"I'm so, so sorry you had to go through all that," I sobbed out, my vision blurring as I cried. I felt, more than saw his arms come around me and pull me into his lap, shushing me. "Why are you crying, kitten? I hate seeing you cry," I heard him say, his voice barely above a whisper. I shook my head, wiping at my face furiously. Goddess, I hated crying, too. But I felt so bad for him. He continued to shush me, rocking me back and forth gently, as you would a small child, the warmth from his body spreading to mine and comforting me in a way I'd never felt before. Slowly, I calmed down, my tears drying up. "I can't even begin to imagine the horrors you must've gone through. You had your entire childhood ripped away from you, Evan. That's so unfair," I whispered, tightening my arms around him, feeling the electricity coursing through me as it usually did when we touched, as if that would somehow help comfort him. My heart hurt as the thought of a little boy with the greenest eyes ti
All the things that Alpha Evan had told me had felt too personal for me to tell anyone else, even if it was my best friend asking. Besides, I couldn't exactly tell him the truth without revealing the fact that he was actually a hybrid. So all I could do when Raymond asked if I'd tried to find out the truth from Alpha Evan like I'd told him I would was tell him that I trusted Alpha Evan and that he wouldn't hurt me. But of course, Raymond being the over protective friend that he was, wasn't ready to listen. Which was evident in the way he pinched the bridge of his nose, let out a long suffering sigh and turned to Miss Lillian. "Am I the only one who sees how stupid she's being? Please, tell her not to go along with this hair brained scheme of his, Miss Lillian. We know next to nothing about the guy and what we do know isn't very promising. We can not just send her away with a guy like that." I took a seat at the edge of Miss Lillian's bed, letting out a sigh. Her room was the place
As I entered the kitchen, ready to plate the food I was supposed to take to Alpha Evan, a large body bumped into mine, sending me careening behind me into a pile of dishes. The ceramic fell to the floor behind me with a resounding thud, breaking into a hundreds of pieces, the sound so loud that pretty much everyone had stopped what they were doing to look at me. Both anger and embarassment rushed through me in equal measures, making my cheeks heat up. "What the hell, Melody?" Michel's voice boomed in the silence that ensued as I struggled to get up from the floor without hurting myself. My hand had only just healed from the previous incident with the broken champagne glasses and the last thing I wanted was another cut. I looked up to see who had pushed me, only to see that it was Laurent, one of the pack's gammas sneering down at me. He and Nick were the best of friends and often took turns trying to humiliate or hurt me. It was their definition of fun. I had thought that after
"Melody!" Michel's loud voice had me spinning on my spot, trying to locate him in the sea of workers surrounding me. Tonight was the last night of the Imperial Ball and all hands were on deck for it. I'd been working since morning, carrying boxes full of decoration from where the delivery truck had delivered them and taking them to the hall where the Ball was supposed to take place. The boxes were quite heavy, and it was tedious work picking them up and carrying them inside. As promised, Michel had really worked me hard today. And the worst part was, I couldn't even complain. I dropped the box I'd been carrying on the floor and began walking towards Michel once I'd spotted him. "What is it?" I asked Michel once I had reached him, expecting him to give me some other work. "Don't you know what time is it? You're supposed to take lunch to Alpha Evan," Michel stated, folding his arms across his broad chest as he glared at me. My eyes widened. Was it lunch time already? I'd been so
"Why?" I couldn't help but blurt out on instinct, his sudden dismissal of me hurting me more than I cared to admit. He had never been cold to me save for the one time in front of Alpha Adrian and that too had been an act. So this, him suddenly being so cold and rude stung like no other. I knew for a fact that he didn't like sharing things about himself. And I'd always tried not to push him for answers. Besides, he'd been answering me just fine up until a few minutes ago. I figured since he'd willingly divulged his past to me, we were somehow closer to each other now. That I had the right to ask questions and that he would answer me. Apparently, I'd been wrong. "Because I want you to. Because I'm not a saint like you," he said to me, his voice sharp. Not a saint like me? What was he going on about? "I'm not some saint, Evan. I'm just me. Melody," I told him, my words slow, careful. "That's just what the problem is, isn't it?" He replied, his tone sardonic. Turning around s
I pushed the door to Miss Lillian's room open once she had called for me to come in. "Miss Lillian, I have someone I want you to meet," I told her, gesturing to Alpha Evan who had entered the room behind me. Miss Lillian looked surprised that I'd brought him along but she quickly got over as she stood up from her bed and approached us. "And who might this be?" Miss Lillian asked, her tone light and teasing. "This is Alpha Evan and Alpha Evan, this is my nanny, Miss Lillian," I said, quickly introducing the two of them. Miss Lillian smiled, holding her hand out for a shake. Much to both our surprises, Alpha Evan took her hand in his before bringing it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the back of it. For pretty much the first time in my life, I watched as Miss Lillian blushed a deep pink, her pale cheeks filling with colour. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lillian," Alpha Evan said with a radiant smile, letting her hand go and looking like he meant every word. Miss Lill
"Have you seen Raymond?" I asked Jen, one of the kinder slaves who often helped me. "He might be somewhere in the kitchen. That's where I last saw him," she told me on her way to the Ball room, an assortment of beautifully selected flowers in her hand, blue and white, which was the theme for the night. "Thank you," I shouted at her over my shoulder as I ran towards the kitchen, looking for Raymond. After visiting Miss Lillian, I realised I didn't have much time to say my goodbyes to Raymond and I had to do it tonight itself for I didn't know how or when I'd be leaving tomorrow. I had just opened the door to the kitchen when someone coming from the inside slammed right into me. Strong arms held me, keeping me from falling as I lost my balance. "I'm so sorry, I was in a hurry," I heard a man's voice say and it took me only a moment to realise that it was Raymond. "Raymond!" I exclaimed once I'd righted myself and pulled away from his hold. "Mel! Thank Goddess you're here, I
"What happened? Are you okay?" I asked as soon as Alpha Evan shut the door to his room behind us. "Fine," he said gruffly, his back to me as he pulled at his tie, loosening it. My frown only deepened as I walked towards him. I knew he was troubled and it was troubling me as well. He had treated me so nicely so far and I didn't like seeing him like this at all. Slowly, I approached him from behind, reaching up and placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Evan?" I called out, my voice soft as I urged him to turn around. I felt his shoulders slump a little under my touch as he let out a sigh. Ever so slowly, he turned around, looking straight into my eyes, his expression unreadable. "What happened out there?" I repeated, my voice still soft as I coaxed him to answer. He stared straight into my eyes, seemingly conflicted as he looked down at me. Instead of answering me, he lifted a hand, rubbing the back of it against my cheek. I felt the sparks I usually did at his touch, lea