Ellie’s POV
Austin's face is now a map of some frown, drawing his brows down and adding ripples to his forehead. His hand moves upward and slowly touches his neck.
He stands tall, about six feet of height. The black suit that covers his frame appears to give him energy. There is a buttoned-up white shirt and a knotted blue checkered tie that kisses the base of his long, slender neck like a snake about to climb a tree trunk. If it isn't for the fact that he is the Alpha King, then his appearance is totally my type. Pity makes my stomach feel empty, like the bottom of it has just become abysmal.
My eyes always pick out the odd things on people. That happened a lot while growing up. I'm in a public park and I suddenly turn around and set my eyes on a woman sitting with her legs open, some colourful underwear showing. Or I'm walking down the street and some biker guys ride past me with a lady behind, and when I turn, it's half of her white ass that's watching me.
In my mind, I say a little thank you to my good eyesight and keen observation skills. Now I have a chance to turn the tables on this annoying guy.
I begin with a mocking laugh.
"You think this is hilarious?" he asks sententiously.
"Do you know what I think about you?"
In answer to that, Austin stares at me, like he's waiting for me to spit out my nonsense.
I say to him, "I think you are a playboy."
"What was that?" he asks, with an unbelievable look on his face, one that could have scared a wolf away but not me. I am not an animal. I am in a living room with a grumpy Alpha King who is so strictly choleric that no one can live with him.
"You heard me. Playboy. Those marks on the side of your neck tell a great deal about whatever you had going on last night."
"Whatever I had going on last night? Have you now gone mad?"
"This isn't madness," I express my objection.
"Then what is it?"
"This is being remarkably truthful."
"Truthful? How old are you? Eighteen? Nineteen? What truth do you know about adults?"
"I have lived with a man whose family treats me like a tool. Of course, I know some truth about adults."
He shakes his head as if I have said the most incorrect thing in the world. "Maybe you deserved whatever that was doing to you. Not like it is probably any different from the behavior you are displaying here. And like I said, you don't know the truth about people so I do not expect you to tell it."
"I do not expect you to believe me, either. Killers like you are better lied to, just so the lives of the liars could be spared."
He looks hurt at that declaration of mine and I move towards him, tentatively. My hands are straight down by my sides, balled into fists, fingernails digging into the insides of my palm. When I am very close to him I smell his scent, a light sandalwood and pine scent. It is very nice, and oddly familiar but I cannot really remember where or when I perceived such. And my wolf Julia is a little excited about it.
His body tightens as if my approach threatens him, or as if my scent is that of some vampire. Because the next moment, he picks me up like I weigh no more than a candle flame.
"Bastard, let go of me!" I scream, trying to wriggle away from his hold.
"It seems you really do lack discipline," he says, threatening. His expression is grim. If this face of his were cut into pieces and brewed, it would taste horribly bitter.
"I can't hear you. Maybe you should speak up a little bit louder?"
His hold tightens and the image of a man screwing a nut with a spanner comes to mind. My stomach doesn't feel empty anymore and it quickly fills up with something that eventually explodes with anger.
"What in Pete's name are you doing?" I demand from him.
"Punishing you," he seethes.
"What have I done?"
"Indecency towards me."
I almost laugh but it doesn't feel funny while my arms are getting mashed. "What do you take me for, a seductress?"
"You look something close to what you just said."
"Bullshit."
"Then why did you approach me with that sultry look on your face?"
"What, you think I tried to seduce you right now?"
"Oh, it didn't start right now, little worm. From the moment you walked into this living room. Is that how you go about testing the virility of men?"
Little worm, how is that? And from this close, I am just hundred percent sure that the trace on the right side of his neck is definitely a raspberry mark!
So I mutter discontentedly, "It seems you had a fierce battle last night. But as far as I know you don't have a girlfriend in public, so how can you accuse me of not coming home at night, while you're a person hanging out with women? It is ridiculous!"
Austin stops talking for a moment and carries me over to the couch. I wonder what he is planning.
"Sir, maybe you should ... " The butler stops talking when Austin snaps his neck in the man's direction.
"Maybe I should what?"
The butler shakes his head. I figure the words he is about to utter aren’t something Austin will feel warm and fuzzy about. I glance at him and note the scared look on his face. If he is this afraid, does he have some idea of what on earth this Alpha King will do to me?
