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Word Count: 2076
~Alaya
From what I remember, the party is significantly different from last year.
My gaze first found the feature in the centre. A giant tower of champagne glasses drenched in a constant flow of glistening golden alcohol. People stood around it, admiring the extravagance of it all. Then I drank in the sight of the people, each adorned in obsidian suits and glistening silver dresses.
I felt like an opposing force against an army of wealth. I'm dressed in gold.
People stare. Some bitter, some envious, some acquisitive. The focus of the room is suddenly on me, and I'm suddenly unsure of what to do with myself.
I look around at the rest of the room, from the sloping ceiling to the mezzanine floor, and down the sweeping staircase to the Guards at the foot. Even their jackets were threaded with silver, the embellishment on the front not gold, as it usually is. The rest of the trimmings and features to decorate are gold, like me. I'm like a part of the room. If I only I could melt into the walls behind me.
Is this his way of singling me out? The author of the note?
Keeping close to the wall, I emerge from the tenacious gazes, heading toward the food table. Again. For the third party in a row. No one is here, at least. Everyone is on the floor dancing, having taken their eyes off me. I disregard the few lingering gazes and hushed whispers.
Everyone is wondering what made me special enough to get a golden dress.
I was leaning over to a small pastry, trying to avoid that special drink - I need a clear mind to accomplish this - when I felt someone's hand on my hip. I gasp at the dig of sharp fingers on my waist, above my hip. Twisting around, I'm facing with a leery looking stranger, a drunken glaze over his eyes.
That wasn't the only indication I had that he was intoxicated. You could see it in the slope of his groggy smile, and smell the tang of it on his breath. I want away from him.
Before he can utter a single word, I sink deep into a throng of people, breaking the dance sequence with my frantic movements. People stare and whisper as I pace, each trying to keep an inch between us. I need to get up the stairs. I need to find Asher.
All of a sudden, another pair of hands were on my waist. This time, though, it's different.
The gentle pressure resonates through the skin of my dress, my back arching slightly in response. The crest of their jacket was against sloping back of my dress. My heart jolted at the feeling. My attempts to turn around were tarnished by the sudden handle this person had no, keeping my hips completely still.
"Don't turn around, my girl," he says softly in my ear. My entire body concentrated on every ounce of sweetness in his voice, the familiarity of it somewhere back deep at the back of my mind. As much as I tried to scratch at it, nothing would come to me.
"Why?" My voice shudders.
The man sways me gently. His proximity isn't repulsive. It doesn't make me nervous. I feel an edge of contentment, as I unintentionally lean back, my body reacting to every movement he made. This man could be anyone; perhaps a drunken male trying to take advantage of me. No, this is the opposite.
There was no alcohol to be smelt on him, as his breath dancing across my neck, and against the shell of my ear. This man is sober, and so am I.
"Because if you do, they will see you, and I will have to kill you."
My entire freezes, the comforting feeling of the man behind me completely vanishing. Fear ebbed throughout my entire body, beginning in the beginning of my stomach before it reached up to take ahold of my heart. Instead of retaliating, though, I stayed still keeping my body rigid and ready to react.
"Why?" I ask again. My voice is harder now, fighting the fear with bare fists. As we sway, no one notices, so my voice is the only weapon that might get me out of this situation alive. "Is this because I know too much-"
His hand glides around me, grasping my arm before he turns me. I catch no sight of him. His hand is on the back of my head, gripping my hair loosely as he presses my face into the softness of the jacket. I'm blinded, concealed by darkness as I'm left to breathe is a sultry, intoxicating scent of jasmine.
"Death is a sweeter option than what they would do to you. You mustn't be noticed.," he whispers in my ear, still keeping me pressed to his front.
"I'm dressed in gold amongst a parade of silver," I grumble into the fabric, "I think I've been noticed."
I feel him exhale.
"You're their sacrifice."
At that point, I was done hearing his crazed words. I'm wrong about him. He is drunk. Just as I attempt my pull away, his arms lock tightly around my ribs, hardly relenting as I fought for not just my escape, but a little air.
"You need to listen to me, Alaya. I'm going to help you. We are going to help you," he says, a vacant, indifferent sound to his voice. He is trying to blend into the mess of people, trying not to draw attention to his movements. To an outsider viewer, we might just look like a couple in love, dancing intimately to the benign beat of the music.
I flinch at the use of my name, but I'm held so tightly, my voice of protest is muffled against him.
"You are going to cooperate. You will pretend to me dazed, drunk. You will go along with everything, and at the end, I promise, we will save you," the stranger continues. While he speaks, I try to figure out something about him.
