Chapter 3

Dove POV

Pepper and herb scented smoke wafts up from the pan as I watch the slab of steak sizzle in the butter.

The front door opens, a billow of cool air joining my sister as she rushes in. She tugs her coat off, bracing it on the hook next to mine before she plucks her boots off her feet.

"Hey Dovey," she greets warmly, her cheeks tinged pink from the night air.

After not staying late with Matthias, I rushed home to work on dinner. The smell of it is cloying in our tiny cottage, where the kitchen is cramped tightly into the corner, in the same room as the living space and tiny circle dining room table.

"Hey." I flip the steak. "Your plate is in the oven."

"Bless you. I'm starved."

She rushes over, kissing me on the cheek before she opens the oven door, stepping back as a wave of torrid heat pours out. With a dish cloth in hand she grabs the edge of her plate, guiding it to the table.

As usual Eden is dressed in her stiff work uniform. Tawny brown trousers and a collared plum shirt. She works at the train station just over down the hill and past the creek, the tracks leading deep into Alpha Varian's pack.

Despite both being in our twenties, Eden and I are yet to move out. We both know our father would struggle without us — I mean, he's still deep in meetings with Matthias at this late hour

"You need to eat breakfast instead of skipping it all the time." I cast her a long look as she digs into her green beans. She shrugs. "I'm never hungry in the mornings."

I pluck the steak up with a pair of tongs, placing it on a wooden cutting board to rest.

"Maybe you're pregnant," I tease.

"Ugh, please." Her nose scrunches up in disgust. "At least I'm getting laid, unlike you, Miss Virgin."

I turn away, swallowing thickly. No one knows about Matthias's relationship, nor that it's been going on for over a year and a half. It feels embarrassing to speak about, even to my sister. She would tell me I'm too good to be an Alpha's plaything with no real benefit, and she would be right...

At least there is no concern about me falling pregnant. Matthias would rather castrate himself than have me become with child.

The thought would hurt, but I'm addicted to the feeling of doing something so forbidden. It's so wrong, but it feels sodeliciously right.

"Don't tell father that. He'll gut whatever poor soul you've lured into bed," I bring up, stalking over to the one window this cottage has, propping it open for some ventilation.

"It's only one person, actually," she says, a hint more quietly. "And father will never know. I'm planning on moving out soon."

I raise a brow. "Oh yeah?"

"I can't stay in this stuffy cottage with you and dad forever, no offense." She drags a cut of steak around the butter sauce on her plate. "You may like it here, but I'm destined for more."

Eden is capable of anything. She's beautiful, charismatic and talented. She hasn't encountered a single skill she hasn't been able to master, and yet actively chooses to condemn herself to a dead end job so she isn't forced to move away from her family.

"It's not that I like it here, I just don't want to abandon him. He lost two wives,"remember?" I bring up.

Father insists Eden looks just like her mother, and I believe it. Her pale hair and deep brown eyes are unlike any feature father and I have. Her skin is littered with light freckles, and her features are softer and rounder than mine.

Her mother died before I was born. My father then had me with my mother, who took off with all his money when I was two.

Mercifully I was only passed down her nose and not much else. I share my dark, rich brown hair and blue eyes with my father.

"I guess so." Eden's expression curls with disgust as I sit down at the table with my plate of food, pouring hot sauce onto my steak. "Yuck, I could never put that spicy stuff on my food."

I shrug. "Don't then."

Eden picks up the days paper off the table, flipping it open. The front page catches my attention, the vivid illustrationmaking my mouth dry.

"Woah..."

"What?" Eden flips the paper, scanning the front. "Oh, Alpha Varian's wicked party."

The illustration is of the front of his grand palace. It depicts vibrant red lights and lines of people that will no doubt be queuing for the experience later tonight.

"That's tonight, right?" I bring up casually, as if I'm not very much aware.

For the rest of my shift since seeing Matthias, I've convinced myself to both attend and not attend the party.

On one hand, venturing into Alpha Varian's pack, into a swarm of dubious minded people would be dangerous. Matthias said himself that members of his pack are targeted and seduced into staying. How true that is, it's hard to tell.

What I do know is that if Matthias knew, it would be over between us. I would be sabotaging the scraps of a relationship we've maintained over the past year and a half.

Which is all the more reason why I want to go...

He doesn't own me. I'm not tied to him. I can't be expected to give my entire being to a relationship that he only contributes to at his leisure. I want to do something for myself, something fun and forbidden.

"How should I know?" Eden grumbles, then pauses. "But yes, it is."

"Matthias — people at work were talking about it." I clear my throat, concentrating on my mountain of mashed potatoes.

"Everyone in every pack in the land is invited. Even from here," she explains, scanning the text on the front page. "It's all crap though. Apparently his guards turn away most that come to the door."

I lightly tap the tines of my fork against my plate as I think. My chances of getting in tonight are slim I'm not the kind of person who would fit into that environment.