I stood looking at Grace, my head a little bit of a daze. The piercing violet eyes of the woman in charge of me stared at me like I had suddenly grown three heads. "Are you stupid or something?" She demanded, and I sighed, offering her a shake of my head in return.
"All I need you to do, is head down to the lounge, announce my arrival, and I will be there shortly after. A girl likes to make a boy wait, you know." She smirked, before looking me up and down judgementally. "Or maybe you don't. Being a maid no man would want you, let alone wait on you."
Her words did not have the effect she perhaps hoped they did. I was more than used to them, after far too many years assigned as her maid. It was hard to believe the two of us were ever friends. Spending many an hour playing together, and as times changed, gossiping together...
I gave my head an internal wobble. No time for reminiscing. I had a job to do apparently. Announcing the arrival of the Alpha's daughter to the visiting upcoming Alpha of Crimson Claw Creek Pack. Declaring she had arrived like some form of royal guest. Making the visiting Alpha believe Grace to be of more importance than she truly was, no doubt. He was, after all, a man on the mission of searching for his bride, and he would be meeting many a she-wolf upon that mission. A mission indeed if he were to settle for someone such as Grace.
"Well, go on then." Grace gave me a shove toward the door. I tried desperately not to give her a dirty look, that only served to anger her, I had learned the hard way. "I have a call I need to make. Oh, and do not scare the poor man with that mess of a face of yours. I do not want him traumatised when I meet him." She sneered as I stepped toward the door. My hand instantly went to the unsightly scar that had marred the skin upon my face for the last four years. A scar left by none other than Grace herself...
My gaze fell to the floor, trying desperately not to allow her to hurt me with her words. It was hard to believe less than an hour earlier she had been sobbing upon her bed after her parents had announced she would be meeting the upcoming Alpha. An international bride-screening was taking place, and Grace had been selected as one of the possible candidates. A much-desired position. And one her father, our pack Alpha very much wanted for his little girl.
She had been distraught. Wailing somewhere between anguish and fury. Grace had not offered herself for this bridal screening like so many of the candidates likely would have done in the hopes of bagging themselves an Alpha husband. No. Grace had been put forward by her parents. Wanting the best for their daughter. Needing their daughter to marry a high rank mate. Rank was everything to these people.
I had to admit I had been shocked by Grace's reaction. I thought she would have adored the possibility of marrying a man of such prestige. But I then learned that she had already found her fated mate. Very much in love it would seem. And seeing her so happy as she had spoken of him today, finally admitting the truth to me after hiding her secret for so long took me by surprise. Not everything was as it seemed. And fate had a funny way of bringing you back down to earth with a bump.
Happy and in love as she may be, Grace felt the need to hide her fated for the man chosen for her was not one who would be accepted. Her fated remained a secret, she told me, due to his rank. A senior warrior, none the less, but still, she felt he would never be good enough in the eyes of her father. A man who wanted only the best for his little girl.
She had been preparing to go out, and I had been helping her adjust her hair when the order to speak with her parents had come through. The demand to do what her pack needed of her. I saw the pain within Grace's eyes, and unfortunately, I had felt the wrath as she took her pain out on me. She was continuing to do so, as she seemed to need to take a moment to herself in order to compose herself for the meeting, she was having no choice but to partake in.
I rushed along the hallway of the large, luxury packhouse Grace and her family lived within. I had been a part of their pack since I was abandoned upon their borders at birth and taken in by an elderly omega. Trained then as a maid. A maid to none other than the very girl I had grown up alongside. The Alpha's daughter.
We had always been so close. Until something suddenly changed, and I did not know what. I suppose, your friend becoming your maid had to change the balance somewhat. And, me, then in the position as her maid was never in a place to question it, and, sadly, I found myself alone.
I hated to admit that I envied her when I heard she had found her fated. In all the years I had been by her side I had never once envied Grace for the things that she had around her. But this was different. This was her fated. The man chosen for her. I had to say, I was incredulous at the fact she was hiding it. I mean, isn't meeting your fated everything a she-wolf dreams of? I know I did. A future away from here...
But all of that was now upon hold. If this bridal screening went as Alpha Alexander wished, then Grace may well have to surrender her dreams of a life with her fated, for a man she had yet to meet. I did not envy Grace the task of meeting a man she did not know. A man she may well be forced to marry. The downside of being an Alpha's daughter I suppose. She had all that she desired in life, and always had, but it may well be she would not be allowed the one thing she wanted the most. Her fated mate. And I could think of no worser punishment.
As weak an omega as I might be I clung desperately to the hope my fated mate was out there waiting for me. That there would be a chance encounter. A time where he may come and save me from the life I had been forced into. A small chance at happiness. I mean, everybody deserved that, did they not?
As I stepped off the final step of the grand staircase, I noticed the main hallway of the packhouse was busy with more people than usual. Perhaps due to the visiting pack members. I imagined Alpha Alexander, Grace's father would want to make the best impression he could to the visiting upcoming Alpha, and his family if, they too, had come. I had been within the family long enough to know that Alpha Alexander was willing to do all he needed to get what he wanted...
I made my way through the people and stepped closer to the lounge. My nose was tickled by an unusual scent. Perhaps the cleaners had been overdoing it with the cleaning spray today, because the packhouse smelt fresh... pine and spice... I smiled at a few passing pack members, who barely acknowledged my presence. Another downside of being an omega and a maid, you were often invisible to those within pack until they wanted something. A nobody. And far from a fun life to have.
I was nervous about seeing the upcoming Alpha now after Grace's passing comment. I was incredibly self-conscious about my scar. A moment of fury had left me with a terrible reminder. One that I hated, and one that brought many a disparaging glance. Would the upcoming Alpha look at me badly because of it? I found myself pondering. Before I reminded myself that I was not even there for myself. I was there to announce Grace's arrival. To declare she was on her way to meet the man she was hoping to marry, or more so, as the case may be, her parents hoped she would marry. But Grace was a wonderful actress. Extremely charming when she needed to be, I had no doubt she could win the man over.
The scent of the cleaning fluids only seemed to grow stronger. My senses overwhelmed by them as I moved to knock gently upon the heavy door of the lounge to make those inside aware of my presence, before adjusting the handle to allow myself to open the door. "I have come to make you aware that Grace..." I began, but my words seemed to be frozen within my throat as a ruggedly handsome man stared back at me from by the window.
He was leaning against the wall, his dark eyes now watching me with uncertainty. His brow raised as if in question. But it was like time had stood still. My senses had been overwhelmed by not only the scent I had detected earlier, but simply by his presence. Weak or not, as an omega, my wolf, Nova, whimpered. 'Mate.' As the word she uttered took the breath from my lungs...