Chapter 3

~Sara~

It wasn't until I woke up to an incessant tapping on my shoulder that I realized I had slept off. A maid stood beside my bed, watching me with a creepy stare.

I shot off the bed, immediately getting a hint of why she was here. The sun was already rising, and the house had fallen silent, indicating that the ceremony was over. And the last guest probably just left.

"The Alpha requests your presence in the living room." She spoke up, stepping a few inches away from the bed.

"You have 15 minutes to freshen up before meeting him." She added, stopping me as soon as I stepped down from the bed to follow her.

Okay, that was odd. If he was going to punish me for last night, what was the point of freshening up?

Nonetheless, I nodded, knowing she couldn't provide me any answers even if I asked, and proceeded towards the bathroom door while she left the room.

In less than ten minutes, I had finished bathing and hurried to get dressed. One thing was ingrained in my mind—never make Father wait even a minute late for my arrival.

I still vividly remember what happened the first time I made him wait over 10 minutes. I was thirteen then and spent too long in the bathroom, washing myself thoroughly because of the event we were about to attend. I wanted to look my best but ended up spending that entire evening and the following two days in the dark basement, still dressed in my pretty royal-purple dress.

I never got to attend the event. Never got to see Carlos, a neighboring pack alpha's son, whom I often heard school girls gossip about in the bathroom. No, I was never interested in him. My heart belonged to Kai. I only wanted to see him and feel the pride that he could never be compared to Kai in terms of looks and physique.

Too bad, I only got my heart crushed into a million tiny pieces. Stupid.

Once I was dressed in a black dress with red polka dots, one of my numerous hand-me-downs from Lilah, I hurried out of the room and down the stairs to the enormous living room. I paused at the foot of the stairway, upon sighting a strange figure sitting with his back to me. Father, the Luna, and Adam were all seated in the room as well, with very familiar smiles on their faces.

Those smiles they put on when trying to gain favors from a high-ranking alpha, those familiar smiles that would quickly turn to scowl as soon as the alpha leaves.

Hypocrites-that's what they all are.

I took a deep breath before advancing further into the room, the sounds of my footsteps drawing their attention. My heart skipped a beat, and my breath hitched in my throat as the stranger turned his head to me.

My savior from last night! No wonder they were all wearing that familiar smile on their faces. I wonder what power he holds to render them this way.

"Father," I called and bowed my head, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Sara! Take a seat, please." Too weird. His tone was too weird. Over-friendly. Too fake. Something was up, and I knew it.

I looked up, exerting so much effort to stop my face from scrunching into an irritated frown upon sighting the wide smile on father's face. What was he up to this time that warranted him to pretend this much?

"I believe you met with Alpha Rhett last night." He started, referring to the stranger seated opposite us with a blank expression. Obviously, he must be appalled by my father's shamelessness, considering his actions yesterday. "I explained to him that last night was a mistake, and I already made it up to you, right?"

Was I supposed to respond to that? Because I remember well that all that happened last night was me falling asleep after overthinking. Besides, father would rather die than apologize to me for his cruelty.

"Right, Sara?" The Luna who sat beside me placed her palm on my thigh, smiling broadly at me. "How are you feeling now? Is the headache gone? I'm sorry we got you up so early. But Alpha Rhett had something important to discuss, so we had no choice. But you could get some rest after this, okay? Or do you want to come to the spa with me today? We could spend some ladies’ time together?" She rubbed my cheeks with her fingertips, moving to stroke my hair.

I glanced between her and my father, trying to decide whether to play along or expose their dirty schemes and ruin whatever deal they were making with this alpha, which clearly involves me. Yet I smile, deciding to play along with their charade, since all that they could possibly get from this, was just money.

"It's okay, I'm fine," I responded, reciprocating the fake smiles.

"Honey, don't you think you should discuss this with her in private? So she could have a little time to make up her mind." The Luna suggested, wrapping her left arm around my shoulders. I guess there are more than enough reasons to take another bath after this.

"Yes, that'll be great. Give us a few minutes, Rhett." Father stood up and turned to me. "Please, come with me, dear." I stood up and stared around the living room, trying to guess what could be happening, before following father up the stairs to his home office.

As soon as I shut the door behind me, I looked up to see him pacing around the room while letting out small chuckles. "You were useful, after all." He smirked, briefly glancing at me before looking up at the ceiling with a wide smile on his face.

"This must be a reward from the goddess to me for keeping you all these years. You have proven useful, after all. Maybe this would make me forgive your mother for what she did." I stood still, watching him impassively. Whatever was happening, I had a feeling I wasn't going to like it. It must be horrifying. Because whatever made father this happy must be a new beginning of hell for me.

"What is happening, if I may ask?" He snapped his head towards me, a scowl instantly replacing the smile on his face.

"I'll forgive this interruption, just this time," I nodded and swallowed the growing lump down my throat.

"Anyway, Alpha Rhett has brought an offer that would change all of our lives forever. In case you don't know, he's the alpha of The Crescent Moon Pack, the first-ever werewolf pack, the most respected and the wealthiest of all." He paused, rubbing his palms together—an action that seemed quite greedy to me. "Alpha Rhett has chosen you to be his bride and future Luna. Don't worry about decision-making; we're not here for that. I already accepted. Your opinions never matter."