Chapter 2

Layla's POV

A new life? A new status? His words sounded just too exciting to my ears, something juicy i could never resist. I had already begun envisioning the future, imagining what would happen if I ever succeeded with what Alpha Alex wanted me to do. The slaves would never speak with so much disdain, and like he said, I would never have to scrub the floor again.

But what was the guarantee I could do what he asked me to do? And why did he have to choose me? The Wolfclaw pack had the best of men, and the fiercest of assassins capable of giving their lives in exchange for the alpha's glory. Why was I his choice out of them all?

I was considered the lowest of slaves. If he also saw me with that term, it was certain that the Moonstone pack was fiercer than what it was in the Wolfclaw pack. This meant that if I had to die, my death would make little or no significance to the stories that would be told to the future generations should in case Alpha Alex got what he wanted. 

"I'm waiting for your response, Layla" his words brought me back to the consciousness of the real world.

"Don't keep me waiting for an answer. The offer is just too juicy for you to refuse, and another would be more than willing to take it off your hands" he said again, and I was forced to stare at him with mixed feelings over what he offered me. 

"How do I know you'll do what you've promised?" I asked him. I had a hybrid of fear and confidence in my words. If I ever got caught in the process of doing what I was sent to the Moonstone pack, and then trailed and killed, then, there wasn't any difference if he killed me here over the sin of disloyalty. 

He chuckled with his head lowered to the ground. He found my words funny, but I didn't. I needed to be guaranteed of his words, and so I stood with my hands folded, and shoulders shrugged as I peered at him.

I watched the smirk on his face as he stood from his chair and took steady steps towards me. He stood before me, and he pushed my jaw upwards with his fingers as he said to me, "My word is my bond! You shouldn't fear. Besides, why would I want to go back on my words for a common slave?"

He turned around and continued, "Well, I wouldn't call you that, given the fact that I have so much confidence in what you can do. There's untapped potential inside of you, and I can see it, I can feel it in your voice"

"You..." He said to me as he walked towards me, grabbing me by the shoulders before he then continued, "You are more powerful than you can ever imagine. You don't just see it"

"Fine...!" I answered immediately. My words were firm with a grit after a few seconds of silence and inward conviction. His words were so convincing, as though he fueled my very being into doing that which he wanted.

"I'll take it" I answered him with my eyes rolled.

He turned towards me, and he smiled at me. As sudden as the smile on his face was, it immediately disappeared, and he spoke with a loud tone, "You just give me all the information about the pack I need, and you get to live the life you choose. You leave tonight"

So sudden? How desperate could he be? 

"My bags aren't packed yet" I said to him.

"You don't need those. You're not going there for luxury. You're going there to get me information" he said to me as he waved his hands. 

My lips were parted open in shock. I didn't even know the location of the Moonstone Pack. But what did he care?

As soon as he uttered those words, I could feel hands wrapped around my hands, and my entire being dragged out of the room. Inwardly, I was excited, excited that I had to leave the pack where my shame was most and start off in a new place as a new person. 

At night, when it was at its darkest, and the entire landscape was filled with pindrop silence, I walked out of the Wolfclaw pack. I looked back without regrets, and I headed towards the Moonstone Pack. 

What was before me was greater than I could fathom. There wasn't any procedure as to how I would get the information they needed or how I would relay it to them. I had all the thinking and the work to do. 

I stepped into the Moonstone pack, and settled under a tree root as shelter for the night, hoping to gain entrance into the alpha's home the next day. 

The next day, I was awakened by the brightness of the sun which was already seated in the sky, and by the noises made by the people who trooped the road which was a few miles away from me

I sat upright, and still had the thoughts of what method I would use to get that which would change my status forever. 

Then, it dawned on me. I looked at the clothes which I had put on, and I realized that the only way I could gain entrance would be to act like the exact person I was in the Wolfclaw pack– the lowest of slaves. There, no one would consider me, and even the alpha would never recognize me for a bit. 

I grabbed my bag, hung on my hinged shoulder as I made my way to the alpha's home. I walked through the gates just as the others did, staring around and getting marvelled by the beauty of the pack. 

I sighted a young lady who was dressed in a way that communicated that she served in the Moonstone pack as a servant, and so I rushed after her. 

"Hi!" I greeted her. Just as I had expected, she turned and stared at me, looking at me from my head to my toe before she replied, "And what is it I can do for you?"

"Could you lead me to the mistress in charge? I want to volunteer as a maid here" I said with an excitement written on my face. She stared at me with so much disgust on her face, and just before she could utter a word, a feminine voice called out to her from the side. 

"Christine!" She heard her name, and she turned around, running towards the lady who stood at the side. From the lady's look, I suspected that she was the mistress in charge, and so I followed behind Christine until I stood before the mistress. 

"And who might you be?" The mistress asked me as she tried to distance herself away from me. 

"I'm Layla..." I said with an excitement in my tone, smiling so broadly one would ask what was the cause of the ecstasy within me. 

"I want to serve here" I said to her

I watched as the mistress looked at me, and then turned her gaze towards Christine who stood by her side, both of them looking so startled at the way I hit the nail on the head. 

"Is that so?" She asked me, looking at me from my head to my toe and also stretching her neck to see if she could have a view of my back. I nodded my head in response before she rolled her eyes and said to me, "Follow me then!"

She turned around, and walked into the house, and I followed her according to her hasty pace. She halted, looked around the room as though she searched for something. 

"Aha! Found it" she said as she grabbed a brush from the ground and turned to me. 

"There...! Start scrubbing" she handed the brush over to me and walked away from the room. I grabbed the brush with a smile seated on my face, and an euphoria in my so

ul that I was inside the Moonstone pack. The future is brighter for me now.