Princess...

Chapter 19

Accalia

I woke before anyone had to come and get me, which I felt a sense of pride for. I realised I was still in last nights clothes and quickly changed into the other uniform that was on the ottoman at the bottom of my bed. I placed the clothes from last night into the hamper by the door and went into the bathroom, brushing my teeth and washing my hair. I recalled the conversation Alpha Lupus and I had last night, scooping the wild red mane above my head into a tight ponytail, cringing as I saw the faint scar by my eyebrow from falling into the shelf days earlier. I don't know why he wants my hair back, but who was I to question the Alpha's orders? Sometimes an Alpha would give orders out of spite, to prove a point, and maybe that was the case here; punishment for running off after dinner. As I ventured into the kitchen, it was eerily silent and the clock on the wall told me I'd woken before anyone else. I could have sat down and waited but wanted to prove myself so I gathered the cutlery for breakfast and moved into the dining room, setting the table with the usual deep red cloth from the bottom drawer before stepping back, admiring my work. When I re-entered the kitchen, there was still no sign of anyone and so I started making the eggs, the same way Raula had taught me when I first arrived. As I poured the eggs into the frying pan, Raula appeared looking surprisingly awake and came from a different direction than the workers quarters

"Where were you last night?" I asked, scrambling the eggs in the pan just as I'd learned. Raula came up behind me and placed a kiss on my cheek before starting on the rest of the food, a heavy blush on her cheeks

"Well as Deryn and I are officially mated now, I slept in his room last night..." She was getting flustered, clearly remembering the events of last night and I forced a smile onto my face, ignoring the pang of jealousy I felt as I only imagined how it felt to be that in love again. I nodded wordlessly, finishing up the eggs and turning off the heat. I started on the sausages, placing them in the sizzling oil and watching over them as I leaned against the marble counter.

"Jet was asking for you yesterday evening, you know. Wanted to talk to you about something..." Raula trailed off, winking at me and I cringed, understanding exactly what she meant. For some weird reason, men were always asking for me and it made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe I looked like an easy hookup? That's what one of the girls in college, Dana, had told me when a guy on the sports programme I participated in rejected her. He had name-dropped me and ever since then, she held a serious grudge over me because she thought I was sleeping with the whole programme, which was the furthest thing from the truth.

"I'll find him later." I figured that would get Raula to drop the subject and she did, shooing me away as she plated up the food, in our little routine I'd grown accustomed to. I picked up two plates and could already smell the pack from my place in the kitchen, walking towards the dining room where the Alpha and his men were waiting. I had managed to keep my hands steady long enough to put the plates onto the table, including Alpha Lupus' as I stood back with my head bowed.

"Can I get you anything else, Alpha?" I bit my lip, hoping that he wouldn't ask anything of me today, I wasn't strong enough for it and knew I'd break if I tried to keep up the strong charade any longer.

"No that will be all, Rogue Ace." His eyes were trained on me so I nodded curtly, turning and walking quickly out of the dining room into the kitchen where my breakfast was waiting for me. I ducked my head to avoid Jet's gaze and slid into the seat beside Adolfina, giving her a small smile as she ate.

"Alpha Lupus wants us to go out again today..." Honi grumbled from her seat across the island from me and my head shot up, giving her a quizzical look

"Aren't you supposed to be eating with the pack, Honi?" Louvel asked, only pausing momentarily in her quest to eat all of the bacon on her plate. Honi laughed in response, biting into a hash brown harshly

"I've made an arrangement with Alpha Lupus that I can eat breakfast with you guys sometimes but at dinner time I either have to train or sit with the pack." She explained, chasing her hash brown with orange juice that Raula poured out for us.

"Is this another one of those secret missions?" The words came from my mouth before I had the chance to stop them and everyone turned to look at me, shocked that I'd even been paying attention to the pack's movements.

"Yeah, it's another one of those. He won't tell us why and that bitch Alonda won't stop flirting with Jacqui when we're running. I want to fucking kill her. He's my mate and she suddenly thinks she has claims on him? She needs to learn something, I'm the one fucking Jacqui at the end of the night and trust me, no one gets that dick-" Raula cut off Honi's rant and I spluttered on the orange juice I'd been drinking, grabbing a napkin to wipe my mouth of the acidic juice.

"That's enough Honi! Goddess if Alpha Lupus heard you talking like that he could have you executed! You know that Jacqui is your true mate, so ignore this Alonda and focus on your relationship and role in the pack." Even when Raula was scolding Honi, her tone remained motherly and Honi hugged the older woman tightly, giving her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry Raula, I'll try and keep my temper in check. I've gotta go get ready to leave so I'll see you guys later." Black hair followed Honi out, not having styled it yet as she disappeared back into the workers quarters and we all waved her goodbye. I wondered where Alpha Lupus was taking the pack today? The last I heard on the werewolf news, the Farkas and Lupus family were still heavily against each other, a feud that had lasted at least the last decade, from the small snippets of conversation I'd heard around my parents. This meant my cover was safe for now, but I questioned how many packs the Alpha would travel to before someone recognised my name? Luckily he didn't know my full name so that would make it indefinitely harder. I blinked back into reality and I'd eaten half of my plate, pushing it away as I always did before standing and discarding the remains in the bin.

"I'll clean up the dining room." I offered to Raula who was already tidying the kitchen and she nodded, clearly deep in thought as I entered the dining room. I moved to start on the table when I noticed a presence to my left and jumped, swivelling to face the person.

"Alpha Lupus." I bowed my head, noticing him wearing a pair of designer sneakers and sweatpants, a sight I wasn't used to seeing on an Alpha. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were still in here, I can come back if you'd prefer Alpha." I fiddled with my waist apron, bunching it up in my hands before smoothing it down

"As you were, Rogue Ace. Don't let me get in your way." I glanced up to see his startling hazel eyes staring at me in amusement. I shook my head to try and coax the hair into falling in front of my face but it never came, I had it pulled back in a ponytail. I lifted a hand and began pulling the hair tie out. "Don't do that." He spoke again, turning away from me and I froze my movements, refixing the ponytail to my head and setting about collecting the cutlery. Like routine, I placed all the cutlery and glasses into the breadbasket, but my hands shook more this time. As I turned to walk into the kitchen, the wicker basket slipped from my fingers and I watched it fall in slow motion until Alpha Lupus caught it in reflex, holding it inches from the ground. He growled and I snapped out of my daze, taking the basket from his outstretched hand and all but ran into the kitchen, placing the basket onto the counter as I heaved a heavy sigh. Why did I always make a fool of myself when the Alpha was around? My inner wolf didn't know how to react in his presence, pacing side to side when she wasn't submitting to his power. When I finally built enough courage to return to the dining room, Alpha Lupus was gone, and my head cleared enough to finish cleaning up. Once everything was tidied, I followed Adolfina and Louvel to begin cleaning, my only thoughts being ones involving a pair of startling hazel eyes.