3: Truer Words…

Dina’s POV

Oh, my goddess!

I thought as I replayed the conversation in my head over and over. I had to have heard that wrong! There was no way my brother was going to agree to make me the alpha’s maid!

Right?!

But then I mentally groaned because I realized--- This was Dylan we were talking about. Anything was possible…

“But what about me?” Dylan whined and, with a mental sigh, I chided myself for even thinking that he might be worried about leaving ME behind. In Dylan’s mind, nothing was more important than Dylan.

“I told you, I---”

But then he was cut off by a terrifying, low growl. And while I wasn’t the one facing off against the alpha, the menace in that growl was enough to make my skin want to crawl off and hide.

The alpha said something after that, too low for even me to hear, but I guessed Dylan agreed. Because the next thing I knew the kitchen door opened, and the two men came over to me. In fact, the alpha didn’t stop, until he was standing a mere foot away from me. My heart rate picked up as I craned my neck to look at his face. If I said I wasn’t pissing myself just a little bit right then, I would be lying. But in my defense, I’d never been in the presence of such a behemoth of a man before! OK, I was kinda short. 5'4, and I had a rather slender frame (because I couldn’t cook even when my life depended on it!). But this guy was towering over me like a bloody Hulk! And it really didn’t help my virgin eyes any, that he was sporting a naked, toned, and sizzling hot torso, with the most amazing set of washboard abs I’d ever seen before. Which, by the way, practically invited me to follow that V-line that dipped behind the pair of gray sweats, he seemed to have pulled on in a hurry. Oh, and don’t even get me started on those biceps! Despite the cool room, I found myself sweating and had to physically restrain my hand not to fan my face. Heck, even my wolf was licking up drool and fighting the desire to rub herself up against him…

And I wouldn’t even try to stop her!

My eyes had suddenly become like suction cups, ogling his body, and mentally I was wondering where they had an altar for this god-like creature. It wasn’t until a low growl rumbled in his chest, that I finally managed to rip them loose and force myself to look at his eyes instead. They were extremely dark and that’s when I realized that they weren't green at all, but a sort of mix between dark green and pale blue. Like the ocean in the middle of a storm. And like a storm, there was a darkness and hardness behind them, that even made my wolf stick her tail between her legs.

In a desperate attempt to ease the tension - and hopefully to hide the flush of my entire face - I gave him a strained smile. But his face remained as stoic as before, unimpressed and with barely contained rage. I gulped and lowered my gaze to the floor instead. Well, to be fair, I would have been pissed off too, if two strangers had woken me up in the middle of the night…

Before I knew what was going on, he’d taken my duffel bag out of my hand and was heading upstairs.

“This way,” he boomed, his tone indicating that he wasn’t expecting any argument. So, apparently, I was staying here. To be a maid nonetheless.

Yay, me…

Behind his back, Dylan was pouting like a two-year-old toddler who didn’t get the candy but was stomping up the stairs after the alpha. I frowned. Great! Just what I needed. A bitter and angry Dylan. That alone was almost enough to make me open my mouth and tell the alpha that I would be going with Dylan and that he shouldn’t bother…

Almost!

Because no matter how this went down - me here or going back into the car with Dylan - I was under no illusions that Dylan would forgive and forget. Heck, give it time and he’d realize that Alpha Stone protecting me (as was his duty) was somehow my fault and I’d just ruined everything for him, by magically making the alpha turn on him…

Dylan was always the victim!

So I kept my mouth shut and followed them upstairs. The upstairs was pretty much like the downstairs. Plasters on the wall were everywhere and I noticed the door to one of the rooms didn’t match the rest of the doors in the hallway. I remembered someone saying at one time that Alpha Stone had an explosive temper. Guess they were right about that one…

My foot caught on something - the last step - and I went tumbling forward, crashing into the wall with a loud thud. Pain exploded up my elbow and I jerked it back, hissing a curse while I righted myself again.

And that’s when I saw both males glaring at me. Dylan’s look of annoyance didn’t bother me so much, but the way the alpha had arched one eyebrow and was looking at me like I was some kind of clumsy kid, made my cheeks heat up with embarrassment. And had the woman in me growling.

Great!

As if my night wasn’t going to shit already, now the alpha was probably thinking that I was a fumbling teen kid!

Fan-freaking-tastic!

I muttered an apology and quickly caught up with them.

“Your room,” the alpha announced, jerking a door open and gesturing for me to get inside. I passed Dylan - refusing to look up at him - and walked straight to the alpha.

“Thanks,” I said, hoping I sounded more confident than I felt. But as I passed the alpha again, I found that I had to force myself not to take a second peak at that body. Or to inhale deeply through my nose, taking in his scent that lingered everywhere in the house. It was hot and raw with just a hint of---

Forcing myself to ignore his scent, I instead took a second to look around the room. To my surprise, it was actually pretty nice. A single bed, a dresser, and a closet. And none of it was broken. There was even a painting on the wall, a nightlight, and no patches on the walls.

