5

Caught In The Act

Lilith’s POV (Toronzo Pack)

The door burst open and, flooding the hall with light. Alpha Rowan shoved me away so hard I nearly hit the floor.

My heart shattered at the sudden distance.

What the hell was I thinking?

My eyes impulsively turned to the door in shock and I met a manly pair of eyes staring at the both of us like we had suddenly developed horns on our heads. I wouldn't blame him either.

Beta Cole.

However, he immediately recovered and plastered a smile on his face.

"Lilith, right? I see you are already settling in." He muttered loudly in a voice dripping in amusement or mockery, whatever it was, and stepped into the hall with someone following closely behind.

I thought it was his guards, but a feminine voice spoke.

"Do not speak to her that way, Cole. She's a member of the royal house now." Luna Rachel's voice echoed behind him just before we saw her face.

In that moment, I was grateful Alpha Rowan had shoved me away and I was very far away from him.

I bent to pick up the fallen book, heat flooding my face.

"Thank you, Alpha Rowan. I'll go through every page of this and ask questions where I find difficulty." I said with my head bowed.

"Darling, this babe is going to bare our child, are you really going to treat her this way?" Luna Rachel said in her singsong voice as she walked gracefully over to her husband and linked her arms in hers.

She had obviously thought Alpha Rowan had dropped the book on the ground for me to pick it up on my own just like slaves were given things in my pack.

If only she knew. I felt a punch of pain for the betrayal I had caused.

"Yes. I think she shouldn't be treated this...... way..... too." Beta Cole dragged, making sure we knew what exactly he was referring to. 

Our stolen moment.

Alpha Rowan didn't defend me, Didn't deny Beta Cole's mocking tone. His silence was louder than any words.

Suddenly, he cleared his throat and when my eyes came up to his again, he rearranged himself and looked away from me.

"This is your new home, Lilith... anything you need, ask for it." He paused. "You belong to Toronzo now. Start acting like it."

Something flickered inside me at that, not warmth, not excitement, just a quiet recognition.

"Thank you, Alpha. Thank you, Luna." I bowed and turned to begin my dreadful journey out of their presence.

I heard Luna Rachel chuckle.

"She's such a sweet lamb."

"Oh! Don't be deceived, o Luna. Looks could be deceiving." Beta Cole muttered nonchalantly.

"Oh stop it, Cole. You are always suspicious of everyone."

Alpha Rowan?

He didn't say a word. Even as the huge doors closed behind me. Of course, he had nothing to say.

I stepped out to see Talia waiting on a corner, so I took a deep breath before turning in her direction.

Her eyes lit up when she saw me.

"How was it?" She asked gleefully like I had gone to receive an award or something.

I instinctively held the books tighter in my hands.

"It was fine. How long have you served here, Talia?"

I changed the topic, I couldn't talk about what had happened with Alpha Rowan. That I had begged him to touch me.

Where did I get such guts from?

I could feel my cheeks redden at the thought of it and almost missed Talia's response.

I needed air.

"Since I was born, my mum was a maid too and gave birth to me here in the Alpha's estate." I nodded.

In this situation I had found myself, I needed a right hand man to survive in a strange land, and Talia was the perfect person.

"Good. Because we have a lot to talk about." I sighed, trying to clear that kiss from my head, though I knew it would haunt me.

"Take me around the estate. Show me everything."

I needed to learn fast.

"If there's anyone that knows all the routes of this palace. You are looking at her." Talia stated proudly and I scoffed amusingly.

She behaved like such a child.

Before we started, I paused, and opened the heavy book still clutched in my hands.

SURROGATE CONTRACT was written on the first page.

My fingers clenched the leather edges of the book.

So this was it.

I was just here as a vessel to carry an heir...for my mate.

But with what transpired today, I wasn't sure where I stood anymore.

"Let's go, Princess. I will not just show you the palace." She began muttering again as she held my hands like we were long time friends.

"I'll show you all the hidden corners and passageways of the palace as well." She whispered, giggling excitedly as she pulled me along.

I smiled and tucked the book away forgetting all that transpired between Alpha Rowan and allowed myself to be pulled along with Talia's excitement.

She showed me around, pointing at different buildings, different pathways, different bush tracks which led out of the pack village, the path that led away from the palace to the main village and even promised to take me on a tour to the village where the normal wolves lived.

I barely even remembered anything she said by the time we were done but I was already exhausted consoling myself that I would recall them as time went on.

"Finally, that is the royal physician's home. He only attends to the Alpha and his Luna." She pointed at a large hut which stood alone somewhere at the corner of a road.

"Why is it isolated from the rest of the buildings?"

"He is a herbal doctor and needs his privacy. That's what my mother told me when I was young." She muttered as we stood looking at the lonely hut.

"That makes sense."

"Let's head back, Talia. I'm exhausted and hungry." 

"Yes, Princess."

But just then, the physician's hut door slammed behind him, his face pale as if he'd seen death itself. He seemed like he was hurrying somewhere as he hung a bag over his shoulders and locked his door tightly with a strange key.

"Didn't you just say the royal physician only attends to the Alpha and his Luna. Is one of them ill?" I suddenly asked, my heart missing a bit as I stared at the hurrying aged man.

"Something must be wrong, if it was the usual checkup on the Luna he wouldn't be in such a rush." She muttered more to herself than to me as she hurriedly approached him.

"Sire, is the Luna okay?" I could hear her ask him, but he just looked at her then at me before rushing past without saying a word.

My heartbeat increased as a strange voice whispered in my ears.

"No! No!" I immediately brushed the thought of.

"What is it, Princess?" Talia turned to me.

"What if it is Beta Cole or any other Beta's?" I asked desperately.

"They would bring any other wolf to his hut, he would only go to the palace for the Alpha and Luna." Tina announced and I knew my instincts were right.

The book almost fell from my hands as I began to run back to the palace.

How did I not think about it?

How did I not remember that I had seven dead mates and being intimate with one would obviously lead to the same fate.

I ran, tears blinding me, the heavy pages of the book slapping against my side.

Seven dead mates. And now....him.

My chest burned as I stumbled up the palace steps, clutching the book.

"Moon Goddess." I gasped, the plea ripping from my throat.

"Please.... Don't take this one too."