The Einsworth Manor

 “Are. You. Crazy, Giselle Sidney!? I thought you loved the guy!?”

I shrugged my shoulders. I was calling my best friend Madelyn, who was on vacation somewhere in a luxurious beach resort in Hawaii. We had been on the phone for almost thirty minutes after I told her about what happened last night with Caden. I meant Alpha. Alpha Caden. I was still not used to putting that title before his name since we grew up together with both of our Alpha dads being friends because of business.

There was sadness in my eyes when Madelyn said that painful truth. But then I tried to mask it with a smile and made my voice a little livelier just so she wouldn’t overthink.

And overreact. Of course.

“I don’t know, Madz. Maybe I am still mad at him after he disappeared for over a month and never even called me or told me if he was alive or—” I burst furiously and then exhaled in exasperation, feeling so exhausted about the situation I was having, “I didn’t expect this could happen!” I pointed to my tummy even though she couldn't see it.

“I know. I am furious as well. How could he leave you like that?! I guess I should go back there and confront him—”

“No!” I blinked many times, baffled by what my best friend threatened to do. “It’s…It’s fine. I’m fine, actually. I didn’t give him what he wanted, so I’m sure he won’t go after me again. Besides, he would never tell my parents about my situation. They will surely kill him if he does.”

“Oh, I wish!” Madz groaned over the phone. I could imagine her rolling her eyeballs at me.

There was a second of silence between us, and I couldn’t find a word to say. My heart just suddenly feels heavy every time I remember Caden, and I wish things were different for both of us. But even though the Moon Goddess paired us together as fated mates, it still didn't change the fact that he was still in love with a girl we both knew would never be his. And that’s why I couldn’t be with him. There was no way I would let him force himself to marry me. It could just ruin us both. It could be the death of me.

“I will be back as soon as I can, okay? It’s just that I can’t say no to Richard. He has been planning this trip since last year, and there’s no way he would let me say no.”

“I understand. Besides, you got so busy with your career that you never got time to be with your mate. Besides, he’s a very fortunate man to have you. Just enjoy your vacation, Madz. I will be okay here.” I smiled while trying to focus my way down the stairs and out of the apartment building to buy something for dinner. Hmmm…I was craving fried chicken.

I was wearing a large shirt so that my growing belly wouldn’t look too obvious if someone recognized me in this part of the small town where I stayed. Only Madelyn knew my location. Oh, I forgot. Caden knew already as well. That’s why I had to look for places where he wouldn’t find me again. Where my family or any of the Greyfur pack would find me. Where I could start a life being me and not in someone else’s shadow.

Not as my sister’s shadow.

A loud screech of a car’s tire almost made me jump in surprise. I was petrified when a sleek black car abruptly stopped on my right side. My brain went into a full panic when two huge men in black suits from the back seat of the car suddenly stepped out and grabbed me by my shoulders, so fast and strong that I didn’t even have time to fight and scream for help.

My instinct told me to shift into my werewolf form, and my body was ready for it. But to my horror, those men had special kinds of handcuffs that suppressed a werewolf from transforming, and I was pulled inside the vehicle in the middle of two of them. My heart threatened to burst inside my chest. The adrenaline in my veins made me dizzy.

“Be careful with that little lady! She’s pregnant!” Yelled the one in the passenger seat, and the driver hit the gas to get out of the place after a few of my neighbors saw what happened.

“W-WHO ARE YOU! Did my father send you!? Where are you taking me?!” I screamed at all of them, but no one dared to answer. They were all wearing black shades with no remorse on their faces. They seemed professional at grabbing people and forcing them inside their cars.

Maybe they were sent by my father's enemies? That thought made my body shudder in fear.

No. I had to calm down for my baby. My baby…

“Please! You have to let me go! I am of no use to any of you! I was already disowned by the Sidney Clan! I’m technically just a rogue right now!” 

Of course, that was a lie. The disowned part. But I had to convince them enough so they would think I no longer had any worth to my parents or I’d die.

Still, they didn’t utter a single word to me and just focused on the road. They were ignoring me and couldn’t even look at my face!

There were so many terrible things playing inside my head as I tried to free myself from the cuffs around my wrist. And since I was new to this part of the continent, I couldn’t tell where we were heading anymore. All I saw were mountains on my left side and the far horizon of the blue sea on my right. And because they weren’t talking, I just focused my strength on the cuff. Unfortunately, it was hopeless. My strength was not enough to destroy the thing.

One hour, two hours... I thought they were taking me out of the country already.

Then they stopped in front of a white manor, not too far from the beach. Those men were careful when they held me out of the car, and a beautiful garden full of colorful flowers surprised me.

I frowned. It wasn’t the image I imagined while in the car. There was something strange happening. I couldn’t remember any of my parents having property like that in front of a white-sand beach.

Confused, I didn’t fight when they led me inside the main hall of the manor. It was huge. So well structured and exquisitely designed in baroque style. It looked as if everything inside was antique, including the furniture and the tall vases with artistic painting patterns. 

As an artist, my curiosity and hunger for beautiful things awakened my senses. My eyes were so huge with all the elegance and wonder of the place that I totally forgot I was kidnapped.

The sound of someone approaching us distracted me.

The clicking noise of the shoe against the marble floor made my heart race. And just as the familiar scent reached my nose, my inner wolf suddenly filled with thrill until our eyes met in the middle of the hallway.

“Welcome to Eisworth Manor, Giselle,” Alpha Caden murmured with a huge smile on his face.