Chapter 5

Gianna Marino 

I woke up on a strange bed with a head splitting headache. I groaned and rubbed my forehead. 'How did I end up here?' I wondered.

'Did I get drunk and disrupt the party?' I cringed at the thought of it. It would be so humiliating. 

I wanted to turn but I felt something beside me. I sat up immediately and turned to look. It wasn't something, it was someone!

"What on sweet earth happened yesterday night?" I whispered with a squint and the memories came rushing as if I'd summoned them.

From getting drunk at the bar to asking the Alpha to spend a night with me.

I rubbed both my palms vigorously across my face at the memory.

That wasn't even the worst memory. After he brought me in, he told me to sleep but I begged to get down on him and started crying when he refused. I jumped off the bed at that point and picked the bits of my clothes laying around.

Shit Gianna!

I got dress with the speed of lighting and tip toed out of the room when the last memory hit me. I staggered and held onto the nearest wall.

We had sex! Hot steaming sex! 

"Fuck!" My legs were wobbly but I still walked as fast as I could away from the hallway.

I went to distract myself with clearing up the hall. Other maids from the pack were there already helping out so I just supervised. 

The lousiness of the event finally settled and it was time to plan my escape from this twisted nightmare. I hadn’t seen Carl since that night. I wanted to tell him I'd agreed to go with him, I wanted to start afresh.

He was always around Ethan, during the event whispering, laughing—too wrapped up in whatever brotherhood they shared to spare me a second glance.

Still, I clung to the little hope he’d given me. Maybe he was just keeping a low profile, trying to protect me the only way he knew how.

Then I saw him.

Carl.

He was in one of the private lounges, the door slightly ajar.

I wasn’t trying to spy. I swear I wasn’t.

But when I heard my name fall from his lips—cold, calculated—I stopped in my tracks.

“She’s fragile now. This is the perfect time to convince her to leave. Once she’s out of the country, far from here, we can wrap things up without any more interruptions,” Carl’s voice was low, but the smug satisfaction in it made bile rise in my throat.

“You’re sure she won’t suspect?” Ethan asked.

“She trusts me. She thinks I’m some kind of savior.” Carl let out a quiet laugh.

My lungs refused to breathe. I stepped back, slowly, silently, the walls spinning around me.

Not again.

Not him too.

My heels clicked against the marble as I walked—no, ran—out of the hall. The cold morning air slapped my face like punishment.

I locked myself in my room sobbing like the pathetic mess that I was when an idea bulb suddenly lit up in my mind.

I would runaway myself. I began gathering my things when I heard a loud bang on my door.

"Come out of there you bitch!" It was Cassie's voice. What was she doing banging on my door.

I slowly opened the door and she dealt me a slap before I could even register that there were two people at my door-- Cassie and her mother, Beatrice. 

"Where did you keep my gold necklace you thief?" She snapped and my mouth flew open for some seconds, words refused to come out.

I wasn't close to her yesterday, I didn't even know which gold necklace she talked about because the one she wore the previous night was still on her neck.

"I-- I don't know what you're talking about." I admitted but she cursed at me, calling me a thief. 

"You were so jealous that Ethan bought me the real gold and gave you the fake. You went to steal my gold. Give me back my gold bitch!" She screamed and grabbed my hair yanking me like a rag doll.

"Please, I don't have the gold..." 

"Enough!" Beatrice finally spoke and Cassie left my hair.

"You have defiled the values of this family. You have stolen and you shall be punished. Get your things ready, you will be taken to Alpha Dmitri's pack and become a slave there until you learn your lesson." She finished and turned.

"I can't go there... please, I can help you look for the gold." I pleaded but she ignored me and walked away.

Cassie spat on my door and leaned in close with a smirk.

"I told you, everything was mine to begin with. Pack up your things and go." She giggled as she walked away.

I stumbled into my room, tears dripping from my eyes. My father would turn in his grave watching all this. I'd failed him. But... I could never go to his enemy's pack and be a slave there. I rather get lost in the woods. 

With that resolve, I picked my satchel and left the room. Carrying big bags and boxes would hint that I was running away. 

Outside the pack, I got sneers from pack members and whispers but I ignored. I slipped out of the gate and ran for my life. Thankfully none of the guards were by the gate-- I was not allowed to leave the pack since my father's death. 

"Come back here!!!" A loud voice called from the bushes.

I was wrong. They just took a pee break. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me but I never lost them. It seemed like they kept increasing in numbers. 

I ran through bushes, sand, trucks, cars and I was in the market. Three guards were on my tail. I needed to lose them somehow.

I ran through busy places but they still followed me. I needed to lose them so I began looking for empty stores or restrooms I could run into. I saw a slightly opened door with dark windows and I slipped into it and jammed it shot.

I knelt down to catch my breath when someone shone a bright flashlight at me. The room was dark due to its tinted windows so I couldn't see anything save the flashlight. 

Suddenly, four men ran to me pointing guns at me like I was a thief.

"Please... I'm not here to steal." I rose my hands in surrender. 

They stepped aside and a man with a large build walked up to me with slow, calculated steps.

He stood over me, not saying a word. This was all a big misunderstanding but I couldn't tell them who I was running from. They could be Beatrice's allies. 

"So, you are the spy they sent." The man who seemed to be their leader spoke. An eerie feeling followed his voice and for some reason I couldn't speak. My words died in my throat.

"Bring her with us. I'd like to know why she chose to be a spy." He instructed before walking out of the hall and his men pulled me up rather roughly and led me out of the hall.

Outside the hall, I finally saw their faces and it turned my stomach but when I saw the face of their leader, the man who made gave me the feeling of foreboding with just the sound of his voice, my brain froze.

'Alpha Alessio?!' I screamed mentally. 

"This is all a big mistake. I'm not the person you are looking for. I'm just trying to escape..." I stopped when I saw Beatrice's men come out from the opposite side of the market.

They looked shocked to see me being dragged away by Alessio's men and for some reason, they couldn't lay claim on me. Instead, the cowered away.

Although it relieved me to know that I no longer had Beatrice's men on my tail again, I was more bothered about Alessio and his men. They looked dangerous and the men just confirmed it.

What have I gotten myself into?