Darren Steele

“Good morning, Amari.  How are you feeling?” Susan asked cautiously.

“I’m doing okay.  Are you okay?” Amari hesitantly asked, noticing how nervous Susan seemed. 

“I’m fine.  Why do you ask?”

“It’s because you look like you’re about to give me terrible news.”

“Right…um, as you know, Alpha Zane’s older brother, Darren Steele, will arrive in a few hours.  Believe me when I tell you I tried to switch your duties with another maid, but no one was willing to budge, and Alpha Zane expressed he had more important matters to attend.

“I’ve heard from the other maids that Darren and his friends can be…hostile towards the staff.  It can’t be any worse than what I get now.”

“I don’t know how to put this into words, but Darren may have a certain special appeal to you.”

“What do you mean?” Amari asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. 

“Story time; follow me to the gardens.”

Susan was not one for gossip, but she felt it was her responsibility to prepare Amari and ensure she had all the facts.  The pair made it to the garden, and Susan made sure no one was nearby. 

“Amari, Darren may be drawn to you because you share a resemblance to his deceased mate.”

Amari’s eyes bulged from her head. 

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.  Darren was Alpha before Alpha Zane, but losing his mate took an emotional toll on him, and he hasn’t been right since then.  Darren couldn’t handle the responsibilities and obligations of being Alpha, forcing Alpha Zane to take up the reins.”

“Are you willing to switch duties with me?” Amari asked.

“I cannot.  If I could, I would, but as the supervisor, I have certain duties that cannot be passed down to someone else.  Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Amari whispered.  She was now worried about her safety around Darren.  Would he take advantage of her or force himself upon her?

“I can see from the look on your face that you’re uncomfortable.  I don’t believe Darren will try to force himself on you or anything like that, but don’t be surprised if he begins pursuing you.”

“What do I do?  Do you think he would become upset if I turned him down?  How do I show I’m uninterested without offending him?” Amari began to panic.  Her interest in men quickly dwindled after her experience with her mate.  The last thing on her mind was entertaining another male.  She was used to the male wolves catcalling or making suggestive comments towards her, but she would ignore them.  Would Darren leave her alone if she ignored him, too?  Or would that anger him?

“Calm down.  I can tell by the look on your face that you’re stressed.  Be polite, keep your head down, and limit your responses to “yes” or “no” as often as possible.  Tell him you have a mate, and you should be fine.”

Amari sucked in a breath and nodded her head.  She was concerned she wouldn’t be able to fight Darren off because her hand was still in the healing process.  She had recently received another shot to her hand and had been attending therapy sessions with the pack doctor.  There had not been much progress, but Amari would take little progress rather than no progress at all. 

“Is there anything else I should know?”

“Nothing I can think of.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

**********

Amari felt like she was sweating bullets as the staff lined up in the foyer, waiting for Darren and his party to arrive. She attempted to make herself look as unappealing as possible. She wore no makeup and put her curly mane, which everyone seemed to obsess over, in a severe bun at the back of her head.

“Look alive, girls. They’ve arrived,” Susan announced.

Moments later, Darren and his men filed through the front door. It had been a few years since he had visited his younger brother. He had been using his time away to grieve the loss of his mate, Leas, but after Darren heard of the attack on their pack, he knew he had to return home.

Darren grinned when his eyes fell on his younger brother. The staff gasped at the brothers’ interaction. Alpha Zane and Darren were serious men and seldom did anything bigger than a devious smirk. The men captured each other in a tight embrace and relayed how much they missed each other.

Darren stopped speaking in mid-sentence when his eyes zeroed in on the maid at the end of the line, who was trying her absolute best to remain hidden behind the woman she stood beside. He mentally willed her to look up and not hide her face from him. As if she heard him, the woman met his fierce gaze. She dropped her head as soon as their eyes locked on each other. Darren’s grip around Zane tightened, and a low growl emanated from his chest. His fangs extended while he desperately fought to hold his wolf back.

“Darren? What’s going on?” Zane asked, wrestling himself out of his brother’s grasp. Zane’s eyes widened when he noticed Darren’s eyes flicker from dark brown to amber, a sign his wolf was coming to the surface. He signaled for a few guards to grab Darren before they had a mess on their hands. Since Darren lost his mate, his wolf, Kato, became aggressive and unpredictable.

The last thing Zane wanted was for someone to get hurt.

They intercepted Darren at the last moment as he lunged forward at Amari. They dragged him to Zane’s office, kicking and fighting to be released.

“What the hell was that?!” Zane spat once they secured Darren in his office. Darren muttered to himself as he paced the length of the office. He felt he was on the verge of a meltdown.

“The girl…who is she?” he growled.

“What girl? You’re gonna have to be more specific than that.”

Darren picked up a chair and threw it through the closed window, shattering it to pieces. “DON’T PLAY STUPID! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO I’M TALKING ABOUT!”

“Calm down, Darren.”

“Don’t fucking tell me to calm down when you have a maid who is almost the spitting image of Lea! How could you have her here and not warn me?”

“I’m sorry, Darren, but it completely slipped my mind. I’ve been more focused on making sure I protect the pack than if my new maid slightly resembles my brother’s deceased mate.”

“Slightly resemble you say?” Darren scoffed. “They could be sisters! Where did she come from?”

“Amari is the daughter of Alpha Charles Winters.”

“The Blood Moon Pack? Why is she here, and a maid at that?”

“It’s a long story,” Zane sighed.

“Yeah? Well, get to talking.”