"Welcome to your new home, Miss. Lucy" Tyler welcomed the mate of the Alpha as she stepped into the mansion.
"Alpha Carl is not back from work yet but as soon as he is back, he would definitely be glad to see that you are here" Tyler added.
"Thank you" Ethel responded, she could feel her heart pounding with every step she took.
And in her head was this voice that was screaming at her that this was going to go wrong, this was all folly.
"Follow me, I will lead you into your room" Tyler gave her a warm smile that Ethel responded to with an equally warm smile.
Tyler walked forward and Ethel followed behind him until a question popped up in her mind. Was she going to be sharing the room with Alpha Carl?
"Excuse me?" She tried to sound as confident as Lucy would have sounded.
"Yes?" Tyler looked back at her.
"Would I be sharing a room with... With my mate?" She could feel something inside of her snort at her when she said those words.
"Actually no, it's Alpha Carl's orders. The both of you would be staying apart for now" Tyler replied and Ethel could not hold back the breath of relief that left her lips.
"That's fine with me" She said and followed after him.
It took about a minute to get up the stairs to the room that she would be occupying.
"Here, you'd be staying here. If you feel even slightly uncomfortable about anything, please do let me know and I will get it taken care of as soon as possible" The beta's voice was absolutely gentle.
Ethel wondered when last she had heard someone talk to her so gently apart from her mother but she soon reminded herself that he wasn't talking to her, he was talking to Lucy.
"Thank you" she thanked him and walked into the room.
The room was a little bit bigger than her room back at home which was not surprising but its beauty was surprising.
"Based on your preferences, your closet has been stocked with clothes and accessories"
More like based on Lucy's preference.
"Thank you for your help" she thanked him yet again.
"You do not have to be so polite" Tyler smiled and walked backwards, to the door.
"I'd be leaving now" he walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.
Ethel let out a breath of relief as the door shut behind him but almost immediately, the door opened and she snapped her body back into position.
"Uhm, what about Ethel?" Tyler asked.
"Ethel?"
"Yeah, your twin sister" Tyler replied.
"She is doing very well, I guess" she could only mumble the last two words.
"Extend my greetings to her" he grinned and then exited the room leaving Ethel with arched brows.
Someone outside of her family still remembered that she existed and even asked about her?!
It made the insides of her stomach tighten with excitement. The eyes of the beta had seemed to shine when he had talked about her and a thought flew into Ethel's head.
Did beta Tyler like her?!
The thought made her snap her head towards the door. She gulped down hard and then shook her head. It could not be possible, she barely went out, when would the beta have seen her not to talk of actually liking her. It was impossible for anyone to like her.
Ethel brought herself back into the present and looked around the room, it was well lit and she was grateful for that fact.
Ethel walked into the closet to check out the clothes and just as she had guessed, none of the clothes actually fit her usual style, they all fit Lucy's style.
Ethel leaned against the wall and breathed out heavily, wondering when she would be able to live life and really live it to the best of it, the way she wanted.
*
"It has been only a few minutes since your mate arrived, Alpha" Tyler informed Carl, taking the briefcase and jacket from Carl as he alighted the car.
Carl glanced at his wristwatch, noting the time, it was 9:02. He walked into the house, not giving a response to what Tyler had said.
Getting to the stairs, he ran his left hand into his hair and pulled at the dark hair that seemed to have grown out a little bit but made him look even more handsome with the extra length of it.
He walked up the stairs, and removed the tie around his neck. He handed the tie over to Tyler and moved over to the room where he was sure that his mate would be in, Lucy Denise.
Without knocking on the door, he pushed it open and walked in and the first sight that welcomed him was her bent over a table, trying to pick something on the other side of the table without walking to the other side of the table.
Her ass was outlined by the black gown that she was wearing and from where he was, he could see her thighs bared out by the slit of the dress that she was wearing.
Her upper body was pressed against the table as she tried harder to reach whatever it was she was trying to reach.
Carl could not help it but have his mind run dirty. He suddenly and strangely wanted to walk over to her, grab her by the waist and press his body against that sexy body.
His mind ran through what it would look like to see that sexy ass jiggled and shook with his hard thrusts into her. He wanted to grab this ass he was staring at and watch the flesh of it spill between his fingers.
More and dirtier imaginations ran through his mind as his eyes remained glued to her body.
"Fuck" he cussed as he felt his dick twitch inside of his trousers.
