The Alpha's Human Slave

“You might as well start eating,” Mum said with a strained smile. She’d called Adrian multiple times, but he’d yet to reply.‘Probably thinks he’s too good to be summoned so casually,’ Scarlett thought, trying not to roll her eyes.The atmosphere in the dining room was heavier than usual. Scarlett, her mother, and her best friend began to tuck into their food, the strained silence broken only by the scraping of forks on China.She picked at her salad, trying to spear a particularly robust tomato with her fork. It exploded into a mass of green seeds and goo, making her grimace and drop it to the plate.The clatter of her fork grabbed the attention of her mother who looked over with a concerned frown.“Is everything okay?” She asked. She’d asked this question roughly a thousand times since her stepfather Ron and stepbrother Adrian had moved in. Both women sensed the shift in energy. The scent of an Alpha was a powerful thing; something the previously all female household would take time

"Hello?" the young man replied in the same questioning tone. The first thing she noticed about him was his scent. He was powerful. Not an Alpha but almost as strong. A Beta most likely.The second thing was the shape of his lips—top heavy and downturned. He looked like a young Johnny Depp. Young Johnny Depp was an obsession of Scarlett's. She would watch his films on repeat, despite being terrified of Freddy Krueger.The guy on her doorstep had lighter hair, and his brown eyes had flecks of green, but there was a strong resemblance. 'I need to stop staring like a lunatic,' Scarlett realised."Can I help you?" she asked."Riley, just come on in!" Adrian shouted from the living room.Riley looked at Scarlett with a patient smile, waiting for her to move and let him inside."Oh," she uttered, stepping to the side and holding the door open for Adrian's guest. "D—do you want a cup of tea or coffee? I just boiled the kettle.""Coffee would be great," he said. "He takes it without milk or

Adrian gave Scarlett a final withering stare as they heard a knock at the door. She smiled, took his hand, and thanked him profusely before he pulled the door open and left.With a grimace, she turned back to Riley. "I hope they don't kill each other," she said. It was a major overreaction, but her worries were valid."Oh, you don't have to worry about Adrian." Riley chuckled. "He'll eat her alive and use her bones to pick his teeth afterwards.""You haven't met Sienna," Scarlett said."I've met plenty of Sienna’s," he said, looking her up and down with narrowed eyes."I'm nothing like her!" Scarlett cried. "If my Mum had called me something normal like Rebecca I wouldn't even be in the damn popular group."Riley looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. She knew what he was thinking: until her wolf made an appearance, she was basically a human girl. A late bloomer her mother said. It wasn’t at all uncommon to remain shiftless until the age of eighteen. Most wo

After changing back into her regular clothes, Scarlett scoured the internet for memes that were funny or relevant enough to share on her social media. It was a full-time job, taking up more of her time than homework, but somebody had to drudge through the sea of endless posts to pick out the gems.There were a lot of memes about men, due to the trending hashtag #notallmen. Scarlett steered clear, careful not to take a stance one way or another. She couldn't deal with people arguing on her posts. The only valid response was a laughter emoji.It wasn't long before the dreaded message appeared in her inbox. She was going to have to deal with Sienna’s bitching for weeks, maybe even months if she still wanted to hang out here with the same frequency. Deep in her heart, Scarlett almost hoped that her bestie would stop hanging out here so much. Yes, it was a normal teenager thing to do, but sometimes she wished to be… herself. Abnormal. Animal.Scarlett’s brow shaped into a confused frown as

Sienna looked at her face in the mirror, inspecting her otherwise flawless skin for red blotches. Seeing speckles of pink beneath her eyes, she applied a final layer of concealer before fixing her makeup with powder. Her mother always bought her the best brands so it should last the school day. She didn't want anyone to know she'd been crying nonstop since yesterday—not even her remaining friends.Covering the marks didn't mean she couldn't still feel them. The skin of her cheeks was taut and sore, and her eyes stung despite using drops.Her chest rattled as she breathed in a shaky breath, giving herself a final once over before exiting the bathroom.She stood in the hallway as the students milled about her, chatting, and louting about as they made their way to the canteen or the picnic area. When she saw Adrian, her heart fluttered. It felt like it might burst, the rush of adrenaline being too much of a load to bear. Everything about him was perfection, from the shape of him to the