Am I a ghost now?.

Chapter 5

Calla flopped face-first onto her bed, her arms spread like a dramatic queen.

The mattress, which could comfortably fit ten people or at least three versions of herself having an existential crisis, welcomed her without judgment. That was more than she could say for the people outside these walls.

“Alright,” she muttered into the sheets, “am I losing my mind, or is Dominic actually... kind of decent?”

She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling like it held the answers to her love life, and why she was suddenly feeling warm and fluttery over a man who practically screamed "danger and hot Alpha alert."

Was it kindness? Hormones? or a possible mental breakdown?

All three were on the table.

She sat up, hugging a pillow that had a questionable pineapple pattern, the kind that made her wonder if her enemies secretly designed it. She narrowed her eyes at it.

"Harper said not to trust anyone," she reminded herself, poking the pillow in warning. “But then Theo didn’t run off, and Dominic didn’t exactly... murder me, which is always a plus.”

That last part came out a little too loud.

She paused, with perked ears, listening for footsteps or the sound of someone preparing to break down her door, but it was just only silence.

Good. Her insanity was still private.

With a dramatic sigh, she looked toward the grand window and parted the blinds. The view was beautiful, so were the stakes.

“Maybe if they think I’ve lost my mind, they’ll leave me alone,” she whispered. “I mean, who wants to argue with the crazy lady talking to her pillow?”

She chuckled.

It echoed off the walls, a bit too loud , as her smile faded.

“Okay, no, that was creepy. I need sleep.”

She crawled under the covers and closed her eyes. But her mind had other plans. The same questions kept spinning around like a bad remix on loop.

Who took Theo?

Why does Dominic look at her like he’s holding back a thousand secrets?

And why, out of all the Alphas in the world, did she have to get accidentally married to him?

She peeked one eye open and groaned into her pillow. “Honestly, I didn’t even swipe right on this mess.”

Just as her brain began to short-circuit from overthinking, a knock came at the door.

Her body froze, while her mouth moved on its own.

“Oh no.”

The last person Calla expected to see was Dominic.

But there he was, tall, moody, and surrounded by two maids who looked like they had just stepped out of a dramatic historical novel. One of them clutched a medical kit, the other looked like she was rethinking all her life choices.

Dominic barely glanced at her. “Attend to her,” he said curtly, already turning to leave.

Seriously? No. Not today.

“Oh no, you don’t,” Calla snapped, sitting upright. “You do not just get to show up like some brooding ghost, throw orders, and vanish into the shadows like you’re Batman.”

One of the maids choked. The other turned away, biting her lip to hide her smile.

Dominic froze mid-step. “Calla,” he growled.

She stood too, arms crossed. “What? You think growling is going to scare me now? At least put some base in it. Right now, you sound like a grumpy old blender.”

He turned slowly, eyes flashing, and honestly, yes, he did look like he was about to shift and go full Alpha-wolf mode.

But Calla wasn’t done.

“You don't get to choose when to talk to me like I’m some device you switch on when it suits you. I’m not Alexa, Dominic. I have emotions, too.”

She pointed to the maids. “And when you leave, please take your fan club with you. I can practically feel their resentment burning holes through my skin, and I’d prefer not to add emotional trauma to my healing wounds.”

With that, she turned and flopped back onto her bed with all the elegance of a grumpy princess.

For a split second, she expected him to explode. But instead, his jaw was tight, with clenched fists, and his hair? It actually looked like it was preparing for a dramatic werewolf transformation.

The maids were practically shaking.

And then... he just stormed out without saying anything, not even a glare.

Just the sound of the door slamming shut like a scene from a soap opera.

Calla blinked at the now-quiet room. Huh. That went better than expected.

But she couldn’t stop thinking about his face. There was something in his eyes when she spoke. Something that didn’t look like rage. It looked… almost hurt. Or maybe confused. Which, in Dominic language, was probably the same thing.

Who was this man?

He was a walking contradiction. Terrifying one second, tender the next. Honestly, she didn’t know if she wanted to slap him or study him under a microscope.

Either way, one thing was clear, she wasn’t going to be the fragile human girl everyone expected her to be.

If they wanted a scared, submissive little mate, they picked the wrong girl.

Calla grinned to herself. Time to rattle the Alpha.

---

That evening, no one came to fetch her for dinner.

Maybe they forgot. Or maybe this was their very subtle way of saying, “You’re not invited, outsider.”

Well, guess what?

She was going anyway.

She pulled on a sleek black dress that hugged all the right places and did her hair with the determination of a woman who knew she was about to cause problems.

By the time she strolled into the dining hall, heads turned.

Literally every head.

