Chapter 9 - Striking deals
1890 Words
#musicvibe - Runnin’, Adam Lambert
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Valeria POV
I felt restless for the rest of the time we spent in Grey Moon pack. The whole time I was looking around for Evelyn, but there was no sight of her.
After what felt like an eternity, the black limousine stopped in front of the packhouse as it was time for us to leave.
My eyes widened when Jack came out of the packhouse, dragging a crying Evelyn by her arm.
“She kept fighting.” He shrugged as I raised an eyebrow at him. “I had to tie her up to make her come quietly.”
Evelyn was trembling from head to toe and I started to feel bad about scaring her. There was no way that I was going to hurt her, but she didn’t know that.
“Thank you, I’ll take it from here.” I said as nicely as I could to Jack, even though I wanted to take the little devil and hang him by his toes from the treetops. Especially after seeing a bruise forming on Evelyn’s cheek and I knew that he had hit her.
I looped my index finger around the small chain that connected the cuffs, and gently tugged on it.
“Come on.” I said, trying not to sound too soft.
I pulled Evelyn to the limo where Tyson and Kayden were standing.
“Thank you for having us.” Tyson said.
Alpha Henry bowed.
“Thank you for your visit, my king.” He replied and bowed slightly to me too. “My queen.”
I gave him a nod in return.
“Thank you for your gracious gift.” I said before getting into the car and pulling Evelyn with me.
I sat down as close to the front as I could get and sat Evelyn down on the seat opposite me. She whimpered in fear and fresh tears trickled down her cheeks while Tyson and Kayden got in the car as well, and soon we left the busy streets of the pack.
We waited in silence until we left the pack territory.
“Are we clear?” I asked Tyson.
He nodded quietly and I exhaled in relief.
“Gosh, that was agonizing.” I muttered.
“About that.” Kayden said and raised an eyebrow at me. “Why did you just start acting all creepy? I didn’t think buying slaves was your style.”
I chuckled.
“They never would have let her go if they knew that she was leaving for a better life.” I replied and turned to Evelyn.
She was frozen in place, but I could see the confusion in her eyes.
When I inched closer to her, she tensed up immediately, and it felt like I was trying to gain the trust of a scared animal.
“I’m going to remove the rag, okay?” I said gently.
I reached out and pulled the rag out of her mouth, she inhaled sharply and started coughing. Kayden quickly opened the small minifridge and took out a bottle of water.
“Here.” He offered, unscrewed the cap and held it out to her.
Evelyn took it with trembling hands and brought it to her lips.
“Th-Thank you.” She whispered and tensed up again when I leaned forward to inspect the handcuffs.
“We didn’t get a key for these.” I muttered. “A.ssholes.”
“Maybe they just thought that you didn’t need it.” Kayden suggested.
I shrugged.
“Usually I don’t.” I replied. “I just want to be careful right now so that no one gets hurt.”
Evelyn followed my every move, her eyes wide as saucers. When I tried to touch the handcuffs, she whimpered and pulled away from me.
“Please don’t hurt me.” She whispered.
“It’s okay.” I cooed. “I know what I said back there, but I’m not going to hurt you. You are completely safe with us, I promise.”
Evelyn blinked.
“I’m going to remove the cuffs.” I said. “It’s not going to hurt at all. Can you hold out your hands for me?”
She held out her hands like she was about to have them chopped off any minute, and I focused my powers on the tiny locks on each cuff, trying to pick the locks. I frowned when I felt my powers getting ahead of me, almost like I was riding a horse that was eager to gallop, a massive force building up and I had to hold back so that I didn’t release it.
It was a terrifying feeling, but I managed to keep it together and two clicks were heard when the handcuffs unlocked and fell to the floor.
I leaned back for a moment, frowning at my hands.
“Are you okay, Val?” Kayden asked.
I nodded.
“I’m fine, it just took a lot from me.” I mumbled.
“To conjure?” Tyson asked.
I shook my head.
“To hold back.” I replied. “I really need to work on this before it gets worse, and that’s why I need you.”
I looked at Evelyn, who was rubbing her wrists where the cuffs used to be.
