Chapter 3 New Master

Valerie

 “Oh you must be Val!” Mrs. Johnson crouched down and gently touched my hair, “nice to meet you!”

I followed Mrs. John with my parents and walked into the living room. The decoration here was simple and warm. A three seater sofa in blue velvet was placed near the window sill, allowing the sweet sunlight to sneak in between curtains and to form different shapes on our shoulders. A large vintage rug lying flatly on the floor that was comfortable to walk on with bare feet.

“Here you are. Hope you like it.” Mrs. Johnson put a plate of cookies on the coffee table and handed me a glass of orange juice, I guessed.

I looked at mom in hesitation.

“That’s fine, Val. You can drink it.” Mom nodded to me.

Mrs. Johnson laughed, “Oh dear. Wolves drink orange juice just like you humans.”

I forced a smile and felt embarrassed about myself.

“That’s fine. Just get yourself comfortable darling.” Mrs. Johnson smiled kindly before she went into the kitchen.

“Victor told me to buy some whiskey,” Mrs. Johnson’s voice was loud enough to get through the space, “do you guys love it?”

“Y…yes, sure. That’ll be great.” Dad replied but he looked nervous. He kept rubbing his forehead and checking outside the window.

When I took my gaze back from Dad’s odd motion, I found a boy was standing next to the sofa. He looked the same age with me but he stared at me like an adult before asking, “Who are you?”

I wasn’t able to ponder on an answer as he quickly changed the question, “what are you doing here?”

“We’re invited.” I replied

“Who?” He asked again.

“Me and my parents.”

“I didn’t see them.” He shrugged.

“They’re just here…” as I turned to look for mom and dad, there was no body at all on the sofa. I was shocked and then I raised my voice to call, “Mom? Dad?”

No one answered.

“Who invited you here?” The boy now glared at me.

I was freaked out. I cried aloud and looked around in panic.

I wanted to run out of the house but he blocked my way.

“Who told you to come here?” He repeated the question.

I screamed and struggled but he wouldn’t let me go. “Please! I don’t know! ” I begged.

“You lied!” He growled.

Then I saw he grew up quickly and shifted into a huge wolf. He bared his canines at me. His eyes turned into crimson.

“No!” I shrieked…

***

I opened my eyes as I panted breathlessly from the nightmare. It was the same one I had repeatedly since my imprisonment. Sometimes, the wolf who bared canines would be Mrs. Johnson but the theme was always the same, my family disappeared and a wolf wanted to kill me.

When my breath smoothed down, I realized I was lying at the backseat of a moving car. My body was likely to fall apart as I tried to sit up.

“Lie down.” A man’s voice came from the front seat, “it’s the side-effect of anesthesia.”

My mind lost in dizziness before I memorized what happened.

I was on the auction.

After the sudden presence of that unexpected guest, chaos trail off. Everyone looked frightened.

“M…Mr. Murphy, what brought you here?” The auctioneer’s voice was shaking. He glanced at me with a tentative look while kept bowing to the man.

“She’s not grown up.” The man said with a smoky tone.

“Y…yes. But she’ll be mature tonight. It’s h…her 18th b...birthday.” the auctioneer stammered.

The man didn’t reply.

The tension in silence was escalating.

The auctioneer gulped, “I…if you like a m…mature slave, we can pick you another one. We had—”

“I’ll take this.” The man cut him off then he turned around to look at me。

“Open the cage.” He commanded.

I gazed up to his face, from sharp jaw line to his thin pursed lips then the Greek nose, until I saw those eyes, like smoldering fire, in the color of crimson.

My heart suddenly flinched in severe pain before I fainted out.

Those eyes, I wonder if it’s just a delusion, were the same eyes I had seen countlessly in my dreams.

I swallowed in panic, wondering if the nightmare was going to come true.

I slowly got myself sat up, trying to observe the surroundings but it was too dark outside. The slight pain on arm reminded me of the cut but when I touched it, it had already been surprisingly bandaged neatly. The bleeding stopped.

 “I’ll get you a generalist when we arrived.” He said.

Our eyes met in the rearview mirror.

Under his staring, I couldn’t help but flinching back. He frowned and reached out to look for something from the passenger’s seat.

“Put it on.” He threw a suit jacket to me.

I grabbed the jacket and covered my body before looking at him again timidly. His eyes were not flashing in crimson any more, they now looked placid in emerald green.

“T…thank you.” I wasn’t sure if it’s acceptable for a slave to use “thank you” to show her appreciation for the kindness from her master.

He glanced at me once again from the mirror before focusing on driving, “You can get some rest. We will arrive in thirty minutes.”

It was out of my expectation.

The man who bought me seemed to be very…odd. He wasn’t like either of those indecent guests or ruthless wolf guards. Instead, he treated me with politeness and good manners, which was bewildering.

I even had an impulse to ask him some questions before a realization hit me timely that underestimating the situation could cause great danger.

He’s my master. And a master, no matter how gentle and kind he seemed to be, had the utmost authority to decide whatever he wanted for me. He could easily make me die or suffer.

My life could be on edge by just one wrong move.

It’s not worthy to risk my life on stupid questions.

The drive was smooth and quick. But my mind was still on alert. I didn’t dare to sleep.

When the car was finally slowed down, the darkness outside was replaced by warm lights. I glanced through the window to see a huge castle appeared in front of me.

We were at the front gate where a male servant was waiting beside with his head bowed. The moment our car stopped, he walked quickly across the gate to open the door for his master.

He was in a tailcoat, look like one of the butlers in old English movies. He bowed with the left hand against his chest as the man stepped out of car.

“Welcome back, Alpha.” The servant greeted.