Chapter Five

Rayne

I’m dressed in Denise’s best clothes.

She might not think they’re better than what I was wearing before but they are. I twirl around in front of the mirror in my bedroom and take in my appearance. Her ‘best clothes’ consist of a black dress with a tight bodice and flared skirt. It’s presentable—that can’t be disputed—but it puts a little too much emphasis on my cleavage. She has also helped me put my hair up in a loose chignon and my neck is fully exposed. She has also spritzed some perfume on me.

She claps her hands and says, “Wonderful. You look like a different woman! All you need is to put on a little weight to fill out your hips and you’ll be perfect!”

I don’t agree with her. I don’t think this dress is appropriate at all. “Can I get a shawl or a coat? Something to cover up a little bit more?”

“Nonsense!” she says, waving her hand at me. “This is perfect. This is an outfit worthy of the Luna of MoonWater.”

“Denise, my circumstances are different. You know that.”

“Nonsense,” she says again, putting emphasis on the word. “I don’t want to hear any more of this. You go to his room because he’s waiting for you. Maintain eye contact. Be the strongest version of yourself.”

She grabs my shoulders and smiles encouragingly at me as we both stare at my reflection in the mirror. “Good luck.”

She practically drags me out of the room. She’ll have to escort me to the Alpha’s room because I don’t know where it is. I’ve never been there before. Thankfully, I don’t come across anyone. I’d be too embarrassed. I keep my head low despite her advice and when we stop in front of the Alpha’s room, my heart all but stops.

“I can’t do this,” I tell her desperately.

“You’ll have to,” she says, knocking so I don’t have to. When we hear the Alpha’s deep voice from within, she starts walking away, leaving me all by myself. I press my hand on the door and try to focus on my breathing but it’s hard to feel anything apart from my despair and his fury.

I open the door so I don’t have to be scolded for leaving him waiting. I open the door and his scent invades my nostrils. My knees weaken but I stay standing. The room is enormous. Everything smells of him, and it’s the kind of smell I’ve smelled all my life but I can’t exactly tell from where it’s from and when I smelled it.

Maybe this is the bond’s doing.

I enter further into the room and close the door. I haven’t seen him yet but I know he’s somewhere in here. When he speaks, I realize that he’s standing close to the open window. His back is toward me and the wind is ruffling his thick hair.

“This is going to be quick,” he tells me sharply. “I don’t want to be anywhere near you longer than I have to. You will answer everything truthfully and quickly.”

I didn’t realize that I had to agree with him until he gives me a black look over his shoulder. I stammer a, “y-yes,” and he abandons his post near the window and walks toward me.

I can’t do it. I lower my eyes.

“I asked you before and I’ll ask you again,” he begins. “Who sent you?”

I lick my lips before answering. “N-nobody sent me. I’ve always w-worked here—”

“You look at me when I’m talking to you!” he barks. I instinctively back away and my back hits the door. “Where was this meekness when you were walking down the aisle with my chosen mate’s dress on you!?”

I force myself to look at his face. It takes everything and a little more to not look away. His thick black brows are pinched together and his nostrils are flared. Aggression emanates from him and I get the feeling that he’ll strike me but he doesn’t get anywhere near me.

“Nobody sent me,” I say again. “I’ve always worked here. All my life. I was born in the palace. House. I was born in the House.”

He narrows his eyes at me suspiciously. “So you truly are a slave?”

I nod and gulp.

“And how is it that you ended up wearing my mate’s dress?” he asks loudly. “How did this goddamned incident come to be?”

“There was a woman,” I begin. “She gave me the dress and told me to take it upstairs. When I reached the room, they practically dragged me inside and dressed me up. I—” I close my eyes. I know how bad this sounds. It sounds like a lie.

He waits for me to finish. His expression is murderous. Standing somewhat close to him makes the bond between us stronger, and I feel his emotions more intensely. It’s almost painful, how furious he is.

“There was a man there,” I say. “He gave me tea.”