They looked at her like she’d just crash-landed from another planet. It was the same cold silence as always, except this time it felt... sharper. More confused. Like maybe they’d talked about her behind her back and were shocked she dared show up anyway.

She pretended not to notice.

Marching straight to the long table, she stopped in front of the chair beside Dominic the one that was currently occupied by a cousin, or a guard, or honestly, someone she had zero patience for.

Calla gave him her sweetest smile. “Excuse me, could you move? This seat’s taken.”

You could practically hear the collective gasp echo through the room.

Jeffrey, the unfortunate soul in her seat looked like someone had just unplugged him. He glanced from Calla to Dominic, silently begging for backup.

But Dominic said nothing.

Jeffrey blinked, stood up without a word, and moved two seats down.

Calla sat down, with a smug smile, looking proud. “Thanks.”

She reached for her fork like she hadn't just challenged an entire hierarchy with a single line.

Dominic’s lips twitched, just a little.

And Calla? She knew she was only getting started.

The dining hall felt like one of those awkward family dinners where everyone secretly hated each other but smiled anyway. Forks paused mid-air, fake smiles froze, and the tension? Oh, no words could describe it.

Calla wasn’t one to let a perfectly awkward moment go to waste. Nope. She stood a little taller, looked straight at Dominic, and said sweetly, “As Luna of this Pack, I kindly ask you to move. That’s my seat.”

Gasps echo all round the large dinning table. Lots of them.

Even the chandelier might have blinked.

Dominic raised a brow, amused for half a second, then his face iced over like someone turned down the emotional thermostat.

“Calla,” he said in that husky tone of his. “Is this how far you’re willing to go just to get my attention?”

She scoffed and tilted her head like he’d just told her the moon was made of water.

“Your attention? Please. I’ve had more meaningful conversations with my pillow. At least it doesn’t change moods every ten minutes.”

The silence that followed was loud. You could hear people mentally screaming, but  did she just say that!

Dominic leaned forward, his voice sharp and low. “I warned you not to disrespect me in front of the Pack.”

“Oh, but it’s fine for you to disrespect me, right?” she shot back. “Tell me, do they even see me as their Luna? Or just the ‘weak little human’ you happened to marry?”

She smiled. The dangerous kind. Sweet on the outside, pure chaos underneath.

“If you keep pushing me,” Dominic growled, “I will remind you why they call me the fiery Alpha.”

“Oh, go ahead,” she said, folding her arms. “Show me. Remind them all what happens when someone dares to speak their mind around you.”

Then she spun on her heel and stormed out like a queen exiting a boring court session.

But right outside the dining hall, she grinned at the guard by the door.

“Don’t worry, I know smiling isn’t your thing,” she teased. “You look like your face would crack from kindness.”

The poor man blinked like he wasn’t sure if he was just insulted or praised.

Back in her room, Calla expected Dominic to come barging in all alpha-rage with bruised ego. But nope. Nothing of such happened. It was just crickets and a few nervous butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

She paced around the room, in deep thoughts. She laughed at herself remembering the exact face he made when she challenged him. It was like he couldn’t decide whether to yell at her or kiss her.

“He really is confusing,” she muttered, plopping down on her bed. “Like an angry little bird.”

But she didn’t come here just to annoy an Alpha. She had plans, and strategy. Well, detective-mode activated.

Step one: Get close to the maids. Everyone knows the real power in any house isn’t in the throne room, it’s in the laundry room.

She headed straight for the laundry at her wing, hoping to catch the maid who’d delivered Harper’s letter. But the problem is, she didn’t really remember what she looked like. Oops.

Inside, four maids were chatting away, until they saw her, then, it was like someone hit the mute button.

Calla raised an eyebrow. “Am I a ghost now? Or did I grow spikes overnight?”

No one answered. Well, it was typical of them to do so. She wasn't bordered.

She folded her arms. “Let’s not pretend here. I know you all don’t see me as your Luna. And one of you literally whispered last week that I looked too weak to be the Alpha’s mate. You want me to repeat the exact words? Well, I’ve got good ears.”

Their eyes widened.

She pointed at another. “And you? You said I must have begged my way into Dominic’s life. That I’m just here to keep peace between packs like a glorified bargaining chip.”

But they all kept mute. But their faces said they were really guilty. 

Calla didn’t yell or cry. She just let out a  calm, unsettling kind of smile.

“I’m not here to beg for loyalty. If any of you feel you can’t work under a human Luna, feel free to pack your things. I’m sure the other wing could use some help.”

She turned to leave, then paused.

“And for the record, I am your Luna. Whether you like it or not. And I’m not going anywhere.”

With that, she strutted off like a boss in high heels, even though she was just in socks.

She couldn’t help the little smirk tugging at her lips.

Just as she was nearing her room, something made her stop in her tracks.