Submissive Shifters & Werewolf Alphas 4-Book Bundle

Chapter Three: Gossip

Chapter Three: GossipA castle on the edge of a cliff. It's something straight out of a fairy tale. She breaths in the scent of clean, crisp air and follows Mr. Castle down a long barrel-vaulted ground-floor corridor, through a door which opens straight into a great square hall with a stone-flagged floor. On the floor of the hall lay some rugs and against the walls pieces of tapestry hangs above high carved chests. At one end, a wheel stair contains within the thickness of the wall rose to the floor above. This is covered by a thick carpet that must have been red once upon a time, but have turned brown with use and age.

"You'll soon get used to it," he hums behind her, noting her startled expression. "We're really very comfortable here." His smile is soft, genuine for the first time since she has seen him. Perhaps it's because they're back on his property- his territory.

"Of course," she murmurs. "Come. I'll show you around. He takes her arm and draws her firmly over the flag stones, up the staircase to the hall on the first floor.

Here, it is immediately brighter, the high windows allowing adequate light into the vast room. In a spacious fireplace, wide and deep, with decorated aumbries in its jambs, a fragrant log burned cheerfully, providing more light to the room. Around the hall, carved oaken doors lead to living rooms and a the farthermost end, another staircase twists upwards.

"We live mostly on this floor and the next," he says, releasing her tense arm with an amused lift of dark eyebrows. Before she can reply, one of the doors across the hall opens and a heavyset man steps in.

"Alpha Castle! And you must be Miss Tina! I hope you'll find the castle to your liking," he says politely, his keen eyes on her flushed cheeks. "I'll ring for Katie to take you to your room. I expect you're tired after your journey."

She thought he would ring a bell or something, but he leans back and bellows loudly.

"Katie!"

She startles, ears folding back, fur bristling at the suddenness of his voice. His voice echoes in the empty castle grounds, giving life to the quietness.

Somewhere beside them, she hears Mr. Castle laughing at her, which only makes her bristle even more.

"I'm sorry, dear," the man chuckles, unabashed. "Katie's deaf as a bat. Gotta be loud if we want her to hear."

"I'm not sure that's how the saying goes," she manages a loopsided smile, charmed despite herself. "Um- how should I address you?" she asks.

"How rude of me," he shakes his head. "I'm Arnold. Most everybody here calls me Arnie. I handle most of the matters here," he says.

A housekeeper, she labels him in her head.

"Katie will be a moment. I'm afraid she gets lost sometimes."

She takes the opportunity to gaze around a little more, sniffing surreptitiously to pick up the scent of the place. Arnie is a Werewolf too, though he isn't as powerful as Mr. Castle. He is rather large, more like a Bear Shifter than wolf, but one could never tell. He could have been a Mouse Shifter and she wouldn't be able to know.

Mr. Castle bids her goodbye after a little while, claiming to have something else to be busy with and then Katie comes in and whisks her up the next flight of stairs to her room.

"You'll feel much better tomorrow after a good night's rest," Katie says. She's a Werewolf too. She is beginning to suspect that the entire place are just werewolves and while she had prepared herself mentally for an elderly woman with bad hearing, she's surprised to be completely wrong. Katie must be her age, perhaps even a little younger. The reason why she is half-deaf is probably because of the giant headphones she has wrapped around her neck.

Tina can hear music blaring from the device from where she's standing and she has no doubt the young woman would attach said headphones to her ears the moment her duties are done. She is respectful, but also a little wary of the newcomer, which is only to be expected.

Her bedroom, she finds, is in one of the round towers, charming in it's unusualness. Her feet sinks into a warm, rose-colored carpet that still smells like the cleaner that had been used to clean it earlier that morning, and there is a rose-patterned bed spread and armchair to match. On a small table beside the chair lay a pile of books and magazines, and an electric radiator spread a welcome warmth. Somehow, in spite of the difference, it reminds her of her mother's guest room at home.

Her eyes water at the thought and she swallows a twinge of nostalgia.

"I thought you might like some light reading while you're here," Katie says, eyeing her curiously. "Is there anything wrong? Anything I can help you with?"

Despite her young age, Katie has a few strands of white intermingled with her dark brown hair. She doesn't bother coloring the whites darker, like the women in the city would, and she doesn't apply any makeup to her face. It's refreshing, seeing someone age properly without attempting to hide herself at all. She finds that she likes the woman's friendly smile, her round merry face.

"It's perfect. Thank you," she says honestly, feeling warmed by the thoughtful gesture.

