Hey everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far (:

I want to let you know that I have a new 18+ werewolf romance out now on Wattpad! I would really appreciate if you could check it out and let me know what you think!

It's called The Last Alpha

Word Count: 2355

~Aesira

I close my eyes, succumbing to the pleasant feeling.

Maven drags a brush through my hair. I didn't even have to blackmail her into it.

A breeze drifts through my bedroom window, heavy with cold. The day is overcast, breeding shadows in the corner of my room.

"You have lovely hair," Maven murmurs contently, the bristles of the brush tickling my temples as she sweeps it past and over the crown of my head.

Maven and I have made strides in our friendship recently. I wouldn't say we are as close as Mason and I, but her presence is oddly soothing. I never grew up with a female figure in my life that wanted to be around me, so this is a nice change.

"Thank you." I watch the dark strands flutter over my shoulders. "It's like my mothers."

Maven meets my gaze in the mirror. "Is your mother as wicked as they say?"

"She wasn't always. She was kind to me, for a time. Then, I grew older, and I became a burden." I swallow tightly, uncertain of how much I should divulge about the intricacies of our relationship. "She was bitter and cold to me, ignoring me for many months at a time. She never raised her hand against me, though. Not like my father."

The admission makes Maven still, the brush hovering over my head. With a stuttered breath, she resumes, but the lines around her eyes deepen.

"Your life doesn't sound as easy as they make it out to be, it seems."

I shrug with one shoulder. I don't believe I had it any easier than any of my other siblings. My brother died, my eldest sister was burdened by the expectations heirdom, and my younger sister was deeply despised by our father for her illness.

In most ways, I am luckier than them.

"When you're not heir, you're not valued. At least beyond your ability to be sold off to an enemy Alpha who has wanted you dead for months," I muse, ignoring Maven's eye roll. "What about you? What was your life like growing up?"

"Normal. I don't originate from around here, though. I come from a village to the west of this pack, where both my parents reside now," she explains.

Setting the brush down on the vanity before me, she picks up a hair band, slipping it onto her wrist before she begins to braid my hair.

"What made you move here?"

She pulls the strands at the back of my head taut — strands that have gotten awfully long since living here. Maven offered to trim my hair, but for some reason, I feel attached to the additional lengths I've grown since living here.

"My husband. He works for Everin, and got me this job."

I look at her in the mirror, but she's concentrating on my hair, her lower lip stuffed between her teeth.

I didn't realise her husband worked with Everin. Mostly because, at this point, I've taken particular care in memorising those I see around the manor, who enter Everin's office. I doubt I'll need the information, but it feels important to have.

Everin's reluctant favour of me could turn in a moment.

"I never see your husband around," I say casually, brushing broken strands of hair off my thighs.

"Hmm," she hums.

"What?" I frown. "What aren't you saying?"

She sighs, my curiosity tiring her. She should be used to it by now. As a consequence of being isolated here, I rely on Maven and Mason for my connection to the outer world, and all that is going on.

"My husband and Everin meet in secret, often. Their business is incredibly confidential." Her fingers weave through my hair swiftly.

I straighten, my interests piqued.

"Why?" I grimace as she tugs particularly hard on a tender part of my scalp. "Ow, Maven."

"My husband is a specialist in his field of work. If anyone knew him and Everin were meeting, they would know what they were planning," she responds simply.

My eyes narrow. I knew Everin was up to something. He is always cagey about his whereabouts during the day, but I figured he was just concealing his usual duties as Alpha.

But could something more sinister be going on? Could I be the subject of such a plan?

"Planning? What are they planning?"

Maven tugs the hair band off her wrist, securing my braid.

"I'm afraid I can't say. For obvious reasons."

"I'm not going to tell anyone," I assure her. "I'm stuck here, remember?"

He winces subtly, backing away from the vanity, from me.

"I've said enough already."

I can't exactly blame Maven for not telling me, for not trusting me. Still, it hurts a little. We've made so much progress, and for once, I don't feel as though she looks at me like I'm a predator about to strike.

I lift myself from the chair. "What is Everin planning? Is your husband a spy, or—"

"Your braid is done." She smooths a hand back across her head, flattening any hairs fallen stray from her updo. "Perhaps keep your questions to yourself, for now."

Her tone heralds enough of a warning, that my confidence deflates.

No one is going to tell me. Why would they? Even if I'm married to Everin for a decade, I doubt I'll ever win their trust entirely. Not when I am my father's daughter.

Anyway, I don't want to embroil Maven in any trouble with Everin or her husband.

"I'm sorry. I'm just curious, is all," I admit solemnly.

Maven wrings her hands together. "My husband actually wishes to meet you. I was thinking of seeing if Everin would allow me to take you to my home so you two can speak privately."

I flinch. "Is he going to kill me?"

"My husband? Kill you?" She laughs a little, waving her hand. "My husband couldn't hurt a soul. He is kind and gentle."

With her maybe. I doubt he would be so magnanimous with me...

"Yet is planning a political move with Everin in secret?" I raise a sceptical brow.

If it is secret, it is dangerous. It will not doubt spell death for someone, and I'm going to wager it has everything to do with my father.

I'm not particularly fond of my father right now. Not after he sent me here knowing these males are obsessed with the mate bond and that assassinating him would prove more difficult than initially thought, but that doesn't mean I want him killed.

Maven sighs raggedly, bracing her hands on her hips.

"Do you wish to meet him, or not?"

Everin won't let Maven's husband kill me. Not after all the vows he's made. Plus, I'm curious.

