Chapter 4

Chapter Four

He turned away forcefully at the last second as if it physically hurt him to do so.

“Get dressed quickly. I don’t have all day” he snapped. I rolled my eyes but quickly obeyed him before he could change his mind and turn back around.

In seconds, I was done and wrapped in his towel. He calmly pointed me to his en-suite bathroom and I walked in.

I made sure to scrub my skin clear of any scent. I could imagine what would happen if I went out still smelling like someone else. What if he pulled me back in and decided to bathe me himself?

I shivered in what I was telling myself was revulsion and not pleasure.

Five minutes later, I was done. I slipped on his shirt which fell to mid-thigh and smelled so much like him that I took an extra couple of seconds just smelling it.

It wasn’t lost on me that I was supposed to be seducing Louis but instead I was running away from him. I knew I should try for my brother’s sake, I knew that. But the thought of being bound to Louis for the rest of my life was terrifying. Especially if I tricked him into completing the mate bond. He would hate me forever. That was the life I was supposed to live? My mate hating me for as long as we live?

A voice in my head whispered, ‘for your brother? Yes’.

I sighed. That was true. I’d do anything for Lincoln. Anything. Including seducing the future Alpha.

The problem was, I didn’t know the first thing about seduction. It’s not like it was taught in werewolf 101!

It was like a proverbial light bulb turned on above my head. I got it! I could make Melissa teach me. She had had her fair share of men and quite often they were always falling at her feet.

I made up my mind and stepped out of the bathroom, a woman with a plan. And I slammed into a rock wall.

“Oof” I let out in surprise.

“What took you so long?” No, not a rock wall, a very shirtless Louis. I knew it shouldn’t bother me, we were literally just naked a couple minutes ago. But still, I felt heat travel to my cheeks and neck as I blushed.

“I... Nothing. I’m done”

He leaned in and sniffed me and I tried to stay perfectly still to prevent his skin from touching mine.

“Better. Hand me the clothes” he stretched his hand out and I handed the clothes I wore here to him. My eyes widened when he strode to his fireplace and shoved them in.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Get out” I recoiled at the rude statement but there was no fire behind it, just weariness.

I turned around and made for his door.

“Do you even know the way out?” He asked when I got to the door.

“I’ll find it” I snapped, more pissed at his rude command for me to leave than I’d originally thought. I pulled open the door and walked out, slamming it behind me.

I heard him growl in warning so I quickened my steps.

Obviously, I made a wrong turn and got lost.

I stared at the unfamiliar tapestry on the walls almost frantically. Where did I take a wrong turn? How did I get lost? I didn’t remember turning all that much when I came in with Louis.

I decided to just go forward and see where it took me. If it wasn’t the way, I’d just retrace my steps using the tapestry which I’d memorized. It was of the Grand Hunt that the current Alpha, Alpha Roman, Louis’s father participated in. The one where he met his mate. It followed the hunt until the part where Alpha Roman stumbled across his mate and thinking she was prey, he attacked. She managed to fend him off in such an impressive manner that he stopped and actually looked at what he was fighting. When their eyes met, the bond activated and he immediately knew that he’d been fighting his mate. It was a story every pack member knew. Alpha Roman retold it every year on Luna Esther’s birthday.

I sighed. I couldn’t imagine what Louis must have felt losing his mother like that. I was pissed at my parents but I certainly wouldn’t want anything to happen to them.

I continued on my way and even though it was almost obvious that I was going the wrong way since the place was only getting dustier and more abandoned, I still kept going for some reason. It was like a part of me needed to go wherever the hall led.

I reached the end of a hall and my hand rose to the beautiful brass door knob. I twisted it expecting it to be locked or at least stuck from lack of use but it opened easily.

I walked in and looked around. The room was obviously unused but it was still quite tidy. It looked like a woman’s room with its pink queen sized bed and a large vanity mirror filled with makeup and products of all kinds. The walk-in closet was slightly open and revealed an array of beautiful female clothing.

I walked in and turned to the vanity mirror, touching things as I went. For some reason, I began pulling open the drawers. The last one contained a single red book. It was a journal with one of those fastened clips. I pulled it open to a random page and read.

‘Today I feel him pulling more and more away from me, my love, my life, my Roman. He’s not himself; I’m worried about him. I wish he would just talk to me about whatever was on his mind. But on the other hand, my darling Louis is growing into a fine young man. I’m so proud of him, although I wish his father would give him more attention, play with him more like they used to when he was younger’

I paused. This was the Luna’s journal!

I flipped to another page, the last page and read.

‘Today I will die. They have decided so. I don’t think I will fight it. I just pity my poor Louis’

I shook so badly that I couldn’t read anymore. My heart began pounding and my palms became so sweaty that I had to wipe them on my jeans. The Luna knew she was going to die. She knew because she was murdered! Oh God. Did Louis know this?