'What the hell was this?' he asked himself.
He was getting hard, just staring at the clothed butt of his mate.
'Well, she is my mate' he shrugged even though he found it strange that he was this attracted to someone.
Ethel finally picked the earring that she had been reaching for and stood up straight with a victorious smile on her face, happy at herself for being able to pick the earring over the table.
Little things like this were the things that brought her the small joys of her heart.
But as she stood straight, she felt her knees buck as she realized she was no longer alone in the room, he was there, Alpha Carl.
Her heart skipped a beat as the big question jumped into her mind.
'Was he going to figure it out right away that she wasn't Lucy? And if he did... What was going to be her fate?'
Ethel felt her mouth go dry. She had seen him a couple of times in the past but she had never seen him this close or be in a room with him alone.
The man in front of her looked way too perfect with his looks. His dark hair was touching the lower part of his neck and though his hair had clearly grown out, the cut was still visible and if anything, the outgrowing of his hair made him look hot. His eyeballs were brown and seemed to be a window into another world. Ethel felt that his eyes made her understand why it was said that eyes were windows to the soul.
Her gaze fell to his body, even with the black shirt on his body, it was evident what it was, he was heavily, sexily and gorgeously built.
All in all, Ethel concluded that this man was hot and that Lucy was lucky to have him as her mate.
She shook herself out of checking him out and that was when she noticed that he was checking her out too but Ethel immediately felt nervous and her palms went sweaty as she thought of the possibility of him actually noticing that she was not his mate but that was not the case, at least not yet because he was really checking her out.
His eyes went over her curves, up to her body and then her boobs that were held tightly in that black dress.
Carl could not believe it when he gulped down hard, salivating, just looking at her exposed cleavages. He felt his dick get harder and he immediately regretted his decision to put her in a separate room.
He tore his eyes off her body and looked at her face, wondering why she looked even more attractive tonight. For sure, it was not the first time he was seeing her but why did it look like she was a bit different from usual?
"A... Alpha Carl" Ethel stuttered out her first words to him.
"You are welcome to my home" Carl welcomed her and his voice almost threw Ethel off the edge.
How did he have a voice so deep and so good?
He walked further into the room and with each of his steps, Ethel's heart was racing super fast, in fear of being discovered and strangely, in excitement.
Carl got to her and he did not seem to have noticed anything yet which made Ethel relieved but she lowered her face which Carl regarded as him being shy.
"You don't need to feel shy around me, Lucy" Carl said to her, bending a little to her height to look at her face but Ethel lowered her face the more.
Carl took one of his finger to her head and lifted her face up.
He pulled her closer into a hug and her lovely scent wafted into his nostrils. Ethel froze as she felt something hard poking against her stomach.
'He... He was hard? Just by looking at her? Or was he hard before walking into the room?' she asked herself.
Carl buried his face in her neck, enjoying the very first hug he would be having with his mate but then he noticed something.... Something was off about her.
This scent... Her scent, it was lovely and sweet but it was different and he could also not feel something, he could not feel the mate bond.
This woman.... She was not his mate!
Alpha Carl pulled away from the hug as soon as he had made that discovery. His face was covered in confusion as he took two steps backwards, away from the woman that he had thought to be his mate until only a few seconds ago. Ethel felt her heart racing and this time it was more of fear than excitement. The way he was staring at her, his gaze that had suddenly gone much more intense than it was before. "Is... Is anything wrong?" She slowly questioned him but there was no response from Alpha Carl and the next second, Ethel's back had been pushed against the wall and his arm was to her neck, almost choking her. Ethel gasped as her back hit the hard wall in a single second."Who the hell are you?" He questioned, his eyes turning a bright red that scared the hell out of Ethel. "Wh... What do you mean?" She stuttered out, not willing to give up on her guise, not just yet. "You are not my mate, who are you?" His voice deepened but this time not in that hot manner that it had done previ
