Oh no! Poor Alyssa. Who is this James guy? How long do you think Kalen will tell Alyssa bout her father, or do you think he'll keep it to himself?
Silence…Ever since Kalen dropped me here, no one came by.I laid down on the cot, trying not to think about anything. Not about the guilt I felt for making Thomas have a flashback, the pain of the bruises he caused, and anger at Kalen for his cruelty and violence, to his own people even.The sunlight trudged through the narrow window, casting a faint light that barely dispelled the darkness. I watched grains of dust, which are like small, wayward spirits, whirled around in the faint light as if this room had trapped them as well.The sound of the lock click broke through the silence and a moment later, the door opened. I sat up expecting Kalen, but instead a thin, blonde woman walked inside. She raced to the bed with a large box in her arms. Afte placing it on the bed, she clapped her hands with a long sigh of relief, “finally here!”“Hello! You must be Alyssa,” she said. The sweet trill reminded me of the birds and she had an intense curiosity burning through her green and bright e
Adelaide led me past most of the buildings I’ve seen, but stopped at the large one I was staying in until Kalen put me inside the room. “This is the communal building. Anyone without a place to stay can stay here until they decide to move on or get their own home.”“Move on?” I asked, confused.“Yeah, as in, they’re just passing through.”I gave her an incredulous look. “Are you saying the alpha just lets anyone come into his territory and pass through?”“Yes, I am,” Adelaide said with a light laugh. “Not everyone thrives with rules, Alyssa, and being a rogue means we accept everyone’s right to live life as they wish.”“But isn’t that dangerous? What about those wolves who’ve gone feral?”“We have precautions,” Adelaide said, and kept walking. We walked past the buildings I already had seen to what looked like a small town square. There were a few stores and even a restaurant or two. People waved and called out a greeting when they saw her. It all seemed very picturesque. “The building
I expected Kalen to take me back to the room he locked me in before, but he took me to the communal building, back to my old room. “Stay in here. Do not leave until the head servant comes to take you to your new room. She or me are the only ones who can let you out of your room. Is that understood? If you leave, I’ll break the necklace.”The threats against the necklace were getting old. Instead of arguing, I nodded. “Understood.”Kalen angrily closed the door, and I blew out a breath, sitting on the bed. Why was he so upset Adelaide took me out of the room, or was he upset about the man, James? Adelaide was afraid of him, though she tried to hide it. Kalen didn’t seem happy to see him either. I had to admit there was something not quite right with him. He was all friendly and smiling, but all his words and smiles seemed to have a hint of a threat in them.It was some time before I heard a knock and the door opened. The head servant stood there. “If you’ll follow me, miss,” she said, s
***Author's Note: If you read this story before Nov. 4th, please go back and reread as it has been heavily edited and events have changed. Thank you***It’s Chelsie. She stood by the bed with a ceramic jar in her hand.It took me a minute to stop coughing, but I glared right back at her. “I was told this was where I was going to be staying from now on,” I snapped at her once I stopped coughing. Pulling my soaked clothes from my body, I stood up from the bed. It was as soaked as much as my clothes were.“Liar,” she growled at me and before I could say a word, she pulled back her hand and slapped me hard across the face.The force of it threw me back on the wet bed and I held my cheek, tasting blood in my mouth. I looked up at her with a glare. “I’m not--”“Shut up. I don’t want to see you in this room again. Do you hear me? I am the future luna of this group. I won’t tolerate you sneaking around, trying to seduce the alpha. Now get up, you lying lazy bitch. I have work for you to do.”C
More people showed up. The servants finally got their asses in gear and did their jobs. After they all made fun of me, I decided I wouldn’t lift a finger to help them now. Instead, I walked over to Sarah. “This looks amazing. How did you do it?”The preteen grinned. “Thanks, I got my friends to help.” Her expression turned serious. “I heard what you did for my brother. You talked him down, then you stepped in and kept the alpha from being too hard with him. So really, the thanks go to you.”My guilt surged up in me. “It was my fault,” I admitted. “I accidentally triggered his flashback.”“You can’t blame yourself for what you didn’t know,” Sara replied with a shrug. “Thomas doesn’t like to talk about what happened too much.”“Even so, I should’ve paid more attention. I should’ve realized what was going on and in the end, he got hurt.”“Alyssa, you have more bruises than he does,” she replied with a scoff. “And if that’s not good enough, you should know Thomas doesn’t blame you at all.”
The man smashed his lips against mine in a bruising kiss. Someone else grabbed my butt with the same punishing force, while another tried to rip off my shirt. Rage filled me and I grabbed a fist full of hair of the man kissing me, pulling him away from me. I kneed him in the groin before turning to punch another one of the men.Adrenaline pumped through my veins, making every inch of my body tingle with fight-or-flight energy. Another man lunged at me, his hands reaching out. “Come here you, bitch!”I sidestepped, twisting his arm and sending him stumbling off balance. I used the momentum to shove him hard, making him trip over his feet. The man I punched held his nose. “You said if we let the girl go…”“I’d show you everything? I will show you how I kick your ass,” I snapped, enjoying the surprise on their faces. They hadn’t expected me to fight back. I squared my stance, fists clenched, hoping maybe if I fought just enough, they’d figure I wasn’t worth the fight.One of them swore un
I couldn’t believe Sarah just asked me to marry Thomas, and that Kalen happened to walk into the room at that moment. I was really starting to think the goddess hated me.“Ah,” I said, not wanting to offend Sarah or give Kalen another reason to be angry with Thomas. “How about you leave the matchmaking to the adults, okay?”Sarah made a disgusted sound, then turned, noticing Kalen. “Oh, hi alpha,” she said, cheerfully and waving at him, then gave me a look like she was reminding me of my promise.“Oh, Alpha, you should know the one who decorated for the new moon party was none other than Sarah. She has a genuine talent for it. You should let her decorate more often,” I told him.Some of his anger diminished, replaced by some confusion, as Sarah beamed up at him. “Uhm, alright. I’ll see what I can do.”“Thanks,” she said, then raced up and gave me a hug.I sucked in a pained breath as a wave of pain raced through my side. “You’re welcome.” Sara started to leave, then she stopped. I saw
I sighed as I leaned against the back of the tub. The hot water did a lot for the aches and pains. Once the water grew cold, I got out. My ankle was still an ugly purple, black color, but I could walk on it without a limp now.I grabbed a change of clothes, smelling them to make sure they didn’t smell like the blonde idiot, before I put them on. In fact, they didn’t smell like anyone. These were new.I laid in the bed, feeling strange being in Kalen’s room, surrounded by his scent. What was he doing? Why the sudden kindness and how long was it going to last? I rolled over to my side and sighed. Only time will tell, I suppose. Exhaustion washed over me, and I fell asleep.I shot up, screaming out the name of my son. My chest rose and fell with my heavy breathing as the panic of seeing Carl hurting my son was still squeezing my heart. I blinked several times to recognize where I was. A nightmare… It was just another nightmare. Pulling the blankets aside, I noticed the other side wasn’t s