Chapter Two - Dismissed

Amy's POV

I emerged in search of a towel, bitterly regretting that I hadn’t taken the opportunity to look for shampoo. A rose-scented shower gel would have been nice, as well, but that would have been too much to hope for in an Alpha’s en suite. Though if he had allowed me in here, maybe I wasn’t the first female to grace his bathroom. Of course not; why else would he have installed a camera?

It was hidden, if it existed at all. I can vouch for that. Not bothering to dry myself, I hunted high and low, hoping he wasn’t laughing at me via a live feed on his phone. For all I had done well in high school, technology wasn’t my forte. I was more of a sporty girl.

The slight pain alerted me to disaster of a temporary kind. When I saw the slow trickle down my leg I knew one method of infiltration was definitely off the table. Damn Jake. His timing was never impeccable.

Alpha Kane returned to his bedroom in something of a mood. The swearing was tolerable; the way he appeared to be trashing the place alarmed me.

I marched out of the bathroom before my nerve failed me, remembering just in time I needed to be soft and helpless rather than demanding and bold.

He eyed my wet hair before his gaze descended lower.

“What the fuck?” he growled.

I bowed my head, pleased I had decided to pinch my cheeks before confronting him.

“Don’t punish me. Please, Alpha,” I whispered.

I knew pack members couldn’t be around she-wolves during their moon time and wondered if there was a special place set aside or if Alpha Kane’s much older one had different traditions.

“I’ll send for an Omega,” he said.

There wasn’t much damage to the place, just a clothes brush on the floor and an overturned yet unlit lamp.

“I can see to the tidying,” I told him, knowing full well pack protocol wouldn’t allow it.

“Touch nothing, Amy. And you forgot to use my title.”

“Sorry, master,” I said, intending to be provocative.

It worked, arousing the beast at the precise time he couldn’t slake his lust on me. I pitied the poor Omega, half hoping they would send a male. Though, I was forgetting, as Alpha he had the right to specify.

“Send Chrissy,” he said. “I have urgent need of her services.”

I wondered why he used his intercom rather than the mind link. Was it for my benefit?

“Alpha Kane, about Lisa,” I began, fiddling with the top of my towel.

“Save it. You are bound for the floor below.”

So he didn’t mind me speaking out of turn? Good. That would save me from a whole heap of extra trouble.

“Um, like this, Alpha?”

“What happened to your nightdress?”

“Weren’t you watching closely, master?” I teased, before schooling my features to innocence.

“There is no live feed,” he barked.

Just as I had thought. Well, if he reviewed the footage later, it would hardly be enticing. Or wasn’t that what he meant?

“Do you want me to retrieve it, Alpha?”

“Stay right where you are. There’s been enough contamination. Why could you not have told me you were blessed by the Moon Goddess?”

“It only started a few minutes ago, Alpha Kane. Believe me.”

Chrissy tapped on the door not long after that. She was a petite redhead with big brown eyes and a ragged yellow dress.

“Escort my slave to Rene’s room, lock her in and bring me the key.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something, master?” I asked, somehow managing to untangle the knot holding my towel in place and it fell as far as my waist, exposing what no man had ever seen before.

His reaction was brief but satisfactory.

“You will find everything you need in her closet,” he said, as I covered up my assets once more.

“Is there a tub, Alpha?”

I was determined to needle him some more, not wanting him to forget me. As if he would, given Lisa’s peril. And I knew I was pushing my luck.

“Wasn’t the shower adequate?”

It seemed I had sucked him in without even trying.

“Yes, but I would have liked some scented oils. Master, I don’t suppose … ?”

Alpha Kane stared at me as if I had grown another head. I realised I had better rein in my forwardness; this wasn’t the Amy anyone knew.

“See to it,” he barked at Chrissy, startling the poor woman, who had been a fascinated bystander during our exchange.

“Right away, Alpha,” she said.

“Come back here afterwards and don’t dawdle,” he ordered.

Only I saw the fright in her eyes.

“Who’s Rene?” I asked, as we made our way down the corridor. Chrissy didn’t answer, so I tried again. “Will she be there, as well?”

She fixed me with her sad doe eyes and said only, “No.”

I decided not to push it. This one would not be a useful ally to have and I didn’t want to get her into trouble for disclosing something she wasn’t supposed to talk about.

The door was light blue and newly painted. She struggled to turn the stiff handle and I moved to help. Her smile was pitiful and soon faded as she turned to leave. I could have disarmed her in more than one way, but it didn’t suit my purpose. And I reckoned she had enough to contend with, facing a frustrated Alpha. Being thwarted of his intended prize would not have gone down well, by all accounts.

Chrissy locked me in and took away the key I hadn’t coveted. I thought I heard her sigh.

Then I took the opportunity to investigate my prison, relieved to see there was a thick quilt on the bed and a fluffy rug beside it. At least my toes wouldn’t get cold.

The cream walls were covered in prints of woodland scenes, some of which showed the Moon Goddess in her various phases. I padded to the adjoining bathroom and was pleased to see a tub as well as a shower compartment, the circular kind with sliding glass doors.

This room had definitely belonged to a woman of status at some point. The scalloped sink was a nice touch and the accessories in the small cabinet above were all I could wish. I caught sight of myself in the mirror, noting the slave collar, and had to remind myself I was there to do a job.

Even if Jake had done his best to scupper my way in of choice, to say nothing of Selene, the new Luna.

Wandering back into the room with the single bed, I made my way to the closet and saw only practical clothes inside. Not a ballgown in sight. To my relief I found a pack of tampons in one of the dresser drawers and I saw to my needs before selecting clean underwear and a shirtwaister. Then I switched on the TV, opting for a music channel.

I had found it helped to clear my mind and soon, I was reaching back through time, all the way to Anastasia.