He smells delectable. He is Desire Pack tongued. He's tall, strong, and his chest is broad. His suit feels expensive. And by the feel of him, he knows how to dance.
Nothing helpful.
He repeats that sentence till it rings in my ear. Until is digs in deep into my mind and begins to truly frighten me, clinging to my conscious. Then he surprises me. He releases my grip, letting me stumble away from him.
My eyes sting and dance with wild colours, before I can fully focus on the departing mans back. There is no way I'm about to let him walk away without an explanation. So I follow him, as he walks toward the stairs, his gait swift and unchanging. I follow, managing to close the gap between us as I shoulder people out of the way carelessly.
I pull at his sleeve, catching his attention.
"You can't just walk away from me," I growl. "I need an-"
My voice failed me.
He looks exasperated; anxious almost. That isn't what is bothering me, though. It's the fact that I'm staring at my Alpha. The Alpha of Desire. I've never seen him before, as far as I'm aware, however, he looks strikingly familiar, like a strike to the chest. The empty feeling returned, as I stare into his golden eyes, as if my lost memories escaped into the clouds, to never be seen again.
"Please," Asher muttered, his eyes darting over my head, surveying the area to ensure no one was taken any notice of us, "trust me."
There is nothing about the Alpha that I am yet to establish trust with. Nothing like sense has come between our conversation, and Asher doesn't seem to want to give me any. For him to even insinuate trust makes me want to laugh, despite our unorthodox situation.
I try speak, but only an assemble of stutters came out. Does he know about the threat I threw at the Guard out the doors way?
I've found him. What now?
"I must leave," he says, still hardly giving me full concentration, "it's okay, though. I'll be back for you."
An immense amount of frustration doused my body, heating my veins my with the feeling. Nothing about this is okay. I wish I could protest, however, no words that come to my mind suffice. Hot flashes on anger streak down my arms to my fists, and I wish for a moment that a slap to his head wouldn't have dire consequences.
"Asher," I breathe, as he went to turn around again. To walk away.
He turned to me, something like longing in his eyes. The sight of his sudden pain burnt my insides, like I'm a second version of him. It made me feel like last year...like I had gotten drunk off just the atmosphere of the place. Does that mean I'm about to lose my memories now?
We both exhaled at the same time, before he said, "tomorrow, you will wake, and you will be safe. That's all that matters. Remember my words, and we will be able to save you. If not, you will die."
And then he was gone.
I had blinked, and his entire being became the air around me, vanishing without a trace. He wasn't up the stairs, behind me, or hidden behind anyone. It was almost like magic.
Before I could fathom what had happened, a loud voice consumed the entire main floor.
The curtain of shimmering gold that once protected the view of the landing from everyone on the first floor was gone, revealing someone standing atop the railing, staring down at everyone with a widened smile. Everyone looked up curiously, seeing the woman adorned in a beautiful golden gown, similar to my own. A halo of light from behind gives the illusion that she could almost be a Goddess, with her long ginger hair that reached to her waist, and eyes as dark as obsidian.
"Good evening, guests," she said loudly. She isn't from the Desire Pack, I know that much. Her accent is light, like a caress of air on a hot day in the Freedom Pack.
I expect some kind of reaction from everyone. Instead, they all stared at her, almost entranced, eyes glazed over as they take continued sips from their glasses. I felt tempted to wave my hand in front of the eyes of a man beside me - who looked entranced by more than her beauty - and see if he would react.
"I'm so glad you all could make it," the female above me says, clearly commanding a crowd who seem to be in a vacant, drunken trance. "Tonight is the second to last night of the sacrifice, so of course, we had to chose someone special."
My heart sped up.
"Would the Guards be kind enough to escort our willing participant up here, who drunk the Drink of Closure, and is very pleased for you to witness her contribution to the saviour of these mortal lands," she continues, before her sharp gaze lands on me.
My throat went try, as everyone's eyes were on me. Asher's words echoed in my head:
You are going to cooperate. You will pretend to me dazed, drunk. You will go along with everything, and at the end, I promise, we will save you.
"Yes," the ginger breathed, her smile haunting, "Alaya Thorne."
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Want more and don't want to wait!? More of Asher is available now on Radish!
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Alpha Kaden is available for purchase on Amazon. Send me a picture of you with the book to be featured! (:
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I thought the emoji's today suit my current addiction of tarot cards ^^ don't know what wrong with me lol.
So, plot twwwisst. Betcha no one saw that coming. It only gets weirder from here.
Anyways, Alpha Grayson is releasing in its full published form this week!!
I'll definitely be doing the livestream the release day, so I'll be answering everyone's questions!
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~Midika 💜🐼