MY CRUEL ALPHA BROTHER

CAN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU

(CECELIA’S POV)

There are only a few parts of the establishment that are lit. Otherwise, uncanny darkness encompasses most of it. From those bleak chambers, I am sure I can hear women moaning.

‘Just what is this place?’ I wonder with a puzzling expression on my face.

Voss is good as always at making meaning of my grim countenance, “Yes, you’re in a hopeless situation. I brought you right back to a place where women like you belong.”

“Excuse me?” I fail at making sense of her vile remark.

From the sudden change in her demeanour, I can tell that the earlier amiability was just pretence. She made no attempt to even resume her earlier behaviour. On top of that, she smirks as she responds, “Did you consider me an i***t? The whole of Nottinghamshire knows about you. You’re just a harlot’s daughter, aren’t you?”

Once again, I land in the same pool of embarrassment with no stairs to climb out of it. I feel this sick feeling in my stomach from the mere mention of my roots. The guilt from the earlier lies wraps around my neck like a rope. That same feeling paralysed me and I couldn’t even protest against the trickery.

“Ashamed, are we?” Voss continues to mock me. “I guess it is pretty hard on people like you to sustain in this cruel world. That’s why you must’ve opted to lie instead. After all, it is a shameful identity.”

I fail to stand up to her. Only my feelings melt out of my body in the form of tears, trickling down my cheeks and further highlighting my weakness. I hate my body’s natural reaction to fear, but I hate the fact that it was only making my situation worse.

“Do not cry, Cecilia. After today, you won’t have to hear that slanderous remark anymore. Nobody would tease you as a harlot’s daughter as we’ll help you gain your own identity in the business,” Voss’s eyes express that she has planned something nasty for me.

Not being able to understand what she means by that, I ask her sobbing, “What do you mean by that?”

Firstly she gives me a pat on the cheek, then she clarifies, “You’ll be doing your mother’s job. Women like you belong in this brothel and not with a respectful family like the Greys.”

I feel as if someone just rips my guts out. It was an ugly suggestion. Voss intentionally brought me to the reality that I had been so desperately trying to escape. Defiantly, I yell with tears still dripping down my dark eyes, “I will not let this happen to me. I deserve a second chance at life. I will not let you take that away from me.”

“What are you going to do about it?” She gives me a lascivious gaze. Her hand swiftly makes its way toward my neck, sending a shiver down my spine.

Terrified upon realising the possibility of her claims having the potential of becoming true, I plead with her and the men who held me by my arms, “Let me go for humanity’s sake. All I want since my mother’s death is a second chance at life. Please don’t ruin this for me.”

“Since you were put in the cursed womb by the moon goddess herself, there’s nothing that you can do to escape your fate,” Voss doesn’t hesitate or thinks of sparing my feelings.

Wounded, I only let my tears go. A part of me seems to fall for the lie that had been fed to me since my birth. Thinking that nobody will save me, I fall to my knees. Just when I close my eyes and shiver from my own mind’s imagination about what I will be subjected to, I hear a loud bang on the main door of the old building.

I have already told myself that whoever will come will not be of much help to me. Thus I develop an understanding that raising my head to even look at the person will not be of much help to me. In that despondency, I seek solace within myself by shutting my eyes and saying my prayers to the moon goddess. Above all else, I crave one last window of opportunity.

To my surprise, the moon goddess seems to have listened to my prayers. Someone calls out my name, presumably a man. Although I can’t make out the person by the voice itself, I am hoping my father comes to retrieve me.

My hopes shatter when this anonymous man makes his way into the building. I shut my eyes and hang my head in despair as I lose all hopes of getting out of that place alive. The man who drove me out of the pack’s house was the one calling out to me.

“Little lamb, my father is hell-bent on getting you back. If he’d get to know that you ran off to a brothel the moment you were let out, my old man will be in a lot of pain,” His critical green eyes stare down at me as if I wasn’t even something worth looking at.

Unable to take the pressure of being represented as a woman of bad character, I feel the need to clear my name, “I was deceived. I didn’t come here with my own accord.”

“You’ve gotten quite progressive Voss, haven’t you? Now, you’ve stooped to the level of kidnapping young girls,” His voice represents his anger toward the young woman. “If I’d see you do this ever again, I will make sure that this brothel runs out of business.”

Voss doesn't seem afraid of the confrontation. She rests her hand on her waist as she addresses the reason behind her abrupt compulsion for deceiving young women, “Men in the capital need fresh women to entertain them. Their demands led me to fool this one. If I wouldn’t do that, we’ll run out of business. Furthermore, she is just a harlot’s daughter, she doesn’t have a future in the outside world. She is bound to end up here anyway.”

“I don’t remember asking you about your reasons for wishing to recruit new people, I just demanded that you stop deception,” Dorian crossed his arm as he showcases his displeasure with the young girl.

Voss seems to be the one to abhor any form of authority. It becomes evident when she lashes out, “Who are you to demand anything of us?”

“Your next alpha, silly woman,” Dorian maintains a stoic temperament as he walks towards me to pull me by the hand.

Watching him approach me, the guards let go of me. I quickly grab his arm and hope that I will be able to leave the place alive. Voss, however, doesn’t seem pleased with the situation. She rebukes her guards for backing off and instructs them to attack Dorian, who was younger than him.

The guards have an expression of genuine fear on their faces. Reluctantly, they ask the other rogues to join them in battling it out with the young Dorian, who has a robust build. The moment he realises that a fight might ensue, he pushes me harshly to a corner and I fall on my buttocks, cursing him in my mind for his brutality.

The moment he begins engaging with the rogues, my impression of him begins to change. I still believe that he is a beast for a man, but I didn’t know that he had this much strength. For a boy of just eighteen, he is undeniably brawny. Since my eyes are glued to his every movement, I fail to notice a polite call.

Then the person taps on my shoulder to get my attention. I finally look at a pair of eyes that are identical to Dorian's, but they seem to be the epitome of kindness and generosity. Unable to understand that person’s need to approach me, I ask him, “Who are you? What do you want?”

Politely, he apologises for touching me and explains the reason for it as well, “Forgive me, but you weren’t quite attentive to my calls. I had to tap on your shoulder to get your attention. I am Nikolaj Grey. I am here to fetch you back to the pack’s house with my brother.”

“Did papa send for you as well?” Tears well up in my eyes.

Nikolaj, who seems to be about my age, doesn’t seem to get offended by me addressing Alpha Willian as my father and asks me to address him as my stepbrother. What a warm man! If he didn’t share the same eyes and features as Dorian Grey, I would’ve never considered him his brother.

Impressed by his kind demeanour, I give him my hand and he takes me to his horse. Dorian, the one of beastly countenance, also joins us at the exit. As they both climb on their horses, Dorian races away on his horse, instructing his younger brother in the most immoral manner, “Bring this little cow with you. I am not going to take her with me.”