Inseparable

Chapter Three: The Strangest Creature

Bella

I ran down the stairs as quickly as I could to avoid the alpha brothers. I arrived down in the kitchen and leaned back against the counter to catch my breath. The luna followed me down a few minutes later, and she greeted me with a sharp slap across my face.

I held a hand to my bruised cheek and stared at the floor, but I wouldn’t cry. Never ever let them see your pain, that was what I told myself. I hadn’t shed a tear in that house in years.

“Stupid girl! They nearly saw you! What would they think if they saw a filthy cockroach like you crawling around their bedrooms? Now hurry, you have to cook something!”

“But you said the omegas—” Talking back earned me another slap. This time her ring scratched my cheek and I felt the warm ooze of blood.

“The omegas can’t cook for guests!” She snarled.

I had to hide my smirk. She didn’t want to admit it, but the truth was I was a better chef than any of the omegas. They could only handle simple tasks, like frying burgers or making pancakes. She yanked open the big freezer. “Shrimp! Make that shrimp thing!”

“Which shrimp thing?”

“The one with sausage and rice…”

“Jambalaya?”

“Whatever the hell you call it…it had better be good. If I get any complaints from the alphas about the food, you will wish you were never born!”

Oh, you silly lady, I already wish that, at least twice a day.

I didn’t say anything, I just moved around her to get the shrimp. At least she had chosen something that would thaw out quickly. I had only a little more than an hour to put together a special meal for guests, I had to move quickly.

I rummaged through the refrigerator for celery, onions, and peppers. I washed my hands and then went to work chopping and dicing up a colorful mix of vegetables. I had the sausage sizzling away in the bottom of the big pot, and the shrimp thawing in a bowl of water. As I worked I was fuming at those guest alphas.

Goddess damn them anyway. I was completely exhausted from trying to clean the whole house for them, and why did they have to show up early? Now I had a bruised and bleeding cheek to go with all of my other aches and pains.

I measured out the rice and added it to the pot. I was awfully tempted to spit in it, just to add a little more flavor, but the omegas had arrived. They were actually in uniform today and were more tense than usual. The luna must have lectured them about the special visitors as well.

In short order, I had plated the jambalaya, serving it with a fresh salad. The omegas had been sent out to serve the drinks. The luna had ordered bottles of her best wine, which made me wonder if these were visiting alphas or some kind of royalty. The last time they brought out the good wine was for their twentieth wedding anniversary.

The omegas came back red-faced and twittering like little birds.

“Oh my goddess, they are so handsome!”

“I heard they haven’t found their mates yet.”

“Why couldn’t it be me?”

Now I was even more curious. When they went out with the plates, I tiptoed up to the swinging door. While everyone was distracted by the servers, I pushed the door open just a crack and peeked through into the formal dining room. Unfortunately, the two men in question had their backs to me, and I couldn’t see their faces to confirm if they were handsome or not. They sat straight and tall, one in a dark red shirt, and one in a light blue shirt. The red shirt had long hair pulled back in a pony tale. The blue shirt had a short, deliberately messy style. I couldn’t tell much from the backs of them except they seemed well-muscled.

I shrugged it off. Most alphas were big and muscular, it was a like a genetic requirement.

I was just about to back out of the door when I was hit with the most tantalizing odor. It overpowered the spicy scent of the jambalaya and made me almost dizzy. I tried to put a name to it…sandalwood, sweet cedar, and s*x.

How do I even know what s*x smells like?

I was frozen and couldn’t move from the door.

At the same time, the two men stiffened in their chairs, and seemed to be looking around in confusion. Luna Amber looked around them and saw me in the doorway. Her eyes burned like fire into my skull and I finally snapped out of the trance I was in and slipped back into the kitchen. I was never supposed to be seen in the dining room. My indiscretion would no doubt earn me a belting later. I went back to the cleanup with a heavy heart.

Wyatt

We both smelled it at the same time – a smell like mint-flavored hot chocolate. It was more potent now, but I couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from. There were half a dozen omegas swarming the table, filling wine glasses, and serving plates of steaming food, but not one of them met my eyes or seemed to be affected by our presence. Other than the young twins, there were no other unmated females sitting around the table. I met Byron’s eyes.

The kitchen. We agreed silently. The owner of the chocolate smell must be back in the kitchen. When the servers breezed through the swinging doors, they brought the scent with them. I swallowed down a gulp of wine. I wanted to stand up right there, storm into the kitchen, and get to the bottom of this, but something cautioned me to be diplomatic.

I picked up a fork and tasted the savory dish that had been set before me. The food was really good. If I hadn’t been so distracted by the possibility of my mate in the next room, I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. “Luna, my compliments, the meal is delicious.”

The Luna flushed. “Why, thank you Alpha,” she said sweetly.

“Who is your chef? I would like to pay my compliments.”

Her flush turned a shade deeper, “Uh well, I’m afraid that won’t be possible tonight, but I will be sure to pass them to her tomorrow.”

Her. The chef was a woman. I shot another glance at my brother, but he was busy shoveling rice into his mouth like it was his last meal. He was no help at all. It was left up to me to make small talk, not meaningless small talk as it might appear, but barbed questions aimed at fishing out the private details of the pack.

The luna was totally caught up in my charming spell, and probably had no idea that she was divulging all kinds of private information, from the pack census to their finances. But there was nothing terribly interesting about this pack. They were small-time and as crooked as the day was long, but even with their dirty investments, they were barely keeping their head above water. Their training program was weak, their fertility rate was low, and the alpha, who hadn’t even bothered to show up yet, seemed to be an asshole.

The only thing interesting about the White Pines pack was hiding in the kitchen.

The omegas came back to clear away the dishes after the meal was finished. The door swung back and forth on its hinges again and fanned that scent back into the dining room. Diplomacy and manners aside, I couldn’t stand the suspense any longer. “Excuse me a moment,” I mumbled and pushed my chair back. Byron was right behind me as I went straight for the kitchen door.

“Alpha, wait,” Luna Amber called out, but too late, I was pushing through the door, scattering the last few omegas. They were dumping dishes beside the sink, and in front of the sink was the strangest creature I had ever set eyes on.

She was standing hunched at the sink, wearing something that might have been a dress once upon a time, but now it was a dull colorless sack that hung off her emaciated shoulders and stopped just short of her mid-thigh. Underneath, her skinny legs were bare, all the way to her feet. She had a massive amount of black hair that was shot through with unusual red highlights. I’d never seen a color like that before. It was wound into a messy knot at the back of her neck, and another rag was tied over the top of it. I saw her ribcage expand under that thin dress as she caught our smell, and her whole body went ridged.

The small creature spun around at the sink, brandishing a soapy frying pan like a weapon. All I could do was stare at the waif, but behind me, Byron was already growling, “mate.” Her expression was stunned and frightened, and her paleness made the fresh bruise and angry red scratch stand out boldly on her cheek.

I went to take a step towards her, but she dropped the frying pan with a loud, metallic clatter and ran.

“Gentlemen, is something wrong?” The luna hustled in behind us.

“That girl—“ I said vaguely, still staring at the empty corridor where she had disappeared.

“Oh, please don’t mind about her,” the luna scoffed, with a dismissive wave of her hand. “She’s just an orphan girl that my husband and I rescued. Unfortunately, she’s a little off in the head. I know I shouldn’t allow her in the kitchen, but she does love to help…”

“What is her name?” Byron said, his voice dangerously quiet.

“Oh. Well… she doesn’t really have a name.”