Say My Name--Sample (Book 3 of The Claimed Series)

4. Snake Eyes

Giselle woke wondering where she was. Her heart raced for a few moments until she sniffed the air and realized she was not in her own bed at Jeremiah’s house and was far, far away from the brutish man.

As her heart calmed, she thought of the Alpha whose house she was in. He seemed... nice enough, but so had Jeremiah at first. Then again, most of Jeremiah’s issues were borne of his jealousy and anger. Jealousy that anyone should touch what was his and anger that his future Luna was a lowly Omega. He felt he had deserved better and used to tell her so often.

Looking over at the clock on the wall, she saw it was just past 7:30 AM. She wondered if the Alpha was gone from the home yet or still in the house. She needed to find out some things and talk- well, write- them out for him.

Clothing. She needed clothing so that meant she needed money to purchase it. She had left with none and if she used any credit cards or debit cards she had been given, it would give away the fact that she was not as dead as she hoped Jeremiah believed.

In order to get money to buy clothing, she would need a job. A job in the nearest town would only draw attention to her and she didn’t have any skills with which to offer this new pack. If she decided to stay that is. She wasn’t so sure as she had nothing to offer. She would be both a liability and a weight on the community. Useless.

Walking into the bathroom, she decided to take a shower, and she hurried through it. Scrubbing herself and then brushing her teeth, she found a comb in one of the drawers and she meticulously picked her way through her hair, irritated with the knots.

When her hair was smooth and straight, she figured she would let it dry naturally and then went down to the bottom floor, making no sound on the hardwood flooring.

Using her heightened sense of smell, she made her way into the kitchen and looked into the fridge. She had only eaten oatmeal and some dry cereal at Jeremiah’s so she opted for the first hearty meal she had had in months.

Bacon. Sausages. She found a dozen fresh eggs and decided to make herself some of those as well. She could use it in putting on some weight. Giselle knew she couldn’t really rock the whole skeleton look for very long. And it was beyond unhealthy.

As she was pulling out some pans and a bowl to whisk eggs in, she sniffed the air, sensing another presence with it.

The Alpha. So he was still at home.

Looking toward the door, she saw him come through the entranceway, doing up the last few buttons on his shirt.

When Liam looked up at the female, he noticed she was wearing tiny shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. The sleeves were too long on her and came over her hands unless she rolled them up.

“You should roll up the sleeves so you don’t catch fire cooking,” he told her and watched as she put down the cooking utensils and pushed her sleeves up her skinny arms.

“No... like this.” Liam walked over to her and folded her sleeves up meticulously, roll after roll. After he finished, he stepped back.

“There, much better,” he told her and walked over to the fridge. He didn’t like the strange wide-eyed look she gave him. It was unnerving.

She made a sound, an ugly strangled one and he looked over at her.

Gesturing to the food, she pointed at the bowls, food, and then pointed at him.

“You want to know if I would like some food?” he asked.

Nodding, she smiled softly at him.

“Sure, though the housekeeper should have been here by now.”

Liam looked off into the distance, presumably trying to reach someone and he eventually hummed in understanding.

“She is still at home. Her littlest is ill,” he told her and she didn’t understand why he needed to explain. “Go ahead and cook if you have a mind to cook for a hungry wolf.”

While Giselle whisked eggs, Liam left the room and came back into the kitchen with a pad of paper and a pen.

“You should always bring this with you whether you think you will need them or not,” he told her. “Not everyone is as good as I at reading your hand signals and gestures.”

She nodded at him and turned to place strips of bacon on one skillet and the freshly beaten eggs in the other.

She let them simmer as she walked over to the pad of paper and wrote.

How do you like your eggs? was the simple question.

Looking up at her after reading it, he blinked and breathed out.

“I’m not picky,” he told her. “Scrambled, omelet, whatever you make is fine.”

Cheese?

Nodding and smiling, the Alpha said ‘sure’.

Breakfast was quieter than Liam was used to and he found that he didn’t mind it a bit. His housekeeper was always chattering on about her children. Which was okay... the first 57 times she told the same story. New teeth, colic when they were little, vomit and diapers weren’t topics he really wished to discuss over breakfast, nor at any other meal.

Giselle picked up the pad of paper and wrote for a long time.

Why aren’t you at work already? I thought you would be gone long before this. I hope I didn’t wake you. Also, I need to get clothing, underwear mostly and would like to know how I can earn my keep so that I may be able to afford such items.

Liam took a while to read it and answered her questions as he went along.

“I was supposed to go in earlier, but I slept too long,” he said. “I guess the midnight call to the clinic woke me up and kept me awake far longer than I anticipated. You didn’t wake me. I got up around 7:15 and as for clothing, I will have someone come round to get your size. Do not worry about earning your keep for now. We have a rainy day fund for such instances as this and we hardly use it. As for your occupation here at this pack- what are your skills or what is it you like to do?”

Giselle thought for a moment and then wrote.

