at his outstretched hand and instead of also offering mine, I ball it into a fist beside me in embarrassment. How can I allow him to feel my chapped and calloused palm?

"I'm Ash, and I'm a maid." I deliberately emphasized the word maid to remind him again of who I am.

"Uhm, okay. I know that already. So?…" He says with a shrug, letting his hand drop back to his side.

"So, people from your status don't talk to, and certainly never offer to help bottom feeders like me," I tell him and his eyes widen.

"I should really get going, duty calls you know," I say after some awkward seconds of silence had passed between us.

I turn around and start pushing my cart again toward the Gamma chief's apartment.

"I'll see you around," He calls loudly behind me and I wave my hand without turning around. He's a very handsome shifter, the Beta's son for that matter and I'm an Omega. An orphaned Omega freak with a strange wolf. No, People like him don't talk to people like me.

As I stop in front of the door I always dread to knock. I realize Ethan somehow made me forget for some minutes, the monster that I knew would be lying in wait for me behind that door.

Like always, whenever I'm about to clean the Gammas chief's apartment I wish I'm very far away from the place but I know I don't have a choice since resignation from my job is never an option until when I turn eighteen.

I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm my frayed nerves before knocking on the door. Let's see what Gamma chief is up to this time since he's always up to no good with me.