CHAPTER 3

CRYSTAL

I remained frozen to the spot. What was I going to tell her that I was doing there?

"Are you deaf?" She growled. "What were you doing there?"

She didn't wait to get an answer from me. She spun around quickly and pushed the door open before entering.

As she walked into the room, I held my breath. If she caught Alpha Leo and Alicia together, they were definitely going to blame me for it, and I was going to be in a whole lot of trouble. My life was about to get even more complicated.

A minute later, Luna Rachel came marching out of the room. Her face was twisted in a frown and she stopped right in front of me.

"Clean up that mess, whatever your name is," She snarled. "And if anyone hears a word of what went on there, I promise you that I would make life miserable for you in this pack."

She stormed off in anger, and as soon as she was gone, Alpha Leo and Alicia came out of the room.

"You pig!" Alicia growled and grabbed me by the hair. "You were so jealous that you sold us out to the Luna huh? Wait till everyone sees your nudes at the ball tonight!"

She let go of my hair and stormed off, leaving me with Alpha Leo. Even though I wasn't looking up at him, I could tell that his eyes were fixed on me. He sighed and turned around, leaving me in front of the empty room.

After about an hour of intense scrubbing, I was back to my room. I met Emily sitting on my bed and she stood up as soon as she saw me.

"Don't tell me you've been stalking Leo since morning?" She said with a frown.

I ignored her and dragged my box that was under the bed.

"Crystal? What are you doing?"

I turned my attention to her, with tears etched around my eyes and I narrated everything that had occured over the past hours. Emily's mouth remained wide open in shock as she listened to me and as soon as I was done, she grabbed me in a bear hug.

"You're not leaving me here!" She deadpanned. "We would do something about Alicia."

"There's nothing we can do," I sobbed on. "She has my pictures on her phone. I'd rather leave now than get embarrassed later."

"Maybe we can steal it," She said with a shrug. "Trust me, Crystal. We would find a way."

I smiled at her pessimism. Emily had been my friend since we were kids. Her parents had died when she was little, just like mine and we were taken in to work as Omegas in the royal palace where we were fed, housed and clothed.

"Alright," I said with a sigh. "I hope you're right."

We spent the rest of the morning cleaning the palace, and thankfully, Alpha Leo was nowhere to be found. I knew I wouldn't have been able to look him in the eyes anymore, after what had happened between us today.

After a long day of cleaning, we were given a little break. I decided to take a stroll with Emily as it was already evening.

"Are you sure we would be able to outsmart her?" I asked.

"Yeah," Emily nodded. "Trust me."

I was damn worried. I knew Alicia so well and I knew that she never made empty threats. She was going to do exactly what she said at the ball. She was going to send my nude pictures to the whole pack.

I was lost in thoughts and I didn't know when I bumped into someone.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" came a low growl.

I looked up to see that it was a man half hidden in the shadows. He wore a dark hat over an ink black coat and under the dim light of the evening, I could see his dark brown eyes. He looked handsome, yet, dangerous.

"Let's go, Crystal," Emily warned.

But I didn't feel like going. I was suddenly drawn to this mystery man. My wolf was once again restless and I could feel my thighs begin to heat up again.

"Crystal!" Emily groaned.

I hushed her with a quick glance and I stared at the man.

"L-L-Leo?" I stammered.

At once, he rose to his full height. He was definitely not Leo. He was twice as handsome as Leo could ever dream to be, his dark brown eyes melted my very being and I found my legs shaking as I stood in his presence.

"You know Leo Fernandez?" He snarled.

Of course I knew Alpha Leo. Everyone knew Alpha Leo.

I glared hard at him. Maybe he was a traveller? Or perhaps a spy from another pack! If anyone saw me speaking with him, I was going to be in a lot of trouble.

"Sorry," I muttered. "Excuse me."

He grabbed me by the arm before I could leave and breathed down my neck.

"You want to deny the bond?"

I sighed as the words escaped his lips. Just as I suspected, he was my second chance mate, and he knew it very well. No wonder my wolf was restless after I bumped into him. Why was the moon goddess mating me with extremely hot men who would never want anything to do with a poor girl like me?

"I have to go, sir," I sighed. "I have work to do."

"Alright then," He snarled. "Since you want it this way. I, Xavier Fernandez of the Blood Moon Pack accept you - "

He paused for a while.

"- whatever your name is, as my mate."

With that, he sunk his teeth into the flesh on my neck.

It was supposed to be a thrilling experience, getting claimed on my birthday by a handsome man in the shadows, but all the excitement disappeared when I heard the name.

"Xavier Fernandez."

He was Alpha Leo's evil step brother that had lived as a rogue since the death of their father, and he had just claimed me as his mate!