An Alpha's Dark Secret

Chapter 3: Mate

-Madeleine-

I had Lucian come to pick me up. I had never learned how to drive. Stupid. Maybe it was time I did, but for now I needed someone to drive me, and he would gladly do it. He talked the whole trip about how amazing it was working with the king and the things he was doing now that he was actually proud of. It was amazing seeing this change in him. I saw he had gotten a little bigger too. Was he working out with them as well? Was he turning into the alpha he truly was? It looked like it and it had me smiling, as I watched him.

“Here we are,” he said.

The huge castle where the king lived came into view, and as I looked at it, my jaw dropped at the sight of it. I heard Lucian chuckle beside me, and I turned to him and smiled.

“Quite the place, huh?” he said.

I nodded. It certainly was.

“Want to come inside?” he asked.

I smiled and quickly undid my seatbelt and walked outside. It was even more glorious as you came closer, looking like a real old castle you would see in history books and old paintings. I simply loved it. We walked closer and I stopped in front of the big door. Should I knock?

“Come,” Lucian said, and opened the door.

We walked inside where Kate was already on her way down the stairs with Chris behind her and Koda at her side. She ran over to me, squealing and hugging me so hard, I could barely breathe, as her dog sniffed me happily, his tail going back and forth.

“Maddy!” she said happily. “You are here!”

-Evan-

I was standing on the balcony in my room, just enjoying the cigarette in my hand. I felt even more restless today. I always did after a nightmare. I wanted to go running, but we were having our usual dinner soon, and we all had to be there. I could, of course, skip if I wanted to, but I didn’t see the point. These people were my only real connection to reality. It was important I spent some time with them, so I didn’t forget who I was.

Suddenly, I heard a strange scratching sound on my door. I was not sure if it was either Kate’s dog Koda or the little furball. She had spent even more time with me after Koda had arrived, trying to make friends with her. She definitely did not like him and had made that very clear from the beginning. Koda was still trying his hardest, but it seemed in vain. I opened the door to see the chubby orange cat who was just on the verge of being fat, getting a little too many treats. She purred loudly and rubbed herself up against my legs.

“What?” I asked.

She walked outside of my room, placing her big butt on the carpet and looked at me, her yellow eyes calm but sharp.

“What?” I asked again.

“Meow!”

“If you are hungry go find your owner, she will feed you.”

She just stared at me, while her tail swung back and forth. It was strange. She had never behaved like this before.

“Meow!”

“What? What do you want? You want me to follow you?” I asked.

This was crazy. I was having a conversation with a cat! She purred even louder and started to walk away, and if that was not an answer, I was not sure what was. I groaned, irritated. I did not want to follow the little furball, but it seemed like she really wanted me to. So, I quickly put the cigarette out on an ashtray on the coffee table in my room and then walked outside, closing the door behind me and following the little cat down the long hallways.

I had no idea where she was taking me, or why she wanted me to follow her. It was really just stupid, I was following a cat, but I had gotten this far. Why not follow her to the end? She was walking not far in front of me, when suddenly I heard something. It was the sweetest sound I had ever heard, and it had me stopping for a moment, but it lasted only shortly, and then … nothing. The cat turned her head and meowed again, and now I was more determined to follow her. I was walking with long strides, and as I heard the sound again echo through the hallway I was in, I heard my wolf waking up growling deeply inside of me. It made me stop shortly again, as his possessive growl echoed inside of me. What the hell?

Now my steps were desperate, as I was no longer following the cat but the beautiful sound that had affected my wolf and my … heart? It was beating fast inside of my chest, as I finally came out to the big balcony and stairs leading down to the entrance hall. I froze as I saw her. Standing close by the door, talking to Kate, Chris and Lucian. I saw Kate hug her tightly, looking like she was squeezing the life out of her, and then Chris came and hugged her too, lifting her off the ground and making her laugh. Sh*t, that made me angry to see. My hands tightened at my sides, as I saw her so close to another male.

