Chapter 3

Elara

It took me exactly forty minutes to locate myself spatially in Arcadia before I arrived at the mansion. I didn't know how to get in, so I knocked on the gate in desperation, and after several minutes, someone decided to put me out of my misery.

I had been trained for many things, but I had never been trained to endure humiliation. What the Mikaelson had done to me was that and more.

I knew I had to be smart because of the mission I had, but it was impossible to put up with the whole family. The fact that my biological father did nothing in the face of the mistreatment was enough for me to know that he was not worth my time.

However, I could not fail at the first attempt.

I refused to fail, and I wasn't going to let the Mikaelson get in my way.

I entered the house in a hurry but noticed the cameras I hadn't detailed before; they were strategically hidden around the corners of the living room.

Liz, the middle-aged woman who was to serve the food during dinner, eyed me kindly.

“Are you Liz?” I asked, and she nodded with a smile. “Do you have any idea where my suitcase might be?”

“No,” Liz said honestly. “I think Denisse took care of your suitcase, miss.”

“Could you tell Denisse I'm here?” I asked, and she nodded. “Thank you.”

She walked down a hallway, but halfway down she stopped and looked at me with concern.

“Do you know how Miss Tracy is doing?” the Omega asked fearfully.

I could see the fear in her eyes and the concern.

“I didn't know what happened to her because once Beta David arrived, I decided to come here,” I said, and Liz looked at me sadly. "But I think Tracy is going to be okay. They took care of her right away, so the doctors should have stabilized her right away."

“Thank you for saving Tracy's life,” Liz said, and I nodded my head.

The fact that an Omega was the one thanking me for that was not lost on me.

I sighed and took a seat in the lounge.

It was exactly ten minutes before Denisse deigned to introduce herself next to me. She watched me with a frown.

“Is Tracy okay?” She asked disrespectfully, and I nodded.

It was one thing for her loyalty to the Mikaelson to be damn disrespectful to me and another to lie to her about something so delicate.

“When I came back, the doctors were stabilizing her,” I said truthfully. "Could you give me my suitcase?" I need my things."

Tracy frowned even more but then gave me an imposturous smile that I thought was too suspicious.

“I'll get you some clothes,” Denisse said kindly.

I found her attitude odd, but I went upstairs with her and noticed more cameras.

Denisse took me right into a room that was next to the dressing room, where we found Tracy. The place was spotless.

“Come in, you're going to stay in this room; it's nice,” Denisse said calmly. “I'm going to get you some clothes; you can use the bathroom, no problem.”

I went into the room, and she came out quickly.

That made me frown a lot more.

I went over to check the room and could see pictures of Tracy with the family, then Denisse came in and handed me a pink dress in my hands and a towel.

“You're going to be comfortable in this,” she said, and I arched my eyebrows.

“Where's my suitcase?

“Put it away as Madame Lauren instructed,” Denisse said with false innocence. “It's okay if you wear these clothes.”

I took the dress but didn't fall for her deception.

I just nodded and played along. I wanted to see what their true intentions were. I went to the bathroom, cleaned up a bit, and then put on the damn dress that totally clashed with my taste in clothes.

I sat in front of Tracy's desk and studied the pictures she had: pictures with her parents, pictures with her brother, pictures with her friends, pictures with the cheerleading squad, and pictures at a barbecue.

Tracy's life was the perfect life.

A life that was meant to be mine, and I found that amazing.

“What are you doing in Tracy's room dressed in her clothes?” asked Lauren angrily.

Showtime, I thought with amusement.

I stood up, and she saw me from head to toe. Behind her loomed Denisse with a sinister smile, and I looked at her calmly.

"Denisse set me up in this place; she told me to stay here because this would be the room I would be staying in. Then she gave me these clothes because she wouldn't give me the suitcase," I said simply.

“Don't lie, you filthy mongrel!” shouted Lauren, and I lifted my shoulders.

"I'm not lying. You asked her to get rid of my suitcase, so I have no idea where my things are. I have nothing to gain by lying," I said with a lot of composure.

That exhausted Lauren's patience.

“You're wearing Tracy's clothes and invading her space!” yelled Lauren.

“I don't care about this space,” I said with a disgruntled expression as I looked at all the pastel decor. “And I had no choice but to dress in these clothes. What else can I do?”

Lauren growled, and I saw her pull her claws out to get closer to me, at which point Beta David walked in.

“What's going on here?” the man asked, and Lauren immediately looked at her husband in horror.

“The half-breed dared to wear Tracy's clothes and snoop in her room! It's totally disrespectful!” said Lauren.

Beta David scowled at me, and I had to fake the most innocent expression I had.

“That's not how that happened,” I said in a whisper. "You can verify everything on the cameras. Denisse made me come into this room and gave me the clothes. I had nothing to do with it."

Denisse's face turned pale right away.

Lauren and Beta David looked at the Omega, and then the Beta looked at me, surprised.

I held back a smile at the fact that I had unveiled a boss’s secret, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to look like a liar.

“Did you do that, Denisse?” asked Beta David, and she shivered. “Don't lie; I'm going to check if that's true.”

Denisse started to cry, and I approached with false understanding.

“Don't worry, I'm not upset. I understand that maybe Tracy is your friend and you just wanted to get me away from here,” I said so calmly that Lauren gasped. “Just tell me where my stuff is.”

I could feel the tension in the room, and Denisse looked at her boss in terror.

“Your stuff is in the trash,” she whispered, and I immediately looked at Beta David.

“Don't be hard on her,” I told the Beta modestly. “I'm going to get my stuff.”

I left the room and hurried downstairs; Theo was in the living room, and when he saw the dress, I threw my hands up.

“This isn't my fault, if you want to ask your parents,” I said and looked at Liz, who saw me in dismay. “Can you tell me where the house waste is?”

Liz nodded and silently led me away.

I thanked her, and I had to check the entire dumpster to realize that my suitcase had fallen right into the organic waste compartment. I cursed through my teeth but pulled the suitcase out as best I could.

I sighed and asked Luz for items to clean.

“Don't worry, I'll clean the suitcase; I'll put it near a heat source so it dries quickly,” Liz said.

At that moment I heard screaming and sighed.

“Is there a secluded place where I can meditate?” I asked her, and she nodded.

“At the end of the copse is the pack forest,” Liz said, and I thanked her.

I walked over to the forest, and there I cursed to my heart's content.

I had to control my breathing so I could focus on meditation, but it was mission impossible. However, after several minutes I calmed down and used the tree pose to relax.

The problem was that I could feel a heavy gaze on me for several minutes.

“I don't care who you are; the best thing you can do is come out and face me,” I said sternly and kept my eyes closed.

I heard light footsteps and turned my head to the right to see the man I had seen in the rose bushes and at the hospital. Even though it was night, the moonlight let me get a good look at him.

“You're doing the stance wrong,” the young man said, and I put my foot on the floor. "You have to have your feet together, keep your spine straight, and then you're going to transfer your body weight to one foot to lift the other. The safe point is to put the sole of your foot on your thigh, but it's impossible to do that with the shoes you have on. You have to take your shoes off."

I looked at the man dumbfounded.

“Are you really correcting my posture?” I asked incredulously.

He raised his eyebrows and nodded.

I couldn't help but laugh but took off my shoes and tried to correct my posture. The problem was that I almost fell flat on my face. He held me up and helped me up. When he touched my hand, the same current shook us again, and this time he shook his head.

“What's wrong?” I asked him, and he looked at me in shock.

Then he walked away in such a hurry that I was startled.

I was confused.