I nod. "Okay, I'll meet him."

A loud bang suddenly sounds from outside, the impact shuddering through the manor. It's followed by loud commotion, like voices tangling together as one in the air.

Maven brushes past me and to the window, sticking her head out.

"There is noise from the front gate." She ducks her head back inside, closing the window firmly. "You stay here while I check."

She rushes past me and to the door, her expression stricken. I'm not about to stay up here and wonder what's going on.

"No way. I'm coming with you."

Thankfully she doesn't protest. I tail her downstairs, where staff bustle past, all wearing worried expressions on their face. We surge through them toward the front entrance, the main door blown open.

Through the cluster of guards, I can't see much. Upon seeing us approach, they hustle over, hands raised, warnings at their lips about going no further.

As I'm demanding answers, I catch Everin standing outside, speaking to one of his guards in a raised tone. His voice sounds strained, and he looks it too.

Our gazes clash from a distance, and he immediately starts advancing on me.

Wrestling past one guard, I meet him halfway.

Out here, I can here loud shouting. Most of it is a blur of incoherent words, but through the clamour, I hear my name.

Shit.

Everin takes my arm, pulling me with him. "Aesira, you need to get inside."

He pulls me back into the main hall, tucking me away into the corner and out of the way of the guards streaming in and out.

"What is going on?" I demand breathlessly.

He looks down at my face, golden eyes shadowed by uncertainty. Despite whatever is going on, he maintains a grim calm, well in control of the emotions he chooses to show.

"There is a mob gathered at the gate. It is better if everyone retreats inside for their own safety." He looks around, taking mental note of the anxious staff being pressed back by guards.

The deep ache of fear pushes down upon my chest. "They are here for me, aren't they?"

If they get past the gate, I'm done for. Even Everin, the most powerful Alpha I have ever encountered, and all his guards, could not protect me from the surge of angry village people that would tear through this place.

"I will resolve this. Now go upstairs, and don't come back down for dinner." Sensing my agitation, his voice softens. "I'll seek you out tomorrow."

The urge to flee is mounting in my limbs, but where would I go? I am easy prey for those angered people in here.

"You can't seriously expect me to sit around. What if they get inside?" I take breath, my voice shaking. "What of the staff? They could be hurt because of me—"

"Hey," he breathes, a tense edge to his soothing voice. He edges closer, the extent of his body almost entirely enveloping me. "No one is getting in here, okay? I promise."

He cannot be so certain. Beneath his calm, his worry betrays it. I can see it in the tension of his muscles, in the lines of his face.

"Everin..."

"Go upstairs. Please." His fingers brush over the side of my face as his hand settles tenderly against my cheek. "I couldn't bear it if something happened to you."

I breathe out slowly, leaning into his touch. It is sure and strong, but effortlessly gentle and soothing. I want to pull him with me, demand he comfort me away from this commotion, but he has much to attend to.

I stare at him for a long moment, our breaths mingling, wanting to protest me, but I feel someone grabbing my arm.

"Come on, Aesira." It's Maven, giving me a stern look.

I let her tug me out of Everin's proximity, but I give him a lasting look. "I'm choosing to trust you."

He nods firmly. I can tell just how much that means to him.

Maven leads me back upstairs to my room. She spends some time with me, trying to distract me from the possibility that at any moments, the mob could breach the gate and come for me.

But they don't. Eventually, she leaves, and despite how much I fight it, I fall asleep once darkness descends.

I'm not sure how much time passes, but it's dark when I next wake.

Someone is at my bedside, shaking me. It takes a few moments for the dregs of sleep to melt off me, before I realise it's Everin, his figure large and imposing beneath shadow.

"Aesira, wake up," he insists.

"Everin?" I sit up, wiping my face tiredly. "What's going on?"

"Pack as many belongings as you can. We're leaving." He lifts himself away from my bedside, hunting around for my bags.

It took a couple months for me to unpack them in the first place. I was stubborn initially, believing I would accomplish my goal and be out of here before I needed to bother. It was only just after the attack that I finally relented.

Although, I always keep a bag stowed away under the bed, ready for me to take and disappear into the night whenever I need to.

"Leaving? Where are we going?" I ask groggily, swinging my legs from the bed.

Everin's eyes are clearly better adapted for the dark, as he seems to have no problem flitting around the room, stuffing my belongings into a bag her found in the closet.

"I'm taking you away from here until it is safe to return," he explains hastily. "The mob has mostly dispersed. There won't be a better time than tonight."

I shake my head, forcing some clarity into my mind.

"Wait, seriously?"

"I have a home out west where you'll be safe." He picks up my boots, bringing them over to me as well as a coat.

I remain still as he sweeps the coat over my shoulders, then stoops down to slip the socks and boots onto my feet.

"Are you coming?" I ask wearily, watching him adeptly lace my boots until they are tight against my feet.

"Of course I'm coming." He looks up at me, eyes bright in the dark. "You're my wife."

My stomach flutters.

"Do you believe I am going to take this opportunity to escape?"

"Actually, I'm going to keep you safe." He stands, offering me his hand. "Once I know you're secure, I'll return to address my pack, to diffuse the situation. Once the unrest dies down, you may return here."

Sliding my hand into his, I stand. "What if that doesn't work?"

He looks at me for a long moment. I can feel the weight of his stare, even in the dark.

"It will. It has to," he murmurs grimly.

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If you want to read more, you can read 10-15 chapters ahead on Inkitt and 5 chapters ahead on Radish! Search my profile and find the work under stories!

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~Midika 💜🐈‍⬛