“You spent the night there again,” accused my aunt as soon as I strolled into the trailer around four p.m. The entire morning, I had gotten to know the alphas more, and it was hard for me to finally leave for the day.
“I know. I’m sorry,” I said, rubbing my neck but secretly trying to hide the mark that Zaff left on me while knotting me last night.
“Please sit down, I need to talk to you,” she said, and I groaned internally. “You know I hated trying to discipline you or anything like that your whole life. But this time, things are going too far, you know?”
“I know Auntie…”
“No, let me finish,” she said as she closed her book and sat across from me. “I want you to be free and do whatever your heart is set on, but you need to be responsible.”
“I know.”
“Your safety is the number one thing on my mind since I took you in,” she continued. “I just want the truth. Are you sleeping with your new boss?”
“What?” I said, trying to sound shocked, but it came out as confirmation of her suspicions instead. “I mean, it’s just a fling with him. A rich old man.”
She started to laugh, and my face slowly cracked into a smile.
“I raised you to be hardworking, but I guess whatever brings in the dough, right?”
“I’m responsible, Auntie,” I said. “But I couldn’t help it, and I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”
“This may seem all exciting in the beginning, but trust me, it will all come to an end,” she said. “But I will support your choices no matter what. Just don’t keep hiding things from me.”
For some reason, it made me feel even more guilty when she offered to support whatever relationship I chose. But if she knew that my boss was an alpha, I had no idea how she would react.
Zaff
I couldn’t concentrate on my job.
I was supposed to email a new manager the list of repairs that he needed to look into one of my restaurants, but my mind was stuck on one thing only.
The mysterious maid, Breanna.
Closing out the email, I decided instead to do a little research on her. Maybe if I could find out who her father was, then I could take care of him. And it would be guaranteed that he would never hurt my Breanna again. However, upon searching for her first name and the last name she provided, I couldn’t find anything in the database.
Maybe I was spelling her last name wrong.
Still, nothing pulled up.
I knew humans kept a record of every baby born, and I was confused as to why she wasn’t showing up in the system. Did she lie about her name? There was no reason for her to lie about anything, and I couldn’t imagine her committing some kind of felony. She was too innocent and pure to do anything horrible.
But doubt started to creep into my mind.
Getting up from my chair, I walked to the living room to join the rest of my pack. Chad and Ruston were playing video games in a lackluster manner.
They were playing as if they were drained of all energy.
“What’s wrong with you guys?” I asked, plopping onto the couch and rubbing my forehead in agitation.
“It sucks when she leaves,” said Chad.
“Tell me about it,” I said, also feeling empty without her. I had never felt this attached to anyone, and it was starting to worry me. “I couldn’t find any information about her online.”
“Why does it matter?” asked Ruston.
“It matters because she could be lying about who she is,” I said.
“Unless she’s really an omega,” suggested Oscar. “And really good at hiding her scent.”
“No, that’s just wishful thinking,” I said. “I don’t think it’s worth it for us as a pack to get too involved with her.”
“What the fuck do you mean?” asked Chad.
“She’s clearly lying about who she is,” I said.
“You’re scared of getting attached like usual, so you sabotage it,” said Ruston, setting down the game controller. “Just let it happen.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. Breanna was everything to me right now, but I was too invested in her while she was lying to me. Pulling my phone out, I stared at her name in my contact list.
“Don’t do it,” growled Oscar, watching me.
“I’m sorry, guys,” I said. “I need to do it before it’s too late, and we’re all bonded to her forever. Hopefully, she can forgive us over time.”
My entire pack was watching me, knowing they couldn’t stop me as I was the pack leader. It felt like a dagger to the heart, and I knew they were all feeling the same thing. Our hearts were one as a pack and a collective. When one alpha felt strongly about someone, we all felt it.
“Fuck it,” I said, typing out the text message. I couldn’t tell her the contract was over in person. It would be too fucking painful.
Breanna
“You burnt the rice,” I complained, trying to separate the burnt pieces from the rest on my dinner plate.
“Just eat it,” Aunt Julie said nonchalantly as she scooped up a hefty amount and put it in her mouth like there was nothing wrong with it. “It’s extra flavor.”