Katie's expression softens. "Let me know if you need anything else," she says and disappears for a little while as she's putting her luggage aside and pulling her tops out to hang in the cupboard, but she reappears just as she's about to be done with a tea-tray laden with a steaming pot of tea and hot buttered toast.

"Manny sent this," she says. "And he says to tell you that dinner is at seven, but if you're tired, we can have the food sent up."

"Thank you," she says, feeling overwhelmed by the kindness that she's being showed.

Later, after she's bathed and rested a while, she puts on a soft afternoon dress and goes downstairs again.

Dinner, she finds, is served in a small dining room just off the hall and she is introduced to the rest of the people in the Castle. There are several maids, a couple who handles everything in the kitchen, and a dozen workers who helps manage the grounds of the estate, which she learns also involve taking care of the vineyard and a wine production factory a little distance away. They come and go, eating their share and then returning to their responsibilities.

A lot more people than she expected. Then again, she doesn't know how much manpower is required to keep an estate like this running.

"Alpha Castle is dining with friends," Katie informs her in a faux conspiratory tone, though her voice is loud enough that everyone around them can hear her just fine. "He goes out often, just around the grounds, sometimes fully shifted," she continues.

That is rather scandalous. She has never seen a Werewolf in full shift before. The ones in the city doesn't have the opportunity or the space to do it.

Perhaps she realized she's overshared because Katie quickly attempts to change the topic. "I expect Alpha Castle will be making some changes now that he's here," she says. "Some of us might not be needed much longer." The words seem to escape her lips accidentally, almost as if they have been bottled up too long.

At her declaration, the others turn to look at Tina expectantly, as if she has a say in what's going to happen. She chews on her lower lip and manages a weak, "Mr. Castle must spend a lot of time abroad. I imagine it would be better to keep you here while he is away."

"Maybe he will sell the whole thing," she continues, obviously having put a lot of thought into this. Worrying over losing their livelihood. "Alpha Castle is very popular. A lot of women fancies him. There's a woman in the town nearby who keeps trying to come visit," she hisses. "Alpha Castle abhors her. We have strict instructions to hang up the phone whenever she calls, but it's fun to rile her up sometimes. She has it in her head that Alpha Castle would sweep her off her feet and be her prince charming. Delusional bitch."

"Katie!" Arnie scolds, but the corner of his eyes are wrinkled in amusement. "You shouldn't speak of Beth-" Wilma elbows him.

When she has his (and everyone else's attentions), she tips her nose up into the air deliberately and says with a haughty tone, "Lady Beth."

The table dissolves into laughter and Arnie continues with a amused grin after the laughter has died down, "Right, we shouldn't speak of Lady Beth that way." He explains to Tina, "The woman fancies herself some sort of royalty because her family owns a hotel chain in the East coast," he shrugs. "Either way, Alpha Castle isn't looking for just any desperate harlot to mate. He used to come visit when he was a younger man. He has always wanted more of his life. We always knew alpha Castle is meant for something greater," he shrugs. "It's just a tad worrying what will happen to us once he leaves. A lot of our livelihoods depend on this place staying opened. And you're here to help with that, yeah?"

She digests this particular bit of information in silence, unable to account for the little tremor that runs through her nerves. "That's what I'm here for, yes," she murmurs. "Perhaps his cousin will stay," she says diplomatically.

Oddly enough, they all turn to Tina for this. She blushes. "Jason isn't much interested in that," she dismisses that suggestion easily and the discussion turns to something much less stressful. She learns a lot about young Master Jason, apparently a playboy in his own right, though he has his eyes on a young artist in town. As much as it hurts her to admit it, it appears Mr. Castle's distrust towards his new paramour is not unfounded. Katie appears to have the most knowledge on Jason. She suspects it's because she is closest in age to Jason and had spent some time with the younger Werewolf.

She leaves the dinner table feeling burdened with too much gossip and is grateful that no one asks her to stay as they enjoy a nightcap. It's not necessarily difficult to explain why she can't drink, but she never enjoys bringing attention to the nature of her Shifter animal. She's grateful that none of them asked about her ears and tail, taking it all in stride as if it is perfectly natural. In the city, people would stare and gawk, keep their gazes on her for too long and look covetous. She wonders if the air here is different, or perhaps it is simply that they don't have any preconceived notions on how Cat Shifters should be like.

When she finally sleeps, she dreams of strong hands against her skin, lips pressing on her neck and a large body holding her in place and a familiar voice, whispering terrible things in her ears.