Alpha Max looks at me like I’m a bug that needs to be squashed. “He gave you tea.”

“I mean there was something in the tea,” I say. “Something that made me dizzy and…complacent. I questioned him and he told me not to say a word. I didn’t know what was happening. He warned me not to say a word or he’d have me killed.”

He looks at me for so long and with a puzzled expression that gives me hope. Maybe he understands what happened now. He asks, “What was his name?”

I blink as I try to remember anything that might be related to his identity. He keeps looking at me. I finally say. “I don’t know.”

“And the woman who gave you the dress? What was her name?”

I shift uncomfortably. “She just gave me the order. She didn’t tell me. I swear to you, Alpha, that I’m not lying—”

“Silence!” he hisses. I fall silent immediately. “Your word means nothing to me. It means as much to me as you do. How convenient is it that you don’t remember any names and that you were given a spiked tea?”

“I’m not lying—”

“What you’re trying to say is that you’re innocent,” he says, ignoring me. “You are not at all to blame for what happened that say. Correct?”

A knot forms in my throat and I lower my eyes then remind myself to raise them again. I say, “I wish I had said something. I’m sorry. I tried to…I wanted to—”

“That doesn’t matter now, does it?” he says in a low voice, so low that it scares me more than his shouting. “Nothing fucking matters anymore. We’re bound for life. Your apology won’t undo any of this, neither will your wants and regrets.”

I feel tears accumulating in my eyes. “Alpha—”

“I’ve lost everything that ever mattered to me,” he says, once again interrupting me. “I have nothing now. Do you realize what you’ve taken from me? Do you realize what you’ve done?”

I keep my lips sealed. I realize that nothing I say will matter at this point. It doesn’t matter that I was sent around and then this happened. It doesn’t even matter if he believes that my tea was genuinely spiked. I ended up mating with him and not Alaska. I’m the one who is to blame because the people behind this have vanished and I never even knew their names. Only the makeup artists. “One woman was named Angela and the man—”

“Get out,” he says abruptly.

I blink back at him. “But won’t the names—”

This makes him furious. He turns to me with an expression of pure disbelief and hatred. He says, “You disobedient mutt. Did you not hear what I said? I don’t care to hear anything else that you have to say. I don’t want you in here longer than you have to be. Everything about you disgusts me. Your voice. Your smell. Your face.” His eyes trail down my body and I feel like digging a hole at my feet and crawling inside. “This pathetic attempt to try to seduce me. Did you really think I wouldn’t see past your cynicism? Did you think I’d ever see you for anything else other than what you truly are?”

I lower my eyes, wishing I had followed my instincts. I say nothing to him and stand with my eyes on the floor.

He continues, “You’re in here dressed like a cheap whore and you expect me to believe your words? You expect me to believe that you had no finger in this? That you didn’t want to change your circumstances by mating with the Alpha of MoonWater?”

I don’t know if he’s waiting for an answer but I won’t give him one. I have nothing to say to that. He wouldn’t believe me in any case and I don’t want to make him angrier. Irritated, he yells, “Get out! Out!” With a sour expression, he adds, “You make me sick.”

I don’t wait to be told twice. I leave the room without looking back. My cheeks are bright red and I can’t see past the tears swimming in my eyes. I wipe my face with my rough palm and rush away from his room. I hear him throwing things inside and screaming. I don’t want him to change his mind and decide that I’m the one who needs to be punished and thrown across the room.

I’ve never felt this humiliated. Tears slide down my cheeks and I bite my lip so I don’t sob. Everything went terribly wrong. I thought I had a chance of explaining myself but it’s no use. He’ll never believe me.

I look down at my dress. He wasn’t lying about my appearance but that doesn’t mean his words hurt less.

I’m about to reach my room when I’m stopped. Someone grabs my arm and forces me to turn around. I expect to see the Alpha staring at me but it isn’t him. It’s someone much, much worse.

The Second Beta.

No.

His malicious green eyes are on me and his face splits into a cruel smile. “Thought you’d run from me forever, did you?”