I am placed across his firm lap, unable to resist his strong and powerful hold. Never have I been in such a demeaning situation as I vaguely have an ominous premonition when my head touches his right calf. My legs lift upwards kicking ferociously while my breasts massage his right thigh. I have to stop so he doesn't get any genuine inkling that I am the seductress he thinks me to be.
"Help, Uncle Chris! Help me!" I yell the butler's name, but it is no use, no one dares to stop this terrible demon. There is no one here.
"I feel sorry for your parents for making you such a rebellious bad girl. To make up for my mistake, I will do my best to discipline you in the future." He says this coldly and as calmly as a banker approving a loan for a business mogul.
"Do not bring my parents into this, you savage beast! They are nothing like you."
"I agree," he says. "But why did you come to me, then? Why did you come to the savage beast?"
I think about that for a moment and say something to hurt his feelings. "A savage beast you are, and probably the reason why they suddenly lost their lives. So I came here suspecting you."
It does it. His big, thick palm slaps me on my ass!
I am stunned. The pain bites my backside and reaches up to my spine and then my brain delivers the rest to my throat. I feel like crying. When I react I begin to struggle.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" I swear, heatedly. Then realize it is not a good move.
He gets even angrier when he hears my bad language, and I figure my ass must be red from his slap. His hold on me doesn't relent, just like his bloodthirstiness obviously. He is too strong that I cannot get myself free at all. My head begins to get quite heavy from this painful position so I do the only thing my mind can literally think of to free myself. I recklessly clutch one of his arms and bite down hard.
Everything seems to stop for the moment. Like I have crossed the red line and nature is waiting to behold what will happen to me next. It works, however, and I am released from his vicious hold.
"Are you a puppy?" He stares at me in astonishment. Apparently, no one has ever dared to do such a thing to him. Except those who try in the war, and then he kills them off instantly.
His eyes are deadly serious and I pray they do not go blood red. I am conscious of myself and the taste of something odd in my mouth irks me. It is slimy and liquid-like. Moving my hand upwards, I touch a finger to my tongue and regard it before my eyes.
It is blood. And it is not mine. My eyes swing towards the Alpha King and I see his arm gradually seeping blood. I didn't realize I had bit down that hard. My heart beats harder, faster, stronger, and louder than usual that I think it is trying to tear my chest open and run from this place. So I close my eyes in despair and wait for the raging storm.
Ellie’s POVBut it does not come. Not at this moment. In its stead is the servant who comes in and says, "Your Majesty, Beta has something important to report to you."And this brings back the sunshine for me.Austin gets up from the sofa and walks towards his office without saying a word or even looking at me. However important the servant makes it sound, I feel my disciplining now falls below the priority list when it comes to Beta's report.The butler comes up to my face, looking as relieved as a miser who has just found out that robbers couldn't discover where he hid his gold. "Are you okay, Ellie?" His tone is full of concern and nervousness.I make a face at him. "You didn't tell me he beats people!""See, I tried to warn you.""Well, not in time, uncle," I cut in."I am so sorry, Ellie. See, the Alpha King is not someone you should trifle with even on a good day. He doesn't like to be blamed for something.""I wasn't playing with him, if that's what you mean.""You openly accus
Third POVAustin shakes his head, partially in disappointment. When in actual sense, he is trying to loosen up the little composure he has left in the noggin. "I see your seductive whims and caprices have limitless bounds, eh?"Ellie sits up on the bed, frantically replacing the phone back in its cradle, ending the connection and preventing Anna from listening in to what could be the true version of her lie."What are you doing in here?" she demands."Keeping an eye on you. Answer the question, Ellie," he growls.Ellie ignores him and looks towards the door. "Did you break that to get in?""It wasn't locked, silly head."As Ellie rises to her feet, she is more angered than shocked at this point, that the man could just walk into her room like it was his own ice pool. Does he not understand what feminine privacy is and its importance?"This is my privacy, you are invading!" she barks, gradually turning into the person she was some hours ago, teeth and claws and what have you."You are
Ellie’s POVSchool for me is a drug at times. You know how a blunt makes one feel? Takes you through the stress of inhaling and then the awkward moment of getting high. But what you don't know is that the more you drug, the more your cheeks sink in like a depression. Lowered region or hole in a desert. This is how the school makes me. Depressed and deserted.And the first day of school week starts with the first adjective. I walk into the doors along with other students, and we move towards our classrooms like an army of intoxicated ants.I don't bother exchanging pleasantries with too many people because someone might notice the unwanted orphan has gotten new clothes; like what clothesline did she purloin them from?And yes, I am wearing neat clothes to school today. Just simple dungarees, white sneakers and a long sleeve shirt whose colour looks like blood under the moonlight.I slip my bag off my shoulder and remove my locker key from the smallest zipper. I fit the key into the loc