It must be the guest bedroom…

“Thanks for doing this,” I heard Dylan say in a low voice as if he expected me not to hear it. “But---”

Whatever he was about to say, he didn’t. From the corner of my eye, I noticed the glare that Alpha Stone was giving him, and yeah--- that look could silence anyone. There was enough hatred and disgust there to make the skin melt off rocks.

The alpha hated my brother!

No surprise there, really. Still, it made my stomach clench uncomfortably. If the alpha thought I was in the same league as Dylan---

Without even finishing that thought, I’d made up my mind. Starting tomorrow, I’d find someplace else to stay until Dylan was going to show up again. I was sure that the alpha would be happy to get rid of me and leave this maid-nonsense behind. Especially if I explained to him that if I didn’t attend school, I’d lose my scholarship.

Easy, right?

Because he seems like such a reasonable and talkative guy, my wolf snorted and rolled her eyes at me. I hate to give it to her, but she kinda had a point. Alpha Stone didn’t do negotiations.

He made the law!

“I’ll give you two a moment,” the alpha growled and pushed away from the doorway where he’d been leaning, leaving us alone. Dylan closed the door so it was only me and him - and honestly, I suddenly realized that I preferred the presence of the alpha. Dylan was pissed that whatever he’d planned hadn’t worked and now I was alone with him.

Was it right to be afraid of your own brother?

“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, taking a step forward and reaching out for my hand. I fought the instinct to flinch away and let him take it. “We’re talking two weeks, tops,” he said as if trying to reassure me, but in reality, he was trying to sound like the good and caring brother he wasn’t, because he knew that the alpha was right outside the door.

At least the alpha was smart enough not to trust him…

“Sure,” I muttered, not really in the mood for his false promises, and carefully peeled my hand out of his hold. “I’ll just hide away here in the meantime and risk getting kicked out of college.”

“I’m sure that the college will understand,” he snorted with his usual smug grin, like nothing in this world really mattered unless he said it did.

“It was a scholarship, Dy!” I barked back. “I highly doubt they will understand!”

I knew that getting into a fight with Dylan was pointless, for two reasons. One because he’d just beat the crap out of me if I didn’t comply. And second, Dylan never saw the error of his own ways. So, essentially, I was wasting my breath…

“It will be a week, two max,” Dylan said in his usual cold tone, pissed that his charms didn’t work. When he noticed that I didn’t believe him, he added one of his famous: “I promise!”

“And I bet that’s worth just as much as every other promise you’ve made so far,” I muttered under my breath--- and instantly regretted it. Pissing off an already pissed-off Dylan usually meant a new bruise. I tensed, readying myself for the impact.

But nothing happened.

Dylan didn’t say anything but continued to glare at me like I was some sort of pest. Then, either ignoring the stab or realizing that he couldn’t hit me while the alpha was right outside the door, he turned and headed toward the door. Seeing him leave had the tension leaving my body with a sigh…

Only to be replaced with a sickening anxiety that had my stomach clenching and twisting for an entirely different reason. He was my brother. And he was heading into a clan of vampires. What if I never saw him again? What if this time he never came back? My wolf howled, as the worst nightmare for any wolf swirled in my mind.

The dread of being alone…

“Take care?”

I whispered the words and they were barely audible. But Dylan picked them up perfectly. He stopped and turned around, giving me that usual confident smirk of his.

“You too, sis,” he said, as if everything was fine. I mentally sighed. He was never going to change…

“I love you.”

He didn’t. He only said them for his own benefit. And the truth of that hurt me a heck of a lot more than it should, considering how long I’d known the truth…

“Love you too,” I answered anyway, and watched him open the door. Outside, the alpha was waiting and Dylan gave him a quick nod before disappearing down the hallway.

Leaving without a backward glance…

I walked over to close the door but quickly noticed that every move I made was being carefully observed by the alpha. To be honest, it scared me shitless. The man could overpower me with his pinky alone and with one glare he had my wolf submitting to him, making every struggle I put up nothing but a show. For crying out loud, the man had killed members of his pack for less than the stunt my brother had just pulled off…

And suddenly every step towards him felt like trudging through a swamp.

I finally reached the door, eager to put a wall between me and the man in the hallway. But instead, he moved and filled the doorway completely with his huge body. My heart dropped and my wolf whimpered. A thousand horror scenarios rushed through my mind and once I realized that no one would hear me scream, I was just about ready to follow Dylan into that vampire’s nest…

“Get some sleep,” the alpha suddenly said and handed me a clean set of sheets. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

Surprised, I took them and-and… Well, I don’t know what I was expecting, but definitely not this! And I definitely didn’t expect him to just turn around and leave, disappearing into one of the rooms down the hallway.

For a good minute and a half, I just stood there, gawking at where he disappeared to. My wolf was equally baffled.

What was that all about?!