The door flying open startled me and I dropped the book.

“What are you doing here?!” Alpha Roman thundered, the rage in his face so clear that I stumbled back a few paces.

I stared at the furious man in front of me, not knowing what to do or say.

“I asked you a question girl, what are you doing here?!” He asked again.

“I... I made a wrong turn... I was.. the exit.. I”

“Finish a freaking sentence! And does this look like an exit to you?”

“No. I’m sorry. I was just leaving” I said and made to run out but he stopped me with a barked “Wait”

“Who are you?”

My eyes widened. I couldn’t let him find out who I was. I knew he didn’t recognize me because it had been a while since he hung out with my father, since I was seven and they had their falling out. If he knew the daughter of the man he hated had been snooping around what must have been his wife’s room, I would probably be jailed or worse.

“I...” I said, not knowing what answer I would give that would get me out of here without having to disclose my true identity.

“Are you hard of hearing? You’re wearing my son’s shirt and you smell so much like him that your own scent is barely discernible so I’m guessing you’re one of his conquests. Although you’re not the one I’m used to seeing”

The words conquests made my heart clench in pain. Of course I knew that Louis was no saint, but it hurt to hear it pointed out. And to hear there was one that was over so often that his father was used to her? My heart burned.

“Well then girl, what are you waiting for? Take your book and leave” he said, stretching the book to me impatiently. I’d completely forgotten about the book in the heat of the moment. I considered telling him it wasn’t mine, that it was his wife’s and that her death may not have her as natural as everyone thought. But something stopped me. Whether it was the shock and fear or not, I didn’t tell him. I reached out and took it from him, mumbling a thank you and quickly exiting.

I just kept going and after making a few wrong turns, I finally found the stairs and made my way out of that house.

My mind was all over the place as I walked home. Who did the Luna refer to when she said they? Why didn’t she tell her mate she was going to be murdered? She was a powerful wolf, why didn’t she fight it? And why did Alpha Roman not know that his mate kept a journal? Did Louis know or suspect that his mother’s death hadn’t gone as he thought? So many questions and no answers. I considered dropping it. I considered handing the journal back to Louis or even burning it and letting bygones be bygones so to speak, I had my own problems after all. But the Luna had been a kind woman from all I had been told and the little I remembered. She was nice to everyone and everyone loved her. If she had been killed then the killer needed to be brought to justice. I sighed. I would have to figure it out somehow and the first clue I had was the journal.

I looked down at it and that was probably why I didn’t notice the person in front of me until I slammed into them.

“Watch where you’re going!” A feminine voice snapped. I moved backwards and groaned when I noticed who it was that I had slammed into. It was Natasha Rommel, Louis’ first girlfriend. She walked around town feeling like she was already the Luna because she believed that Louis would never find his mate and would eventually come back to her.

“You! You blind, insignificant-“ she stopped mid sentence and seemed to actually look at me. “Why are you wearing Lou’s shirt?” She sniffed the air. “And why do you smell so much like him?”

Her glare was harsh, promising destruction to the obstacle in her path which unfortunately was me.

I chose not to answer her as anything I said she would take the wrong way. Besides, I was almost sure that if I told her that we were mates, Louis would kill me. I tried to side step her but she grabbed my hair and yanked me back. I winced and grabbed her hand to reduce the pressure on my scalp.

“I wasn’t done talking to you. You stole it from the trees didn’t you? You fucking thief. You’re obsessed with our future Alpha and that’s disgusting. He will never look at you twice, you’re nothing but disgusting, outsider scum. God only knows why your family hasn’t been kicked out of the pack yet. Know your fucking place” she released my hair and shoved me forward. She sauntered away and the members of the pack who had witnessed the scene began whispering amongst each other.

I sighed and continued going. It wasn’t anything I wasn’t used to. If I tried to fight back and the issue got taken to the Alpha, I would be blamed simply for being who I was.

I continued on my way with different thoughts running through my mind from the ones that were originally there. Something Natasha said stood out to me. It was a question I hadn’t thought to ask for all the seventeen years that we’d been ostracized in the Lunar pack.

Why wasn’t my family forced to leave the pack? It was something the Alpha could easily do. It was in his right. If he didn’t trust a member of his pack anymore, he could expel them and have them seek refuge in another pack or go rogue. So why hasn’t that been done to us yet? There was no love lost between him and my father. It wasn’t like there was a remaining sense of loyalty that he felt that may have kept him from exiling us. So what was it? Why were we still in the pack? These were questions I would have to get to the bottom of while thinking of a way to seduce Louis. Wow, my plate was really full.