Chapter Four

The Villain

"Freya! What's with the sage?" My nose scrunches up as I'm assaulted with the woodsy stench. I move to open the windows as my twin sister twirls around the room in her yellow ball dress.

"I'm dispelling all the negative energy, I'm getting a lot... right... here," She singsongs jabbing the sage in my face. I bat it away and she continues dancing and wrinkling the dress Gia probably spent her retirement money on.

"You're gonna go to the ball smelling like Grandma if you don't quit it. You think the Alpha wants to marry you when you smell like an 112 year old cat lady."

She doesn't stop to answer me, "If our energies match, he'll like me either way."

"Maybe in Freya-land," I clip.

Curled up on her bay window I finally take her in. Freya looks beautiful. The yellow compliments her hazel eyes beautifully. Her chestnut brown hair comes down in voluminous waves all the way to her hip. The yellow ball gown clings to her waist and flairs down elegantly. There's an assortment of gems and diamonds on the bodice and skirt accentuating the already gorgeous gown. Freya is a goddess and the Alpha would be stupid not to pick her... if he could get past the fact she's bat shit crazy.

Watching her, for a moment I see myself at the ball, dancing among the men, maybe finding my mate. I don't want the Alpha to pick me. After what is father did to my own I have no respect for the sovereign but even I have to admit it might be fun dressing up and dancing. God knows I haven't done anything fun ever. I'm too preoccupied with my studies, getting a scholarship and getting the hell out of here.

So I don't entertain any thoughts of the Dance. I have bigger things to worry about.

"I'm gonna go get something to drink. Don't smudge you makeup," I warn her as I make for the door. She ignores,  continuing her dance.

I pass by Maya's bedroom on the way to the stairs and overhear something that makes my ears perk up in intrigue. I lean against the wall as their voices drifted to me.

"You will do as I say," Gia snaps at a sniffling Maya. I press my ear closer to the wall. "I want you to go downstairs and tell you, father, that you are too sick to attend the Dance."

"But I'm not sick--"

"You might as well be with that hideous scar. Do you think the Alpha would choose you when you look like that? Please, don't be delusional, girl. I am doing you a favour. Now go. The Alpha and his inner circle would be there and I want us to look like the perfect family, that means getting rid of the defective goods."

I wince. Even I can admit that was way too harsh even for her.

Shaking my head I press myself to the wall as she exits with one more threat. When the incessant clicking of her heels disappears down the hall and I can no longer catch the stench of evil, I enter Maya's room.

I'm ashamed to say this is the first time I've ever been to Maya's room and it isn't how I imagined it. I pictured all pink, Jonas Brothers posters maybe, some cute bunny toys scattered about the bed. But the reality is just borderline depressing. The walls are a dull grey, there are no pictures on the walls nothing about the room that says a teenage girl has lived in it for four years. The only colour in the room is the light green comforter and even that's an ugly shade of green.

Maya has her arms wrapped around her knees as she cries silently in her own cocoon of security. I lean against her doorframe, eyeing her. She looks so pathetic that I feel bad for her. I've always pitied her. She goes through tough shit like the rest of us. Though some of us grow and turn the bad into good, prospering because of it. Some let the bad consume them until they wither away and looking at her now, I'm still trying to decide which is her.

I don't usually intervene in other people's business but... today my mother's words cut deep. It wasn't meant for me but it opened a wound that I thought had healed long ago. Apparently not.

I clear my throat and Maya's head snaps up. Her eyes are bloodshot and her cheeks are stained with tears. She sneers at me. "What? Did you come to threaten me too? Don't worry I was just about to tell Dad I'm not going."

I fold my hands over my chest, shaking my head. 

Why am I about to do this for this weak girl? She won't even help herself, why should I help her? 

"I'm here to help you," I grit out.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, as they should. "You've never helped me in the past. Why is today any different?"

I lift a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. "Maybe the sage actually works and I'm free of negative energy."

She gives me a puzzled look and I remember normal people don't usually have someone like Freya.

I sigh. "Don't move I'll be right back..."

I don't give her time to reply before I'm pushing off the wall and sauntering to my room across from Freya's. I head straight for my closet, rifling through all my clothes. I find the dress and the stupid mask Gia left for me the night before. I had no intention of wearing that dress but that doesn't mean it has to stay holed up in my closet, it's beauty going to waste. I march back into her room and I'm surprised to see she hasn't moved an inch from where I left her.

When her eyes fall to what I'm clutching, her eyes widen. I shove it at her. "Here."

She stares at the thing as if it's some extraterrestrial creature that came down to probe her brain for tomorrow's lotto numbers. Her bug-eyes landed on me. "Is this for me?"

"Duh," I say testily. "Do you want it or not?"

"Yes of course," she amends quickly. "But what are you going to wear?"

"I'm not going..."

"Why not?"

I scowl at her. "Look, I didn't come in here to play twenty-one questions. Wear the damn dress, look nice, put on the mask, and talk as little as possible. We are about the same size. Your hair's a bit darker than mine but Gia isn't all that smart. She wouldn't know me even if I was standing in an empty room."

Maya eyed me then the dress almost as if she couldn't believe it. "Why are you doing this?"

The hell do I know?

"Because when you catch the Alpha's eye, you take off that mask, and Gia realizes it's you and not me, I want you to take a pic of her face for me."

Maya smiled at the thought but it quickly falls after she considers something in that tiny head of hers. "He won't pick me. I have this hideous scar."

I shake my head. "No. Your scar is who you are and it tells a beautiful story. You're a survivor, Maya and if the Alpha is as wise as everyone says he is, he'll see the beauty in you and he won't care what you look like."

I have no idea where that came from but when I see the resolve flash over her eyes and her back straightens, I knew it was the right thing to say. She takes the dress with a determination that wasn't there before. "Thank you, Morgan," she says with a smile. A smile that I realize isn't forced. Not like the ones she gives her Dad when he asks if she's okay. She means this one.

I nod, mechanically and turn for the door. "You better hurry. They're leaving soon. And, Maya--" She looks up at me with a glimmer in her eyes. The icy mask is drawn over my face once more. "If you tell anyone about what I did tonight, I will hurt you."

Her eyes widen and she nods as if her life depended on it and she truly believes it does.

I exit the room and surprisingly... my shoulders feel lighter?