“I have a proposition for you.” I said. “I want you to hear me out and think about it. If you say yes, I would be really happy to have you help me. If you say no, I understand. I need you to make a decision before we reach Caniluna castle. If you say no, just stay for one day to answer some questions that we have for you, and then this limo will take you wherever you want to go. I assure you: no matter what, you will be safe and unharmed.”
Evelyn looked bewildered.
“B-But I don’t understand how I could do anything to help you.” She replied. “I’m just an Omega.”
I shrugged.
“I don’t care.” I said. “I think you can do it.”
“You see, I’ve been a lycan for a little over a month now.” I continued. “I’ve felt a shift in my powers, gradually they are getting stronger and now I don’t recognize them anymore.
I don’t think it’s impossible to get them back under control, but I think that my wolf’s presence is interfering with how I used to manage my powers, and we need to figure this out together. And that is going to take some time.
The problem is: I’m still queen. I have things to learn and duties to attend to, so Tyson suggested that I get an assistant.”
I nodded in Tyson’s direction.
“It’s pretty simple.” I said. “You just need to keep track of my schedule, help me study and handle all of the little things so that I can get some time to figure things out. That’s it.”
I chuckled.
“I kind of made it sound like I was going to use my powers on you to experiment.” I laughed. “Rest assured that I would never do that. I’m not a monster, even though people sometimes like to think I am.”
While I talked, I saw Evelyn relax slightly.
“You’ll get paid for your work, but it’s hectic and since I either work or study seven days a week, I can only give you a day off per week. I know that it’s a lot to ask. Do you have any questions?”
Evelyn gulped.
“Why me?” She asked. “I’m turning eighteen in a week. I haven’t even finished school. Aren’t there more qualified people?”
“I’m sure there is.” I agreed. “But I saw Jack making you trip and drop the tray. I heard what Alpha Henry said about you.”
Evelyn looked down in her lap when tears formed in her eyes.
“Anyone can do this job, but I had a feeling that you could use a reason to leave that pack.” I whispered. “And this is a good reason, if you want it to be.”
I smiled softly.
“We won’t be arriving at the castle for a while.” I said. “Take some time to yourself to think things through.”
I patted her leg and moved away from her, towards the back of the limo where Kayden and Tyson had quietly been listening to our conversation.
“You did great.” Tyson smiled and pulled me into his lap. “For a moment, I thought that you were going to blast the wall open and fly her out of there.”
I winked at him and pecked his lips.
“Me too.” I grinned. “But I guess I’m starting to get the hang of this whole diplomatic thing.”
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Evelyn POV
Was this really happening?
I didn’t know if I could trust queen Valeria. After all, she had basically taken over my imprisonment from Alpha Henry and planned to use me as a test subject for her powers. The question was: was it really just a ruse like she said, and why would she want me as her assistant?
It didn’t make sense to me, but she looked really sincere.
I was tempted to turn her down and take my leave if I could. If it was all a lie, she was probably going to use me as she wanted to either way, so I should probably take my chances.
So I started to think about where I would go. The problem was: I had never really left the pack territory, and I was all on my own. I didn’t know anyone that could help me. I had no money and no place to go.
I was so deep in thought that I almost jumped in surprise when I saw a huge castle appear outside the car window. My heart started pounding and I looked over at queen Valeria, King Tyson and their Beta that were sitting at the back of the limo. The limo came to a stop and I felt panic starting to sink in when I realized that I hadn’t really made a decision.
The summer heat wafted into the car when the Beta opened the car door and stepped out. King Tyson followed him and queen Valeria sat down in front of me.
“How are you doing?” She asked.
Her question caught me off guard, because I thought that she was going to ask me what I had decided.
“I- umm…” I stammered.
Queen Valeria took my hand and I froze.
“Breathe.” She said gently. “You are safe. No one is going to hurt you.”
I looked up into her blue eyes and suddenly a weird feeling came over me.
From nowhere, it was like my instincts were screaming at me to accept her offer. I couldn’t explain it, but there was something about her that just made me feel like I could trust her.
And in the end, what did I have to lose?
“I accept your offer.” I whispered.
- Writer
