Chapter 2
2251 Words
I sat across Ambrose during dinner. At first, I thought there’s a feast because he surely cooked a lot of dishes for a dinner.
“I figured you’d be hungry so I cooked a lot,” he said as he sliced his steak. I have never eaten steak in my whole life. This guy looked like steak is his staple food because he eats like it’s nothing.
Well, there’s not a question that he’s rich. He owns a mansion. Everything inside his house looks like it’s dipped in gold and crystals.
I never experienced this kind of luxury before.
I quietly started eating and I must admit that he cooks good—not as good as my mother but as a rich man who can afford a personal chef, he surely can make a mean steak.
“What’s your name?” he asked out of nowhere.
I looked up at him and saw him casually drinking his orange juice while looking at me with his brows arched. I stilled for a moment. “I’m…” I trailed and stared at the crystals of his utensils. “…Crystal.”
He nodded. “Nice to meet you, Crystal.” He smiled weakly. “I hope it’s okay for me to call you by your name.”
I smiled and nodded. “Sure, names are invented for a reason, right?” I chuckled awkwardly.
And then there was dead silence in the air. Only the clinking of the utensils against the plate was heard. It’s awkward but I’ve always been awkward so this is not new to me. For the first time in my life, I have thanked my experience as an omega.
“Where did you come from?” Ambrose asked. “Why were you lost in the forest?”
I gulped hard. Suddenly, I was sweating coldly. “Huh? Pardon?” I asked back. It’s okay to act stupid than to admit to him what happened to me. And even if I did, he wouldn’t believe me anyway. Humans don’t believe in stuff like werewolves.
Besides, I am exiled from my pack. I can’t tell him anything about my origin anymore.
Ambrose narrowed his eyes at me as he studied my reaction. “Why were you in the forest?” he asked. “I just find it weird for woman to be lost in here…unless of course, well…” he trailed and shrugged.
I pursed my lips and focused on my food. He sounded so curious of what I’m doing in there and I really think that he has the right to know since he let me in his house but I can’t. Where I came from is not something I should be broadcasting to the whole world. Besides, who would believe me?
I sighed and raised my gaze towards him. He’s still staring at me, still waiting for an answer. I bit my lip and willed myself to think of a good excuse now. “I was…” I trailed and saw him raising brows at me. “…running away from someone.”
Ambrose furrowed his brows at my lie. “Where is that someone now?” he asked in a low baritone.
I shrugged. “I lost him, I guess…” I replied before looking down on the food again. I just hope he would just let it go. That’s the past that I am running away from.
“It’s good that you lost him,” he uttered. “Where are you headed off to now?”
I smiled weakly. “I don’t know yet. I’ll think about it when I am finally in the city.”
I want to start a new life. And I know I can only do that when I am in the city. I can look for a job to finance myself. I have finished high school, too. Maybe I can get a GED and work, too. I don’t know yet. I just want to erase my past. I just want to stop thinking about my pack.
“It’s good that you have a plan. But the question is, do you have the means?”
I blinked at his question. “I don’t have means yet but I will look for it in the city,” I replied. I don’t know much about the life in there but based from the stories I heard from my parents, I believe that there are countless of possibilities, a million dreams to realize.
Ambrose smirked. “You think it’s easy?” he asked. “The city is could have blinding lights but it’s as dark as the forest. Have you been there?”
I looked at him. He sounded so sure that the city is not the place for me. “Why do I feel like you hate the city?” I asked him back.
He shrugged. “I don’t hate it,” he replied. “I just don’t like it. And I don’t understand why you are crazy about it. The city is not as bright as it seems.”
But I don’t want to live in the forest anymore. Being an omega in the pack, my family was treated the lowest. We never had access to the facilities that the other had. We were the lowest in the ranks and most of the time, neglected.
Living in the city has been my dream. I want to realize the potential that I wasn’t given in my own pack. I want to show them that I can be more than an omega’s daughter, that I, too, can be successful.
I shouldn’t have done that if I was still in the pack. So, I’m looking at the silver lining. I was exiled, not killed. I am now free to do everything I want without anyone judging me for being the omega’s daughter.
“I still want to try my luck,” I told him, filled with determination. I badly want to move forward. I don’t want to be a failure anymore. I want to be more. And the city will make me reach that goal.
Ambrose nodded. “Sure,” he replied curtly and then we resumed eating in silence.
I don’t know how long it took us before we finished but to me, it felt like forever. I knew how to deal with silence. I never had a friend in the pack because I was always left out. Nobody wants to be friends with the omega’s daughter. Nobody wants to talk to me.
But the silence between me and Ambrose is suffocating. It’s so awkward to the point that I feel like I have to strike a conversation with him.
And that’s why I am so happy when dinner finally ended. I volunteered to wash the dishes and he directed me on how to use the dishwasher. There are a lot of things in his kitchen that I’m not familiar about. Ambrose probably thinks I’m an imbecile, but he still patiently taught me.
He even stayed with me until I was done.
I looked at him and smiled. “Thank you,” I told him.
