Chapter 6

VERALIN

The next minute had me walking like my life depended on it.

I needed to stay alive at least before thinking of ascending the throne.

Not until a Lamborghini purred to a stop beside me.

I wouldn't call it a cab. Who the hell uses a $300,000 car to pick up strays?

Except that, I suddenly became the heiress and everyone wants to win favors.

The road was too empty, just me, dead grass and a silence that gives room for an ambush.

The tinted window slid down an inch just enough for me to see the driver.

Handsome. Annoyingly so. Messy hair, sunglasses pushed up like he owned the sun.

Unfortunately, it was night and even the moon refused to glow. How the fuck will he see?

His kind of face belonged on magazine covers, not lonely highways.

Could he be an Alpha sent by my stepfamily? Another assassin? Another lie in a pretty package?

I kept walking, pulled a stern face and had my heart inside my mouth.

My ears tingles as the engine rolled slow, keeping pace. How annoying that pop music of his sounded.

When he was close enough, he called out without looking at me.

“Xaden says if you refuse, I should drive off.” He winked. One eye. Like we were in on a joke I wasn’t. “But I don’t want ‘heiress kidnapped by model’ on my record.”

I scoffed. “Excuse me? You look exactly like a kidnapper.”

His expression didn’t change, cold, bored like he'd heard worse.

He spun an ID between his fingers and held it out the window. “Keep it till we reach your location. Proof I’m not a murderer.”

I didn’t take it. “How do I know you didn’t fake it?”

A slow, sided smile pulled at his mouth. “Because Xaden was right. You’re a nutjob.”

Then he reached for the passenger seat and placed a glossy magazine to his face just so I see the front cover.

It has his face with the caption 'Man of the Year'

He picked his sunglasses up, slid them on. “I’m a model, sweetie. But I can be yours… if you get in.”

Was there a need for that introduction? And what? Mine?

Xaden sent a magazine to drag me home.

The engine idled. The door unlocked and my jaw dropped slightly.

I could run but no, I found myself sitting down in the car, snatched his ID, to be returned if we reached safely.

“Got you coffee,” first thing he says when my eyes locked with his on the rare mirror.

Beautiful brown eyes. It sucks.

His hand shifted so the paper cup didn’t spill. His arm brushed close as he moved and I smelt his cologne.

Expensive, cedar and it wrapped around me before I'd breathe.

I didn’t answer. My fingers tightened around the strap of my coat instead.

I was nervous, trust issues knocks but the truth was, anyone xaden sent wouldn't hurt me.

I'd learned that much in high school, only he had the right to inflict pain on me.

“Got snacks too,” he pressed on, like silence made him nervous.

Like he needed to let me know he was here!

Do I look like I give a fuck?

“Unless black coffee is your love language.”

Right! In 30 days I lose everything if an alpha doesn't claim me. I still don't know this guy and love language was the last thing on my mind.

I froze as he leaned on slightly.

His was face inches to mine, I held my breathe but his poured on my face and my heart scampered.

It felt like he was in a model pose for an ad "You're quiet"

Don't move.

I swallowed, rolling my gaze to meet his eyes. They were enchanting, anyone would be mesmerized, except me.

"Cold coffee’s rude. I can warm it for you… if you want.”

My breath caught. Not because of him. Because of the deadline ticking in my head.

"Drive" I spat in a whisper.

He used his tongue to rub his teeth and then grinned naughtily.

"Yes my lady"

Pulling back, he starts a ride, eyes on the windscreen and I tried not to be visible.

My eyes stared at the blurring city, neon signs, wet stress, people with places to be all through the window.

He drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting on the gear shift. 

He hadn’t pushed conversation since the coffee.

Could he be xaden's friend or his errand boy? Whoever he was, I just want to arrive home in one piece.

But he kept glancing at me. Not staring but checking. 

Like I was fragile cargo he’d been ordered not to break.

"Got anything to say?"

Like scream that I'm in a celebrity's car? I wished to say that.

Oddly, I still don't know him, neither do I want to be a fan.

“Unless you prefer suffering in silence. Xaden says you do that a lot.”

What! I'm not even that close to xaden and his whole clique knows about me.

I hate him so much and now his weird friend too.

"You know what's unfair?" He continued with a dramatic sigh but my eyes were on the coffee now.

“Xaden ditches you at a crash site. Sends me. And now I have to be the one with bad jokes and good coffee.” He tapped the steering wheel. “Pressure’s insane. What if I’m terrible at this? What if you rate me 2 stars on ‘Errand Boy App’?”

That pulled a sigh out of me. I looked up, caught him watching me in the rearview mirror with amusement.

Or more like he was daring me to smile and lose.

He smirked. “See? You’re still in there. Behind the ‘I hate Xaden’ and ‘I’m an heiress with no pack’.”

He knows and I hate that he knows. 

He nudged the coffee toward me again. “Come on, Your Highness. One sip. Prove you won’t die on my watch. Xaden’s insurance doesn’t cover ‘heiress died of stubbornness’.”

My fingers moved before I could stop them and held the cup, feeling its warmth.

But I didn't drink.

“2 stars,” I said quietly. “For the joke.”

His lips curved upward, a real smile.

“I’ll take it. Means I have room to improve.” He made a quick reverse "And for what it’s worth… your dad would’ve picked you too. Not because you’re an heir. Because you’re still breathing when everything else tried to break you.”

For a moment, everything ceased as I really looked at him.

It was the first encouragement anyone else had said to me since the funeral and tears brewed up in my eyes.

The car halted and I turned to look at my dangy apartment. Not an heiress home just a girl's hiding place.

Hastily, I jumped out, not wanting to occupy my head with another mad man on the list.

"Hey, sugar" he called but I'd slammed the door at his face and hurried to reach for my apartment.

"You're doing good. Just know I'm on your side" he yelled with a chuckle that follows.

I embraced the cup to my chest, rolled my eyes as I could feel his gaze on my back heavy and it was enthralling.

I didn't even get to know his name.

But that doesn't count! How do I get an alpha?