"This can't be good, Matthew. This can't be good" Mrs Adams, Ethel's mother repeated her words like she had been doing throughout the entire journey to the Alpha's home. "Your stupid daughter. We sent her over there just this night and we are already being called" Mr. Adams replied his wife in a mindlink and sighed heavily. "She told you that it was not going to work, Matthew. You should just have told the Alpha the truth. If you had done so, this would not be happening" her voice was panicky as she replied him back in the mindlink. "Do not blame me for this. Just blame Ethel" He groaned his response and looked forward to Tyler who was driving the car."Beta Tyler" He called."Yes, Mr. Adams?" Tyler looked into the mirror. "Do you know why we are being summoned right in the middle of the night?" He asked, slowly. "I have told you a thousand times already, Mr. Adams, I do not have any idea why I was asked to bring the both of you" he replied and Mr. Adams let out a shaky breath an
"You are useless, Ethel" Mr. Adams said to his daughter. Ethel lowered her face back to the floor, sobbing silently. "You see what you caused? I am having my toes chopped off! And it is all because of you! Don't you dare come back home! Don't you dare come back home or else I am getting you killed, Ethel!!" He screamed at her.Tyler pressed his lips into a thin line and glanced over at Ethel for a second, her shoulders shook lightly with her sobs. Tyler took his eyes away from her and looked at Mr Adams who would not stop ranting about how useless his daughter was. "Mr. Adams" Tyler called when he could not stand it anymore. "You should not talk to Ethel that way, not when you were the one who schemed all of this""Beta Tyler, you... " Mr Adams stopped talking and sucked in a large amount of air into his lungs and glared at his daughter. Tyler walked over to Mr. Adams and grabbed him by the arm. "Mr. Adams, let's get your toes chopped off. I will try to make it as painless as p
It was 10am when Ethel left the room. She had taken a bath and dressed up in one of the clothes that was meant for Lucy. She stepped into the passage and could not help but notice how sparkly clean it was. She walked to the stairs and the intricate designs of the hand rail hooked her. It was so beautiful and carefully done. Fear and tension had not allowed her notice so much details of the mansion the previous night. Ethel took a few seconds to admire the designs of the hand rail before continuing her walk down the stairs. Thoughts of her father, her mother and Lucy flashed through her mind but she was able to push away the thoughts before it would get to her heart. "It all already happened. I just have to survive" she mumbled to herself as she climbed down the last stair. Ethel pulled herself to the kitchen door and pushed open the door.She stepped into the kitchen and let her eyes roam around the clean place. She approached the cooker and noted that it had been used that morni
Ethel stared at the retreating figure of Alpha Carl until he completely disappeared from her sight.She still stood at the same spot thinking about the new rule. She was not allowed to go close to him.Ethel bit gently on her lower lip. It wasn't like she would glue herself to him anyways, after all he was not her mate. ."Anything the issue?" Tyler's voice came from behind, shaking Ethel back to life.Before she could turn back to glance at him, he was already by her side."Uhm... Welcome back, Beta Tyler" Ethel greeted."I told you already, Ethel. You can call me Tyler" he paused for some seconds. "Ethel" he added and let out a soft smile. It was clear that he enjoyed having her name roll out of his tongue. Ethel simply lowered her head without a response to him. "Was Alpha Carl being harsh with you just now?" Tyler asked. "Not at all. He only gave me a rule.""Which is....?" "I am not allowed to come close to him. All I should do is stay away" she replied. "That's not that
Ethel stared back at the Alpha in even more confusion. She had no clues about the moon ring and absolutely did not understand what he was asking her. "I am Ethel Adams" she replied timidly, wondering if that didn't sound dumb. "I know you are Ethel Adams" he groaned. "What are you? Why do you make the moon ring shine?" He requested again, this time sounding more impatient "Alpha Carl, I do not have any idea what the moon ring is" Ethel replied and though Alpha Carl clearly had more questions to ask, he kept them to himself as he realised that whatever was going on, Ethel most probably didn't have a clue. He slowly let go of her hand."Leave" he uttered the one word order. Ethel took three steps away from him and had just turned to walk away when all of a sudden, the lights went off. Ethel shrieked as both she and Alpha Carl were immediately enveloped by the darkness. Alpha Carl's first object of attention was the ring that had suddenly stopped shining. "What is wrong with the
Ethel's lips were parted as she breathed out heavily, trying to process what had just happened. She had just been kissed by the Alpha and it was a great kiss, a kiss that had totally blown her mind away. Ethel's eyes were still on Alpha Carl's lips and he was staring at her too, the both of them seemingly ignoring the presence of Tyler in the room. "Alpha Carl" a soft voice called, attracting the attention of Alpha Carl and Ethel. The both of them looked towards the direction of the voice and there was a lady standing, a bit farther away from Tyler. Alpha Carl recognized her almost immediately."Hayley?" Alpha Carl stood up from his kneeling position.That was when Alpha Carl understood what had happened to the lights. It was Hayley's habit to have the lights turned off whenever she was making her entrance after a long time and then she would turn it on when he could see her. That way, she felt like she came into his life as the light of it except that she was moe far from being