I’m sorry to have kept you up last night with the visit to the hospital. As for clothing, I would like to earn my keep, just like everyone else. I can still do some things, but my skills are limited to pretty much anything I can do around the house. Cooking, cleaning, things like that. I haven’t had a job before. The only other thing I like to do is sing.

Liam smiled. It was ironic that what this girl would love most is something she was unable to do at the moment.

“Well, we have no jobs open for resident songbird, so cooking and cleaning would suit nicely,” he told her. “In fact, since you are staying with me, I think it’s best you become my housekeeper instead of Sofia. She can be loud and obnoxious and as much as I love kids, I feel like I’m living with hers without the benefit of having them around.”

Giselle looked like she almost was about to giggle. Almost. No sound came out though and she looked down at her empty plate, saddened by the fact she couldn’t make the simple sound.

Liam put his hand on her shoulder and then tipped her chin up to him with a callused hand.

“You’ll get your voice back, little wolf,” he told her softly. “Then you can sing me lullabies every night so I can sleep.”

Grabbing the pen and paper, she wrote quickly.

You have problems sleeping? Have you tried warm milk with honey?

Laughing, the usually stern Alpha shook his head.

“I’ve tried everything except medicines,” he told her. “And I don’t wish to become addicted due to the amount that it would take to put me down for the night. I get by just fine with a few hours a night.”

May I ask why you don’t sleep well?

Liam’s face fell for a moment, but he schooled his features and gave her a lazy half-smile.

“Tell you what,” he spoke, using a napkin to wipe around his mouth. “When you tell me where you come from and why you’re running, I’ll tell you why sleep evades me. Deal?”

Giselle nodded, but looked uncertain.

Standing from his spot, Liam looked down at the forlorn creature and sighed.

“I’ll have one of my she-wolves come around and get your sizes,” he told her. “Bra, underwear and some clothing that will actually fit you. You’re swimming in my sister’s stuff.”

Though he had to admit, they looked good on her anyway.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A knock roused Giselle from the book she was reading.

Going to the door, she looked out the side window first before seeing it was a female wolf with red hair, a snub nose, and sparkling blue eyes.

“Hi! I’m Colleen. The Beta’s mate,” the woman told her before coming into the house after Giselle opened the door. “I’m surprised to see Alpha Liam actually has a visitor, though I know you are an unintended one at that.”

Giselle nodded and looked for her pen and paper. She had kept it by her as Liam had advised, but had left it on the coffee table near the couch she had been sitting on.

“Blake told me you can’t talk and Liam said your name is Giselle,” Colleen kept prattling on. “It might be better if you don’t talk around me. I talk enough for three people and it can get overwhelming for some. But let’s go ahead and figure out your sizes.”

They looked around Giselle’s bedroom and found the smallest of clothing that Liam’s sister had owned. They still floated around her smaller frame, but it gave them a starting point.

“I know Liam said you are on bedrest and that you shouldn’t go, but we should have a girl’s trip to go shopping once you’re better,” Colleen told her, smiling.

Giselle didn’t know what to say to that so just nodded and watched as the vocal young woman walked out the front door with her list of things to get the small woman.

Sitting back down on the couch, Giselle fell asleep while reading her book.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Her nose was high in the air, sniffing for the wonderful smell. She had just turned 18 a few days ago and she knew what that smell meant.

It meant she had a mate. Following it to the source, she saw the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta all training with the pack warriors. Dozens of men on the ground and one of them was hers. She didn’t know how to differentiate which, so she just waited and watched.

Watching the men battle each other in both human and wolf forms was always interesting. A lot of horseplay along with smack talk was to be heard and the Alpha would sometimes break up the fun to get back to business.

A storm was due by the afternoon and she knew it from the way the breeze suddenly shifted that it was soon to be on its way. Dark thunderclouds could be seen to the west and Giselle got up to head inside before the rains came.

Standing from her place beneath the tree she was nestled under, she felt the winds shift again and the sound die out as the warriors moved away from the impending torrents of water they would see from the downfall.

Giselle started to walk towards home until she heard a noise behind her. Frightened, she turned around and caught a whiff of the scent moments before she saw who it was.

“Alpha,” she said, lowering her head in respect. “My apologies if my presence disturbed the warriors.”

“Look up, little one,” the strong voice of Jeremiah Bluth demanded. “What is your name and rank?”

“Giselle Kincaid, Omega rank,” she said in a low voice. She was not ashamed of her rank, but it was not often that an Omega was paired with an Alpha. Like was mated to like many times.

“I see, little mate,” he told her, voice stiff. “And how old are you?”

“18, Sir,” she said, not looking directly into the cold eyes of the Alpha. She hadn’t known such a rich, chocolatey brown color could be so... icy, so dead.

“I need to meet with your parents, Giselle,” he told her, forthright. “You will need to come with me to my home. As future Luna, it is yours now as well.”

“Yes, Sir,” she said, cowering beneath his cold, hard glare.

His eyes... they were the first things she saw and they should have told her all she needed to know.

Jeremiah Bluth was as coldhearted a wolf as anyone had ever known.