The Coldest Eyes

I took a long breath before plastering an innocent smile on my eyes before I faced my pack.

Yes, my pack. From now on, the ultra-secretive Ricks clan will be my family.

A cheerful middle-aged woman wearing a plaid dress and a pair of diamond hoop earrings stepped forward and kissed both of my cheeks. This must be Jezebel, the current wife of the former alpha, and the stepmother of the Ricks’ siblings.

“Glenda, our baby. I am glad you’re finally home now. We miss you, my dear, especially your father.”

She’s talking about the bedridden former alpha tucked away into the heart of the mansion.

I kissed her cheeks back and smiled. “Thank you, mom.”

The first two men, the brothers of Glenda, Justin and Drake, all welcomed me into his arms with warm hugs.

“Don’t do that again, okay?” Justin spoke in a concerned voice.

“We’ll always be here to protect you,” Drake said while softly pinching my cheeks.

Lucky Glenda because she is raised in a loving family that is why I cannot understand why she has to run away.

And finally, I turned at the man behind them standing with a commanding presence.  He’s obviously waiting for me to greet him. The alpha of the clan, Rozen Ricks, known to be the most fearsome of them all is staring at me with the coldest eyes I have ever chanced upon.

The wind blew and the scarf around my neck flew, landing onto the feet of the tallest man in the group. His hands were in his pockets, his trained sharp eyes were locked on my face alone like he was searching for something.

He lowered down to pick up the scarf and sniffed my scent before waking up to me and putting it back into my neck, his warm fingers caressing the delicate skin in the process.

  

“Alpha…” I acknowledged and bowed my head a little before him, forcing my voice to not quiver.

He is teeming with power and something else… something that I cannot put a name into.

My heart is racing out from its cage and I struggle to keep my eyes at him. His gaze is so cold and penetrating as if he can immediately tell that I am just an impostor just by looking at me.

“Be careful of him, Mariana. If there is someone in the family that you should be most careful of, then it is him,” Empress’ voice reverberated in my head. “Rozen Ricks is a monster, a menace to my plans. He will not hesitate to kill even his own sibling. He, of all people, should not know who you are.”

He leaned in to hug me and planted a kiss on my head, my whole body shivering from the contact.

“Welcome home, my dearest sister,” he whispered in my ears and I could only clench my hands tightly.

His voice is definitely not welcoming. It’s stern, cold, and suspicious laced with a warning that made me stop breathing for a few seconds. It’s telling me to behave or be a subject of his scorn.

“Thank you,” I stammered when his lips touched my earlobe.

“I expect you to behave from now on. No more fooling around,” he spoke in a low grunting sound.

I caught my breath and wondered. Fooling around? I thought Glenda Ricks is the stereotypical innocent heiress wolf but why does it seem like that is not the case?

“Aren’t you going to give your brother a hug?” he asked, his eyes narrowing while eyeing me intently.

For fear that he might get suspicious again, I awkwardly stepped forward and hugged him briefly but it’s already enough to send my entire body into haywire.

To my surprise, he snaked his hand around my waist drawing me closer to his body when I was about to pull back.

Gripping my composure wildly while holding my breath, I felt him sniff me again for the second time.

“My wolf. How about my wolf?” I remembered asking Empress when I realized that I cannot conceal my wolf from the ultra-perceptive Rozen Ricks.  

“We cannot unbind it since the council will know that you aren’t really dead. I just altered your scent to mimic Glenda. Do not worry. Rozen won’t suspect you.”

“Hmm,” he drawled in my ear, sucking me back to the present. “You smelled incredibly heavenly, Glenda.”

Hearing that, I pushed him back away, my heart heaving in surprise. My world went silent for a fraction of a second.

I felt the incredible rush of blood in my head. My heart beat like crazy as we locked eyes with each other, a knowing idea forming in my mind that I should reject.

No! No way in hell that I would feel like this towards him! This cannot be!

“Alpha, your sister came from a long flight. We should let her rest for a while.” My stepmother stepped in stopping me from further falling into a trap.

“Yes, Rozen. Let Glenda take a rest first before you scold her,” Drake spoke in support.

Rozen let my body go and nodded, blinking rapidly as if trying to free himself from the get go.

“Make sure my sister is well-rested,” he said, emphasizing the word sister. “She needs to rest before I talk to her.”

Jezebel brought me upstairs inside Glenda’s gigantic purple room where she undressed her kind mask. Without saying anything, she slapped me in the face causing me to fall into the floor.

“How dare you ruin my plans again! If you did not run away then the alpha would have married you to the man I wanted for you! Now, he is already married to another woman! You derailed my plans again!”

She fisted my hair and slapped me again. “I will make your life a living hell, Glenda! I do not care if the alpha dotes on you! You will marry the man I prepared for you and you can do nothing about that!”

She left the room angrily while I sank into the bed holding my red face. The alpha dotes on Glenda? But that could not be possible.

“I think he hates me so much. No, he hates Glenda.”

I bit my lip and decided as quickly as possible to flee from this place. There is no way in hell that I can escape the sharp observation of Rozen Ricks. He will definitely know that I am not Glenda and given his reputation, I don’t think I would ever get out of this place alive.

Running to the balcony, I managed to climb down the backyard and was ready to disappear into the lush woods when a pair of strong hands snatched my waist and pushed me against the firewall.

I shrieked but I didn’t have time hearing my own voice when Rozen’s lips hungrily kissed me rendering me mum. Frozen in my feet, wide-eyed, and beyond stunned, I could only gasp inwardly as his kiss deepened and his hands began roaming around my body.

What the hell is happening?! Why is he kissing me?! Why is he kissing his own sister?!

“I miss you so much, Glenda. Please, don’t do that to me again, sweetie.” He pressed his head onto mine, his breath ragged. “I would really burn the entire world just to get you again.”

He carefully cupped my face and planted a soft kiss on my forehead, love burning in his silver eyes.

Wait, I did not know about this freaking thing! Empress did not tell me about this at all! She did not tell me that the alpha king was Glenda's lover all along! She is not just a sister to him!

“You don’t know how much I miss you so much.”

The flame in his eyes ignited when his gaze went down to the tear of the bust of my dress.

“A-Alpha…” my voice trembled when he began to unbuckle his belt and pulled down the string of my underwear.

His movement stopped when he sensed that I was hesitating.

“Why?” He leaned in towards me. “Don’t you miss me too?”

.

There was that suspicious tone in his voice again. No! He can’t know that I am not Glenda! He will for sure kill me right here!

To hide my dread, I hugged him and buried my face into his neck. 

“Of course, I miss you too but I… I was just too tired," I said as an excuse.

His body relaxed to my relief as he embraced me back. “I’m sorry. I should have known better.”

I hugged him tighter, my head full of screaming thoughts. 

Goodness! What did I put myself into?! How did I hop from one miserable fate to a completely sickening identity swap?!