Alpha Carl, dressed up for work, stepped down from the last stair the same time Hayley walked into the living room. "Good morning, Alpha Carl" She greeted with a slight bow, still walking towards him to close the quite long distance between the both of them. "I told you to never come back, why are you here?" Alpha Carl asked, his gaze cold and piercing. Hayley gulped down, noting that the eyes she was seeing at the moment was colder than she ever remembered it to be ."I am here... I am here to see if you have forgiven me for what I did"Alpha Carl's lips curled up in a small smile that left as quickly as it had appeared. "Forgiveness? I kind of don't remember that the word even exists"Hayley lowered her head for a second. "I am really sorry for killing Molly. I... I just wanted your love and even right now, I still do. I still want your love.""I only have one question for you, Hayley. You were also a friend of Molly, you could not have killed her just because you want me, ther
"Do you, Carl Hillard, the Alpha of the River Alley Pack take Ethel Adams as your wife and Luna, to stand by her and be with her all the remaining days of your lives, in good and bad health, in good and bad situations, to offer her strength when she needs it, to be her husband?" The priest asked. This time, Alpha Carl was much more at peace knowing that no one would barge in to inform them of an attack on their Pack. "I do" Alpha Carl replied all smiles. The priest gave a small nod and turned towards Ethel. "Do you, Ethel Adams take Carl Hillard, the Alpha of the River Alley Pack as your husband, to stand by him and be with him all the remaining days of your lives, in good and bad health, in good and bad situations, to offer him strength when he needs it, to be his wife?""I do" Ethel replied, almost too quickly. Alpha Carl chuckled at how ecstatic she was. Like they had planned, there were very few people at this wedding. They put on the rings and Alpha Carl had his chance to
A week later"You know I still can't push away the fact that our wedding wasn't perfect. We didn't even get any wedding shots or even get to dance" Alpha Carl pointed out, his arms wrapped around her waist in a back hug while his face was buried in her neck. "Yes, that's right" Ethel pouted and ran her fingers down to his own fingers, feeling the moon ring on his fingers.It was still shining, even after Lucy had survived. "I was thinking...." He turned her to face him and kept his hands on her waist. "How about we retake our vows? I am sure our pup would love that" he bent down and kissed her stomach.Ethel smiled as he stood up straight. "We already did the vows...." She started. "But you are right. I was planning on dancing and taking loads of pictures but none of that happened and our rings too...." She raised her hands up. "We could only find yours when we returned to where we dropped it" she grumbled with a cute pout. Alpha Carl ruffled her hair fondly "That's that. I wo
Ethel let her body drop into the nearest sofa as soon as she was in the living room. Tears filled her eyes again. The Pack members were cheering at their success but she was crying at her loss. She could not even tell her mother yet. She did not know how to break the news to the poor woman, how to tell her that barely a month after her husband died, her daughter had also died. They had confirmed that she snuck out of the house and they had no idea where her body was."Ethel" Alpha Carl whispered her name and scooped her into his arms. "It's going to be fine" he whispered and kissed her forehead while she sobbed into his chest. Suddenly the telephone rang but the two in the living room were in no mood to pick it up until Alpha Carl raised his hand to pay Ethel's hair and realized that the moon ring's light was flickering. "Flickering...." He mumbled the word and Ethel's eyes widened, seeing that. "Lucy.... She is probably not dead" the both of them shot up from their seat. Ethe
Surprise, shock and yet relief ran through Alpha Carl's body as he realized that the moon ring's powers was now with him. But it meant one thing, Lucy was dead.... Someone had killed her or she had killed herself to save the entire Pack. With his paw raised up and the moon ring's light shining brightly, everyone froze. The enemies froze because they knew they were doomed, the River Alley Pack members froze because they were relieved, Ethel and Tyler froze because they were breaking apart. Lucy was dead! They had lost her!Crumbling to the floor, Ethel shifted back to her human form. "Noooooooooooo!!" Ethel screamed out loud, breaking the silent freeze the moon ring's light had caused. "Lucy!" She cried out as her heart wrecked with pains. Her twin sister was dead. This was a nightmare she hated! She didn't want Lucy dead, she wanted her alive. Tyler's eyes filled with tears. He had asked her not to harm herself, he had told her not to die as long as he was alive but she went ah
