This One Time

"Heard from Lucy's family yet?" Alpha Carl asked as he walked into the elevator with his beta, Tyler following after him.

"Yes Alpha. Lucy would be coming over to your home tonight as she is now totally healed from the minor accident she had" Tyler replied. 

"Good" Carl remarked, his lips barely moving. 

He could not wait to finally have his mate with him, by his side and he was glad to the moon goddess, his mate was beautiful, smart and was pretty strong too. 

Carlos was satisfied with the capabilities of his mate and hoped he would be satisfied with every other thing about her. 

It was the custom of the River Alley Pack that the mate of the Alpha would stay with him for three months before becoming a Luna. During these three months, the Alpha would have to study his mate and ensure she is worthy of being the Luna of the pack and whatever was lacking in her had to be improved within those three months. 

It was also within that three months that most mates grew to know each other. 

All in all, Carl was quite ecstatic to have his mate in his home. 

"Make sure a room is cleaned up for her and hand over the rules to her as soon as she gets into my home."

"A different room for her? But it is the custom that you both stay together and...."

Carly's gaze at his beta made him shut up. 

"I would do as you have said" Tyler bent his head down obediently. 

"Good" he remarked as the door of the elevator opened and he stepped out with Tyler, following behind. 

As much as Carl would have loved to stay in the same room with his mate during those three months, he knew it would be a major distraction to him and not only that, he had gone through the history of the pack and most of the attacks the pack had ever received was during this period because of course, the Alpha would be too busy with his mate and he was not going to make the same mistake that his predecessors had made. 

He walked into his office, pulling off the jacket that he had on him. 

He walked to his seat and folded the jacket on the seat before taking his seat. 

"The schedules for the day?"

Yeah, he wasn't just an Alpha, he was a CEO Alpha, leading the pack and yet leading the most successful company in the pack. 

*

Ethel looked at herself in the mirror, noticing the huge difference between her the last night and her right now. 

She looked completely different from what she had seen in the mirror last night. She had been starting to forget that she and Lucy were identical twins but this night and this tight fitting dress had made her remember that. 

Ethel could not remember the last time she had dressed up and looked like this, this beautiful, this sexy. 

Her body was clad in a black lengthy dress that had a slit by the side. The slit ran all the way up to her thighs, revealing the beautiful skin that she had always covered up. 

The slit of the dress had glitters that made it sparkle. Moving upwards, the dress was sleeveless but hugged her body firmly enough. Her boobs had been pushed up by the dress and her cleavages could be seen. 

Her hair that had usually been held in a messy bun now ran down her shoulders, all combed and stretched out to look like that of her sister, Lucy. 

"Wow" she heard the door opening. 

"You look so beautiful, darling" it was her mother's voice. 

"Really?" Ethel asked though it wasn't more of a question to her mother. 

"Of course, why in the world would I lie about it?"

Her mother moved over to her and stared at her lovingly but to Ethel, her mother was not staring at her lovingly, her mother was only staring at Lucy lovingly. 

The person that she was at the moment was Lucy and not herself. 

"Are you ready for tonight?" Her mother asked. 

"Yes, mother" Ethel nodded. 

"Remember that you have to act like Lucy and for those things you can't do, just make up excuses not to do them. You are smart, you should be able to come up with perfect excuses. As soon as Lucy is awake, she would take over things, alright?" Her nother asked and Ethel responded with another nod but wondered how she was supposed to be like Lucy. 

What if she was asked to shift? She had no wolf side yet! But her father wasn't interested in any of what he called 'excuses'. 

And their scent? Though she and her twin sister smelled alike and she had even used her twin sister's perfume, Ethel wasn't sure that the Alpha would not find out the difference. Though normal wolves would find it hard to spot a difference in their scents but then, they were not dealing with normal wolves, they were dealing with an Alpha wolf. 

"Let's go now" her mother held her hand and the both of them walked out of the room. 

They both walked to the living room where Ethel's father was seated on a sofa. 

He seemed pleased, seeing how much Ethel now looked like Lucy. 

"The driver would take you to the home of Alpha Carl now, you cannot make any mistake, Ethel. Whatever you can't do..."

"Make excuses for it" Ethel completed. 

"I see your mother has told you what you need to know already. You may leave" he dismissed her. 

Ethel forced a smile out of her lips. Her father was sending her out and he was being as cold as ice about it. All he wanted from her was a job perfectly done. 

"Be sure to call if anything comes up" her mother said to her and kissed on the back of both her hands. 

Ethel nodded in understanding and walked a few steps away, trying to walk like Lucy. 

"Ethel" her father called and Ethel for once thought maybe he was going to hug her or say some nice words even if they were not going to be sincere but her father was far from being one who would pretend to be nice to a daughter he hated. 

"Remember that you are only a substitute, do not be stupid and fall for Alpha Carl like it happens in your stupid romantic books"

Ethel felt her heart tearing apart but she squeezed another smile out. 

"I would not be stupid, I'd understand the fact that I am a mere substitute" she assured him and walked out of the house with the confident steps that Lucy had always had. 

The car's door was opened up for her as she approached. Ethel slipped into the backseat of the car and closed her eyes as the car revved into motion. 

She opened her eyes and stared at the house that her entire life had revolved around. She looked out of the window at the moon. 

"Moon goddess, you have never listened to me but this time, just this one time, please listen to me. Make my stay at the Alpha's home successful and not as hellish as my entire life has been." She prayed and closed her eyes back.