Chapter 1

Dove pov

Laundry bag slung over my shoulder, I cross the room.

My muscle ache, fatigue burdening each step I make. Dumping the ample bag into the tub, I watch the wave of laundry topple out before I pour a bucket of cold water in after it.

Unsurprisingly I'm on laundry duty once again while my coworkers flit about dusting and making beds. My hands are raw despite the quality of soap I dig into the threads, the exertion tearing away at my skin.

The Alpha's laundry must be personally dealt to every day, but at least I have the entire laundry room to myself.

Hands grasp my waist suddenly, fingertips digging into my ribs.

Yelping, I whirl around, only to see my Alpha looming behind me, a crooked grin on his face. I swallow my unspoken curses, releasing a long exhale instead.

"You scared me," I mutter, pushing at his chest, forcing him back a step. I leave a wet hand print of his grey shirt, soap suds popping and vanishing into the threads of the lavish material.

"Sorry sweetheart, I didn't mean to scare you." He leans back on the folding bench, unfurling a towel I folded minutes ago to wipe his front down.

"You shouldn't be down here." I take the towel from him once he's done, wincing at the bite of pain from my sores as I wipe my hands off.

Matthias, my Alpha and boss, is never usually this brazen. We keep our affairs private, so not to rouse gossip that my coworkers would effortlessly toss around. In fact, he doesn't often seek me out while I'm working.

"I own this entire estate. I can be wherever I please, remember?" His cocksure grin only widens, his arms spreading out to encompass the place.

I huff out a breath, rolling my eyes.

He rarely ventures down to the servant's quarters, which aren't even on ground level, but below. He moans about how damp and grungy it is down here, how it always smells like mould and bleach.

And yet we, his dutiful staff, suit the environment just fine, apparently.

"Well I'm assuming you're here to see me, right?" I untie my white apron, tossingit to the side. My work pinafore isn't a pleasant sight to behold, but Matthias first seduced me in it, so it must be doing something for me.

He smiles, pressing his thumb against my shoulder to ease a wrinkle in the fabric. "Presumptuous, yet right as always."

"Nadine will kill me if she thinks I'm slacking on work." Not only that but I would be stuck on bathroom duty for the foreseeable future.

Matthias shrugs casually. "I'll fire her then."

I've heard that before. Empty, meaningless promises to improve my life that never come to fruition. He ends up going on about favouritism and now any hint to us being together would be detrimental for us both.

Despite incurring my fathers wrath, being attached to an Alpha wouldn't be the worst look for me.

"No you won't." I come to his side, facing the table he leans against so I can start folding clean pillow cases. "If conduct meant anything to you I would have been fired a long time ago."

He turns, brushing an errant hair off the side of my face. "Fucking your boss is quite the offense, isn't it?"

I shrug off his touch, a smile playing at my lips. It would be the scandal of the year. I'm classes below Matthias in society and he would be considered weak if he stooped to my level.

Still, we have a lot of fun. I look forward to the few times a week when we come together passionately and fervently, desperate to tear our clothes off and have at each other.

"My boss who also happens to be my father's boss," I bring up, giving him a sidelong glance.

"He'll never find out," he murmurs.

My father has been Matthias's war advisor for a few years now. We live on the edge of the property in a small cottage nestled into the hillside. My father takeshis job seriously, and would dig my grave pre-emptively were he to learn about my promiscuous relationship with our Alpha.

He wants me to marry and adhere to the values of this pack. I want freedom instead.

I sigh through my nose. "Oh I know he won't find out.."

Despite having what I believe is a close connection, Matthias has kept our relationship strictly sexual. Despite that unspoken distinction, he fills my head with pretty words and promises about a future together that I'm losing hope in attaining.

I really like him. I probably would find I love him if I put thought in it, but I actively avoid the notion.

He's as beautiful as I imagine all six Alpha's in the land are. His hair is long and straight, brushing against his shoulders. He's always pushing both hands through the dark brown strands, revealing a jawline even saints envy.

I've always loved his eyes the most. They are a tumultuous mix of green and brown that curl and dance together in his irises so beautifully.

"Something upsetting you?" He pouts a little, scanning my face.

I huff out a sigh, pressing at the creases in a pair of trousers. "Why are you down here? I have a mountain of your laundry to get done."

I don't mean to be short with him. I find myself more disappointed than not these days, especially since he never seeks me out just to talk anymore.

It's easy to miss the explosive few months when he was first seducing me. I was the primary focus of his attention, which was a heady feeling.

"Other than to admire you." His smile vanishes abruptly. "I just needed to get away from everyone for a moment."

He sighs roughly, rubbing his brow. I observe him carefully, very used to hearing him vent. He doesn't have anyfriends, just those who work below him.

"What's going on?"

"Alpha Varian is hosting his annual party tonight. I can't help but wonder what number of pack members I'll lose to his siren's call," he grumbles, murderous tension emanating from his tone.

I shrug loosely. I know so little about Alpha Varian and his mystical parties other than they happen every year, and have done since he became Alpha of the pack neighbouring Matthias's.

"Very few, I'm sure," I say tightly.

Nobody winds Matthias up quite like his rival. Varian is a force, and although I've never seen him before, he's renowned for his strength and beauty.

"You don't know the seduction of his parties, of him." Matthias gestures vividly with his hands, his face reddening. "Weak people fall for it, and find no better lives for themselves in his pack."

I don't bring up that the immigration rate from Varian's pack to his is significantly less than the other way around. Why people chose to leave here and stay in Varian's pack, I'm not sure, but I'm certain this goes further than an irresistible siren call.

"You really hate him, don't you?" I eye him carefully as I fold a pair of socks into each other.

"I despise everything about him," he snaps. "Nothing is serious to him. Life is sex and parties and more sex to him. Despite having no substance to speak of, women fall at his feet, entranced by him."

When he looks away I smile wryly. I am also familiar with the heady seductive techniques of an Alpha.

"He leads a very strong pack, though. Stronger than yours if I remember."

"That is conjecture," he corrects sharply. "He knows his politics, certainly, but I'll find his weakness eventually."

My father has told me as much. Matthias knows Varian is a threat to him, and he'sso absorbed with the drive to end him that he can't think clearly. He smothers important meetings with his temper, hindering any progress in strategising.

"Perhaps seeking peace, or even neutrality-"

He holds his hand up, cutting me off. "This is all beyond you, sweetheart. Do not worry."

"My father is your war advisor. I know a great deal about politics." I grit my teeth, pain lancing through my jaw. My father often confides in me when a difficult issue arises, and there have been times when I've found a viable solution.

Unfortunately Matthias' opinion of me has already been formed.

"I don't pay you for that, I pay you to be pretty and wander around my house as a beautiful temptation for me to gaze upon." He flicks my nose.

I swat him away. "You pay me to clean for you."