Ellie’s POVThe Range Rover Sport pulls to a stop in front of the garage. My mind flashes back to when I sneaked and snooped around this palace, looking for the Alpha King.Then, everything in and within its walls and vicinity felt very intimidating and threatening. From the gamma guards to the palace, which looked like it had been sliced from the Tower of Babel, and then the man they all referred to as His Majesty, Austin.Now, I have no idea what really stampedes my pain, whether it is him or myself."You should go and meet him," the butler promptly suggests to me, as he turns off the engine, pulls the handbrake, and unbelts. "After you are done with cleaning yourself up first. I don't think you should let him come to you.""Why not?" I ask him, unhooking my seatbelt as well."You might not like his manner of approach. He never really had a responsible one, especially when the other person is to be blamed for something wrong.""Thanks for the heads up, uncle," I say to him and aligh
Ellie's POV"I am going to pretend that I did not hear that," Austin says, and folds his arms across his chest, as if this discussion has become quite interesting than he thought. "So she obviously did it emotionally, huh? Really hurt those sharp feelings of yours?"I swallow, mighty glad that I am getting off that feasibly. And when you know that you are out of trouble, that little leeway that comes to you in form of words, I find my own words to say to him, "She has always gotten along badly with me, and I know she is jealous of me. Since I started school two years back, all those boys who were after her began to dote on me with love letters, but I have no interest in those little brats. But Sofia doesn't think so."After a pause, I continue, "Anyway, she's been doing all sorts of bad things, and she even went to great lengths to steal my members for the club recruitment. Of course, it doesn't matter. I have Jaden and Anna and that's enough. Well, as long as she didn't mess with me
Ellie’s POVAustin takes me into a room I haven't been to before. It is downstairs and located behind a tiled door in the sparkling kitchen.The room is old and smells of neglect. It is populated but not well furnished. I see canvases propped up on wooden stands. There are different varieties of pallettes whose colours are covered with dust and cobwebs. The canvases look brown and the brushes appear unused and hard."Sorry about the place," he apologizes, as we stand before the neglected room."Was this a drawing room?" I ask."It was.""Who did all this?""I did."I shake my head. "You are really full of surprises today. So what happened?""Duty happened. I moved here when I became Alpha King and was forced to lose interest in trivial things as art, for the survival of our limited number of people."I look at him. "Art isn't trivial. Why would an artist like you belittle it?""That wasn't me talking, Ellie. That was my father then."He meanders his way through the dust and boxes, hea
Third POVHis words hit them all like a bag of nails, tearing emotions and convictions and doubts, leaving bloody sentiments all over the floor like confetti. Eyes go wide with surprise when Austin makes his declaration.Ellie stands under his arm, her neck sagging against her shoulders, face down like a village commoner unable to look upon the eyes of the King.There are a lot of murmurings and curious smiles. For a moment, the focus on trivial party talks is stolen and Ellie and the Alpha King are on the lips of everyone.Austin's eyes await on Sofia and her sister, but they do not move. However, it is Sofia's sister whose ego is more bruised than any other.Austin turns to Ellie with a concerned look on his face. "Sorry for leaving you like that, Ellie. This was my fault."Ellie simply nods, not wanting to say something in front of these people. At the corner of her eye, she notices that Sofia grabs her sister by the hand to one corner.Austin puts a hand around Ellie's shoulder an
Ellie’s POVThe Cathars Alpha, Gregor, looks at me with unbridled anger. His eyes glow a bright blue and I somehow lean backwards in case he tries to grab at me.Austin has warned me of my sense of humor and how I must try to keep my sarcasm in check.Noted.But sometimes, some people just try to cut at whatever keeps your temper less raving, even when you are hanging on a rope that's six feet off the ground. They want to see you fall, want to see that bloodthirstiness come out of you even if you are not necessarily bloodthirsty.I think he loses his confidence because all he does right now is stare at me like a black cat, but I don't accept the staring contest anyway.I try to reason with him. "Look, whatever I said came out the wrong way. I didn't mean to cause any injury to your self-assurance."He sniffs like a curious bulldog, irritated. "Oh, you think I'm injured? Maybe your perception of that word is twisted. How about I straighten that out for you, huh?" And the big bad wolf s