He smirked and nodded. “Follow me. I’ll escort you to your room,” he said before walking towards the staircase.
I stayed behind, confused at what he just said. “What?” I asked and he stopped. He looked over his shoulder. “I can just sleep on the couch!” I don’t want to be a burden to him. He’s already helped me enough.
After all, I will leave in the morning. I have twenty miles to walk until I reach my destination.
Ambrose turned to me. “I have lots of spare rooms. You can take one,” he told me. “Besides, you can rest better on a bed than on a couch.”
I didn’t bother insisting what I want. I just followed him until we reached a huge door on the second floor. Looking at the ornaments and the furniture as we walked to the room, there’s no question that Ambrose is a rich man.
He opened the huge door and it revealed a spacious bedroom with a four-poster bed. My eyes are opened wide and my jaw literally dropped to the ground. High ceilings. Huge windows. Chandelier. A huge flat screen TV. A coffee table near the window.
And this is just a spare room.
He chuckled and nodded at me. “You can go ahead and feel the bed,” he told me. “Also, I’ll give you clothes later for you to change into. There’s towels and toiletries prepared in the bathroom.”
Wait. His words sounded so foreign to me because my brain couldn’t even process how this room is larger than the house that I lived in for twenty-one years.
“Crystal?”
I jolted and looked at him before nodding. “Yes, I’ll do that,” I said, chuckling awkwardly. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
He tilted his head to side and looked at me in amusement. “Hospitality?” he chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, you’re welcome.”
I bit my lip and turned to the bed again.
“I’ll leave you here for a moment. I’ll be back with the spare clothes,” he told me before walking out of the room.
I closed the door before letting the whole situation sink in my brain. A man this rich is jogging in a dangerous forest? A man this rich should have bodyguards around him. But none. He’s alone in this house and he’s free to lurk around the forest on his own.
He’s got a great body. I feel like he exercises a lot but his human body couldn’t save him from the rogues.
I sighed and sat down on the bed. I shouldn’t be worrying about him now. I have lots of things to think about. When I wake up tomorrow, I’ll go ahead and start walking until I find where the civilization is. I’ll look for a house to stay with the money my parents gave me and a job that would help me thrive every day.
Thinking about it makes me realize how hard it is going to be for me starting from now. But this is better than having to spend the rest of my life being a slave of the members of our pack. At least now, I get to live my life the way I want it without having to please an alpha.
“Hey,” it was Ambrose from the other line. “Here are the clothes.”
I immediately walked to the door and opened it. Ambrose is standing there with the spare clothes on his hands. He handed them to me and I gladly took them.
“I haven’t worn them,” he said. “You can ask for something else if they’re too loose—”
I shook my head. “It’s okay. I am good with these,” I cut him off. “I don’t want to be a burden to you anymore. You have helped me enough.”
Ambrose smirked while looking at me intently. “You’re not a burden to me, Crystal. Just tell me if you need something.”
I smiled weakly before nodding. “Thank you, Ambrose.”
“Good night.”
I nodded and closed the door. “Good night,” I mumbled to myself with a huge smile on my face.
***
The next morning, I woke up at six. I had planned to wake up earlier but there’s something in the softness of the bed that made me sleep longer.
I washed my clothes last night and used the blow-dryer so they’d dry up today. Ambrose gave me an oversize shirt and a pair of boxers. I can’t actually go out wearing them.
I prepared for my long journey. Twenty miles. It’s what I have to walk for the coming days. I bet I could use that time to think about what I’m going to do next.
I silently went out of the room. I don’t think Ambrose is already awake now. Usually, rich kids wake up when it’s almost lunch time.
I walked down the staircase as quietly as I could until I reached the front door. I was about to open it when someone spoke from behind me.
“Are you leaving already?” Ambrose’s low baritone echoed in the whole receiving area.
I froze on my spot and shut my eyes. Why is he already awake? He should still be sleeping!
I turned around slowly until I saw him standing in front of me with a serious look on his face. But my eyes couldn’t help but notice how good he looks on his black sweatshirt and a pair of cotton shorts. He looks like a model for men’s apparel.
I smiled awkwardly. “I have a long way to go so…” I trailed. “I figured I should get going early.”
He stared at me for a moment before nodding. “Okay, but do you have a place to stay in the city?” he asked. “You might be walking for nothing.”
I bit my lower lip and swallowed. “I don’t. But I’ll figure something out.”
He shrugged. “You can stay here for a while,” he offered. “I mean, I’m alone in the house. I’m not home all the time because of business trips.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “But that’s too much. You already helped me enough.”
He flashed out a boyish smile. “It’s not really too much. You can stay here until you find a place to stay in the city. You can use my computer and look for it online.” He sounded so sure of what he’s offering me.
I shook my head. “I don’t want you to think that I’m taking advantage,” I told him.
“I’m not thinking that way.” He took a step closer. “And I guess, you should stop thinking that way, too.”
I stared at him while he towered over me. His gray eyes are fixed on mine with a stare that’s sending shivers along my spine.
“Believe me, Crystal. The city could be crueler than this forest.”
- Writer