Mate …

Oh no …

-Madeleine-

I was so happy to see my sister again and Chris, of course. He looked happier than I had ever seen him before and Kate too. It made me so happy, and it made me see I had made the right decision to take her place. She was practically glowing, as she stood beside Chris, with his arm around her, and she proudly wore his mark on her shoulder. The top she was wearing did little to hide it and I knew she wanted everyone to see. She deserved this, I thought.

“So Maddy, how are you …”

I had no idea what happened. In one moment, I was looking at my sister, listening to her speak, but then suddenly her words were being drowned out, as my eyes were searching the place for something I couldn’t quite understand what was, until I saw him. There on top of the stairs, his hands tightening around the railing just beside the first step. An orange cat sat beside his feet, watching me with its yellow eyes, while his black ones looked at me so intensely, my whole body was shaking … but not from fear. What was this feeling shooting through me, as I drowned in those mysterious eyes? I had never seen any eyes like his. Deep and dark holes that led to nowhere, and yet seemed to carry secrets, I, for some reason, wanted to know. Who was he?

Mate!

Suddenly, the excitement I had felt from seeing him turned to fear, as I heard my wolf speak inside of me. No, this could not be true! No! Not this …

“Maddy?”

I turned to look at my sister, who was watching me confused. I glanced at the stairs again, but he was no longer there, nor was the cat. Had I been imagining things? Why would it not surprise me if I had? Yet he had seemed so real. The feelings he had brought out in me just looking at me … It was something out of this world, and I had no words to describe them.

“Are you okay, Maddy?” Chris asked.

I nodded, trying to focus on the happy couple in front of me.

“Of course, sorry. I am alright,” I assured them.

“Are you sure?” Kate asked.

I nodded.

They glanced at each other, and I turned to see Lucian watching me carefully as well. He was always dressed so well in a suit and his hair pushed back.

“Really,” I said. “Do not worry about me.”

“But we do, Maddy,” Kate said. “You wouldn’t be in this situation if I-“

“Kate,” I said and took her hand. “I am fine.”

She sighed, because she knew whenever I spoke those words, I was never speaking the truth, but she did not want to argue with me. This was a chance for us to spend some time together and we should not waste this chance, but I also knew what she saw this as … as a way to try and “save” me. I didn’t want her to. I was okay with what was going to happen. Truly. Even if I had to give myself to a stranger, I could do it, if it meant she was free to be with Chris and be with these people. Lucian, too, had gotten a chance for a better life, and I no longer felt so bad, as I had this past month. It was a little easier to breathe.

“I just …”

“Kate,” I said and smiled sweetly at her. “I am okay. Truly.”

“But Hunter Dayton … He is a stranger,” Kate said. “And he doesn’t have the best reputation.”

“Chris didn’t either,” I said.

I looked at Chris, hoping he didn’t take offence, but he didn’t. He just smiled, nodding a little.

“She does have a point,” he said.

“Still … I just want to help, like you helped me,” she said.

“Kate, I will be fine. Trust me. Mom barely speaks to me anyway and I don’t really see dad anymore. It will be good to get out of the house, but I actually have more freedom than ever,” I told her.

“Wait, you don’t see dad anymore? At all?” she asked.

“He comes home maybe once a week, if we are lucky,” I told her.

“He isn’t planning anything, is he?” she asked.

Her and Chris glanced nervously at each other, but I shook my head. No, he was definitely not planning anything. That would not make sense. I knew he was just spending more time with this other female that Kate had no idea about, and who I was not going to tell her about. She had already cut ties with our father, there was no reason for her to know.

“No, he just … doesn’t want to be at home with us,” I told her.

That didn’t really sound the way I wanted it to. I did not mind that my father was not at home. Our relationship had not changed after everything, and I was fine with that. I just didn’t want to lose my sister too.

“Now are you going to introduce me to everyone?” I asked excitedly.

They all smiled, and Kate started to pull me with her, as we walked further into the castle.