Elysia's POV
I woke up, pulling off the blindfold from my face, surprised to find myself in a different room, much smaller than the one I was in last night, and the window was so large that my whole body could fit in. Strange voices could be heard outside of the door—my mind wandered back to the stranger last night, and my heart began pounding wildly in its rib cage.
What had happened last night? How did a stranger get into the room unnoticed? Why didn't I just pull off the blindfold when I found out it wasn't the Alpha? Who was he, and why did I feel strange at his touch?
A soft caw by the window diverted my attention. And there stood a raven perched on the edge of the window, its beak holding a black envelope that matched its feathers. I watched it carefully, a slight frown on my face, wondering who would have sent a bird when there were cell phones and other modern means of communication. But I remembered that since my stay on Earth, I do not own a cell phone like my peers. All I did was stay in a bygone era. I was in the Victorian era while everyone left me to the twenty-first century…
Aren't I a wretched princess?
Since my life as a teen, instead of going to school like my stepsister, I had been taught how to dance for him, cook, clean, and wear fitted clothes.
The bird let out another impatient gravelly caw, and I was forced to go to the window. The envelope, with its seal still perfectly intact, was pushed into my hands before I could take it myself, and then it flew away. Two people who could have sent this came to my mind... my nanny and her son, or maybe… her son's friend. If it wasn't them, that meant this wasn't for me at all.
But still, I was curious, my hands sweaty and trembling slightly as I broke the seal and brought a letter out of the same dark color, red ink on its page making my heart pound faster as I registered the words in my head.
(My Firefly,
Don't think I left. I am a freak; I don't abandon what's mine. I will always come back for what's mine.
Sleep well, Firefly, and dream about the man who came to your room tonight when your husband was out.
Your Darling Alpha.)
Before I had the chance to take in the fear that was etched deep within me, a knock came on the door, and that was when I realized I was still in the fishnet dress I had worn last night. I draped the robe I found nearby on, before going to the door, trying not to stumble.
"The Alpha did not marry you to come to have a beauty sleep here. You know what you should do. You are no bigger than his slaves and mistresses."
Lady Azure, the Alpha King's sixth—wife, didn't fail to hide the anger on her face, but I didn't seem to be affected. All that affected me was the letter. I needed to tell someone before I got myself in trouble. The stranger said he would come back for me. What if I got caught when he did? I was more scared of protecting my head than my family's at the moment, but I didn't know if I should spill it out to this woman.
"I…"
"Do not get sluggish… our task in the morning is to make the Alpha's breakfast, and you are new. You go to his room and pleasure him in any way he asks you to."
I gulped, feeling myself drowning in different emotions.
"Okay."
A feeling of hurt washed through me, knowing Mama couldn't come to see me for the last time before she left. She didn't even care what situation I could end up in, in the clutches of the Alpha.
"Give her the clothes."
Some clothes were thrown at my feet.
"That's how you dress when you go to his room in the morning. Now go take your bath."
I gulped, nodding before closing the door and picking up the clothes from the floor, and my guts tingled, knowing I would be wearing this in broad daylight. The Alpha would see more than he was meant to see.
Goosebumps prickled my skin, and a sense of relief washed through me, realizing I didn't get to warm his bed last night, but... I tore the letter, throwing it out of the window.
---
Eyes scanned my body as I rubbed slightly on my arms, bending my head so my hair could cover my face. The black silk dress clung to my body way too much. The strap of the dress was so delicate and thin that I felt nothing holding it to my body as I made my way to the Alpha's chamber. The guards, who were meant to be standing and watching for rogues, had their gazes on me.
"That's what you are, a bitch, when the alpha gets tired of you, I will treat you like the real bitch that you are." One of them came to my side, whispering in my ear as the rest burst into laughter and finally, I pushed the door of the Alpha's room open.
And I saw what the Alpha's other wife had tagged as a morning routine.
The Alpha held his hand out, urging me to come closer as he ate berries through the lips of one of his mistresses, who rolled her eyes at me from where I stood. Another blonde was beside him, fighting so hard to get the other mistress away so she could feed the Alpha.
"You were so sweet last night, darling, and I want to have a taste of you again. Now come on, walk, and come serve your Alpha." He called out to me once more…
Sweet? Last night?
After the wedding, he hadn't been in the room last night. Or did he come in later after the stranger had left?
Have I been…?
My eyes widened slightly, my hand clutching lightly at my stomach as I tried not to let tears out of my eyes.
That was why I found myself in a different room.
The Moon Goddess had done nothing to help.
I was taken without even knowing.
"Are you ready to stand there forever?" The alpha asked and both Mistresses burst into laughter. Young and beautiful and I wondered if both of them do not have mates to have wanted a man old enough to be their father. They moved away from the alpha on his command, and they let me walk to him; his bare touch on my wrist had me almost jerking my wrist off and running out of the room, out of this pack to where he wouldn't be able to find me.
"Feed me." He brought me to his lap, making me sit on his hardened crotch, which states a man's arousal like I had been taught; without going to school, I got free sexual education at such a tender age. I took from the berries, avoiding eye contact as I intended to feed him, but he slapped my hand off, and laughter from his Mistresses tore through the room once more. "So dumb."
"Your father didn't teach you how I am meant to be fed!!" He yelled angrily and I wondered what other ways a person is meant to be fed…spoons with berries?
"Get that between your boobs, that's where I want to eat…. Take the clothes off I want to see you like last night." I gulped, bile rising in my throat as my heart palpitated wildly; maybe today I would get killed, and my head would be placed in the dungeon-like the other women who refuse him…because I was filled with hesitation, my hand refusing to move to my dress and do as he had ordered.
The Alpha's hand suddenly grabbed my neck with not too much pressure, pulling me closer to him, and my gaze met with his anger-filled face. "You were not like this last night; you were so obedient." And I realized it just wasn't me in the Alpha's bed last night; I know I wasn't drugged, and the Alpha wouldn't drug me to get what he wants…what might have happened last night?
"I…I am.. " before I could complete my sentence of apology, an aura that almost took the breath out of me filled the room. It was terrifying, its essence promising hazard, and I know the alpha felt it too because his grip faltered. "What are you doing here, Ronan?"
I tilted my head a little to find the Alpha's Son at the doorway, the heat of his gaze burning into every bit of my soul, making me feel something more than intimidation. "I have something to talk to you about, Father, and I don't want anyone here, it's confidential."