Arrangements

Chapter 2 - Arrangements

Colette

I snuck into the kitchen, grabbing myself an apple and some bread before heading back to my room to eat in secret. Too afraid of getting caught by Amelia to believe that Jacob ordering me there would protect me.

With my stomach full and forever grateful for Jacobs's kindness. I snuck back upstairs to finish my duties, not trusting Gerald to task others with my chores.

To my surprise, Gerald had kept to his word. A few girls were finishing up my rooms on the second level of the packhouse. They insisted that I do as Gerald had ordered, but I wouldn't say I liked the feeling of owing them for their help, so I pressed on staying and helping them clean up the kast floor of the day.

Despite eating at lunch, when dinner time came around, I felt as though I hadn't eaten anything.

It was odd to be finished working when everyone else was finished just as I arrived at the kitchen with Laura, a younger server who came two years ago from a neighbouring pack to better her packs union with the Silvermoon pack.

I stopped dead in my tracks, spotting Amelia and Jacob in the hallway. It was impossible to ignore her little giggles as she shamelessly flirted with the Beta. 

Amelia was dressed in a form-fitting black dress that ended at her thighs. The lace bodice did hardly anything to cover her chest. Her auburn hair was pulled back, and her nails were painted a deep blue. Jacob wore a fitted three-piece suit, his cropped blonde hair styled back. He held her close as he escorted her down the hall towards the dining hall, and I hated the small part of me that was jealous of her for being able to walk around so freely with him.

Not that I wanted to be with Jacob. I never could be not with my secrets and my status in this pack.

But a small part of me craved to have a chance to know what it felt like to have a man touch me the way I had seen a lot of the males touch the females they were interested in.

Apart of me wanted to have the happiness of finding my mate and knowing what it felt like to be truly loved.

"Colette," Laura whispered, pulling me from my daze. I furrowed my brow at her.

"I asked if you were coming to dinner or still had some more chores to do,"

"Oh. Sorry, yes, I am coming to dinner. Thanks to all of your and the other's help, I am actually finished for the day," She gave me a soft smile before a frown settled on her face.

"It's the least we could do, especially since we all heard the news," I looked at her, confused. That pit in my stomach became larger.

"What news?" Laura's honey-coloured eyes widened in shock as she shook her head.

"Sorry, it's nothing. I have to go. Forget I said anything." She quickly turned around and walked away from me. Leaving me there confused and scared as I watched after her.

For dinner, there was stew and bread that wasn't too stale. After the awkward conversation with Laura, I decided it was best to eat in my room. After finishing off my dinner, I changed into my pyjamas. They were just clothes from the lost and found that nobody cared to claim. I washed my face and went to bed, setting my alarm.

I was just passing out when a knock sounded at my door.

"Colette, Alpha Carter would like to see you," A soft voice called from the other side.

My heart pounded against my chest. The only time the Alpha asked to see me was when I would get punished for something I did. Or something Amelia claimed I did.

My body ached in protest as I got out of bed and padded across the floor to the door.

I slowly opened it, spotting Laura standing awkwardly in the narrow hallway. The dull light from the top of the stairs cast her in shadows. She gave me a tight-lipped smile before heading up the stairs. I quietly followed her. Preparing myself for whatever was to come finding that small space inside of myself, and locking away all my emotions.

Begging him to stop his punishments only made him angrier. Strike me harder. Punish me longer.

I fidgeted with the end of my shirt as I made my way down the familiar hallway. The sounds of laughter and mingling of the guests filled the hallway as we passed the dining hall, making our way to the Alpha office.

We reached the large double doors faster than I had time to prepare myself. With a quick knock, Laura didn't wait for an answer before pushing them open, leading me into the giant office.

Alpha Carter loved to make a statement. His desk sat before two large bay windows that looked out towards the water. His desk was made of oak, and he claimed it came from a place called Gardenia. A place I had never heard of before coming here.

He had trinkets, and rare artifacts from around the world littered his office. But his favourite item in his room was the wardrobe he had handcrafted in France. It held all of his toys. Toys he used to punish me with, from leather wipes to silver knives. Enough to hurt me, enough to leave a mental scar but not a physical one.

This room was where he kept all his trophies. This room was the place I feared coming to most. But it wasn't the fear from this room that had stopped me from entering it.

No.

It was the man who sat across from Alpha Carter. A man who many feared. A man who had been threatening war on most of the southern packs for years, trying to gain the biggest territory in the south.

Alpha Zane Hendrix, the man who killed his parents and claimed his title at the age of eighteen. The man who tore through villages and took what he wanted without caring about what he was doing to those families he had destroyed.

My breath caught in my throat as his golden-brown eyes locked on me. My body suddenly felt hot under his intense gaze.

His jaw clenched, and his nostril flared. Irritation flickered in his eyes as he took me. I felt stuck, unable to move as if he held me in a trance. My heart raced, and my hands felt clammy.

Suddenly I was all too aware of what I was wearing, how underdressed and dirty I must look.

I turned my gaze to the figure beside him. A short she-wolf with long red hair that ended at her waist stood behind me, her arms folded over her chest. Her red-painted lips pursed, her dark green eyes raking over me, disgust filling them. She had curves that I could only dream of having, maybe would have had if I wasn't so malnourished. 

She held onto Alpha Zane's hand, her fingers intertwined with his. A show of claiming, despite not bearing his mark.

"Ahh, there she is. The soon-to-be bride. My eldest daughter, Colette. Please have a seat," Alpha Carter's words registered at the last moment as I snapped my head towards him. A look of warning on his face.

This was why everyone was acting so weird towards me. This is why Laura and Gerald look so sad.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to call him a liar. Tell the truth about who I was, but I didn't; instead, I nodded my head and did what he asked.

"This is who we have to be out, Luna, Pathetic," The she-wolf hissed. A low Growl of Warning came from Zane.

"Sophia," He warned. His eyes never left me as he watched and assessed me like a predator before devouring their prey.

Too stunned to speak. Too scared of what would happen to the people of this pack or me if I didn't do as I was told. I took a seat beside Alpha Carter slipping away into the small empty space I had hidden deep within my soul and prayed the Selene that I would survive this too.