Instead, I ate the chicken quarter, annoyed that my aunt wouldn’t let me buy food for the fourth day in a row. She was all about saving money, even though I brought in a whole lot more than usual.
“Do you ever feel lonely without a pack?” I asked her out of the blue, and her face twisted in disgust.
“Nope, I’m busy raising you,” she said.
“I’m not a child anymore, so you should really look into it,” I said. “I can’t imagine since you’re an omega and all.”
“There are no good alphas here,” she said. “They are on Howl’s Edge Island, where we originally came from. The ones here are a bunch of crooks who worked for Henry.”
“Then we should go one day,” I suggested, and she looked at me thoughtfully.
“If we could somehow scoop my sister out of here, I would do it in a heartbeat.”
Suddenly, my phone dinged, and I looked down at it and saw a text from Zaff. Oh, he was probably missing me already, I thought, smiling.
But when I opened the text message, my heart began to sink:
Good evening, Breanna. Something came up recently after you left, and I wanted to let you know that the contract is void now. You are free to live however you see fit, but we are no longer needing your assistance. I appreciate all your hard work, and it was great meeting you.
I had to take a moment to process this.
“What’s wrong?” my aunt asked.
“I can’t believe it,” I said slowly. “I don’t know what to say right now.”
The first thought that came to mind was that the alphas must have found an omega and that our connection was instantly broken. My heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces, and I felt like hiding in a corner to cry.
“What happened?”
I looked up at my aunt and decided I was done telling lies. I had to come clean.
“Do you remember when I told you I was sleeping with my boss?” I said. “Well, he dumped me.”
“Oh wow,” she said. “I’m so sorry, but it’s also a good thing.”
“But there’s something else…”
“Okay?”
“He’s an alpha,” I said without looking at her. I couldn’t face her disappointment and shame in me. And when I looked back at her, I was right.
She covered her face with her hands in shock.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she burst out. “You put us in danger by not telling me! Breanna, I’ve never been so disappointed in you until today.”
I sat there silently, trying to process the text from Zaff and at the same time, taking the heat from my aunt.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say,” I said. “I knew you’d stop me.”
“Damn right, I would,” she said, huffing as she stomped to the little kitchen and furiously washed her plate in the sink. “We’re going to leave tomorrow morning as soon as it’s light. We’ll hook up the trailer to the truck tomorrow.”
“Okay,” I said in a low voice.
“Tonight, we’ll secure the furniture and the dishes,” she said without another word as she washed the burnt pot. I sighed and tried to pick at the rest of the chicken, but my appetite was gone.
It was mainly confusion within me as I stared at the text message. Why would he do this out of nowhere? Did I say something to turn him off?
A part of me desperately wanted to go back to his house. But the rational part of my brain knew this was a good thing. They would eventually find an omega and get rid of me anyway.
That night, around ten p.m. I received another text from Zaff while my aunt was sleeping.
Please come outside. I have the rest of the money I owe you.
It’s okay, keep it
I’m already here, or else I’ll come inside to give it to you.
Just wait there then
Sighing, I slowly tiptoed out of the trailer and walked toward the side of the road, still wearing my pajamas. I didn’t want to see him ever again after that horrible text. Deep down, my heart was flipping with excitement upon seeing him leaning against the car in the dark with an envelope in hand.
“Hey,” he said when I approached him. I didn’t say a word as I stuck my hand out for the envelope. I was too angry at him to pretend nothing was wrong. They’d played with my feelings. “Breanna, please don’t make this harder than it is.”
“How else do you want me to react?” I retorted, my heart pounding as I looked at him in the face. “You lied to me.”
“No, you lied to me,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“I couldn’t find you online with a simple name search,” he said. “You’re lying about your name.”
“I lied about my last name, yes,” I said, rolling my eyes and sighing. I didn’t want to admit the truth to him. “But it doesn’t matter now.”
“It matters,” he said darkly, grasping my wrist and making my heart palpitate. “Why did you lie, Breanna?”
“Because I’m not one hundred percent human.”
“What? What the fuck are you talking about?”
