Saraphina POV
1408 Words
Having an alpha for a father and a beta for a mother both shifters are used to giving orders and expecting them to be followed, this had only made me more aware of the differences between us.
An alpha and a beta’s child is never a submissive. It can’t be. So they assumed, just as I did, that the signs pointed toward me being a gamma. Helpful. Obedient. But most definitely not submissive. I proved to be the exception to that rule.
If the rest of the pack had known the truth, I wouldn’t have lived to see fifteen.
I don’t know all the things they would’ve made me do, but they would have broken my spirit first, then my body.
So I strangled the need to obey. I learned to silence the desperately loud voice in my head that constantly whispered my role was to keep my head down, eyes on the ground, and do exactly what I was told.
I haven’t heard that voice in years. Now I barely even remember what it sounds like.
After a long moment, Darius shifts his gaze to the pendant he’s still holding between his fingers. My fingers itch with the need to slap his hand away or snatch the necklace back, but the chain is thin enough that it will snap. I can’t let that happen. The safest place for it is around my neck.
“It looks clean,” he murmurs. “Well-loved.”
I shrug. “I wear it in the shower. That must be why.”
His eyes don’t move from the locket. “It looks the right size to store a photo inside.”
“Does it? How fascinating.” I close my hand around his thick wrist and tug. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have”
My attempt to remove his hand does nothing. But to my relief, he finally shifts his attention from the necklace back to my face. Interest stirs in the depth of those emerald eyes. “Places to go? The boyfriend who gave you this pretty little trinket to see?”
If that’s what it takes to get rid of you.
“Yes. Yes, I do.” The lie slips out easily. There is no man in this pack I would ever let into my bed, let alone my heart.
Darius drops the necklace, his lips curling in clear disgust, as if he already regrets touching it. “Unfortunately, true love will have to take a backseat today, if such a thing even exists here. I have a job for you.”
Shit.
The last thing I need is to spend any more time around Darius Blackthorn than necessary. Especially when I’m going to be spending the next two days dodging the rest of the pack.
Jax had initiated things when he shoved me to the ground yesterday. It wasn’t supposed to hurt, not like what they’ll do to me later. He did it to show the others I’m fair game now. And when Darius didn’t intervene, the pack received all the confirmation they needed: the new alpha wouldn’t protect me.
That’s the reason I barely slept last night.
“Well,” I say, stepping around him, “there are other women in the pack”
He has me pinned against the cabin wall in a heartbeat. The room is so small that it doesn’t take much, but I’m no longer thinking about how fast he moves. I’m too aware of how close his face is to mine as he stares down into my eyes.
“I want you.”
Deep inside, a muscle clenches and my mouth goes dry.
He lowers his head until I feel his warm breath against my lips. My gaze traces the strong lines of his face, sloping nose, stubbled jaw, and the uncompromising set of his mouth that screams alpha even before he speaks.
His scent this close is almost unbearable. Not only to me, but to my wolf. Despite her terror, she wants nothing more than to rub herself against him and submit.
Just as I lift my hands, whether to shove him away or drag him closer, I’m not sure. his lips curve in a dark half-smile.
“Eggs, bacon, and toast. Coffee, black.”
I blink, dazed. “What?”
“That’s what I expect from my new beta every morning. In addition to cleaning the farmhouse, you’ll cook lunch and dinner. I’m not as particular about those.” The other corner of his mouth lifts, but no real amusement reaches his eyes. “I warn you, I have a big appetite. It takes a lot to satisfy me.”
Oh, God.
I clear my throat. “That’s not the role of a beta.”
A real beta advises the alpha, helps manage pack finances, and enforces order. It’s a position of trust and power. Not cooking breakfast or scrubbing floors.
Which means Darius has twisted the role into something else entirely, just another lever to get what he wants from me.
“The role is whatever I say it is,” he replies smoothly. “Any other questions?”
“Why me? Sounds like you just need a cleaner.”
He nods. “It does. But I want you close.”
Of course he does.
“And?” I press, because there has to be more.
“Call it curiosity.”
“About?”
“You.”
Great. More attention.
“There’s nothing to be curious about.”
“You don’t follow orders,” he says, voice dropping lower. “Maybe I want to see if you know how to give them.”
“Bark like a dog,” I order before he finishes speaking.
His lip twitches. “Funny.”
“Now you know.” I move to step around him again, but his hand locks around my wrist, stopping me cold.
“Pick someone else.”
“Giving orders is only one part of being beta,” he continues. “Let’s see if this pack will follow them.”
No. Once they stop laughing, they’ll rip me apart.
“They won’t,” I say flatly.
“And what would happen if a different beta tried to lead? Would the pack follow his orders?”
He means Jax. In less than a day, Darius has already seen enough to suspect the auburn-haired shifter wants the top spot. And now he’s using me to test the waters.
I shrug. “Depends.”
“On what?”
“Who knows? Ask one of the men. I’m sure they’ll tell you.”
“And the reason you can’t?”
“It sounds complicated. Too complicated for a brain like mine to work out.”
Amusement flares in his eyes. “Is that so?”
I nod. “So you should choose a guy to be your beta. Because I’m a woman.”
I’m also not going to survive long once Jax hears about this. The only thing worse than him not being chosen is for someone else, especially me, to leapfrog him in the hierarchy.
Darius’s gaze dips slowly to my breasts and lingers just long enough to make my breathing turn ragged. “Yes, you are,” he murmurs. “And that’s relevant because…?”
“Women don’t serve as betas.”
“Because a woman’s place is on her back or in the kitchen?” His expression is impossible to read.
I shrug. “I guess so. Same as anywhere.”
His gaze sharpens dangerously. “And what makes you think that’s the case elsewhere? Did someone tell you?”
Eden.
Careful, Seraphine.
“Just a guess,” I say. “Why? Did you have somewhere particular in mind?”
Seconds tick by. Finally, he takes a step back, releasing my wrist.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
- Writer
