Too Fat for the Alpha, Perfect for His Brother

Chapter 2

Aurora's POV

I felt foolish.

God, I felt so incredibly foolish.

Not because I had believed Alpha Roman could ever love someone like me. Somewhere deep inside, I had always known better. I felt foolish because, for a few precious hours, I had forgotten everything the world had ever taught me about where I belonged.

How could I have believed him?

How could I have lain here smiling like an i***t, imagining that Alpha Roman had finally seen something beautiful in me?

I had spent years knowing exactly how the pack saw me.

Yet one night of attention had been enough to make me forget.

I had forgotten the whispers, the laughter, the names.

The way girls covered their mouths to laugh when I walked past.

I had forgotten all of it because for a few hours, I had believed that perhaps I was finally wanted.

Alpha Roman had just reminded me how stupid that hope had been.

He reached for his jacket.

"One more thing."

I looked up.

"You'll see Physician Mara before you leave."

I immediately brought my eyes down.

"Yes, Alpha."

"Mara will give you herbs to prevent conception, and you will take them.

"Yes, Alpha."

"I don't want an unwanted surprise," he said coldly. "And certainly not an heir from this."

His gaze dropped briefly toward my body.

"If the Moon Goddess has any mercy, she won't let you produce an abomination from tonight."

I flinched. Then he went straight to the door and opened it.

"And Aurora?"

I looked at him.

"Don't ever mistake tonight for love."

Then he walked away as I watched the door closed behind him.

I remained frozen for several moments, staring at it as though the wood might somehow explain how the man who had made me feel cherished only hours ago could now make me feel like the ugliest creature alive.

Eventually, I forced myself out of bed.

My knees were trembling so badly that I had to steady myself against the mattress. I gathered my clothes from the floor with shaking hands and dressed without looking at my reflection.

I couldn't bear it.

I already knew what I would see.

A foolish girl.

A fat orphan who had mistaken one night of an Alpha's curiosity for affection.

When I finally left his chambers, I kept my head low, like it always had been.

I hadn't gone more than a few steps down the corridor when two pack maids came hurrying after me.

"Aurora! Where have you been?" one of them called. "We were supposed to report to the east wing ages ago, in preparation for the Alpha's mating ceremony."

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

The second maid looked at me.

Her eyes moved to my rumpled clothes before slowly moving back to my face. Then she smiled.

"Oh."

She nudged her companion.

"So that's where she was."

I felt a sudden heat, and decided to walk faster.

"Don't run, Aurora," the first maid called after me, bursting into laughter. "It's not as though you can outrun us."

The other girl laughed.

"Exactly. Give us three steps and we'll catch you."

Their laughter followed me down the corridor.

"Slow down!" one of them called. "You're not exactly built for running."

I kept walking.

I wanted to disappear.

I wanted the floor under my feet to split open and swallow me before another person could look at me.

But Moonvale had never been kind enough to give me that escape.

By the time I reached Physician Mara's chambers, my vision had blurred with tears.

I knocked softly.

"Come in."

I pushed the door open.

Mara looked up from her desk, and the moment she saw me, her expression changed. Her eyes moved over my rough clothes, my swollen eyes, and the shame I could no longer hide.

"So," she said flatly. "He finally sent you."

I lowered my gaze.

"Alpha Roman asked me to come here."

"I know what he asked you to come here for."

Mara reached under the desk and pulled out a small packet of dried herbs.

She didn't offer me a comforting smile at all, or even the slightest smile. She didn't ask whether I was all right.

There was nothing gentle about her expression.

"Don't get your hopes up, Aurora."

I looked at her, then she gave a humourless laugh.

"Don't stand there with that foolish look on your face and start imagining that because the Alpha spent a night with you, you're suddenly special."

"I wasn't—"

"You were."

Her interruption was sharp enough to silence me.

"Women like you are always looking for meaning where there isn't any. The Alpha can have any woman he wants. If he decides he wants to taste something outside his usual preferences, does that suddenly make the thing he tasted his future?"

I swallowed painfully.

"No."

"Good. Then learn from tonight."

She placed the herbs on the table.

"Valentina is the woman who will become Luna of Moonvale. Everyone knows it. She has the blood, the beauty, the family, the breeding and the position. You have none of those things."

Each word made my chest ache as she came closer.

"People like you and me are here to serve people like Alpha Roman and future Luna Valentina. That is the order of things. Don't mix up your place."

She pushed the herbs toward me.

"Take them."

My fingers trembled as I picked up the packet.

I put the herbs into my mouth and swallowed them with the water she handed me.

Mara watched me closely.

"Open your mouth."

My eyes widened.

"Mara..."

"Open it."

I obeyed.

She inspected my mouth to make certain I had swallowed everything before finally stepping back.

"I want to be certain you've taken it. I don't need Alpha Roman coming back here asking why his instructions weren't followed."

I closed my mouth slowly as she returned the cup to the table.

"Women in your position are always looking for opportunities. A pregnancy would be an easy way to convince yourself that you've secured a place beside the Alpha."

"I wouldn't do that."

"Wouldn't you?" She asked, as she raised an eyebrow.

"Then you shouldn't have any problem proving it."

I looked down at my hands.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke.

"Good."

Then she turned back toward her desk.

"Now go back to work tomorrow morning. And forget whatever fantasy you built in your head tonight."

I nodded as I headed toward the door.

My hand had barely touched the handle when Mara's voice stopped me.

"And Aurora?"

I looked back.

"Remember your place."

The words followed me out of the room.

I walked down the corridor with my head lowered, squeezing my hands together as though I could somehow hold myself together if I squeezed hard enough.

I wiped my cheeks and turned toward the window, needing the darkness outside to hide me for a moment.

My eyes wandered across the courtyard almost without thought, toward the tall stone tower that belonged to Roman's stepbrother.

Alaric's tower.

No one went there unless they had been summoned. Even the servants avoided that side of the estate.

There were too many stories surrounding the man who lived behind those walls, too many things people whispered and then pretended they hadn't said.

A faint light burned from the balcony near the top floor.

And he was there. I saw him.

Alaric sat in his wheelchair, one hand resting loosely against the armrest as he looked across the courtyard.

At me.

For a moment, I wondered if I was imagining it. Maybe he wasn't really looking at me at all. Maybe there was something behind me that had caught his attention.

I glanced back.

Nothing.

When I looked at him again, his eyes were still centered on me.

My throat suddenly felt dry.

Then I saw his hand tighten around the armrest of his wheelchair, his fingers slowly tightened as though something about seeing me had caught him off guard.

I gulped hard.

Why?

Why was he looking at me like that?

Was it because he hated me too?

I wanted to look away, but somehow I couldn't.

And that frightened me more than anything. Because Alaric wasn't just another wolf in Moonvale.

He was dangerous.

Yet tonight, from the balcony of his tower, the most feared man in Moonvale couldn't take his eyes off me.

And I had no idea why.