Lucy was seated at the edge of the bed in her room, her feet shaking badly and sweats pouring down from her forehead. Suddenly, the door opened and beta Tyler walked in. Lucy was shocked to see him. They were in the middle of a war, how could the beta leave the war?"Beta... Beta Tyler?" Her voice was shaky and she could hardly speak in one breath. Was he here to eliminate her on behalf of the Pack? She was willing to do so now, anyways. "Are you here to get rid of me?" She asked, her voice still shaky. "Very much the contrary. Ethel was worried about you trying something stupid. She wanted me to come check on you and assure you that things are going fine" he replied, sitting on the sofa inside of the room. "Are.... Are things going fine?" She stuttered out. "Not at all. Things are going from bad to worse. We are losing men. Though we have managed to get rid of a lot, we are still very much behind" he replied. "Then why are you here? You... You should be there, fighting for t
Lucy's lips parted in a whimper. The bouquet of flowers in her hands fell to the floor. With another pack onto them, she knew they could not win, unless they brought the moon ring to shine, unless they killed her. She trembled with fear and her eyes filled up with tears. "N.... No" she shook her head in disbelief. She wanted what was happening right now to be just one nightmare of hers that stemmed from her fears but it wasn't a nightmare, this was reality. Just when she thought that her life could be good, just when she thought life could be peaceful for her, everything had come crashing down upon her. She wished she had never said yes to being the fake mate of the Alpha. Now, their fake manipulated bond was too strained to even work. Even if Alpha Carl slept with her and marked her right now, the moon ring still would not shine. Everything was on to her life. Her death was the only thing that could save everyone but death scared her, she didn't want to die yet. Ethel, see
"Do you, Carl Hillard, the Alpha of the River Alley Pack take Ethel Adams as your wife and Luna, to stand by her and be with her all the remaining days of your lives, in good and bad health, in good and bad situations, to offer her strength when she needs it, to be her husband?""I do" Alpha Carl replied, more than willingly. "Do you, Ethel Adams take Carl Hillard, the Alpha of the River Alley Pack as your husband, to stand by him and be with him all the remaining days of your lives, in good and bad health, in good and bad situations, to offer him strength when he needs it, to be his wife?"With a huge smile on her face and her hands clutching tightly the flowers, Ethel said the words. "I do"Loud cheering erupted amongst the guests as the vows were made The rings were brought forward and Alpha Carl slipped the ring into Ethel's fingers, his heart racing as he did so. She was finally his woman!Ethel equally slipped the wedding ring into his finger and the both of them raised thei
The Wedding Day"Are you sure I look good?" Ethel asked for the hundredth time after dressing up. "You look perfect, Ethel. Trust me" Lucy assured her and turned to their mother. "Doesn't she look perfect, mum?" She asked. The three of them were in a huge room that had been earlier filled with the people doing the perfect makeover for Ethel. "She does, she looks more beautiful than I looked on my wedding day with your father" their mother replied and the atmosphere of the room turned slightly sour. "You did not have to mention father" Lucy pointed out. "I am sorry. I... I just spoke, I did not think about it""It's okay. It's a happy day" Ethel lightened the air with a huge smile on her face. "That's right" Lucy affirmed. Lucy equally looked beautiful in her pink gown, her hair was styled beautifully and her makeup complimented her beauty. Lucy walked close to Ethel and adjusted the dress. "Is there anything wrong?" Ethel asked. "Not at all. And don't be nervous, Ethel. Eve
"I think this one looks really good" Ethel said, standing in front of a wedding gown. "No, no and no. You are becoming the Luna. This..." She pointed at the gown. "Is not good enough" she shook her head. "There is no such thing as you being a simple, beautiful bride. You are going to be a sophisticated beautiful bride" she added and Ethel chuckled. "Alright then. Why don't you choose cause I really do not know what to pick?" she responded. "Alright then" Lucy mumbled and looked around at the wedding gowns. "What about this one?" Lucy asked, standing in front of a sophisticated wedding gown. The wedding gown was decorated with tiny gems that caught the light of the room. It was a gown that would definitely catch the attention of even thousands of people. Lucy was sure Ethel would look elegant, beautiful and expensive in the dress. It was perfect."You have to pick this, Ethel.""It's really beautiful. You made a better choice""Leave things like this to me. I will make sure yo